Steve Jackson wrote:

It's a good discussion point. I know that certain styles that I brewed using
decoction, like Kölsch, benefitted greatly from decoction by giving them a
fuller character and malt profile that the infused renditions did not have.
But I never did any testing with them.

See, this is where it gets interesting...I did a LOT of decoctions. One
day, I didn't have time to do one and brewed the same N. German pils
reecipe I'd used before with a single infusion...when I tasted it,
damned if it wasn't virtually identical to the one I'd decocted! And
I'd been a die hard decocter, who'd also laughed at the Lewis study!
When I brewed the beers for the experiment, I KNEW I could tell which of
mine were decocted and which were not. But the tasters couldn't
tell...really threw my own preconceptions for a loop. I've found
several comments from pro brewers who basically said "I think I can tell
a difference because I want to tell a difference..after all that work,
who wouldn't?". Very interesting.....

------------Denny
--
Life begins at 60 - 1.060, that is.

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