Thoughts – I repitched my Budvar yeast into this Desitka, I am blown away by the performance of this yeast, there has been no real reviews of it and yet I find its producing fantastic beers. I don’t think this is uncommon its just overshadowed by the better marketed Pilsner Urquell strains of lager yeast. (which I have a vial of). Anyways this beer was fantastic (just killed the keg tonight, went quickly). I am enjoying the process of designing my ideal 10 degree lager (with Calgary water).
Appearance – Deep gold to copper in colour, head is very thick and creamy (look at the picture of my July Fermentation Friday) takes a long time to subside into creamy lacing.
Aroma – Malt is the predominant aroma coming off this beer, the hops are subsided and I do not get any specific hop characteristics.
Flavor – This beer is all about the malt, the munich & melanodin malts really pull through, the hops are balanced and there is enough hop bitterness to make this beer incredibly drinkable. I do wish it was hoppier though, but that will be a modification for the next revision.
Mouthfeel – The body is spot on, mashing at 158F worked like a charm, no carafoam needed to get the nice full body of this 10 degree lager. Carbonation is a tricky subject as I am still mastering the art of kegging beer, on the whole smooth carbonation and exactly as I remember drinking in Praha.
Drinkability - This is more drinkable than the first version for me, I think because the maltiness is coming through better and the mouthfeel is more in the direction I want. I could drink this beer all night long (and have since now the keg is empty).
Food Pairing – Tough question, this version is not has hop forward as the previous, I would pair it would nice grilled sausage (or other meat) with Sumava bread, and homemade beer mustard (or a store bought variety).
Final Thoughts – Each revision is fantastic, I nailed the maltiness on this one but I want to bring the spicy hops forward in a big way. I am still experimenting with other malt / hop combinations. Who knows what the next revision will comprise of?
