Oh no do the lodo guys have you joining the cult? Are you sure the mash tasted different or any possible confirmation bias?
Perhaps a bit ....
But, I am curious if any of this is real, and if any of it makes a difference - ultimately for a beer like this NE IPA.
And..... no, not joining the cult.... at least not yet
Honestly, I am skeptical as to the level of difference it will make in a finished beer. I understand the detrimental role of oxygen.... and yet, reality suggests the entire beer-brewing world does not go to these extremes. However, I love brewing, love learning and am open minded to something others are obviously passionate about. It is not that hard to try it for myself. And, frankly, if there is something to it, I am very interested in applying it to my brewing if it makes my beer decidedly better. Also, let's face it - NE IPA's have their issues for sure - and a lot of those issues seem to be the interaction of hops/trub/yeast with oxygen. So, very interested to see if these processes make a difference. Will be brewing my NE IPA today or tomorrow with the same processes (and maybe some slightly different hopping) to see if there is any benefit. You just don't know if you don't try is the way I look at it.
But, yes, there was a distinct difference in the wort. No confirmation bias. I have always been a pretty big proponent of the impact of water additions and their impact on the perception of beer. When I recently brewed my NEIPA with 3 different profiles, I expected to be able to tell the difference. But when I tasted the resulting beers, I have to be the first to admit that there was just really no consistent, reliable way to tell the difference between them. I was looking to confirm my bias in that - and could not.
In regard to this, my bias tells me that it is total overkill and going to a whole lot of trouble over something that is probably a figment of someone's imagination as they look back fondly on a great beer they had on a great trip to Germany 20 years ago. I have probably brewed 60 batches of beer a year for the past 6-7 years..... and I taste the wort in every one. It honestly was decidedly different. This was so overwhelming unique and different to me compared to what I am used to wort tasting like. The "fresh grain" flavor of the wort was front and center.
All that said - I am still skeptical of how any of that translates to the final beer in my glass. I am skeptical if there will be any difference at all - or if the difference is significant enough to justify the additional attention to detail. And, I am even curious if there was a difference - who says I will even prefer the difference? I am actually not a big fan of "grainy" tasting beer. But, I figure 3-4 beers with these processes are worth the effort to check it out. I will definitely report back with whatever comes of it.
Another observation.... not that it currently means anything - but, the boil was quite different. Right from the beginning 5 minutes, and all the way through to the end - it looked like egg-drop soup. This is not what my boils normally look like. I had to scrape globs of gelatinous goo out of the bottom of my kettle at the end. What does that mean for beer? Who knows - maybe nothing. But, it was an odd difference. I attached a short clip of the boil.
View attachment boil.mov