We openly admit that we’re still learning about beer, but we’re obviously starting to get somewhere — we managed to guess correctly that Salopian’s wonderful golden Hop Twister (4.5% abv) contains a lot of lovely Saaz hops.
Our trip to the Czech Republic before Christmas obviously helped us zero in on flavours and aromas we’d previously struggled to spot. It’s also possible that brewing with Saaz ourselves has helped, too. Is a flavour I keep describing as “sherbety” something you’d associate with Saaz?
At any rate, this is another beer which successfully references the low-carbonation, fruity lagers of Franconia and the Czech Republic, whilst still being a distinctly British ale. We absolutely loved it.
Haven’t tried Hop Twister but Fullers discovery has Saaz hops too.
I am thinking about brewing a “Continental Pale Ale” when I get to the States in the summer, which would consist of British specialty malts on top of my dry malt extract base, and then in the boil using Mittelfruh and Saaz hops. Fermentation would be with an alt yeast and followed with a good couple of months of cold conditioning.
Ed — it’s getting to that time of year where I give Discovery another go, so I’ll look out for “Saaziness”. I love Fuller’s, but Discovery isn’t their best beer.
Sounds good, Al. What colour are you after?
I am thinking of using something like a Caramel 20 as the specialty grain, so that it is a light copper colour.
ZeroDegrees’ Pilsner was initially brewed with the sometimes harsh UK Target variety & late-hopped with Czech Saaz, until after some good advice from a German brewing chum, we changed it to all Saaz.
I wasn’t sure if the recipe had changed in the meantime (no SE Ldn brewing pun intended) – but a quick look at their website suggests it hasn’t changed much . . .
“The pleasing malt character is balanced by 100% czech Saaz”
http://www.zerodegrees.co.uk/beer.html
Mike — hello, again! That’s interesting insider info — thanks.