Thursday, April 11, 2013

Galaxy Dry Hopped Wit Tasting

A glass of Galaxy Wit on a sunny afternoon.Sorry for the lack of tasting notes posted recently, I’ve been fighting off a nasty cough for the last couple weeks. This batch of wit was brewed as a double proof of concept for Modern Times. Five gallons was infused with hibiscus, while this half was dry hopped with two ounces of Galaxy from Australia.

Galaxy Wit

Appearance – Hazy lemon-yellow. Head retention is solid, but unremarkable. The airy head trails handsome white lacing as it slowly recedes.

Smell – Aroma is big citrus, along with tropical hops, moderate peppery yeast, and light fruity coriander. The orange/tangerine zest really comes across well, although I suspect some of that aroma is from the Galaxy hops. The aromatics from the various sources are all working on the same team.

Taste – Flavor is bright and vibrant. Orange leads with some freshly cracked wheat in the finish. The flavor is really snappy/crisp thanks to the acid malt. Minimal bitterness, but with how dry the beer is it come through. Quenching and bold, but not the most complex wit I’ve tasted thanks to the hold spices/hops.

Mouthfeel – The mouthfeel is fairly thin, I like a wit to be just slightly creamy. Carbonation is spritzy, which works well with the flavor and balance.

Drinkability & Notes – Considering this was fermented with saison yeast, it still comes across very much as a wit (albeit one that was dry hopped). The Galaxy hops worked very well to compliment the spicing and yeast character without overwhelming them, a big improvement over a couple DIPAs I've brewed with this variety. I’ll find time to re-brew this recipe eventually, with a true wit yeast. Tasting on the hibiscus half as soon as I have a slot open in my kegerator.

2 comments:

cfschofield said...

I can't believe it's thin with all that flaked wheat and Quick Oats. 1.009 is pretty low but I would have thought all those proteins (actually is it proteins that make flaked grains contribute to thicker mouthfeel?) would have stuck around and given you some nice viscosity.

Anonymous said...

Lipids right?