I finally got some home brewing equipment!

My father was awesome enough to buy me a sweet set of home brewing equipment-- everything I need for brewing partial boil extract (complete with a secondary fermenter and an immersion chiller)! I figure I'll try a few batches of extract, and if all goes well, I'll move on to all grain; probably buy a bigger brew kettle and build myself a mash tun.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm just SO EXCITED! This set is SO much more than I would have expected. Fucking awesome.

Anyway, despite my excitement, I am kind of nervous. I've been reading about home brewing for nigh on a year now, especially the BeerAdvocate.com forum, and there seems to be a LOT that can go wrong. I want my beer to be great. Realistically, though, I know I'll probably make mistakes. SO in order to get past my beginners jitters, I'm going to give myself a few weeks to read up on proper procedure, then get to brewing ready or not. So, come January 19th, which is exactly four weeks from today my first beer will be bubbling happily away in the fermenter.

Wish me luck!

Now, since my first beer will be a blonde ale, I will be reviewing Leffe Blonde tonight.


Abbaye de Leffe S.A., Belgium

Leffe Blonde (they call it a blonde ale, but BA lists it as a Belgian Pale)

6.6% ABV, 12oz bottle.

Nice golden color with reddish tint. Persistent carbonation, generous white head that diminishes slowly. Smells more alchoholic than 6.6%. A clean, fruity smell
Tastes very refreshing. Definite alcohol warmth. Malty, but not BIG malty. It's balanced well with hop bitterness and a fruitiness that I assume comes from the hops, and maybe yeast? This one is hard to pin down. Mouthfeel is dry, yet refreshing. Crisp, I suppose is the word.

VERY drinkable. Probably the drinkablest(?) Belgian I've had yet.