just a taste ...

I got to try my second batch of brew last night in its fully finished state. There was plenty of carbonation and the color was pretty much what you would expect out of a bock, as you can clearly see.

The taste is what got me, though. It had a "roasty", almost smoky flavor. I didn't add anything to this kit and it had no roasted grains at all (as a matter of fact only one pound of grain total). It may get that from the Munich LME (liquid malt extract), but it was unexpected. Nonetheless, it is a tasty brew to say the least, and I am pretty happy with it.

Now, the IPA I brewed (my third batch), well I am not sure. I bottled it up last night and, of course, set enough aside to sample. It was very citrusy, which I was kind of targeting, but it only had a *slight* hint of hops.

It's an IPA! It should be loaded with hop flavor, but the citrus taste took over.

I did add 15 oz. of lime juice (to 5 gallons of wort) to "enahnce" the citrusy flavor I was hoping for. I may  just want to step that down a bit for next time.    

It was drinkable, but just wasn't what you would expect from an IPA. The kit came with only 3.5 oz. of hops, which, I know now, is low for an IPA. I have seen quite a few IPA recipes that require more than double that.

I did add 2 oz. of Citra hops to the secondary to give it some more hop flavor. Citra, which the name implies, is a citrusy type of hop. This and the lime juice just took over the beer.

However, it still only has a -hint- of hoppiness. I wish I would've added another 2 oz. of a different style hop to counter the overwhelming citrus flavor.


Sooo ... with the excess lime juice, lack of hops, and dry hopping with the wrong hops, or not enough of another style ... it's fermented grapefruit juice (wine?).  ; )    Again, it was drinkable, but not what I expected. Dad really liked it, though, so that is good.

Maybe once it carbonates some of that overwhelming citrus flavor will be subdued some and it will be a little more balanced. Time will tell.