Tasting Notes: Maximilian Lager

I was weirdly excited to brew this recipe when I wrote the original brew day post as a stand-alone. I was able to taste the first batch of this recipe at Homebrew Con, but that is not the same thing as being able to enjoy a full pour. Needless to say, I couldn't conduct a side-by-side of that batch either. 

This time I gave the beer a name.

I bought the tins of extract during a Black Friday sale last fall. When I purchased lager yeast for my recent Pale Kellerbier, it only made sense to re-pitch it for a batch that was already in the pipeline. 

The batch did get three weeks to ferment extra cold, before going into a keg for lagering. When I tasted the beer at that time, I picked up some diacetyl. I let the keg warm up to cellar temperature and sit for a week as a crude diacetyl rest. Then the keg lagered all summer until there was space in my keezer to put it on tap. 

Harpoon Summer Sampler 12x12

Beers included: Summer Style, Day Drifter IPA, Harpoon IPA, Camp Wannamango

Purchase Date 3 August 2024

Purchase Price $18.99

Initial Impressions

I didn't set out to buy seasonal sample packs all summer, but summer has always been my favorite beer season, and I found a few I was excited to see.