2009 Nsw Xmas Case Swap - Tasting Thread

[Thommo]

Had the following today over various time.

17. - Dave loves beer - Ale
Nice. Shared it with some mates while showing them how to AG brew. We all enjoyed it. Nice quaffer, easy to slide down past the tonsils.

19. Megs80- Pacific strong ale 6.6%, Drink 25th dec- 1st Jan (no later), WLP001 Cal ale baby!
Shared this one as well. I enjoyed this more than they did though. A bit too hoppy for them me thinks. Not a beer I brew but a beer I enjoy once in a blue moon. Not too over powering for my mind. Nicely done.

Next one I had was tonight while watching Quantum of Solace. It was the beer with the Green Lid that had "Case Swap Beer" on it. No idea whose it was, although I'm sure I've already read somewhere who's it was but couldn't find it tonight. Detected a roast flavour for a beer that is too pale to detect this flavour, but it was subtle and a nice surprise. Well done, whoever brewed it.

Finished on No 21. Dave's Belgian Summer Tripel. Awesome. Farming the yeast from this one so I hope it isn't generation 27 or something. Got all the flavours you should get from a Belgian. Very nicely done, no hot alcohol notes or anything. Beautiful.

Cheers,
Thommo.

 

[Bizier]

15. Syd_03- IRA- 5.8%-bottled 30/11/09-wyeast 1084.

High carb, pours a mountainous marshmallow-y head.

Slight marmalade and slight green apple on the nose.

Soft and fruity, slightly earthy, dusty banana. Good backgound bitterness to stop it being sweet.

Medium full in the mouth, with an earthy sweetish aftertase.

Very nice Jase.

 

[Bizier]

21. Dave - Belgian Summer Triple - 7%ish - WY1214 - RTD

A hazy gold/light amber, mine pouring with no head to speak of, though this could well be my fault.

Suitably Belgian phenolics and esters on the nose. Quite complex with a slightly earthy, almost brettish vibe.

The mouthfeel is full and quite lush. It reminds me of a malted milk with banana added, yet it also has a juicy, tart refreshing and drying character to it.

I drank the lot of this from a stein, and had a big dumb grin on my mug. Thanks Dave, that was a ripper.

 

[Bizier]

11. Troy Dack - An ale, that's about all I can say at the momen. Won't be ready until at least Christmas day, in fact, leave it until the 43rd beer of the night on NYE, guaranteed, then hopefully you won't be too disappointed

I would like to have said that I enjoyed this Troy, but it simply was not the case. I did not even have any pass my lips, though there was a very nice estery smell, kind of like Coopers yeast. I opened the bottle and the entire contents literally jumped out in the biggest beer geyser I have ever seen, it was like a whale's blowhole. Luckily I open bottles over the sink and it was not too much of a mess. I would like to warn people to watch these ones if they are not finished already. This was in a CUB bottle and they are not as strong as some.

Overall I have been stoked with the quality of these beers, really great work guys.

 

[Muggus]

Ended the case on yet another good brew!

Beer: 5. Pollux - Hopburst IPA
Date: 17th January 2010
Details: 750ml Coopers bottle black cap Pollux, 5.74%, US-05
Sampling Notes:
Served chilled a mug.

Pours a decent inch worth of off-white foam atop a relatively clean copper body.

Plenty of hop zest on the nose; leafy resin, pine, grapefruits, sweet ripe nectarine. A suggestion of lightly caramelised malts and bread in the background.

Full bodied, moderate soft carbonation, smooth malt texture with a very firm, near astringent, woody bitterness manifesting itself early on and gripping the palate throughout.

Lots more woody, pine-y, cedar-y American hops upfront on the body. Flavour mellows with ripe stone fruits and grapefruit rind emerging later on, which meld well with an underlying grainy malt sweetness. Highly bittered finish, lingers for quite some time with a hint of bread and dried fruit.

Very nice beer, borderline APA and AIPA for me. Bitterness certainly hits the spot but could possibly do with some more body to get into the IPA territory. But thats just me nit picking the minor details of what is a tremendously well-made and flavoured beer. Cheers Pollux!


On a whole, I was also quite happy with the beers in this years swap. Certainly some highlights with Gulpa's Dunkel and Vitalstatistix's Porter, not to mention Dave's Tripel! More than anything else however, there wasn't a beer I didn't like amongst the lot, and that really says alot about the standards of beer being brew in the community. When compared to commercial beer, specifically the big boys, none of their beer compares!
Well done lads and lasses!

 

[Gulpa]

Overall I have been stoked with the quality of these beers, really great work guys.

On a whole, I was also quite happy with the beers in this years swap. Certainly some highlights with Gulpa's Dunkel and Vitalstatistix's Porter, not to mention Dave's Tripel! More than anything else however, there wasn't a beer I didn't like amongst the lot, and that really says alot about the standards of beer being brew in the community. When compared to commercial beer, specifically the big boys, none of their beer compares!
Well done lads and lasses!

+3. Awesome job guys (and gal . Ive only a side swap beer to go n ow. I agree the quality of these swaps is certainly improving. I just love trying all the different beers. Looking forward to Easter now.

cheers
Andrew.

 

[Pollux]

Agreeing on the front of quality of beers that have been presented, this being my first case swap I'm quite pleased with what I have sampled.

I still have a few left to try (those that came with suggestions to age) but of those I've tasted I haven't had one that I haven't enjoyed and it's been great to sample some brews from styles I wouldn't normally brew myself....

 

[nifty]

7. Retsamhsam - NZ/US Pale Ale, Nottingham Dried Yeast. 5%abv. Ready to Drink.

I had this beer last night. Thanks, very nice, a top drop.

cheers

nifty

 

[Josh]

I agree with the sentiments guys. I've really enjoyed drinking this case.

Barls Smoked Schwarzbier was my last. I had it last Monday afternoon. Found just a hint of smoke in a very nice beer.

Well done all. Hopefully we can get July back up to the full 28.

 

[barls]

that was the day you won both call of the year and drunk of the year on the bn. a good way to celebrate i think.
personally im just starting the case as ive been away a bit.
i just had a side swap beer with ds on the cap. very nice while i packaged my homegrown hops

 

[Bizier]

I agree with the sentiments guys. I've really enjoyed drinking this case.

Personally I disagree with most sediment, but each to their own. :lol:

 

[davelovesbeer]

11. Troy Dack - An ale, that's about all I can say at the momen. Won't be ready until at least Christmas day, in fact, leave it until the 43rd beer of the night on NYE, guaranteed, then hopefully you won't be too disappointed

I would like to have said that I enjoyed this Troy, but it simply was not the case. I did not even have any pass my lips, though there was a very nice estery smell, kind of like Coopers yeast. I opened the bottle and the entire contents literally jumped out in the biggest beer geyser I have ever seen, it was like a whale's blowhole. Luckily I open bottles over the sink and it was not too much of a mess. I would like to warn people to watch these ones if they are not finished already. This was in a CUB bottle and they are not as strong as some.

Overall I have been stoked with the quality of these beers, really great work guys.

I also had a beer fountain with this one. Didnt get to tast any as I was busy cleaning it off the kitchen ceiling

All up though, some great beers so far in the swap.

 

[barls]

had fatz. its was a little low on carb but really nice flavour.
now drinking nifty's bitter. really nice bitter

 

[davelovesbeer]

All finished now. Some great beers in there, really enjoyed the case swap.

Just wondering if anyone was keen to share their recipes?

 

[barls]

ill share if any1 wants it

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Drunken Fatgodzilla doing best Muggus impersonation

No.16 White Gold Bitter (found at back of fridge behind the stouts)

Open with a great phiitchdzzzcg - poured into stolen pint glass (Melbourne 2008 - what a ripper trip). Beautiful cloudy, golden colour, lovely head (unlike its maker). Lovely flavour .. beery, nice hop background .. the sort of beer you really hate typing while you drink cos its more fun to drink than type. Pisses all over my english style beer which was flat (but I was going for a summer quencher but was just too undercarbonated) - this is beer, as it should be, brilliant. A tad overcarbonated for an english ale, perfect as an australian bitter. Why the f"^ do they make Tooheys New or even Coopers Pale when they could make this stuff.

As usual sir, a great beer and on par with your talent and ability to turn out high quality stuff. My honour to have drunk it!

:icon_cheers:



Na, no bullshit, this is beer as it should be. Drinkable, enjoyable. When I win $30m in Lotto, you are my brewer!

 

[Josh]

All finished now. Some great beers in there, really enjoyed the case swap.

Just wondering if anyone was keen to share their recipes?

My Recipe

 

[Fatgodzilla]

My Recipe

Can't remember your beer Josh (have I drunk it yet?)

Saaz, Tett & Cascade - would you change anything? Actually have all those ingredients in stock - may plagarise it!

edit : I have C saaz - is this what you used?

 

[barls]

Batch 2 of Smoked Schwarz

Dates
Date Brewed: 29 Aug 2009 Date Racked: 29 Aug 2009
Date Packaged: 28 Nov 2009 Date Ready: 28 Dec 2009

Selected Style and BJCP Guidelines
4C-Dark Lager-Schwarzbier

Minimum OG: 1.046 SG Maximum OG: 1.052 SG
Minimum FG: 1.010 SG Maximum FG: 1.016 SG
Minimum IBU: 22 IBU Maximum IBU: 32 IBU
Minimum Color: 17.0 SRM Maximum Color: 30.0 SRM

Recipe Overview
Target Wort Volume Before Boil: 54.00 l Actual Wort Volume Before Boil: 56.00 l
Target Wort Volume After Boil: 40.00 l Actual Wort Volume After Boil: 45.00 l
Target Volume Transferred: 40.00 l Actual Volume Transferred: 45.00 l
Target Volume At Pitching: 40.00 l Actual Volume At Pitching: 45.00 l
Target Volume Of Finished Beer: 38.00 l Actual Volume Of Finished Beer: 45.00 l
Target Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.036 SG Actual Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.039 SG
Target OG: 1.048 SG Actual OG: 1.041 SG
Target FG: 1.013 SG Actual FG: 1.009 SG
Target Apparent Attenuation:: 71.9 % Actual Apparent Attenuation: 77.4 %
Target ABV: 4.6 % Actual ABV: 4.2 %
Target ABW: 3.6 % Actual ABW: 3.3 %
Target IBU (using Tinseth): 32.7 IBU Actual IBU: 28.2 IBU
Target Color (using Morey): 22.4 SRM Actual Color: 20.7 SRM
Target Mash Efficiency: 80.0 % Actual Mash Efficiency: 90.6 %
Target Fermentation Temp: 11 degC Actual Fermentation Temp: 11 degC

Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % MCU When
German Pilsner Malt 4.000 kg 51.8 % 1.1 In Mash/Steeped
German Munich Malt 1.965 kg 25.5 % 2.3 In Mash/Steeped
German Smoked Malt 1.200 kg 15.5 % 0.6 In Mash/Steeped
Weyermann Carafa Special II 0.555 kg 7.2 % 48.1 In Mash/Steeped

Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
super pride 15.1 % 30 g 32.7 Loose Pellet Hops 60 Min From End

Yeast
Wyeast 3864 canadian belgian

Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash
Schedule Name: Single Step Infusion (66C/151F)

Step Type Temperature Duration
Rest at 66 degC 60

Notes
the smoke malt was cold smoked in my mini smoker for 3 hours( for an hour a time then stirred) with rum soaked chips( i think)

 

[Gulpa]

Munich Dunkel

40L
OG 1.051
IBU 25

9kg Munich I Malt (Weyermann)
1 kg JW Wheat
0.2kg Melanoidian Malt (Weyermann)
0.2kg Carafa Special T2 Malt (Weyermann)

35g Cz Saaz @4% for 90mins (9.5 ibu)
20g Warrior @16.4 % for 90 mins (16 ibu)

Mash at 64C

Wyeast 2633