Nighshift Morph (7/1/16) Different Pours, Different Tastes/Appearance

First, I love this batch of Morph. Second, what I'm going to be dicussing isn't necessarily unique to this beer specifically, I've had this happen before with other beers akin to this style of IPA, and even other unfiltered beers (Weihenstephan's 1516 for example, and definitely many Belgian beers).

Last week I enjoyed a Morph pouring it as usual, not trying to decant the yeast, just a normal pour and whatever gets in there, gets in there. See below.



Then at night, I had another, but this time I poured most of the beer, leaving a few ounces in the bottom, then swirled and poured (I don't remember why I did exactly). I noticed the appearance was far different than during the day. Bear in mind, my beer photos tend to look different/darker at night as opposed to being in natural sunlight. See below.



This past Friday night I had another, but this time I poured most of it normally into my glass for the first 3/4, see below. Notice it doesn't have that lighter yellow tint, it looks more like the first photo.

 

Then, I swirled and poured in again into the same glass. This not only looked much different (like the second photo in the OP), but this tasted much different. Far less bitter, but not as pleasantly juicy or sweet. Definitely not as appealing, and it had a distinct spicy peppery note. Almost as if I'd just eaten spicy food.



And for good measure I did the same thing yesterday during the day, it is definitely darker, but as not as yellow/dark as the one above. And I tasted the same spicy note I mentioned above.



Anyone else notice this with any other IPAs/pale ales that are in the "New England-style" or any other beers that are not a Hefeweizen? Any preferences? Suggestions @masterob8?

Personally, the beer tastes the best when I pour it normally, not trying to decant, but not excessively swirling and pouring. This is what I found with the 1516 as well. I believe having SOME of what is at the bottom in the beer creates an ideal flavor profile for me. Belgians I prefer to decant, and then swirl and pour the last ounce or two just to have a sip.

 

Ha, I actually watched that video today for the first time. I didn't think anything of it until I noticed how different the colors were on the two pours, I assumed it was simply because one was taken at night, and the other during the day. The full pour taken at night was the night before the day picture. So when I looked at the beer I thought, "Wow, that's REALLY different."

I thought at that point that the sediment caused the difference, so I looked inside the can and there wasn't very much left at all, even though I hadn't swirled and poured that one (just poured it normally). Perhaps swirling and pouring the last few ounces as opposed to a full pour rouses more of the sediment, enough to change the color dramatically. I don't recall that peppery/hot/spicy note in the full pour with the roused sedimen though. Only with the half pour. I suspect it's more pronounced with less liquid there.

Anyways, interesting experiment nonetheless. I'd like a full pour with sediment during the day to note the difference, but I enjoy the beer more when pouring normally, and I only have two left!

 

It does, but that's not exactly what I perceived. It was more like I had just eaten a jalapeno. The first time I noticed it I was wondering why there was still an after taste in my mouth from dinner. Then I took a few more sips and realized it was from the dregs I had just poured in.

Like I said, if I just pour it normally I don't perceive this flavor/mouthfeel. Just a nice balance of fruity/tropical sweetness and grapefruit bitterness. The first half of the pour without the sediment is more bitter, with the sediment on the second half of the pour it's spicy, sweeter (but almost an off-flavor sweetness, not as pleasant as before) and less bitter.

 

Thanks for the replies, good to know I'm not crazy.

Perhaps jalapeño was a bit overboard. Definitely spicy though, perhaps chili pepper might be more appropriate. I would say it was a bit more intense than black pepper, somewhat uncomfortable and unpleasant.

My roommate wanted to try the aggressive swirl and pour, so I did this with his beer (pouring everything but the last few ounces, then aggressively swirling and pouring the last bit). He said it tasted a bit different, but not spicy. I also don't remember it tasting any different when I poured the entire beer together, I think the spicy character is only prominent when it's in a smaller amount of liquid and not poured into the entire 16 oz.

With the two I have left I think I might drink one normally this Friday night, and then perform the aggressive swirl and pour into the full 16 oz. (with an accompanying daytime picture) the next day. For what it's worth, when I did this aggressive swirl and pour with Weihenstephan's 1516 there was a noticeable amount of astringency I was picking up that I didn't detect with a normal pour (but not decanting, just pouring everything in at once). Perhaps in unfiltered beer the leftover hops/yeast/whatever potentially always have a spicy and/or astringent character, and this wasn't a flavor profile isolated to this batch of Morph.

Regardless, when I'm not fudging around with pours, this batch was still fantastic.