American Bitter - Tasting Notes

This beer was brewed with a classic English Bitter recipe (which included invert syrup #3 and flaked maze) and hopped with the American Hop Cascade (dry hopped with a friend's home grown hops) - therefor I called this an American Bitter.

It has been 2 months since I bottled this beer.  It started out with a very pronounced hop flavor and aroma.  This faded after the first few week and has left a beer with a nice balance between bitterness and a nice malt backbone.

After a few weeks in the bottle I noted the beers had developed a slight pellicle.  None of the bottles have over carbonated or shown any signs of infection in the flavor.

I've been drinking these quickly (my only fresh hoppy beer left).  Happy to finally be getting around to recording some tasting notes.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Bready malt and earthy/herbal hops on the nose.  The hop aroma has faded quite a bit in the two months since bottling.
• Appearance:
• Golden/light copper color.  Very clear.  Pours with a 3 finger head that slowly dissolves down to a thin layer.  Leaves lacing on the glass.  Light carbonation after the pour.
• Flavor:
• Up front the flavor is primarily the malt which is bready and slightly sweet.  There may also be a bit of caramel mixed in.  Grassy and herbal hops come in strong in the middle and then linger into the finish with a smooth bitterness.  The balance is tilted a bit towards the hops but the sweet malt is able to come through nicely as well.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and fairly dry.  It is a smooth and easy drinking beer with no astringency.
• Overall:
• This is a really pleasant, flavorful, low alcohol beer.  I find the malt character to be nicely complex and very enjoyable.  Fresh, the beer was somewhat similar to a session IPA with some pretty pronounced floral hops.  Now that those have faded it is very much like an English Bitter - I've enjoyed all phases of it's evolution.