My Totally Impressive, Unimpressive Life

Thus starts my first fall brewing batch. I have just ordered a base kit of the Irish Draught Ale to start out with. This kit is summed up as follows:

“Like Irish stouts, Irish ales are sociable session beers with a low alcohol content but substantial body. This beer pours with a deep red color and tan head over a caramel-like malt character with roasty and fruity notes. As a bow to Ireland’s meadmaking past, honey lightens the body and boosts the gravity of this recipe, while a small dose of oats adds creaminess to the mouthfeel and a hint of grain to the flavor.”

So now the real fun begins. Aiming to have this beer readily drinkable come October-ish, I’m looking for some good flavor combos to boost this beer up to a delicious autumn ale. Note: I have also ordered a base kit of the Dunkelweizen for a pumpkin brew that I will batch up as soon as I finish with fall beer #1. Ergo, as much as I am obsessed with pumpkin flavor, I’d like to steer away from it for this particular project.

Here’s where you come in. These are some flavor combos I’ve been toying with but by all means feel free to suggest something else.

The possibilities thus far:

Apple Pie - Apple, cinnamon, butter, and pecan, nutmeg?

Fall Harvest - Apple, maple syrup, cinnamon, caramel?

Cinnamon Roll - Cinnamon, butter, vanilla, toffee, hazelnut?

Thoughts?

Soooo I like beer. I like to drink it. I like to brew it. I like to share it. So the next logical step seemed to blog about all of the above.

I’m going to try 100 brand-spanking-new-(to me) beers over 100 days starting as of August 8th and ending with spectacularly understated bang on my birthday, November 16th. 

Now it should be said that by all measures and standards of the word, I am an amateur. I have no formal training in either beer tasting or brewing. In fact I still succumb to choosing bottles based on how “pretty” they are. (Deal with it, I’m a girl sometimes.) I just know what I do and do not like and that’s what I plan to talk about. These are my opinions, not the basis for a new religion. Let’s keep things light shall we?

I will officially blog 100 posts about each of the new beers I’m trying but I will also throw in some extra blogs about my brew batches, beer recipes, and other beer relevant subjects. You’re welcome.

Here’s what you can do for me (besides reading my blog, cause you know, it’s nice to be doing this for reasons beyond exercising my digits); I’m opening this up to suggestions, which beer to try? Should I try it with a certain food? Did I so sorely miscalculate a beer and thus by popular demand need to try it again? What type of beer should I brew next? I want your input (Even though I reserve the right to put your input on a stool in the corner if it’s just plain stupid. My blog my rules.)