This post is one in a series following six brewers collaborating to each make a small adjustment to a single recipe in order to improve it, then pass it along to the next brewer. We hope to learn more about the art of recipe creation as we see how other brewers approach the same recipe. The rest of the comparison tastings for this series can be found here.
Taster: C. McKenzie
While each side-by-side tasting for these stouts in this series has had the opinion of two tasters, the comparison between Iteration 6 and Iteration 7 will only have one vantage point. Along with the brewer, I’ve been the second taster for all comparison tastings in this series, but since Iteration 7 was my turn to brew, we’re left with my opinions alone. Overall, though, I’ve been pleased with how closely each person’s perception of the beers has matched up. As a side note, none of the contributors to this project have conferred with each other with our opinions and perceptions, and I’m always sure to take my tasting notes comparing the beers in advance of receiving the initial tasting notes contained in each iteration’s standalone post. Tasting notes between me and the other brewers could have varied wildly because of this, but the fact that perceptions have lined up so closely gives me a certain degree of confidence that about what we’ve been tasting in each beer.
Recap
The recipes for the beers being compared below are as follows:
| Iteration 6 | Iteration 7 | |
| Base Malt 2-row | 69.2% | 69.2% |
| Specialty Malt 1 | 10.8% | 10.8% |
| Specialty Malt 2 | 7.8% Roasted Barley | 7.8% Roasted Barley |
| Specialty Malt 3 | 4.4% Chocolate Malt | 4.4% Chocolate Malt |
| Specialty Malt 4 | 7.8% Flaked Barley | 7.8% Flaked Barley |
| 60 min. hop | Nugget: 45 IBUs | Nugget: 44.3 IBUs |
| 5 min. hop | Willamette: 3.6 IBUs | Centennial: 6.2 IBUs |
| Yeast | White Labs Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004) | White Labs Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004) |
| OG | 1.65 | 1.64 |
| FG | 1.018 | 1.021 |
| ABV | 6.2% | 5.6% |
Appearance
Both Iterations 6 and 7 were back in appearance. Iteration 6 had low carbonation in the bottle that produced very little head that faded quickly. Iteration 7 had a medium off-white head with moderate retention.
Aroma
Iteration 6 had an aroma of black toast and cold brew coffee—breakfast in a glass. There was also a touch of dark chocolate with a red fruit flavor that I couldn’t quite pinpoint any further than “red.” Iteration 7 also had the same aroma as 6 with the same intensity of each piece of the scent, but with the addition of a hint of floral aroma from the hops.
Flavor
Iteration 6 had a slight alcohol warmth to it. There were also notes of coffee and toast—the toast flavor was one of lightly toasted bread, as opposed to the dark toast present in the aroma. Iteration 7 tasted of chocolate (somewhere between milk and dark in terms of strength), coffee, and toast. There were also floral and earthy notes present.
Final Thoughts
The slight alcohol warmth to Iteration 6 was something I didn’t notice when I tasted it previously, but tasting it next to Iteration 7 seemed to accent that difference. In general, the main difference between these two beers was the actual presence of hop flavor and aroma—conspicuously absent in previous iterations. The addition of this extra layer of complexity and the pleasant nature of it both show me that this stout is well on its way to being even tastier than it already is.