Tasting the IPA

My first brew has now had over two months in the bottle. After throwing away the Light as detailed in the post below, I decided to see how the IPA is now. I opened one of the beers bottled in the cheap lager bottles (and my initial suspicions with these bottles is that they don't develop the flavour quite as well as the thicker bottles, but its too earlier to tell really - and Im not sure if there could be any logical reason for this). The initial sweetness had mellowed nicely, so while still a little sweet, it is no longer overly so. It is definitely a refreshing summer beer. There is a noticeable subtle taste that reflects the fine flavour Phil's IPA produced, but mine doesn't have the depth or breadth of flavours he produced from the same kit.

Overall, I'm not too disappointed with this brew. I was my first brew, it suffered from major temperature problems because of the heating issues in my house, and it has still produced something pleasant and drinkable.

The real test will be of the stout that I will hopefully bottle at the weekend - another brew where Phil and I have done the exact same brew. If this one doesn't turn out similar to Phil's, I will start playing around with my brewing, warm week and maturing temperatures to see if I can improve the final product.