Tasting Notes: Maximilian Lager

I was weirdly excited to brew this recipe when I wrote the original brew day post as a stand-alone. I was able to taste the first batch of this recipe at Homebrew Con, but that is not the same thing as being able to enjoy a full pour. Needless to say, I couldn't conduct a side-by-side of that batch either. 

This time I gave the beer a name.

I bought the tins of extract during a Black Friday sale last fall. When I purchased lager yeast for my recent Pale Kellerbier, it only made sense to re-pitch it for a batch that was already in the pipeline. 

The batch did get three weeks to ferment extra cold, before going into a keg for lagering. When I tasted the beer at that time, I picked up some diacetyl. I let the keg warm up to cellar temperature and sit for a week as a crude diacetyl rest. Then the keg lagered all summer until there was space in my keezer to put it on tap. 

Harpoon Summer Sampler 12x12

Beers included: Summer Style, Day Drifter IPA, Harpoon IPA, Camp Wannamango

Purchase Date 3 August 2024

Purchase Price $18.99

Initial Impressions

I didn't set out to buy seasonal sample packs all summer, but summer has always been my favorite beer season, and I found a few I was excited to see. 

12x12 Brooklyn Summer Ale

Beers Included: Brooklyn Summer Ale

Purchase Date: 3 August 2025

Purchase Price: $16.49

Initial Impressions

In the words of Dave Portnoy, "Don't give up on summer!". The beginning of August always brings about the arrival of fall beers. With our hot summer still ongoing and inspired by a text from a friend stocking up on summer beers, I decided to do the same. 

Tasting Notes: North Shore Brewers 2025 Q2 Kellerbier

As much as I prefer the written word, the digital world is moving more toward video all the time. Over the years I have very lightly dabbled in video production. I have no patience for video editing. With that in mind, I went on Facebook Live on Big Brew Day thinking that might be an easier pivot to video when I brewed this batch. 

The tl;dw about the brew is I designed a Helles-recipe that borrowed slightly from my cream ale recipe, the beer got two weeks in primary fermentation before being racked to a keg for keg-conditioning and lagering. 

I was happy to pick up a fresh crowler of Notch Zwickel directly from the brewery for my side-by-side.