2008 Nsw Xmas Case Swap - Tasting Notes

[Josh]

7. Discostu's Dunkelweizen

Mine was one of the overcarbed ones. Poured into a stein and 3 schooners, then once it had settled down consolidated into the stein. Might have lost some aroma leaving the old foam in the schooners. Still a nice sweet clove aroma early. As it warms up I'm getting an alcohol aroma possibly due to the fermentation temp?

Caramel, roasty, nutty flavour to be expected from the style. Pretty drinkable down at the barbecue cooking my lamb.

 

[PostModern]

6 Monkeybusiness - Simple Lager

Very nice clean pale lager with good bitterness. Could have done with a little more malt profile, but a very nice beer. Drank it with my double pickled herrings on pumpernickel.

 

[kabooby]

Brew: 13. Kabooby - Strong Belgian Ale
Date: 19/12/08
Beer info: Brown 750ml twisttop bottle 7.2% WLP550

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in Leffe chalice.
Loud pop. Pours a small stable cap of dense white foam atop a deep golden-copper body with hazy.
Complex but subdued aroma (might be my nose though ). Peppery phenolic notes, plenty of clove spice, ripe pear, vanilla, dried fruit, with an underlying dessert wine-like richness and caramelly maltines.
Luciously rich body, velvety texture lead on by a soft creamy carbonation. Dries out with a faint hint of alcohol.
Character reveals itself moreso on the body. Big juicy dried fruits particularly apricot and apple, brown sugar, grainy malt, pepper and spice, honey, maderia cake-like richness, note of sherry possibly. A slight vegetably/grassy flavour lingers on the finish, bitterness is quite low, alcohol not too apparent.
Another fantastic strong beer from you Kabooby! Always a cut above. Somewhere between a dubbel and a trippel seems to be how i'd describe this one.

Thanks for the review Muggus and glad you enjoyed it. For a beer that finished @1007 it still has a perceived sweetness and as you say the alcohol is well hidden. I also get plenty of dried apricot.

Kabooby

 

[Cortez The Killer]

3. Stuster - Saison

Second ever Saison. Very interesting nose - couldn't put my finger on it. SWMBO said it was spicy / peppery, also lots of citrus in it. Great colour. Medium body, dry finish. Nice belgian flavours came through - also plenty of citrus. Slightly on the bitter side, and some alcohol warmth. Great beer, very nice to drink.

Cheers

 

[monkeybusiness]

Very nice clean pale lager with good bitterness. Could have done with a little more malt profile, but a very nice beer. Drank it with my double pickled herrings on pumpernickel.

mmmm twice pickled herrings.

I was kinda thinking the same thing re the malt. I mashed pretty low to try and get a dry beer that would be nice to knock down after a hot days work. Mighta gone a bit far... From memory the OG was 1007. Thanks for the feedback. I was a bit worried it was going to end up too bitter for style without the malt to back it up.

 

[Muggus]

Brew: 15. Thommo - Brown Ale
Date: 22/12/08
Beer info: Brown 750ml twisttop VB bottle 4.5%

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in glass.
Opens with a slight fizz. Cola brown body with creamy pale tan head that hangs on for the trip down the glass.
Aroma is subtle at first, opens up with warmth, as expected. Toffee/cola malt sweetness, slight roastiness and nutty quality, faint dark fruits but its hard to tell.
Lovely smooth texture, creamy carbonation on the tongue, good length for strength. Slight drying sensation that seems welcome, balancing the residual sweetness of the beer.
Delicious malt driven body; dark chocolate, mollasses, roasted nuts, burnt caramel, tobacco, dried fig and plum, touch of toasted bread. Finishes with a leafy hop flavour lingering bring forth some bitterness.
Yum! What a complex, and tasty, brown ale! Very nice indeed, cheers Thommo!

 

[Muggus]

Brew: 21. Barls- raspberry wheat beer
Date: 22/12/08
Beer info: Brown 750ml twisttop bottle with dog on label 4.1% 15/11

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in pilsner glass.
Halfway already! Thought I might tuck into the offering from the host of this Xmas swap.
Loud fizz upon opening, slight foaming up the neck of bottle...I should pour it! Pours a billowing pink-tinged white head of foam atop a clear lively ros-like pink body.
Aroma hits me pretty full on with tart raspberry and yeast. Faint cereally malt in the background, somewhat spicy but it should just be the gas coming off this thing. Slight note of grassy funk with warmth, which has never been anything to discourage me from drinking raspberry beer (Cantillon anyone?)
Racey carbonation without too much bite, light bodied without being watery, tart without being sour. Balance is very good.
Here where I was lead to believe that there wouldn't be much happening on the body, i'm once again taken offguard by this beer. Raspberry jam lends some sweetness, grainy wheat malt drying it out, yet theres much more to it; clove spice, green leaf and blue cheese funk, bready yeast towards the
finish. Slight sharpness lingers, raspberry flavour still there but tart.
Such an interesting beer, certainly not in the same ballpark of a lambic fruit beer, but authenticly (is that a word!?) fruity enough to have some 'wild' complexity about it without being unapproachable. First time i've come across a fruit beer in one of these swaps, and a big props to you Barls for pulling it off... particularly with the likes of FGZ being part of the
swap!

 

[barls]

Brew: 21. Barls- raspberry wheat beer
Date: 22/12/08
Beer info: Brown 750ml twisttop bottle with dog on label 4.1% 15/11

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in pilsner glass.
Halfway already! Thought I might tuck into the offering from the host of this Xmas swap.
Loud fizz upon opening, slight foaming up the neck of bottle...I should pour it! Pours a billowing pink-tinged white head of foam atop a clear lively ros-like pink body.
Aroma hits me pretty full on with tart raspberry and yeast. Faint cereally malt in the background, somewhat spicy but it should just be the gas coming off this thing. Slight note of grassy funk with warmth, which has never been anything to discourage me from drinking raspberry beer (Cantillon anyone?)
Racey carbonation without too much bite, light bodied without being watery, tart without being sour. Balance is very good.
Here where I was lead to believe that there wouldn't be much happening on the body, i'm once again taken offguard by this beer. Raspberry jam lends some sweetness, grainy wheat malt drying it out, yet theres much more to it; clove spice, green leaf and blue cheese funk, bready yeast towards the
finish. Slight sharpness lingers, raspberry flavour still there but tart.
Such an interesting beer, certainly not in the same ballpark of a lambic fruit beer, but authenticly (is that a word!?) fruity enough to have some 'wild' complexity about it without being unapproachable. First time i've come across a fruit beer in one of these swaps, and a big props to you Barls for pulling it off... particularly with the likes of FGZ being part of the
swap!

cheers mugas, this is what i was try to achieve when i first made it so many batches ago. i will say as i have many times before its all in the raspberries you use mainly. also im sure fgz will feed it to his wife or daughter.
if anyone wants the recipe to this one im more than happy to post although im not sure if i can post a kit recipe in the recipe section. hopefully i might enter this in the next comp if i have any left.
btw i had bot of the beers you left me and they went down great.

 

[homebrewworld.com]

Hi all, and Merry Xmas!

I picked my case up from Barls today (cheers Barl's) and i have cracked my entry No 23 (APA) although there is a couple of bottles of Irish Red thrown in, as i was a tad short for the swap..
A tad over carbonated (so get in the fridge please). Open or crack the seal and leave it for a while before pouring.
Thanks to all for the fuits of your labour, and cheers!

Garry
HBW

 

[Josh]

Hi all, and Merry Xmas!

I picked my case up from Barls today (cheers Barl's) and i have cracked my entry No 23 (APA) although there is a couple of bottles of Irish Red thrown in, as i was a tad short for the swap..
A tad over carbonated (so get in the fridge please). Open or crack the seal and leave it for a while before pouring.
Thanks to all for the fuits of your labour, and cheers!

Garry
HBW

That information would have been handy yesterday!

Got home from the beach today to a little mess...

23. Homebrewworld USA PALE ALE. SO4 Dry Yeast. Ready To Drink By Xmas Day. Handful Of Cascade Pellets in the fermenter for your enjoyment. - exploded into a million pieces. High citrus aroma which annoyed me even more cos I'm pretty partial to APA and this one smelt good all over the floor. If you haven't already... put it in the fridge now.

20. Redbeard - Handcrafted Lightly hopped Summer Wheat Ale fermented by hand picked dry yeast grains, then carbonated and matured in HUGE stainless vats, then manually bottled in my artisan styled designated brewing area, then shipped via air* to the Denistone region, then dropped by in milk crates with parachutes* onto a concrete driveway# - {* Not True; # True} READY TO DRINK - Cracked off right at the top of the neck. No further damage to the bottle so I have stuck it in the fridge and am hopeful of salvaging a taste.

24. Hewy - Hefe - ready to drink now - Number 10 Coopers cap with dusty bottles - Hefeweizen ready to drink now. 50% wheat, 50% pale with 3068 yeast. High carbonation so beware of gushing.[/color] - Lid popped off with no damage to bottle. Have placed in fridge in the hope I can drink this tonight also.

Just a heads up for those who haven't stuck these ones in the fridge. Everything should be carbed by now, so I am fridging them all.

 

[Insight]

That information would have been handy yesterday!

Got home from the beach today to a little mess...

23. Homebrewworld USA PALE ALE. SO4 Dry Yeast. Ready To Drink By Xmas Day. Handful Of Cascade Pellets in the fermenter for your enjoyment. - exploded into a million pieces. High citrus aroma which annoyed me even more cos I'm pretty partial to APA and this one smelt good all over the floor. If you haven't already... put it in the fridge now.

20. Redbeard - Handcrafted Lightly hopped Summer Wheat Ale fermented by hand picked dry yeast grains, then carbonated and matured in HUGE stainless vats, then manually bottled in my artisan styled designated brewing area, then shipped via air* to the Denistone region, then dropped by in milk crates with parachutes* onto a concrete driveway# - {* Not True; # True} READY TO DRINK - Cracked off right at the top of the neck. No further damage to the bottle so I have stuck it in the fridge and am hopeful of salvaging a taste.

24. Hewy - Hefe - ready to drink now - Number 10 Coopers cap with dusty bottles - Hefeweizen ready to drink now. 50% wheat, 50% pale with 3068 yeast. High carbonation so beware of gushing.[/color] - Lid popped off with no damage to bottle. Have placed in fridge in the hope I can drink this tonight also.

Just a heads up for those who haven't stuck these ones in the fridge. Everything should be carbed by now, so I am fridging them all.

Josh, I'd be dumping your number 20 there too. The possibility of slivers of glass in your belly isn't what you want just before Xmas (or any time really!).

 

[Muggus]

Brew: 6. monkeybusiness - Simple Lager
Date: 23/12/08
Beer info: Brown 750ml crownseal bottle Wyeast Bohemian Lager, bottled 1/12/08

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in glass.
Low pop upon opening. Smallish sort of head of white foam atop a bright golden body with a bit of haze.
Grainy malt nose with some floral hops in the mix, lemony and grassy.
Light bodied, medium carbonation, slight sort acidity about it lending to the bitterness on the finish.
Body reflects the aroma, malt body is grainy, slight note of hay and vanilla, some lemon zest and flowery leafy hop character hits home towards a reasonably bitter finish.
Good quaffing lager MB, simple yet effective.

 

[Josh]

Josh, I'd be dumping your number 20 there too. The possibility of slivers of glass in your belly isn't what you want just before Xmas (or any time really!).

Bit late for that. Was still effervescent after a couple of hours resting in the fridge and god only knows how many hours with no cap on. Lightly hopped is right, but just enough aroma to be enticing. Light bodied but pretty clean and a slight hop flavour. Definitely a Summer quaffer which appears to be the aim so well done.

 

[Josh]

24. hewy hefe -

No carbonation.. possibly due to not having a cap on it all afternoon. Anyway, the flavours are definitely there. Banana and bubblegum predominant. I reckon with carbonation this would be a pretty nice drop.

 

[redbeard]

Sorry about the bottle Josh, I just recycled them from previous swaps. Perhaps I need to shift to Coopers which are thicker. Thanks for the positive feedback.

cheers

 

[homebrewworld.com]

Josh,

I am sorry bout that mate. I am not the best when it comes to bottling, so please accept my appologies for the exp bottle.
Think i owe you one when we meety a pub crawl?

ALL 'PLEASE FRIDGE No 23'


Cheers
HBW

 

[PostModern]

23. Homebrewworld USA PALE ALE

This one went of like a teenager first time at third base. Managed to catch half a pint after the foam subsided. Aroma of diacetyl and cascade. Flat as all the gas was used throwing the beer all over the kitchen sink. Might have been nice had it finished fermenting in the fermenter rather than the bottle.

 

[Weizguy]

I had the DiscoStu Dunkelweizen and the Schooey scottish ale.

Briefly, if I can manage it. Both were very drinkable.

The Dark Wheat was a little porter-y for me. Not that it was a bad beer. I've made a similar beer and it went ever well at a function. Maybe too heavy on the choc wheat for a Dunkel of the style. There was the dusty flavour I associate with a phenolic beer in the wheat family. As I am an aficionado of the weizen family, I'd like to see more sweetness in a Dunkel of any style. Good balance - Both malt/bitterness and fruit/phenols. Maybe a touch of acetic, showing as saltiness? Been there, done that. The weizen yeast appears to be that primitive, exhibiting the wild characters of phenolic (POF positive - phenolic off flavours), and acetic at higher temps. I suppose the acetic is an indicator of a warm or extended ferment.
6.5/10. A little fizz-tastic, and too much carbonic bite stresses the otherwise minimal astringent roast and hop character.
Drinkable in quantity, with a chilli to chew on as a spacer.

Schoo-meister, your beer is drinkable now. I'd term it a hoppy version of an Imperial 90 shilling, certainly not a Guinea ale.
I like the malty element added by the W1728. No imperfections, other than being a hop flavour beer, first and foremost. Not sure where you heard that there was some phenolic. Maybe some bottles were bleached and got that taint from the cheap sanitiser. Can't imagine how it was in my bottle, coz I couldn't taste it. Phenolics from peatiness?
I give this one an "out-of current style boundaries" award, for being quite drinkable as an Imperial Strong Scots ale.
Hoots, mon! Grounsdkeeper Willie gives you an 8.5/10 and a big "Drink this now" rating. Can U update the Wiki with that warning of immediate drinkability, which will appeal to many.

Also drank Trent's AIPA from the local swap, and it was similarly both hop and malt driven.

FGZ, was that you accusing me in the Wiki of bottling my beer in 500 ml bottles? Not for the swap, surely.

Les out

 

[hewy]

28. Les - Dampfbier ~5% ABV (sort of a Vienna lager, but warm fermented with W3068, will need 4 weeks cool cellaring, if ur up to it.) A couple of bottles have exploded, so...Chill immediately!I hope you listened and chilled. The beer is gassy, but not necessarily foamy if you don't shake the bottle. #1 tip!

Overcarbed, as expected. Gushed for a bit then poured a nice big head. I then noticed some big chunky floaties bouncing about in the glass? What doesnt kill you makes you stronger right?
Anyway, smells similar to the hefe I had on tap last week. Taste is similar too - perhaps a bit more body. Quite a nice easy to drink beer, shame I lost 1/4 of the bottle

 

[hewy]

3. Stuster - Flip-flop Saison, Wyeast 3711, 5.9%. Bottled 12/11/08 so ready to go more or less.

Wow! Great beer! I could drink this all day long... Was lovely when it was 30+deg outside. Nice spicy flavour while being thirst quenching.

Is the recipe posted somewhere? I must make something similar!

Cheers
Hewy