Vital Statistics:
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Recipe: 18 lb Maris Otter 10 AAU (56g @ 5% AA) East Kent Goldings @ 60 1 Irish Moss tablet @ 15 min Wyeast 1728 - Scottish Ale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General Notes: Used yeast cake from batch #21. First use of new mash tun. Boiled down 12 quarts of first runnings to about 4 quarts to caramelize some sugars. Boil was on high, so it caramelized pretty dark; sugars may have been starting to burn. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tasting Notes: Tasting notes taken 3 September 2010. Kegging situation is still not at all perfect, and I'm still monkeying with settings, but we'll see what we get. Poured straight from tap into my tulip glass. Appearance: dark, murky brown color with a good finger of dense ivory foam with a bit of an amber cast. Color is very good and, while the head doesn't have much staying power, it is still rather nice. (4) Smell: light but very nice malt aroma. Despite its low intensity, the malt is complex and caramelly with some nice dark fruit aromas. This baby's base is all malt, though, and makes that fact known. I really like it. (4) Taste: quite good indeed. Rich, complex malt flavors center on caramel notes and dry, musty mediterranean fruits. There's also a slight breadiness here which complements the flavors quite well. Bitterness is light but is definitely noticeable; I'm quite happy with the amount of hops in this brew. This beer is pretty tasty despite its imperfect carbonation. (4) Mouthfeel: body is pretty thick and rich with a nice silkiness. Carbonation is not yet perfected, but the rich body combined with the amount of bubbles I'm currently getting provides a nice creaminess that coats the mouth in solid fashion. Quite nice indeed. (4) Drinkability: super smooth and drinkable despite the sky-high ABV. I mean, dangerously drinkable. I mean, I may not make it home tonight ... and I'm already *at* home. (4) Overall score of 4.0 (B+). This is probably my best beer yet; it's certainly the highest I've rated one of mine. When I first tapped this over a month ago, it was still way too hot and needed some bulk aging. Since then, it has calmed down and really come into its own. I'm going to sit on it awhile longer and taste it in a few months with both a) some good age on it and b) an appropriate carbonation level. Carb now isn't bad, but I'll admit it's a bit forced and rather imperfect. I can't wait to re-review this in a month or two and see how things are going. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hops Table
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