Two new brews to try last night while cooking up a risotto for the family; on the left we have a chocolate orange imperial stout and on the right an American pale-ale. The stout was flavoured with cacao-nibs soaked in Cointreau and whilst subtle you could definitely get a nice hint of Terry's Chocolate Orange on the finish that contrasted the toasty flavours of the dark malts well. The pale ale was a basic recipe using American hops, it turned out OK but a little on the thin side, although I probably shouldn't have tasted it straight after the stout (which was "syrup" in comparison!)
If I made these two again I reckon I could improve both. First I'd add 20% more cacao-nibs to crank-up the chocolate flavour in the stout and perhaps sling some orange zest into the boil too up the citrus element a bit. Then for the pale ale, it needed something like flaked oats to improve the mouth-feel, or perhaps to up the grain volume a little to give a slightly higher alcohol content, which is another way of doing the same thing. The hop flavours were spot-on though.
If I made these two again I reckon I could improve both. First I'd add 20% more cacao-nibs to crank-up the chocolate flavour in the stout and perhaps sling some orange zest into the boil too up the citrus element a bit. Then for the pale ale, it needed something like flaked oats to improve the mouth-feel, or perhaps to up the grain volume a little to give a slightly higher alcohol content, which is another way of doing the same thing. The hop flavours were spot-on though.
All in all a nice brace of beers, the refinement process continues!
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