Trois IPA Review

My previous "Brett IPAs" were probably the best IPAs I have ever produced. Can I duplicate that success? If not it would suggest a problem with the quality of my ingredients or process, since I know the recipe is good (although this one only differs by use of Lemon Drop rather than Cascade Hops). Variation in the quality of the product likely is therefore a result of ingredient quality and / or process variation.

Appearance: Fairly hazy with non-flocculent Trois yeast. Golden / light orange color with persistent white head and good lacing. Even after the first few pours from the keg, a small bit of hop material gets into the galls.

Aroma: Fruity hops, grapefruit, pine, slight dank / piney. Nelson comes through nicely but not as intensely as I would like.

Taste: Dry and bitter, with fruity hop quality mixed with piney / grassy notes. The hop flavors are juicy but bitterness counteracts that character. Bitterness is a little harsh. Doesn't have much in the way of malt flavors.

Mouthfeel: Light, dry body with moderate-high carbonation level. Maybe a little minerally-ness.

Overall: Well I'm disappointed. It's definitely not like my previous versions of this brew. The results here surely point to the need to 1) use the freshest possible ingredients especially hops for this style and 2) control my process sufficiently so that I can clone my own recipes with minimum variation in the final product. To match by previous brews of this style, this beer needs to be intensely aromatic, less bitter, and have a juicier hop character in the taste. Overall this beer is pleasant but not as remarkably good as my previous brews with this recipe.

Russian Stout 2 Tasting

My second Russian Stout is now 11 months old, and this time around it was done with the benefit of a kegging system with which to dial in the right volume of carbonation. However, since I would prefer not to have a keg of 10% beer in my 2-tap kegorator, I have bottled this beer using my new toy, a Last Straw counter-pressure filler.

Appearance: Deep black and opaque. Dark tan head which dissipates a little too quickly but leaves decent lacing.

Aroma: Malty sweet, roasted malts, moderate dried fruit like raisins or plum. Earthy and woody. Whiskey aroma, if any, is quite light. Hope aroma is low to none. I was hoping for more of dry-fruit notes from the WLP007. Aroma improves as it warms.

Taste: Like the aroma. Fairly sweet but not cloying. Roasty quality and sweetness well balanced, so that it's not acrid or over-roasted. Boozy and warming but alcohol is pretty smooth. Hop bitterness mixes well with the other flavors. Hints of wood blend well with other flavors. Maybe some dry tannic quality in the aftertaste. Complex and difficult to describe.

Mouthfeel: Thick and viscous but not as syrupy as Port wine. Carbonation is low to moderate.

Overall: An intense and complex sipping beer. Very pleasant as a winter warmer. No flaws or off-flavors as far as I can really tell. In my view this iteration is smoother than my previous one, as this beer is better balanced between the sweetness and roasty/acrid flavors. The whiskey / oak combo is very subtle and might not be detectable except if the drinker knows that whiskey / wood was added, which is not surprising given the intensity of the underlying beer style and the melding of the flavors.

 

Baltic Porter Review

 
Appearance: Very dark brown, but not quite opaque when held to the light. Thin but persistent tan head. Good lacing.

Aroma: A unique biscuity and intensely chocolate nose. Not quite like any of the other beers I've made. Bittersweet chocolate mixed with bread crust or the like. Maybe like a chocolate desert cake? As it warms I get some earthy or spicy hop notes but overall the impression of bittersweet chocolate predominates.
 
Taste: Leads with a taste similar to the nose. I get bittersweet chocolate, some coffee and crystal malt sweetness, again with an interesting biscuity quality. Perhaps surprisingly given the amount of roasted grains, I do not get any acrid characteristics - either they're not there or the sweetness and bready character covers them up. At the end, some nice alcohol warming brought about by the 9% or so ABV. Crystal malty sweetness but definitely not cloying. Hop bitterness mixes cleanly with alcohol and roasty notes. Clean lager fermentation, with no off-flavors that I can detect. I don't really get any fermentation esters or dried-fruit notes.

Mouthfeel: Thick and chewy without being cloying. No acridness. Aftertaste is pretty smooth for a boozy beer. Carbonation on the low/moderate end - I don't think I would change.

Overall: I'm very happy with it. It has a clean, complex aroma and taste with a really interesting mix of bread / biscuit and chocolate roast. The balance between sweetness and acrid / roast is much more even here than it was in either of my Russian stouts. It's a sipping beer, but more drinkable than a RIS. I'd like to try this style again. My guess is that the Amber Malt is driving the biscuity flavors.

As to how close it tastes to the Smuttynose Baltic Porter, I'll do another taste test with my wife and eventually I will get some feedback from the clone competition. That will all be for another post.