This was our second attempt at an amber ale, following on from our reasonably successful Headspace Amber Ale that we made last year. We changed the recipe slightly this time around, firstly as our local brew shop was out of the Gladfield Shepherd's Delight malt that we think really made the difference in our first attempt, but we also like to try out different hop varieties and malt combinations - and we feel we definitely learnt a few things after making this beer. A late change a couple of weeks after kegging actually seemed to turn this beer around, as to be honest, we weren't all that pleased with how it initially turned out, but in the end it turned out great!
Before we get into the more structured review details, let's recap how this one turned out, post-fermentation. Initially after kegging the beer, we just weren't happy with the overall flavour profile. There was way too much bitterness, even astringency, which we attributed to the CTZ dry hop. This was our first lesson - no more dry hopping with CTZ hops! Even though there was only 15g of CTZ along with 30g each of Cascade and Chinook, it really seemed to dominate the flavour profile.
Secondly, the residual sweetness was just too high, and it overpowered the hops. This made for a beer that was somewhat out of balance. There was sweetness from the malt, and bitterness from the hops, but not much else in between. Certainly not enough of those piney, earthy and floral notes that you'd expect from the Cascade and Chinook hops, and it just didn't taste right. It mellowed out a little over the coming weeks but we still weren't happy with how it was, so we opted to dry hop in the keg.
In order to do this, we ordered a hop infuser, loaded it up with some cryo Cascade, regular Cascade and the Chinook hops we had left over, purged the keg, then transferred from the current keg, to the new keg with the dry hops.
And what a difference this made - it literally saved this beer and turned it around, possibly more so than we thought it would.
Next time we make an amber ale we're going to try and avoid using medium crystal malt. Even with the relatively small amount we used here (400g), it really does dominate, and if you do use it, you really need to increase the dry hopping rate to get the hop flavour to match and balance it out. We'll be keeping this in mind for future recipes.
Appearance
This one certainly looks the part, although there is a very persistent haze that we're just not able to shake, even after a month or two in the keg. The colour is great with a nice deep amber colour and a fluffy off-white head - exactly what you'd expect with an amber ale.
Aroma
There's plenty of malt sweetness on the nose with this one, particularly the sweet caramel notes from the medium crystal malt we incorporated. There's also some fresh pine, earthy characteristics that come through from the cascade hops, especially after our second dose of dry hops in the keg.
Flavour
The flavour here is exactly what you would expect from a classic American Amber Ale. There's barely a more distinct American hop flavour than Cascade, and it's certainly the prominent hop flavour here. The Chinook hops blend in nicely to give some really nice floral, piney and earthy flavours. There's a decent amount of bitterness too - from the boil hops, CTZ in the dry hop, but also a small amount of dark crystal malt that gives a slight bitterness and helps to dry out the finish somewhat.
The malt plays along nicely as well, but the crystal malt really does try and push through the hop flavours. We think we also missed the complexity that some special malt like Shepherd's Delight can also introduce in the flavour profile and balance.
Final Thoughts
This one was fairly close to being dumped, but we're glad we persevered and opted to dry hop in the keg which completely turned this beer around. Ultimately, we're really happy with how it turned out, and we've definitely learned a couple of things about recipe creation. To recap; no more dry hopping with CTZ hops - they're just too bitter and don't really contribute any beneficial flavours after the boil/whirlpool. Secondly, hold back on the medium crystal - dial it back even more, or alternatively, try and use something else instead to reach the desired amber colour. The caramel flavours really tend to dominate, so dry hopping rates need to be increased significantly if using crystal malt to help balance things out.
Finally, it pays to try new things and we're glad we opted to spend a few extra bucks for some extra hops to try our hand at keg hopping (dry hopping in a keg) for the first time
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