2011 Kriek Tasting Notes

The first Lambic I ever brewed was back in 2011.  After about 18 months in the fermenter, I transferred a gallon of it onto 1.4 lbs. of frozen and thawed sweet cherries.  It sat on the cherries for about 2 ½ years.

Over the weekend, I finally got around to doing something with some of the sours I have sitting in bulk in my cellar.  The gallon yielded 9 – 12 oz. bottles of Kriek.  It was a real treat.  The following are the tasting notes from the hydrometer sample that I pulled (which happened to be 1.003 after the original Lambic finished at 1.001.

 

Aroma: The aroma is all about the sour – a lactic aroma with hints of cherry

 

Appearance: Crystal clear with a light pink tint.  Hydrometer sample was still

 

Flavor: A punch of lactic sour hits you right in the face, with a bit of horse blanket in the background.  As it warms the cherry flavor comes forward in full force

 

Mouthfeel: a rather thin mouthfeel and completely absent of carbonation

 

Overall impression: Like a sour cherry pie, I think I’m really going to enjoy this once it carbonates.

Lambic Tasting at 10 Months

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While I was taking gravity readings and bottling and kegging the other weekend, I decided to take a gravity ready and try a sample of the Lambic that was brewed last October and still sits in primary. This one is not nearly as complex as I want it. After this sampling, I pitched some additional brett to try to turn up the funk factor in this beer.

Aroma: mostly acid on the nose with a slight touch of funk; needs much more funk

Appearance: crystal clear, pale yellow, still

Flavor: sweet and sour; I still detect a touch of malt sweetness although this has attenuated down to 1.001; sweetness is offset by a sour acidic taste; the lactic acid is definitely the main character; no funk or complexity to speak of

Mouthfeel: light body, fully attenuated, still

Overall impression: acidity is refreshing, but this beer really needs some brett complexity

The One and Only Hefeweizen Tasting

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Thankfully I at least was able to drink one pint of the authentic (i.e. German wheat yeast) Hefeweizen before the keg decided to empty itself in the bottom of my kegerator. Having never brewed or even drank an authentic Hefeweizen, I decided to compare it side-by-side with the standard for German Hefeweizen, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier. I think mine compared very favorably with the control. I’ll definitely need to brew this again soon.

Aroma: wheat spiciness with a hint of banana and a touch of spicy clove; no hop aroma

control: has a light spicy phenolic aroma, but nowhere near as complex as the homebrew

Appearance: yellow/gold; slightly cloudy; voluminous white head that fell to ½ “ during the session; slightly darker and clearer and less head retention than the control

Flavor: cracker-like flavor from the wheat malt; primarily banana on the tongue with a bit of clove in the background; no hop flavor and just enough bitterness to balance the malt sweetness; much more flavor that the control

control: slight tastes of banana and clove with a sour finish

Mouthfeel: low-medium carbonation; light to medium-light body; smooth; much lower carbonation than the control, which is effervescent with a light body

Overall impression: much preferable to the control; good balance between spicy yeast phenols and banana esters; appropriate malt/bitterness ratio; needs more carbonation;

Much of the carbonation was bled off during the dispensing. I am still struggling to balance my system. I carbed this keg to 3 volumes, but it was dispensing with such great pressure that I could barely crack the tap and I think this made much of the CO2 bleed off.

Tasting Notes: A Neighbor's Belgian Wit

My neighbor has recently resumed his homebrewing after a many year hiatus and he gave me one of his Belgian Wit’s to try.

 

Aroma: faint hint of orange, some spice, herbal/pepper aroma; no diacetyl

 

Appearance: cloudy, almost muddy orange with amber hues; carbonation low; very thin white ring of head that hung around through the sitting; a few shades too dark and not enough head retention for a Belgian Wit

 

Flavor: a small amount of spice accompanied the stereotypical “extract twang”; no dominant malt of hops flavor – very well balanced; some spicy esters from possibly a high fermentation temperature

 

Mouthfeel: thin body, low carbonation, no alcohol warmth or astringency; finished a bit on the tart side

 

Overall impression: Great first attempt! You have the basics of making a Wit down. You made a very well balanced beer that is relatively refreshing. The thing that hurt this beer the most was the low carbonation – a Belgian White should have around 2.75 to 3.0 volumes of CO2, which would help with head retention; Also, try a full volume boil which will help you brew beers with lighter colors and will reduce that “extract twang”

 

Citra Pale Ale Tasting

My new keezer is finally built and dispensing draft beer. The first beer I’ve been able to try from the kegerator is the clean version of the Citra Pale Ale. It is pretty good, but I really don’t see a big difference between the Citra hops and the Amarillo that I typically use in my pale ales. One thing I did the day I tapped the keg is I keg hopped it with an ounce of Citra leaf hops.

Aroma: hops, hops and more hops – citrusy hop aroma with no esters detected

Appearance: deep gold/light amber with a voluminous white head that poured 1 ½ “ thick and fell to ½ “ during the session, leaving a nice lacing down the sides of the glass; cloudy, but okay for a dry-hopped beer (in the last week it has cleared considerably)

Flavor: similar to aroma; this beer is all about the hops, wonderfully citrusy; firm, bitter finish; clear fermentation with no diacetyl detected

Mouthfeel: Carbonation is a little light; medium body, no alcohol warmth, slight hop astringency

Overall Impression: a great APA is a showcase for the hops and this is a good example; My two main complaints were that the carbonation was a little low and it was too cloudy, but in the last week it has carbed up nicely and cleared up quite a bit

Lambic Update - 5 Months

Over the weekend I was taking a hydrometer reading of the lambic (it’s down to 1.004) that I brewed last November and I decided to do a tasting. This lambic is not very complex, but hopefully complexity will come with age. I’ll probably pitch vials of Brett-C and the Brett brux Trois that comes out next month to introduce some more funk. Unfortunately, Richmond is a desert when it comes to finding commercial mixed-fermentation beers. Once in a while I might find a bottle from New Belgium or The Bruery with brett, but they are few and far between and beers with lactobacillus are unheard of.

Aroma: decidedly sour with hints of citrus; no vinegar character; a tiny hint of leather; no hop aroma or diacetyl

Appearance: pale yellow; mostly clear but with a slight haze; small bits of floating pellicle; still – no head or carbonation

Flavor: slightly sour – nowhere near as sour as indicated in the aroma; a touch of leather; citrusy; no hop bitterness or flavor; no diacetyl

Mouthfeel: still; thin mouthfeel; slightly slick on the palate; no warmth or astringency

Overall Impression: lacking complexity; needs more time for the Brett to take over and create complexity; would like more sourness – will probably need to blend with a Berliner Weisse to increase the acid bite

”A Little Less Than Ordinary” Ordinary Bitter Tasting

I was watching the round of 32 game between my VCU Rams and Indiana and with the frantic up and down pace I tweeted that I would need oxygen at halftime. I called an audible and grabbed my last deuce-deuce of ordinary bitter.

The story with this beer is that several months ago I brewed my standard pale ale and I decided to wring every last bit out of efficiency out of my mash so I ran off the third runnings to create 2 1/2 gallons of English bitter. Being a third runnings beer, it is a little low in ABV at only 2.1%, but you can definitely drink a cooler full of these and still string a sentence together.

I’m a little surprised that a beer that is long in the tooth at such a low ABV did not show its age.

Aroma: slight maltiness and earthy hop aroma; a hint of fruity esters – possibly fresh apple in the aroma; no diacetyl

Appearance: crystal clear; gold with a 1 ½ inch white cloud of a head that persisted for the entire pint and left a nice lacing on the glass

Flavor: Earthy hop flavor that more than offsets the soft maltiness; balanced slightly towards the hops but still very well balanced; trailed by bitterness in the finish; the fruitiness apparent in the nose is not evident in the mouth; no diacetyl

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with low-medium carbonation; no alcohol warmth or astringency

Overall impression: Easy drinking session beer; nicely balanced; almost too clean – probably want to consider fermenting at a higher temperature (it was fermented in the mid-60s) or using a more estery English yeast (used S-04)

As it goes sometimes, the last one was the best one for this batch. I think I’ll have to brew up another one of these fairly soon. I might even keg condition it and serve it cask-style out of the corny keg.

”Redneck in Prague” Bohemian Pilsner 2nd Tasting

I was watching my VCU Rams exact revenge against George Mason for their last second miracle we have dubbed the Valentine’s Day Massacre. I thought I might need a couple of beverages in case there was a similar outcome and I decided to do another tasting of the Bohemian “Pils” I brewed with kolsch ale yeast.

Aroma: malt sweetness and a hint of noble hop spiciness; no diacetyl, no fruity esters, clean; the fruity esters from the last tasting have definitely faded along with the hop aroma

Appearance: light gold; slightly cloudy; poured with ½ inch white head that persisted for the entire glass and left nice lacing

Flavor: neutral balance between malt and hops; slight malt sweetness nicely offset by firm bitterness; a hint of noble hop spiciness; firm bitter finish; no fruity esters

Mouthfeel: medium carbonation with medium to light body; no astringency or alcohol warmth

Overall impression: great malt/bitterness balance; a nice pilsner; I would like to see substantially more noble hop flavor; A BoPils should be very clear and this has some haze/cloudiness. Use a clarifying agent such as whirfloc or irish moss to clear

In comparing my first tasting to the second, the main things that jump out is the hop flavor/aroma that has definitely faded as well as the fruity esters that were too prominent in the first tasting; Head retention has definitely improved also – I can’t account for the reason. I do know that the one I drank after writing these tasting notes poured with a 2 inch dense head that lasted the entire pint

”Redneck in Prague” Bohemian Pilsner Tasting Notes

For this Bohemian Pilsner, I fermented with kolsch yeast for fear that I couldn’t ferment at the lower temperatures required by Czech lager yeast.

Aroma: light spicy hop aroma with a touch of fruity esters; no malt aroma

Appearance: dark straw/light gold; slightly cloudy; poured with ½ inch white head that quickly fell to a tight line at the surface; cloudiness lifts as the beer warms

Flavor: spicy hop flavor; enough bitterness to offset the malt sweetness; finishes with a bit of bitterness and spicy hop flavor on the back end

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with moderate carbonation; no alcohol warmth; finishes dry with no astringency

Overall impression: nice hop flavor and aroma; malt/hops/bitterness balance is great; lacking in malt complexity; fruity esters too prominent in aroma; poor head retention - possibly try a protein rest in the 130 – 135F range

In case it hasn't become obvious after reviewing the last few tasting notes, most of my beers suffer from a head retention problem. The next couple of batches, I'll probably do a short protein rest to see if that helps.

”Redneck Wheat” Tasting Notes

I sat down and filled out a BJCP scoresheet while drinking one of my American wheat beers.

Aroma: a light grainy malt aroma with slightly spicy (noble) and citrus hop aroma; no noticeable esters

Appearance: golden and cloudy; pours with a dense white head that gradually falls to the surface but persists as a tight line of white bubbles

Flavor: mild grainy malt flavor; just enough citrusy and noble/spice hop character to offset the malt; good malt/hop balance; finishes dry with a slight bitterness in the end

Mouthfeel: med-high carbonation; light body; no astringency; fluffy head

Overall impression: descent beer; nicely balanced between malt and hops; would like to see more wheat spiciness/graininess and better head retention; possibly try more unmalted wheat and/or a protein rest in the 130 – 135F range

“Redneck Saison” Tasting Notes

I am going to start completing a BJCP scoresheet to try to objectively evaluate each of my beers and hopefully provide ideas for improvements in the future. The first is the Redneck Saison.

Aroma: fruity smell – primarily apples and pears; no discernable malt or hop aroma

Appearance: pours a cloudy light gold with a fluffy white head that quickly fell to a thin tight line; head was easily roused by swirling the glass

Flavor: fruity apple or pear flavor accompanied by spicy phenols and a low spicy hop flavor; very light malt flavor; very dry finish

Mouthfeel: light body, prickly carbonation, no alcohol warmth detected

Overall impression: A nice balance of malt, hops, fruity esters and spicy phenols. Good example of the style. More noble hop character would help to complete the package. Would also like to see better head retention – possibly raise the amount of unmalted wheat and try a protein rest at 130 - 135F.

Amarillo Sky Tasting Notes

Sorry that it has been quite a while since I posted. Life has gotten in the way lately – it doesn’t help that my three daughters are on two separate swim teams. I thought I’d do some tasting notes from my Amarillo Sky split batch.

Amarillo Sky (SN yeast)
Aroma: Citrusy – the Amarillo hops smack you in the nose
Appearance: light amber with a decent white head with plenty of staying power, nice lacing
Flavor: bitter in the front and clean and citrusy thoughout, plenty of malt to support the hops
Mouthfeel: medium bodied, moderate carbonation, very refreshing

The notes would look very similar for the Belgianized version except that it had a small amount of peach and apple in both the aroma and flavor. The next time I brew something like this, I’ll cool down to around 60F and then ferment in my hot garage to try to get the fermentation up in the 80s and get the most fruitiness and spiciness out of the yeast.

Redneck Alt Tasting Notes

I had the opportunity to taste the Redneck Alt last night. Here are my notes:

Appearance: Deep copper, clear, thin off-white head that lasted through the entire pint

Nose: Malty, toasty, nutty, with slight hints of noble spiciness

Taste: Bitterness from beginning to end; Malty but the balance is definitely toward the bitterness; slight spicy hop flavor; toasty, nutty, almost chocolately but not quite; nice dry finish

Comparison to Style: I think it fits the style well. The biggest problems I see are the color – it may be a couple of SRM too dark (I’m calling it deep copper, but it may in fact be light brown), and the possible perception of chocolate, which would be out of place in competition.

I definitely enjoyed this beer and it came out as I imagined. If I brew it again, I’d probably add small 5 and 10 minute hop additions (yes, hophead, guilty as charged).