Notes:

Descriptors: tropical, berry, pink laffy taffy, circus peanuts, fresh lawn clippings

No ill effects from not making a starter on this low gravity beer even though the yeast was sitting unwashed in the fridge for so long.

Still lots of hop character with a water profile consisting of less gypsum and more calcium chloride. If anything this seems to be making the mouthfeel softer and more delicate, which I love.

Head retention is terrible with this beer. After the pour it just dissolves. I wonder if the high fat content of oats is the reason for this in a beer with 17.5% oats in the grain bill. I really like the silky mouthfeel the oats give combined with the higher chloride level in the water, but the head retention is a problem. I might need to add more protein rich grains with less fat like kamut, wheat, and spelt.

Overall though, this is a great session beer. Tons of hop aroma with only 1 addition of dry hops that are all keg hops. Even with a small amount of galaxy, I’m getting a slight grassy note. I always hear galaxy and citra are similar, but I don’t think so after a few beers with them. Citra seems to be much cleaner and less aggressive.

This beer is missing a bittering addition. After a few tries of doing all hopstand hops for the bitternes, I haven’t liked the results. There is a certain bite of bitterness a 60 minute addition seems to be giving the beers that seems appropriate for these hoppy beers, even low ABV ones. I’d definitely add a small bittering addition next time.