Piety and scholarship under Lupulos.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Observations on Pining for Pliny

First of all, something completely blew my mind about this batch. I split the wort into 2 fermenters and inoculated one with an American Ale and the other with a Duvel yeast. I lost track of which was which (dumbass). Weirdly, one of the batches took a complete nose dive. Fermenter activity was seemingly strong for both, as measured by bubbling in the airlock. The "normal" one turned out fine. The "bad" one had weird qualities. It was nearly flat even after 3 weeks in the bottle. It tasted watery and overly bitter. The former 2 lead me to suspect a problem with the yeast. Not enough? Weirdly, the beer transformed into a ruby red color. I even tried on homebrewtalk which is usually an oracle for this shit. They had no clue. WTF did I do?

I am noticing my tastes change in time. I am definitely less of a hophead than I used to be. The DIPAs just don't do it for me like they used to (Pliny the Elder remains the eternal exception). My interest in Belgian beers, particularly lambics, has renewed my appreciation for dryness and fostered an appreciation for acidity. The new P4P I brewed seems to have gained ground in the latter respect. Does this mean it's the Duvel yeast at work, or my own perceptions kicking in?

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