Bell rates... Thirsty Mongoose

type: Pale Ale

origin: Homebrew

ABV: ??

location: house

served: plastic bottle to glass

I was generously given a bottle of beer to sample by a work colleague. It's his first stab at homebrew, and I think he was a bit worried at various stages - as is common with first-time homebrewers - but it's worked out quite well for him.

It arrived in the familiar 'Coopers Homebrew' 500ml PET bottles, with no label, but a verbal instruction that it was named 'Thirsty Mongoose'. What relevance this name has is a mystery to me, but it's intriguing. I'm aware of a similarly-named lager, but have never sampled it. I'm not even sure what a Mongoose actually is, to be honest, but I'm aware that they kill snakes, and as a severe ophidiophobe, I'm therefore fully in favour of them.

But anyroad, back to the beer.

No idea what the ABV is, but it smells strong. Apparently the kit be bought didn't include a hydrometer, and being impatient, he didn't wait to get one before starting his brew. The thoroughly unscientific test of taking a reading (at the brewer's request) of the bottled proves nothing, but a specific gravity of 1.009 suggests that fermentation did take place, and it was reasonably successful.

Carbonation was a perceived problem, but the head is fine, and there were still plenty of small bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass after nearly 20 minutes of drinking.

The water used was very soft - I know this because he only lives about five minutes away from my house, and used the same tap water I get in my own kitchen. It's typically soft Scottish water, and while it's excellent for a lager, a Pale Ale often benefits from something a bit harder to bring out more flavours - but perhaps that's something to look at in the future? For now though, the beer is perfectly drinkable. So let's get onto the drinking:


Smell - a suggestion of potency is evident, but thankfully isn't enough to overpower the maltiness. No real hop aroma, which lets it down a shade. 3/4


Colour - a deep amber. good clarity, good carbonation. 3/4


Taste - malty, but no real additional flavours save for a hint of caramel, just a straightforward bitter. Decent body, no real hoppiness. 3/4

Overall - an auspicious start to a hopefully long and fruitful homebrewing career 9/12