Real Ale at Smoketown

May 21, 2017

Well, scratch the cask below. I am no longer the brewer at Smoketown.

May 13, 2017

Next up on cask is a 1973 Whitbread Mackelson Milk Stout ABV 3.8 14 IBU. It is a recipe that I got from Ron Pattinson’s “Shut Up About Barcley Perkins” Blog. I’m really enjoying his work. You should check it out. He has a number of books he’s written and I’m hoping I can get him to come to Smoketown to do a book signing in the future.

The above cask should be on 18 May.

March 30 2017

Smokestack Black IPA added 2 oz of Simcoe hops to the cask. Figured out a new way to keep carbonation longer (although what I’d done came apart last time I used it). Will not be putting a beer on cask that is also on tap in the future.

Hops 47 IBU

AVB 8.7

March 9th 2017

“Something Peculiar”
Styled after an English Beer call “Old Peculiar”
Lovely Aroma, figs and dates in the flavor. Smooth, easy to drink.

Like a trip in beer to the United Kingdom.

Hops. 6.1%

AVB, 28 IBUs.

March 3rd 2017

Cascade Bitter

This beer is an English Ordinary Bitter made with Cascade hops. 3.7% AVB, 30 IBUs. I just don’t know how this simple a beer is going to go over here. The bar staff will offer a taster of it if you wish. I certainly want them to try to get anyone to taste it first, because after any other beer, it’s not gonna seem like much of a beer. The BJCP beer style guidelines (page 19) says:

“Low gravity, low alcohol levels, and low carbonation make this an easy-drinking session beer. The malt profile can vary in flavor and intensity, but should never override the overall bitter impression. Drinkability is a critical component of the style”

 

August 5th 2016

RUBY

This is my best approximation of a beer in the UK called “Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild” Here is the UK beer’s description and hand pull badge:

A dark ruby strong ale with a good balance of fruit and hops, leading to a pleasant, lingering malt and hops finish 6% ABV

yag1025

I call this ‘RUBY Sarah Hughes American Cousin’ because I used American Hops instead of UK.I am extremely happy with my version of this beer.

Mitch

I’m really finding out what it takes to get real ale to the customer glass. I can make the beer correctly, Cask it correctly, Get it on a beer engine correctly and then have a server who doesn’t know that it is a delicate product that the server has the responsibility to keep right. Add to this the fact that the server isn’t legally allowed to drink beer while working (in Maryland) and/or the server is new to beer and you see what I’m up against. I really need to educate the servers that beer on a beer engine is not the same as beer on a CO2 tap.

@BrewerSmoketown