National Homebrew Day 2024. 🍺 Therefore, a homebrew. And this is interesting! The brewing date was 14 March 2023. Yes, more than a year ago. Why is it interesting? Because it was a Stout. Now it's something else. 😂 The color is somewhat lighter now. It's still transparent but the actual tint is deep burgundy. No dark brown anymore. The carbonation has calmed down a bit, it's still reasonable. The emerging head amounts to two fingers. The retention is shorter now. Still, a faint lace ring can be observed on the surface. Raspberry is neatly ample in the scent. The difference is that the licorice had reduced in intensity, it's relatively modest now. But still detectable. The overall sweetness has been replaced by sourness. Yay! How about the taste? Sour raspberry mash. Nothing jam-like. The licorice is a mere whisper on the sides of the tongue. Its deepness is clearly shallow now. I would still argue that blackcurrant is present but cola is not. The malty sector is truly narrow. The body is light. The finish is identical to upfront, just like a year ago. But different than it was then. If you're lost, you can look and you will find the aftertaste; time after time; if you fall, I will catch the flavors, I'll be tasting; time after time. The mouthfeel is light, moderately tart, juicy, summery and a bit flat. This is basically nice! But different from 2023. Definitely not a Stout anymore. This is a Fruited Sour Ale. Interesting development! Can I rate this as a Sour Ale?? I would give 3.1 maybe. Very drinkable. But as a Stout? 1.0. Because it's not a Stout anymore. I better leave this unrated now. #NationalHomebrewDay

Happy National Homebrew Day! The exact date is a bit of a mystery to me since some sources say it's celebrated on the first Saturday in May which was yesterday whereas others claim it's on 7 May which is today. And since it's "national", it's more like an American thing, I guess. Anyway, I'm a homebrewer myself, and I want to toast for all homebrewers today. 🍻 With a homebrew, of course! We brewed this raspberry licorice stout based on the second runnings of our previous catastrophic Sahti... Contamination shouldn't be a problem since the wort boiled for more than an hour. Or at least not a direct consequence of using the Sahti wort. Other weaknesses can, of course, haunt the beer but we'll see. The beer colors basically transparent, very dark brown, almost black, with a distinct red hue. Carbonation has developed beautifully, it's brave and kicks out a fluffy creamy head that shoots up to three fingers. Good retention. Later we still have a neat lace ring adorning the top. The scent offers a good load of licorice and a bit less of raspberry jam. Yummy! Very candy-like! Dark malt lingers in the background together with a pinch of brown sugar. The taste is attractive: raspberry jam, raspberry mash and sweet licorice form the skeleton of the flavor universe. Auxiliary nuances include dark malt, marginal blackcurrant and intriguing cola. 🖤🖤 The body is the weakest link: light to light-medium. It could be a bit bigger though. The finish is pretty close to the actual taste but drops first the licorice out. The aftertaste could put a lonely billboard on every city road or have the stars blotted out in a brilliant Morse code. The mouthfeel is desserty, light-medium, somewhat effervescent, adjuncted, balanced and very smooth. Easy. Unexpectedly tasty given the initial Sahtis proved to be failures. #NationalHomebrewDay