2008 Hag Xmas Case Swap - Tasting Notes

[leeboy]

11 Offline - The Wild Mild, bottled 25/11/08

Poured a perfect deep copper with brilliant clarity and great carbonation and head.

Smelt of grainy caramel with a hint of roast in the background. Good clean taste of a easy drinker.

In the mouth tasted bigger than i anticipated. Got a fair bit of caramel and tasted stronger than a mild should be. Had a boozyness to it, which was either the beer or my afternoon working in the hot sun. Not sure... Great beer non the less. Would of definately got another glass if it was there ready.

I found this beer to be very pleasent and as previous comments raise the issue of.. I'd judge it poorly if entered in a comp as a mild. But if i was judging it just on taste. I really liked it.

Thanks heaps for the beer. Could of used a second longneck of this one.
Lee

 

[Brewman_]

#7 Witbier.
Tried BB's Witbier, First one as have no chance to get near my beer fridge.

I'll keep it simple as I don't yet fully understand the different styles and their associated flavours.

I liked it. It poured nicely - pale straw with a cloudiness and a 5 - 10mm white creamy head that remained for the entire glass. Easy to drink and had an "interesting" flavour at the finish, that I can't really explain, which I liked. I have previously tasted a similar finish in other beers I have made and not liked - but that was many years ago. I'll put that down to appreciating better beer.

Thanks for sharing. Might give a Witbier a go myself.
FNL

 

[leeboy]

2. Schooey - Schwarzbier

This poured perfectly. Great dark beer with ruby highlights, great carbonation and great clarity.

Smells of sweet malts, a little bit of background chocolate aroma from the roast malts and a little bit of biscuity character in there just for good measure... Is there some darker crystal in there also? Wouldn't of expected it but I'm getting sweetness and biscuity there? Let me know anyway.

Light and clean in the mouth with a not too astringent dark malt profile. Refreshing and flavourfilled. Great dark chocolate in mouth plavour also. Good balance here because although hops are detectable they aren't that in your face. So great for style. The more you drink of this the more I'm thinking my first q. about dark crystal malts is ridiculous and it is probably just a fair bit of munich in there. What FG did this end at because it tastes like there is a bit of residual there.

Very nice beer on a hot night.

Thanks Tony liked this one... Good quality case swap. I'll call it. Probably 1/3 through my beers. Best swap yet!

 

[schooey]

You're pretty spot on, Lee. This one still had about 8 points left to drop for my target FG when I was forced to bottle it for the swap. Soooooo... I guess this is a note for everyone else, if Lee says the carbing is right, it's time to get this one in the fridge in case the residual sugars keep fermenting in the bottle and make for gushers...

READ: FRIDGE IT NOW

I can't quite recall the recipe, Lee, but I'll dig it up and post it in the dB when I get a chance. Thanks for the quality feedback, mate, much appreciated.

 

[leeboy]

Good call tony, carb is perfect so fridge is a great option. Sounds like maybe it didn't get all the way down. So that mild sweetness could just be some unfermeneted pilsner malt?
Still a nice beer though. It hit the spot lastnight

 

[shmick]

G'day HAGgers

I messed up my previous post for Michael Mosely's Hefeweizen as I mangled the numbering on my list.
Sorry MM - I deleted the post anyway and will report back when I get to yours.

Punter's Choc Porter - At the end of a long brew day I really enjoyed this one. A touch darker than expected, moderate roasted flavours, initially sweet and fruity but finished nice and dry. It had a slightly slick, medium bodied mouthfeel and background choc malt flavour which reminded me a little of an oatmeal stout. Very smooth and well recieved. Thanks Punter.

Head's Dusseldorf Altbier - Pretty close to style I thought. Great colour and carbonation was spot on. Was a little peppery tang from the hops I expect (Tetnang?) but had a good malt backbone. My only concern was a little sweetness in the finish which would disappear with the traditional cold conditioning. Give it a while CCing and think it would be pretty good. Thanks Head.

Cheers & Happy New Year to all

 

[goatherder]

I've just finished Schmick's Sissyweizen. Great drinking summer beer. The raspberry gave a pink hue and a good dose of flavour. I love the tartness it gives the beer. Underneath the raspberry, I thought the beer was very well constructed with good balance between bitter and sweet and between phenol and ester. There was plenty of bready wheat flavour to go round too. I detected a touch of solvent (acetone) as the beer warmed up. Can I ask what yeast you used and at what temp? I'm a novice hefe brewer and keen to understand more about how ferment temp affects the ester profile.

I cracked a bottle of mine tonight. It's ready to drink. I'll break with the convention and not review it. It was an experimental brew and I don't want to influence perceptions.

 

[Weizguy]

I drank the Sissyweizen the other night.
Great name . Great label. Nice beer.
Very well integrated fruit. As good a weizen as most of mine, and better than some.
Classic Weizen flavours of balanced banana and cloves, with a slight fruity sweetness and raspberry taste, without a tartness or twang. You could enter this in a comp as a fruit beer and do quite well, remembering to state that the underlying style is hefeweizen.

I got back from the Newcastle Harbour fireworks at about 10:30 tonight and was keen to drink my Arrogant Bastard, rescued from the US by Bigfridge. First I side-tracked myself with the Schwarz from Schooey.
Use the Schwartz, Luke, I'm thinking.
Now you must know that I judged Doc's Schwarzbier as BoS at the NSW State comp this year. It's still 2008 innit?

The beer poured with a thick head of dense foam, which lasted throughout the tasting. Nice start, but...
Tony, I got a roasty aroma and some nuttiness too in the aroma. The flavour was nice and clean (as it should be), although the roast was too much for me, and covered the sweetness others tasted, and I didn't get the hop flavour either. I got a nice dry finish with a mild astringency (which is out of place in this style), at the expense of any malt or vanilla aftertaste. I'd suggest that you back off on the roast character and see what else prevails/ dominates.
Overall, I nice beer which I was intrigued by, and enjoyed the lot. I think I took a bit long with this beer tasting, but that was to ensure that I hadn't deliberately missed flavours that others found.
Overall, I see this as a very drinkable beer which is juuuust off the style.

 

[schooey]

Cheers for the feedback, Les. I'm going to taste one from the bottle tonight and see what I find alongside the feedback thats been given. I'm pretty happy with this for a first attempt though...

"When I get home, I'm gonna have to give all my XXXX Gold to my son in law and go buy some good beer" - A quote last night from schooey's older brother who drank schooey's Devil's Tail APA all day on Christmas Day and this Schwarz all night last night from the keg..... I'm wrapped, my first convert

 

[schooey]

25. Loftboy/MauriceOz - Winding Creek APA (SNPA style APA). Bottled 25/11/08, 4.5% ABV, US-05.

First beer of the swap for me, and I was lucky enough to be able to share it with my brother who is staying with us at the moment. I chilled the bottle in the fridge down to about 6C and it opened with a significant Chsssh. I probably should have fridged this one a little earlier than today, but it was still ok, no signs of gushing from the bottle, very well behaved.

First on the nose I got the cascade hit, pine and fruits and citrus aromas followed by light hints of malt in the background. I didnt get any diacetyl, the aroma was very clean. First sip I get a big carbonic bite and I kinda kick myself for not letting it sit in the fridge for a few days, but the flavour on the tongue is well balanced malt and cascade, very clean and not overpowering. I taste that subtle piney flavour along with hints of lemon and maybe melon, hard to tell, but the maltiness is there to keep them in check. As I let it warm in the glass a little the carbonic bite fades and I settle into an excellent session beer, great flavour and excellent balance all packed in a 4.4% beer

Great job, well done fellas, I'll be brewing this one for the next time I need a 50L batch of session beer for the masses. Thanks...

 

[goatherder]

I also had no 25 tonight. Alas, I have no detailed review notes - I just enjoyed it with curry over dinner. It was a magic beer however, wonderfully flavourful and balanced. The carb was a bit over the top, it was a tough beer to pour. First class beer thanks guys.

 

[loftboy]

25. Loftboy/MauriceOz - Winding Creek APA (SNPA style APA). Bottled 25/11/08, 4.5% ABV, US-05.

Great job, well done fellas, I'll be brewing this one for the next time I need a 50L batch of session beer for the masses. Thanks...

Tony,

Greetings from sunny Port Macquarie.

Glad you enjoyed it. I've put the recipe here - http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...&recipe=657

Next time I brew it, I may mash it a touch cooler to get it to finish a little drier & lighten the body a bit. Then again, based on the feedback so far, I may just leave it alone & go with the same recipe. Decisions Decisions.

Cheers & Beers,

Dave.

 

[loftboy]

I also had no 25 tonight. Alas, I have no detailed review notes - I just enjoyed it with curry over dinner. It was a magic beer however, wonderfully flavourful and balanced. The carb was a bit over the top, it was a tough beer to pour. First class beer thanks guys.

Scott,

Point taken on the over carbing. Hopefully those that haven't drunk it yet don't end up with bottle bombs. Looking foward to trying your Dunkel when I get get back from hols.

Dave.

 

[leeboy]

12 Shmick - Raspberry sissyweizen

Shared this one with friends lastnight.

Poured a pale pinky colour. Seems that this beer seperates quite a lot. The first 1/3 of the bottle got a great crystal clear pour with brilliant pink colour. My glass got murkier with a little pink and then the last was very yeasty. This beer would benefit from filtering for asthetics.

I got a lot of bannana and cloves with a hint of bubblegum of mine with a little raspberry in the background. Intrestingly the first poured of this bottle smelt a lot more raspberry and tasted more of it also,

Drank well a mildly tart raspberry hefe is a good description. Get all of those great hefe esters through of bannana and bubblegum and clove but then there is something else. This style of beer isn't one I'd have a session on but it was great to try it. Thanks for the very esoteric beer Schmick. It is always a pleasure drinking your beers. Always well crafted and a cool label to look at also! Thanks mate!!

Just as a comment I reckon this beer could have real chick appeal if it were filtered and finished a little dryier. Maybe some adjuct use wouldn't hurt. Colour could also be added to make it a little more asthetically raspberry.

Thanks!

 

[n00ch]

Sat down to watch the cricket this afternoon and finally got a chance to get into some of the swap beers.

First off I had Trent's AIPA:

Pours a muddy amber colour with a nice off white head that lasted the entire glass, perfect carbonation. Has a really nice fresh citrus/piney/floral aroma, smells great!
The citrus hops really come through again in the flavour providing a nice (still dominant) hop flavour/bitterness this style requires. As others have said I think the body is a little to full for style but is a fantastic beer all the same. Finish is malty but the hop bitterness/flavour lingers on nicely.

I really enjoyed this beer, thanks Trent.

Well 1 down and its a good one, can't wait to try to rest. Why I had a AIPA before some of the less aggressive beers today is beyond me.... Went well with chilli prawns though!

Cheers

 

[Trent]

#19 Fingolfin's Witbier
Pours a beautiful cloudy pale gold, with a dense white head that disspated quickly, most likely due to less than optimal glassware...
Wheaty aroma, with a definite tartness (great for style) and more a lemony citrus aroma rather than the traditional orange peel and coriander - granted, my nose isnt very good at the moment (ever?).
Taste is nice and wheaty, lemony, moderate bitterness, and finishes nice and dry and tart, just how I like em. I could only suggest to add a bit more orange/coriander at flame out, but I just realised it has been in the bottle a month, which is longer than I usually leave any witbier I brewed, so apologies there.
Overall, it is a great tasting beer, no obvious faults and just what I needed after a long day of doing nothing (and getting my starter ready for tomorrows brewday).
Thanks alot for sharing, very nice beer.
All the best
Trent

 

[leeboy]

18 - Trent - AIPA - 7.6%

This one poured perfectly, Great carbonation and a head that stuck throughout. Colour was darker than I expected but upon reviewing the spec 15 is the high end of style guidelines which is is within. Clarity isn't amazing.

Smells of delicious US hops. I got a lot of pine resins coming through. And of course citrus. Smell great malt character in there which is bordering to a bread like richness.

Tastes no where near as hoppy as i was expecting. tastes fresh and clean but doesn't have that hop emphasis that I was expecting and indeed all the commerical examples I've been having lately do.

Don't get me wrong this is a very nice beer. Has a lovely warmth to it from the higher alcohol%. This beer has great balance between malt v hops like you would expect in a APA, tastes very well crafted. I haven't had a AIPA in ages with that much kilned malts in there so it was lovely to get back to these styled AIPA's. Had mainly dog fish head styled super pale AIPA.

Thanks for the beer trent I found this beer well rounded and one that had a certain alure to it with the complex and rich malt presence. Very nice and again well made!
Thanks

 

[loftboy]

Some catch-up reviews;

1. n00ch - Doppelbock
Clear dark amber appearance. Low to medium carbonation. Flavour profile is dominant a roasty/chocolatey. Nice malt body. Low-medium hop bitterness. No fussel (hot solventy) alcohol flavour. Hides the 9% ABV very well, to the point that you don't realise how much punch it has, until you try to stand up after drinking the whole bottle !. Well done Mitch.

4. Leeboy - Imperial Porter
Dark brown appearance. Medium carbonation with very fine champagne-like bubbles. Wonderful creamy tan head that laces the glass & lasts the whole way - almost Guiness like. Great balance between malt sweetness & hop bitterness. Chololate, roasty & sligtly dusty aftertaste. Very well made beer. Thanks Lee.

9. Rurik - Mild
I'm not sure what to make of this one. On opening & pouring it was all looking like a great mild. However, there was a strong acrid burnt flavour to it, that I just couldn't get past. I've only had a couple of Mild's, so I'm not sure if this example is within the style guidelines or not. Like I said everything was shaping up to be a great beer - carbonation, colour & head, but I just couldn't get past the burn taste. Ben, I hope it was just me, but thanks for your efforts anyway.

18. Trent - AIPA
Trent, what can I say, except that you have never turned out a dud in the case swaps & this was no exception. I can't really add much to what the others have already said, other than I wished that I have had tried it earlier to get some of the hop freshness. Well Done.

24. fear_n_loath - Euro Lager
Light clear golden colour. Subtle hop aroma. Good carbonation & head retention. Lovely lager for a hot summers day. Taste-wise, it almost had a touch of a Wit about it. The only thing I could fault with it, was an ever so slightly "meaty" taste, almost like spag bol. This seemed to dissapear as the bottle warmed up. Well done.

 

[shmick]

Thanks for the kind reviews.
I like to enter something a little different for the swaps and I'm glad it has been well recieved so far.

It is interesting to note the layering effect. I hadn't noticed it except for the bright pink trub in the bottom of the bottle after I'd finished and figured something must have dropped out.

I like to keep my hefe's simple - 50/50 pils/wheat malt, mash for light body with a 45 - 50 degC 20 min step on the way to keep the body on the light side. Bitter to 12 - 15 IBU with a subtle higher alpha German hop (Perle).
I don't bother with aeration, just pitch and ferment at 17 degC with WY3068, 2 wks in the primary then straight to keg or prime & bottle.

I know there are a lot of other ideas on the subject but this is what I like, it works for me and everybody else can go spit.
That being said, I have actually tried several other high/low temp, pitch at X ferment at Y banana/clove blah blah blah schemes but keep coming back to pitch and ferment cool (17 - 18 degC). This is only my view so don't let it effect what ever you have planned - unless you try a few different things and come to your own conclusions you will never be satisfied.

Enough of the rant, back to the reviews:

Schooey’s Schwartzbier – My bottle was a little undercarbed but not by much. This was a nice dark lager that was very Moorish. A touch dark and a little too roasty for style maybe but very drinkable. Very enjoyable.

The Ol’ Boozeroony’s Amber Ale - Complex malt packed ale with a good dose of POR (?). Sultanas, pears and sweet fruit esters in the aroma. Well balanced smooth bitterness with a malty finish. Most enjoyable – I’d go another bottle if it was in the fridge. Thanks OB.

Offline’s Wild Mild – Initial taste was a little prickly but improved greatly after putting the glass aside for 20 mins to warm and de-carb. Very clear & smooth. Absolutely loved the dark fruity brown malt and dryish finish. Very easy drinking as it should be. Style guidelines state up to 4.5% ABV and with the smooth flavours and restrained bitterness I thought this wasn’t far out of style. Yet another great beer I’d be happy to have a few more of.

 

[SJW]

HOLY CRAP, I tasted Marks Dark Wheat Double Bock yesterday. It was warm, still conditioning and 10am and it was bloody sensational. Now I wish I got in on the swap. Now all we need to do is extract the recipe out of him. I suddgest we raid the shop, stuff his grapes in a mill and threaten to turn it on.........or I could just ask him for the recipe.
Its a great drop.

Steve

 

[Offline]

12 Shmick - Hefeweizen (maybe raspberry)

Congratulations Shmick, I cant add much to what has already been said about you contribution except it is the first beer that my wife has liked/drank in the 16 years we have been together. She has smelt many, sampled a few but never liked one.
I have told her before that she might like the mangoweizen at the Lowenbrau next time we are in Sydney, but she might actually try it now.

 

[loftboy]

5. Les (Weizguy) - Am blonde wheat

Nice light golden colour, with a slight haze. Pours with a largish head that settles down quickly. Medium to high carbonation. Citrus aroma & fairly tart/lemony on the tounge. Some lingering bitterness, but I can't really taste any of the Amarillo. Nice balance between malt body & bitterness.

Overall, a nice tart beer for a hot day. Thanks Les.

Dave.

PS. Les, is this supposed to be a blonde or a wheatie ?. To my palette, it seems more of a blonde.

 

[[email protected]]

Been pretty slack on the review front so here is some catch up.

2. Schooey - Schwarzbier
Poured to a nice light brown head with great roasted aroma's. Great balance that made me finish it very swiftly. Well done.

4. Leeboy - Imperial Porter Bottled (DRINK MID-DECEMBER)
I did drink it mid december and what another great beer from Lee. Drank it a little on the warm side and I'm glad I did. The aroma was sensational and I think I spent more time smelling than drinking. I'd love to brew this one for winter.

6. The Ol' Boozeroony - Bastardised Amber Ale
Pretty much as I planned. A 'not too offensive' amber with a cascade nose. Oh no, I'm brewing boring beers at home as well as work... :huh:


9. Rurik - Mild -5.2% (I think have to find the brew note book) - Bottled two weeks, drink from now to mid January.
Have to agree with loftboy on this one. I even opened the 2nd bottle but the result was the same.

10 MHB - Dark Wheat Double Bock
On hold til mid-year

12 Shmick - Hefeweizen (maybe raspberry)
Was contemplating putting the wifes skirt on to get in the mood for this one but opted aganst it. (I kept the heals on though Good colour with a nice fruity balance. Having a good Hefe as a base shone through

18 - Trent - AIPA - 7.6% so dont go driving afterwards.
What more can you say. The quality of Trents beers never disappoints.

20. BigFridge - Klsch
Gusher... Opened the bottle, wife interupted, beer all over the kitchen. What was left was rather tasty though. No signs of infection or anything.

23. HarryB - Mild APA (bright ale clone with a twist)
Shared this one with the neighbour who absolutely loved it. (as did I) Very well made with a good balance.

24. fear_n_loath - Euro Lager
Very good beer. Nice and clean with a crisp finish. I went to poor my second glass and realised I'd finished the bottle. disappointed it was all gone.

25. Loftboy/MauriceOz - Winding Creek APA (SNPA style APA). Bottled 25/11/08, 4.5% ABV, US-05.
Never had SNPA before but I don't care. Just keep feeding me this.

Sorry all reviews where short but i'm in the middle of work.

Thanks to all for their efforts

Cheers
Geoff

 

[Trent]

Gday
I have been a little slack on keeping notes the last few days, but as the beers have all been very good, there is no need to attempt to give suspect advice, so I just enjoyed em for what they were

#25 Loftboy/MAurice Oz
Very pleasant, easy to drink beer, well made, an dno real faults that I could pick up. Not quite as hoppy as the real SNPA, but it was a very good beer, that I really enjoyed drinking. Thanks.

#2 Schooeys schwarzbier -
Pretty much black in colour, thick tan head, almost looked like a stout! The beer itself tasted maybe a TOUCH sweet due to the under attenuation schooey had warned us about, but the carbonation was spot on. The only complaint was as a schwarzbier, there may have been a touch too much roastiness (for style) but it was a very enjoyable, well made ber that I was very happy to drink. Well balanced. Maybe next time, to complexify it a little, add some more munich? That is the only thing I would do to an otherwise excellent beer.

#20 Bigfridge's Kolsch
Quite dark for a Kolsch, but I knew that it was supposed to be, it looked great, and had a really strong toasty component on the nose, and in the flavour. I guess technically, it is out of style for a kolsch, but I really enjoyed it, well brewed, no faults, and mine had great carbonation, wasnt a gusher (from memory)

#23 Harry B's Mild APA
Had this one last night, and I have to say it was excellent. Looked great, and had the slightest haze to it. Only thing was, the head retention was not so great - in a clean glass, it dissipated after about 10 seconds and never came back, even in the second glass. Lived up to its name as a mild APA, though, it had flavour, but not over the top, no faults, just a hideously drinkable beer that was all gone before I knew it. Excellent beer, thanks for sharing. It actually gave me a taste for more beer (always a good sign in a beer) so I went and opened...

#6 The Ol' Boozeroony's bastardized Amber
Mate, this beer looked the part, a lovely deep amber colour, crystal clear right to the bottom of the bottle, smelled sensational, caramel, nuts, biscuit you could even say. There was a hint of citrus on the nose, I guessed from a small amount of american hops, and you just confirmed it for me with you post from last night. Heaps of flavour, but all well balanced and blended in together, nothing I could really fault on this beer either, except that you should not be allowed to brew innofensive beers in 2 places! This beer was excellent, one of my favourites so far.

This case swap has been great, all the beers so far have been fantastic, if I could brew this many good beers, I could die a happy man....
Trent

 

[schooey]

18 - Trent - AIPA - 7.6% so dont go driving afterwards.

Mayyyyyyyyte!!

Have had a fun arvo in the shed playing 'lets build a brewery' and was looking for some therapy after some plumbing didn't quite go to plan. I'd popped this one in the fridge to go with a curry tonight and thought stuffit... I'm drinkin' it...

Opened with a healthy phsssst and poured lovely into a chilled ribbed pint glass, a perfect creamy white, persistent head on top. Almost medium amber in colour and quite hazy from the hop additions I'm thinking. Stuck my nose in and it got smacked back with a nostril fullof piney, almost earthy hoppiness. Second sniff and I could pick up some citrus in the background; lemons and something almost like orange zest? I only got slight malt aromas behind the hops.

Had a sip and was surprised at how well balanced this beer was , not what I expected from the aroma. Big malty backbone screams through to balance out the hops, I get a end crust bready flavour (if that makes any sense) and its soon flooded with the hops coming through, very creamy mouthfeel and a long long lingering finish.

It might not be quite to style, but bloody hell that's a good beer after a bit of toil. Thanks mate, stellar effort!

 

[leeboy]

5. Les (Weizguy) - Am blonde wheat

Well I know you are a awesome brewer les and as you know I have had many many of your beers, all amazing thus far, this one however just didn't float my boat.

Poured beautifully with great clairty carbonation and was a beautiful straw colour.

Smelt sweet with some great fruity esters, slightly oxidised smell?? Definately a fair wheat presence in this one. I read the blonde ale and it said up to 25% is appropriate for style. I'd be guessing this has a fair bit more than the 25%. Tastes of bready malts and fills the mouth with flavour. Still slightly less attenuated than I would of liked to make this sessionable. I may be shooting off base with this critique and I'm worried about it because I really respect you as a brewer. Plus this is a style that I have only made once before and have only had one commercial example.

Anyway enough said. Some minor faults in this beer (I think) but I still got through the longy. Thanks les
Lee

 

[goatherder]

I've had a couple in the last week or so:

7 - Balconybrewer's Wit - lovely beer. From memory, I drank it after a couple of hours in the sun mowing the lawn. Perfect refreshment. The classic wit characteristics were present and not over the top. There was a great wheat flavour, with a touch of tartness. Exceptionally drinkable, this was a very nice drop.

20 - Bigfridge's Kolsch - after a tussle getting it into the glass, this one turned out pretty damned good. As someone mentioned previously, a little dark for style but my style hat is firmly on the hat rack for this case. There was a cheeky hop profile, ably supported by the vigorous carbonation, with a hint of ale esters for good measure. The malt was big and round, filling out the mouth and complementing the hops. I really liked the colour - I had it in traditional nsw schooner glass which showed it as almost orange in the centre surrounded by retreating shades of dark gold. Lovely drinking thanks Dave, just keep better count of the teaspoons of dextrose next time...

5 - Les's blonde thing - Very pale, lovely amarillo nose. Nice smack of tartness in the flavour, very refreshing and easy drinking. I couldn't find much wrong with it Les, I enjoyed every drop.

 

[Weizguy]

5. Les (Weizguy) - Am blonde wheat

Well I know you are a awesome brewer les and as you know I have had many many of your beers, all amazing thus far, this one however just didn't float my boat.

Poured beautifully with great clairty carbonation and was a beautiful straw colour.

Smelt sweet with some great fruity esters, slightly oxidised smell?? Definately a fair wheat presence in this one. I read the blonde ale and it said up to 25% is appropriate for style. I'd be guessing this has a fair bit more than the 25%. Tastes of bready malts and fills the mouth with flavour. Still slightly less attenuated than I would of liked to make this sessionable. I may be shooting off base with this critique and I'm worried about it because I really respect you as a brewer. Plus this is a style that I have only made once before and have only had one commercial example.

Anyway enough said. Some minor faults in this beer (I think) but I still got through the longy. Thanks les
Lee

You guys have been too kind to my beer. It's definitely meant to be an American wheat with no blonde influence (although I do like a blonde...but I won't name her here :lol: ). I believe the beer is a bit acetic , and the attenuation...I measured 90+% apparent attenuation, so it must be residual sweetness from the Weyermann Carafoam.
I plan to brew this one again for you guys. Maybe a keg for the next swap? I'd like to show you how this baby can shine.
It's a fruity, hoppy Summer guzzler when fresh, and this one is obviously not.
Give it a taste and toss it down the sink if it doesn't appeal to you. I won't be upset if you respect your tongue that much.

Ok, so I drank Scott's Dunkel a couple of night's ago. It wasn't fantastic, but it was very good. Style hat on the rack, I think this would suit a maltier profile. Maybe decrease the hops or add more Munich (Munich II, perhaps?). That might make it more of a Bohemian dunkel then, so maybe that's what I was hoping for.
Quite balanced and easy drinking. Just about the right amount of dark malt for the choc flavours. Have you made this with the WLP833 (Ayinger - Jamil's fave for the style)?? Maybe that's the profile I was hoping for. Don't want to sound like I was complaining. Drinkability factor of 8.5 or higher. It was gone before I realised. Send a Magnum next time, or a Jeroboam or a Nebuchadnezzar. Have you posted the recipe?
Quite a few surprisingly good brews from this swap (my effort notwithstanding). Go, the Hunter boys and gals.
Les out

 

[Trent]

#24 fear_n_loath's Euro Lager
First up, may I please be a little critical and say that the bottle I got had a recycled Carlton Cold lid on top. Now, while I am all for recycling ****, new caps are only 2c each, and over the course of 30 longnecks (that probably cost a dollar or more each), if you lose just one bottle to infection or not carbonated or whatever, due to using old caps, then you have lost money. Seriously, a fresh cap for each beer is pretty cheap insurance.
Now, just let me step down off this high horse, and review the beer.
Pours a slightly hazy mid gold colour, and shows no signs of my doomsday flat/infected beer prophecy, with a dense mousse-like white head. Sweet malt on the nose, and some fruitiness, kinda citrus-like. Sweet malt, with a little oxidation (possibly), medium-high bitterness, some hops and some fruitiness - quite pleasant. I would have to say that it is probably a little darker and fuller bodied than I would expect from a Euro lager, but that is just how I like a beer (and probably a large part of the reason I dont choose to drink Euro lagers!), and I have to say that this was a well brewed, enjoyable beer. Carbonation level is high, just like it should be in a lager, and the head takes a fair while to dissipate. No real faults that I can pick, it is a very enjoyable, easy drinking lager, that is infinitely better than any of my attempts at lager brewing! Well done, and thanks for sharing.
All the best
Trent
EDIT Spelling the poor blokes name right!

 

[Weizguy]

The Klsch from the bigfridge was tasted a couple of days ago.

Dave, this reminded me of your blonde ale wort pack. As Trent presaged , I also got a strong toasty component. My bottle had quite a bit of foam. That meant the beer was warmer by the time I sampled it, after the head settled. Not gushing from the bottle, mind you, just foamy when poured. The colour was perfect, as I poured and drank it in a dark room, while watching the telly. :lol:
It may have been a little bitter for the style, but putting that aside, it was a drinkable clean ale and a respectable "house beer".

Tonight I'm on a (non-case swap) Berliner, and maybe a Wit from another swap.

Has anyone heard from Tony, since his "Chilli BBQ"? Any word ?(edit for unfinished post)