Batch Two Tasting

By Mike | February 23, 2008

I’m a bit overdue on posting the results of batch number two. I haven’t done it yet mostly because I’m lazy, but also because I wasn’t entirely happy with the results. I think it has more to do with the style that I was brewing that anything I did wrong, but it is still a little frustrating to invest all that time in something without being satisfied by the end product.

I made a Fuggles IPA, named because if uses Fuggles hops. Now I love IPAs, but I don’t think I care for Fuggles hops. I didn’t know how much a difference hops could make, but this experience certainly enlightened me.

Normally I would assume that I had done something wrong or that my beer had been contaminated or something, but I received a number of beer sampler packs for Christmas, and one of the varieties was a Fuggles IPA which tasted similar to what I brewed.

As much as I’ve prepared you for the most awful tasting concoction a brewer can produce, it isn’t that bad. Its just different. I expect a some bitterness coupled with a citrusy aroma in my IPAs. The only word I can thing of to describe this is tangy. Its like an earthy, organic type taste that is completely unexpected and a bit off-putting. It only really lasts for the first sip or two though. After that, either you must get used to it because it starts to taste normal.

All in all I would consider this batch to a failure. I’m happy with how everything went, procedurally, and I definitely learned a lot and improved there, but the end result is something that I’m not excited to share with my friends. And I’m hesitant to share it, not because I have limited quantities, and the more I give away means the less I get, I’m hesitant to share it because I’m not proud of the product.

Oh well. Pretty soon it will be time for batch number three.

Topics: Brewing, Beer |

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Batch Two Tasting