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Taste Notes

I thought it tasted great but scores showed it being astrigent. Not sure how this happened. Due to this, I took the remaining couple of gals and added a split vanilla bean into the keg for 48hrs. Apx 5/1/23 I then transfered it into the keg sitting on the bourbon oaks chips. The Bourbon Oak chip version scored a bronze medel in the MI Beer Cup comp 2023 summer - Same version was entered in Tri-club comp Nov 23 and scored 40/41. They wanted a little more lactose for a creamier taste. They thought it might need to age longer- felt the balance was still a little off. Entered this into the West MIch Brew off jan. 2024 (former Oconners). I added some Skrewball Peanut Butter whiskey and a few drops of Peanut Butter extract into bottles. Scored really well with 42 and silver medal. They made comments about needing some more bitter to offset the sweetness and that bourbon was not strong enough. Would like to brew again, add a little more lactose to it, maybe a little more choc malt, need to look at more bitterness, keg first onto a vanilla bean, then into bourbon oak. Either add some peanut extract to keg with bourbon or just at time of bottling. Skrewball whiskey seems to be good with it but to get the peanut to pop, the whiskey is to strong, so need the extract too.

Notes

12/28/22 Wednesday. Good brew day. I forgot to add my acid to mash so deleted from recipe. Drained first running from mash. Added just enough water for sparge to cover grain bed and let sit after stirring for 20 min with temp still set to 168. Then raised grain bed and sparged with remaining water. Added first running back in. Ended up with 7.25 gal pre-boil. Raised temp to 190 and went for walk. Came back about hour later and raised temp to boil. 3 oz of hops in hanging hop spider is a little to much for it. Should try to keep at 2 oz max. Ran pump pre-boil into hop spider to try cleaning up wort. Need small hand held strainer for skimming loose grain off surface. Knocked temp down to about 68 and transfered into fermzilla. Didnt think yeast was ready so let pulled inkbird from it and connected to fermentation. Let the yeast continue on stir plate for several more hours. Then pitched later before bed. Yeast had been in stir plate with clear tote and heater controled by inkbird since prior evening. Yeast took off right away. It was going early next morning. Late day 1- 12/29/22 Friday I increase pressure slowly up to 10 psi. Could hear spunding valve hissing as you walked into basement. Krausen had gotten near top of fermzilla but pushed down with pressure added. 1/16/23 Monday - Transfered to keg. More than 5 gal so put about 1 gal into seperate keg to try some different flavers (burbon oak?). Partly carbed due to pressure fermentation. Was about about 10 psi. 1.039 final gravity Nice flavor. Head is very strong. Not sure how it will be when fully carbed. I put a handful of oak chips into some bourbon and soaked them for several days. I then transferred some of the carbed beer and the remainder of brew into a keg with the chips. This was on 1/26/23 thursday. Sampled it on 1/28/23 saturday and it was pretty good. I left it to soak another day. Continued to let soak on chips- added about a gal(?) more into bourbon chips on 2/4/23. Have it connected to CO2. On 2/6/23 bottled 1 for meeting. Seems a little undercarbed yet. I pumped up carb and moved from kezer to fridge to make room for another cold crash. Matt suggested putting some straight oak into it. I placed a whole piece of French Oak into keg.