Scotch Martini // SoLo Brewing // Best Bitter
As I mentioned in the post from brew day, this beer was made with some help from a colleague of mine and his friend, both of whom are interested in homebrewing. They came by to tap the keg and level a few pints with me one evening after work (I had the day off) and proceeded to tell me an interesting story regarding my restaurant's owner, an old man, a very dirty washroom and a pair of martinis made with Scotch: hence the name. If you know me personally, feel free to ask for full disclosure--this is not the kind of tale you post freely on a beer blog.
I actually casked up 1 gallon of the Bitter, and kegged the difference with some dry hops. This review is for the cask version, which I prefer. While tasty, the brightness of carbonation and serving temperature lighten the beer a fair bit and dim it's complexity slightly.
Vitals:
OG: 1.046
FG: 1.010
ABV: 4.75%
IBU: 27
SRM: 9
Appearance: Wicked clarity, a perfectly rich, medium copper, with a thin lace of white head that never really leaves. S-04 drops out like a rock. I can literally tip my mock cask side to side and watch this heavy, dense yeast move around the bottom of the cubitainer rather than stirring up into the beer.
Aroma: Caramel toffee, crusty bread, biscuity malt, very warm. Woody, earthy hops, a hint of dried orange peel perhaps. A little disappointed with the lack of esters here, but I kept the ferment really cool. I'd read about the dreaded bubble gum tones of S-04 if it gets too warm and opted to keep it on the bottom end of it's limit. I would feel well comfortable bringing the temperature up to 65F next time to see if I could get a little apple or pear in here.
Taste: Probably balanced slightly bitter for a traditional BB, but very much suited to my tastes. It opens with warm, sweet malt which subsides to a clean mid palate and a firmly bitter finish. While I intended the beer to be slightly smaller (OG 1.042) and finish slightly sweeter (FG 1.012) I don't imagine it would have altered the balance much.
Palate: My basement is just a little on the warm side for cask serving temperature. The beer is just cool to the touch and tongue. Carbonation is also slightly shy, it just barely pricks the tongue. Body is light to moderate and the finish lingers quite some bit.
Overall: Honestly, I love this. Only a few minor alterations. I'd like to hit my predicted numbers, so next time I will adjust the recipe for 80% efficiency and mash at 154F. Rather than scaling all the ingredients down slightly to accommodate my better than average efficiency, I will probably take the difference out of the base malt to see if I can eek a slight bit more malt character out of it. Aside from that, a simple increase in fermentation temperatures and a move to a similar, but liquid, yeast culture such as WLP 002 or WY1968.
