PR's Whole Wheat Hearth Bread - Nutty? Or just plain crazy?

Hey everyone,

I recently tried making the whole wheat hearth bread from Peter Reinhart's whole grain breads book. It calls for the use of a soaker (not a heated mash) and a pre-ferment. The result was a beautiful round with great coloring and (a rare event) scoring I was proud of. Alas, I was visiting my parents and didn't have my camera so i can't share pictures, which is sad because i really appreciate your feedback. Anyways...

I was wondering if anyone else has tried this or a similar bread, and found there to be a distinct, stronger "nutty" smell and/or taste? I've made predmoninantly / completely whole wheat breads before, but never in the 'soaker/pre-ferment epoxy' method, and while they had their characteristic whole wheat twang, this one really caught my senses. It was balanced out a bit by the honey i added, but still it was rather pungent, though not in a bad way. I don't know if it was the flour at all (rather old KA white whole wheat kept in the freezer), but it was like "essence of earthiness" in a boule. really odd, but intriguing.

I've only made this once, so i'd like to try it again and see how it compares with fresher flour and the same method. I'll be getting plenty of practice, since I'm ordering flour in 25lb multiples and baking bread for a house of 20 people here at school. i'm thrilled.

Sidenote: i'm oddly excited to be posting here again, it's like coming back to a familiar, pleasant place. how about that?