#pleasantpastures

[phillipabloom]

First day impressions cont’d #england 2019, day 1 #summer #holiday #bucolic #pleasantpastures #home #butisithome #family #childhood #memories #hideandseek #gettinglost #iphonesnaps #nofilter #differenttrees #inanenglishcountrygarden https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz53GrfARzh/?igshid=4r2zttz4mdlh

[phillipabloom]

First impressions #england 2019, day 1 #summer #holiday #bucolic #pleasantpastures #home #butisithome #family #childhood #memories #hideandseek #gettinglost #iphonesnaps #nofilter (at Hook, Wokingham, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz4mdwkgSoH/?igshid=1mxnnrbcaat42

[pleasantpastures]

[solobrewing-blog]

SoLo Brewing // Pleasant Pastures // Biere de Garde

Vitals: OG: 1.060 FG: 1.011 ABV: 6.5% IBU: 30 SRM: 9

Appearance:  Dark burnished copper with a thick layer of eggshell head that settles to a chunky collar and leaves some soapy lacing.  Crystal clear after 6 weeks of lagering, very pretty.

Aroma:  Complex malt tones on the nose; graham cracker, biscuit, mild toffee sweetness, subtle raisin and whisky-esque rye.  Over ripe apple and banana yeast esters, with a hint of musty earth.  A spicy, peppery finish that could be yeast, hop or rye malt derived.  Even fermented at the low end of the listed tolerance (70F), Wyeast 3726PC Farmhouse Ale is beautifully expressive and delicate: certainly a winning strain.

Taste: At a slightly higher FG than I expected, this beer is sweeter than I imagined, but there's lots of hop bitterness and a hint of alcohol to keep it all well balanced.  A nicely rounded brew.

Palate:  Creamy and moderate bodied with full carbonation.  You can really sense the flaked grain in the mouth feel. 

Overall:  Yes, yes, yes!  Hands down both the best tasting beer I have brewed and the closest end product to what I had planned.  That being said, I really cracked down on fermentation control for this batch: checking and adjusting my chamber temperature every 14 hours or so.  My two small complaints would be a muddy malt character that could be solved by a paired down grist and a high FG that suggests I might want a bit of table sugar in there as well.  My reformatted recipe will use only 4 malts: Maris Otter, Biscuit, Flaked Rye and Special B; as well as table sugar.