It was a bitter sweet evening at the main tap of my kegerator tonight. I floated my keg of Big House Ale IV. Normally this would just be sad, not for this brew. This recipe is an institution at my house. I almost always have a keg on hand, as it's my house brew. Number four will go down in my log book as a dud, and I have my theories about why. First let's do the tasting.
Appearance
Slightly darker than the U of M maize that was shooting for but brilliantly clear. Beautiful lingering white head that leaves more than adequate lacing down the glass.
Aroma
Like a warning shot over the nose, even after months in the keg, right up front is fruity yeastyness. If you search you can get some citrus and some fresh bread crust.
Taste
Up front is a brief hope of peppery bread, but, as warned warned your nose, yeast that is chewing tutti frutti takes the ride over. After is the blessed redemption of bitterness followed up by more fruity yeast on the breath out.
Mouth feel
It is medium bodied with enough carbonation to lighten it to medium light. Would be a good transition season brew.
If you can get past the offense of yeast in a perfectly clear beer. Here's what I think the issue is. I used washed yeast with out a starter. My only guess is that I stressed the US - 05 that had been in the fridge for almost 2 months. I have used much older yeast, but only after waking them up in a starter. I mush have stressed the poor things out and they punished me by leaving an unmistakable mark on this brew. A mistake I do not plan to make again.
I may be digging, but when I tasted that beer I did not get any hop presence. I wonder if adding some gypsum to your boil would improve hop character because of the increased sulfate: chloride ratio.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember that ever being a problem prior to Big House Ale IV; I-III did well as I recall. Big House V is scheduled to be the brew after next, so I guess we will see soon enough. I will either use a starter or a fresh package for it. I try not to make the same mistake twice; this one should be easy enough to avoid.
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