2007 Sa Christmas Case

[domonsura]

Righto - quick review. Smurto your Bo pils was good, a little more carbonated than I like, but overall pretty good (Not that I'm a beer judge... ). Good head on it which lasted a while, and not overly bitter which I think someone else said. I think that if my Bo Pils hadn't been 'cardboarded' then it would have turned out similar.
Haven't tried any of the others as yet, but will be trying RustyC's contribution tonight, and maybe Ben's Saucy Wench.

Loving that recipe smurto, I might have to have a play with it.............

 

[homekegger1]

Ok heres my review so far. (Remember not a judge either, just my opinion)

BenH German Lager : Nice and easy to drink. Went down well, and I would have happily opened a couple more if they were here.

DrSmurto Bo Pils : This was my first Bo pils, and I can say I was suitably impressed. Seen the recipe and will have to give it a go. Good beer for a hot arvo and very easy to Drink.

RustyC Oatmeal Stout : Mate, I am a fan of stouts and this one was certainly among some the the better ones I have tried. Full of flavor and left me wanting more. I too was saddened when I arrived at the bottom of the bottle.

Wee Stu Bonfire Bitter : I wasn't sure when you bottled this, so I decided it needed to be tested. Was carbonated nicely. Definitely a nice beer. Again a beer that left me wanting another. A couple of these would go down well on any given Sunday Arvo.

All the rest have best after dates, So I will have to wait till then. Sorry if my reports aren't overly technical or fully descriptive, but as I said, I am not a judge, so these are just my opinions. If the rest turn out as good as these then it was an exercise well worth it.

p.s. DrSmurto, top effort on the chicken, but you can never have too much chilli.

Cheers

HK

 

[BenH]

dont recall being referred to as Dr Death but assume thats a reference to the chicken.....?

It actually came from the Stamm at Grumpys the night before. Himzo says that "Smurt" means death in some language or other.... hence "Dr Death". You seemed quite happy about it at the time I told that story, but maybe you were just happily drinking!

Apologies and all if it's offensive

:icon_cheers:

 

[braufrau]

Isn't this pretty?

 

[Adamt]

Just popped the top off Rusty's Stout.... made the sound of a fully pressurised keg having the release valve flicked and I shat myself as I was holding the bottle over my keyboard. Nothing happened. Turned away to get my glass for 5 seconds and there was a nice pillow of head rising out of the lip. Poured a pint off, sat the bottle down and 1 minute later it started climbing again! Aaaaaaaanyway, all settled down now, i think! h34r: So, just a little warning to everyone to be careful when opening this one!

This is the first stout I've had in a while that didn't taste like I was sucking on roast barley and I'm loving it. A bit on the fizzy side for me, I don't think it works too well with the oatmeal (being smooth) but otherwise nice and malty but not too roasty.

Cheers.

 

[braufrau]

So what happened to our tasting thread?

Well I'm not clever enough to offer any useful observations except its all gone down very nicely.
Rusty's stout did make a big pop on opening. We shared it with a mate and the consensus was that it was very smooth and tasty.
My daughter made off with the saucy wench label because she thinks the girl is so pretty.
And we both like the bo-pils and green hell with their high IBUs.

Well they've all been really yummy. That's my technical assessment! Real yummy. Move over you BJCP judges.

 

[Adamt]

I'm having a stubby of my IIPA tonight and will let you all know as soon as its carbonated...... haven't drunk a lot of the case yet, waiting for next week when i'm on holidays!

 

[braufrau]

So Rusty ... my next brew is going to be a stout ...how did you treat the dark grains in your stout?
Did you cold steep? Or add them in the last 10 mins of the mash or none of the above?

 

[KHB]

Wish i could have come to the day and been involved in the swap will hopefully be in the next one

 

[Adamt]

OK... I had one of my IIPA's tonight and it's carbonated.

It is drinkable now and I did (very much) enjoy the stubby I had, however it has only been in the bottle 2 weeks. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt leaving it for another week (or 8) but just a heads up for all you thirsty people that it is somewhat ready to drink.

I'd like to hear ANY opinions on malt-hop balance if anyone has any; I feel it is good for the amount of (or metric shitload of) hops in there but my palate is young and quite inexperienced.

Don't mind the haze; it's a problem I'm looking into! Taste is more important to me as I'm not selling it

Beware, this beer will put you on your arse. I just had a stubby

 

[drsmurto]

Isn't this pretty?

See now i know i NEED more beer glasses. That is the perfect pour (for a belgian).

And i need no more comments other than you liked it! Jobs done.


Ben - ok, now i am getting the Dr Death altho i have no memory of that convo! No offence taken, after my ginger weizen attempt (which i have tipped out all remaining bottlesa) and then the chicken its not all that far off!

Looking forward to sampling a few more this week but i will be offline from Thursday onwards until early next year. No phone or interent at home means my brewing budget isnt so tight!

Will make sure i sit down before trying the IIPA !!!

I fi dont jump back online before hand i hope you all have a top chrissy and get very merry on real beer!

Cheers
DrSmurto

 

[peas_and_corn]

Unlabeled beer

OK, so Im not quite sure what style to judge it by, so heres just a few random thoughts I had while drinking it. First off, it looks quite nice- good colour, black. Theres some interesting, yet subtle, coffee toffee aromas coming off of it. Overall it tastes like theres a little too much black malt in there- it tends to overpower the flavour a little bit. However, there are some good elements, such as a smoky flavour that I quite like and a burnt aftertaste that Im a fan of. This one got better the more I drank it, which is either due to the percentage, or just that I became more fond of the flavours after time. Not sure there.

Big Green Hell

Is this beer named after the song Green Hell? Anyways my taste buds are recovering a little from the last one, but this one is packed full of flavour as well (it IS no bullshit, after all). Aroma reminds me of the bags of hops you had out during the case swap- theres some nice hop aroma going down here, which makes me very happy. Tastes like a bag of hops too Bittered nicely, the flavours just overwhelm me a little in a good way. Theres all sorts of citrus flavours that really stand out. This one seems to have more flavour than the version thats on tap for some reason- not sure why

 

[Rustyc30]

braufrau
with the dark grains for the mash I just put them in with all my other grain and mash for 60min. Nice and easy by the way sorry that im only getting back to you now been off line for a bit

 

[braufrau]

braufrau
with the dark grains for the mash I just put them in with all my other grain and mash for 60min. Nice and easy by the way sorry that im only getting back to you now been off line for a bit

Thanks Rusty. I'm not making my stout until the new year, so no probs with the timing of your reply.
Interesting that mashing for 60 makes such a smooth stout when there is so much received wisdom that it should be astringent!
So much for received wisdom!

 

[domonsura]

Well the brewday brew is kegged, and I think it's going to be a good one. I've called it The Chocolate Soldier (Pale Chocolate Malt and Green Bullet hops). Only just starting to carb up (force carbing) and it's very drinkable. Thank God. I only have a keg of Green Hell left and it's not exactly a session beer......

The Chocolate Soldier

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 45.00 Wort Size (L): 45.00
Total Grain (kg): 10.30
Anticipated OG: 1.057 Plato: 14.15
Anticipated EBC: 30.5
Anticipated IBU: 36.3
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 52.94 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.049 SG 12.11 Plato

Formulas Used
-------------

Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.

Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Tinseth
Tinseth Concentration Factor: 1.30


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
87.4 9.00 kg. Barrett Burston Ale 1.038 4
1.9 0.20 kg. Wey Melanoidin Malt 1.033 69
1.9 0.20 kg. Wey CaraPilsner France 1.035 20
3.9 0.40 kg. JWM Amber Malt Australia 1.038 45
4.9 0.50 kg. Bairds Pale Chocolate Malt UK 1.033 500

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
40.00 g. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 10.3 60 min.
40.00 g. Fuggle Whole 5.00 10.8 60 min.
20.00 g. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 3.9 30 min.
20.00 g. Fuggle Whole 4.75 3.9 30 min.
10.00 g. NZ Green Bullet Whole 13.60 7.3 60 min.


Yeast
-----

Danstar Nottingham


Any of you who want to stop past and taste what we made please feel free

 

[Adamt]

I'll be at yours sometime tomorrow morning with a fistful of cash... I hope its carb'd!

 

[Adamt]

I'm on holidays now so it's beverage time!

Where's Wally's Weizen: I'm 3/4 through the first 1/2. Very nice in the banana department, not as clovey as some weizens I've had, but right to my tastes. Only thing that stands out for me is the extra malt is slowing the drinking down and the strong alcohol content is making typing a little more difficult.

What yeast did you use and what was your fermentation temperature? I'm brewing a weizen on Sunday, and am searching for something very similar to this one (only at about 4-5% though).

Cheers.

 

[peas_and_corn]

Thunderbrew Hefeweisen

I got two of this one, so I think I won't be giving a review of one of the beers... maybe.

Anyways, the first thing that hit me with this one is the aroma. As I was pouring I detected some nice floral aromas that was a nice greeting to this beer. I would like to make a hefeweisen at some point, as this is one style that I haven't made quite yet. It's quite nice- flavoursome, and quite a bit of mouthfeel. I'm not too sure about what this style is all about, but for my tastes there is a little too much wheat malt in here- I quite like wheat beers (the "bobo beer" in my signature is a wheat beer), but this one has a little too much. However, there are some great flavours that come in this beer- I'd love to know what hops you used in this one because they gave a very nice tangy flavour to it all.

Good work overall.

 

[peas_and_corn]

Ahh yes, that makes sense. I love using Hallertauer, it's a great hop (I ordered some a little while ago).

Anyways, I'm a little drunk, but no matter, here's a few notes about Wee Stu's Bonfire Bitter.

It smells quite nice, but there isn't a huge amount of aroma going there. the bitterness comes mostly as a nice sting in the tail, which I am a big fan of. Before the bitterness comes, there's a nice mellow beer (in the good way), and then comes the bitterness which is at a level where it tastes great but I'm not running to get a glass of water. Overall quite a nice, balanced beer

 

[tangent]

Interesting that mashing for 60 makes such a smooth stout when there is so much received wisdom that it should be astringent!

:huh: