Category Archives: tastings

Beer Tasting: Wild Times Pale Ale

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20161226_163216The Wild Times Pale Ale is no more…but I did get a tasting in before the 2.5 gallon keg was all gone!

  • The Basics
    • Original gravity = 1.046, final gravity = 1.011, abv = 4.7%, estimated IBU = 45
  • Aroma
    • Faintly floral hop aroma, with a very light caramel malt aroma.
  • Appearance
    • Brilliantly clear and light yellow in color, with a low white head that is pretty persistant.
  • Flavor
    • A lightly grainy and bready malt aspect; the hop flavor tends towards the distinctly (but not overly) bitter. The bitterness is fairly uncomplex, and the hop flavor has a slightly grassy aspect to it with a faint edge of citrus pith. It’s not bad, just not exceptional.
  • Mouthfeel
    • A pretty dry and light-bodied beer.
  • Overall
    • This is a pretty average pale ale. It’s not bad; it just doesn’t have much that pops out at me. It needs a bit more body and malt complexity; this probably would entail a bit of crystal malt and/or a second base malt (Munich or Vienna, perhaps) to round things out. I also ended up with a slightly lower gravity than expected after the boil, which doesn’t help matters much either. The aroma hop attributes have definitely diminished a bit over time. At their peak, they were surprisingly good, particularly as a novelty item. For an experimental beer, this was certainly a worthy attempt, but any future pale ales will need a different malt base.
  • Score
    • 5/10

Beer Tasting: Olde Persica Porter

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Sometimes you make a beer that just nails it. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does…wow! Olde Persica Porter is one of those beers.

  • 20161207_201748The Basics
    • Original gravity = 1.060, final gravity = 1.016, abv = 5.8%, estimated IBU = 37
  • Aroma
    • Smoky and rich, really nicely balanced. The smokiness has subsided a bit since first sampling a few weeks back, but is still quite pleasant. It’s hard to find the exact words for the smoke character, but it’s about spot-on for what I like in a beer.
  • Appearance
    • Brown head with decent retention; deep, chocolate brown beer, with decent clarity.
  • Flavor
    • The malts are wonderfully at the centerpiece of this beer. A moderate smokiness, roastiness, and slight hint of chocolate combine into something incredibly tasty.
  • Mouthfeel
    • This beer has a moderate body, and a smooth finish. Carbonation is right about perfect.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • In a heartbeat! This ranks up there as probably one of the best beers I have ever made. The smokiness and overall body combine beautifully in this one. A week or so back I was thinking I needed to up the smoked malt percentage (as the smoke character faded over time), but now I’m not so convinced of that. I’ll keep it as is (although might adjust my boil slightly to achieve a slightly greater final gravity). This is one of those beers made for a cold night in front of the fire, and I’ve done exactly that.
  • Overall
    • 10/10

Beer Tasting: Hell Creek Amber Ale

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20161119_134231My Hell Creek Amber Ale–a first attempt at incorporating wild hops into a recipe–just kicked. Thankfully, I got a tasting in before the keg was totally drained.

  • The Basics
    • Original gravity = 1.060; final gravity = 1.014; abv = 6.1%; estimated IBU = 33
  • Aroma
    • Malty, with a honey-sweet background.
  • Appearance
    • A deep amber color, with a thin ivory head that has decent persistance. The beer dropped fairly clear after a few weeks in the keg.
  • Flavor
    • Malt-forward, with a toasty and biscuity character. Hop flavor is pretty clean, with moderate bitterness.
  • Mouthfeel
    • The hop finish is a touch harsh, perhaps a little out of balance, so I might drop the bittering just a touch next time, or go with a “cleaner” bittering hop.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yes! This is a decent, middle of the road amber ale, and has been popular with guests to the house. I might up the biscuit malt a touch, and swap out the Special B with some crystal 120 (per the original recipe). I don’t pick up much in the way of hop character, so would probably add a bit more on the whirlpool if possible.
  • Overall: 
    • 6/10

Beer Tasting: Decoction Envy Vienna Lager

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20161106_140947My first attempt at a Vienna lager has nicely cleared and conditioned, turning into one delicious beer! My overall evaluation is below.

  • The Basics
    • Original gravity = 1.055; final gravity = 1.014; abv = 5.4%; estimated IBU = 29
  • Aroma
    • Spicy hop note, really delicious, with a slight crackery aroma behind that for the malt.
  • Appearance
    • Light gold, crystal clear, with frothy white head that is incredibly persistent. The beer is definitely paler than a Vienna lager should be, though.
  • Flavor
    • Bready and crackery maltiness at the forefront; really, really nice. This is balanced against a decent bitterness. It comes across as a somewhat dry beer, which is within line for a Vienna lager. The finish is very clean; no abnormal esters or phenols on this thing!
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, moderately dry on the finish, with moderate carbonation that seems about right for this beer.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • On its own merits as a beer, I’d give it a 9.5/10, but in terms of color it misses the mark for a true Vienna lager as defined by BJCP. If I do this again, I would add a slight bit of dark malt for coloration (maybe 2-3 oz. of debittered black malt), but maintain the overall process of decoction. The head and head retention are pretty amazing (almost too amazing–it’s hard to get a good pour!), and I would bet that is the result of the decoction process. I’m quite surprised that the beer didn’t darken up more during the decoction–maybe I should have boiled long enough, or didn’t boil intensely enough? The yeast I used on this one worked out really well, and the water build also seems to have been just the ticket.
  • Overall: 
    • 8/10

Beer Tasting: Gondwana Pale Ale 1.3

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The latest version of my Gondwana Pale Ale finished recently, but I managed to get a formal tasting in before the keg was emptied. Here’s the review!

  • The Basics
    • Original gravity = 1.045; final gravity = 1.010; abv = 4.6%; estimated IBU = 39
  •  Aroma
    • A strong impression of passionfruit for me, along with other tropical fruits; really nice on the aroma.
  • Appearance
    • Wonderfully clear; there is a tiny bit of hop debris from the dry-hop bag, but that doesn’t get in the way of how nicely this beer has cleared. The beer itself is a light gold color, with a fine off-white head, that sticks around for quite awhile as a decent blanket over the beer, and then subsides to a persistent ring of foam around the edges of the glass.
  • Flavor
    • There is a definite tropical fruit impression on the hops. The malt is clean, and in the background.
  • Mouthfeel
    • This is a pretty dry beer–not overly so, but definitely dry. I’m not a huge fan of the finish on this–it is a bit astringent, and I’m not sure of the cause. Part of this could be due to an overly thin mash, or perhaps the mash-out temperature being too high initially? Or maybe it’s something with the hops? Is the IBU level more than anticipated? Could it be the relatively low starting gravity as compared to previous batches? I’m not sure. In any case, this is a bit different from previous batches, which were quite a bit smoother.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • The aroma and appearance on this are pretty wonderful, and the flavor is decent. Mouthfeel and finish could really be improved, though. I think more careful attention to mash conditions (temperature and volumes) would help. Given my success with previous versions of the recipe, I’ll still be brewing it again.
  • Overall
    • 5/10