I know what you mean about clove, it is phenolics I believe and I don't care for it either. It is a normal aspect of a lot of wheat beers though. I don't care for those either.

Woohoo JamesBlond, I got bottle caps and a case of new bottles (empties) for Christmas myself. Beats the heck out of buying the dirty ones from the distributor and having to wash them up. Which is what I normally do, being a frugal sort.

Don't forget to throw in a few drops of Beano liquid to make your beer lower carb.

Speaking of which, my LC porter came out real well. I can certainly tell the Beano did its thing, the stuff has very little body since I didn't add anything to restore that. But it is light and very drinkable, in fact I drank a six-pack on Sunday and had a bit of a hangover the next morning. Gotta watch that consumption. I think I'll stir in a bit of Splenda in the next one I drink, thats supposed to give it a little more body. And a bit of sweetness enhances the malt flavor. The wife liked it pretty well too, means I have to get busy on a new batch soon as this one was only a case.

Good brewing in the New Year folks.