I Think I'm A Clone Now

Sitting Friday night in an Irish Pub near Cincinnati while thoroughly enjoying a few Smithwick's Irish Ales, I decided that I really needed to make a Smithwick's clone.  Unfortunately, as an Irish Red Ale, the starter ingredient lists that are compatible with my 2 gallon brewing system all begin with an Englishman's Nut Brown Ale HME.  I have only one of those left, and no more can be had since that particular HME is no longer being produced.  So even though it means I will not be able to brew my anticipated 2nd batch of Comfy Chair, I've decided to go ahead and poach that ingredient to make this clone happen.

This means a little shuffle to the scheduled brews, since this takes away key ingredients from both Comfy Chair 2 Nut Brown Ale (BB-XII) and Yellow Reign Golden Lager (unnumbered).  But the good news is that what's left from Comfy Chair (Mellow Amber UME) and Yellow Reign (Mr. Beer's "Cowboy" Golden Lager HME) can combine to form the base of an English Bitter!  So the scheduled brews are being re-done this week.

The new BB-XII will be named Boudicca's Revolting Irish Ale, after the woman who led an uprising against the Romans in 60 AD.  The Irish have adopted her as a national heroine, dubbing her the "Great Queen".  Since this beer is an Irish Red Ale, and since she was a redhead who led a revolt and who is greatly beloved by the Irish, the name, color, and style of this beer all fit together.  Plus, it has a built-in pun in case the beer comes out badly.

Afterwards will come Wuthering Weiss (BB-XIII) and then Bitter Buzzard (BB-XIV), and then we return to our regularly-scheduled beers.