The Red Headed Slut and Jane Austen

Now that I got your attention.. hehe.. My latest creation. I have named it Finals Red as as it was brewed during finals last semester. I guess this is what happens when you are stressed out by Anatomy and Physiology. I'll get to the Austen part later.. Beer First..

This was my first attempt at a Red Ale. I'll be honest, a few members of the club have brewed them recently so I pushed my schedule up a month or so. One member hopped theirs a little more heavily while another brewed a more traditional example. I will say the former was more my favorite than the latter. I can say mine is somewhere in the middle as Finals Red has two purposes. I have wanted to brew one for a while but it is also a test batch for a Flemish Red I hope to brew later in the summer. As some brewers know, its hard to get that right color/flavor balance for both these styles.  This little guy was designed to be malt forward with little hops similar to the Sour I hope this one will become one day.  As this was a test batch and not exactly "traditional", I used the same yeast that the member who brewed the more fruity red ale used, WLP041 (Pacific Ale).

Taken During Mashout, so far the color looked on par.

Taken after opening the bottle tonight. 

A little more light shining through, bottle opening. 

From this first tasting, I think its developing great in the bottle. It has a certain fruitiness, almost like strawberry at the front.  However,  it still has some bitterness from what I have come to call "bottle shock" from its 14 day bottle conditioning. That usually goes away after 30 days or so. I look forward to trying it around then to see how much better it gets after that point.

While tasting, I decided I needed an Austen night. I don't hide my love for Austen. I think its a scourge all women have at one point or another. My various copies have been all bent over and highlighted from the first school assignments and the in-between years as more of the writing took on more meaning. After the end of finals, I picked up Mansfield Park and Pride and Prejudice again.  Both books I think I have read at least once every 2 years, it just happens. I have always identified with Fanny Brice and Mr. Darcy. The former for her love of simple things and her ability to grow out of her station to become a strong willed woman. As the middle child who was considered the "family failure" for years for stupid reasons, the one who always had to go along, until I broke away. Similar to what Fanny experienced with her Aunt forcing her to "please" everyone around her.

Darcy has always been my favorite character of Pride and Prejudice. I know its seems weird for a girl to like Darcy as anything but a romantic lead but I have always felt a certain kinship with him. I think he is misunderstood since so many look at him as a stuck up or full of himself because of his status. We mostly hear about Darcy through other people, his good works not just for Lizzie but his other friends as well. As a result, some things about him get jumbled in the whisper down the lane that is the masculine side of the book.

As I have said before, I am very much an introvert (like Darcy), only able to "turn it on" for a limited period of time before I need to hide away to recharge.  Take this lovely beer week for example, between school and events, I have needed two "recharge days" where I just stayed in and studied/read books. I don't show who I am except for a few special people, I guess its what happens when you get hurt for who you are, the cards are kept close.