My favorite style had to wait awhile, apparently. This started as an extract kit from O’Shea Brewing for their Hop Monster. My first taste was not a pleasant one. I waited a while to let it mellow out on the “homebrew aftertaste”, and it did fade, but never enough for it to be a good…

This is a full-flavored wheat beer. Has a sweet and slight banana aroma, with some roasty notes. The thick mouthfeel will keep you sipping this one slowly, which is probably a good thing as it’s supposed to be a double. My readings for ABV came out lower than the recipe stated, but it still feels…

A German Kolsch is hard to find in the U.S. so I decided to brew my own. I had never actually had one before this, so I was only slightly aware of what it would taste like after reading the descriptions online. It turns out this is one of my favorite beers now. I followed…

A clone of Russian River’s Blind Pig IPA. Now you know why I named it Sightless Swine. It’s a well-balanced IPA with a sweet malt flavor and mild hops. It was good, but I probably wouldn’t brew it again. I’m not sure what caused it, but there was an unpleasant bitter aftertaste. It mellowed out…

I introduced my girlfriend at the time, Haley, to Kona Brewing’s Wailua Wheat and we both loved it during our summer trips to the Big Island. I wanted to brew something similar that would be sweet, light, and have a very mellow fruit finish. I started with a kit from O’Shea Brewing for an American…

This was my first ever homebrew, hence the “Rookie” reference. It’s an Irish Red Ale that came out extremely well. I would definitely brew this again. Roasty malt flavors with a crisp hop finish. Very typical Irish Red. Brew Date: April 9, 2012 Bottled On: January 29, 2012 O.G.: 1.040 F.G.: 1.014