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Two Blonde Ales - Is ABV affecting Flavor?

Strativarius

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Hey all,

In an attempt to take a more scientific approach to my brewing I have been brewing in sets of 2 - always the same recipe back to back with one or two modifications to help myself identify cause and effect.

In this case I have 2 Blonde Ales.  Grain bill consists of 2 row, pilsner, munich, and 10L.  Hops consist of Citra for bittering and 30 min additions, and an ounce of centenial at FO.

My basic experiment was the effect of ABV on the beer.  Unfortunately I had more changes than that based on error and product availability.  The effective differences that I see based on my notes were.

1) Batch 1 had 4.7%ABV, Batch 2 had 5.9% (only difference in grain bill was more 2-row)
2) Batch 1 had .15oz citra at first wort, Batch 2 had .15oz citra at 60min (i forgot them at first wort.  cant imagine this matters?)
3) Batch 1 used WLP 051, Batch 2 used WLP 001. (not sure the effect)

Mash temps were within 1F of each other.  FG was off by 1 point.

Result:
Batch 1 has a nice bready quality to the maltiness, and a delicious hint of oranges.  Clean crisp finish.

Batch 2 tastes like a slightly malted up Icehouse.  No distinguishable hop characteristic whatsoever.

my question: Have any of you seen this drastic effect of ABV on beer?  Or do you think there something else that I am missing?  If so, I had no idea ABV could so drastically dominate the more subtle flavor profile of a lighter style of beer.

Cheers.

 
It sounds as if you're doing a good job of investigating the moving parts of the brewing process. All that "scientific process" stuff really does work, even when some of the miner details slip through the cracks.

I'm GUESSING the difference in hop flavor and bitterness was caused by the ratio of IBUs to original gravity. The first batch, with less malt, allowed the hops to be more evident. In the second batch, the increased malt covered the hop flavor and bitterness.

Looking at the malt flavor: You commented that the first batch had, "a nice bready quality to the maltiness" and the second batch, "tastes like a slightly malted up Icehouse." That seems to contradict my guess about the hop perception. I'm interpreting that to mean the first batch was more malty than the second. So, I may be totally missing the mark here.
 
durrettd said:
I'm GUESSING the difference in hop flavor and bitterness was caused by the ratio of IBUs to original gravity. The first batch, with less malt, allowed the hops to be more evident. In the second batch, the increased malt covered the hop flavor and bitterness.

You may be not missing the mark.  Ill have another taste test when I get home.  It wasnt that first batch was more or less malty, but that there was a distinct quality of breadiness that I am guessing was from the Munich.  This was absent from the second batch.

With the second batch, it was more of a bland maltiness that I might expect from a 2 row SMASH.

I have read a little about maintaining a ratio between IBU and OG.  If this is taken to be of importance, do you need to scale later hop additions as well (FO in this case, but Dry Hop additions might apply as well)
 
I believe the IBU/OG ratio displays by default in Beersmith. If it doesn't you can add it to the display under the "Select Fields" button. I often adjust my OG downward, but generally try to keep the IBU/OG ratio the same. It seems to work well to maintain the malt - sweetness - bitterness balance perception. I've also pushed the ratio up to increase the hop perception.

You're almost certainly right about the effect of Munich.
 
Thanks!

Ill rebrew this again, same experiment, but consider scaling the hop schedule with the OG.  Ill also increase the munich to try and maintain the flavor profile.

May not make the beer as good as the original 4.7% blonde (which is darn good), but if it works as expected it should be a good lesson learned.
 
Strativarius said:
Thanks!

Ill rebrew this again, same experiment, but consider scaling the hop schedule with the OG.  Ill also increase the munich to try and maintain the flavor profile.

May not make the beer as good as the original 4.7% blonde (which is darn good), but if it works as expected it should be a good lesson learned.

I would also recommend using a beer profile and brewing your own water, it makes a huge difference in flavor in my humble opinion. Good luck.
 
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