# Christmas in July Lotto Tasting Thread.



## Fat Bastard (3/7/13)

Well, it's time to get the show on the road.

Thanks all for the beer that you've sent to me, I feel exceptionally lucky to have had my number come up.

I'm aiming to provide some objective feedback on your brews, to the best of my (limited) abilities as someone who is pretending to know something about beer and brewing. If you have any questions about my feedback, or you think I've gone miles wide of the mark, please let me know! I'm very much a novice at this! Feedback on my feedback so to speak.

Anyway, first cab off the rank is Parks' Oatmeal Stout. Excuse the crappy handwriting!


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## Parks (3/7/13)

Fat Bastard said:


> Anyway, first cab off the rank is Parks' Oatmeal Stout. Excuse the crappy handwriting!


Cheers for the effort in doing a proper judging sheet!


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## Fat Bastard (3/7/13)

Next up is lukiferj, also with an Oatmeal Stout!




Please forgive the crappy iphone "scan" as the bloody scanner has decided to have a lie down, the lazy bastard!


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## lukiferj (3/7/13)

Fat Bastard said:


> Next up is lukiferj, also with an Oatmeal Stout!
> 
> Please forgive the crappy iphone "scan" as the bloody scanner has decided to have a lie down, the lazy bastard!


All good mate. Was my first go at a stout. Turned out more of a brown porter than a stout Will be brewing this again but upping the body and the dark malts.


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## philmud (4/7/13)

For anyone who has sent me beers and missed it; I'm doing dry July this year, so feedback is a little way off. I will shoot through a PM when it's there though (unless you've indicated you'd prefer feedback via)


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## tricache (4/7/13)

Hey Fat Bastard, check out the App CamScanner, I use it for work and scanning documents onto my phone and it works pretty well.


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## Fat Bastard (5/7/13)

Cheers tricache, using it now!

Ok, now for a Barrel aged Berliner Weisse from adryargument.

First up, I'll have to admit that I've never tried a Berliner Weisse before, so I have nothing to judge it against bar for the BJCP style guide, and my tiny experience with other sour styles.. As far as that goes, this is a great example and hits all the marks listed. It's also really bloody nice as a style too! I can imagine myself drinking alot of this in summer. I think I have a brewing goal for this year now!

I really enjoyed this beer, and from my limited experience of sours, it'd hold up in any company. A really nice drop!





Edit: Tried properly scanned image


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## Donske (5/7/13)

Mate. none of that is readable, the previous images were much better.

I think the resolution is too low as when I zoom in trying to fix the tiny pic it just blurs.


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## Fat Bastard (5/7/13)

Bugger. Just managed to get the printer to print out a brew day sheet from Brewmate, so I'll try again.


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## Fat Bastard (5/7/13)

Let us know how that one looks!


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## Donske (5/7/13)

Better mate, most of it is readable now. Trying not to sound too dickish but I think the parts I can't make out are just down t handwriting now. I'm bloody useless with reading other peoples writing though, I've spent too many years in front of a computer.


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## Fat Bastard (5/7/13)

That's the reason I'm useless at handwriting!


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## pommiebloke (6/7/13)

If you go here: http://www.bjcp.org/docs/BeerScoreSheet-Form.pdf you can type in and then print instead of printing and then handwriting.


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## Donske (9/7/13)

I never thought I'd say this, but hurry up and drink my beer, the suspense is killing me :angry:


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## Fat Bastard (9/7/13)

Patience Grass-hoppah!
I had planned to get through a couple more over last weekend, but some unforseen events have curtailed serious drinking activities for the present, although I did get a brew in on Sunday. I'll hopefully get into a couple more this weekend, with some luck. Actually thinking about what your drinking is unexpectedly hard!

Those other blokes are swinging the lead a bit though!


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## menoetes (10/7/13)

Not much of a mid-week drinker, eh fat Bastard? Just let me know when you get to the Troublesome Lager. Actually, now I have contributed to this thread I'll see when you update it... I'm really acquiring at taste for it, having drunk half the brew already and on my second bottle of the stuff tonight. Maybe its just the alcoholic in me coming out, I dunno. Please be gentle, it's my first time.

...brewing that is.


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## Fat Bastard (11/7/13)

Here's yours menoetes!
Mr Menoetes has dubbed his Brigalow kit faux lager "Troublesome Lager", so I was not expecting much when I opened this one. There's no BJCP category for faux Lager, so i judged it as a Premium Lager, and it held up pretty well! Far better than either of us expected anyway.

Given that it was his maiden brew, it's a pretty damn solid effort, and with a little fine tuning, will become even better. Many of my first cracks at new recipes wouldn't turn out this well.

Cheers menoetes!
(apologies for the cat scratch writing...I tried entering directly to the form on the comp, but it doesn't feel right!)


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## menoetes (12/7/13)

Many thanks Fat Bastard, for your feedback and your kindness.


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## Fat Bastard (15/7/13)

It's taking me some time to get to all these beers, so apologies to those who are hanging for some feedback. I've got a lot on my plate at the moment, so I'm not getting though them as fast as I'd like, although it is nice to be able to come home and crack some finely crafted beer that I haven't made and don't really deserve!

Here's my barely legible feedback for Shippers' tasty English IPA. A good example of the style well balanced and quite nice,

Thanks Shippers!


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## Fat Bastard (17/7/13)

Well, seeing as I've got a late start tomorrow, tonight was beer tasting night! Again!

Here's Donske's excellent Dark Mild.
It's not a style I'm familiar with at all, so I've relied heavily on the BJCP style guide here, and it did very well by that standard. By my own standard, I found it to be a complex beer, possibly served too cool at my keg fridge temp of 6-7 degrees c. It got better the longer it sat in the jug. I would never have picked this as a sub 4% beer. Mild is not a style of beer I would purchase commercially, but after tasting this, I'm interested in having a crack at one of my own. I was particularly impressed that such a low alcohol beer can have so much to offer

Cheers Donske, I hope the feedback is not too far wide of the mark!


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## Fat Bastard (17/7/13)

Next up was Waggastew from Wauchope's West Coast IPA.

Waggastew thoughtfully provided the recipe with this, so I had some idea of what went into the production of this beer.

WOW! what a brilliant example of an American IPA. Fruit salad by the bucket, almost perfectly balanced and an IPA that can stand on it's own beside the best examples the world can provide (that I've tasted). A seriously good beer.

I feel bad criticising a beer like this, but I found the bitterness to be initially quite moderate, building up to a slightly harsh resinous bitterness the more I drank. The only feedback i could dare to provide here is to try some smaller, more frequent hop additions over the length of the boil to build up to the same IBU's. I've found Motueka in particular to be a harsh bittering hop, even in very small amounts. Not used Galaxy yet, but I've heard the same about it. I'll definitely be trying a primary/cold crash dry hopping regimen on my next US IPA.

This was a great beer Mr Waggastew. Thanks for sending it! If you feel it to be appropriate, post up the recipe, it's a good 'un!


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## Donske (18/7/13)

Fat Bastard said:


> Well, seeing as I've got a late start tomorrow, tonight was beer tasting night! Again!
> 
> Here's Donske's excellent Dark Mild.
> It's not a style I'm familiar with at all, so I've relied heavily on the BJCP style guide here, and it did very well by that standard. By my own standard, I found it to be a complex beer, possibly served too cool at my keg fridge temp of 6-7 degrees c. It got better the longer it sat in the jug. I would never have picked this as a sub 4% beer. Mild is not a style of beer I would purchase commercially, but after tasting this, I'm interested in having a crack at one of my own. I was particularly impressed that such a low alcohol beer can have so much to offer


Honestly, it's not a style I am familiar with either, I've never seen a commercial version and that was the first I brewed.

Pretty much the only reason I brewed the mild was to get enough healthy yeast for an oatmeal stout but I think I enjoyed the mild more.


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## Donske (18/7/13)

Hmmm, can't seem to edit my post.

I meant to say thanks for the feedback, I share a bit of my beer but it's difficult to get unbiased opinions from mates.


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## waggastew (18/7/13)

Fat Bastard said:


> Next up was Waggastew from Wauchope's West Coast IPA.
> 
> Waggastew thoughtfully provided the recipe with this, so I had some idea of what went into the production of this beer.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the kind comments FB! Feedback is very valuable as this recipe is constantly changing.

Recipe is here


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## dashippers (19/7/13)

Thanks again for the feedback FB. You spurred me to do some more research into my process and I've definitely found some ideas of things I can tweak. I had a previous beer which had the same astringent "bite" to it which I was mistakenly blaming on something else.

Great to have another set of taste buds across the beer to give perspective. I'm also going to start tasting each batch with a beer score sheet in front of me, should help me structure my thoughts on what I've made!


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## Fat Bastard (22/7/13)

Glad to have been of some help! I've been learning quite a bit along the way too, and have identified a couple of styles I want to brew that maybe I wouldn't have otherwise. I've got a few in the fridge, and I know there's some more on the way.
I just wish I had the time to drink one every night!


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## manticle (22/7/13)

Mine's still coming. Literally been too broke to post the bloody thing. Apologies FB but sounds like you've got enough to keep you going.


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## Donske (22/7/13)

Fat Bastard said:


> Glad to have been of some help! I've been learning quite a bit along the way too, and have identified a couple of styles I want to brew that maybe I wouldn't have otherwise. I've got a few in the fridge, and I know there's some more on the way.
> I just wish I had the time to drink one every night!



I'm looking fprward to feedback on the IIPA I sent down, had one earlier and it's a totally different beast to the same beer from the keg, not going to say too much because I don't want to influence the feedback but I personally really enjoyed the bottled version.

Edit - It's ready to throw in the fridge now by the way.


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## Fat Bastard (25/7/13)

In the fridge now!
Sorry, no tastings this week, got a dreadful cold. Normal service will resume when my nose unsticks.


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## Fat Bastard (26/7/13)

Another 3 packages turned up today. RobV's Simcoe APA, Breakbeer's beautifully labeled "Chicken Piss" BIPA ( and a decal to stick somewhere) and Pokolbinguy's welcome change of pace donation of a couple of bottles of wine, which the significant other has already called dibs on.

Wish this cold would go away so I could taste them!


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## Fat Bastard (30/7/13)

Parcels from Pennywise & Nick B today. 
I wish this cold would bugger off. The chilli and garlic farts are turning SWMBO nasty!


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## leahy268 (30/7/13)

Really hoping my alt turns up soon. Should nearly be there by now...


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## Fat Bastard (31/7/13)

Hmm, a card turned up today saying there was a parcel waiting for me, and if I didn't collect by tomorrow they'd be sending it back. Hopefully that's yours Leahy.

Hopefully be getting back onto things this weekend. My brother is up from Melbourne too, so tastings this weekend might get double feedback!


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## lukiferj (2/8/13)

Sorry guys, just a quick update. I have been crook for a couple of weeks but am going to get into some lotto beers this weekend. Will update with tasting notes as I go.

Cheers :beer:


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## Fat Bastard (4/8/13)

So, back to the grind! The nose is unblocked again, so tasting can recommence!

First up is Nick B's _deadly _Russian Imperial Stout, "The Black Death" ,which was actually last in the tasting order. Thankfully.

What a monster beer!





And here's some bonus feedback from my brother, who I shared the bottle with.




> Aroma of chocolate. Flavour of burnt coffee (not unpleasant) but bitterness overpowers the flavour. Very rich/viscous. Would be good in espresso like quantities


Thanks for sending it Nick, looking forward to trying your other beers!


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## Fat Bastard (4/8/13)

And here we have Rob V's Simcoe APA.

A nice little drop, that showcases the Simcoe well without being overpowering.





And the second opinion




> Hoppy Aroma, nice, opaque golden hue. Good level of bitterness that lingers on the palate


A nice little beer, possibly would benefit from some more late & dry hopping, but that's just my opinion. Pretty solid effort, and one I'd be proud of!

Thanks for sharing it Rob!


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## Fat Bastard (4/8/13)

Finally, Pommiebloke's excellent Irish Red Ale, again, not a style I'd buy commercially, so I'm not overly familiar, but with the style guide in front of me, this seemed to be a really good example.

A really nice winter sessioner!





And what my brother thought of it:





> Very Smooth. Nice level of bitterness, Good aroma and taste in the front of the mouth, a bit thin on the back. Pleasant and easy drinking


He's a man of few words! He did ask if I had any more of this one, and put in a request that I brew an IRA for the next time he comes up from Melbourne, so I think it gets his seal of approval too!

Cheers for sending it Pommiebloke! Any chance of the recipe?

Thanks,

FB


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## pommiebloke (5/8/13)

Fat Bastard said:


> Finally, Pommiebloke's excellent Irish Red Ale, again, not a style I'd buy commercially, so I'm not overly familiar, but with the style guide in front of me, this seemed to be a really good example.
> 
> A really nice winter sessioner!
> 
> ...


Thanks for the detailed feedback FB.

The recipe is off this site, Better Red Than Dead Irish Ale.


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## Fat Bastard (7/8/13)

There's another one in the "To Brew" list then! Cheers Pommie!

Speaking of To Brew's, here's Breakbeer's "Chicken Piss" BIPA.

Lovely little beer, an almost perfectly balanced example of a black IPA, and one I'll do for myself, as soon as I can work out how to get the chickens to wee in the mash.

Nicely labelled too!










Thanks for sending it mate, i really enjoyed this one!


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## breakbeer (8/8/13)

Thanks for the feedback mate, really happy that you enjoyed it & stoked to see the words Chicken Piss in the ingredients list :lol:


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## lukiferj (9/8/13)

Alright gents. Finally got around to scanning some of the beers I had last weekend and tonight so here goes. Also, I've never judged beers before so take my comments with a grain of malt.

jyos mild

This was a really nice beer. Nutty and chocolatey goodness. My main comment would be that not sure what yeast was used as I didn't get any yeast flavours at all. The malt flavours were good and the bitterness was about right for my tastes. If this wasn't brewed with a UK yeast I would brew it again and try 1469, 1728 or 1187. I brew this style a fair bit and really enjoy it. 

Well done mate. Could easily drink a few more of these. Then a few more.


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## lukiferj (9/8/13)

Next up

Phil Mud's American Pale Ale

Phil mentioned to me that he has used notto for this one and wasn't entirely happy with the hop profile being stripped away a bit. With this in mind, I was pretty blown away by just how much hop aroma was still in this thing. Got a lot of citrus and fruity aromas initially but after I tasted was just a passionfruit bomb. My only comments here were that while the flavours were really good, I thought the bitterness was a touch low for the style. Made it just a touch too sweet for me. Not sure if this was the notto but certainly the flavour and aroma were not an issue for me.

Great beer. Mrs enjoyed it too and I now have a galaxy pale ale down as a request (directive) from the warden.


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## lukiferj (9/8/13)

Tricache's American Pale Ale

When I saw this beer had nelson in it I was keen to try it out. It's not a hop I've had much success with and haven't ever had a beer with it that I love. The aroma I got had a touch of citrus but the overwhelming smell was of nelson. I get a real white winey kind of smell from it which I'm not a huge fan of. The flavour had the same winey taste I could smell but not unpleasant. Suspect this was because of the cascade that was also used. I actually enjoyed the beer more than I thought I would and has given me some ideas for using Nelson again. Certainly nicer than anything I've brewed with this hop. Could easily smash a few of these beers on a hot day and reckon they would go down with some megaswill drinkers too.


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## lukiferj (9/8/13)

Shippers English IPA

Not a style I normally drink for some reason as I love my AIPAs more. After this though, will definitely put a few of these down. Plenty of hop aroma but all earthy and floral. I couldn't really pick an individual hop in this one but the bitterness and malt profile were pretty well on. Caramel malt and toffee flavours over any hop flavours. As far as I can tell this was a great representation of the style that I would happily drink plenty of. While I was drinking it I just kept thinking to myself, this is what beer is supposed to taste like. Although I love US hops, thanks for reminding me that they make beer in other places too.


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## lukiferj (9/8/13)

Nealk's schwarzbier

This is not a beer style I was familiar with so read through the bjcp guides a couple of times to get my head around it. Slight hint of dark malt in the aroma but not nearly as much as I expected for the colour of this thing. Very dark brown colour but still quite clear. Beautiful when held up to the light. My main comments were purely based on what I read in the style guides. Slight burnt roast flavour which is not on style and the carbonation was quite low. If I wasn't reading the guide, I would have just drunk this for what it was. A great light tasting dark beer. Nice one mate.


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## tricache (9/8/13)

Thanks for the kind words! This has to be one of my first beers which I really enjoy so I'm glad someone else thought it was alright haha

I agree about using the cascade to "dumb down" the Nelson. The next time I brew this beer I will try and balance them out more and I think it will be a really nice beer!


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## lukiferj (9/8/13)

Koots' American IPA (or IRA)

I wasn't sure what to judge this against. It was labelled an IRA but when I smelt it, all I could smell were US hops. After reading through both style guides a couple of times I felt that from the smell and taste, this was definitely more in the IPA camp. Aroma was all piney, resinous deliciousness. Doesn't seem to matter how may IPAs I drink, I just love that initial hit of aroma. Flavour was quite bitter and was possibly a little sharp while it was cold. After it warmed up a touch though the bitterness seemed to ease off. This thing was amazing up against the light. Would love a recipe (or copy of the grain bill) because it was a just a thing of beauty. Only comments would be that it was maybe slightly too bitter for the malt profile. Some more flavour additions or base malt would have balanced it out better. Still a great beer and definitely would love to brew a beer with colour this good.


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## lukiferj (9/8/13)

Jyo's AIPA

Mate! Great beer. I brew a lot of IPAs so I know what I like. And I liked this. Don't really have too much to comment on. Most of it was pretty spot on. Aroma was amazing, flavour was quite good (especially after it warmed up a bit.) Main thing was that it was quite bitter. Possibly could have used some more flavour additions to balance the bitterness but top effort.


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## lukiferj (9/8/13)

tricache said:


> Thanks for the kind words! This has to be one of my first beers which I really enjoy so I'm glad someone else thought it was alright haha
> 
> I agree about using the cascade to "dumb down" the Nelson. The next time I brew this beer I will try and balance them out more and I think it will be a really nice beer!


No worries man. Like I said, better than anything I've brewed with nelson. I'm still pretty new to this game myself so it's been a big learning curve for me too. It's actually harder than I thought it would be to critique beers. I have around 50gms of nelson in my freezer that has been there for around 6 months. Was going to throw them out but will try them out with a few different hops. I reckon they will work better in small doses for my tastes.


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## jyo (9/8/13)

Thanks for the feedback and kind words, Lukiferj. Really appreciate it, mate.

The mild was fermented with S04 ( I know, I know h34r: (had no liquid yeast available) ) hence the lack of nice yeasty esters and flavours.
Glad you enjoyed them, mate!

Cheers.


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## dashippers (10/8/13)

Thanks for the feedback! Good to see similar comments to FB, means I've got a good idea of where I need to focus my attention to get better. I may have to write your comment on the fridge next to the tap though "this is what beer is supposed to taste like" :beer: 

The hops were mainly Goldings (Styrian @ First Wort, Whitbread @ 60mins and East Kent @ 40&15mins) as I have a particular soft spot for EK Goldings - it's what my dad used in his house brew so I've been enjoying it for many years. I popped some Fuggles @ 20mins and some Opal @ 5mins & flame out because they jumped out at me when I opened the freezer, so the Opal would have been the main aroma hop. Malt was 86% Maris Otter, 9% Caramalt and 5% Medium Crystal.


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## lukiferj (10/8/13)

jyo said:


> Thanks for the feedback and kind words, Lukiferj. Really appreciate it, mate.
> 
> The mild was fermented with S04 ( I know, I know h34r: (had no liquid yeast available) ) hence the lack of nice yeasty esters and flavours.
> Glad you enjoyed them, mate!
> ...


Ahh. That would make sense. Haven't made a beer with S04 but every beer I've tasted with it seems like it was just missing something. I reckon a better yeast would make this beer sing.


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## lukiferj (10/8/13)

shippers said:


> Thanks for the feedback! Good to see similar comments to FB, means I've got a good idea of where I need to focus my attention to get better. I may have to write your comment on the fridge next to the tap though "this is what beer is supposed to taste like" :beer:
> 
> The hops were mainly Goldings (Styrian @ First Wort, Whitbread @ 60mins and East Kent @ 40&15mins) as I have a particular soft spot for EK Goldings - it's what my dad used in his house brew so I've been enjoying it for many years. I popped some Fuggles @ 20mins and some Opal @ 5mins & flame out because they jumped out at me when I opened the freezer, so the Opal would have been the main aroma hop. Malt was 86% Maris Otter, 9% Caramalt and 5% Medium Crystal.


Never tasted opal before so that may explain why I couldn't pick it. Just re read FBs comments as I didn't know we had the same beer. Mine was definitely carbonated fine and head was good. Maybe he got a dodgy bottle with some residue or something in. Cheers for the ideas. Going to have to come up with a recipe of my own now.


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## koots (10/8/13)

lukiferj said:


> Koots' American IPA (or IRA)
> 
> I wasn't sure what to judge this against. It was labelled an IRA but when I smelt it, all I could smell were US hops. After reading through both style guides a couple of times I felt that from the smell and taste, this was definitely more in the IPA camp. Aroma was all piney, resinous deliciousness. Doesn't seem to matter how may IPAs I drink, I just love that initial hit of aroma. Flavour was quite bitter and was possibly a little sharp while it was cold. After it warmed up a touch though the bitterness seemed to ease off. This thing was amazing up against the light. Would love a recipe (or copy of the grain bill) because it was a just a thing of beauty. Only comments would be that it was maybe slightly too bitter for the malt profile. Some more flavour additions or base malt would have balanced it out better. Still a great beer and definitely would love to brew a beer with colour this good.


Sorry for the confusion there mate, Imperial Red Ale is what i was labelling it as, completely forgot about Irish Red haha. 8% Red IPA is what it is.
Cheers for the feedback, stoked you liked the colour, I must admit it's my favourite thing about it too.


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## lukiferj (10/8/13)

koots said:


> Sorry for the confusion there mate, Imperial Red Ale is what i was labelling it as, completely forgot about Irish Red haha. 8% Red IPA is what it is.
> Cheers for the feedback, stoked you liked the colour, I must admit it's my favourite thing about it too.


Ahh makes more sense. That colour was truly awesome!


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## philmud (18/8/13)

I've made my way through the bulk of the beers that have been sent to me & made some tasting notes. I need to print off some beer scoresheets unless people are happy for me to just type up some feedback?


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## bullsneck (18/8/13)

I don't mind. It's a hard life drinking free beer, eh?


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## Fat Bastard (18/8/13)

I don't mind either. I have another few sheets to post up tonight if I can get a chance to scan them in, plus I might sample a few more as I have a work free day tomorrow!


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## Fat Bastard (18/8/13)

Kicking off again tonight!

First up is Leahy's Altbier.

Not a style I'm familiar with at all, this seemed to match the style guide well, and I've discovered another previously unknown beer style I like! Really nice copper colour and would be something I could drink a lot of. Thanks for sending it Leahy!


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## Fat Bastard (18/8/13)

Next up is Nick B's IPA.
A style I'm very familiar with, I've spent at least 8 brews over 18 months trying to perfect mine. It's probably reflected in the score a bit because i feel more confident to criticise the beers I'm most familiar with.

I found this to be a very rich IPA, with some of what I call diacetyl which is similar to many of my own big IPA's. I found this diminished when I started using dex to dry them out. I'm not sure if what I'm tasting is in fact diacetyl at all though. I thought this was very similar to some of my own IPA's with what i would consider a perfect carb level and was a beaut reddish colour, which is probably out of style, but looked great in the glass.

Thanks for sending it Nick, and I hope you find the feed back useful!


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## Fat Bastard (18/8/13)

Again from Nick is his Happy Ending Lice Rager Happygoodtime Rice Lager.

I judged this as an American premium,as there doesn't seem to be a category for rice lager as a stand alone.

The beer was fantastically clear, and as good as any commercial example I've tried. Had to deduct a few points because it seemed to be as flat as a tack. I hate bottles!

Cheers again Nick!


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## leahy268 (18/8/13)

Fat Bastard said:


> Kicking off again tonight!
> 
> First up is Leahy's Altbier.
> 
> Not a style I'm familiar with at all, this seemed to match the style guide well, and I've discovered another previously unknown beer style I like! Really nice copper colour and would be something I could drink a lot of. Thanks for sending it Leahy!


Thanks for the feedback fb.

I was very happy with the way that turned out too. Unfortunately its now all gone.


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## Fat Bastard (18/8/13)

Always the way!
Anyway, i was supposed to do another one tonight, but thanks to Ausgrid, the power's only just come back on again, just in time for me to not want to open a longneck of the planned IIPA! More next weekend, Ausgrid willing!


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## philmud (19/8/13)

Ok, my apologies to al of my generous beer donors, but I'm not going to use those snazzy beer sheets - I don't have a printer at home, and restricted internet access at work combined with a goldfish memory means that I am far better off just typing up my feedback here! I warn you all, jotting down this feedback was an exercise in learning a) that I'm not especially beer literate, b)I run out of adjectives, and c) The more you drink the better you feel.

First cab off the rank is Tricache who sent me an APA hopped with Nelson Sauvin:

*Aroma: *Gentle, clean hop aroma. Fresh was a word that came to mind - I have never brewed with NS and before even tasting the beer, I was picking up the grapefruit notes I have read about.

*Appearance: *A nice mid-amber, not dark, not light. Poured with a decent head which settled nicely to a healthy blanket on the surface of the beer.

*Flavour:* Hop driven, but not a 'big hops' beer necessarily. The bitterness was at a good level and lingered pleasantly. The hop flavour contributed a very nice white wine finish - approaching a refreshing astringency, but some fruity notes lifted it nicely.

*Mouthfeel:* Nice level of carbonation - suited the hop profile well. This was a fairly light bodied beer with a fairly dry finish, which again, suited the hop profile.

*Overall Impression:* This was a really nice beer that I could happily settle into a session with - especially on a hot summers night. I think it would benefit from some crystal to give the body more complexity, but I'd do this conservatively because you want to maintain that fresh profile!


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## philmud (19/8/13)

Next up was Fat Bastard's Bourbon Vanilla Porter which was very gratefully received:

*Appearance:* a velvety black. I held this up to the light, and let's just say the light lost. As dense as a fourth generation Tasmanian (I can say that, I married one), this poured with a crema coloured head that settled back to a lacey slick across the surface of the beer.

*Aroma*: Coffee, coffee, coffee, with some nice toasty notes when I really looked.

*Flavour:* Rich coffee and chocolate with a very subtle hint of vanilla at the end, which provided a really nice, smooth finish. The bourbon added an elusive complexity to the extent where I initially wondered if I could detect it. As I got further into the glass, I found it more noticable - this could have been the beer warming up too.

*Mouthfeel*: Silky, with plenty of residual sweetness to carry the coffee flavours. FB warned me that this was carbed on the low side, and I reckon it would have benefitted from just a touch more bubbles.

*Overall impression:* I was very impressed with this beer - I don't buy many porters commercially because while I like them, I often feel that I don't find anything new after the first few mouthfuls - this one was different though- more going on. I'll definitely have to have a shot at this beer!


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## Fat Bastard (19/8/13)

Thanks for the kind words Phil!
It definately gets more interesting as it warms up, and a few more bubbles when it's on tap lift the aromas even more. All the bottles were excess that wouldn't fit in the keg, and were carbed conservatively because I've had WLP-002 play possum before and come back to life in the bottle, resulting in gushers.
I'm pretty pleased with this beer myself. It's based on Denny Conn's recipe, with WLP- 002 instead of 001. It's my only entry in the NSW contest this year, so it will be interesting to see what they make of it.
Cheers!
FB


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## philmud (19/8/13)

Next was Nick B's Hoptamination - I have to admit, I was a bit more than half cut by the time I got to this one so I wrote less than I'd have liked to. I do remember thinking it was a damn good beer though!

*Aroma*: Delicious, hoppy, floral - beautiful and fresh.

*Appearance:* A deep amber that looked very inviting in the glass with a healthy white head.

*Flavour:* I got loads of pineapple from the hop profile - the beer tasted like it smelled which was a very good think IMO. I liked the sweetness of the malt and thought it balanced out what would normally be too hoppy a beer for me (70 IBU I believe).

*Mouthfeel:* Slick, carbonation was good for the body of the beer - not too much, not too little.

*Overall impression:* One of my favourites - I thought this was a great beer - apologies for not having written more.


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## tricache (19/8/13)

Thanks for the kind words! First go at using Nelson so I think I may have over done it a bit to some peoples tastes but I rather like it and will be using it again.


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## philmud (19/8/13)

tricache said:


> Thanks for the kind words! First go at using Nelson so I think I may have over done it a bit to some peoples tastes but I rather like it and will be using it again.


Nah, not too much IMO - I really liked the white wine notes (despite not realliy liking white wine) - I will definitely brew with it at some stage


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## philmud (21/8/13)

Ok, Bullsneck sent me a couple of beers, the first one I got into was his ESB - I imbibed this one after Nick B's Hoptamination, so I was kind of pissed by this point, but **** yeah!!

*Aroma:* This beer had a kind of sour nose, almost like a saison - I had been expecting something more malty but it certainly wasn't unpleasant.

*Appearance:* This beer poured a cloudy red/brown with a healthy head. AFAIK it was on its feet while it was in the fridge, but if you return to the top of the post you will understand why I wouldn't stake my life on it.

*Flavour:* I loved this beer - I haven't had a home brew ESB and have only had about 3 commercial ones, but this stacked up for me. Despite not being able to smell the malt, I could certainly taste it - the body of this beer was lovely - notes of caramel and toffee. It was possibly more bitter than the commercial examples I have had, but well balanced and refreshing.

*Mouthfeel:* Big, chewy body - no cloying sweetness. Carbonation was spot on for mine.

*Overall Impression:* I thought it was a bit ugly out of the bottle, but I was pleasantly surprised. I finished this at about 2am and damn if I didn't wish I had another!


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## NickB (21/8/13)

Thanks for the feedback guys! I know from past experience that winning the lotto is amazing, however the tasting, feedback etc can become tedious! Thanks for sticking at it and giving us some valuable feedback!

FB - maybe look at increasing the resolution of your scans a little - whilst I got the gist of what was written, it was a little hard to see each and every word.

Otherwise, well done guys, much appreciated!


Cheers!


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## bullsneck (21/8/13)

Thanks Phil Mud.
The ESB is a little muddy, I agree. It's a slow mover.
The India Red on the other hand! I need to brew that again.


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## philmud (23/8/13)

Ahh yes, the India Red. I'll get to that one! Deeelightful. Re the ESB - I really liked it. Send it all to me and it'll move faster!


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## Fat Bastard (25/8/13)

Nick, or anyone else having trouble reading my cat scrawl, pm me your address and I'll be happy to post your feedback sheet. 

Apologies to all those still waiting for their feedback, unfortunately my father is gravely ill and I've not got the time or inclination to do any sensible tastings right now. I promise I will get around to your beers, they're all stored in the fridge right now, waiting the right moment. 

Thank you all once again!


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## manticle (25/8/13)

Best of luck to you and your dad.


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## bullsneck (10/9/13)

Beers still tasting good, boys?


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## Fat Bastard (10/9/13)

Yes, and they're all wonderful! Unfortunately my father passed away 2 weeks ago today, so I've been a bit slack in posting up the sheets. I was going to do them this weekend, but time got away from me. I think I've got a few left in the fridge, so I'll hopefully get 'em up as a job lot later this week or by the weekend. 
Apologies to all those still waiting!


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## manticle (10/9/13)

Sorry to hear mate. Family comes first. In your own time.


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## bullsneck (10/9/13)

Sorry to hear, FB. I didn't realise your father was unwell - I should have read the last post, rather than replying from the first page.
Condolences.


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## barls (10/9/13)

still not sure if mine made it there or has been tasted as i havent heard a damn thing from ether of the last two lottos as to those i sent them to.


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## Fat Bastard (15/9/13)

Barls, if it's feedback your after, send 'em to me and I'll tell you what I think. The more you send, the better the feedback, not just on the booze, I'll provide glowing character references too.

So, here is the last of the feedback sheets. I'll apologise now that I won't be providing more subjective notes about these on top of the sheets, due to my personal circumstances, most of these were tasted late at night after spending the day organising a funeral, which is kind of like organising a wedding in a week, including being raped on the price of everything.

So without further ado, here are the remaining feedback sheets. I think I've now fixed the resolution problem too, I had my photobucket set to resize pics automatically to a smaller size to suit an old forum I was on years ago, and never re set it, so all sheets should be much clearer now.































So that should be the lot, although if anyone else wants to send me beer, it will be welcomed!

So, some general thoughts on the process here.

1. It's really hard to provide objective judgement on beer, even if it is free
2. The quality of brewing on AHB is incredibly high. My scores are probably around 5 or so higher than those that would be given by a BJCP judge. I realised this about halfway through when I realised that pretty much everything I tatsed was scoring high thirties and early forties. Some of the better brews could stand beside any commercial example of the style, and beat most.
3. Manticle has really neat handwriting.
4. I only got one infected brew, and one gusher, which probably wasn't infected. Given that I've paid a lot of money for infected and gushing beer in the past, this is probably not so bad.
5. I will be brewing an Irish red, a Mild, a Pilsner, and a Berliner Weisse in the coming year, solely thanks to the lotto.
6. You've spent a lot of time and effort on your beers, and it shows. There wasn't a "bad" beer among 'em. Even the infected one was obviously well brewed and fell foul of a random bottle infection. The gusher tasted great for the half a mouthful I recovered after the bottle had stopped spewing.

Thank you all. This has been an awesome experience for me, and I hope you got something worthwhile out of it too.

Cheers,

FB


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## adryargument (15/9/13)

Fat Bastard said:


> 3. Manticle has really neat handwriting.


I agree 100%


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## mosto (16/9/13)

Thanks FB much appreciated. These were a couple of extract brews I did in between moving from kits and bits to all grain. Nice to see you had similar thoughts to me on the APA. Not a bad beer but I wasn't overly happy with it, mainly due to the low bitterness that you mentioned. The ABA I was pretty happy with. I'd never even tasted the style, let alone brewed it, so was going off BJCP guidelines myself when assessing it. Think I got reasonably close.

To be honest mate, I didn't expect you to follow up with any tasting notes given your loss, and would have fully understood if you dind't. My condolensces to you and your family.


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## QldKev (16/9/13)

Why does every beer get in the 39 to 42 range?


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## Fat Bastard (16/9/13)

Cheers mosto!
Kev, they're all in that range because they deserve to be. At least according to the style guide and my un trained palate.


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## philmud (28/9/13)

Apologies for the delay in feedback guys, but I'm pretty much through the beers I was sent, will post feedback over the next few days!

Bullsneck's India Red Ale is next from me:

Appearance:

Pours an attractive toffee amber, lovely off-white, dense head that recedes to a decent blanket throughout the glass

Aroma - beautiful pine and citrus - all hops

Taste - hop forward. Big fresh fruity hop-hit. Very floral with some grapefruit at the end.

Delicious malt profile plays second fiddle but provides a hint of toffee and adds a smooth dimension to the beer.

Mouthfeel - slich, big, almost chewy. Some sweetness but not cloying. slight alcohol warmth.

Overall, this was a great beer, I would have gone through a tonne of this!


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## philmud (28/9/13)

Next was Beersuit's Belgian Stout

Appearance: Poured with a nice persistent head, I'm used to most stouts being fairly inactive up top - a nice roasty brown/white.

Aroma: sour, yeasty not unpleasant - roasty notes present too

Taste: Nice! I was expecting the dark malts to dominate, but there was a yeast driven fruitiness to this beer that almost dominated for me - raisins would sum it up. Coffee and chocolate flavours chased this fruitness & worked really well together.

Mouth feel: no noticable alcolhol warmth, but the beer was dryer than I had expected.

Overall - a nice beer, not a style I'd encountered before, but I'd venture it was well executed and very easy to drink!


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