We tried some cider before it fully carbonated and man is it alcoholic, to the point that it overwhelms the other flavors and completely takes over the cider. I’m thinking the quantity of Maker’s Mark might have been too much, or maybe the yeast didn’t finish their job properly and convert some of the more solventy alcohols down to their final forms.
I’m hoping that given some time the flavors will mellow and with cold and carbonation things will even out a bit.
As for the Framboise I dumped half of it (a full case!) before I said, “maybe I should just try one of these, just to be sure.” It was spectacular! Any hint of the cardboard oxidized flavor of the one previously tasted bottle was gone completely – these were great beers. A lucky break – I saved the rest for storage.
The Tripel is still in the fridge cold conditioning. I’ve been waffling between bottling it in Belgian bottles and just kegging the damn thing so I can drink it. I don’t have quite enough bottles, nor corks or corker, so I haven’t done anything yet.
Also there’s a Porter in the future, someday.
Happy new year.