Crisp Summer Beer

When we first brewed this, we weren't impressed.  It tasted really bland.  We decided at the last minute to dry hop in the carboy for an extra week with 1/2 an oz. of Casade Hops.  It's actually really good now.  It's a nice summer beer that has an uplifting feel to it.  Funny how we went from feeling like we would never brew it again to definitely brewing again.

Ho hum..but not quite dead yet!

I lagered this one with the stock S23 Fermentis yeast and have to say it's mediocre thus far. I say "thus far" as I lagered it in the fridge for about two months between 50-36F and then kegged it. My other half said it tasted "home brewey" which is a major slag on a beer little alone a Festa. We got through it, mainly by blending it with a Festa Pale Ale. The remaining bottles - approx. 10 450 mL Grolsch are continuing their lager adventure at approx. 50F for a few more weeks whereupon I will try one to see if any improvements happened. Stay tuned.

Yeast Swap

I brewed on of the Blondes with a Nottingham yeast in order to try to come up with a blonde ale as opposed to a lager. Henceforth, I switched out the S23 for a Nottingham yeast to compare it to a MicroBrew (Quebe's Brasse Frampton) 23 l wort. It turned out marginally better, but still was disappointed in the results. Definitely not up to the Festa standards and not a mod that will go on their blending chart.

Decend Drop

It's been a couple years since I brewed this, so my recollection might not be 100%. But since there is no reviews, I thought I would give my 2 cents. Very nice tasting beer; if you like lagers with a little flavour, you will like this one. Comes with Saflager yeast which does the job nicely at 15 Celsius. Good introduction to the world of good beers for someone who has never had anything but Bud or Molson.