Ferm Friday- Cloning

Back in the day, bJames and I played guitar together. He was, and is, by far the better musician, but we differed in more than this respect. I could never play covers, and have to say I often didn't see the point. Sure, now, with age I get the idea that you want to test yourself against the masters, but that's always been the case. Bach wrote some masses, so did Mozart, Hayden and I'm surprised that McCartney hasn't tried his hand at one. But this is putting your own stamp within a familiar framework.

So, I don't really clone. But I will work within very set boundaries. I try to brew to style (usually). I've used clone-brew recipes, but just to find good recipes, which I usually play with and rarely, if ever, compare to the commercial beer. Of course, I live in a state that has decent liquor laws, unlike my colleagues. So I can get almost all the beers I like.

Except cask ale, which I've mentioned in the past both positively and negatively. I love the UK beer, and I've spent this July in the UK twittering about what I've been drinking. So I try to emulate the British style of beer, which is hard without a cask breather, pump and other sundries I can't invest in right now.

This blog, however, was started as a clone, but like all good clones, has grown into something distinct, like US Brown from N. English Brown, we are something different, stronger, more pungent smelling, more aggressively bitter.