Blackrock American Pale Ale

[Lesinge]

Blackrock American pale ale (hybrid). I can of Blackrock APA plus I can Muntons Amber malt (as I had them with an extract kit). The APA malt was very gloopy and I am not sure that that wasn't down to it supposedly having cascade hops added into the malt before canning...we shall see. Pitched at 24 degrees. OG 1044/1046. Taste at brew very bitter, hoppy and fragrant. I am not sure that this will need dry hopping at all if it carried this through fermentation. Probably the most bitter wort at this stage I have tasted. Not unpleasant but you can taste the character in it and it does look like hops floating in it as advertised!

 

[clibit]

Blackrock American pale ale (hybrid). Probably the most bitter wort at this stage I have tasted. Not unpleasant but you can taste the character in it and it does look like hops floating in it as advertised!

So how has this worked out?

 

[Lesinge]

This is the review of this kit without any hop additions but with a can of Muntons Amber Malt added to give it more body. Brewed on 30/07/15 and has been in the bottle for about five days and has cleared nicely. It has a bit fruit smell although very small, and more like a raisin or a bit medical. Carbonation is ok at first but doesn't last at this stage. Taste is mainly sweet at first and quite deep but then has quite a bitter aftertaste. This I sill pretty green so that has to be taken into consideration. However, this at the moment tastes too medical at the moment and needs more time before I can give a more considered review.

 

[clibit]

Ok, keep us posted!

 

[Lesinge]

Ok, keep us posted!

So the next one is the one with the 25 g of Cascade added and a week longer in the bottle. This is a strong rich beer (maybe the Amber malt addition) with grassy aroma but still abit of medicine too (stringent floor cleaner although milder than the other one), maybe a bit like smelling the hop stems if that makes sense? I wouldn't have said that this was a cascade rich beer if I got it in the pub from the smell. Carbonation was good to excellent at first with a one and a half finger creamy looking head that dissolved and only slight lacing half way through. Taste is rich and sweet with a bitterness at the front of the mouth that lingers. It reminds me of a couple of local scottish bottled beers I have had in the past when I was up there. It is not unpleasent to drink but isn't a session beer at this stage and if I was served it in a pub may well have wondered if their pipes had just been cleaned. On a second smell it also has hints of a tanin high young red wine.