American Brown Ale - Tasting Notes

This is my first attempt at an American Brown Ale which seems to essentially be a slightly more malty version of the American Pale Ale.  This beer was very hoppy a month ago but has mellowed a bit.  I used a friends home grown Cascades for this batch for a heavy dry hop.  His plants produce a pleasant spicy and herbal aroma which make for a nice beer.

This was the product of a pretty crappy brew day back in September (notes here).  I spilled about a gallon of mash water and opted to add some grain to have so hope of hitting the desired OG.  It turned out I overshot the OG actually.  I think the beer turned out very nicely despite the brew day problems.

I don't drink commercial beer very often as a home brewer.  I haven't actually had many beers of this style and haven't had one for quite some time (Moose Drool maybe 8 years ago).  I have to say I find it pretty pleasant.  The slightly toasty malt makes for an interesting flavor profile.  This is a style I will revisit.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Has a herbal and slightly grassy hop aroma.  I also get a slight bit of malt character in the background
• Appearance:
• Dark brown and very clear when held up to the light.  Pours with a 3 finger head on an aggressive pour.  The foam lingers for most of the glass.  Leaves lacing.
• Flavor:
• A bit of toasted bread-like malt flavor up from followed a little bit of hop flavor (I would say herbal and a slight citrus note which has faded as the beer aged).  The finish has a mild bitterness which is balanced by a bit of sweet malt/caramel flavor.  I get bit of alcohol flavor in the finish.  No yeast character.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied.  Very slightly sweet and pretty smooth drinking (no astringency).
• Overall:
• This is an easy drinking and nicely balanced beer.  It has enough going on to be interesting even thought the flavoring hops have mostly gone.  I think the 16+ oz Russian River bottles I used for this were a good choice.  It has a low enough ABV (5.78%) where that much beer doesn't really effect me and that bit of extra beer over the 12 oz bottles makes for a slightly more satisfying first beer of the day.

Belgian Tripel - Tasting Notes

I brewed up this beer back in July based on a clone of Tripel Karmeliet.  It is an interesting recipe for a Belgian Tripel as it leverages spices in addition to an expressive Belgian yeast to amp up the spicy character (Star Anise, Coriander, and Orange Peal).

It was a smooth brewday and I gave the beer a long time to complete fermentation and then cold crash (largely due to business/lazyness).  Ended up giving it more than 3 week at 34 F (2 of which were after fining).  It came out as probably the clearest beers I've made with almost no sediment in the bottle which is quite nice - still carbed up very nicely though.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Fruity yeast ester and spiciness come through most prominently.  They are well integrated and, aside from being able to pick out the star anise, it's not obvious the beer was spiced at all.  No obvious hop aroma and a very slight bit of malt comes through.
• Appearance:
• Gold and very clear.  Pours with a 3 finger head that settles down to a finger and lingers for at least 5 min.
• Flavor:
• Spicy and fruity flavors dominate.  The fruit is somewhat raisin like maybe.  Get a hint of orange (this was more prominent when it was fresher).  The finish has a mild hop bitterness with a bit of bready malt.  No alcohol comes through in the flavor.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium-light bodied and slightly sweet.  It is a very smooth drinking beer.
• Overall:
• A very complex and interesting beer.  Hides it's 8.6% ABV very well which is pretty typical of the style.  I haven't tried this side by side with Tripel Karmeliet yet but I believe it should be very close.