March 13, 2016: Tasting Notes (Amber Ale Two Ways)

This is a continuation of the home brew we started February 28, 2016.

Fermentation was finished by March 3, 2016 and we sampled the beer to obtain the gravity reading. We then dropped the temperature to -1 degree Celsius to facilitate chill haze formation and precipitation on March 4, 2016. We transferred to kegs on March 7, 2016 after Alex went to bed.

We tasted the beer on March 13, 2016 with Jesse, a friend and classmate.

Amber Ale Two Temperature Mash Stats:

Original Gravity: 1.0611

Final Gravity: 1.027

%ABV: 4.46

IBU: 41

Amber Ale Single Temperature Mash Stats:

Original Gravity: 1.0663

Final Gravity: 1.0298

%ABV: 5.12

IBU: 41

Notes:

• The final gravity it is clear we did not achieve full attenuation (~1.015).
• It is not surprising the aroma is very malty with very little hop aroma.
• Color is amber with a hint of red. Two temperature mash may be a bit darker.
• Beer is cloudy.
• Both beers live up to their malty aroma in flavor and are sweet. Very little hop bitterness is evident.
• The two temperature mash is dryer than the one temperature mash, but with the poor attenuation, difficult to distinguish.
• They are not bad . . . but they aren’t exactly good. Both beers are an excellent example of how bitterness from hops make beers drinkable by balancing the sweetness.
• Beers are drinkable if done in small amounts. Should not be paired with sweet foods.
• Single temperature mash is preferred.

Plan of Action:

Jesse talked us out of our panicked throw the kitchen sink at the next brew and got us back to a place of logical thinking.

What we know: poor attenuation, acetaldehyde aromas during fermentation, hint of diacetyl in finished beer. Yeast were pitched directly from the pure pack (no starter) and aeration was done by shaking the fermenter. We used WLP002 (British Ale yeast)

What this points to: Unhappy yeast because of lazy home brewers. Which is frustrating because we were careful in other aspects of our experiment.

What we will do for the next brew:

• Use a starter culture. ~1.5L for a 19L fermentation.
• Consider aeration of the wort with an aeration stone and oxygen (we just got a new oxygen tank).
• We will hold off on any bittering hop additions on the theory that the sweetness is overwhelming the bitterness.
• We will add more aroma hops at the end of the boil.
• We will take more frequent gravity measurements to better track fermentation.