type: lager
origin: Homebrew
ABV: ~4.1%
location: house
served: 500ml bottle to glass
Another Homebrew given to me by a colleague to sample, this time by the inimitable Quinny. He's decided to call it 'Yer Maw', purely for laughs when somebody orders it; "A pint of Yer Maw please mate." and so on. I can see it being a lot more amusing for the patron than the bar staff to be honest.
Well, until they run out of it, and the bartender gets to say "Yer Maw's off, mate". Oh! or if they kept the prices low, then they could say "Yer Maw's on special offer: two quid". Either way, it's bound to cause fights when somebody asks "whit ye drinkin'?" when it's their round, and is answered appropriately.
But anyroad, you need to mention how the stuff tastes in a review, otherwise it's just speculation, and speculation is difficult to quantify out of twelve.
Smell: Yer Maw smells of Yeast, more than anything (couldn't resist that one!) which is odd given the lack of sediment. Slight fruity aroma, but heavily masked by the yeast. 2/4
Colour: pale yellow with good clarity, good levels of carbonation for the style. 3/4
Taste: very dry, but quite refreshing. A bit of carbon, little malt taste or sweetness, but not much hop taste either - but that's style-correct if you compare it to a standard commercial lager. More aftertaste than a commercial brew though. 3/4
Overall: A good first attempt, well handled to achieve the clarity and lack of sediment with a decent level of carbonation. A possible rival to Stella Artois* 8/12
As ever, when using a homebrew kit, it's difficult to get wildly different results from the next person, but apart from the yeasty aroma Yer Maw's turned out pretty well. The fermentation was probably a bit warm, and it may have benefited from a longer ageing period, but a fine first attempt and I look forward to sampling the second attempt.
* due to the probability of violence
