So here it is…the tasting of the Kipling clone (https://yeastismybitch.com/2013/11/12/homebrewed-thornbridge-kipling-clone-braumeister-version/)

Well.  I’m happy with it, but not uber-happy with it.  It’s a little more hazy in appearance than I’d like, and a good bit darker than the original, but it does have a very nice head to it, though, being all lacy, lasting and attractive-looking.

The aroma is sexy and inviting: over-ripe mandarin oranges, tropical fruit juice and malt, some subdued lemony citrus.  Quite lovely, really.  I will be using Nelson Sauvin again, mos’ def’.

Upon tasting, a light citrus hoppiness floods in accompanied by a reasonable malt body and a nice level of alcohol. Bitter but not over bitter. Very tasty…

All that and an aftertaste of piney citrus and that signature mandarin orange flavor…

From the corny keg, the beer was excellent; in bottles it seems to be lacking a bit in body, I reckon that the us05 was a bit too attenuative…so in future I can either mash a touch higher or I can use an alternative yeast.  Or, I may fool around a bit with Vienna and Munich malts, I just feel that the beer could be so much more satisfying in the body department…I’d dearly love to have a house staple malt bill that I can use to showcase different hop varieties and combinations.

One thing I will be doing is chopping down on the Torrified wheat.  This beer suffers terribly with chill haze, and I think the wheat is the culprit.  I’ll also be looking to lengthen out the protein rest a bit and always remembering the Irish moss ten minutes before the end of the boil…