Sunday, July 22, 2012

Tasting the Grapefruit Honey Ale (Batch #1)

As a reward for completing the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance 50 Mile Race, I allowed myself to crack open a homebrew, and enjoy it in my new hard earned pint glass. Here are the results...


Appearance: Golden, and fairly clouded. Head had big, coarse bubbles, with little retention, and almost no lacing.

Smell: Just a hint of hops, and lacking any citrus notes. Would have hoped for more of both. Malt was present, but not over pronounced.

Taste: Tastes like beer! Again, the hop flavors and grapefruit presence seemed non-existent. There were hardly any hints of honey, and while there were no off flavors, I'm wondering if I should have made a better effort to cool the fermentation temperature.

Drinkability: I wouldn't drive across town to drink this, but since I made it, I want to make it again, and make it better.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation was good, but the bubbles big. Not over-carbonated, but just a bit coarse. Definitely not thin, rather I felt it was well balanced.

Notes: Take Gravities! Ferment in a more controlled environment, and check yeast temp recommendations. Maybe rack to a secondary, and let it settle another week or two at cooler temps. DON'T FORGET TO PUT THE HONEY IN THE WORT. Maybe bump up the flavor & aroma hops.

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