So I’m drinking this beer tonight and am looking for my notes on bayoubeer.com but couldn’t find it. So I must’ve forgotten to post it. Here it is. I can’t remember the final gravity but I know it was very close to target so I was excited about it. It has a very clean but very chocolate/cocoa profile. It’s appropriately bittered for balance and for the most part a very good beer. Very good isn’t what we shoot for as brewers so I’ll be adjusting it. I had Monchshof yesterday and noticed the beer was more complex and had bigger mouthfeel. I’m not exactly shooting for Monchshof but it’s a goto for people when they think about a great schwarzbier. I think I’ll add 1/4 lb of crystal 45, 1/4 of crystal 60, 1/8 lb of special B, dial down the pale chocoalate to 1/2 lb and perhaps add 3 pounds of munich.

Update 9/7/2014

This beer did mellow with time and is pretty smooth and drinkable. Reviewing the BJCP guidelines I feel like this beer is probably spot on for style but perhaps I(and others who judge) will be a little skewed because of our experience with Monchshof. I think I’ll go ahead and send it to Dixie Cup 2014 to see how it does. Mellowing on it’s big cocoa flavor makes the overall impression more balanced and it perhaps has a chance to sneak in to a medal.