So So

I like this amber ale. I know, I know, I titled this piece “So So” but I was pressed for titles, trying to make sure I had everything else in line.

The beer has a pretty solid head on it, which provides a little hop nose to it but not much. A whiff, if you will, nothing dramatic.

The rest is a solid red ale. Not quite malty enough for an amber, I would say but enough body to the beer that it won’t be mistaken for a pale. The C120 malt gives it just enough of a roasted quality that, like the hop nose, you get a whiff of it just on your tongue.

Pleasingly, the carbonation whisks everything away rather nicely. The ABV of this might be high enough that So So is a little dangerous, because the alcohol content isn’t notable while I’m drinking it. After three or four of them, though, I can tell that I’ve had a proper pint.

Brew date 5.14.16

Steeping grains
5 lb Gleneagle maris otter
1.5 lb C120
1.5 lb Munich

Fermentables: 4 lb LME

Hops
1 oz Glacier, 1 oz Dom Cluster @60
1 oz Dom Cluster @ 5

Yeast: Imperial house (4th and final use)

OG: 1.066

FG: 1.014

Put into secondary 5/29

ABV: 7.0%