Fresh to concentrate.

Personally, I prefer a mojito at martini strength. A nice rum like Flor de Cana 7 year makes for a strong base comingled with tons of FRESH mint and lime.

A six count of rum, ample ice cubes, juice of half a lime, a healthy sprig of "farmer's market-fresh" mint, and a pinch of powdered sugar. Shake this vigorously for two minutes, strain it into a chilled martini glass and top with a splash of soda. Concentrated Cubanismo!

Form Ale!

Ah yes...
One, fully-formed, kitchen-brewery fresh, bottle-conditioned ale. I have not brewed a batch in a long while. I briefly wrote about the brewing process in my Gastronomenon blog a couple of months ago. Now the ale has matured enough to blow my mind. What style is it? That is the question.

What makes a beer style? Is it hops, malt, water, yeast...or, is your beer whatever you decide to write on the label..?

My fellow brewer, Fitz and I wanted a light, golden, crisp ale that was an easy-quaffer for the arrival of warmer weather and long days. In order to get exactly as we wanted, ALL of the aforementioned beer variables had their individual parts to play in the production.