2008 Nsw Xmas Case Swap - Tasting Notes

[Fatgodzilla]

Brew: 14. Retsamhsam - Brown Bastard Amber Ale
Beer info: Brown 650ml crownseal, gold cap, 5/12/08, og 1049 fg 1018 abv 4.0% IBU 42.4 Wyeast 1968 London ESB

Sampling notes:
Served lightly chilled in glass.
Big fizz upon opening, I thought i had a gusher but she turned out alright. Quite a clear amber body with a beefy load of tan foam.
Aroma is somewhat perfumey with hops upfront, grassy and flowery. Malt background comes to life with additional sniffs, lightly roasted grain, toffee, nuts and liquorice.
Body is quite lean with a suprisingly sticky malt presense. Reasonably low, soft carb, slight grainy dryness.
Malt flavours drive the body with force; bitter chocolate, burnt toffee, roasted nut (walnut even), dark grain bread. A leafy hop quality manifests itself bringing forth a good hit of bitterness and a lingering finish.
Nice and flavoursome. Very nice brown ale, cheers !

Um, I'm not as stylish a judge as Muggus, in fact I know I can't distinguish much of what my esteemed collegue says above. I'll make a crap BJCP judge so I'll stick with stewarding !

What I will do is say I like this a lot. Bloody nice, in fact. Might even have a crack at making one myself !

Thanks Retsamhsam and a pleasure to meet you at Barls on the day of the swap too. Keep them coming !



#15 Thommos' Dark Ale.

Opened and poured in a dark garage, tasted on way out of door and thought - yum - tastes good. As a man weaned on Tooheys Old, the flavour reminds me a lot of that at first. As I get more into the beer, a sweet maltiness starts to dominate (heavy use of crystal ?) The beer is well carbonated but won't keep a head at all.

This beer tastes along the lines of a few scottish ales I made last year, so this beer sits happily within my comfort zone. Thanks big fella !

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Is that wy1728? I would never have picked it. May explain the belgianness I found if you brewed this warmer.

If it was, dont write off this yeast yet. Ive used this yeast a fair bit and Ive had good results brewed cold (around 14c). Makes a great APA in the middle of winter when other ale yeasts dont work well.

cheers
Andrew.

Actually only said it cos I've got Irish Ale and British Ale II in smackpack in the fridge and keen to brew with them (only problem is these two are readily interchangeable .. still thinking) so will make a long line of British / Irish style brews in 2009. I loved the Scottish Ale yeast - made a number of scotch ales which I really liked ! and only threw it in the case swap beer in desperation ! Well, not really. In my reading of brewing in the US in the last century and late 1800s, barley wasn't available everywhere, but wheat was. Immigrants and locals alike weren't trying to make Belgium wits, just beer. So they made wheat based beers using whatever yeast available. So, with that in mind, the American Brown Wheat Beer was an original, plagerised from a number of different sources, using a foreign yeast that was trying to bring out malt qualities in a wheat based wort ! Bloody good fluke !

The success of this brew will be if I can get close to a repeat performance !



PoMo's Summer Ale

Gees, that's a nice drop. Easily drinkable. I've read a few comments on this brew from other more informed tasters and I must concur. Like Thommo's Brown Ale, this is a sweetish tasting beer that I can't help skulling ! Like Thommo's, there is only one fault ..................................................... only one bottle ! I reckon I may try that Dennys Yeast for summer beers - this is my flavour for hot day drinking !

Thanks Rob .. give me a hoy if you go possum hunting and you need some extra hands to hold the ladder !

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Barl's Raspberry Ale

Everyone's been waiting for this one.

I'll never make one.

I'll never go to a pub and order a schooner of "raspberry beer" please.

I'll never make one.

I'll never actively encourage anyone to ever make one. They are an abomination on brewing and should be eradicated from this earth.

I'll never make one.

I believe like malaria and aids we need to find a cure for those who make this type of stuff.

I'll never make one.


Bloody nice beer though Barls. Went down a treat with the garlic chicken. Clearly well made. The tartness of the raspberry was a brilliant contrast to the rest of the ingredients. I saw the recipe and am impressed with your craftmanship.

But I still do not like the beer. No matter how good it tasted ......................................................

Good one mate !

 

[barls]

this has been the one ive been waiting for. glad you liked it mate. also im sure in the easter swap there will be a bottle of something just for you.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Insight - Who's Your Taddy Porter.

Bloody nice effort (even if after Barl's raspberry ale anything would taste nice .. )

Assume you followed the JZ/JP recipe. If so, not bad at all ! Certainly makes me wantt to brew this baby. Lovely easy drinking porter. Sessional beer ? What's the estimates ABV ? Drinks well, tastes good. Can't ask for anymore.

Good one brother !

 

[Stuster]

3. Stuster - Flip-flop Saison

Thanks for sharing, Stu. Apologies that my feedback may not be so helpful to you but this is a style that I'm still becoming familiar with. Very enjoyable none the less

What you talking about, boy? Great feedback I think, schooey. :super:

As you say, very different yeast to the standard Dupont saison yeast, but I prefer this one - if only because it doesn't take so long to finish the job off. Bitterness certainly can be high in this style, but not all are. There are other saisons which are more balanced to malt. It's a really varied category, if you can call it that.

Glad you liked it.

 

[Weizguy]

15/ Thommo's Brown Ale.
Raisins and choc, but a lot of raisins. Dark Crystal? A bit undercarbed, but well balanced.
Surprisingly drinkable, although I'm not sure what I was expecting after drinking a bottle of Trent's brown ale on each of the last 2 evenings (W1028 and W1099).
Dark, with a garnet hue. Some hop flavour and port-wine flavour and aroma. Malty, as expected. Some Maris aroma as it warms? Also, as it warms, just the tiniest bit of astringency for me. Some warming alcohol, how, in a 4.5% beer?
Actually reminds me of the Arrogant Bastard minus all that Chinook, but the arrogant is about 7.2%
Nice drop, but a bit flavoursome for a session beer. Not necessarily a bad thing, especially if it wasn't meant for sessioning.
8/10 with a star (bonus for reminding me of the Arrogant).

Les

 

[Stuster]

PoMo's Summer Blonde - a really excellent quaffer, Rob. It really grew on me as I drank it. At first, I was wondering if there was a slight infection or something, but by the end I was sure there wasn't and was just enjoying the resiny NZ hops. Probably just the smell of the washing up left on my hands that confused me. Good balance and the light touch made it superbly drinkable but still interesting. Can I hear crisp?

I might take a leaf out of your book and just add flavour/aroma hops at the end of the boil. Certainly seems to have worked out well in this beer. :chug:

 

[white.grant]

No 4. Fg's American Brown Wheat Beer

28.1.09

Started to pour into a weizen glass, but decided against that and not having a phat went for my trusty nonic. Pours a lovely fluffy white persistent head and amber body with haze.

Aroma is subtle hoppiness with a wheaty tang, then more tangy wheatiness on the tongue intermingling with hop flavour/bitterness, light malt and a medium carbonation that delivers a very drinkable beer. I rather like it, especially the tangy back palate which is refreshing. Nice one fatz, I think you're on to something.

I gave a sip to Sue who described it as a tasty, refreshing beer and as you know, she is always correct.

cheers

grant

 

[schooey]

1. Josh - Belgian Wit, Wyeast 3944 5.0% - bottled 19/11 good to go

Had this one after a week in the fridge, poured into a chilled Hoegaarden glass. Pours a hazy pale straw colour, largish silky white persistent head. First thing to hit the nose is lemon, fresh shaved lemon zest almost. Swirling the glass with a hand over it and burying my nose again I get the lemon again, followed by that tart wheat aroma and a really faint hint of clove in the background.

Taking a sip, the lemon is confirmed, it almost dominates. Body is thinnish, and there is some wheat tartness there, followed by some slight spiciness in the background. I'm thinking at this point that I have this a little cold, although at this temperature it makes an excellent hot summers day quaffer and I'm in two minds to just drink the rest or let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes to warm. I decided to drink the rest of the glass and let the remainder in the bottle warm.

On pouring the head is not so persistent but the carbonation is still there, almost exactly perfect for style I would say, quite active, but not overly. Flavours have developed with warming as you would expect and I get more of the Belgian spiciness. Clove, madarin and dried orange peel aromas coming through and confirmed on the palate. The zestiness of the lemon has faded a little and makes it a much more balanced beer. The tartness of the wheat malt shines through more also and the body of the beer is amazingly different; The difference a few degrees can make, huh?

Enough ramble, excellent beer, Josh, really enjoyed on a hot arvo, cold from the fridge and after a while in the glass. Thanks for sharing

 

[PostModern]

PoMo's Summer Blonde - a really excellent quaffer, Rob. It really grew on me as I drank it. At first, I was wondering if there was a slight infection or something, but by the end I was sure there wasn't and was just enjoying the resiny NZ hops. Probably just the smell of the washing up left on my hands that confused me. Good balance and the light touch made it superbly drinkable but still interesting. Can I hear crisp?

I might take a leaf out of your book and just add flavour/aroma hops at the end of the boil. Certainly seems to have worked out well in this beer. :chug:

Wash yer hands before sampling a beer!!! If you got a dodgy bottle, I apologise, as all bottles were washed, inspected and iodophored before filling. Just drank my last 500ml sample with /// this evening, and no sign of infection, so if it was there, it was just your bottle. Crisp... the word never entered my mind as I partook of this liquid The 60 min and whirlpool hopping has worked really well for me in pales, I don't see myself ever changing from that regime. Very economical use of hops. This batch, according to my hazy memory had about 45IBU of 13%AA Pacific Gem at 60 mins (what's that, about 15g?) and 25g of NS in the whirlpool. Any more would be wasted against the minimalist malt and the dry finish, imho. Still, if people must use 10% crystal, they'll need to back it up with craploads of hops at 20, 15, 5, 0, dry, etc.

Drank some others tonight as well.

14. Retsamhsam - Brown Bastard Amber Ale

Sorry, Retsamhsam. Could not finish this beer. Came across as very phenolic, strong, harsh, and dry. I suspect either an infected bottle, but it did not gush, or just way too much amber malt in the grist.


17. Loftboy - Cream Ale.

This was a very nice beer. Slightly cloudy, despite a bright appearance in the bottle. Probably my rough pour. Aroma of mild hops, some yeast notes and a touch of malt and grain. Nice pale amber colour. Taste follows the nose with hops backing up a subtle, clean, grainy base. Very easy to drink, nice and sessionable. Could have had a six pack of this without pause. Cheers!

 

[schooey]

5. nifty - English Pale Ale 5.2% Wlp023, bottled 2/11/08 - Ready to drink.

Chilled this one overnight in the fridge and pored it into a room temp ribbed pint glass. Active carbonation, but very fine bubbles leading to smooth, creamy white head, kinda like a big dollop of whipped cream. Clarity is good and it seems the yeast has been in the bottle long enough not to be disturbed by the carbonation. The remainder of the bottle does rise with a large head, but doesn't quite make a gusher.

Putting my nose to the glass there is a fair bit going on. I get toffee and caramel from the crystal, faint breadiness from the base malt and that spicy funkiness from the Styrian coming through and the earthy grassiness of the EKG in the background. Very complex. (A late note; As it warms, the Styrian aroma becomes prominent, almost overpowering all the other aromas, almost makes it Saison like in aroma)

Taking a mouthful, I confirm the aroma with sweet crystal toffee and golden syrup flavours for a brief moment, along with the unmistakable flavour of MO in the background. The bitterness comes almost with it and I get that peppery, funky flavour of the styrian for a second and in the end, the long, bitter finish of the EKG on the mid palate. I think the body is good, and in my personal opinion, the bitterness and crystal malts are very well balanced. really enjoyed this one, Nifty, a well crafted beer indeed. Thanks for sharing.

As a sidenote; PoMo, have you tatsed my swap beer as yet? Just curious if you have, what you thought of the spec malt in it? If you haven't, maybe I should come pick it up from you, as you probably won't taste much else but crystal and probably won't like it.....

 

[Weizguy]

24 (but marked as 10) Hewy - Hefeweizen.

Where's the gusher? This beer gave a bit of a phhfft on opening but not any big fizz. Unfortunately not much fizz in the glass either.
Plenty of carbonation, just very little head.
First sniff - big banana (not the one @ Coffs) and some bubblegum, smells like a weizen. You get a tick for that.
Malt and wheat are present, but I get an excess of phenolics. The phenolics fade as the beer warms, however, I suspect a mild infection by wild yeast, due the slight lack of balance. Happy to be corrected.
The malt/bitterness balance is as close to the mark as is humanly possible.
I don't smell any hop aroma, but that may be due to the abundance of esters.
OK, so I can be a bit tough on wheat beers, but I'm still happy to give this one a 7 / 10. Certainly a drinkable wheat beer, let down a little by presentation (head, mostly).

Les

 

[PostModern]

As a sidenote; PoMo, have you tatsed my swap beer as yet? Just curious if you have, what you thought of the spec malt in it? If you haven't, maybe I should come pick it up from you, as you probably won't taste much else but crystal and probably won't like it.....

I must have, as it's not one of the 4 left in my case... not sure if I posted tasting notes or not :\

 

[schooey]

:lol:

Nevermind... It can't have been that bad if you don't remember all the crystal when you drank it.... unless you're just being nice :unsure:

 

[PostModern]

I can only think of one diplomatic omission, and it wasn't yours...
Bugger. Any chance you might have had a 3 on the lid? It had a bit of smoke/peat flavour in it.

 

[schooey]

Nah... mine were all 12's, with a green label like this

 

[PostModern]

In that case, yes, I drank it.
Ninja EDIT: Crap. Looks like I didn't post a review. I suffer with a terrible memory, so I can't even recall my impression of it. Sorry Schooey.

 

[schooey]

Nah no biggie PoMo... I was just curious after reading your view on the use of crystal here;

Flavour was dominated by the "malt" but by malt, I mean dark crystal, I could not make out much base malt flavour at all. I don't mean to be overly critical, but I don't like overused crystal. Sticky toffee flavours should take a back seat, imho and compliment the base malt rather than disguise it.

 

[///]

Gotta be real quick...

14. Retsamhsam - Brown Bastard Amber Ale

Shared this with PoMo, and as per Rob was a good amber ale. Thinking about it today, the beer was clear, did not self poor and looked good in the bottle. I am wondering therefore on water (any salts) and fermentation temps and yeast. It had a old millet seed type smell. So let us know where your water is from and if your doing anything with it?

17. Loftboy - Cream Al

This was a doozie, commercial quality beer. Well balanced with all the tick boxes. Pls pm me and I will send you my address and you can send me more. What a great beer!