Couldn't wait for full carbonation so I poured a pint from the keg, which has been sitting some 55 hours at 25psi. Huge, creamy head but still lacking sufficient carbonation. Should be fully carbed and ready by Sunday/Monday.
Some tasting notes...
Super clear, deep mahogany color which is visible around the edges, too dark to see through the pint glass. As I said above, a big, fluffy tan head that doesn't seem to want to go away.
Aroma is very maple-ey. Not sweet maple syrup, but an earthy, freshly cut maple tree smell. Can almost visualize maple sap running down the side of the cup. Very feint hop aroma lurking beneath the maple. Some toasted barley aroma balances out any sweetness in the smell.
Taste. Wow, this thing packs a wallop! Full frontal flavor assault on the tongue. Very strong maple flavor, but not so syrupy as opposed to just maple. It's definitely the dominant flavor, but it's not a bad thing at all. There's a strong, and I mean strong toasted maplewood flavor that lingers after the sweet dissapates. It borders on astringent, but doesn't quite cross that line in my mind. I used raw maple chips in the secondary, no toasting, so I'm blown away by this flavor, completely unexpected. The malt backbone is detectable underneath the maple, but it's not showing enough to be able to pick it out of the lineup. Hop bitterness is almost nowhere to be found, but it doesn't seem too unbalanced on the sweet side. Single malt scotch is noticable on the breath and in the lingering aftertase. I guess I used enough of that... Although this hit about 10%abv, I can't taste a lick of alcohol in it, other than the scotch flavor in the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel. Unfortunately, this one is still a bit thin since it's not fully carbed yet. It's smooth and will definitely come into its own with time (if it last that long).
I'll definitely brew this one again. I'll probably up the IBU by about 10 with the cascade, but leave the aroma alone. Don't want to conflict with what I have now.
Please post up the results to this thread if any of you try this one, especially if you convert to AG. My next attempt on this will be AG and I'll probably use an even mix of golden promise, maris otter, and rahr 2-row in place of the extract.
Last edited by Mischief_Brewing; 06-26-2010 at 12:56 AM.
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