After reading about beer/homebrewing for a few months, then making 7 of my own extract batches, listening to the brewing network podcasts, the Jamil shows, preparing myself to go all grain, etc... 1 year later it seems like the one thing that everyone talks about in a truly good beer is balance.
I'm having trouble telling if my beers are "balanced" or not. I didn't notice this until I brewed my first APA. It's a extract with steeping grains and dry hopped beer recipe from my LHBS.
It's been in the bottle for 4 weeks now after spending 2 weeks in the primary and another 2 and a half in the secondary, and it tastes great.
So... There isn't a huge hop nose on it. When you first drink it, you can taste the hop bitterness (and it's great), but it finishes really malty.
My expectations for an APA start with a classic Sierra Nevada, and then I go from there. So, In order to help you gauge the beer I made - it has much less of a floral aroma as a Sierra Nevada would (despite my 1 min hop additions and dry hopping). It has almost an identical hop bitterness when it's in your mouth. When it's all said and done, its a malty finish and I'm left thinking I brewed a malty beer with a little hop bitterness.
I ended up with exact hydrometer readings and a 6.9% beer. So, everything seems right on target.
Was it the recipe?
I'm having trouble telling if my beers are "balanced" or not. I didn't notice this until I brewed my first APA. It's a extract with steeping grains and dry hopped beer recipe from my LHBS.
It's been in the bottle for 4 weeks now after spending 2 weeks in the primary and another 2 and a half in the secondary, and it tastes great.
So... There isn't a huge hop nose on it. When you first drink it, you can taste the hop bitterness (and it's great), but it finishes really malty.
My expectations for an APA start with a classic Sierra Nevada, and then I go from there. So, In order to help you gauge the beer I made - it has much less of a floral aroma as a Sierra Nevada would (despite my 1 min hop additions and dry hopping). It has almost an identical hop bitterness when it's in your mouth. When it's all said and done, its a malty finish and I'm left thinking I brewed a malty beer with a little hop bitterness.
I ended up with exact hydrometer readings and a 6.9% beer. So, everything seems right on target.
Was it the recipe?