So I popped my tester pretty early since it was fully carbonated and I figure this stuff would be consumed pretty fresh.
So the same notes I described previously when I tasted it out of the fermenter still apply. Everything is subtle. Somehow. It doesn't taste like herbal tea or Jägermeister.
The carb, even though light has increased the perceived bitterness, especially when this is cold. Between the 8 IBUs from the hops and the Wormwood I used, and the carb, and the high level of attenuation, this may as well be an English Best/Special Bitter. As in, it is noticeably bitter, which is not normal for modern Belgians. Maybe less wormwood next time to being it back to more normal Belgian territory. Wormwood is strong stuff. But who knows how bitter they made this stuff back then, it may very well have been this bitter sometimes, or at least ended up just as "balanced" towards the less sweet side of things due to lactic acid piling onto the bitterness. But I certainly don't need any lactic acid here.
It is more light bodied like a Belgian though because of how much it attenuated.
But light body or not, it actually tastes more like an English beer made with an flavorful yeast that throws off some stone fruit and nutty esters and spicy/earthy/slightly tea like astringent English hops, than a Belgian beer. I could probably tell people it's an English beer and they would believe me. The herbs are not coming across as that much more "herbal" then some types of hops for the most part.
Because of the bitterness, and the light body, it is actually very refreshing on a hot day after a long bike ride.
I like it and could drink a lot of it easily. It certainly does come across as "beer". But who knows what all those herbs would do to you if you drank too much of it. Might start to see little brew demons or something...
Now I have to decide if I want to tone down the wormwood next time or else hope that I get a more normal level of attenuation. Tough call as I don't want it cloyingly sweet, and if both happened, it might be that. (then out would come the lactic acid I guess).
