Showing posts with label 565. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 565. Show all posts

Friday, May 15, 2015

Brewing With Fruit and a Rhubarb-Strawberry Saison turned Belgian Wit

Lindsay recently came to me and wanted to come up with a brew for Ethan's wedding.  I love the idea of being involved in this way for a fellow homebrewer and am all-in to be of service.  I know Ethan likes fun, complex and sometimes "odd," beers, so after watching the rhubarb Saison episode of Chop and Brew I knew there was something there that had to be explored.

The original concept Lindsay came up with was "light and spritzy."  Being that it's a wedding we don't want to go "big," and lastly, we want to engineer this brew to allow the rhubarb and strawberry to come through, but be  forward of balanced with the malt, yet balanced with the yeast character and each other.  No small task to get right, let alone on the first go.

The crux of this brew (if you can target just one) is that rhubarb and strawberry are very different fruits that will bring with them very unique process/handling needs and acids.  As a result I think it would be best to split the batch and work both in as they would be on their own, then blend.

It could be argued that carbing the beers first then blending is the way to go, because the carbonation (the bubbles) will bring out the aroma of these fruits and accentuate the acids differently, so blending ahead of time may (or may not), render the best product.

Upon further reading I am going to speculate that the rhubarb will be bringing the big guns on the acid side of the equation, while the strawberry will be at the head of the class for aroma.  One more reason why blending is definitely the way to go.

Commentary from the original brewer on Chop and Brew was he wished he had added more than 1lb of Wheat to his 1045 OG base beer.  They critiqued the beer to be "slightly low" on the overall mouthfeel, and he felt this would help boost that character.  This is well noted but I'm going to take a different approach.

First, the base beer.  Light and spritzy, low alcohol (we will be boosting this slightly with sugar from the fruit), but enough of a backbone to hold up the rhubarb. These fruits add acid, but lets help that a bit with a touch of acidulated malt (see below on the importance of this addition).  

Recipe

6G batch

OG - 1042 (pre-fruit), 1048 post fruit (see below)
FG - 1010
IBU - to balance (20)
Final ABV est - 5%
SRM - 3

8.5 lbs - Pilsner (American)
12 oz - Wheat malt
8 oz (5%) - Acidulated Malt (at 60 minutes into mash and for 20 minutes)
(nope, no sugar in this Saison.  The acid will give a perception of dryness and I can easily see us going overboard.)

Hops - normally I'd go with a Styrian or an EKG for a basic Saison, but because I want the fruit to shine I'm gonna hit it with Warrior.  I am not targeting any hop character and this will accomplish that goal, reduce hop matter and just give me the bitterness I need to get the base beer ready for the fruit.  This is a fruit/yeast-centric beer.  Focus there.

Mash 152 (The acids are going to create a perception of "thinness/dryness," so I am going to speculate that a low mash temp could accentuate the acids too much.  We need a canvas to paint this acidic picture on. So, let's go bigger (for a Saison), with 152.  The hope is the added residual dextrins from the high mash temp to balance the acids we will be adding.  On to the acids. 

Now, as I read the articles you'll discover below, I came to find an interesting correlation.  Acid and perception.   When we eat fruit we expect a certain level of acidity, its what we know.  Put that in your back pocket and consider this.  Fruit has more acid (a lower pH) than beer.  So, when you add the fruit to your beer, and drink it, you are "perceiving" that fruit at a higher pH than your brain would expect!  As a result your brain gets a mixed message..Brain says, "Its raspberry, but it's a weird raspberry," which results in a miss, a disconnect, a sub-par product, a beer that was almost awesome.  Fruit beer, fail!

Ah ha!  So, if you want your mind and your beer to line up, you may want to add acid to your beer (lower the pH), in order to get the beer to better align with the fruit you are adding.  How much?  Your taste buds and your brain must decide.  In proving that point, Lambics are the most popular "fruit beers" in the world, and with the bacteria used, you inherently get additional acids. Result, you better align the pH of the beer with that of the fruit, hence, Fruit Beer - Win!

Conclusion, I will add acidulated malt to the grist in light of this discovery.  I don't want to over do it, so lets see what Weyerman has to say about their acidulated malt.

  • For mash pH adjustments, 1% add to grist decreases pH by .1
  • For wort souring, 8% is ideal for a Berliner Weisse
  • Do not exceed 10%


With that in mind I won't go above 10%, and because I am blending at the end I dont need to go for the max of 10% because I can always increase the rhubarb ratio over the strawberry to get the sourness/tart character I seek.  So, lets just nudge the brew along on the souring attributes with 5%.  Of course, if you dont have enough acidic beer to blend from the main batch, you could always have an acidic beer waiting in the wings to blend in, like my Berliner Weisse.  

That said, let's move onto the fruit and see what we can learn.

First off, I found a great write up on the Rhubarb by the Mad Fermentationist (not surprising), so if you want to learn about the science of the rhubarb, have a click. Rhubarb Berliner Weisse

Referencing the ever wonderful resource known as byo.com we find these articles:
and


Equation of Note: How much OG is added by any given amount of fruit

SG = [Wfruit X (Psugar/100) X 45]/Vbeer
SG = Gravity points to add 
W= weight of fruit in pounds
45 - is an assumed constant explained here. "The number 45 is the extract potential — in gravity points per pound per gallon — of simple sugars (such as fructose, glucose and sucrose)."
V = Volume of beer in gallons


Starting off points for additions by weight:
Strong Flavored Fruit (raspberry) - .5 lbs/G
Normal Fruit (Peach, Cherry) - up to 2 lbs/G

As far as the amount of sugar in fruit, I found this table which I think is by far the most brewer friendly.

Sugar as % of Fruit - just reference the first row.

Optional Techniques
  • Mash - only with pumpkins
  • Boil - be aware that fruits high in pectin will haze the beer, and boiling rinds will draw out undesirable off-flavors
More desirable technique
  • Steeping by BYO
    • "When steeping fruit in hot wort, you should allow at least a half-hour to extract as much fruit flavor and sugar as possible. Swirl the fruit bag or stir the wort every five minutes or so to disperse fruit-derived sugars and fruit flavors into the wort. Since steeping involves shorter contact times than other methods of fruit use, you should increase the amount of fruit used by at least 15–20 percent.
      For fruit concentrates, purées and juices, simply add the fruit product after the boil but before the wort is cooled below 160° F. Then, finish your brew as you normally would."
Most desirable technique
  • Secondary - The BYO resource is far to good to do anything but copy and paste with my compliments:
    • For most fruits, the best time to add them is in secondary fermentation. When added at this time, the fruits are not subjected to heat, their flavors do not end up tasting cooked and their aromas are not lost. The drawback, of course, is that adding fruits in the secondary fermenter runs the risk of contaminating the beer. However, green beer generally has enough alcohol and a pH low enough to discourage the growth of contaminating organisms.
      For fresh fruits, remove the stems, leaves and pits or seeds. Wash the fruit thoroughly. If you want, you can use commercial produce-washing products such as Fit, although this isn’t necessary. You should reduce the fruit to small pieces by one of several methods: Mash the fruit with a potato masher, chop it with a food processor or cut it up with a knife. Place the fruit in your secondary fermenter and siphon beer on top of it. It is also important that the fermenter is sealed tightly.  If air can get in, microorganisms can grow on the top of the floating fruit. (This is what happened to my ill-fated cherry beer.) It is usually best to use a large bucket — one with some headspace — as a secondary fermenter, as some foaming may occur when the yeast begins working on the fruit sugars.
      One way to minimize the risk of contamination from fresh fruits is to take a page from the winemakers’ handbook and sterilize the fruit with sulfur dioxide. Winemakers do not sterilize their “wort” by boiling it. They sterilize their “must” by treating it with SO2 (often in the form of Campden tablets). To sterilize a “mini-must,” mush your fruit into a slurry in a sanitized bucket. Add enough water so that it’s basically a thick liquid. Add one crushed Campden tablet for every gallon of your “mini-must” and let sit, loosely covered, overnight. During this time the SO2 will kill any microorganism in the “mini-must,” then diffuse away. The SO2 also acts as an antioxidant, preventing browning of the fruit. The next day, add the now-sanitized “mini-must” to your fermenter.
      Adding fruits during secondary fermentation increases the volume of the brew, but some of this volume is lost when beer is racked from the remaining fruit solids. You can plan for this by making less volume of your base beer, but making it somewhat more concentrated. The degree you need to change your base beer depends, of course, on how much fruit you plan to add. (Alternately, you can choose to simply not worry about it and end up with a couple extra beers in your batch.)
      To add concentrates, purées or juices to your secondary fermentation, begin racking the base beer to the secondary fermenter. Slowly pour the fruit into the secondary fermenter as the beer is racked so that the fruit and beer mix well. You may want to stir with a sterilized spoon.
      The beer can be left in contact with the fruit for varying amounts of time. One week is long enough to extract most of the fruit flavors, but not prolong the batch interminably. If you want to get the most out of your fruit, let it sit longer. Keep in mind, however, that flavor extraction decreases over time. Letting the fruit sit for two weeks will not give you twice as much fruit flavor as letting it sit for one week.
      After secondary fermentation with the fruit, siphon the beer away from the fruit solids into a keg or bottling bucket. You may want to use a sanitized kitchen strainer to remove floating fruit solids before racking. Bottle or keg the beer as you usually do.
And let's put it all together.

Im going to do a 6G split batch of Strawberry and Rhubarb: Starting OG - 1042
Strawberry OG add for 3G batch:  {6lbs X (5.8/100) X 45}/3 = 5.2
Rhubarb OG add for 3G batch: {4.5lbs X (1.1/100) x 45}/3 = .75
Total OG add by fruit = ~6 gravity points

Final Expected OG - 1048ish

Process

Day Prior to Brew

Make starter dependent on the fermentation temps you can achieve.  Warmer less, cooler more.

Brew Day Caveats:

Brew water: Target a dark malty beer to add buffering for fermentation and backbone for the acid to play off of.

Mash: Add acid malt after 60 minutes and let sit on mash for 20.

24 hours before racking
Macerate fruit in separate cleaned and sanitized glass bowls, add water to create thick mixture and add 1 crushed campden tablet to each.  Cover.

Secondary
Rack the beer on top of the fruit and swirl.  Purge the space before and after.  Replace airlock and let sit for 7 days max. (MFermentationist left his rhubarb on his BW for 2.5 months!  So don't sweat it if you go over).  Taste the rhubarb daily and be ready to rack off when it hits the sour you're looking for, the stuff is potent.  Plus, you have the acidulated malt in there so be careful.  Expect the rhubarb to bring the sour, and the strawberry to bring the aroma.   Blend and condition.

Brew day (Saison yeast is sold out....Audible!!!)

2tsp baking soda, 1.5 Cacl and gypsum.

Mash - 147, 90 minutes

Acidulated up to 12oz
Added 1lb wheat DME
90 minute boil. 
OG - 1055
Pitched two vials expired belgian wit at 70.  Kept at room temp.  Plenty aeration. 
Long lag phase - 24 hours plus.  Moving now.

5/15 - brix 7.  shows 1017.  Taste is mellow, wheaty, slightly malty, Belgian character is low to medium.  Lactic didnt really push through, but is probably there in the perceived dryness i ma getting, nonetheless, this beer will mellow out the rhubarb, not match it which was the idea...But, its a start. A good base beer for the planned fruit adds.  Go 4G at 2lbs/G rhubarb and 2lbs strawberry in 1G to blend back.  Cook the rhubarb first!!!

5/20 - 2lbs cut strawberry and 1tbl sugar quick boil added to 1G.  5.5lbs rhubarb, cleaned cut and quick boiled with 1 cup water and 2'tbl sugar to 4G.

5/25/15 - nice tart character on the rhubarb, nice sweet character on the strawberry accompanied by beautiful strawberry aroma racking both to tertiary in glass carboy
6/3 - kegged
6/10 - added some red food coloring for wedding day effect and delivered to brewer ethan.  Looks like a pink version of heaven.  Tastes beautiful.   Light, semidry, a little lacking on strawberry aroma, but the rhubarb is perfect in this beer. As a whole wouldn't change much (perhaps go full 10% on acid malt) before adjusting process as described below.  The base beer is balanced and lays a great foundation for this Mix of fruit.  Love the crispness of pilsner malt here.

To do again, all rhubarb to main secondary, then 1-2lbs fresh strawberry the keg for aroma.  Rhubarb on taste, strawberry on aroma, winning combo for aNY style  wheat or saison. 
























Sunday, April 5, 2015

Brett Caison


Awhile ago I did an interview with award winning homebrewer Keith Ciani on staggered fermentation, it rocked my socks off.  As a homebrewer I have watched my journey ever evolve as my "tool kit," was reshaped (by Crooked Stave), smashed apart (by Devil's Purse brewer, Mike's Stout Saison Brett), and rebuilt again (still working that through). Whether it's mixed cultures, tertiary fermentation profiles, blending, cross-style brewing, staggered malt additions, seasonal/historical brewing or caramelizing raisins in brown sugar, my brewer's mind is constantly trying to unwrap itself from the constraints of style and delve into the never ending abyss of perception.

The interview focused on how a staggered fermentation can lend to getting the character you wish from one yeast, yet the attenuation of another.  So I thought to myself, how would this apply to flavor profiles, and my first thought was of my old friend Brett. What I came up with is to follow.

My plan is to make a Brett-Saison, but instead of going the "funk," route, I am going to use the yeast character of a "100% Brett fermentation profile" to compliment the profile of a Saison fermentation.  Saison 565 may not be the best choice for this and I'm sure to find myself doing this more down the road with other strains, in fact, I must, but for now the high ester Saison characters of 565 will due fine.  Couple that with the tropical fruit/tangerine of Brett C and I think we may have a winning combo!

A small caveat, Brett C is "usually," not really considered a "primary fermenter," although I was happy to find other wild and crazy brewers testing the waters; For instance, fellow beer writer Derek Dellinger.  With that settled, it is Spring, the season of Saison (apropos), and being that Brett C's character as a primary fermenter includes words like tangerine, I am easily sold.

Let's Begin

Stats

OG - 1051
FG - 1005ish
ABV - 6.1%
BUGU - .25 - .5

Grist
American Pilsner - 8 lbs
White Wheat - 1 lbs
Carapils - .5 lbs
Acidulated - .5 lbs

Mash - 152

This grist and mash were engineered with three end goals in mind, body, alignment with the citrus flavors,  yeast esters, and quick turnaround time.  First, the wheat and carapils will add perceived body to a beer that will attenuate highly.  Second, the acid will compliment those citrus flavors, bringing the acidity of the beer up (or the pH down) to our mind's perceived acidity of a citrus fruit.  Read more on this concept here and scroll down to the section labeled "Acidity."  In turning the beer quickly, I don't need to mash ultra high as I would with a beer I intend to age with Brett, but I do want some portion of additional dextrins to continue to add to my perceived mouthfeel, so 152 it is.  Middle of the road.  As a side note, Mike Tonsmeire also notes the presence of lactic acid is a catalyst to the fruity ester ethyl lactate:
"I added a half pound of acid malt after starch conversion to provide some lactic acid for the Brett to create the fruity ester ethyl lactate." 

Fermentation Profile (the whole shibang): Split batch possibility (No fermenters left! Ran with the staggered pitch)
1. Staggered Pitch Saison third gen slurry, then Brett C.
2. Mixed culture.  Both pitched at the same time.

I built up a vial of Brett C in 3 steps over a period of a month and stored at room temp per the suggestion of Chad Y in his interview at the BN.  I tossed that slurry into a 250ml starter at 1040 with very little nutrient (he actually says none is needed, I just couldnt help myself), and stepped that to 2L after 5 days then let that run for 5 more days.  In the meantime, I simply brewed and pitched slurry from my Rye Saison which went to my  cool fermentation Saison at 70 degrees.  As soon as I have airlock activity I'll pitch the starter of Brett.  No aeration is needed at this stage as the Brett will be happy to ferment in an anaerobic environment, then off to a warm water bath of at least 80 degrees.

This process will allow for the Saison to get a head start on ester production and then the Brett will have plenty of sugars (near a full fermentation) in a truly anaerobic environment hopefully leaving us with a dry, tropical fruit/tangerine Saison that has all its flavors derived from the yeast!

Hops
Challenger (or Santium) at 5 targeting .5 BUGU.  Mike and Matt from Devil's Purse kindly donated a pound of each to the Brew Farm Group, perfect.   I was thinking Nelson may be a good choice here too, complimenting the fruit.  Layer aroma with floral, or compliment with fruit?  I'd bet a winner either way!  Bottom line, this is a yeast-centric beer, let's keep our eyes on the prize.

Experiment

Split the batch to two 3G carboys and pitch the Saison and Brett at the same time in one and stagger the pitch per this article in the other.  A Triangle Test is a great way to see if you have created a measureable difference.

Pre-Brew Day

Initial Brett C build
11/10/14 - Brett C vial that was kept on shelf to 500ml 1040 starter on stir plate. and no nutrient. Kept at room temperature room for 8 days.

11/18/14 - Stepped up to 1300 ml and back on stir plate.  Smelled great, looked great!

12/3/14 - off stir plate and split to three 400ml boiled jars.  Stored at room temp per Chad Y. Resulted in thick 50ml slurry.

Brett C rebuild:
3/26/15: Took two beautiful 50ml slurries to 250ml 1040 wort with a little nutrient on stir plate at 67.
3/31/15 - Stepped - adding 1750ml of 1040 with smidge of nutrient, CaCl, Gypsum and baking soda to RO water. Result 2L total volume.
4/1/15 - high krausen, white foamy head.

Brew Day: 4/4/15 w/MoBigs

Strike - 4G at 162 - landed at 151. 60 min mash. 90 minute boil.  OG - 1048.  Pitched 3rd gen Saison slurry, 200ml (it's all there was) at 70 degrees @ 1730.  MrMalty would say this is 50% of target pitch.

D1 - 4/5/15 - 0900. Krausen had formed and beer was jammin.  Pitched entire 2L starter and placed fermenter in 80 degree water bath.  Aquarium heater set to max to 1keep above 80.
D4 - krausen dropped and airlock activity down to 1/5.  Taste is on a good path.  Brix - 5.2.  1.003!  Sooo, that may explain the big reduction in airlock activity. That's a heckuva 84 hour party!
4/10/15 - 1/5 - 80 degrees.
4/15/15 - moved to room temp (65-67)
4/25/15 - racks 1G to 1.5lbs fresh diced rhubarb
5/15 - bottled with sugar tabs
7/13/15 - this is an epic base beer for so many fun brews!  Pale straw. Dry. A very light saison citrus and spice in the aroma which seems to be getting eaten up as the beer progresses!  Far more Saison esters 6 weeks ago.  Carb is still increasing. Solid body, very light an epically quaffable.  The Brett character of the primary ferment is very subtle on the fruit.  Highly complimentary.   I love this beer and see many iterations...Next time try upping the acid malt to 1lb and/or a straight mixed culture.

Monday, January 19, 2015

RyGasm Saison 1 (2015)

RyGasm could be viewed as the first beer I’ve reworked within the same year.  Apparently it takes pure frustration in order to get my bones in gear to dial in a recipe.  Nonetheless here we are.  As we saw in my Rye Saison post from not so long ago, I was inspired by a spicey and balanced Rye Saison I had in CA. My attempt at this brew fell far short of my personal mark, and I blamed my extract recipe for this, mostly.  Ironically, I am still doing a partial mash brew here as I have a can of PIlsner Malt burning a hole in my fridge, and this is the perfect time to get it in the mix (pun intended).
In the meantime I did some more research in an effort to unlock this magical grain and discovered a great little ditty in Radical Brewing which described a few fun facts and tips:

  1. Glucans - the sticky stuff which can make Rye a lautering nightmare
  2. Capping at 20% grist is common, above this and you’ll have to employ all your best techniques to get the wort to the kettle.
  3. Unmalted Rye is best utilized by cooking separately.  Other sources state the use of a crockpot is highly efficient in extracting the character of the grain.
  4. If mashing directly, a 30 minute 95-100 degree F glucan rest is ideal
  5. Use rice hulls and sparge slowly. (Or if you forgot rice hulls like I did just add a couple pounds of uncrushed 2-row and mix.  Worked like a charm...but still take your time)
  6. Keep that mash temp at 170 as long as possible to make the wort as “slick” as possible.

Moving forward I decided to really go for it on this brew, why not!  Unfortunately my Crystal Rye didn’t show up in time (it got there 3 hours late), so I have one more adjustment to make for the next version of this brew - perhaps a lucky twist of fate.  That aside let’s begin.

Stats
OG - 1052
FG - 1008
ABV -
IBU - 18
BU:GU - .35
Color - 7

Recipe

Pilsen Extract - 3.3 lbs (35%)
2-Row - 3 lbs (32%)
Rye Malt - 2 lbs (22%)
Flaked Rye - 1 lbs (10%)
Homemade Candi Sugar (Amber) - .5 lbs (5%) *note to self. Always have simple sugars prepared before boil begins.

Hops
Fuggles (4.5%) - 1 oz - 60
Yeast - WLP 565 - 100ml of slurry straight from zero gen starter.  400ml of thick slurry from second gen off last Rye Saison.

Water - 2.5 tsp Gypsum

Mash  - 1.5 qt/lbs - 147 - 75 minutes

Boil - 90 minutes

Candi Sugar - using straight lemons you want 18x’s the request for pure citric acid. So 1/8th tsp citric acid equates to 2.25 tsp real lemon juice. This was added to .5 lbs dissolved sugar in water.  Simmer until you get desired color, in this case about 20 minutes did the trick.  Then straight to the boil.

On the fermentation I called in for advice from an excellent brewer I have come to know as the Cool Fermentationist.  This cat has been “experimenting” with sub 60 degree Ale fermentations since the beginning of Winter with great success!  The beers he is turning out are clean”er” as you would expect, but when it comes to a yeast like Saison, what you find is the scales tipping more to a light citrus and spice character, which I think brings the peppery spice more to the forefront.  Rye, spice, perfect, lets do this!  

How do you get a Saison yeast to finish in such cool conditions?  Pitch a Lager sized pitch of Ale yeast for your cool fermentation and let them ride! He says it takes maybe an extra week or two, but to have faith.  

The profile he suggested was a room temp pitch and when you have activity move ASAP to your cool fermentation station.  In my case this is my basement which is sitting at 61 degrees.  Ferment to terminal FG (min 3 weeks) and then move to room temp again for at least 48 hours (diacetyl rest).

So thats what I did.  In my case I pitched at 80 and after 12 hours I was already at high krausen (I was sleeping when they perked up so this was my ASAP).  Moved the beer to the basement and after another 12 hours she was sitting at 64 degrees in a 61 degree room.  And there she sits.

I’m hopeful to find myself with a Saison that is dry per the style, and having found a balance between the citrus and spice of the yeast and the Rye spice.  I am happy about the 50/50 base malts as I find Pilsner to have a little too much “bite” as I like to call it.  Something a little more rounded suits me just fine.  And lastly, I will of course be throwing Brett at some of it as well, because Brett is always a good idea.

Brew Day

1/8/14 - With Mikey Brubaker.  Details above but 147 (75 mins), slow lauter (used 2-row to aid in grain bed filtering), got great efficiency due to reset of crush.  90 min boil. Cooled to 80, BIG pitch and quick start.  

12 hours - high krausen and huge activity - off to 61 degree room.

D1 - 5 - 65 (in 61 degree room) - added blow off tube.
D6 - 1 - 61
D10 - 0 - 61, plan to take first gravity at 21 days. (1/29 min). Once terminal bring upstairs and warm to 70 (if possible, for 3 days).

2/5/15 - brix: 6.6 ... FG 1010! - Up to 65 degree room.
2/10/15 - kegged. Yeast harvested.

Tasting Notes
2/10 - force Carbed at 30psi and shook 5 min then left at 40degreed at 16 psi targeting 3L. Needs time. Initial tasting after carb the brew is beautiful and the yeast character restrained but not subtle. I can't pick out the rye, once again...also it's not quite as dark as expected but a nice dark Orange-Amber hue. 

3/5/15 Added 1.5 mango puree and squeeze of one like to 1G pull.

3/12/15 - bottled remaining of keg. Kegged mango. DELISH! Need I say more? Poured mango beer through muslin bag direct to keg and purged/Carbed to 16.

Tasting Notes by The Cool Fermentationist - 3/18/15 - 
It was beautiful, vibrant orange with a huge white head.
The bottle was a bit of a gusher, but once I got it in the glass it was fine.
I really liked the high carbonation. I think it helped to dry out the beer a little.
Perfect saison aroma. Slight tropical fruit aroma, which I would’ve thought came from the hops had I not known about the mango.
Bits of mango, hops and yeast quickly settled out. I don’t mind that kind of thing as a drinker, but if it had been filtered I probably would have kept trying to figure out what was in it.
I would've guessed heavy on the Citra. What did you use for hops?
I love the spice yeast bite. That is followed by the sweet, but surprisingly earthy flavor of the mango.
When it was coldest, that bite and flavor were very balanced.
As it warmed up, the sweetness started to take over.
I’d be really curious to see where this would go with an earthy, pungent hop like your Chinook.
If this came in 6 packs - I’d be buying it!
Very well done.