Conclusions - for now

On Gervin - supposedly AKA Nottingham ?

Not for me, it's a case of the sherriff stole my hops.

I'm struggling through the brown / mild in the keg. The last two bottles went as entries in the HB Comp. The pale ale / bitter is a tad better, it's going down better but the hop character is still significantly down on what I expected. If I hadn't hopped it to hell it'd be a pale mild I guess ?

On Pilsners ?

I thought the extract Pils was good, but boy the grain version is great. I don't know if it's a very good beer technically but it's such a step up from the extract in texture and flavour. Doesn't have the same syrupy mouthfeel that the extract did. It's had a week in the keg - it needed it - didn't start tasting the goods in the keg until about day 6

On Brewing ?

Two more brews before Santa delivers. One has to be another grain Pils with the W2112 yeast and I'm praying that the weather doesn't improve much more !

On Beer ?

I've really lost the plot as far as pale ales and bitters go, I haven't been happy with my efforts for a long time now. I'm brewing Brown, Pils and Ambers from now on

cheers, jt