Part of my Christmas gift was a gift card and a gift carding, I went and found two of the four single hops oils from Bert’s Beer Basters.
For the first test, I used MacLeod Ale Brewing Van Ice light Lager. No dry hopped Lager, no industrial corn pop beer.
Here are my notes:
Unspiked notes – crisp, pear notes, grain, wheat taste dominant, carbonated, light
Chinook – weird hard candy smell, a bit more bitter with three drops. Not very three dimensional.
Azacca – little over three drops. Still candy aroma but closer to real to me. Hits the back of the palate. Not as bitter as Chinook.
As I was doing my “science”, my wife chuckled at me trying yet another drop based beer addition. My explanation that this was a higher end, non party product did not halt the head shaking. It does reaffirm my thought that hops are shifty and their flavors can be difficult to pin down into an essential oil.
Next up, another beer and a test of blending the two.