
Bluebird is now go
Update:
This is a cracker of a pint, and I now know that Challenger taste I have enjoyed in so many beers before
.
It has a balanced mouthfeel, there is a sweet caramel smell which I assume is Diactyl(sp??), and a great waft of the floral challenger. Taste is balanced first you get the aroma and then the bittering, but not to over powering, which is followed by a long aftertaste that has a hint of ginger, there is also another taste that I cannot describe though it is very pleasing.
This has to be the first beer that I feel the hop balance has been great, which I think is down to Ross's advice of adding a teaspoon of table salt to the boil.
Well chuffed, this single hop learning curve is helping me identify the tastes that I have experienced in other beers and seems to be really educating my palate.
I would really recommend this method to any aspiring AGers out there as you brew and learn about tastes you have experienced in the pub. And like tasting ingredients when cooking it allows you to understand what a hop can bring to a beer.
This is a cracker of a pint, and I now know that Challenger taste I have enjoyed in so many beers before

It has a balanced mouthfeel, there is a sweet caramel smell which I assume is Diactyl(sp??), and a great waft of the floral challenger. Taste is balanced first you get the aroma and then the bittering, but not to over powering, which is followed by a long aftertaste that has a hint of ginger, there is also another taste that I cannot describe though it is very pleasing.
This has to be the first beer that I feel the hop balance has been great, which I think is down to Ross's advice of adding a teaspoon of table salt to the boil.
Well chuffed, this single hop learning curve is helping me identify the tastes that I have experienced in other beers and seems to be really educating my palate.
I would really recommend this method to any aspiring AGers out there as you brew and learn about tastes you have experienced in the pub. And like tasting ingredients when cooking it allows you to understand what a hop can bring to a beer.
I have a great belief in if its good don't screw with it. eg. If you have a fine steak why do you want to hide it behind a myriad of complicated sauces.DaaB wrote:Thanks for the update, imo it's the simple brews that are the best
The balancing of hops and malts is a fine balance between, the sublime ,the nonedescript and the awful. And as a beginner I wish to understand the great single hop styles. It can be easy to be drawn into the world of emulation recipes, and yet without the brewing of single hop beers, how do you know what is going on?
I do believe that goldings, challenger and fuggles can on their own produce some stunning beers, that we as homebrewers can forget about in the mad dash for clone beers

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Sounds absolutely great 

drinking: ~ | conditioning: ~ | primary: ~ | Looks like I need to get brewing then...
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Sounds like a great one.
I keep telling myself that I am going to follow your method - focus on learning the characteristics of one ingredient at a time or changing one thing at a time but I keep opening up Wheeler and finding various brews I want to try first.
Maybe around June of next year I will take the prodigal approach!
I keep telling myself that I am going to follow your method - focus on learning the characteristics of one ingredient at a time or changing one thing at a time but I keep opening up Wheeler and finding various brews I want to try first.
Maybe around June of next year I will take the prodigal approach!