I was going to post this with the last post but decided to do it separately instead. I was eager to try the beer that Lauren made (with my help) so during the course of the weekend I pour little samples to see how the carbonation was coming and then adjusted the CO2 accordingly. By Sunday afternoon it was pretty well carbonated, though it will probably get a little better. Pretty well was apparently good enough for me though because I drank two small glasses of it just to make sure it was okay.
My first impression was that it’s very murky. It looks like there is a lot of junk floating in it. That might be just because of the yeast we used, which i designed to hang in suspension, or it might be chill haze. Or, it could be more strawberry junk settled to the bottom of the keg getting pulled up through the dip tube. If that’s the case it should clear up as more beer is taken out of the keg.
Another thing I noticed visually was the head. At first there was way too much head on this beer, but that’s probably from some overzealous CO2 pressures. Once I got the pressure dialed in to something that I felt was style appropriate, I got about an inch of head on 3 inches of beer. It didn’t stick around too long though, and by the time I was near the bottom of the glass there was a quarter to half an inch of head on it.
The beer definitely smells like strawberries. You can’t miss it. I don’t know that it’s overwhelming, but it might be. If you’re shooting for strawberry, how much aroma is too much? But it’s definitely enjoyable, which is good.
Now the flavor is interesting. To me it tastes exactly like I’m eating a strawberry, but Lauren disagrees. I think it’s the difference between eating an actual strawberry and eating something with strawberry flavoring. I can’t really describe it, but when I eat strawberries I get a taste in the back of my mouth. A tartness maybe? Anyway, I get that exact same taste when I drink this beer. It’s sweet, but I don’t think it’s too sweet. But it’s also not too dry, which is something I was afraid would happen after adding all the fruit in.
I like it. Of course I am biased, so I am going to have to see what other people think about it.
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