It’s my Friday and I work graveyard right now, so don’t beat me up.
I’m sitting here enjoying a minute of home brew catharsis before calling it a day. Enjoying a glass of that double mash Imperial Stout i bottled up a couple weeks back. So, I found a je ne sais quoi in an English IPA recently, at first thought was from too much SO4. Maybe it was. But over time it kind of started hitting me as ‘boiled peanut’. This RIS has been pretty enjoyable so far, the few bottles I’ve tried over the past couple weeks. This one tonight has something subtle I can’t put my finger on. Not awful, just… hmmm. It has fuggles in it. So did the English IPA. It’s probably just off taste buds on this one, because I never got it before. But im starting to wonder why I need to use fuggles, LOL.
Any light specialty blended in with Pilsner – Vienna, Munich, CaraHell, you name it. These are meant to add complexity to a pale wort, but, to my palate, they just muddy the flavor. Somehow seems less malty to me. Straight up base malt, to me, gives a much more well-defined and rich malt flavor. This is a lesson I have to relearn periodically, and I just tapped a fresh keg of learning this weekend.
I did have a German IPA from Spital when in Regensburg that the brewer said had Herkules for bittering, and Hallertau Cascade and Mandarina Bavaria for the later additions and dry hops. One of the better German IPAs that I have had, but more malt than we are used too.
I have a love/hate relationship with Summit hops. I love the tangerine character, but I haven’t been able to use it without getting a savory onion ring/asiago character from it. I get a weird savory herbal character from Sorachi Ace from time to time as well, but it’s hit or miss.
It might be mind over matter, but I just don’t enjoy WY2007. There is a fermentation character that reminds me of AB lagers that I just do not enjoy.
I’m getting to a point of being done with Nottingham…I’m feeling like I’m not quite getting what I want from it. Going to brew some lagers, followed by a round of Norwegian ales.
I love marzen Oktoberfest lagers – the amber kind, not the yellow. I used WLP820 numerous times before finally realizing that it’s got to be the worst lager yeast on Earth. Couldn’t get an FG below like 1.020. Switched over to anything else and always get a better product. Current fave is 2206, which according to the old references is supposedly “equivalent” to WLP820 but let me tell you, it is absolutely NOT equivalent!!!
Also have had difficulties brewing a good hefeweizen for the past 15 years. I used to be good at it, but I think then became too educated for my own good. I should probably do a really shoddy extract batch next time and just be done with it, party like it’s 1999.
My local brewpub’s beers all have that same “boiled peanut” flavor you describe. However, I’m pretty sure that most don’t use fuggles. I mean their “Helles” has that flavor…
That keg blew a couple weeks ago. It’s hard to go totally by memory. The mid palate thing I’m convinced was high sulfate. The peanut thing was subtle, and I suppose one could also call it “earthy” so I’m thinking it’s fuggles.