2008 Sa Xmas Case Swap - Tastings

[Murcluf]

Choppadoo - Bitter Very nice very enjoyable don't care if it is in or out of style just a good all round easy to drink beer Well Done!!! Now looking for the second bottle I didn't get in the case swap.

Edit: Any chance for a recipe would like to have a crack at that one myself

 

[isac]

thanks butters for your feedback, i would rather read an honest opinion than hear nothing. this was my first attempt at an AG so better luck next time...

i tried one of my aussies last night and wasnt impressed either. i hope the plant i tipped it on liked it i did have a best after oz day 09 but i cant see another few weeks in the bottle helping much?

im interested to know any thoughts on how to reduce DMS. now that i know what that "flavour" is i have had another recent K&K lager (oops did i say that here) develop the same flavour.

re the choice of yeast i used saflager 34/70 and when when i get my recipe off youngy ill attach it to this post. although the fd up K&K used S23

for both of these brews ive pitched the yeast at 18 deg then bought the temp down to 12 overnight. near the end of fermentation ive done a diacetyl rest at 18 deg for 36 hours before racking into a secondary and lagering at 4 deg for around a month.

 

[buttersd70]

Got to say, I missed the best after.....
another 4 weeks might have helped a bit, but I don't think it would have been enough to make a drastic difference, particularly to the high dms.

To reduce the DMS, make sure the boil isn't covered, and extend the boil time as well, 90min. Have yet to do an AG lager myself, as yet (did a few extract ones), but if I was to do one it would have 90minuute boil as an absolute minimum. I do my ales at 90min as well. (apart from my last one, and guess what? DMS. Not a lot, but it's there.)

Was it NC? Because if so, that can increase the DMS, particularly if the boil is only 60min. (not having a go at NC, I NC myself, but DMS is one of the possibilities, particularly in paler beers.)

for both of these brews ive pitched the yeast at 18 deg then bought the temp down to 12 overnight. near the end of fermentation ive done a diacetyl rest at 18 deg for 36 hours before racking into a secondary and lagering at 4 deg for around a month.

Sounds right to me. Don't see any particular issue with this part of your method.

I've used 34/70 myself, and whilst it was pretty sulphury at the end of fermentation (as might be expected for a lager), it ended up nice after about 3(?) weeks lagered. It's strange that the fruitiness seemed so high, I would expect that from s23 more than from 34/70. I think that might have been one thing that age would have helped.

Hope this helps. Main thing is to not let it get you down. If that was your first, maybe do a nice easy ale to knock one out of the ballpark before revisiting lagers.

 

[Murcluf]

Rudy's Summer Mild: Plenty of toffee notes enjoyable to drink hard to believe its a Mild very nice indeed

 

[user 4286]

Boston - Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale

Poured with a massive head, but that may have been the glass I was using though it did seem pretty highly carbonated. Smooth bitterness, nice hop flavour. Tasted just as good as it did at the swap.

Rudy - Summer Mild

I reckon I must have got a dud bottle of this one after reading some of the other reviews. Pretty highly carbonated, sour taste and seemed rather thin for a beer that finished at 1016. A bit disappointing really as I've got a brown that I made with Bairds brown malt that I really like and by the looks of it this should have been a good beer.

 

[muckey]

speaking of Bostons beautiful beers, was having a brainstorming session with butters yesterday(yes my keg is lighter :lol: and we'd both love to get the receipe for the ginger pilsener that he had at the swap as we both really enjoyed it and wouldn't mind giving it a go when the weather cools off

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Domonsura - Oasis Pale Ale

Nice toffee/butterscotch aroma and bitterness wasn't over the top given the amount of hops in there. Cracked this one just after lunch - really should have looked a bit closer at the label first. Doesn't taste 5.6% and I had no trouble knocking it back, but I'm glad I wasn't planning on doing much this arvo!

Another bottle that I was fortunate enough to scam. Had it last night and it was very happy sailing. Not that highly hopped or over the top bitterness. Am told it was made using Nelson Sauvin?? Have tried the Knapstein NS Lager and have just made and tasted my own creation. Would say the Oasis has not got that distinctive grape like aroma. But still a great quaffer even if it is at 5.6% ABV :chug:

BYB

 

[domonsura]

No Nelson Sauvin in it....all NZ Pacific Gem Flowers @ 17.8% AA all the way, by the bucketload. Those grapes you're tasting might be blackberries in disguise

 

[Frank]

speaking of Bostons beautiful beers, was having a brainstorming session with butters yesterday(yes my keg is lighter :lol: and we'd both love to get the receipe for the ginger pilsener that he had at the swap as we both really enjoyed it and wouldn't mind giving it a go when the weather cools off

I will add it to the RecipeDB, should be up soon. I had a couple at Christmas, flavours are really starting to mesh in nicely.

 

[buttersd70]

I will add it to the RecipeDB, should be up soon. I had a couple at Christmas, flavours are really starting to mesh in nicely.

Excellent...... :icon_cheers:

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

No Nelson Sauvin in it....all NZ Pacific Gem Flowers @ 17.8% AA all the way, by the bucketload. Those grapes you're tasting might be blackberries in disguise

There something about NZ hops isnt there. One would think NZ is a little close to the heart I still remember the NZ Cascade hop back.

BYB

 

[Adamt]

<------------------------------------- I may not fully remember it, but the evidence is there!

 

[domonsura]

pfffffffffff............remembering stuff is over-rated.....:lol:

 

[buttersd70]

photographic evidence FTW :lol:

 

[Rudy]

Boston - Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale

Poured with a massive head, but that may have been the glass I was using though it did seem pretty highly carbonated. Smooth bitterness, nice hop flavour. Tasted just as good as it did at the swap.

Rudy - Summer Mild

I reckon I must have got a dud bottle of this one after reading some of the other reviews. Pretty highly carbonated, sour taste and seemed rather thin for a beer that finished at 1016. A bit disappointing really as I've got a brown that I made with Bairds brown malt that I really like and by the looks of it this should have been a good beer.

That's a shame, I have one bottle left which I can drop to you if you like. Send me a PM.

 

[Adamt]

3. ~MikE’s Pilsner
Looks plain sexy. Clear straw colour, small but marshmallowy head, med-high carbonation. Aroma of sweetness and Saaz spiciness. Flavour is sweet then rich malt, some of the spiciness comes through but not too much. Clean bitterness dominates the finish. Bitterness seemed to hang around quite a bit but I haven’t had a beer since New Years.

I'm about half way through the first glass and I'm flying. Must be those pain killers I had with dinner

 

[Frank]

RustyC - Bright APA

I think this beer is well balanced and easy drinking. This beer has a good balance between aroma and bittering hops. There is a slight warmth on the finish as if it is above 5.0% alcohol, I think this beer would be a good 4.0% session beer.
Has a recipe been posted for this one yet? Would like to give it a go before we run out of summer.

I got some new Pilsner glasses for Christmas, so tried them out tonight. I know it's the wrong glass for this beer, but this was the next cold beer in the line up.

:icon_offtopic: I broke one Monday night while removing the stickers, nearly lost the top of my finger, end up in Wakefield and got 4 stitches. Crystal cuts so much better than glass. Only 5 glasses now.

 

[Frank]

RustyC - Bright APA
I think this beer is well balanced and easy drinking. This beer has a good balance between aroma and bittering hops. There is a slight warmth on the finish as if it is above 5.0% alcohol, I think this beer would be a good 4.0% session beer.
Has a recipe been posted for this one yet? Would like to give it a go before we run out of summer.

Just read the label 4.6% ABV, would have guessed it was higher.

 

[KHB]

Drinking the not so special bitter at the moment and am really enjoying this one, nice and malty with nice hop flavour

 

[user 4286]

Rudy - Summer Mild

I reckon I must have got a dud bottle of this one after reading some of the other reviews. Pretty highly carbonated, sour taste and seemed rather thin for a beer that finished at 1016. A bit disappointing really as I've got a brown that I made with Bairds brown malt that I really like and by the looks of it this should have been a good beer.

Hmm... I'm starting to think my taste buds might need some calibration. I had a commercial stout on the weekend where I got a similar sourness coming through, and now I've just had Butters' Mild and there it was again. Surely all three can't have been bad.

With Butters', I checked the temperature after the first glass (about 12C warmed up from around 8C) then proceeded to knock out CO2 using the Butters syringe method which greatly reduced the sourness for me. There's some nice flavours from the malt in there and it's ridiculously clear and doesn't seem like a low alc beer, but for me the sourness just overrides it too much. Carbonic bite maybe? Not sure.

That's a shame, I have one bottle left which I can drop to you if you like. Send me a PM.

Any chance you can bring it along to the AMB meet on the 17th? Wouldn't mind trying it again while there's a few other people around to share it with and see if I'm the only crazy one.

 

[buttersd70]

Strange one, Dan....I wasn't overly happy with my beer. There were several flavours with it that I was unhappy about (mainly from over cooking the malt, and a temp spike), but sourness wasn't one of them.... haven't got any left for another taste, though.

 

[Rudy]

Hmm... I'm starting to think my taste buds might need some calibration. I had a commercial stout on the weekend where I got a similar sourness coming through, and now I've just had Butters' Mild and there it was again. Surely all three can't have been bad.

With Butters', I checked the temperature after the first glass (about 12C warmed up from around 8C) then proceeded to knock out CO2 using the Butters syringe method which greatly reduced the sourness for me. There's some nice flavours from the malt in there and it's ridiculously clear and doesn't seem like a low alc beer, but for me the sourness just overrides it too much. Carbonic bite maybe? Not sure.


Any chance you can bring it along to the AMB meet on the 17th? Wouldn't mind trying it again while there's a few other people around to share it with and see if I'm the only crazy one.

If I don't drink it between now and then! I'm on holidays, and there is not a lot of homebrew in my fridge

 

[Frank]

I'm on holidays, and there is not a lot of homebrew in my fridge

Then stop typing and start brewing. :icon_cheers:

 

[user 4286]

Just had KHB's Honey Weissbier. Similar to Murcluf's Weizen but with a bit of dryness upfront which I think was from the honey. Not too bad, but I'm not really a fan of honey beers to be honest.

Also have had a couple of others over the last couple of days - isac's Aussie Lager which I think needed to be a bit cleaner for an Aussie lager (had some apple-y tastes and DMS in there I think) and homekegger's White Shield IPA clone which I would have expected a bit more hop character from (although I've never tasted the original) but still was a nice beer and went down rather well from what I recall. :icon_drunk:

 

[Rustyc30]

Hi Boston just landed back in adelaide today so the recipe is not up yet but I will put it up over the next day or 2

 

[Frank]

Hi Boston just landed back in adelaide today so the recipe is not up yet but I will put it up over the next day or 2

Thanks Rusty. By the way your smoker worked a treat, I think DrSmurto was concreting into his back yard over Christmas.

Rudy's - Summer Mild
Very tasty, no sour notes as Goofinder described. I think for my taste the level of Crystal was a bit too high (just). If I was to replicate I would drop the Medium Crystal to 2% and up the Brown Malt to 8%. Another beer that improved with raising the temperature, carbonation was spot on.

 

[Rudy]

Then stop typing and start brewing. :icon_cheers:

I will I'm waiting for a 4L yeast starter to ferment out

 

[Rudy]

Rudy's - Summer Mild
Very tasty, no sour notes as Goofinder described. I think for my taste the level of Crystal was a bit too high (just). If I was to replicate I would drop the Medium Crystal to 2% and up the Brown Malt to 8%. Another beer that improved with raising the temperature, carbonation was spot on.
[/quote]

Cheers. I used a bit of crystal, amber and brown as I wanted low attenuation with such a low OG. I guess the proportions were out, I'll have to print new labels with less crystal and more brown malt This was the best beer I had ready at the time and in long necks.

 

[KHB]

Had butters beer last night was bloody beautiful, went down a treat.

 

[~MikE]

Had butters beer last night was bloody beautiful, went down a treat.

same

Butters's's beer:
nice chocolate slap to the face, very mellow and has a pleasant dryness to it. nothing overdone and the 1469 compliments the maltyness beautifully. this beer rocks!