The Force...Clibit...pig in ****e!

[MyQul]

I think your Guiness clone will turn out great. I'm of the opinion stouts and porters are much easier to make well than pales. The roasted grains in dark beer hide any mistake well, whereas with pales, especially SMaSH's you've got no where to hide. If you make a mistake with a SMaSH it's a lot more obvious. I also think it's much easier to make a dark beer with soft water than it is to make a pale with hard (pales require soft water and can give hop astringency if you brew them with hard water. Whereas Dark beers need harder water but are much more forgiving if you make them with soft).

Try to condition your Guinness clone as long as you can. I find stouts are just getting to there best after 6 weeks conditioning. I'm currently slurping on a Greg Hughes Dry Irish Stout that I discovered a few bottles of, that were bottled in mid October,, when was I rearanging my stock a couple of days ago, It's absolutely gorgeous.

Btw I think your old dad would be proud of you! :thumb:

 

[cheapbrew]

The deed is done!

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=563961#post563961

 

[keat64]

My First AG was a made up affair, only I got to sample it.
AG2 was an Old Peculiar clone, everyone who tried it, including my parents who don't drink, all said the same. "hey this is good" with a hint of surprise and I was chuffed.
AG3 is an Hoppy APA, It's Hoppy alright, and a superb ale (had a few keg issues though, but it's survived)
AG4 is my licorice porter (that doesn't tast of licorice), so may need a little more experimentation. And after 17 days it's still fermenting !!!!