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Just thought I'd share a weird experience (for me anyway).
I just tapped a Brown Ale I made with a little cherry wood smoked malt. The beer came out very good, even if the smokiness wasn't as forward as I was hoping. Still, a nice beer. Next time I'll just up the smoked malt.
But....the strange thing is that after I had a glass of mine I decided to pop open one of my favorites, a Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ale...just to compare. I wasn't trying to see which I liked better (please, I love SSNBA!) but I was curious if I could pick out any subtle flavors that a Classic of the style had that mine didn't. Maybe a certain flavor might show up in the SS that I could use going forward. And boy howdy!! Did I ever get a licorice taste from SS!! It was a taste that I don't ever remember being so pronounced. Yes, there was that great nutty flavor, but I was surprised by how much the licorice dominated.
Now to be fair, a smoked brown ale and a nut brown ale may only be second cousins, but I'm convinced that if I hadn't first tried mine (which was more toffee/malty) and just had the Sam Smiths, that licorice taste would not have stood out as much to me. Where does that licorice come from anyway???
I've got an Irish Stout in the fermenter. I can't wait to do a side-by-side with Guinness or Murphy's.
I just tapped a Brown Ale I made with a little cherry wood smoked malt. The beer came out very good, even if the smokiness wasn't as forward as I was hoping. Still, a nice beer. Next time I'll just up the smoked malt.
But....the strange thing is that after I had a glass of mine I decided to pop open one of my favorites, a Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ale...just to compare. I wasn't trying to see which I liked better (please, I love SSNBA!) but I was curious if I could pick out any subtle flavors that a Classic of the style had that mine didn't. Maybe a certain flavor might show up in the SS that I could use going forward. And boy howdy!! Did I ever get a licorice taste from SS!! It was a taste that I don't ever remember being so pronounced. Yes, there was that great nutty flavor, but I was surprised by how much the licorice dominated.
Now to be fair, a smoked brown ale and a nut brown ale may only be second cousins, but I'm convinced that if I hadn't first tried mine (which was more toffee/malty) and just had the Sam Smiths, that licorice taste would not have stood out as much to me. Where does that licorice come from anyway???
I've got an Irish Stout in the fermenter. I can't wait to do a side-by-side with Guinness or Murphy's.