Bringing this thread back to life since my batch just finished carbonation.
Aroma: Nice hop forward aroma, but not overpowering. Mostly citrus and fruit, minimal yeast character but some malt character.
Appearance: Bright clear gold, can read through the glass. Creamy off white head with some larger bubbles, falls quickly with good lace.
Flavor: Low forward hop bitterness but good hop flavor. Citrus again in the flavor, along with some floral hop character to my mouth. Fairly sweet, with some lingering sweetness towards the back of the tongue. Carbonation is moderate to high so some bite there which might exaggerate the hop bitterness in the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Good body to balance the moderate carbonation, very smooth drinking beer.
Overall I am very happy with the way this beer turned out. I am not sure that I hit a Moon Man, there are some flavors especially around the aftertaste that I think are common to my process and are likely imperfections, but this is obviously a solid recipe. In general I think I was a little too sweet compared to my last bottle of Moon Man, and I don't remember as much lingering after-taste in the commercial example. I love this base beer, and if I change anything when I brew it again it will be to personal taste not to get closer to Moon Man.
Be Careful - This is a VERY Drinkable beer. I pulled one pint and wasn't sure how I felt about it so I had to pull a second. After the second I was sure there was something in the aftertaste I couldn't quite identify. By the end of the third I was thinking I had it figured out, and when I finished the fourth pint I knew what it was -> Too Drinkable :cross:
Process Notes:
I forgot to do a Mash-Out step... Doh! My efficiency was 5-10% lower than I have gotten with BIAB in the past, and I give some of that to the missed mash-out. The rest may have come from a new milled grain source (YVH).
I subbed a limited release Wyeast sample (Mount Hood). It left more yeast character than I remember in the commercial and I think I might like that.
I fined the batch with gelatin during the cold crash, I like the results of that. I also grabbed a pint jar of the yeast slurry to re-pitch in my next batch. Fermented at 66 all the way through, dry hopped for 7 days, cold crashed to 34.
The recipe and my brew log are attached if anyone cares.