A moment of realisation: staling

[verysupple]

I've been brewing some American style brown ales recently and decided to do a little more "research" and grabbed a bottle of 8 Wired Rewired brown ale on the way home tonight. I cracked the top to that joy inducing hiss and poured a lovely clear glass of brown with a good, slightly off white head. "Mmmmm, mmm", I thought.

Then I smelled it.

I thought to myself, "Thats odd, this American style brown ale smells a lot like that bottle of Bombardier (ESB or strong English pale ale type of thing) I had the other night". I've had it a few times and it always tasted like that, though.

Then I tasted it.

"Yup, tastes the same too."

So I go to the 8 Wired website and look it up to check that it is supposed to be US style not UK style. Nope, definitely US. Ingredients look typical for a US brown ale and uses Wyeast 1272. Hmmm.

I remeber that the bottle shop was doing a special price if you buy two but they only had one left in the fridge so I asked the guy if they had any more out the back. "No, sorry, we haven't had a delivery from them in ages." *Ominous 'Dum dum dum' sound effect* Check the best before on the bottle: 07/01/15. Rummage through the recycling for the Bombardier bottle: 16/02/15. Grrr. Check my notes on typical stale beer flavours and keep tasting the beer while I rule them out. Oh right, I do remember what cheap sherry tastes like.

So it turns out after recommending Bombardier to friends that I don't really know what it tastes like because every time I've had it it was stale. And that "that English flavour" I've picked up in a few English beers over time is most likely just stale beer. And as it turns out I don't know what fresh 8 Wired Rewired tastes like either.

Lesson learned: check the best before prior to purchasing. Also, I need a better bottle shop. The good news is that I can stop chasing "that English flavour" in my Bitters and English pale ales.

 

[manticle]

Or you know how to get it.

Have heard similarly in regards to some uk bitters and euro pilsners.

 

[verysupple]

Or you know how to get it.

Have heard similarly in regards to some uk bitters and euro pilsners.

True! But now I know it's staling I don't think I want it any more. You know, like a pride in my work thing. Once I realised, I was actually really happy that I never got that flavour because it means my processes can't be too bad in respect to oxidation...or at least I drink it fast enough.

 

[michaeld16]

After a trip to the UK few years back I fell in love with bombardier when I got back to tas I eagerly searched everywhere for a bottle of it and eventually found some stock only to be disappointed that it didn't taste the same. In fact none of the British beers I found tasted quite like I remembered. Any way it was then I got right into making my own beer ,doesn't have to travel from the other side of the world