ESB, APA: Who Really Knows?

Tonight I bottled Foam Dome Stout and managed to get just shy of 24 full bottles out of the batch (the last bottle is about 95% full). I was actually surprised and impressed by this, seeing as when I racked it from primary to secondary I walked away and the siphon broke without getting the last bit of beer from the carboy; who knows, maybe this was a good thing.

I also racked Mulligan ESB from the primary to secondary and tested/tasted it. Its final gravity after the primary was 1.012; with its OG of 1.056, that leaves it about 5.7-5.8% ABV. I think I'll take another reading after the secondary, because while that seems like pretty good attenuation, it tasted rather sweet so I think the yeast can squeeze a little more out of it.

One interesting thing that happened when I tasted Mulligan was that it rather tasted a lot more like an American pale ale than like an ESB. In fact, it was almost verging on IPA territory, at least in aroma and flavor. Had I gone a little heavier on bittering hops it might well have ended up a solid IPA. Nomenclature aside (I'm keeping the ESB appellation for now), I was rather impressed at how well it seemed to come out. I was really afraid this one would taste "homebrewey", or otherwise have off flavors from using tap water, but actually I think it turned out pretty well for my first-time non-dark-malt recipe. Could it be I had brew karma from having Cole around? The world may never know.