Little Creatures Blind Taste Test

[deebee]

Inspired by one of jayse's recent posts I decided to try the ultimate taste test: one bottle of LCPA, one bottle of my best LCPA copy, one blindfold and my wife Aileen as steward.

She hands me glass number one and at a sniff I reckon it's my homebrew but I have a sip and I'm not sure: I want to taste the other one, please. They smell very similar except I get some froth up my nose from the second one coz I couldn't see how big the head was. I taste the second one and I think it's my homebrew, but I'M NOT SURE!! It takes one more sip from each glass before I'm sure the second glass is mine. I am right.

What gave it away was that mine is slightly heavier bodied and has a subtle spicy note that LCPA does well without. (I actually like the mouth feel of mine a bit more - a bit more spritz on the tongue and creamier.) After a few more sips I realise that LCPA is just more refined and cleaner tasting. The bitterness is just as prominent but smooother. Maybe mine has a touch of an infection or is that tannins from boiling the grains in that grumpys masterbrew bag?

Take the blindfold off and mine is half a shade darker, slightly bubblier and has a thicker and smoother head. Hence the froth up the nose.

I knew my copy was bloody good for an extract brew but tasting them side by side has really made me very proud of this beer. I actually had trouble telling them apart at the first sip. The recipe for anyone who cares:

1.5kg Coopers LME
550g Brewmaster DME
Grumpys Boston Cream masterbrew bag (I guess DME, corn syrup, crystal malt)
Cascade bittering hops to 35-40 IBUs in a 30 minute boil
Finishing hops as per masterbrew bag
Thames Valley Wyeast
OG 1056
Racked 1028 (day 4)
FG 1017
Primed with 130g dextrose
Bottled 20.6.2003

If anything I would change this by only boiling some of the extract for the full 30 minutes and add the rest at the end. This would keep the colour lighter and aid in extraction from the hops. It could also probably do with a month in the frig after finishing if you can wait.

Sorry for wanking on but this is my first truly goood beer and I just had to tell somebody. I boldly gave it 8.5/10.

 

[big d]

bring ya esky with a few in it along to the freo gig and let all of us going have a taste test deebee.either that or maybe just bring one along.its sounding like a top copy of lcpa.
good on ya deebee

 

[Gough]

Congrats Deebee, sounds like a great brew. Good to see an extract brewer getting good results! I've got 2 I just bottled I can't wait to try. High hopes as well...

Top darts,

Shawn.

 

[deebee]

Bigd, Would really love to bring a few bottles, but I have whittled my way down to a lone six pack and that goes in The Vault.

The Vault is the last bastion of self-discipline in my life. In there goes six small/three big bottles of every brew and must not be opened until it is at least 6 months old.

That six pack is destined for Christmas. I was originally planning on keeping a whole carton, but it has been too delicious to keep. Head and shoulders above anything else I have lying around.

I justified it to myself by making lots more batches of this recipe, each with a small variation, different yeast, higher IBUs, 30g dry-hopped cascade, rind of a lemon. One of these made with Safale S04 and 40 IBUs is pretty good, but not quite as beautiful.

 

[big d]

nevermind.our loss.great idea on what your doing with the stash deebee.kinda like a surprise xmas present to your self.think i will do the same when i get back home

 

[deebee]

Otherwise I just drink it all before it gets a chance to age.

 

[jayse]

don't be sorry for wanking on deebee.good work.i went with a six pack.
i remember driving home thinking now its crunch time not really knowing how my efforts would stack up.
but after the first sip i was in my element.yeah bells and whistle going off in my head and a huge grin on my face.by the end of the tasting session and huge brew day i was doing at the same time the only way i could tell which was which was from the apperance.mine being not crystal clear like theres and a tad darker.
i only wish there was some left now with all this talk of fine ale.oh well brew up some more next week same recipe.iam going to be brewing like a demon during the school holidays.everytime i do this brew it will be double size batches.one keg will last me only 4 days.it seems no sooner than its got bubbles is all gone.

the problem with my brews coming up so good now is there so good i have become a greedy pig not willing to share any.

 

[Snow]

Jayse, I am brewing your version soon. Do you have any idea what makes yours darker? What would you change?

- Snow.

 

[jayse]

snow
that recipe that uses carapils and all cascade.iam not gunna change a thing.it'll be the first time iv'e done a brew exactly the same.
i wrote in a post somewhere you could use less cascade on the end but now that i have brewed a few more since that one i will stick with the same hoping rate.
the colour comes from mostly the 340 g caramunich.i reckon i'll leave it the same i think the colour is pretty close. with this one though i think it was just the cloudiness that made it different in apearance.

the only thing for me now is i want to get away from using the amc pale malt and use real ale malt the joe white will be what iam using for the next few months.which is gunna mean totally working out my n/w pale ale recipes again.i think this will be too much light crystal to swap the pale malt for pale ale malt.the first one with the joe white malt i want to just use a malt bill of 100% base malt.and do the hoping the same as the clone recipe.then go from there.most likely ending up only using half the crystal malt with the ale malt.then the same munich and wheat maybe even more wheat up to a kilo.the munich malt will be played around with for awhile.
anyway i can happily say that the recipe as it is,is awesome.

the main thing is make sure you get the 1.054 o.g. and don't finish higher than 1.015.

i'll post the recipe if you can't find it.its not the one with cararoma.its the one with all the carapils and cara munich etc.

 

[Snow]

Yeah I think i know the one - it's got
225 g Munich malt
125 g Wheat malt
340 g Cara Munich malt
450 g Cara Pils malt
right?

I can't wait to brew this and try out my new lauter manifold. I have converted your recipe to partial mash, so will be adding 1kg pale malt and 1.5 kg Pale LME and
1 kg Pale DME. Based on my calcs, it should work out to your OG.

On another subject, when you are working out your efficiencies from your mash & sparge, do you take an OG when the wort comes out hot and work out your eff on the fly, then adjust your sparge, or do you just wait untill you've done all the boiling and cooling etc?

Cheers - Snow.

 

[jayse]

spot on snow
i got i used 4.5 pale malt with that on my recipe. but i seem to remember maybe swapping 500g of that for more munich malt on the day i brewed.can't remember one of those last mintue changes i didn't write down.but either way will be good.

the recipe is for 23 litres at 75% efficency at most.
even at 75% it will still be two points above the guidelines for american pale ale.the colour is right by my calculations.
so with using extract and getting more efficency you may won't to tame it down a little the gudelines say max 1.054.

whereas this will be 1.058 at 75%
anyway i see you have already done your own calcs for the malt bill cool.

the hops for anyone else wanting to know where
about 35 ibu or there abouts of u.s cascade 5.7% a.a pellets for 60 mins.

14g 15 mins all late additions were u.s cascade plugs at 4.5%a.a
14 g 10 mins
28 g 5 mins
28 g 1 min

i used a hop back with plugs as well but i reckon you'll get pretty close with out that.

 

[joecast]

first, i really have to try this lcpa. i have heard lots about it and its all been good.
second, congrats on what sounds like a great brew. after a bit more practice hopefully i can replicate some good beers as well as that.
joe


oh...and good job on being able to put a few bottles away, im sure you'll be glad you did (sounds like an awsome christmas present)