# 2010 Adelaide, Mildura & Whyalla Case Swap Tasting Thread



## Hatchy (7/11/10)

Phil & I are drinking Boston's IPA now. I'm pretty happy that I somehow ended up with 4 bottles of it.


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## Goofinder (7/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> Phil & I are drinking Boston's IPA now. I'm pretty happy that I somehow ended up with 4 bottles of it.


I take it this means that everyone has taken their kegs home if you're on to the bottled stuff.


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## Frank (7/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> Phil & I are drinking Boston's IPA now. I'm pretty happy that I somehow ended up with 4 bottles of it.


As Phil and Hatchy have worked out, my beer was CPBF and ready to drink now.


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## Goofinder (7/11/10)

Boston said:


> As Phil and Hatchy have worked out, my beer was CPBF and ready to drink now.


Are there any other CPBF beers in the swap?

So far I've got Boston's, QB's and the one with the black cap which I am assuming is DrSmurto's in the fridge first.


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## Hatchy (7/11/10)

Smurto's are the ones with the black caps, I'm pretty sure they're ready to go. Mine was bottled 18/10 & was tasting pretty good today when Phil & I had a glass. Kieren's beer was tasting damn tasty a fortnight ago & I can't imagine much has changed in the last couple of weeks.


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## Hatchy (9/11/10)

I've just cracked 1 of Kieren's which is still tasting pretty good although as I reckon he's said somewhere it's starting to fade so probably best drunk sooner rather than later (I didn't take any encouragement to open one).

I'm not a BJCP judge so I hope no one takes any of my tasting notes too seriously. I'm getting a delicious fruity aroma but I reckon the aroma was fruitier & deliciouser* a fortnight ago. The clarity is awesome & it's really well balanced (in my opinion). Mrs Hatchy says it's smooth on the palate & has a nice aftertaste. My mates Mrs is having a glass but she's English & I can't understand her accent. She's smiling though.

Later on tonight will be Quantum Brewer's beer, the other one of Boston's that's cold & Awesome Fury's beer that's not only not ready to drink but was also frozen overnight on Saturday night.

* see what I mean about taking my tasting notes with a grain of salt, deliciouser isn't even a word.


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## Hatchy (9/11/10)

I'm on Quantum's beer at the moment. It pours a good head but it didn't stick around long, that may be a dirty glass rather than anything to do with the beer though. I love the colour of this beer. I'm guessing there's not heaps of late hops in this one, not a heap of flavour or aroma but the bitterness is delicious. I'm thinking this may inspire me to do a beer only a 60 minute addition.

In unrelated news, I've run out of co2 AGAIN & it looks like Phil & I drank both of the beers Boston left in the fridge. Looks like I'm drinking Awesome Fury's (young) beer then going to bed after putting some more beers in the fridge.

If anyone's wondering about me hooking through all of these beers before anyone else has posted don't forget that I got twice as many beers as everyone else.


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## raven19 (9/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> If anyone's wondering about me hooking through all of these beers before anyone else has posted don't forget that I got twice as many beers as everyone else.



I honestly dont think this will stop you mate.

I am suprised you don't have gills by now to be honest...  :icon_cheers:


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## Hatchy (9/11/10)

Fury's beer tastes like it was bottled on Friday in Mildura, travelled to Adelaide on Saturday morning, went in the freezer at some point (late) Saturday night & got forgotten about until some time on Sunday morning.

I really hope I've got another one of these inside because I reckon it'll be a pretty good beer once it's ready. The colour is more like what I was after from my amber ale but it tastes like it's been frozen though.


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## Goofinder (10/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> Fury's beer tastes like it was bottled on Friday in Mildura, travelled to Adelaide on Saturday morning, went in the freezer at some point (late) Saturday night & got forgotten about until some time on Sunday morning.


Sounds like it could have done with some glass hopping then.


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## Hatchy (10/11/10)

The thought crossed my mind but I'm not sure I've got any hops left after Saturday night.


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## drsmurto (10/11/10)

Had my first swap beer last night.

QBs Ruddles County Ale

Not sure what style we are giving feedback in. Didn't judge this against any BJCP style, i simply enjoyed it for what it was.

An exceptionally well made bitter.

Great aroma which combined subtle blackcurrant with some spice as well as nice fruity esters from the yeast and some malt and caramel. Good malt backbone and solid bitterness. So easy to drink. I only chilled it for 20 mins so it was quite warm and it went down very well. icon_drunk.gif

If i was to find some constructive criticism in there i would say it's carbed a tad too high but that could just be my personal preference. laugh.gif

A very good start to the case and I'd love to see the recipe Jono. 

Yes, my beer has a black cap and quite possibly a label from a previous swap. To make things a tad more confusing the labels are other peoples! Classy i am. It was bottled via CPBF and its ready to drink now. Much lower in carbonation than you will expect so be aggressive when pouring it if you want to see a head on your beer. Very cloudy, apologies for that. Not up to my normal standards clarity wise but tasted good last night!


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## Effect (10/11/10)

First one I had was on sunday with Hatchy - Boston's IPA.

Very very nice. My kind of beer. Perfect level of carb. Good whack of late hops. It seems that citra blends well with galaxy or at least I found that they both complimented one another. A very well brewed beer.

Glad I drank half of hatchy's one first - still got my swap bottle of boston's in the crate 

Cheers
Phil


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## jonocarroll (10/11/10)

DrSmurto said:


> QBs Ruddles County Ale
> 
> An exceptionally well made bitter.
> 
> ...


Cheers! CC always most welcome, but in your case I suspect the fact it is carbed at all is a turn-off  This is by far the lowest I've carbed a beer recently, but then I've become accustomed to IPAs.

I made another keg of this after tasting the swap version from the fermenter, so I'm enjoying this beer frequently. I need a handpump.



DrSmurto said:


> A very good start to the case and I'd love to see the recipe Jono.


I'll look at getting this one up on the DB sometime. I think the blackcurrant would be due to the Bramling Cross hops, and the esters from Wyeast London Ale 1028 fermented at ambient in September/October.

I think the general 'this is what I think' style of feedback is most useful here. If you happen to know that the beer was made 'to style' and you know what that 'should be' then feel free to comment, otherwise general notes and helpful criticisms are a big advantage of a swap like this.

I'll hopefully have a little time tonight to cool down a few of these and have a taste myself. Thoroughly looking forward to many of these.


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## jbirbeck (10/11/10)

haven't managed to get my lot off raven yet but hopefully soon to get started on tasting. As an FYI my brew is ready to drink, choose one of the cooler days perhaps because is a Smoked Schwartz. Just RK on the lid.


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## Kieren (10/11/10)

So, legham came over tonight and we tasted a few beers.

First my Litha to see how it was holding up - ok.

Next Smurto's Home grown Rye. Excellent - very reminiscent of the hand pump beer with a touch more hop aroma. A really nice head poured from about foot above the glass that laced the glass very nicely. A slightly sweet, estery (?) nose which carried through well on palate. Finish was fairly dry with a nice bitterness. A beautiful beer, something I would be stoked to brew anything even close to. What yeast did you use Smurto?

And next was Boston's AIPA. poured well, low carbed and didn't quite have the lasting head that Smurto's had. Aroma was a pleasant sweet floral citrus, some malt. Good firm bitterness. After a little warming the hops seemed to get a nice depth and blended better with the malt. A very nice AIPA - perhaps more east coast than west coast? It had similarities to Smurto's beer in the aroma and flavour that legham nor I could pin down but I guess at estery ferment flavours - which seemed to hold up the hops nicely.

My first attempt at beer critic, pretty poor but will practice with the rest of the swap case which is still in adelaide. I could only fit on 3 longnecks back on the plane - might have to get the rest couriered back to Whyalla.


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## jonocarroll (10/11/10)

*Boston's AIPA*

I'm probably ruined for IPAs for a while, but this felt like more of an English IPA to me. First pour was brilliant with a good head. Lacing remained to the last drop. Clarity dropped off by the end of the bottle. Nose was subdued, but malt-forward with a subtle earthy hop presence with perhaps a slight hint of citrus (I haven't tried most of the hops on the label so I'm not sure which to attribute this to). I got some unfermented malt scents from this at first but they dropped off by the end of the bottle. This is in contradiction to the nice dryness, which in itself is in contradiction to the low hoppiness. Carbonation was quite low, for me too much so - more might have lifted the hops that I was expecting to find. The bubble size however is gorgeous, leading to a nice bit of creaminess. Palate has a nice bitterness that isn't too sharp and a good malt backbone and a moderate hop flavour that does build up (more than I had anticipated from the first sip). There's something ester-y coming through once it warms up properly that I'm not so sure about - conflicting with the hops perhaps.

A very drinkable low-hopped IPA. My best suggestion would be to bottle-condition this one for a couple of months to let the yeast clean up and push up the carbonation.

Cheers!


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## Hatchy (10/11/10)

There's a mysterious champagne bottle in my fridge with a 37 on the cap & a longneck with what looks like a t but could be a y. Does anyone know where these came from? This is quite a change for me, normally I'm wondering where the beers gone, not where it's come from. I need to host more swaps.


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## Kieren (10/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> There's a mysterious champagne bottle in my fridge with a 37 on the cap & a longneck with what looks like a t but could be a y. Does anyone know where these came from? This is quite a change for me, normally I'm wondering where the beers gone, not where it's come from. I need to host more swaps.



The T is probably Thor.


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## Frank (10/11/10)

I am yet to try any of the case swap beers, but plan on giving them a nudge soon. Glad to see a few enjoying mine already. 

I am pretty sure the champagne bottle was from Diekomsa (Paul), can't remember what it is though. 



Hatchy said:


> There's a mysterious champagne bottle in my fridge with a 37 on the cap & a longneck with what looks like a t but could be a y. Does anyone know where these came from? This is quite a change for me, normally I'm wondering where the beers gone, not where it's come from. I need to host more swaps.


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## Hatchy (10/11/10)

Kieren said:


> The T is probably Thor.



So you'd recommend glass hopping that one? I think it's eaten some hops from my freezer already.


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## Kieren (10/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> So you'd recommend glass hopping that one? I think it's eaten some hops from my freezer already.




Can you pour it through a randall into a glass of hops with a dash of hop extract? Remember I was 10g short on the 20 min addition.


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## Hatchy (11/11/10)

I'm not sure that any amount of glass hops could compensate for you only using 240g instead of the 250 that was clearly required.


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## Kieren (11/11/10)

That's why you need to add a shot of hop extract each glass.


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## Hatchy (11/11/10)

I'm with you now. I'm having another litha at the moment while I procrastinate about sanitising a fermenter & chucking some yeast in. It's on my things to brew list. Pretty sure I've already got the recipe as well.


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## drsmurto (11/11/10)

Used Pacman to ferment both the swap beer and the handpump beer. 

The esters it produces are very nice and blend well with the hops IMO. 

Need a few celebratory beers this evening so will crack a few more of the swap beers.


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## Mayor of Mildura (11/11/10)

Well i've been busy. So far have drunk Dr Smurtos, Kierens, QB's and Brewbots. All awesome beers. 
Favourite so far is Brewbots nelson summer ale. 
Looking forward to bostons AIPA tonight!


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## Hatchy (12/11/10)

Boston said:


> I am pretty sure the champagne bottle was from Diekomsa (Paul), can't remember what it is though.



I'm really enjoying this beer, it's dark enough that I poured some into my hydrometer tube to see if I could see through it. Holding the tube up to the light I could only just see through it. It doesn't taste as heavy as I'd expect a beer this dark to taste, I reckon this would be an awesome session beer. I thought the main perk of hosting would be sleeping in my own bed, I didn't expect gifts from the beer gods to be left in my fridge. Nice work Diekomsa, I'm guessing yr the bloke I saw a couple of times & meant to say G'day to but got sidetracked each time, I reckon there's a chance I was tipsy when you got here.


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## drsmurto (12/11/10)

Had Boston's AIPA last night.

Agree with other comments that its more like an english IPA which works for me! Very good malt backbone with a firm bitterness. What calcs do you use? I would have picked it as 60 not 80 IBU. The late hops blended well together, not slap your aroudn the fact hoppy but still plenty of aroma. 

Another very easy drinking pint and exactly how i like my IPAs :chug: 

Batting at 100% so far....


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## Frank (12/11/10)

DrSmurto said:


> Had Boston's AIPA last night.
> 
> Agree with other comments that its more like an english IPA which works for me! Very good malt backbone with a firm bitterness. What calcs do you use? I would have picked it as 60 not 80 IBU. The late hops blended well together, not slap your aroudn the fact hoppy but still plenty of aroma.
> 
> ...



All calculations were done through Beersmith using Tinseth. OG of 1.057, FG 1.014. Nige and I were talking that both his black IPA and my AIPA were similar in the way that the slightly higher FG was balancing out the apparent bitterness. No dry hopping, but some late addition 10min after flame out and then second whirlpool. Also used Pacman.


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## jonocarroll (12/11/10)

*DrSmurto's Rye 'Golden Ale' with HG Chinook*

I was prepared to call this headless at first pour, but the fine bubbles eventually caught up. Clarity quite good. Nose is dominated by clean esters with some (sorry, I've poured this first glass a little cold to tell - the rest of the bottle will warm up nicely) hop notes that deceptively fail description. Body is somewhat heavy due to ultra-low carbonation and rye (which gives it a nice chewiness), but leads to a nice creamy mouthfeel. Malt is nicely balanced with mild bitterness present. Nicely dry, but depending on the hopping schedule I might have dropped the FG and upped the hops (very contrary to DrSmurto's modus operandi). Some hop flavour that teases its way around the tongue.

I like this one (cold) better than the kegged version at the swap, which was warm... I didn't try that one 8-am-Sunday-morning-warm, but I got the warm version just fine. On warming this one up the esters start to dominate a bit too much for me like the kegged version to really consider a session on this beer - horses for courses of course. Otherwise, if that's your cup of tea then a great beer with no discernable flaws.


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## jonocarroll (12/11/10)

*Kieren's Litha Ale*

I could smell this one from a distance during the pour - good hops. Poured with a big fluffy white head. Possibly some chill haze. Nose is quite unique and powerful - not quite sure how to describe it. There's hints of Cascade, but the main scent seems to be somewhere between lemon and mango [faded as it warmed]. Mouthfeel is light (but not too much so) with good carbonation, lifting the hops nicely. Bitterness is strong but not astringent, and while the malt takes a backseat to the hops here, it's not overwhelmed. A little-more-than-light crystal sweetness, and a nice lingering bitterness. There's a flavour here that is niggling at me - perhaps a very faint fusel alcohol or some sort of ester I'm not used to? It just conflicts with the bitterness in the aftertaste ever so slightly. I'll caveat that by pointing out I've just had a flavourful dinner, so I may be mistaken.

If I had to call it something I reckon it's along the lines of an American-Belgian IPA - just to make a style up on the spot. A little more definition on the hops and I reckon it would be a cracker.


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## MaltyHops (12/11/10)

Hi All,

Very appreciative of the detailed tasting notes posted that will help
educate my tasting of beer - up to now, my tasting has been usually
"hmmm ... that's pretty gooood!!!" Haven't gotten stuck into the
swap beers yet - have much to do and waiting to catch up with some
buddies to share the experience. Please do keep posting your findings.

Tom.


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## Mayor of Mildura (13/11/10)

Hi guys

My swap beer should be right to go. It has a picture of a carp head on the front. Bottled on 26-10-10. It's supposed to be an english pale ale. Please let me know what you think good and bad. All criticism is welcome. 

Cheers

MOM


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## Goofinder (13/11/10)

So far I've had the following:

Boston's AIPA - Didn't seem to have the huge hop hit I was expecting from an AIPA. Agree with other comments that it was more in the style of an English IPA with US hops. A good beer, perhaps leaning a little too far to the bitter side for my liking.

QB's English Ale - A great beer in a terrible bottle (one of those short green 'longnecks' that I think originate from BYB. I thought I had rid myself of them but alas another has arrived). Seemed a bit cleaner than my attempts at English beers - really should find myself a fermenting fridge.

DrSmurto's Rye Golden - I really wanted to like this beer after the one on the handpump at the swap but found drinking this one was hard work. I think the low carbonation didn't help when combined with the intensity of the flavours from the rye and hops. It just seemed a bit too sweet and full on at the time. Maybe I was just expecting more of a session beer.

Goofinder's ESB - Just cracked the first bottle of this. Carbonation is almost there - maybe give it another week then it should be good to go. Doesn't taste too infected.


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## drsmurto (13/11/10)

Had Gopha's Simarillo Ale last night.

Just a heads up for the hop heads (you know who you are), this is what restrained use of american hops tastes like! :lol: 

Carbonation was very high, too high for me but that's just my personal preference. Hop aroma was subtle but it was there. After drinking half a pint i knocked the carbonation out and enjoyed it much more. The malt came through better and the hop flavour and aroma seemed very well balanced. A very easy drinking beer, one you could sit on all night.

That's where my memory ends as i cracked open a bottle of red to enjoy with pizza and never went back to the beer. :unsure:

EDIT - based on feedback on the handpump beer and the swap beer itself i am using US05 in the next homegrown hop rye golden ale. I think the esters from the pacman yeast may be a touch too much. Will also carbonate it higher.


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## Effect (13/11/10)

DrSmurto said:


> Will also carbonate it higher.



whatever


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## Gopha (14/11/10)

DrSmurto said:


> Carbonation was very high,



I agree the carbonation was high, not sure what happened, may have been a calculation error.

The hop additions for this beer where all in the last 25mins of the boil, the mix of hops for each addition was based on a 50/50 split of their bittering contribution. Also dry hopped for two weeks 1gm per liter while cold conditioning. 

Brewing a Saison today using Wyeast 3711 and Hallertauer Hops. The recipe is from Brewing Classic Styles {Raison D'Saison) adjusted to suit my system. I will have some yeast cake available in four weeks if anybody is interested.

:icon_cheers:


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## Effect (14/11/10)

I cracked a bottle of my 10 min IPA...very much below par, and those that have tasted my previous 10 min IPAs will most certainly agree. I think I will only enter next year if I have a CPBF.

Cheers
Phil


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## technoicon (15/11/10)

I've had a few beers, have been trying to write down my tasting notes.. will post them one day this week!


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## raven19 (15/11/10)

*Boston's AIPA*

Low to medium aroma
Good medium lingering bitterness, but not harsh at all
Minimal to low carbonation with a thin lacy head
Darkish golden in colour

I would never have guessed this brew as being 80+ IBU beer. Clean ferment, and well made imo.

Cheers!


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## jonocarroll (15/11/10)

(Brewbot's?) *Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale* (black cap, yellow sticker, #22... whose beer has just a 22 on top then?)

Poured with a loose but prominent head. This *has* to have been filtered - I can clearly see my fingerprint through the glass (second pour leads me to believe this is likely CPBF too - beautiful clarity!). Nose is distinctively NS, but with what might be a little aging character to it - NS is best had as fresh as possible. Palate is balanced okay with a big lingering bitterness, perhaps slightly too bitter for this particular beer, but by no means unpleasantly so on the front palate. Some ferment character coming through as it warms that detracts from the hops - warm or stressed initial ferment perhaps? Was the bitterring addition NS? I might take a stab and guess that it's something less delicate.

Overall an easy-drinking summer beer. My only improvement would probably be to the bitterring addition and the ferment (yeast, temperature, or both).

What's with all the good beers so far? Who's got a horrible one in there I can rip into? 

[edit: tipo]


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## drsmurto (16/11/10)

I agree.

This is the best case-swap i have been involved in for the consistent level of quality beers. In the past i have tipped out a significant number of beers.......

No detailed tasting notes for the last 2 beers.

Kieran's Litha

Strong aroma the minute i cracked the lid. Carbed medium-high. Lovely colour. I dont have any more notes other than i enjoyed this. More hop flavour and aroma than Bostons but still had enough malt to hold its own. Wasnt as high in IBUs so no real lingering bitterness. Think you could go higher given that Bostons 80 IBU felt balanced to me.

TonyC's ABA

Gorgeous looking beer, nice hop aroma but not overboard as some tend to do with ABAs. Malt and hops were balanced which is something i love in a beer. Despite the dark brown colour there was no overly roasty flavours coming through, plenty of malt/caramel but didn't get the bit whack of choc/coffee/roast you would expect from something so dark. Reminds me i need to brew a few ABAs, AAAs soon.


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## Kieren (16/11/10)

Will be driving down to Adelaide this weekend so I can bring the rest of the swap case back to Whyalla.

For my Litha I was aiming for a summery beer with good citrus/spicy hop presence.

OG 1.044
FG 1.010
IBU's 31

MO Pale 95%
Bairds pale crystal 5%

EKG for bittering and flavour
Galaxy for aroma (inc. dry hopping)

Think next time I will add another flavour hop in to the mix, Perle or Spalter maybe?


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## Hatchy (16/11/10)

I'm looking forward to getting back to Adelaide so I can get through a few more swap beers. We're in Margaret River now & I've been slightly disappointed with the 2 micros we've been to so far. I didn't expect too much from the lagers or wheat beers because they're not beers that I generally enjoy but I thought I'd enjoy the pale ales & IPAs more. I reckon Phil uses more hops in a 23L batch of 10 min IPA than these guys use in a 1000L batch of IPA. The porters were good at both brewerys but the rest of the beers left a lot to be desired.

I was at a bottle shop last night grabbing some beers because neither of the micros we went to do take away & ran into the brewer from the bootleg brewery. We're going there today & from briefly speaking to the brewer I'm expecting better beers & hopefully a tour of the brewery. The girl that served us at the 1st brewery doesn't drink beer but was able to tell me that they don't sell bottled beer because they don't use preservatives. WTF? I politely didn't say anything about the fact stacks of brewerys bottle beer without preservatives. If she said that they don't have a bottling line & couldn't be bothered bottling by hand I would've understood. They do do 2L growlers for take away but fill them from the tap when people order them & say best before 5 days from now. No counter pressure filler, stick a hose on the tap & fill a 2L bottle.

Has anyone (apart from me) tried my swap beer? I'd like to know what you blokes think because I'm planning on brewing something similar when we get back.


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## Mayor of Mildura (16/11/10)

Kieren said:


> Will be driving down to Adelaide this weekend so I can bring the rest of the swap case back to Whyalla.
> 
> For my Litha I was aiming for a summery beer with good citrus/spicy hop presence.
> 
> ...



i was wondering what the hop combo was. very tasty and the aroma was awesome when i cracked the lid. 

I'm drinking the v-twin northern brown at the moment ( it think it's tonyc's?). Very nice. I reckon it'll go onto the to-brew list. any clues on recipe and yeast selection?


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## TonyC (16/11/10)

Dr Smurto, Mom,

Thanks for the positive feedback, i have been quietly panicking about my beers after tasting the awesome beers on the day. I will put up the recipe later. Again thanks 

Regards Tony


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## jbirbeck (18/11/10)

finally picked up the beers from Raven...cost me a suit though seeing my pants split, damn expensive suits never last but the cheap suits last forever.

Looking forward to getting stuck in. I think I have all the names matched to beers bar the one with an M on the cap which could really only be Phil's...am I right?


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## Effect (18/11/10)

M = 3


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## jbirbeck (18/11/10)

Phillip said:


> M = 3



:lol: 

Looks like a f aux Greek E as well...but a 3 I would not have picked.


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## Kieren (19/11/10)

Someone may have gotten a Litha Ale without a label, if so, it has an L on the cap - coopers long neck. Sorry.


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## np1962 (19/11/10)

Kieren said:


> Someone may have gotten a Litha Ale without a label, if so, it has an L on the cap - coopers long neck. Sorry.


May be the one Hatchy gave me as I left, either anL or a 7 in a bottle with a coopers label still on it.


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## drsmurto (19/11/10)

Tasted a few more last night.

Phils 10 min IPA (3 on the cap)

Having tasted these beasts fresh i can understand why you arent 100% happy Phil, it did seem a tad muted in the hops department. Still a very nice beer but the wow factor you get when its on tap is missing. On the plus side it did make it much easier to chug :chug: Carbonation was very high.

Hatchys APA (6 on the cap)

A very well balanced APA. Loved the darker colour (bordering on AAA) and the malt backbone was very nice, supporting the hops perfectly. The hop flavour and aroma wasn't aggressive which is how i like it. Carbonation was good. 


Getting through these beers and yet to have a bad one. The standard is ridiculous :beerbang:


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## jbirbeck (19/11/10)

I pity the fool that has a problem with a bottle...I sure hope all of my bottles were clean :unsure: :blink: 

I'll be hitting a few of the swap beers this weekend including my own.


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## Kieren (19/11/10)

NigeP62 said:


> May be the one Hatchy gave me as I left, either anL or a 7 in a bottle with a coopers label still on it.



Yeah, probably mine, if it smells like galaxy hops then most likely.


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## Goofinder (19/11/10)

Have had a couple more over the last few days:

*Kieren's Litha Ale*
Great hop aroma, quite grassy I thought but I liked it. Carbonation was reasonably high and looked like it was going to take off when I poured it into the headmaster glass. Seemed quite well balanced to me and was rather enjoyable.

*Hatchy's APA*
Initially got a hint of something that didn't quite seem right but by the second or third mouthful it was gone. Tried to pick it up again but all I could find was a tasty amberish ale. What hops did you use in this one? Maybe it was just some combination I'm not used to.


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## jonocarroll (19/11/10)

*Gopha's Simarillo Ale*

Poured with an off-white, but lasting head. Nose is a gorgeous mix of hops and malt, and strongly reminds me of my first all-grain APA. Colour is a nice rich dark amber. First taste makes me wonder if I've mixed up bottles and found one of my APAs that fell into some sort of time-preserving wormhole. Carbonation spot-on for how I like this style. Wonderful balance of maltiness with hop flavour that I like to call a non-traditional APA style (not over-the-top, but the right sort of blends, becoming very popular). Bitterness falls away smooth with only a hint of slight vegetal character in the aftertaste. I could drink a lot of this on a nice summer day. Well done.

Let the amazingly good run of beers continue!


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## Mayor of Mildura (19/11/10)

Drinking Hatchy's APA at the moment. Not quite what I expected. More like an american amber. Lovely malty taste. Very nice beer none the less thanks mate. Very similar beer to Awesome furys that i drank last night. without the chilli kick. 

I tried one of mine this afternoon. I'm a little disappointed. Not a complete train wreck though. It's a little grassy for my tastes. I reckon I should have forgotten about the dry hop. 

taste on !!!


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## raven19 (20/11/10)

Rooting Kings said:


> finally picked up the beers from Raven...cost me a suit though seeing my pants split



Insert joke re: too excitable and not being able to contain one's self! I hope you cleaned up the courtyard after!  :lol:


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## Mayor of Mildura (21/11/10)

Having a dip at rooting kings beer. Some sort of dark beer (no idea what). dark brown not black. Heaps or carbination.. big pop from the bottle. Nice big creamy head. Wasn't keen on this initally. A bit of hot alcohol. But as it warms it gets better. It has a similar flavour that I get from the stout at the brewhouse in brisbane. 

Any clues here rk?

Thanks mate

MOM


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## Goofinder (21/11/10)

mayor of mildura said:


> Any clues here rk?


I think it's a smoked schwarzbier, not sure though. Waiting on a cooler day to try that one.


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## Mayor of Mildura (21/11/10)

Goofinder said:


> I think it's a smoked schwarzbier, not sure though. Waiting on a cooler day to try that one.


Ahh maybe it was the schwarz from the brewhouse that I was thinking of not the stout. I didn't get any smoke though. 
It's fairly cool here at the moment only 32. perfect schwarz weather!


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## jbirbeck (22/11/10)

Mine is a smoked beer...a smoked schwartz actually fermented with Kolsch yeast. Should be a cold weekend coming up

MoM - surprised you didn't pick up the smoke though.


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## jbirbeck (22/11/10)

Right some tasting.

Boston's AIPA

I reckon a few of the fellas have lost some taste buds...It was fairly light on in the aroma department but the hops still dominated the malt. Really like the aroma. On the falvour again the Hop flavour dominated the malt but there was exceptional balance and only a touch of lingering bitterness. It was a good firm bitterness, resiny hop flavours that dominated for me. I think a bit more aroma and you have a winner...its already a flavour winner for me.

Phil's 10 Min IPA

Amber and Hazy, pretty big fruity aroma (fruit salad, mango) but more subdued than I would have thought. Something estery. I was getting something a bit musty out of it and a hit of clove. But the flavour was good, no hints of anything wrong, massive astringent bitterness that you get from late hopping like that. The carb was too high but once it was knocked out the hop flavour shone through nicely, it improved as it warmed up. If this is a toned down version of the beer coming off the keg...you're a nutter. My theory is - carbonation was too high in the bottle and you may have a slight infection in this batch which has affected the flavour. I'd be interested to see the recipe as the balance is ok although I think it could use something biscuity/toasty in there to balance the sweet hops. 

Gopha's Simarillo
I'm with QB on this one, tastes and smells like some of my early APA's. Nice. Good and very appealing hoppy aroma although I think the carb is slightly too high. Lovely Piney, resiny aromas and very clean. Lovely hop flavour as well, that piney resiny flavour dominates with good bitterness but it needed a touch more. It finished a tad sweet for me but I like a drier crisper finish so I'd be looking to knock off a couple of points off the FG or maybe slightly increase the IBU a couple of points. Really enjoyed this beer but it got a tad cloying towards the end as it warmed. I'd be happy to have made this one.

Brewbot NS Summer
Hello summer. This beer really hit the spot for me yesterday as the day warmed up. Perfect balance between hop flavour, bitterness and drier finish needed for a summer beer. The aroma had that distinctive fruity almost winey character to it. Actually it reminded me of the Vale Ale fresh on tap...but it tasted better than that. No doubt this beauty was filtered or you added lead to the yeast...Good firm bitterness, lovely hop flavour, light malt, perfect carb although the head was weak. As it warmed though it showed some alc warmth and indicators of a stressed ferment as QB mentioned - estery dominating the hops. But the beer was essentially gone by the time it warmed so...

hatchy's APA 6/

Either I got the wrong bottle or my taste buds are out. I tasted this without knowing what it was and my initial comments were - good english beer. FWIW Good malt aroma but it smells a touch like an extract. Slight earthy aroma. The first taste though I was blown away. Lovely complex malt, toasty, bready, hints of chocolate, I got hints of raspberry/blackberry and some earthy hop flavour. very smooth. If this was your APA I think you have an exceptional base to work with but the hopping needs more. If I got the wrong bottle...bloody good beer.

Very happy with that lot. tasty beers all. Looking forward to the next lot.


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## Hatchy (22/11/10)

Phil's 10 min IPA (the bit that stayed in the glass)

Fruity deliciousness. I'm almost glad I had forgotten about the warnings of overcarbing, it gave me plenty of opportunity to have a good smell of it before the head died down enough to have a sip. It tastes brilliant. Apart from the overcarbing I reckon it's a top beer. Definitely reminds me of the 1st 10 min IPA I had at Phil's place when I was running late for indoor cricket & didn't have time to stop for a beer. We really should've forfeited that game. Was it bulk primed? How much sugar did you use? Give me a call before you bottle next, I don't expect that to be any time soon.

Groucho's ESB

Probably darker than I'd expect from an ESB but what do I know? Definitely the level of carbing that Smurto would be looking for. I'm not sure what it smells like but it makes me want to drink it, maybe coffee? Is it maybe more like a brown ale than an ESB? Given that I know bugger all about style guidelines I reckon I'll just drink it & enjoy it rather than worry too much about whether it's brewed to style or not. Bloody top beer again! I love this case swap business.

I can keep going if you blokes want. It's a nice night for a beer or 3 & there's a couple more chilled. Smurto's & Tony's have been in the fridge for a couple of days & I just chucked a few more swap beers in there. Has anyone had Maltyhops Belgian toucan? I'm pretty sure it was the only extract beer in the swap & I reckon it tasted pretty good on swap day.

Groucho & A3K, yr beers are still here untouched (for now). Holty & QB, yr chairs are here. Boston's esky, Smurto's picnic taps (I need to order some of that beer line). Someone left some sort of a contraption here that looks like it could be used for brewing. It plugs into a power point & has a probe that I assume is for temp & a display of some description. Every time I look at it I feel like I know less about brewing because I'm struggling to work out what I'd use it for. Raven didn't leave any rope here but I don't have any & I'm pretty sure that you could spare some & still have enough (sometimes I amaze myself with how hilarious I am).

I'm brewing this weekend for the blokes that want to come round to collect yr goodies. I'll have the second of my experimentales on tap. The one I had at the swap was all columbus, this one is a little bit of POR @ 60 & a shedload of galaxy later on. I'll probably brew Saturday & Sunday as I haven't been able to brew the last 3 weekends due to the case swap & our honeymoon. While on the subject of the honeymoon, Mrs Hatchy suggested last week while we were at one of the micros that she'll be keen to swap next year. She's thinking she'll brew a porter for her swap beer, she's going to call it poita (because I reckon that's how she pronounces it) & she's going to brew an amber to bring in a keg & call it porno because amber sounds like a porno name. We're also happy to have everyone back again any time. It was great having such a great bunch of (mainly) blokes here.


Has Awesome Fury posted any tasting notes or is he still flossing the hops from between his teeth?


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## jonocarroll (22/11/10)

I don't think you still have my chair - I had a blue fold-up-into-a-bag dealy, and I reckon I still have it.

I think the wired-up-dealy was perhaps MaltyHops' temp probe. Not sure what he was doing with it or why it was left behind.

If you're naming a beer poita - it needs Full Frontal's (Eric Bana) Poita's (1996?) Olympic slogan... "Fasta [ferment], Higha [OG], Stronga [ABV], Poita".


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## MaltyHops (23/11/10)

QuantumBrewer said:


> ...
> I think the wired-up-dealy was perhaps MaltyHops' temp probe. Not sure what he was doing with it or why it was left behind.
> ...


Erm ... no, I brought no such thing ... least I don't remember doing so  ... pretty sure it's not me.


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## jonocarroll (23/11/10)

Then maybe, just maybe, Goofinder... otherwise I have no accurate recollection of who it was that left it there.

I've just put in some grain orders to make beers in some of the styles of those I've tasted... the rest had better be sh!te - I can only brew so much at a time.


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## Hatchy (23/11/10)

I'm hoping someone claims this chair & "other thingy" to save me having to take photos to post here (or on ebay).

I'm drinking Smurto's beer as I type this. I had a read through the thread before pouring it so went & sat on the roof with the bottle, leaving my glass on the ground to pour it so managed to pour some head. It really doesn't smell or taste like any other beer I've had before. Most times I say that about a beer it's because I don't like it but this beer is awesome. It just doesn't taste like anything I've drunk before (except maybe the beer on the hand pump at the swap). The only word I can think of is moreish which makes me glad I've got another bottle of it. I'm not sure that he really needed to put in so much effort on the packaging though.



QuantumBrewer said:


> I've just put in some grain orders to make beers in some of the styles of those I've tasted... the rest had better be sh!te - I can only brew so much at a time.



You should've said something sooner, I was speaking to Kieren earlier & we're putting in an order for 12 bags of grain later this week we reckon.



QuantumBrewer said:


> If you're naming a beer poita - it needs Full Frontal's (Eric Bana) Poita's (1996?) Olympic slogan... "Fasta [ferment], Higha [OG], Stronga [ABV], Poita".



I think we can manage that.

Edit: splekling


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## Hatchy (23/11/10)

Goofinder said:


> *Hatchy's APA*
> Initially got a hint of something that didn't quite seem right but by the second or third mouthful it was gone. Tried to pick it up again but all I could find was a tasty amberish ale. What hops did you use in this one? Maybe it was just some combination I'm not used to.



Kieren talked me into getting out the mortar & pestle to hop burst it, I won't be doing that again, not because I don't like the beer but because it's a PITA. It was 10.1g simcoe, 40.6g cascade & 20.3g chinook all measured to within 0.000000001g tolerance of course. 11g @ 15, 20 @ 10, 20 @ 5 & 20 @ 0. The "something that doesn't seem quite right" may have been whatever the mortar & pestle was used for previously. I get some sort of an odd flavour from it as well but I reckon I'll give that grain bill another go & maybe change the hops a bit & leave the mortar & pestle inside next time. It was definitely darker than I was expecting but this was the 3rd AG beer brewed at this place. The amber I had on tap for the swap was the 2nd & the 1st was brewed on Jayse's rig, he took half of the beer from that batch & I drank the other half. It was delicious!

The voices in my head talked me into drinking Tony's northern brown & I'm glad they did. The only thing that's slightly disappointing about this beer is that the label says to drink responsibly & I'm drinking it at 1am & have to be at work in 7 hours. There's all sorts of delicious malty flavours going on here & I want the recipe for this one. It's in a pickaxe bottle as well Tony, let me know if you want that back, they're in short supply these days. I'd have this as my favourite beer from the swap so far but I do have a few to go.


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## Mayor of Mildura (23/11/10)

I had Phillip's 10 min ipa yesterday. Other than the huge carb (it looked like a beer spider in the glass) this beer is wicked. Big flavour, aroma and firm bittering. Phillip If you're disappointed with this I'd love to taste a "good" one!

I've only got 4 left. when's the next swap?


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## drsmurto (23/11/10)

The piece of wired up equipment you can't identify hatchy is actually a fridge temp controller. TonyC donated it for the auction that never happened. 

One of the reasons you cant work out what's going on with my beer is that its exclusively homegrown chinook. Since i know of no beer that uses aussie grown chinook commercially it has taken me some time to work it out too. More than NZ B Saaz. 

That and 22% rye.

Funny how it reminded you of the beer on the pump, they were almost the same beers. Chinook in the case swap beers, cascade on the handpump. Both homegrown. 

Poured another of mine on the weekend and it was basically flat. Even i struggled with the level of carbonation :lol: 

Next time i will be better prepared and actually brew more than a few weeks prior to the swap :huh: 

Might have to brew it soon, I'm thinking a roggenbock or ryewine. :chug:


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## Kieren (23/11/10)

*A3K's swap beer*

Not too sure what this one is, looks very lagerish.

Poured super clear (do you filter, A3K?), off-yellow/pale straw in colour. Small head that faded some what but lasted till the end.
Slight hint of hops in the aroma (neslon sauvin, no, maybe tettnang??? - no idea) Some malt there too.
Flavour - initial slight sweet maltiness, floral and citrus hops. Finishes nice and dry and clean.
Really well brewed beer, super clean, well balanced and nice dry finish makes me want more. Not a beer that I would normally brew myself but I really like this one. Top work A3K. Could put away a few of these any day with ease.


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## technoicon (23/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> Has Awesome Fury posted any tasting notes or is he still flossing the hops from between his teeth?



I will post some notes tonight. I have been busy drinking. i dont have notes on all beers, but i have been trying to keep track.

Also my tasting is not super dooper.. normall this is because i've had half a slab when i decide to move onto some tasty beers! i remember one saying. "good beer" LOL

but i have done notes for most!


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## TonyC (23/11/10)

I'm hoping someone claims this chair & "other thingy" to save me having to take photos to post here (or on ebay).


Hatchy,
That chair and the electric thingo are mine. Dr Smurto nailed it, i left the thermo for the auction, it runs on mains and has a half inch thread. I intented to use it for temp contol on a HLT, and had it calibrated at work before i bought it home. If anyone In Adelaide needs such a device for a herme/rims feel free to speak up, if not why not chuck it on ebay, and if you get enough maybe a brew day, or a beer at the wheaty.I will try and drop by and pick up my chair, came past today but no one home.Thanks for the feed back on my brew, and i will post some thoughts when i have had a few more samples.

Regards Tony


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## Hatchy (23/11/10)

I don't get home from work until 4:30 at the earliest, you work nearby right? After reading that I tried to hook it into my HLT but couldn't figure out where to plug the gas into (I just keep getting funnier don't I?). Would it as a temp controller for a ferment fridge?

I'm having the nelson sauvin summer ale as I type this & I can see why everyone else has enjoyed it so far. It poured with a beautiful head which has disappeared slightly but I'm going to put that down to the glass rather than the beer. I haven't been overly happy with the beers I've brewed with NS & thought I didn't like the hop, clearly my recipes were crap. The only thing I could fault with this one is the twist top bottle, I wasn't expecting it so opened it with a bottle opener, the cap isn't sitting on the bottle properly now so I guess I'll just have to drink more & type less so it doesn't go flat. I'm a bit suspicious of the bottletop suggesting that this was bottled 10/8. Is any home brewer really that organised? This is another beer that I'd definitely love to brew. Any chance of a recipe brewbot?

Did someone mention earlier in this thread the possibility of more frequent swaps? I'd be keen for that. I wouldn't have thought that it would have to be 25 blokes involved, 13 would mean swapping a case each. I'm really loving drinking some beers that I otherwise wouldn't have tried & as has already been mentioned the quality is superb.


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## TonyC (23/11/10)

Hatchy,
i have a few others at work, will check with the sparkys to see if a smaller probe could be fitted for a fridge contoller, if you need it for that i can get rewired no problems. Have been really enjoying the beers i have tried so far, and will try to post my ramblings on the weekend.

Regards Tony


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## MaltyHops (23/11/10)

TonyC said:


> I'm hoping someone claims this chair & "other thingy" to save me having to take photos to post here (or on ebay).
> ...
> i left the thermo for the auction, it runs on mains and has a half inch thread. I intented to use it for temp contol on a HLT, and had it calibrated at work before i bought it home. If anyone In Adelaide needs such a device for a herme/rims feel free to speak up, if not why not chuck it on ebay, and if you get enough maybe a brew day, or a beer at the wheaty
> ...
> Regards Tony


Is this actually a full on P.I.D. device? I think I will need to look at getting a PID
for my _Desktop brewery - 2 vessel_ system I'm slowly putting together and this
would save me from ordering from the US. Would need to give some suitable
recompense to parties involved - at the Wheaty maybe?

Tom.

Edit: spejello


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## TonyC (23/11/10)

Jeez Tom,
now i can really show my stupidity, i dont know but will find out tomorrow, and will post a answer. If its of use to you, you are more than welcome to it.Sorry for dragging this thread off topic.

Regards Tony


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## MaltyHops (23/11/10)

TonyC said:


> Jeez Tom,
> now i can really show my stupidity, i dont know but will find out tomorrow, and will post a answer. If its of use to you, you are more than welcome to it.Sorry for dragging this thread off topic.
> 
> Regards Tony


Well, the path had been made so just walking along it  - anyway, Raven
had a good post on PIDs on his _Raven's Rims, Build Log_ with some good photos
of what they look like.


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## Gopha (23/11/10)

MaltyHops said:


> Well, the path had been made so just walking along it  - anyway, Raven
> had a good post on PIDs on his _Raven's Rims, Build Log_ with some good photos
> of what they look like.


Hi, If you wont to check out a two vessel system with a PID X 2 control panel, your welcome to have gander at my rig. I have sent a phone number if you wont to arrange it. Cheers


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## MaltyHops (23/11/10)

Gopha said:


> Hi, If you wont to check out a two vessel system with a PID X 2 control panel, your welcome to have gander at my rig. I have sent a phone number if you wont to arrange it. Cheers


Thanks, Gopha - pm-ed


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## technoicon (24/11/10)

Hatchy, i'd be interested in doing more swaps. but would have to be organised when either me or mom(lol) were up there! i wouldnt mind a double swap. 12 people bring 2 beers, some of these beers i wanted another bottle of!


Tasting notes:
here they are guys, take them with a grain of trad ale!

Boston AIPA
apperance: Cloudy, large bubbly head, not much carb, poor head retention.
smell: very mild smell and aroma
Taste: Great hop flavors, thick body
Good: awesome flavour, nice strong beer, nice malt blend.
Bad: head was dead(that's what i wrote. lol), very think/full bodied (i like it a bit lighter, so this is just my preference)

Dr Smuto:
Apperance: Golden, quite clear, large bubbles (as i dropped it from the ceiling), low carb.
Smell: Very light caramel, sweet
taste: light, sweet. I was getting what i can only discribe as a dusty/light bitter taste?
Good: Nice sweet easy drinking beer. looks and smells great.
Bad: funny dusty taste i cant put my finger on.
my notes say: "Puring from a height is dangerous!!" pretty sure i got this every where! lol

Ruddles Count: (this one had bad writing. lol)
apperance: Cloudy, nice head
smell: not getting anything, "beer smell" (lol, i think i must have been smashed for this one!)
Taste: Slight caramel taste, creamy smooth, easy drinker.
Good: easy drinker think i could spend all night on this one.
Bad: No aroma, not the most flavour.

RK (i thought this was some sort of stout, so my notes my be off!)
Apperance: dark probably a bit light for stout, little cloudy, bubble are good. (def drunk)
smell: sweet, nice tasting, really good. (really drunk lol)
taste: really good taste, great balance. (well best review ever, if all i could manage to write down about a beer is really good taste! hahahaha)
Good: Great sweet stout, no off flavours, nice stout(it's not even a stout! lol)
Bad: Could be stronger. (ahahahaha)

sorry RK for the last one, it's reflex nothing of your beer only how drunk i was at the time. i'm pretty sure i had it after polishing off 4 of mom's 8% IPA's. 

Cheers
Awesome


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## technoicon (24/11/10)

Forgot to mention that i'm really impressed with the quality! these beers I would easily pay good money for!

My beer should be ready if you have left it out to carb for a couple of weeks. I have not tried mine yet. but plan to tomorrow night!


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## jbirbeck (24/11/10)

Awesome Fury said:


> RK (i thought this was some sort of stout, so my notes my be off!)
> Apperance: dark probably a bit light for stout, little cloudy, bubble are good. (def drunk)
> smell: sweet, nice tasting, really good. (really drunk lol)
> taste: really good taste, great balance. (well best review ever, if all i could manage to write down about a beer is really good taste! hahahaha)
> ...



Gold.

I'm glad it was a good stout...glad you enjoyed it.

could be stronger - It should come with a slight warning in that I'm pretty sure it tips the scales at 6.5%  but I'll have to check the numbers. OG was up over 1060 though.

I'll be hitting a few more of these in the coming days, now that it will be cooling a bit I may have to have a few of the excess _smoked schwartz's_ I have... :lol:


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## Mayor of Mildura (24/11/10)

Had a3k's bright ale last night. Very very clear. This looks like a commercial beer. cool. Had a slight minerally? taste. Hoppy and dry. Another top beer. 

Cheers mate.


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## drsmurto (24/11/10)

We 'judged' Dans ESB last night and i scored it a 40/50. :chug: 

It screamed classic ESB to me. Nailed the style guidelines although we were judging it blind* in preparation for the exam in a few weeks.

I wont post any more comments than that as Dan was there so knows what we all thought of it.

Just a tip, let this one warm up a bit, 10-12C is about right. I did dock him a few points for the carbonation though :lol: 

I'd be happy to be involved in more swaps but bottling is painful.

Maybe something like a keg swap where you all rock up with a full keg and draw numbers from a hat and take a keg home. I haven't had a beer yet from the swap that i couldn't have had a full keg of on tap!

Cheers
DrSmurto

* blind = no BJCP guideline in front of you. We are supposed to memorise the entire BJCP guidelines....


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## Goofinder (24/11/10)

As DrSmurto said, mine is well and truly carbed up by now so it's ready to drink.

I have had a couple more swap beers over the last few days... *Gopha's Simarillo* which jumped out of the glass at me ('room' temperature headmaster glass on a rather warm day was probably not the best bet) but once it had settled down was a nice easy drinking ale perfect for the conditions. *Brewbot's Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale* hit the spot as well. Not much to say really other than thanks for another couple of great beers.


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## Hatchy (24/11/10)

Gopha's Simarillo. I struggled to keep it in the glass pouring it but on a positive note I have found a properly cleaned glass so this beer is holding it's head beautifully. Awesome flavour & aroma, I'm loving going through these.

Having read the awesomely furious post at work today (I almost soiled myself reading that) I reckon I've set myself a task for after I've gone through the 1st lot of everyone's beers. Chill the 2nd lot, drink them in 1 session & write notes for all of them. My notes aren't likely to help anyone brew better beers but should provide a chuckle. Before anyone asks what order I'll go with, top to bottom on the list.

Smurto mate, if bottling is the difference between you swapping or not swapping I'll bottle the batch for you. I enjoy bottling way more now than I did before I had kegs & brew 35L batches. Bottle a slab of stubbies, a slab of longnecks & keg the rest.

I forgot to mention the other night, someone left a glass here as well. It'll continue to get used until someone claims it.


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## drsmurto (25/11/10)

Another 2 swap beers were consumed last night

RKs Smoked Schwarzbier

Mmmmmm, smoky bacon. Not sure how people are missing the smoke aroma/flavour in this beer. It's about all i could smell. It dominates the aroma. The malt and slight roast comes through in the flavour and it finishes clean and dry. A very stout like head that held all the way to the bottom of the pint glass. As the beer warmed up the malt and slight coffee aroma comes through. Really enjoyed this beer and it reminds me i have some smoked malt and should use it! 

Brewbots Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale

To be honest, i wasn't looking forward to this one. That's not a slight on Brewbot or his brewing abilities, I overdid the NS hops late kit/early AG and have only used them since in combination with other hops. But i was pleasantly surprised by this beer and enjoyed it. Very pale in colour, great head and plenty of carbonation. Normally i am not a fan of carbonation but in this style of beer it works. The NS is not subtle by a long shot but is refreshing. Very clean beer, light body, no faults that i could pick up on. Nice work.

And so with another 2 down i am on track to complete my first case swap without tipping a beer out. No gushers, no infections, no shite beer. Seriously impressed with this standard. I've been swapping since xmas 2007 and at best i have managed to drink 2/3rds of the beers. 

There is still time for another xmas case swap....


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## jonocarroll (25/11/10)

DrSmurto said:


> And so with another 2 down i am on track to complete my first case swap without tipping a beer out. No gushers, no infections, no shite beer. Seriously impressed with this standard. I've been swapping since xmas 2007 and at best i have managed to drink 2/3rds of the beers.


I too am over-the-moon-happy with the quality of the beers tasted so far this swap. To put this in perspective, the last three or four 'SA' case swaps have been AG-only, restricted to known members of a different forum, and held with large restrictions on entry. They have also included many a crap beer, and had far fewer entries/entrants. Look what happens when the swap is opened up to newcomers and the restrictions dropped - heaps of great people get together and swap outstanding brews. I'm proper chuffed.



DrSmurto said:


> There is still time for another xmas case swap....


No, there's not  . There is however plenty of lead up time to the 'South Australian ( a few towns) Summer Case Swap' that I think we need to have... before the mid-year swap! March anyone? With the great beers had this time 'round, maybe everyone will be pulling out all the stops to one-up each other?


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## legham (25/11/10)

Ill be up for a swap in March. Might be able to participate this time


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## Hatchy (25/11/10)

Keen!

The Adelaide & "surrounding areas" early autumn case swap?


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## Effect (25/11/10)

If there is another swap - someone is going to have to help me bottle - it's not like riding a bike, once you start kegging, those brain cells are the first to be sacrificed to alcohol.

Drank rootingkings smoked schwarz yesterday as it had cooled down quite a lot. As some of you may already know I am not a fan of smoked beers at all - that was about all I could smell in this beer was smoked bacon hocks - did you dry hock this beer mate? :lol: Needless to say this beer is not for me, but was well brewed. I shared this with miles and he enjoyed it a lot. Hmmm, I will have to keep trying these smoked beers though, as my taste will have to change at some point as I get older...it did for stouts.

Have to agree with 'this swap is by far the best I have ever taken part in'. Here was me thinking that I won't enter a swap again because I don't like bottling...will happily put up with bottling to take part in another one of these. With this sort of reputation I think we will get the full 25 swappers next time. Every beer I have drunk so far I have wished that I had another. Funny how people start to brew their best beers when they don't have restrictions...

Cheers
Phil


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## Effect (25/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> Keen!
> 
> The Adelaide & "surrounding areas" early autumn case swap?




Let's do this then!


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## Hatchy (25/11/10)

Happy to help you bottle Phil, I've tasted what comes out of yr taps.


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## jbirbeck (25/11/10)

DrSmurto said:


> QBs Ruddles County Ale
> 
> Not sure what style we are giving feedback in. Didn't judge this against any BJCP style, i simply enjoyed it for what it was.
> 
> ...



I had QB's Ruddles last night and agree with much of what Smurto has said above. Spicy (I initially thought it was subtle clove but its something else) and fruity dominated with some backcurrant and malt in the background. I enjoyed it, but genuinely think it would have been simply divine if the yeast esters were lower because for me it just threw it out of balance hiding some of the other good flavours in there. The malt and bitterness were about right. but the fruitiness including a hint of banana was a touch too much for my liking. - different strokes for different blokes.

Not so much a fault with the beer, but perhaps a fault with the general perception of the fruity esters we are supposed to get from English yeasts... I'd be keen to give this beer a crack in the brewery but ferment at a lower temp.


----------



## jbirbeck (25/11/10)

Phillip said:


> Drank rootingkings smoked schwarz yesterday as it had cooled down quite a lot. As some of you may already know I am not a fan of smoked beers at all - that was about all I could smell in this beer was smoked bacon hocks - did you dry hock this beer mate? :lol: Needless to say this beer is not for me, but was well brewed. I shared this with miles and he enjoyed it a lot. Hmmm, I will have to keep trying these smoked beers though, as my taste will have to change at some point as I get older...it did for stouts.
> 
> Cheers
> Phil



Now dry hocking a beer sounds like a fine idea...a nice smoked hock in a smoked beer to get a bit more bacon in there :drinks: 

Instead of the Cock Ale it will be a Hock Ale :kooi:


----------



## jonocarroll (25/11/10)

Phillip said:


> If there is another swap - someone is going to have to help me bottle


Bring a keg 'round to my place and use my CPBF. Easy. Done. Drink.



Phillip said:


> Let's do this then!


BRB...

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=49900

No need to have a sign-up article just yet, but early next year we can get that going. I'm hoping to perfect my pilsner by then, so this should give me enough time to do so.



Rooting Kings said:


> I had QB's Ruddles last night and agree with much of what Smurto has said above. Spicy (I initially thought it was subtle clove but its something else) and fruity dominated with some backcurrant and malt in the background. I enjoyed it, but genuinely think it would have been simply divine if the yeast esters were lower because for me it just threw it out of balance hiding some of the other good flavours in there. The malt and bitterness were about right. but the fruitiness including a hint of banana was a touch too much for my liking. - different strokes for different blokes.
> 
> Not so much a fault with the beer, but perhaps a fault with the general perception of the fruity esters we are supposed to get from English yeasts... I'd be keen to give this beer a crack in the brewery but ferment at a lower temp.


I've decided I'm not a fan of big esters either, so I totally see where you're coming from here. I'm working on using the Bramling cross hops (the origin of those lovely blackcurrant notes) in a Special Bitter with S04 fermented cool and see how that goes. Cheers for the feedback.


----------



## Mayor of Mildura (25/11/10)

Had Gopha's Simarillo last night. Nice. Very close to what I am trying to brew apa wise. As others have said a little high on carb but otherwise most awesome. 

And I am currently drinking MaltyHops Belgian dark ale. Nice beer at a little warmer than fridge temp. I get a banana? type thing going on. What yeast is this? Thanks very tasty. 

I've only got 2 left  Goofinders ESB and Ravens brown ale. It says on Ravens to wait untill december but I reckon that I might throw caution to the wind and have a crack at it early.


----------



## technoicon (25/11/10)

had my beer today. definatly needs to warm up a bit to get the chilli to come out. but pretty happy with it


----------



## Effect (25/11/10)

Drinking dans esb.

#1 for best label

#1 for best beer so far.

Sorry Boston. Your beer is number 2 now.


----------



## Goofinder (25/11/10)

Phillip said:


> Drinking dans esb.
> 
> #1 for best label
> 
> #1 for best beer so far.


Cheers, glad you liked it. :beer: 
I thought there might be something not quite right about it when we 'judged' it the other night but I don't think anyone else picked it up. Might have to do some more evaluation with the leftover bottles. :chug: 

Currently drinking *TonyC's Northern Brown*. I'm going to second (or is it third) the call for a recipe on this one. I've always wanted to brew a good Northern English Brown Ale but have never been happy with what I've come up with. I reckon this would have to be my favourite beer from the swap so far.


----------



## Frank (25/11/10)

Goofinder said:


> Cheers, glad you liked it. :beer:
> I thought there might be something not quite right about it when we 'judged' it the other night but I don't think anyone else picked it up.


Dan, is your recipe posted somewhere yet?


----------



## Goofinder (25/11/10)

You got a bottle, right? It's (mostly) on the label... but anyway...

93% Ale malt (ended up being 62% BB Ale/31% JW Trad Ale since I was at the end of a bag)
3% Weyermann Caramunich I
2% Weyermann Carared
2% Dingemans Biscuit

60 min mash at 63-64C
2L of the first runnings was boiled down to ~400mL

0G 1.052

1 g/L Styrian Goldings @ 0 min
1 g/L Fuggles @ 20 min
Target to 33 IBU @ 60 min

Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale at ambient, probably 20-22 degrees


----------



## groucho (25/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> Groucho's ESB
> 
> Probably darker than I'd expect from an ESB but what do I know? Definitely the level of carbing that Smurto would be looking for. I'm not sure what it smells like but it makes me want to drink it, maybe coffee? Is it maybe more like a brown ale than an ESB? Given that I know bugger all about style guidelines I reckon I'll just drink it & enjoy it rather than worry too much about whether it's brewed to style or not. Bloody top beer again! I love this case swap business.


Cheers. The colour does fit into the style guidelines for an ESB (according to BeerSmith), albeit at the darker end of the range.






Hatchy said:


> Groucho & A3K, yr beers are still here untouched (for now).


We'll come around and pick them up this weekend before you get the urge to drink em.


Do you still have empty bottles you want to get rid off? If so I'll be keen to grab a few cartons.


----------



## Frank (25/11/10)

Goofinder said:


> You got a bottle, right? It's (mostly) on the label... but anyway...


Thanks. I did get a bottle, but have not cracked it. Should have checked the label first.


----------



## MaltyHops (25/11/10)

mayor of mildura said:


> ...
> And I am currently drinking MaltyHops Belgian dark ale. Nice beer at a little warmer than fridge temp. I get a banana? type thing going on. What yeast is this? Thanks very tasty.
> ...


OMG! my first performance feedback - yeast is Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey
and is my second attempt at the Belgian Dark Strong Ale described _here_.

Wait a second - is that good banana or bad banana?

T.


----------



## Mayor of Mildura (25/11/10)

MaltyHops said:


> OMG! my first performance feedback - yeast is Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey
> and is my second attempt at the Belgian Dark Strong Ale described _here_.
> 
> Wait a second - is that good banana or bad banana?
> ...



good banana!


----------



## jonocarroll (25/11/10)

@MaltyHops - if it's the same beer as the one you opened at the swap, it's possibly isoamyl acetate or isoamyl alcohol (fusel), likely caused by insufficient oxygen at the start of fermentation, and common in stronger beers. I'll give the swapped bottle a go and let you know what I detect, but I can pick that banana candy from a mile away.

I totally intended to open a couple tonight, and it so didn't happen.


----------



## MaltyHops (25/11/10)

QuantumBrewer said:


> @MaltyHops - if it's the same beer as the one you opened at the swap, it's possibly isoamyl acetate or isoamyl alcohol (fusel), likely caused by insufficient oxygen at the start of fermentation, and common in stronger beers. I'll give the swapped bottle a go and let you know what I detect, but I can pick that banana candy from a mile away.
> ...


This is definitely a strong possibility - I rely on a fast and turbulent pour
of wort and top-up water into the fermenter to oxygenate - maybe I need
to make use of a whisk or something. I've had the opinion that it's a trade
off between doing more to oxygenate vs. increasing risk of airborne sources
of infection. Maybe if I make larger starters than I have done in the past I
could afford to be a bit more active in oxygenating the wort.

T.


----------



## Hatchy (26/11/10)

I drank yr beer a couple of pages back mate. I can't remember what I wrote but I remember it was a beer that took no prisoners. I love it that the only extract in the swap was a Belgian.

If you want to have an AG brew for the next swap but don't have yr brewery yet then yr welcome to brew here. My beer for the last swap was brewed using Kieren's HLT, tun & expertise. It seems to have turned out ok.


----------



## Effect (26/11/10)

MaltyHops said:


> This is definitely a strong possibility - I rely on a fast and turbulent pour
> of wort and top-up water into the fermenter to oxygenate - maybe I need
> to make use of a whisk or something. I've had the opinion that it's a trade
> off between doing more to oxygenate vs. increasing risk of airborne sources
> ...




Do you want to borrow Brew Like A Monk from me? A lot of the breweries in Belgium deliberately under pitch their wort so that they will get stressed and produce the isoamyl acetate (banana) and other esters. I wouldn't see this as a bad thing, and I wouldn't think that aerating thoroughly would increase the risk of airborne sources of infection. Just ask Jayse how you are supposed to aerate! "Shake the fermenter like the mafia have your sister and will kill her if you stop shaking it".

Cheers
Phil


----------



## A3k (26/11/10)

Kieren said:


> *A3K's swap beer*
> 
> Not too sure what this one is, looks very lagerish.
> 
> ...




Hi Kieren,
sorry about the delay, haven't been on AHB as i've been working too much
cheers for the good feedback. spewin i couldn't make the day but hopefully i can make the march swap.
the beer was actually heavily based on Tony's LCBA clone, except for hopping. I used centennial instead of cascade and used simcoe and Amarillo for bittering. The centennial wasn't as noticable as i'd hoped. I made a tripple batch, and cubed hopped the case swap beer with Nelson, fermented with US05. The cube hopped version that you guys got was actually better than the chilled version (higher bitterness made it more ballanced).

And yep, i filtered it on the way to the bottles. I was gonna keg it and then counter pressure fill it, but i ran out of time. First time i bottled a whole batch since i got my kegs around 8 years ago i reckon.



Hatchy, 
Groucho and i will pick up the beers this weekend if thats okay. Im damn keen to get stuck into these.

Cheers,
Al


----------



## groucho (26/11/10)

mayor of mildura said:


> Had Gopha's Simarillo last night. Nice. Very close to what I am trying to brew apa wise. As others have said a little high on carb but otherwise most awesome.
> 
> And I am currently drinking MaltyHops Belgian dark ale. Nice beer at a little warmer than fridge temp. I get a banana? type thing going on. What yeast is this? Thanks very tasty.
> 
> I've only got 2 left  Goofinders ESB and Ravens brown ale. It says on Ravens to wait untill december but I reckon that I might throw caution to the wind and have a crack at it early.


Mayor, have you tried my case swap beer yet?


----------



## drsmurto (26/11/10)

Had another 2 beers last night.

Grouchos ESB

Didn't quite allow enough time for this to warm up so the first smell/taste it was a tad cold. This one defintely needs to be served at 10+C. Cold it reaked of dried fruits and tasted the same. Allowing it to warm up changed it completely and the malt and hops came through as well as a few yeast esters. Reminded me quite a bit of Black Sheep Ale. The dried fruits (dark crystal?) were still there but they worked well with the malt. Great head retention, carbonation was good and what you would expect in a bottled ESB. 

Goofinders ESB

Took the bottle out at the same time i did Grouchos so it was nice and warm by the time i cracked it. I was grinning like a cheshire cat the whole time i drank this. Malty, bitter goodness. Late styrian goldings - tick. Ringwood yeast esters - tick. I had to share the bottle with 5 others on Tuesday night, this time i got the whole thing to myself. This is the beer of the swap for me although i still have a few to go. In retrospect i was perhaps a tad harsh in only scoring it 40/50, its more like 44. I'll be brewing this when my fresh yeast arrives. :chug:


----------



## A3k (26/11/10)

Guys, i lied.
I didnt filter my batch, just polyclared and gelatined it for a week whilst cold conditioning.


----------



## MaltyHops (26/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> ...
> If you want to have an AG brew for the next swap but don't have yr brewery
> yet then yr welcome to brew here. My beer for the last swap was brewed
> using Kieren's HLT, tun & expertise. It seems to have turned out ok.


Thanks Hatchy - might take you up on this if my setup is not quite ready by
then and definitely want to do an AG for that - prob some kind of Belgian I
I'm thinking (so much to learn/brew/try).



Phillip said:


> Do you want to borrow Brew Like A Monk from me? A lot of the breweries in
> Belgium deliberately under pitch their wort so that they will get stressed and
> produce the isoamyl acetate (banana) and other esters. I wouldn't see this
> as a bad thing, ...


Thanks Phil, didn't know that - I am quite happy with the way the tri-can
Belgian turned out

... and I still have yet to get stuck into the swap beers - anyone aware of
any of them that really need to be drinked right now?

Tom.


----------



## drsmurto (26/11/10)

Mine needs to have been drunk 2 weeks ago.  

But then you did get to sample a close relative of it that was carbed up better and bright. 

How do you have a case of beer and not drink it? :huh:


----------



## MaltyHops (26/11/10)

DrSmurto said:


> ...
> How do you have a case of beer and not drink it? :huh:


Moving house (with looming deadlines) ... need I say more? <_< 

And also planning to share the tasting experience with a couple of
buds to show them the possibilities of homebrewing - plus getting
everyone's feedback will help to fast track my learning.

Tom.

BTW - your hops are looking awesome ... and are you going to try to
separate the chinook from your goldings?


----------



## drsmurto (26/11/10)

I would have though moving house is an anti-excuse for drinking. I know every time i have moved house i ended up drinking more not less.

:icon_offtopic: 

I'm not convinced the goldings and chinook have grown into each other as there is still more than a metre between the plants. 

I am keeping the bines separate as they grow up the twine and once the side shoots take off I will need to put some effort into keeping them away from each other but all is looking good so far.

The different number of leaf nodes i suspect is to do with the age of the plant rather than there be more than one variety growing on the one spot.


----------



## TonyC (26/11/10)

Hi all,
Thanks for all the positive feedback on my case beer, twice i have made a swap beer with the intention of going to them, and have pulled out both times.I will definatly be attending from now on. As requesred here is the recipe, sorry for some reason i can not insert a beersmith file?

4.5 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter

.20 kg Cara Pils

.20kg Chocolate Malt

.20 kg Crystal Medium 



Mash at 66 for 60

75 min boil 

20.00gm Fuggles (5%) x 60 mins

20.00 gm Styrian (4.4%) x 60mins

15.00gm Fuggles (5%) x 30mins

15.00 gm Styrian (4.4%) x 30mins

15.00gm Fuggles (5%) x 0mins

15.00 gm Styrian (4.4%) x 0mins



Nottingham Yeast

Regards Tony


----------



## Hatchy (26/11/10)

Yum.


----------



## Kieren (26/11/10)

TonyC's *Northern Brown* Ale

Poured with low carbonation and a small head. Colour is a nice dark brown with a lovely ruby glow, appears quite clear. Aroma is light but seems mostly yeasty esters with some darker malt there too. Flavour is definitely malt forward, slightly sweet but nice and rounded. Finish is nice and clean with a good firm bitterness at the end. much enjoyed, though not a a style I often drink. Cheers :icon_cheers: 

Phil's *10min ale*

Shared this with legham a couple of nights back so this is from memory.

Aroma was sweet and I could detect something a little off maybe? This could have been yeasty esters which seemed to cover the hops a little. Not as much hops there as I was expecting. Flavour was more of the same. What yeast did you use Phil? Pacman? 

QB's *Ruddles English Ale*

Again, shared this with legham a couple of nights back so this is from memory.

Poured with reasonable head, carbonation was low to medium - just right. Slight haze. Aroma - slight malt and again detectable yeasty esters or another off flavour I can can't describe which seemed to detract from the hop character. Maybe legham glasses were off :blink: Finished slightly sweet iirc.


----------



## MaltyHops (26/11/10)

DrSmurto said:


> I would have though moving house is an anti-excuse for drinking. I know
> every time i have moved house i ended up drinking more not less.
> ...


Well, I do have other brews on hand - besides, I want to be able to
enjoy the swap beers slooooooooowly ... me love 'em long time :wub:

T.


----------



## Brettly (26/11/10)

G'day,

I've been overseas for a bit and just got home yesterday arvo. 

Thanks for all the positive feedback regarding the Nelson Sav (although I'll have to read up on "yeast stress"). A couple of blokes have asked if the beer was filtered - but no it wasn't, I just racked it onto finings for 5 days cold conditioned.

Hatchy, the recipe was Ross's Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale, from the database word for word.

This has been my first case swap and I'm not experienced in beer tasting "vocabulary" but I know when I like something and all the beers I tried on the night were great. I've yet to try any of the case swap beers but from previous comments it sounds like everyone's a winner.

Cheers
Brett


----------



## Mayor of Mildura (27/11/10)

Polished off goofinders ESB last night. As the others have mentioned very nice. 

I've caved and am drinking Ravens amber. Great looking beer. I had to take a photo to share. 




Well thats it for me. All swap beers are gone. Bring on the next swap!!!


----------



## raven19 (27/11/10)

mayor of mildura said:


> I've caved and am drinking Ravens amber. Great looking beer. I had to take a photo to share.
> View attachment 42422



Wow, I am waaaaaay behind on the swap sampling! How was the carbonation (and taste overall) on the amber?


----------



## Mayor of Mildura (27/11/10)

raven19 said:


> Wow, I am waaaaaay behind on the swap sampling! How was the carbonation (and taste overall) on the amber?



Amber? I said amber. doh. It should say Ravens brown ale.should double check before i post. 

Carb was good (moderate i'd say). Flavour was quite malty. It had a yeasty fruity flavour/aroma (banana's again sort of like coopers) and had a nice bitterness (maybe slight astringency). jeez i'm hopeless as describing these things. 

Overall this was another good beer that I enjoyed especially as it warmed a little. 

You'll have to take this review with a grain of salt Raven as this beer isn't something that I normally drink/brew! so i don't really have any idea. 

Cheers mate


----------



## jonocarroll (27/11/10)

*Groucho's ESB
*
Poured with a good dense head, love the colour, only slightly muddy but without filtering this is hard to avoid [edit: closer look at the second glass - clarity isn't all that bad, it's just hazy]. Nose is nicely malt forward with esters right where I personally like them - hidden but detectable (even when it warms up). Fine bubbling leads to a nice lacing. Mouthfeel is amazingly good. Spot on. The creamy head does wonders. First sip is very malt heavy with a good complexity (heaps!). Maybe a little strong on the darker spec malts, some malt astringency making its way in. Bitterness has nestled itself down into the little nook of the sweet spot. Very happy with this beer. Lucky that - I've brewed up the first of two bitters today, though the bar's a little high now.

With the clarity brought up to commercial quality, this would be a regular purchase for me. Easily.

After tasting this many of the swap beers, I am perplexed... why are other states winning ANAWBS categories? Seriously people! Get those entries in next year!!!


----------



## Effect (27/11/10)

mayor of mildura said:


> It had a yeasty fruity flavour/aroma (banana's again sort of like coopers)




gald I'm not the only one - tried this today and was really picking up a banana character - but just assumed it was me...


----------



## raven19 (28/11/10)

Phillip said:


> gald I'm not the only one - tried this today and was really picking up a banana character - but just assumed it was me...



Interesting... 1056 was the yeast, but I did push it higher on the ferment to make sure the beer was finished in a short period of time... as I lost the previous brew.

(I have previously done an aussie pale with 1056 that had a hint of belgian fruitiness from the same yeast also...)


----------



## groucho (28/11/10)

Finally picked up my case swap beers yesterday (thanks Hatchy for looking after them).
*
Boston's AIPA*

Golden colour. Medium to low carbonation. Produced a good head that lasted. Laced the glass. Low Aroma. Malty with firm bitterness. Good body. Would never have guessed 82 IBUs (guess would have been much lower) - can this be in part attributed to the smooth bittering qualities of Magnum?

Overall: Drank this after a Stone & Wood Draught Ale and much preferred this IPA over the Stone & Wood. Also liked it more the longer it was left in the glass as it warmed up. A good beer.


----------



## Kieren (28/11/10)

Mayor of Mildura's Summer Ale

Dark straw in colour - great clarity. My beers don't seem to come out as clear as some of the ones I have already in this swap - though I do dry hop most of mine. Poured with a nice tight head that faded slightly. Subdued malt aroma. Don't get hop in the aroma or flavour. I am picking am up something in the flavour too that I don't think should be there, DMS? Like a grainy vegetable flavour? Finishes quite dry and a little astringent. Interested in the malt and hop schedule used for this beer, MOM?


----------



## Mayor of Mildura (28/11/10)

Kieren said:


> Mayor of Mildura's Summer Ale
> 
> Dark straw in colour - great clarity. My beers don't seem to come out as clear as some of the ones I have already in this swap - though I do dry hop most of mine. Poured with a nice tight head that faded slightly. Subdued malt aroma. Don't get hop in the aroma or flavour. I am picking am up something in the flavour too that I don't think should be there, DMS? Like a grainy vegetable flavour? Finishes quite dry and a little astringent. Interested in the malt and hop schedule used for this beer, MOM?


Hi Kieren

I'm pretty disappointed in this beer. 

Here is the recipe

for 23L
4kg crisp MO
30g Challenger @ 90 min 20 IBU (FWH)
30g Challenger @ 20 min 10 IBU 
15g Bobek @ flame out
30g Bobek dry hop added after 7 days in primary
Wyeast 1968 starter

Can you get DMS after a 90 minute boil? My thoughts were the flavour was coming from the dry hop. Don't know. 


Thanks for the feedback mate.


----------



## raven19 (28/11/10)

*#16 Wild Elephant's ESB*

Highly restrained slight fruity/citrus aroma.
Low carbonation.
Well balanced with lingering bitterness containing a very slight grassiness at the front of the palette.
Light golden in colour.
Long lasting medium thick head, laces the glass once it has warmed slightly out of the fridge.

Coats the mouth well with an increase in the apparent bitterness after more sampling. Clean and well made imo. Noice!


----------



## Kieren (29/11/10)

mayor of mildura said:


> Hi Kieren
> 
> I'm pretty disappointed in this beer.
> 
> ...



My first thought was DMS but I think it would be hard to pick it up from the crisp MO and with a 90 min boil. Possible to pick it up during the ferment - paraphrased from Principles of Brewing Science - gram-negative bacteria such as Megasphaeria and Pectinatus if present can produce DMS during the ferment. They are ethanol, hop and pH tolerant so will typically be noticed near the end of fermentation.

However I wonder what I am is tasting is perhaps tannins which may explain some of the astringency I seem to get?

I look forward to see what others say about this beer, they may be able to give you more clues to what going on in. I am not yet confident about my ability to pick up and name all beer faults.


----------



## Kieren (29/11/10)

*Hatchy's APA*

Poured with very low carbonation but had good clarity, very little sediment in bottle. Colour is quite dark for an APA - more like a light coloured amber.
Flavour has a great malt foward complexity, with a nice hop presence throughout. Finished with a firm bitterness.

This beer seems different to the one I tried before the swap. Unless my memory sucks (and it does) it is darker, less hop aroma/flavour and lower in carbonation. This was the APA you brewed when I brought my stuff down, yeah? I still really enjoyed this beer, though. 

Any other bottled batches of amber or experimentale that went unaccounted for, Hatchy?


----------



## Hatchy (29/11/10)

Was there a 6 on the cap mate? It was yr recipe brewed on yr gear. The amber ale all got kegged & if you ended up with an experimentale you'd know about it because little Matty labelled the caps. Those caps are covered in grafity. I can post the recipe tonight if anyone wants to see it.


----------



## Kieren (29/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> Was there a 6 on the cap mate? It was yr recipe brewed on yr gear. The amber ale all got kegged & if you ended up with an experimentale you'd know about it because little Matty labelled the caps. Those caps are covered in grafity. I can post the recipe tonight if anyone wants to see it.



It had a 6 on the cap. Just seems strange is all. Great beer, be interesting to brew it again and see how it comes out.


----------



## Hatchy (29/11/10)

I'm pretty sure the grain bill was straight from brewing classic styles. To fix the darkness problem drink it from the bottle in a dark room with yr eyes shut.


----------



## Goofinder (29/11/10)

Had the Amber Fire Ale the other night. I thought the amount of chilli was great - it didn't taste like I was drinking a chilli beer but there was that slight warming/buzzing sensation after a few mouthfuls. 

Unfortunately the beer itself seemed a bit lifeless. I would guess that it was possibly a bit oxidised as it was similar to a beer that I had feedback to that effect for.


----------



## Hatchy (29/11/10)

Kieren said:


> *Hatchy's APA*
> 
> Poured with very low carbonation but had good clarity, very little sediment in bottle. Colour is quite dark for an APA - more like a light coloured amber.
> Flavour has a great malt foward complexity, with a nice hop presence throughout. Finished with a firm bitterness.
> ...



The grain bill was:

85% BB ale
6.9% wey munich
4.9% amber
3.2% wey wheat

Unless someone says otherwise I'm pointing my finger at the amber. If I recall correctly (which I probably don't) the amber malt that we wanted wasn't available & we ended up with a darker amber malt than we wanted. I'll have a look next time I'm digging in my grain bins.

I still have some of these left, I'll have one chilled if yr likely to be round on the weekend.


----------



## raven19 (29/11/10)

*Hazard's Landlord*

Minimal fruity/floral aroma.
Thin but lasting head, good medium carbonation.
Light brown to golden in colour.
Low bitterness, with no off flavours noticable.

Beautifully balanced pushing towards the malt ever so slightly. A really clean well made beer imo, certainly some crackers thus far in the swap.


----------



## technoicon (29/11/10)

Goofinder said:


> Had the Amber Fire Ale the other night. I thought the amount of chilli was great - it didn't taste like I was drinking a chilli beer but there was that slight warming/buzzing sensation after a few mouthfuls.
> 
> Unfortunately the beer itself seemed a bit lifeless. I would guess that it was possibly a bit oxidised as it was similar to a beer that I had feedback to that effect for.




hey, what would make it oxidised? (what gives you this)

i have a feeling it might have been older hops that didnt have quiet enough kick to them, def need to double the hop count. when i drank it i though about the same. i would like a little more warm buzz in the back of your mouth. the way you described the chilli is exactly what i was aiming for though, but I found it not quiet enough, maybe one more chilli in it. (btw thanks to mom for the chilli's)


----------



## Kieren (29/11/10)

Thought it was a good night for a couple of ESB's...

*Groucho's ESB*

Poured with a low carbonation and small head, nice dark amber colour though quite cloudy, 'I might have stirred it up a little as I warmed it up under some hot water from the tap. Malt on the aroma with what I think now are sweet esters - same thing I picked up in QB's and Phil's beers which I am not used to - I don't use English yeasts too much - might have to start trying some. Flavour seems to be driven by the esters along with the malt - don't get much hops coming through. Finish is medium dry and lingers for a while.

*Goofinder's ESB*

Nice colour, pale amber with good clarity, low carb rate, poured with a good head which faded a little. Aroma is yeasty esters, not as overpowering as Groucho's. Flavour, I get a good balance between esters, malt with earthy hops in the background. 

This is not a style I have brewed a lot and am only really familiar with a few commercial examples I have bought a couple of times - Fullers, Young's etc. These seem to have a bigger malt profile with some caramel and nutty notes and a stronger hop presence. It maybe a a freshness issue, I don't know. The two case swap beers above seem to be more yeast driven, however maybe I am more sensitive to this estery flavour. I reckon I have had a batch and tasted a mates that may have been infected that really drove the esters forward or maybe it was improper yeast management? Or maybe all the IIPA's I have been brewing have mutated my taste buds?

Still, I did enjoy these beers, makes me think I need to get to England and taste them fresh straight from the source.

Edit: Can you tell me what yeasts you guys use and your pitching rates and fermentation temps/schedules. As I said - want to start using more English yeast (only really used Nottingham and 1968 before). Looking at Wlp007/1098, albeit for more american hopped beers but I may crop it for an ESB batch on the side?

Edit: Edt: Getting a lot of nuttiness (peanuts?) come through Goofinder's ESB now that it has warmed up a bit.


----------



## jonocarroll (29/11/10)

*Phillip's 10 min IPA*

Poured with a monster head. Clean-up aisle three. That aside, head is thick and fluffy, leaving a gorgeous lace. Nice light colour. Clarity okay. Good hop nose with some pleasant yeastiness. Did I get a different bottle to everyone else?... Big up-front hop flavour, tending towards resiny, but with a low-to-nice amount of malt support and a good mouthfeel to balance (nothing worse than a thinned-out hop-monster). Carbonation is great to give the hop aromas somewhere to go and help with the mouthfeel. Bitterness is all embedded in the hop resin and sticks around long enough to be a lingering bitterness that one might expect from a big 90 minute addition. If you reckon you make a better version of this, send it my way. Personally I love this. It could do with a bit more malt support (with scaled hops too, don't want to lessen that) and probably some hop complexity, but overall I think it's a winner (not as any sort of traditional IPA, but a winner nonetheless).

Seriously, if people are planning on doing better than these in the next swap, I'm going to be ruined for drinking anything lesser for the rest of my life. Off. The. Freakin'. Chain.


----------



## technoicon (29/11/10)

QuantumBrewer said:


> *Phillip's 10 min IPA*
> 
> Seriously, if people are planning on doing better than these in the next swap, I'm going to be ruined for drinking anything lesser for the rest of my life. Off. The. Freakin'. Chain.



i agree. i'm from a house of 5 people that mostly drink draft and girly lemon beer. i went out on the sunday after the swap.. and couldnt finish my carlton, so dissapointed i've become one of those snobby home brewers who bags out how shit carlton draght tastes. lol

i'm thinking of having phils APA, as i just tried mine one that I brewed last week, and also had one of mom's. i probably had enough though.. lol


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## technoicon (29/11/10)

ok so i had a little taste of phil's beer. very happy.. but was leaving it sit.. then i decided that if i shake it a little it will get rid of some of the fizz... so after it went crazy over me my balcony n my housemate.. i figured probably not the best idea.. lucky i didnt loose that much of it.. lol

best be getting my tasting book out!


----------



## jonocarroll (29/11/10)

Awesome Fury said:


> i went out on the sunday after the swap.. and couldnt finish my carlton


<snigger> Sorry mate, I read that slightly wrong - I missed the L in carLton, looked at the name, and thought nothing of it. :chug: 

Hey, in a house of non-enlighteneds you can brew up a megaswill for cheap for them and be considered top dog... then brew up a Vienna for yourself


----------



## Hatchy (29/11/10)

You bastards turned my housemate/ex girlfriend/1st wife into a beer geek. Last weekend I didn't get to brew because she was, I did get to drink though.


----------



## jonocarroll (29/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> You bastards turned my housemate/ex girlfriend/1st wife into a beer geek. Last weekend I didn't get to brew because she was, I did get to drink though.


If she starts cooking the BBQ, then there's a good chance you've become the woman in the house. If she takes the TV remote it's all over.

Then again, if your wife is brewing you beer, STFU ya winging bastard. <_<


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## technoicon (29/11/10)

haha hatchy, i'll have to look out for that i think! i'm trying to get my chick mate to brew but maybe i shouldnt.. lol

lol QB, my local pub never had any drinkable beers on tap. but the finally got fat yak, which i like(in comparison)... i brew a couple of lagers n they usually like my apa's, but i'm thinking a nice strong stout for me!


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## MaltyHops (29/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> You bastards turned my housemate/ex girlfriend/1st wife into a beer geek. Last weekend I didn't get to brew because she was, I did get to drink though.


You are one lucky, lucky, lucky bugga! Congrats to you both :beer: 
Tom.


----------



## raven19 (29/11/10)

Awesome Fury said:


> then i decided that if i shake it a little it will get rid of some of the fizz...



Oh dear... drink it son, no need to shake.


----------



## raven19 (29/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> You bastards turned my housemate/ex girlfriend/1st wife into a beer geek. Last weekend I didn't get to brew because she was, I did get to drink though.



Go the Mrs Hatch!!!!!!!


----------



## technoicon (29/11/10)

raven19 said:


> Oh dear... drink it son, no need to shake.



you should see how perfect it poured after i did shake it.. i even took a picture! lol.

really enjoying it now though.. lotsa hops!


----------



## Mayor of Mildura (29/11/10)

Awesome Fury said:


> you should see how perfect it poured after i did shake it.. i even took a picture! lol.
> 
> really enjoying it now though.. lotsa hops!


I had mine unshaken just poured and it was a most awesome beer. 

:icon_offtopic: dude can you go and make sure black betty is ok cause i'm missing her at the moment.


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## technoicon (29/11/10)

:icon_offtopic: really you want me to check... do you want any beer left in your fridge?

your only a 10 min walk away.. :lol:


----------



## Mayor of Mildura (29/11/10)

Awesome Fury said:


> :icon_offtopic: really you want me to check... do you want any beer left in your fridge?
> 
> your only a 10 min walk away.. :lol:


or a 2 min run/float


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## Hatchy (30/11/10)

QuantumBrewer said:


> If she starts cooking the BBQ, then there's a good chance you've become the woman in the house. If she takes the TV remote it's all over.
> 
> Then again, if your wife is brewing you beer, STFU ya winging bastard. <_<



She has cooked BBQs when I've been brewing & unless there's cricket or soccer on then I don't watch TV (I love aussie rules but if Westies are playing then I'm at the game & if they're not then I don't care enough to watch it).

If she was brewing me beer then I'd be happy but she's tied up my brewery for a Saturday which means she'll tie up my ferment fridge for a fortnight & then either tie up a keg or 2 for a while or I'll have to help her bottle the beer. Yr right though, there could be worse predicaments.

Given how OT this thread is getting, is it safe to assume that everyone has drunk their swap beers & we should look at having an "early 2011 everyone who can get to Adelaide & has drunk all of their swap beers" swap?


----------



## technoicon (30/11/10)

Hatchy said:


> Given how OT this thread is getting, is it safe to assume that everyone has drunk their swap beers & we should look at having an "early 2011 everyone who can get to Adelaide & has drunk all of their swap beers" swap?




yes, even though i'm not finished. i probably will be after this weekend


----------



## Goofinder (30/11/10)

Awesome Fury said:


> hey, what would make it oxidised? (what gives you this)
> 
> i have a feeling it might have been older hops that didnt have quiet enough kick to them, def need to double the hop count. when i drank it i though about the same. i would like a little more warm buzz in the back of your mouth. the way you described the chilli is exactly what i was aiming for though, but I found it not quiet enough, maybe one more chilli in it. (btw thanks to mom for the chilli's)



Oxidation is most likely to be caused by splashing after the ferment (during racking or possibly bottling) or maybe a poorly sealed secondary if there wasn't enough CO2 to create a blanket. Of course, I could be completely wrong and it's not oxidised.

I reckon you could go a bit more chilli in there, but not too much more if you want to keep it hidden reasonably well.



Kieren said:


> *Goofinder's ESB*
> 
> Nice colour, pale amber with good clarity, low carb rate, poured with a good head which faded a little. Aroma is yeasty esters, not as overpowering as Groucho's. Flavour, I get a good balance between esters, malt with earthy hops in the background.
> 
> This is not a style I have brewed a lot and am only really familiar with a few commercial examples I have bought a couple of times - Fullers, Young's etc. These seem to have a bigger malt profile with some caramel and nutty notes and a stronger hop presence. It maybe a a freshness issue, I don't know. The two case swap beers above seem to be more yeast driven, however maybe I am more sensitive to this estery flavour. I reckon I have had a batch and tasted a mates that may have been infected that really drove the esters forward or maybe it was improper yeast management? Or maybe all the IIPA's I have been brewing have mutated my taste buds?



I think the yeastiness is a bit over the top in mine and probably could have done with being fermented a degree or two lower. I picked up an almost sulphury yeastiness when we did the 'judging' of my beer but I think I only had the end of the bottle for that one so I probably had a glass full of yeast.



> Edit: Can you tell me what yeasts you guys use and your pitching rates and fermentation temps/schedules. As I said - want to start using more English yeast (only really used Nottingham and 1968 before). Looking at Wlp007/1098, albeit for more american hopped beers but I may crop it for an ESB batch on the side?


Mine was Wyeast 1187, about half the slurry from the previous batch which was the Ordinary Bitter that was at the case swap (which had a fresh smack pack dumped in). Fermented at around 22 degrees I think for a couple of weeks then a week or so in secondary (no temp control here, so just at ambient).


----------



## technoicon (30/11/10)

Goofinder said:


> Oxidation is most likely to be caused by splashing after the ferment (during racking or possibly bottling) or maybe a poorly sealed secondary if there wasn't enough CO2 to create a blanket. Of course, I could be completely wrong and it's not oxidised.
> 
> I reckon you could go a bit more chilli in there, but not too much more if you want to keep it hidden reasonably well.



Ok yeah that's what i thought it was. this could be true because i think it finished a little higher than i wanted (1020) so i might have tried to sturr up the yeast a little.

There was no secondary, just straight into bottles.

your right just a little more, with the chilli it's hard to estimate as some are hotter than others and some not so much. i think i used about 5 dried (really hot) chilli's. 6 or 7 would have been better.

way more hops next time.


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## jbirbeck (30/11/10)

*Kieren's Litha*

lovely colour, good clarity and a low head...definitely get the galaxy hit on the aroma its all about the hop and its a big hit of it. the flavour is mostly hop, tastes great, well balanced - too many I've seen over do Galaxy but this is great and well supported by the malt and just perfect bitterness. Really enjoyed this one.

*some Awesome Fire Ale*

Great colouring with good clarity, really good complex malt aroma with that deep munich style maltiness with hints of choc and caramel. I didn't get any really hop aroma from it, med light body. The malt flavour was well down on the aroma hit and there was a slight vegetal type flavour coming through. Oxidised? hmm maybe but I wasn't getting that same staleness you get from oxidised beers. It _could_ be the chilli doing that. I liked the level of chilli, justa bout right for some tingling but not genuine heat. A slight increase would work but I'd watch out for the vegetal flavour increasing. 
There was still good choc, sweet malt flavours coming through, but less intense than the aroma, some raisins/dried fruit flavours as well - could be where Goo is coming from in terms of oxidisation, I took it as a slight aged character. Nice beer.

*Smurto's Homegrown*
good colour, great clarity, low carb and low head. Tasty malti aroma with some hints of rye spiciness and estery. The esters were slight to begin with and devloped as the beer warmed, they worked reasonably well. When I was first smelling and tasting I got a fair hit of lolly bananas. It faded as I drank more (or maybe I adjusted) but it was odd. Strangely though it worked well with the fruity hop flavours. It had good bitterness but it was the sweet malt flavours that lingered to the point of being cloying. Maybe another couple of IBU or a slightly drier finish. Overall a very easy drinker. I think I preferred the version you had on tap at your place that used a different bittering hop.


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## jbirbeck (1/12/10)

Ravens Brown
lovely reddish brown colour, slight haze and a light white head that holds well, some good sweet malt aroma but a big hit of esters and slight banana. As it warms there is a fight between some nice citrus type hop aroma, some floral hop and the big esters. Much the same on the palate but the esters are more noticeable. Good firm bitterness well supported by the malt and some slight stringency on the finish but well balanced. Probably pushed the yeast a tad hard as everything seems to be there but the esters dominate.


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## drsmurto (1/12/10)

Carpfish head summer ale

Yet another very easy drinking beer. Lower on the malt backbone but given you labelled it a summer ale then you have inferred that anyway (or at least that's how i interpreted it) with a nice amount of hop flavour/aroma but without going overboard. Some yeast esters as well so another tick. Carbonation was medium-high and i threw this back in no time flat. Really enjoyed it but then i do love challenger hops :icon_drool2: 

Rather than brew for ourselves i suggest a monthly case swap - with this standard i would be happy to drink all of your beers all of the time.  

Just not sure my liver could stand monthly case swap days.....

EDIT - just read you were disappointed in this beer. Not sure why? Its a very nice beer and one i could happily drink all day. It reminded me that i still have quite a few challenger plugs that i should use soon.


----------



## jonocarroll (1/12/10)

DrSmurto said:


> Rather than brew for ourselves i suggest a monthly case swap - with this standard i would be happy to drink all of your beers all of the time.


30 attendees registered interest within a week of starting the 'emergency' swap... I reckon if we get any better at this we'll call it a festival and sell tickets h34r:


----------



## Mayor of Mildura (1/12/10)

DrSmurto said:


> Carpfish head summer ale
> 
> Yet another very easy drinking beer. Lower on the malt backbone but given you labelled it a summer ale then you have inferred that anyway (or at least that's how i interpreted it) with a nice amount of hop flavour/aroma but without going overboard. Some yeast esters as well so another tick. Carbonation was medium-high and i threw this back in no time flat. Really enjoyed it but then i do love challenger hops :icon_drool2:
> 
> ...


I didn't like the grassy flavour (kieren picked up a dms like flavour). Other than that I was happy. 

Cheers Dr S


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## raven19 (1/12/10)

Rooting Kings said:


> Ravens Brown
> lovely reddish brown colour, slight haze and a light white head that holds well, some good sweet malt aroma but a big hit of esters and slight banana. As it warms there is a fight between some nice citrus type hop aroma, some floral hop and the big esters. Much the same on the palate but the esters are more noticeable. Good firm bitterness well supported by the malt and some slight stringency on the finish but well balanced. Probably pushed the yeast a tad hard as everything seems to be there but the esters dominate.



I was keen to get a brew down after my infection issue on the planned swap brew. Duly noted for next time re: pushing the yeast at higher than my prefereed temps, thanks mate!


----------



## Kieren (1/12/10)

*RKs Smoked Schwarzbier*

Med-high carbonation, solid head that lasts the whole glass. Hard to tell but seems hazy - not that I care to much about clarity. Aroma is all smoke for me - love it. Smokiness carries through with malt in the background. Good mouth feel/body. 

Excellent level of smokiness. How much smoked malt did you use RK? I bottled a smoked ale this week with 98% smoked malt, tasted full on


----------



## raven19 (1/12/10)

*Kieran's Litha Ale*

Another cracker swap beer. I think my aroma senses are severely hindered from hayfever so I dont get much aroma compared to other swappers notes. Thin frothy head and medium carbonation in my bottle.
Cloudy but due to some yeast in the bottom of the bottle making its way into the glass, clean finish with a ever so slight lingering bitterness. No detectable off flavours, and as it warms slightly I get some of that aroma coming thru...

Belching some nice hoppy goodness now though! A cracker mate!!!

Looking forward to the remaining brews in the fridge and milk crate at this rate.


----------



## raven19 (1/12/10)

*Awesome Fury's Amber Fire Ale*

2/3rds the way thru this brew now. I have a nice tingling on the tongue from some nicely hidden chilli.
Low in bitterness, slightly sweet on the initial palette, moving into the chilli bite & sensation soon after.

Not too bad at all for my first chilli beer!


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## drsmurto (2/12/10)

A3K's Bright Ale

Pours clear (not bright - if it had been filtered it would sparkle although i would still give it full marks for appearance in a comp  ) with plenty of carbonation. Very golden in colour. The aroma hit me straight away and if you hadnt said you had cube hopped it i would have guessed dry hopped. Quite grassy and i tend to struggle with dry hopped beers (cant stand the Stone and Wood Ale everyone seems to rave about) but this wasnt over the top. Not a huge malt backbone but that just made it quite easy to drink. The hop flavour was complex, i couldnt pick any one hop but it was very nice. The bitterness lingered a little. Overall a very refreshing beer to drink during a tropical thunderstorm! 

OT - the creek started flwoing again last night. In December. It normally only flows in winter :huh: Can't complain though, havent watered the vegie patch of hop plantation in 2 weeks and the tanks are full again.

2 beers left for me, the chilli beer and the belgian. Timed it well as i haven't had any beer on tap for the last 3 weeks so have been drinking the swap beers instead. Plan on kegging the next in the series of home-grown hopped rye golden ales this weekend (POR).


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## jbirbeck (2/12/10)

Kieren said:


> *RKs Smoked Schwarzbier*
> 
> Med-high carbonation, solid head that lasts the whole glass. Hard to tell but seems hazy - not that I care to much about clarity. Aroma is all smoke for me - love it. Smokiness carries through with malt in the background. Good mouth feel/body.
> 
> Excellent level of smokiness. How much smoked malt did you use RK? I bottled a smoked ale this week with 98% smoked malt, tasted full on



I'm pretty sure it was around the 50% mark, even 55%. I'll have to find the recipe and check it.


----------



## Kieren (2/12/10)

*Gopha's Simarillo Ale*

Med-high carbonation, good head. Slight haze which went after a little warming. Nice pale copper colour. I get a what I think is a little yeastiness(?) on the nose but lots of hops too. Flavour I get amarillo goodness with malt in the background. Finish is dry good bitterness. Very enjoyable.


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## raven19 (3/12/10)

*#6 Hatchy's APA*

Light golden in colour, very slight phenolic (?) aroma but not to the beers detriment,
Thin minimal head with low to medium carbonation,
Well balanced with lingering bitterness, light bodied with a light slick mouthfeel.

Could go more hops for an APA imo, but not too bad Hatch man!


----------



## raven19 (5/12/10)

*QB's Ruddles English Ale*

Thick off white fluffy head with low to to medium carbonation. Similar to other comments on this thread my bottle had slight haze, however clears during sampling. Aroma - slight malt and yeasty esters are present, a low to medium hoppy aroma in the initial pour was nice too. A slightly malty/sweet beer, with some nice tangy bitterness at the end imo.

'Oi, Gimme another barkeep!' :chug:


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## raven19 (5/12/10)

*#3 Philip's 10min IPA*

Nice hit of bitterness with this beer, coupled with some grassiness - no doubt from the massive late hop hit. :super: 
Bubbly medium head, with medium to high carbonation. Light bodied brew, light golden in colour with slight haze, and a good aroma. Good clean ferment with no detectable off flavours. I can see why this brew is popular in the database.

Nice work Phil. Another good case swap beer.


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## jbirbeck (6/12/10)

*TonyC's Northern Brown*
lovely choc aroma and slight esters with a hint of sulphur but otherwise clean, nice sweet malt aroma dominates. Rich malt flavour with hints of choc, good bitterness supporting that malt and some nice toffee and caramel notes. Some slight astringency on the finish but a nice dry finish despite that nice full malt flavour. I really liked this one. The only fault I could say was the lack of head and those lovely small bubbles, it poured a bit like two day old coke.


*Carpfish Summer*

Love the golden colour, love the clarity, love the tight white head, love the aroma, full of fruit - I got dried apricots, pineapple, Lychees. Little to no malt aroma. Med light body but perfectly balanced, bitterness and hopping is spot on for me.easy drinker without doubt.
The hop flavour was lower than I expected after the aroma but I got that hit of dried apricots and lycheses with a nice balanced finish. Could drink this one all day.

*A3K bright*
Another ripping summer beer, deep straw coloured, brilliant with a light white head, fruit hop aroma. I got some slight plasticine, really odd flavour but not unpleasant, reminded me of my childhood...Beautiful aroma, I was getting lemon and lime. The bitterness was quite forward but there was enough malt there to support it. Slight resiny astringent finish for me, probably that dry hopping but really nice beer.


----------



## Kieren (6/12/10)

*Brewbot's Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale
*


Very clear, pale straw - great colour - low to medium carbonation - small head. Definitely pick up the winey nels sauv hops in the aroma and up front on the palette backed up by a sweet, honey-like maltiness. Very tasty. I enjoyed this a lot, cheers brewbot :icon_cheers:


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## drsmurto (7/12/10)

raven19 said:


> *Hazard's Landlord*
> 
> Minimal fruity/floral aroma.
> Thin but lasting head, good medium carbonation.
> ...



Just noticed this, Hazard wasn't part of the swap AFAIK so where did this come from? I have had a few bnottles of his Landlord before but i think he is in another state?

Tasted the second last bottle from the case swap last night

Awesome Fury's Amber Fire Ale

Had this before the laksa so i didn't drown out the chilli in your beer but despite that i couldn't detect any chilli at all. For me it was a beer along the lines of JS Amber Ale. A malt dominated ale with little to no hop aroma or flavour. Possibly something earthy in the flavour that may have been hops. Had a slightly sweet-ish flavour and aroma. First thought was amber malt which can stand out a bit in a subtle ale such as this. I did allow this to warm up although these beers were stored in my keg fridge which is set to 6C so they don't start of ice-cold anyway.

So another well made beer and only 1 to go.


----------



## MaltyHops (7/12/10)

DrSmurto said:


> So another well made beer and only 1 to go.


... which is mine isn't it? Hmmm... bit worried now that you didn't have mine
earlier - wouldn't want you to finish on a flat note (or worse)  

T.


----------



## drsmurto (7/12/10)

MaltyHops said:


> ... which is mine isn't it? Hmmm... bit worried now that you didn't have mine
> earlier - wouldn't want you to finish on a flat note (or worse)
> 
> T.



Yes, last one is yours so this is for the first case swap i have drank ALL of the beers without tipping out one. No pressure at all! :lol: 

Given it got the tick of approval at the swap i don't see why you are worried. I don't recall tasting it but then there is a lot i don't recall given some of the photos.......


----------



## raven19 (7/12/10)

DrSmurto said:


> Just noticed this, Hazard wasn't part of the swap AFAIK so where did this come from? I have had a few bnottles of his Landlord before but i think he is in another state?



Well maybe he gave me a bottle or was it in a black cap = Smurts beer. Pretty sure it was a Hazard bottle though mate, will have to check the empties now! :lol: 

My cases appear to have some duplicate beers and some others I think are missing. Not that I am complaining as I have had plenty of good beers with more to come!

That'll learn me for playing cricket and not drinking from midday...


----------



## np1962 (7/12/10)

raven19 said:


> Well maybe he gave me a bottle or was it in a black cap = Smurts beer. Pretty sure it was a Hazard bottle though mate, will have to check the empties now! :lol:
> 
> My cases appear to have some duplicate beers and some others I think are missing. Not that I am complaining as I have had plenty of good beers with more to come!
> 
> That'll learn me for playing cricket and not drinking from midday...


Think I read early on that Dr S had reused others bottles and had been too lazy to remove the labels.  
Nige


----------



## Hatchy (7/12/10)

raven19 said:


> Well maybe he gave me a bottle or was it in a black cap = Smurts beer. Pretty sure it was a Hazard bottle though mate, will have to check the empties now! :lol:
> 
> My cases appear to have some duplicate beers and some others I think are missing. Not that I am complaining as I have had plenty of good beers with more to come!
> 
> That'll learn me for playing cricket and not drinking from midday...



Do you know which are missing? I've still got the full 2nd set & 2 of mine left. I was planning on keeping them to drink at the next swap but can part with some if yr missing some. Tony must've left me 3 of his because I've got 2 left. I'm so stoked that I almost just posted my 1st emoticon on AHB, in the excitement I didn't know which 1 to use so didn't bother.


----------



## drsmurto (7/12/10)

NigeP62 said:


> Think I read early on that Dr S had reused others bottles and had been too lazy to remove the labels.
> Nige



Lazy = recycling. I am a greenie after all.

So yes, if you have a bottle that has a label on it that doesn't seem to fit with the current swap but has a black bottle top then its probably mine. Might even be a few comp entry labels too :lol:


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## TonyC (7/12/10)

Hatchy,
Cause i left early i left a couple of drinkers, if Raven has not one of mine could you supply him one?

Regards Tony


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## technoicon (7/12/10)

Im missing number 6, but im guessing its from drunkin antics on the night! so missing one aint to bad! But I should be in adelaide next week if anyone is interested?


----------



## Hatchy (7/12/10)

TonyC said:


> Hatchy,
> Cause i left early i left a couple of drinkers, if Raven has not one of mine could you supply him one?
> 
> Regards Tony



Well given how tasty it is I'm happy to share 1 with him but would find it pretty tough to give 1 away. Even better, I could photocopy the recipe you left in my letterbox & he can brew it himself. Thanks for dropping that off mate.



Awesome Fury said:


> Im missing number 6, but im guessing its from drunkin antics on the night! so missing one aint to bad! But I should be in adelaide next week if anyone is interested?



6 was mine, you wouldn't like it. Feel free to drop in for a beer while yr in town, I'm guessing you won't be able to find the place though.


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## technoicon (7/12/10)

Pretty sure the taxi company knows were adelaide is now so im sorted hahahaha


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## TonyC (7/12/10)

Hatchy,
No problems, still need to pick up that chair,

Regards Tony


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## Hatchy (7/12/10)

Awesome Fury said:


> I'm in Adelaide, how do you not know where I am, I need to get to my hotel. Someone pass me that hop doobie!


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## raven19 (7/12/10)

I have a spare of #6, can keep it aside if you like Awesome.


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## technoicon (7/12/10)

Next time im tell em to look for the hop dooby smoke. Haha


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## technoicon (7/12/10)

thanks mate but i'm not fussed.. i'll let you guys know when i'm heading there next week, and if your free we'll have a beer at a micro if your interested. 

cheers
awesome


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## np1962 (7/12/10)

Awesome Fury said:


> thanks mate but i'm not fussed.. i'll let you guys know when i'm heading there next week, and if your free we'll have a beer at a micro if your interested.
> 
> cheers
> awesome


Mate, this is Adelaide, where will you find one of those?  
Nige


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## technoicon (7/12/10)

There is nine by last count 4 in the city although I think coopers is classed as one


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## np1962 (7/12/10)

Awesome Fury said:


> There is nine by last count 4 in the city although I think coopers is classed as one


I'm struggling, 
OK BrewBoys close to the city.
Do we class Lobethal as Adelaide? You'll make the taxi driver happy anyway.
Then this from the Holdy, who say there is a micro brewery there
"WHAT’S BREWIN’ IN THE BREWPUB...?

HAPPY HOURS:
~MONDAY - FRIDAY 12-2pm & 5-7PM
~SATURDAY & SUNDAY 12-2pm
$3 Schooners of West End, Tooheys New or Hahn Light.
$3 Glass of Champagne, House Riesling, House Sauv Blanc or choose from the Beeamma range of Padthaway wines"


Best bet is to head to a good beer pub like The Wheaty.
Nige


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## dcx3 (7/12/10)

Whats the one at the port called?


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## Hatchy (7/12/10)

Port dock. I heartily recommend Brewboys if they're open.


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## technoicon (7/12/10)

Ok my faut, but a little off topic


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## dcx3 (7/12/10)

Yeah well now ya gotta list em mate


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## Effect (7/12/10)

dcx3 said:


> Yeah well now ya gotta list em mate



You've only got about 3 options close to the city.

Wheaty
Brewboys
Kings head

In that order.

Cheers
Phil


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## Hatchy (8/12/10)

Earl of Leicester has some good beers & does an awesome schnitty.

What days are you in town? I can see a visit to the Wheaty next week in my crystal ball.


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## raven19 (8/12/10)

*Groucho's ESB*

Creamy mouthfeel once warmed slightly. Thin to medium head, long lasting. Nice deep amber to brown in colour.

Medium carbonation and slight bready aroma.

When sampling cold straight from the fridge I got some astringency with bitterness hit straight off the bat, but once it warmed slightly, the bitterness mellows nicely.

Medium body and an easy drinker at a slightly warmer temp imo. No off flavours detectable in my bottle either. A pretty well made brew imo.


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## jbirbeck (9/12/10)

Goo's ESB

Had this last night, did the BJCP thing on it having let it warm from the fridge. Bloody nice beer, scored it a 41 (thought I should do the blind tasting seeing I missed the last couple of BJCP sessions and I knew Smurto had given it a 40 already) 

Good malt flavour and aroma, hints of caramel and toffee, some nice floral hop, stone fruit esters and earthiness to it. good secondary malt flavours with nutty biscuity notes giving it good depth. For those looking for an alternative to 1469, 1187 is it, I was thinking it was 1469 and I've used 1187 a bit. 

firm bitterness well supported by malt, dry finish, Really well balanced beer. easy drinking 

As I say a 41 but you could improve the beer. The late hopping needed a touch more to get more aroma and a touch more flavour. not much prob 0.25 -0.5g/l extra as for me the aroma was more ester than hop but well balanced. that sort of increase wouldn't throw it out of balance IMHO and push the beer into 45+ range.

I do have to do another ESB at some stage and this could be it.

Two to go - Grouchos ESB and the Belgian. I've held off on the Belg to let it come together, aged is best  Looking forward to it though. What was the yeast on the Belg?


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## Kieren (9/12/10)

From tastings last night with legham so from memory

*Awesome Fury's Chilli Amber*

Poured nice amber, fairly clear small head. Not much hop aroma or in the flavour - malt forward beer. Very hard to pick up the chili - if I didn't know it was in there I don't think I would pick it up but could detect a tiny tingle in the there. Body was a little thin - low-med carbonation.


*Unidentified beer
*

This bottle had a cap that had an indiscernible pattern on it - looked like a big bold E with other scribbles in between ??? Had a look at the swap list and the only I though it could be was BenSA's but wasn't sure if he swapped.

Poured with high carbonation, big head that lasted till the end. Colour was amber - a bit dark for an APA - maybe a bit light for an Am Amber ale. Citrus hops and caramel malt on the nose. Very well balanced throughout between the hops and malt - very bold and strong flavours. I might have picked up either a little oxidation or winey ferment flavours or maybe nels sauv hops? Overall a very good beer - hard to pin down what it was exactly - I malt heavy APA or a strongish Amercian Ale (ala Dead Guy).


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## Kieren (9/12/10)

Kieren said:


> *Unidentified beer
> *



Wasn't an experimentale was it hatchy?


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## Hatchy (9/12/10)

Kieren said:


> Wasn't an experimentale was it hatchy?



That's the 1st thing I thought from reading the previous thread. E1 written in little Matty bottletop graffiti writing? How did that end up with yr swap beers? Little Matty is great to have round to help bottle, just don't let him near a texta.


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## Kieren (9/12/10)

Hatchy said:


> That's the 1st thing I thought from reading the previous thread. E1 written in little Matty bottletop graffiti writing? How did that end up with yr swap beers? Little Matty is great to have round to help bottle, just don't let him near a texta.



I meant to keep the bottle cap and take a photo of it to post here.

Not to sure how I ended up with it.


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## Hatchy (9/12/10)

I'm pretty sure I gave you some of them, I've kept my swap beers separate from any other beers to avoid mixing any of mine up. I'd better go drink the ones that are in the fridge to avoid confusion.


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## Kieren (9/12/10)

I have a feeling I may have put it in the case when I drove back to Whyalla, oops.

Mystery solved. Was it the columbus?


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## Hatchy (9/12/10)

Yep, brewed at Phil's place, 1st beer brewed on my gear following the time honoured tradition of making up the recipe as I go along. Does that mean I have to come up with another 16 of them now that it's been written up here?


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## Kieren (9/12/10)

Hatchy said:


> Yep, brewed at Phil's place, 1st beer brewed on my gear following the time honoured tradition of making up the recipe as I go along. Does that mean I have to come up with another 16 of them now that it's been written up here?



I believe so...


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## Hatchy (9/12/10)

Goofinder's (I think) ESB wild elephant #16. When I 1st poured this I had some hope that I wasn't the only person currently having clarity problems, then I got it in some decent light so now I'm back on my own in the land of murky beer. The 1st smell I had I didn't get anything but the 2nd & subsequent smells really remind me of a beer I've had before, I'm buggered if I know what it reminds me of but the flavour is there as well as the aroma. 1st pour it seemed slightly overcarbed but I'm pretty sure it was my pouring that was at fault there. I love the label, Phil & Butters would be impressed with the format of the recipe.


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## Hatchy (9/12/10)

Kieren said:


> I believe so...



Double post is yr fault. I've probably got 16 left although I'm pretty sure most blokes tried that beer from the keg on swap day.


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## Goofinder (10/12/10)

Hatchy said:


> Goofinder's (I think) ESB wild elephant #16. When I 1st poured this I had some hope that I wasn't the only person currently having clarity problems, then I got it in some decent light so now I'm back on my own in the land of murky beer. The 1st smell I had I didn't get anything but the 2nd & subsequent smells really remind me of a beer I've had before, I'm buggered if I know what it reminds me of but the flavour is there as well as the aroma. 1st pour it seemed slightly overcarbed but I'm pretty sure it was my pouring that was at fault there. I love the label, Phil & Butters would be impressed with the format of the recipe.


Yeah that's mine. Could be a bit overcarbonated, but I haven't had a bottle for a couple of weeks to see how it is going now.

Hopefully it's some kind of ESB that it reminded you of


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## jbirbeck (10/12/10)

Goofinder said:


> Yeah that's mine. Could be a bit overcarbonated, but I haven't had a bottle for a couple of weeks to see how it is going now.
> 
> Hopefully it's some kind of ESB that it reminded you of



reminded me of a version Smurto's Landlord...


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## Hatchy (10/12/10)

It certainly didn't remind me of the Southwark Bitter I had earlier yesterday. I've had a few ESBs but not heaps. I assume it reminded me of an ESB.


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## Kieren (10/12/10)

*Raven's Janet's Brown*

Colour is a lightish amber - maybe a bit too light for a brown? Aroma for me is dominated by banana esters with some sweet malt in there somewhere - maybe some hops hiding behind the esters. The hop character wasn't as big as I was expecting. I haven't brewed the original yet (it's on the list - I assume you going for a smaller version, Raven?) but my impression is a fairly well hopped brown ale. This seems to finish with a firm bitterness but lacks the hops flavours and aromas I would have aimed for. I got a little caramel malt flavour but no choc or toasty notes. I think the lower malt and lower hop levels would balance out if not over shadowed by the strong esters - a shame you had to rush the ferment to get this one out in time - what yeast did you use Raven? I may be making to much of the yeast esters - I seem to be more sensitive to them than others. Still, quite a drinkable beer. Liked the label too.


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## raven19 (11/12/10)

Keiren, I went with 1056, but set the temps a bit higher during ferment (although my notes say 18 degrees?) - as I only had 2 weeks between losing previous beer to infection!

The higher ferment temp definitely threw too many esters into it.

1047 OG (I was aiming for 1059) - over sparged a bit I think!


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## raven19 (12/12/10)

Rooting Kings said:


> *Brewbot NS Summer*
> Hello summer. This beer really hit the spot for me yesterday as the day warmed up. Perfect balance between hop flavour, bitterness and drier finish needed for a summer beer. The aroma had that distinctive fruity almost winey character to it. Actually it reminded me of the Vale Ale fresh on tap...but it tasted better than that. No doubt this beauty was filtered or you added lead to the yeast...Good firm bitterness, lovely hop flavour, light malt, perfect carb although the head was weak. As it warmed though it showed some alc warmth and indicators of a stressed ferment as QB mentioned - estery dominating the hops. But the beer was essentially gone by the time it warmed so...



Had this last night at a friends place. Bloody awesome beer. Loved the aroma, clean as but I had had a few by then.

Keen to see this recipe if available!


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## rotten (12/12/10)

If there are any spots left when the time comes for the case swap you can count me in, if SWMBO allows of course. I'm a little bit whipped, but i like it, often.


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## Kieren (12/12/10)

rotten said:


> If there are any spots left when the time comes for the case swap you can count me in, if SWMBO allows of course. I'm a little bit whipped, but i like it, often.



You could put your name in the back up list for the autumn swap - 

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showarticle=152


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## Frank (12/12/10)

raven19 said:


> Had this last night at a friends place. Bloody awesome beer. Loved the aroma, clean as but I had had a few by then.
> 
> Keen to see this recipe if available!



From memory, this was Ross's NS Summer Ale, straight from the recipe dB, followed to the letter.


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## np1962 (12/12/10)

rotten said:


> If there are any spots left when the time comes for the case swap you can count me in, if SWMBO allows of course. I'm a little bit whipped, but i like it, often.






Kieren said:


> You could put your name in the back up list for the autumn swap -
> 
> http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showarticle=152


There is also talk of a side swap for those that miss the main list, and those that want to brew two batches.


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## rotten (12/12/10)

Nige a side swap sounds weird, and i normally like weird. :lol: 
Please explain?

Why not just increase it to 30 ppl? including me of course, B)


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## raven19 (12/12/10)

rotten said:


> Why not just increase it to 30 ppl? including me of course, B)



Discussed in previous pages on this thread, most/some brewers only brew to say 18-20L batches, meaning 24 Longnecks is the upper limit of a given brew.


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## rotten (12/12/10)

raven19 said:


> Discussed in previous pages on this thread, most/some brewers only brew to say 18-20L batches, meaning 24 Longnecks is the upper limit of a given brew.




Point taken.
Sorry too many pages to read at last minute. Thanks for not shooting me down in flames.
Would still like to be a part of it though, whats this side swap about? Does everyone still meet at same time?


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## Kieren (13/12/10)

My understanding is that the side swap is made up from those in the back up list. For those in the main swap who can/want to swap more than 24 bottles then they can be in the side swap as well. So if you are in the main list you would need 24 bottles plus how ever many are in the side swap list, those in the side swap list would just need to provide for the side swapppers. I would assume we still get get together same place, same time - we won't discriminate against those side swappers 

If you are in the back up list it is recommended you have a brew ready for the swap in case of dropouts. If no drop outs then at least a side swap would allow you to be able to swap some beer.

If I get time I will probably have a back up brew so I can pick which I would prefer to swap so I may take part in the side swap with a different beer. It will get confusing come swap time though.


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## jbirbeck (13/12/10)

Last two

*Groucho's ESB*
I didn't get any head on this bad boy despite dropping it from the ceiling thinking of low carbonation...Aroma and flavour is dominated by the esters for me, good firm bitterness, light toasty malt which works well. I didn't get a lot of hop out of it or malty sweetness. Nice beer. Despite the bitterness I would have said this would have made a great Dark Mild recipe. I do love a good mild.

*maltyhops Belgian*
I quite liked this one. All the flavours were there. The carb and the head were a little low, as was the body but in such a big beer thats not unusual. Good dried fruit flavours and aromas, peppery esters, some choc and sweet caramel malt. toffee. All of the things I like to see in a Big dark belgian were there in the right sort of balance. But the alcohol let it down a bit. It was too hot in aroma and flavour and mouthfeel. If I had to guess I would have said the ferment temp was too high trying to get all of the nice Belgian yeast aromas and flavours in there.

Despite common believe those belgian flavours come through perfectly at lower temps. 

Great case swap, great beers across the swap, happy with all of them.


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## MaltyHops (13/12/10)

rotten said:


> Point taken.
> Sorry too many pages to read at last minute. Thanks for not shooting me down in flames.
> Would still like to be a part of it though, whats this side swap about? Does everyone still meet at same time?


Actually, the discussion of the extended (backup) swap list is on the new thread
for the next Adelaide swap: _2011 Close-enough-to-get-to-adelaide Autumn Case Swap_

T.


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## MaltyHops (13/12/10)

Rooting Kings said:


> ...
> *maltyhops Belgian*
> I quite liked this one. All the flavours were there. The carb and the head were a little low, as was the body but in such a big beer thats not unusual. Good dried fruit flavours and aromas, peppery esters, some choc and sweet caramel malt. toffee. All of the things I like to see in a Big dark belgian were there in the right sort of balance. But the alcohol let it down a bit. It was too hot in aroma and flavour and mouthfeel. If I had to guess I would have said the ferment temp was too high trying to get all of the nice Belgian yeast aromas and flavours in there.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the comments RK - I knew I liked how it out, now I can also say why  
I brewed it at around the 21C mark as per Wyeast recommendation (range 20C -
24C) - maybe I could try a lower temp next time.

I went a bit easy on the priming sugar thinking the residual sweetness might also
contribute to the carbonation but thinking about it now, that remaining sugar would
be unfermentable so could also bump up the priming sugar a little next time.



Rooting Kings said:


> ... What was the yeast on the Belg?


Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey

T.


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## jonocarroll (15/12/10)

I know I've been slack on reviews for the last however many, but they've been consumed in non-review-ey conditions (drank, enjoyed, drank more, enjoyed more). I think I tried Goofinder's ESB and one other - both were great. This one however needed something written...

*Raven19's Janet's Brown Ale
*
Colour is light for a brown ale, I might even go so far as to say amber. Poured well with a nice lacing. The first sip is malt heaven. This would have to be the best malt-forward beer I've had in a long time. Dark roasts, complex nuttiness, proper bitterness sitting right where it should, and the right carbonation to bring it all together. This one's gold, mate.


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## Goofinder (16/12/10)

I'm looking forward to getting back into the beers after a few weeks away. Raven's beer sounds good from the description below - that might have to be first out of the fridge when I get home.


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## raven19 (16/12/10)

QuantumBrewer said:


> *Raven19's Janet's Brown Ale
> *
> Colour is light for a brown ale, I might even go so far as to say amber. Poured well with a nice lacing. The first sip is malt heaven. This would have to be the best malt-forward beer I've had in a long time. Dark roasts, complex nuttiness, proper bitterness sitting right where it should, and the right carbonation to bring it all together. This one's gold, mate.



You are making me blush fella! B) 



Goofinder said:


> I'm looking forward to getting back into the beers after a few weeks away. Raven's beer sounds good from the description below - that might have to be first out of the fridge when I get home.



I am honestly just glad the beer is to the brewer's likings here (bar the excess esters - due to slightly higher ferment temp). 2 weeks to get this brewed and bottled certainly crammed things a little tighter than I would prefer in terms of ferment & crash chill times, etc.


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## Kieren (27/12/10)

Last beer from my case swap case

*MaltyHops - Belgian Strong Dark Ale*

Quite dark in colour with reddish hues. Carbonation from my bottle was very low, poured with a small head that dissipated very quickly. Aroma is rose like bubblegum (?) and alcohol (not a bad thing here). Flavour is similar with some plum and raisin notes, alcohol is not all intrusive, finish is a nice sweet maltiness with the alcohol lingering.

I remember trying this at the case swap and iirc it wasn't as flat as my bottle so not sure if my bottle is a little leaky but still remember it being too low on the carb for style. That is my only real critic for this beer though. Great beer otherwise and as the only extract beer in the swap AFAIK it stands up to the all AG beers with no pride lost. Certainly far better than I remember my extracts being 

Cheers, looking forward to the next one.


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## raven19 (27/12/10)

*Carpfish Summer Ale*

Thin bodied, with slight lingering bitterness. Slight slickness/cloying at the end of the palette.

Crystal clear straw in colour, White fluffy head and medium carbonation. Minimal aroma in my bottle.

No off flavours detectable and a nice cruisy summer beer.


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## raven19 (5/1/11)

*Malty Hop's Dark Belgian Strong*

Deep amber in colour, and low to minimal carbonation. Slighty peppery flavour at the end of the palette.

Light bodied but good warming alcohol with medium maltiness - nicely balanced with the alcohol.

Certainly 'smooth and dangerous' in accordance with the guidelines!


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## schooey (5/1/11)

Hope you guys don't mind a foriegner poking about in your patch, but I won a bottle of TonyC's Northern Brown in the Lotto draw this year and thought I'd give it some well deserved praise in the thread it is home to. This was the feedback I pm'd him...

_Appearance: Pours a deep brown to almost black into a standard pint glass. Clarity is good with garnet highlights when held to the light. Light tan head that hangs around for a bit, then fades to nothing (may be due to being second beer into a rinsed glass). Carbonation is low and good for style.

Aroma: Nutty malty aromas dominate for mine with caramel notes and some dark chocolate in the background. I don't detect any hop aroma at all in my bottle.

Taste: Fills the mouth well, probably a little too much body for style; really nice creamy mouthfeel about it though! Flavour explosion across my tongue... caramels, bitter chocolate, backstrap molasses, roasted haelnut and something like a bitter orange, or a bitter orange chocolate (if that makes sense), in the background. Nice dry finish with a lingering, well balanced bitterness.

Again, probably a little too much going on for the style guideline, but damn this is one excellent beer! Probably sits somewhere between a Nut Brown Ale and a Porter?? But so freaking what! Hell of a beer, mate! Beer of the case for mine so far...

Thanks for sharing, Tony, really glad you sent the recipe! I can see me having a crack at this one and storing it up for the winter.._

Cheers,

schooey


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## raven19 (5/1/11)

With a sig like that Schooey, you are almost a local!

(Off topic slightly - are you due back in Adelaide again soon?)


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## schooey (5/1/11)

Haha... I wish, Ravs! I was made redundant from the job that took me south and my new gig sees me only in the Waratah state. In saying that, there may be a training gig in the city of Churches next month that I'll be jockeying for..  I'm starting to get Wheaty withdrawals...

Will keep you posted...


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## Hatchy (5/1/11)

Tony's entry in the Christmas lotto is the only time I remember seeing him in the recent posts at the top of the page. It's what got me to have a look. His was my favourite beer of the swap & I'm pretty keen to brew it. I probably should do more brewing & less typing really.


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