Just cracked open a few bottles of caribou slobber two weeks from bottling. This was my second batch, and I followed instructions far more carefully this time. The beer is pretty good! There is still an off flavor, though very slight, of sweetness. I don’t really know how else to describe it. Almost tastes like raw malt extract. I got this beer all the way to a FG of 1.012 so I am pretty sure it was done, just not sure where this flavor is coming from. Otherwise though very drinkable! Much better than my first Frankenstein beer. I bought this kit on recommendation from Loopie Beer and glad I did. Easy recipe and good flavor. The only problem I had with this batch is that I pitched into a carboy and used a three piece valve. I rehydrated my yeast and pitched below 70, but one day after pitching it pished the bung out and was foaming everywhere. I refitted with a blowoff (something I will start with from now on) and all was good. I let it sit in primary for three weeks, then bottled.
My experience with Caribou Slobber is that it starts tasting really good after about 2 months of bottle conditioning. Even better after 4 months.
Which yeast did you use and the fermentation temperature over the first 5 days?
I did that kit once as an extract. I think I used us04. I found it sweet also even after aging.
Any thoughts on an alternative yeast?
Not sure on the yeast, whichever dry one came with the kit. I ferment in my basement, and it probably runs about 65 this time of year. I didn’t have a thermometer on the carboy.
I think I would use my us05 slurry it attenuates really well. I like my beers dry. I just did a side by side test with my slurry and some dry packs. The slurry went faster and lower than the dry. I don’t know why maybe the slurry yeast mutates or its pitch rate. I have some 04 in a beer now, I’ll save the slurry and see if it works better than the dry when I repitch.
I have a keg on tap right now. Brewed on 10/17, kegged on 11/14 and tapped on 11/25. My son said it tasted like beer with paint mixed in 
Tasted again last night and it is much better. If I ever brew this again I am going to let the keg carbonate naturally for a couple of months before I tap.
and keep in mind that fermentation with yeast is an exothermic reaction /produces heat and you can tack on another 3-6 degrees to that 65. If Ohio is like the rest of the East, its been crazy hot which probably hasn’t helped the situation.
I’ll repeat what I said in an earlier post about our host’s Caribou Slobber, that my wife thought it had a plastic off flavor when I did this ale as my first attempt…fast forward 2 or 3 months and it tasted great, actually awesome, so put it away for awhile with a full 3-4 weeks at room temp then some more aging at frig temps.
In December 2014 there was a Caribou /slobber thread that I posted to.
Instead of posting back to that thread with my experimental brew of Caribou Slobber I’ll post the results here. I finished the last bottle a month ago.
The finished beer had the color and very similar esters of Moose Drool. It wasn’t the same beer I had brewed many times before. The deep color, body, and complex flavors were missing.
I realize I made three very novice errors in brewing this beer. I planned two major changes instead of one change at a time. I did a late extract addition and raised the temperature of the fermenting beer when the fermentation was slowing on day 4. Another error was not checking the SG before raising the fermentation temperature to see if the beer was near the typical final gravity.
The lighter color was definitely from the late extract addition reducing the Maillard effect on the LME. The loss of the more complex flavors may also be the result of the late extract addition. What I perceive as extra esters could be in part higher hop utilization. Though it is now debated that hop oil isomerization may be less affected by the initial SG of the wort than previously thought.
With all my brewing errors I can’t say which one gave me a beer that was not great like the previous brews. I have another CS ready to go. The yeast will be the same WY 1332. I may add half of the LME at the beginning of the boil with the remainder at 30 minutes. I will hold the fermentation temperature at 64° to 66°F for the first 14 days, then let it rise to ambient of 68° before bottling. At least three weeks in the primary before bottling.
