The Clerkenwell Brewery presents - Judy Garland Stout

When we rigged up the BrewCam for the first time, there were doubters. They said that covering our fermentation with just a flimsy canopy of cling film would result in a nasty infection. When we used a lamp to illuminate our murky brew 24 hours a day, they said it'd create dodgy flavours. It looked like a bleak future lay ahead for poor old Judy Garland Stout.

Clearly you can't keep a good brew down, because this one's our best yet. It was bottled on 12 June. It should continue to improve in the coming weeks. As you can see from the photo, it looks simply gorgeous. A thick, creamy head sits atop a delightfully dark beer. The body is on the light side for a stout. A healthy fermentation has produced a dry but gentle flavour. There's a hint of dark fruit - blackcurrant, perhaps? That's followed by a long coffee aftertaste. This certainly isn't complex, but it's deliciously drinkable and true to style.

The bottle conditioned samples we've tried have beaten the kegged stuff hands down. This has led us to bottle the entirety of our porter, which came out of primary on Sunday.

When we started brewing back in April, we didn't expect to be producing beer of this quality so quickly. Flushed with success, we're looking forward to the next step: full mash brewing. Clerkenwell expects.