2008 Sa Xmas Case Swap - Tastings

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All my beers ar NC, and (for some unknown reson) I figured yours may have been as well...so I dismissed that as a factor. I don't think it was bitterness per se that was at issue with it, but there was a harshness to the bitterness, and an imbalance with the malt,if you know what I mean....

onwards and upwards...

hK IPA

Expected a beer too hoppy for me...but pleasantly surpised. Bitter, but not aggressively dominant, there is malt behind it, and a smoothness. Bitter end note. Thick white head that stays in place. Like it a lot.Would have liked it to be a bit brighter, perhaps.Went straight for a second glass.

bostons NS summer ale

highly carbed. bitter, as expected. whilst bitter, fairly smooth, not aggressive or harsh. Floral and fruity on the nose, but not overpowering. Malt is there, helping to keep the hops in check. I actually like this beer quite a bit, and - surprisingly - wouldn't want the bitterness cut down. Refreshing.

If you beggars aren't careful, you'll turn me into a hop head. :lol:

Easiest drinking for me so far has been BigH and Bostons. Both of these got polished off one glass after another.....
 
Choppadoo - Bitter
This beer is not quite bitter enough for me. It tastes like there could be a small bit of wheat in it to enhance the head. If the Hops were higher it would have masked a bit of this flavour which leaves a slightly sweet flavour in the mouth.
 
Last one from me for a while as I'm heading off Boxing Day for a week or so and the case (or what's left of it) is staying here.

Adamt - Alt-F4

Never had an alt before (except at the swap of course ;)) so like Butters I went looking at the guidelines for what to expect. This one was nice and clean, clearly well made. Easy to drink and went down well, however to me it seemed like a pretty boring beer style - clean ferment, not much hop character, bit of maltiness with a bitter finish. Maybe it's just too subtle for my uneducated palate.

Edit: I must say that it looked a whole lot better in the glass than in the strange dark green bottle it came in.

Oh, and before I forget again, if anyone was after the recipe for the baklava at the swap, it can be found on the back of a pack of Antoniou fillo pastry :). I've got a scanned copy of it somewhere but I think it's on my computer at work. I have passed on your compliments to the chef, so I may be able to get another lot made for the next swap if you're keen.
 
Had a few swap beers over the last few days but have been shite at taking notes so am trawling the dodgy memory.

I'll work backwards from the beer i am supping now.

RustyC Bright APA.

First up, it may just be mine but this is far from bright. Suffering quite badly form chill haze. But thats where my criticisms finish. THIS is the sort of beer i was after when i put the theme down as summer session beers. Gorgeous aroma, a great balance between malt and bitterness (if i wanted to pick - 27 IBU isnt an APA but then neither is my golden ale IMHO). Sitting it in my birthday present. A brand spanking new nonic. Yup butters, a proper beer glass. I reckon i will be rummaging thru Rustys case to see if he has any more of these. 2 thumbs up mate, highlight of the case so far. Goes perfectly with the red duck curry i am eating.

Butters Bitter

Decided it was only fair to drink this at warmer temps, pity i was sweating my arse off today so not the ideal situation for a warmer beer. Looked at the numbers on the bottle and expected it to be quite thin. It wasnt. Not big mind you but had enough body and was definitely malt driven. Very low hop aroma and flavour. Left the remaining half bottle sit in the fridge (10C) for a few hours between tastes and gave it a few swirls to try and knock some of the CO2 out. Really started to take on the character of a cask ale IMO. Perfectly clear. Definitely a session beer and it did remind me of my time in the old dart. Cheers Butters.

Rudys mild

Not that dissimilar to Butters beer in a lot of ways. Slightly darker form memory, prob pushing it into dark mild territory but without the roasted malt character. Enjoyed the first glass but after that it got a bit much for me, almost cloying. I suspect the high % of amber in such a small beer is where this comes from, in combination with the brown malt and crystal. If you wound it back a bit i think you will be on a winner. Like Butters bitter, it was malt driven with less hop flavour and aroma than i personally would go for but certainly not out of place for this style.

I must confess the aussie lager style does nothing for me so the 2 (?) beers in this style i wasnt a fan of. Well made beers but not my cup of tea.

BigH Jade lager was a nice session beer, solid malt body with an interesting flavour/aroma. I havent used pacific jade before (in fact my kiwi hop experiences are very limited) but i did enjoy it.

The white shields IPA is up next, its a tad too cold so letting it warm up a touch befor ei tackel it but i have a vague memory of enjoying it at the case swap so looking forward to it.

Cheers
DrSMurto

p.s. Happy Birthday Boston! Chilling your beer down as i type.
 
A brand spanking new nonic. Yup butters, a proper beer glass.

I have a full and a half handle, liberated from the Fountainhead in Halifax, lovingly brought to this country by my poor imigrant parents....but I still prefer the nonic. :lol:
 
Dan: Yeah I know the bottles were a little dodgy :rolleyes:, it was kegged, overcarbonated and bottling was a REAL mess. I was aiming for a pretty "plain" beer with the Alt, was hoping for a little more caramel/biscuit to come through but I think it's still drinking nicely.


11. BigHs Jade Lager

Clear, straw coloured, massive foamy head. Fresh, resiny, citrusy, melony hop aroma. Pils sweetness (and spritz!) up front making it feel full-bodied. Then the hop flavor hits, similar to the aroma. Pretty dry finish, not too bitter (30ish IBU?) and some resin hangs around a little on the tongue. I think I wouldve enjoyed this more during the cricket tomorrow but I was warm tonight and this is pretty damn refreshing!
 
Which begs the eternal question.... if you can brew AG beer like this why is the can opener still sitting in the brewery? :lol:

Nice one Kenny. :icon_cheers:


:lol: BTW I hear that the HK still has his can opener still sitting in his brewery as well :eek:

BYB
 
Final tasters done in conjunction with Muckey. (if anything, he's harder to please than I am. :blink: )

KHB
Good balance banana, clove, sweet, tart, bitter.
Muckey considered there was grapefruit, and added "where the second bottle?"was.

Presented beautifully, but perhaps could do with a litle more carb
Sweetness up front, but not cloying. Muckey made the comment that, as an alternative, it would be nice if there was a touch of ginger in it. (that one is Bostons fault. :lol: )

Kennys apricot wit
Treat a beer with respect and it will respect you. Not a single floaty in this, in fact, was perfectly clear for the first pour.

Interestingly, some people have commented that there was plenty of apricot on the nose, but that it didn't translate to the palate....this was the same experience that Muckey had, but for me, the apricot was actually a little overpowering.

We both liked it, it was extremely well crafted, but we both agreed that it wasn't entirely sessionable.

Isaac's Aussie lager.

Muckey advised me to leave the comments on this one alone, for fear of offending....and I thought about not posting. But I think honesty in feedback is important.
Honestly, I didn't like this beer at all. Initially, I got a big hit of DMS on the nose, which in itself was rather offputting. DMS in small amounts is in the nature of the beast for this type of beer, but in this case, it was overpoweringly strong. The other issue I had was with the fruitiness of it. It seemed to throw the balance completely out, and was not pleasant. I'm wondering if this is more to do with yeast choice than anything else. The malt/bitterness seemed OK, but the fruity esters, combined with the strong DMS dragged this beer down badly. I'm sorry to be the one to say it; I notice there has been little comment on this beer as yet, so I'll take it on myself to be the bad guy. Sorry. I think that cleaner yeast, and a longer boil time, would emprove this beer no end. I feel bad, now, for having said that. :(

Overall, though, there were some good beers. Boston, BigH, KHB and Homekegger (even if he is a pusser :p ) in particular. Can't wait to the winter swap....adn Muckey is already thinking of his recipes for it.
 
Overall, though, there were some good beers. Boston, BigH, KHB and Homekegger (even if he is a pusser :p ) in particular.

Were you in the army at some stage Butters? Calling people from the Navy, pussers is pretty typical of someone who is\was a pongo :)

Mick
 
Yes, as HK knows from chatting to me at the swap, I spent some time living in a cave. :lol:
(and I meant that tongue in cheek, with the greatest affection. ;) )
 
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
 
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 :rolleyes: 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.
 
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. ;)
 
Rudy's Summer Mild: Plenty of toffee notes enjoyable to drink hard to believe its a Mild very nice indeed
 
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.
 
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
 
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
 
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 :D
 
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.
 

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