It’s time I gave Fermentation Friday a shot. This month’s topic (hosted by The Panhandle Beer Snob and Redneck Brewery) is:

“What, in the opinion of others, is the best beer you have ever made and why?”

I’m kind of torn between three of the beers my husband and I have made. All three are recipes that we brewed as part of the beer line-up for our wedding, and all three have gotten rave reviews from different groups of people.

First, our Pale Ale. For our wedding, we made it exclusively with Cascade hops. Earlier this summer, we brewed it again for our friends’ barbeque – same malts, same IBUs, different hops. Both times, the kegs kicked quickly. It’s definitely a crowd-pleasing recipe. Beer enthusiasts and Bud-Miller-Coors drinkers alike have complimented us on this one.

Then, there’s our Trippel. People seem to really love this high-octane brew of ours. The sweet, un-bitterness of it definitely appeals to non-beer-drinkers too. I distinctly remember my cousin stumbling over to me at our wedding, a glass of our Trippel in her hand, slurring, “Your brother made me try your beer. I don’t drink beer, but this is goooooood!”

Finally, our Foreign Extra Stout. Dark, rich, sweet, chocolatey, roasty… Basically, dessert in a glass. We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on this one, but only from beer-lovers with a taste for the deep, dark stuff.

Our recipe has evolved slightly the last few times we made our Stout. Our current batch, which is slightly more roasty than previous batches, is actually making it’s debut in our brand new nitro system. I’m pretty excited to hear what others have to say about it!

So, I suppose my conclusion here is that, if I took a weighted vote on which of our beers is the best we’ve made… The enthusiasm for our Foreign Extra Stout wins out. But you know, different strokes for different folks.