Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale

If you read any of my post's about Tom's Bo Brew, you'll know that I was speaking in somewhat of a vacuum. In other words, I hadn't actually tried the fruits of his laborious lagering.

The long and short of it: an excellent representation of the style--even with the Pride of Ringwood bittering inclusion and it being his first attempt at a much-heralded classic. I've been told that since its such a simple recipe it could be real easy to screw it up. Fortunately, Tom did his homework and the results are proof enough.

Bo Hemian pours eagerly with a dense pillowy head of super white foam. Think wavetop breakers at the beach.

A shimmering golden straw-colored brew with beautiful clarity and diminutive bubbles aplenty.

Spicy and herbal hop nose with a whiff of soft malt blowing in the summer breeze.

Rich mouthfeel, spicy yet soft herbal hop attack, effervescent, malty like you've just torn into a steaming baton of baguette, hoppy in an debonair sort of manner

Drying, spicy, rich finish, with maybe a hint of mineral character.

I'd love to try your upcoming all-Saaz version, pitched with a 3 gallon starter in a glass carboy and lagered six weeks-Czech nirvana!

Straight up good. Word.

Thanks for the kind review, Greg.  I enjoyed making it and it has really flown out of the beer fridge, as my wife really likes it.  This is definately one of those beers that I will make again (I really need to start a list of those, maybe a good thing to keep on my blog).  Things I will do next time is to cut back the IBUs just a bit, as the commercial version is a bit softer on the bitterness.  With the price of saaz, I will probably again just use those hops for flavor and aroma.  Pride of Ringwood has spiked in price lately, so I will try to find a similar floral, spicey hop, that is reasonably priced, to use for bittering.

The other thing I will try is what I heard Jamil say on his podcast, to make the soft mouthfeel character typical of commercial versions of this style, use half RO or DI water and half tap water.  It is pretty cheap to buy gallons of the stuff at Walmart or Sams Club, so I think I will try that.

And next time, I will definately be brewing 10 gallons!

Did your wife get to try any?  When I left some for Christopher, he later told me he had seriously considered stashing the second bottle away and not sharing.  I guess it is time to send Christopher back to kindergarden to learn the importance of sharing . . .