I have returned to brewing beer after a long absence. I grew up in Wisconsin which is famous for beer, among other things. I brewed beer from extracts back in the late '70s and things have really changed since the Carter administration. I started out brewing a batch of TrueBrew Amber ale and opened the first bottle today after two weeks of conditioning. I think it needs another week because the the carbonation is a bit weak due to the weather which has turned quite cold for this area. It's not bad but I think it could be better. Anyway, I'm having a lot of fun getting back into brewing (my father ran a bar up in Wausau for many years so I've been well-conditioned in the family tradition). I've got another batch going right now which is a nut brown ale from an extract with specialty grains added, which I'm pretty excited about and can't wait to finish. I used a liquid British Ale Yeast (Wyeast) rather than the dry packet yeast that came with the kit and I'm hoping to get something close to Newcastle (my favorite).
