What am I doing trying this already, just two days after it’s started conditioning? Well, I wanted to see what she’s like now versus when she’s cleared, if there are any nasty flavours that will get worse or will condition out, and because at only 3.7% ABV it’s a perfectly acceptable thing to open at 18:00 on a Friday evening.

Turns out they’re pretty good! I had a Dippy one, and there was plenty of carbonation resulting in a good head straight from the bottle. Nowhere near clear and yet there’s tons of sediment cruising the bottom, some of which made it into my glass despite best intentions. Flavour is very nice; none of the home-brew twang that I was afraid of, and a simple, clean taste that would probably be improved with a touch of malted grains and finishing hops.

This bodes well for Hoppy, which I’m also going to test over the coming days. If that turns out well then I’ll brew another 8 or 10 litre batch with plenty of hops using my new stainless mini bucket from SS Brewtech, which I’ll be able to purge of oxygen thanks to the new CO2 kit.