Pissed Black Cat Pale Ale - Yet Again

This is the third time I have brewed a version of this pale ale. In general, I really like how it has turned out in the past. It is a beer halfway between a pale ale and an IPA. Hoppy, but not over the top. It has a nice amber/pale orange color and was the crowd favorite at Mr. Baker's Crab Fest last year.

All that aside, it did not turn out as well this time. This recipe is the first one where I tried to recreate a beer that I brewed and really liked previously. With it, I begin to understand how hard it must be to be a professional brewer, who must constantly turn out a high-quality product that varies little over time. I am also definitely not my harshest critic, so I can't imagine what a sharper tongue would do to my attempts to replicate my previous success.

I think what went wrong with the beer is hop choice. Previous versions of the beer used nugget/columbus and millenium/centennial, with the millenium/centennial turning out the best. This version used warrior and amarillo, with warrior being used for a lot of late addition hopping. I have subsuquently read that warrior is best used as a bittering hop and does not lend itself well to flavor or aroma additions. I think these hops must have clashed to create the undesirable flavors that I mention below, as I hit all of my other numbers (OG, FG, fermentation temp., fermentation time, etc.).

Regardless, here are the stats and the review . . .

Brewed: 1/17/2009

Kegged: 1/25/2009

Original Gravity: 1.048

Final Gravity: 1.012

IBU: 47

Alcohol By Volume: 4.8%

Carbonation Volume: 2.8 (15 psi at 40 degrees F)

The beer pours a crystal clear pale amber color, with a white pillowy head. The hops in this beer provide for a nice long lasting head, that follows the beer all the way down the glass, leaving a nice lacing pattern on the sides of the glass.

The beer has a strong herbal aroma too it. The aroma borders on medicinal in nature, which is not flattering to the beverage. I remember previous renditions of this recipe having a more citrus or floral scent, which I liked better. The medicinal quality of the aroma seems to strengthen as the beer warms.

There is definitely an off flavor of some sort to the beer. It is immediately present when you take your first sip and it lasts throughout the entire taste. Perhaps my mind is wandering towards our medicine cabinet, but it is vaguely reminiscent of an herbal cough drop. I am thinking about a Ricola-style cough drop, though not quite as strong. There is a biscuity flavor there too, which might be pleasant on its own, and reminds me of the previous versions of the beer. The off-flavor diminishes as you drink your pint, but that is likely due to your taste buds becoming used to it.

As I mentioned above, I think the off flavor is likely due to hop choice, particularly the warrior hops, which I used as a late addition to the kettle. My friend, Jamey, thinks the beer tastes slightly old or stale, and we have actually had some fun becoming "beer-sleuths" and trying to figure out what went wrong. I will definitely brew this one again, but next time I will go back to the original hopping regimen of millenium and centennial.