Nelly Brewery - Hedgehog Down (2)

Well, I'm now down to my last bottle of Hedgehog Down, having variously drunk, given away and thrown away the rest. I decided I'd better do a review!

Well, despite what the last review said, I was really impressed with the clarity of the beer. It's really, really clear - crystal clear one might say, as the photos show. That's where the good points end though, I'm afraid to say. 

The top came off the bottle with a nice pop and a decent head formed upon pouring. However, there just wasn't much body - the beer was rather thin and the head dissipated pretty quickly. The colour was too dark for a pale ale, being a mid-amber hue more than anything. 

There was a strong fruity smell, which I think was estery. I'll readily admit that I'm not experienced enough to be 100% certain but from the various guides to beer off-flavours that are available online (like this one), estery smells and flavours are my best bet for what was going on. Beyond the fruity tastes, there wasn't really much else going on, with no discernible hop character at all.

Looking back at my notes for this one, I don't think the fermenting temperature was too high, being 18-19C all the way through. I'm more inclined to think that the fruity taste was both an inherent product of the English yeast used and also due to the long ferment time. I racked this on day 19, after a really slow ferment. 

My latest thinking is to use cleaner-tasting American yeast and more of it. I used 2 packets of US-05 for the latest batch and it was finished in about 5 days, with really encouraging results so far. I talked to a pro brewer about this last week and his beers stay in the FV for 7 days before racking so I hope I'm on the right lines here.

I'm currently planning to use 2 packs of US-05 for my next 2 brews, to keep this variable the same, before moving to reused or harvested yeast from then on.

So to sum up, Hedgehog Down wasn't great but it was another step along the learning curve.

Hedgehog Down, Nelly Brewery

In a slight shift from the usual format, I will be sharing this review with another beer enthusiast - in this case my Dad - who was desperate to sample the latest offering from the Pride of Holmes Chapel, the Nelly Brewery - hence the two glasses below. 

It's an English Pale Ale hoping by the name of Hedgehog Down - read the story to see why - although it doesn't look particularly pale, as you can see; it was also rather cloudy. 

I might have expected a hoppy boutique, but instead it was rather more yeasty. That said, first taste was meaty and full frontal, with the taste sitting on the front of the tongue. "Needs more hop", said Dad, and I was inclined to agree. 

A note about my Dad

Dad likes to think he knows about beer, as he's been drinking it since the early 60s. He doesn't. I'm not saying I do either, but bear that in mind for the rest of the post. 

Back to the beer...

"It's almost the same on the front of the mouth as Jaipur," claimed Dad, extravagantly. "But it doesn't linger". Let's not be too harsh here - Jaipur is utterly amazing. I was struggling to identify a decent aftertaste, although noted that "the meatiness is accompanied by some fruits". Maybe like a lamb curry with raisins?

Dad held the empty bottle up to the light, to reveal a huge lump of brewer's yeast. He then regaled me for the fifteenth time of the tale of the Sixties home brewers who would scoot round the back of Liverpool pubs for the yeast remaining in the bottom of Whitbread bottles - "worth it's weight in gold that...you couldn't buy brewer's yeast as an amateur in them days". Rightio. He may, however, have had a point when he noted, "you shouldn't be leaving yeast in the bottom like that...that's why it's so cloudy. Perhaps it was racked off too early?"

Now I know little about the brewing process, but last time I heard the phrase "rack off " it was going shouted at Bouncer as he stole a cricket ball on Ramsey Street. The flamin' galah. I assume in this context it refers to the point on time at which a beer is bottled - but I'd be interested to know if this us a real phrase or just a Dadism. 

I asked Dad for his final thoughts. "As a homebrew, it's excellent" he declaimed, as he chewed the last of the yeast thoughtfully. Would you drink another bottle, old man?

"Christ, no."