Bastard Mice!

With the on set of autumn and the first cold weather the Mice have decided my house is a damn site more civilised abode than the hills behind me. Unfortunately the house brewery offer many an opportunity for a rodent lunch. I discovered today that the little buggers were getting into the sacks of malt that were stacked in my room. Oh for a cat what the hell is a brewery dog good for?

Years First Mild

It’s slowly starting to feel like autumn. Last night I tapped the first corny of Mild for the year. Primed with dark sugar this batch of Masons Mild is exceptionally rummy and fruity with good body and mouth feel for a 3.5% beer. I knew that a mild would be a real test for the US-05 yeast. With a low gravity demanding some fruit esters to give it interest common opinion was the US-05 would be to clean and simple.

On the contrary, I have found the yeast to give my ales a distinctive honey ester and while the dark sugar is no doubt contributing the rummy character to the Mason’s I suspect the berry and dried fruit notes are from the yeast. So far so good.