These are the tasting notes from our Belgian Blond (BB) and Vanilla Bourbon Imperial Porter (VBIP) extract/grain combination brew days. It should be noted that with this tasting Jess is suffering from allergy related stuffiness and could only be confident she drank beer; we are relying on Dave’s impressions since he is the less allergy-struck party. We will re-taste when our sinuses clear and most things no longer taste like well-chewed paper.
Belgian Blond
- Original gravity: 1.043
- Final gravity: 1.006
- % ABV: 4.9
- IBU: ~10
Visual Impressions: BB was darker than we were expecting (straw). Chill haze. Initial pour had good head, but foam stability is poor.
Aroma Impressions: Smelled strongly of cloves. No hop character. This was consistent with the aromas noted during fermentation.
Flavor Impressions: Dry. No hope bitterness. Phenolic after taste.
Vanilla Bourbon Imperial Porter
- Original gravity: 1.083
- Final gravity: 1.010
- % ABV: 9.8
- IBU: Data for calculations not captured
Visual Impressions: VBIP is dark. Initial pour had some head, but foam stability poor.
Aroma Impressions: Vanilla. Bourbon. Hint of leather (phenolic). No prominent hop aroma.
Flavor Impressions: Vanilla and bourbon present, but not overwhelming. Bitter after taste, but not harsh. Dry. Creamy mouth feel.
Notes
- We forgot again and did all our fermenter and keg cleaning with water straight from the tap. The chlorination could be why the phenolic aroma is present in the VBIP and enhancing the natural phenolic character (due to yeast strain) of the BB.
- The starter culture improved our attenuation. Forced fermentation wort studies will be conducted on wort batches in the future to determine final attenuation.
- DATA! Still need pipetters for performing accurate dilutions, but once these are obtained, Jess is looking forward to constructing yeast growth curves to go along with the specific gravity curves. This is a late developing thought, but the pH of the fermentation can also be tracked, logged, and graphed.
Wandervogel with the McElvains 