It’s been a bit of a slog lately so I’ve failed to report on the last two beers to hit the fridge.
Black Squirrel
The Squirrel is the first repeat brew we’ve tried. The first batch was quickly consumed and highly regarded. The second time around things are equally good. I did cut down on the CO2 volumes because the last go round was a little over-carbed for the style.
It pours smoothly with a slight head that sticks around for just a bit. The flavor has nice malty tones up front that mellow to a nutty finish. The lower carbonation leaves this one with a fairly toothless bite. If the mouth feel was thicker, this would be a dry stout. Very quaff-able and low enough ABV to not smack you upside the head after having a few. I’m interested in trying to port this to an all-grain recipe but am hesitant just because the extract kit is so tasty.
Orange Moon
I’ve tried this one Wednesday evening and am quite pleased overall. The heavy citrus smell that came out of the fermenter was not as prominent as I thought it would be in the final product. I was also expecting a heavier clove kick to it since we pitched Belgian yeast strain. More Hoegaarden than Blue Moon. I think the cooler fermentation temps kept the ester formation to minimum. In the end, we got pretty close to Blue Moon.
Pours a cloudy light blonde with well-formed head that persisted for as long as I had it in a glass. Quite effervescent and highly carbed–almost more a wheat ale than a wit. Next time around I’d carb to 2.5 vols instead of the 3.5 BeerAlchemy suggested. The flavor was not as citrus/clove as I had expected and might be more subtle than the beer I tried to clone. I think I’d consider racking on top of zest in a secondary next time around. The coriander is noticeable and helps boost the fruit flavors. At 6% ABV, she packs a little more wallop than previous brews. Also mostly bottled in half liter flippies so care will be required when drinking these.
I really think I’m going to like this one. Definitely have some tweaks to the recipe and process in mind.