1934 Kidd XXX Tasting

The carbonation in the Kidd XXX has settled in to the perfect level so I figured I'd write some notes while this beer is in its prime. Should go quick because its just what I want to drink this time of year.

1934 Kidd XXX

Appearance - Dark golden with an orange hue. Small one finger head dissapates quickly but leaves a nice foamy ring and lacing. Impressed by the clarity, I did use some gelatin finings after fermentation. Its nearly briliant but I wouldn't go that far.

Aroma - Honey, grapes, not too familiar with brambling cross hops but the beer definitely smells like the hops as they went into the boil. The malt is in the backround, with a toasty lady finger smell. When the beer warms the corn aroma is slightly evident. Also smells sweet, not sure how thats possible. But I guess all the aroma's are associated with foods that are sweet.

Taste - Sweet upfront, the honey, grape and berry flavors fill out the middle. Then the hops come in and wash the sweetness away with a nice bitterness thats slightly earthy and haylike. Slightly reminiscent of noble hops. Finishes pretty dry with the corn and six-row husky flavors. The same lady finger/cookie taste stays on the palate with the hop resins. Begs you to have another sip to figure out what the hell you just tasted. I'm loving this beer. Complex yet drinkable. Everything is subtle yet noticeable.

Mouthfeel - Carbonation is low, but just how I like it. However, a little bit more could dry the beer out just a tad and make a bigger head. Nice medium bodied beer for 6%. Not too chewy or watery. Right in the sweet spot. I've had a couple super dry highly carbonated comercial beers lately and I'm not into those. This one is like liquid velvet. The tannins from the hops are nice and prickly on the finish.

Drinkability & Notes - I'm impressed by this beer. Everything came together rather nicely. I wish it would have attenuated a slight bit more. Since my invert sugar was a little lighter than planned, the sweetness upfront is a little too much. I definitely enjoy this one, and always want a second. I'd be curious to see how the Bramblnig Cross hops work with american hops, and other english varieties. I definitely need to start thinking about oxygenating with pure O2 and keeping fermentation temps more steady with a fridge. I think a better overall fermentation could help make the beer a bit more crisp and polished.

O.G. 1.060 F.G. 1.014 ABV 5.9% IBU's 42 Wyeast London Ale 1028

Making Brewer's Invert

One of the reasons I got into homebrewing was to make authentic British beers. The selection and freshness of these types of beers in FL is disappointing. So, why not make them myself.

One of the best sources on the web about brittish brewing is Shut Up About Barclay Perkins!; On his site Ron Pattinson features a Let's Brew! post every Wednesday. One ingredient that comes up quite often is invert sugar. It is impossible to buy this stuff unless you want to buy a metric ton. So again, you gotta do it yourself.

I followed the instructions here to make my invert number 2 and brew up a batch of Kidd XXX from 1934.

I took a couple pounds of demerara sugar mixed with some water, lactic acid, and a glob or two of corn syrup and boiled it for 4+ hours. I didn't quite get as dark as I wanted because I was

afraid of scorching the stuff. The directions I was following said to keep the sugar around 240 and wait for it to darken, but at 240 I didn't even see any bubbling on the surface. After the first couple of hours there was no real color development. Next time I'll let it get up to 250 or 255 F

and make sure there is some surface disturbance to make sure I'm getting the reactions I need

to darken my sugar.

Having to work the next day, I gave up on the color at around 3 a.m. when my syrup looked

liked this. 3 a.m. isn't that bad. I've stayed up all night brewing before. When you have a passion for brewing you do some pretty stupid stuff.

I decided to buy some canning jars to store my sugar. Even though I was going to use the sugar in a couple days, I figured storing it in a sanitized airtight container was a good idea. Botulism is odorless and flavorless after all. With such little moisture content, I doubt anything can live in this invert sugar though.

A couple days later I brewed up the 1934 Kidd XXX recipe from Ron & Kristen. That will be

described in my next post.

The demerara is from sugar cane grown a few miles from my house in south florida. I love that I get to use a local ingredient for making an old world brewing tool. Best of both worlds.