My biggest concern is that my extraction was incredibly low, only 47%, and that might affect the balance of the beer. It smelled incredible, though! We'll see how that turns out in a few weeks. My last batch, a nut brown, is ready for a first taste this Sunday. I'm excited! And I haven't touched my first batch in a while. I'm curious to see how that's been aging, too.
Speaking of desert beers, here's a
Lagunitas Brown Shugga’ Sweet Release
BG Poured from a 12 fl oz (355ml) bottle into a stemmed tulip, 9.9% ABV, Bottled 328 3 (Julian Date Code = 11/24/14), OG: 1.100, IBU: 51.1
A Copperish-amber in color with three fingers of dense, khaki foam. When that head finally sinks down, a gorgeous mosaic of lacing clings in its place. Very brilliant.
A Milk chocolate and piney hops share the spotlight on my first sniff. It smells like a delicious treat found deep in the depths of the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory, yet to be discovered. As I swirl, more of those piney hop notes come forward, but there’s a hearty malt backbone there, too. Tree bark, malted milk balls. It doesn’t smell intensely sweet, but I can’t help but feel like I’m in a pine tree-filled candy store.
T Resinous, woah… I’m waiting and waiting for this brown sugar part to hit, and BAM! A brown sugar bomb drops mid-palate and crashes on through with a splash of herbal, almost minty hops. Dark honey, pecans, so much caramelly brown sugar, it becomes a little cloying as I continue to drink. Hops are not just along for the ride here. They feature themselves almost as prominently as the sweet malt, and thankfully so.
M There’s a spearmint-like refreshing quality, and a sugar-syrupy coating on the mouth
A Sticky sweet caramelized sugar, toasted cereal grains
C This is definitely a dessert beer. There’s a ton going on here, and your palate will be exhausted after one glass. It’s tasty, but loud. I totally wasn’t expecting the amount of hops this brew packs. As I drank, I realized how necessary it was to balance out this sugar bomb. I also very much enjoyed the hoppy, minty character. This beer is a great example of two extremes, the malt and hops, living in harmony. In fact, these two do a great job of distracting you from the 9.9% ABV.
FP Pecan pie with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Roast chicken with au gratin potatoes and broccolini. White cheddar popcorn.
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