Batch 2 of Octavius Ale

Last night I popped open the first bottle of Octavius Ale which I brewed about a month ago. For those of you who don't know, Octavius Ale is the first recipe I developed from scratch and I'm currently refining it with every batch. Side note, I'm still working on its classification as well as I suspect the results are more in line with a Brown Ale or ESB. Anyway, for this second batch I decided to change up the yeast and use a different priming sugar. The taste came out noticeably different and I'm still trying to figure out which batch I like best. My girlfriend, Beth, likes the original recipe better but I think I'll have to recruit some friends to do a side by side comparison and get some additional input on the matter.

Batch 2 has the same dark brown color and full body flavor as the original, but with a creamer head which I'm hoping sticks around longer after a little more time in the bottle. There are several layers of complexity to the taste of this beer. Initially there is a taste of toasted almonds and malty sweetness followed almost immediately by a hoppy bitterness (which I love). Both layers then mellow into each other, leaving a very appealing and well balanced finish.

It's true what they say about a yeast really defining how your beer is going to turn out because that simple switch yielded a completely different experience. The flavor on batch 1 would start off with a malty sweetness (no toasted almonds) and finish with a hoppy bitterness that lingered even after swallowing, much like a typical IPA does.

Even though both batches yielded very pleasing results, there is much more experimentation to follow before I land on a final recipe. I'm starting to now understand how some guys can have 10 batches going at the same time. If only I had the room.

Cheers!