Quickie note.
I westerned this one up and had a third accident of brewing too long, but the flavor of this one is incredibly rich. The roast is fairly prominent, but it adds to the flavor rather than taking anything away. I’m picky with darker roasts since they can be too harsh, cooked, or lean way too much in the roasted honey direction. This one was a lot more even, and I’m just going to use the notes What-Cha described, adding on what I tasted:
“Smooth texture
- Sweet honey and grapefruit taste
- Background roasted hazelnut notes”
The last two are very prominent. It starts off lightly floral, then immediately leans into acidity with honey and grapefruit, middling and ending with distinct roasted hazelnut. There some smoke splashed into the aftertaste too, and I occasionally got vanilla in steep 2 with some malt every once in a while. The later rebrews are smokey with some lingering citrus and acidity.
Yet again, I will write another note when I’ve drank this properly with less leaves or shorter steeps, but the flavors were still rich and distinct without being overwhelmed by oversteeped bitterness. It’s very good, and I’ll savor it during the last few weeks of cold fronts during the opening of spring.
Flavors: Bitter, Citrus, Dark Bittersweet, Grapefruit, Hazelnut, Honey, Roasted, Smoke
