Drinking Experimentale
I drank a couple of pints of the oiled ale last night.
There is a good hop aroma in the nose, and a nice dark copper color. Head formation is pretty good — the oil definitely doesn’t appear to have hurt in this respect.
Tasting, the first impression is of powerful hop bitterness. It is almost too much for this beer, as it’s fairly light-bodied, but it is an acceptable level of bitterness. It’s fairly intensely fruity, which is not surprising given that it was seriously underpitched, and there is a nice spiciness from the Mount Hood finishing hops.
Next time I will probably dial back the bittering hops a bit, and pitch more yeast.
Vital statistics from Beersmith:
Measured Original Gravity: 1.039 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.006 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.29 %
Bitterness: 37.7 IBU
Est Color: 10.6 SRM
Brewed 2/18/2008
Kegged 3/29/2008
EDIT: Tasting again tonight, I am thinking that I am getting a whiff of diacetyl. Again, not surprising given the underpitching, but I don’t think it ruins the beer.