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| Here it is! |
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| Dark as Mordor: no light shines through! |
OG (Original Gravity) is 1.072, which indicates a potential ABV around 9%. I'll be testing again around early November for Final Gravity, which will give a more accurate estimation of ABV, but aslo note that said ABV will increase as this beer ages.
The sample smells like Christmas. Although the hops aren't a huge part of the scent (that will likely change), I can smell the cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla. Taste is much like it smells, except the hop flavor really hits the palate, with pine notes. The wort is very sweet and although I expect it to bitter out over the long run, with a pound of honey in the mix, that sweetness should still be noticeable when you open the final bottle.
This kind of beer gets better with age, so if you are a lucky recipient of bottles, I suggest you save one for Christmas 2015 and let me know what it's like :D
Took a sample today. Gravity at 1.015, for an est. ABV of 7.48%. Not quite as high as I expected, but it's been less than a month. I'll take another reading in a couple days and compare them. It's bottling time when readings are consistent over a few days.
ReplyDeleteAlso worth noting the hops have taken a much more pronounced flavor, as expected. The intense ginger has subsided somewhat, but not much. The vanilla hasn't come out much, though.
ReplyDeleteIf I had several months to age the beer, I expect the hops and ginger would mellow out a bit, leaving more obvious vanilla notes. Since I don't have that kind of time, I probably should've added another vanilla bean -- and maybe a little less ginger.