2014 July Lotto Tasting Thread

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Alrighty then, I'm getting the show on the road.

Lovely way to finish Dry July. Liver Assault August.

First cab off the rank is Menonetes DSGA.

Treated as an American Amber Ale.

Aroma: Moderation Citrus Hops on the nose with a minor roasted aroma character. No esters, some maltiness on the nose in line with style.

Appearance: Copper coloured, white head which dissipates quickly. Fairly clear despite poor handling (by Aus Post and me).

Flavour: Roasted character comes through with some low-moderate hoppiness. No esters. Some diacetyl but not unpleasant. Bitterness spot on. A little thin on the palate but this makes it more sessionable. As it warms, a faint alcohol warmth.

Mouthfeel: A little thin and undercarbonated. Warmth as it warms up which is not unpleasant. Slickness from diacetyl but not unpleasant.

Overall: Excellent first AG!!! I would like a little more hop aroma, but that doesn't take away from this beer being stylistically correct. Roastiness is a little strong for style, but it works. This is quite sessionable and balanced. My only adivce would be that if you want a little more hoppiness to come out, maybe consider water adjustments (based on my knowledge of Brissy water), but don't fret, it's a great beer and very sessionable.

(SWMBO had a glass, so a non-beer nerd's take: Tastes like an IPA with no hops. Great beer for drinking after mowing the lawn. Nice and easy drinking and malty. Sessionable (not her words, my interpretation of her words). Good if that's the first AG. She likes it. She picked up the diacetyl (didn't know what the buttery flavour was but picked it up without prompting) but really likes it).

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Grumpy Paul's Scottish Ale on Bourbon Oak:

Judged as a scottish ale 9.3

Aroma: Malty, sweet aroma. Hint of oak and bourbon comes on the nose. Very faint ester aroma. Smells caramelly. As it warms, it gets sweeter and more bourbon on the nose.

Appearance: Coppery brown with a medium ivory head that gradually dissipates but clings to grass.

Flavour: Oak is sutble but increases as it warms. Sweet with diacetyl which is pleasant. Malty flavour with minor bitterness. Despite the sweetness, it never gets cloying. Peary easters just under the oak which gives it a slight dried fruit aspect to it.

Mouthfeel: Medium, with definite diacetyl. Sweet but not cloying. Very nice.

Overall: Excellent beer. It finds a way to be sweet without being sickly. Bourbon oak comes through in a subtle but very good way - not overdone. As you drink it, it has a ninja effect. Slight prickly carbonation which really goes well with the maltiness. It's probably out of style a bit, but I've rated it based on the quality of the beer, not how 'exact' it fits (as I will throughout this).

 

[GrumpyPaul]

LRG - glad you liked it.

Awesome to get such detailed feedback.

Interesting to hear that the Oak is subtle - I did another batch after that one. Same recipe except I did a little oaking experiment. First batch had 1g per litre Oak second batch had 2g per litre. The plan was to see if twice the Oak meant half the time...trouble was I lost track of days so the second one had about the same length of time.


I'll have to try a side by side tasting

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Bumping this for the day crowd.

As we all receive our beers, then we can all post the results.

Cheers,

Goomba

 

[Grainer]

DAMN .. WISH YOU WON MY BEERS !!!!

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

DAMN .. WISH YOU WON MY BEERS !!!!

Why's that Grainer?

(PS. I'm getting a lot of letters or labels saying "I'm so jealous" - which is kinda cool. I'll try to be good with what feedback I give, and it might help with some who are on the edge of comp stage).

 

[Grainer]

Great Reviews.. keep it up.. this is what it is all about..

It gets to be hard work after a while..believe it or not.. everyone wants their reviews now !! LOL

Grainer

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

They've all been patient so far.

I'm not a massive drinker, and I'll do no more than 2 per night I would thinks (which is still only 12 days). After a while (especially if the taste buds are muted by high alcohol beers), the reviews would become difficult to get right, so I want them to be as accurate as possible. If SWMBO has the other glass from the tallie, I might get more done in a night, so long as tastebuds aren't screwed from so many varieties.

Since I've been on AHB, I've always liked the Lotto/Swap beer threads and the tasting threads. I've noticed that the feedback has at times become shorter and more informal (which is fine, especially for swap threads), but I remember early days, there was great feedback (and photos), and it makes for a great read, even if you're not the one drinking.

So I'm hoping to revive that a little.

I'll see once and for all if I have the desire to be a judge.

 

[evvy.rogerson]

Congrats on the win. So jelly.

I hadn't heard of this 'lotto' thing before, so at first I just thought that you were judging an online competition?
Which made me wonder:
Would anyone be interested in a competition?

The premise being that a competition could be announced, either themed or general entry, with entries sent to someone (or multiple judges) of fine standing on AHB for judging? Maybe you guys already do this, and I just don't know about it.
Or maybe you're all just happy with the 'lotto' and I'm barking up the wrong tree.

I've been brewing for over a year but I've never entered a comp but I'd be really interested in something like this.

 

[Grainer]

Congrats on the win. So jelly.

I hadn't heard of this 'lotto' thing before, so at first I just thought that you were judging an online competition?
Which made me wonder:
Would anyone be interested in a competition?

The premise being that a competition could be announced, either themed or general entry, with entries sent to someone (or multiple judges) of fine standing on AHB for judging? Maybe you guys already do this, and I just don't know about it.
Or maybe you're all just happy with the 'lotto' and I'm barking up the wrong tree.

I've been brewing for over a year but I've never entered a comp but I'd be really interested in something like this.

Where are you? there are a lot of brew clubs around that can help out.. If you brew good beers I am sure there are lot of people that could help you out.. I just wouldn't like your postage bill at an average of $13-5 a bottle !!
We have several judges at our brew club Bayside Brewers that help people out..maybe join a club or find some local brewers to help out.. Prevailing that I am more that willing to help out LOL (P.S. - I was the winner last year.. so had heaps of reviews to do..mind you these reviews top mine !!)

 

[StalkingWilbur]

The first of the beers arrived today. I'm still on site until tomorrow morning though. Expect a review by tomorrow night

 

[StalkingWilbur]

Here's the first. Hopefully it's up to standard. I'm used to writing tasting notes, but not in a formal context so felt a little out of my league.

 

[evvy.rogerson]

@grainer

I'm in South Yarra but I'd only looked into Westgate brewers, not Bayside brewers.
You guys meet on Wednesday nights which works well for me so I should be free to come to the next meeting in September.

And I still think an AHB national comp would be great thing

 

[menoetes]

Thanks for the positive and constructive feedback Goomba.

I'll look into diacetyl resting for my future AGs and the under-carbination might be from my first attempt at priming with DME. I don't know much about adjusting water. Though mine does come through a water filter, so what I have is what you get there I'm afraid

The darker amber colour + some of the taste might be a result of my last-minute and half-arsed attempt at decoction methinks.

Still I'm happy with it on the whole and thank you for all your help in making and tasting it. Thank SWMBO for me too.

Now get back to tasting, you have a long road ahead of you still. Cheers :drinks:

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Thanks for the positive and constructive feedback Goomba.

I'll look into diacetyl resting for my future AGs and the under-carbination might be from my first attempt at priming with DME. I don't know much about adjusting water. Though mine does come through a water filter, so what I have is what you get there I'm afraid

Still I'm happy with it on the whole and thank you for all your help in amking and tasting it. Thank SWMBO for me too.

Now get back to tasting, you have a long road ahead of you still. Cheers :drinks:

No worries, hopefully it helps you.

If you're using filtered water (or even Brissie tap water, if it's like it was when I left), it'll be fairly soft, whereas harder water tends to really make hops shine.

Same issue here in NW Tas. I got onto adjusting it through the EZ water calculator spreadsheet and pumped in the figures for here (another local brewer gave them them). Then whacked in some Epsom and Gypsum (which is what the water here needed) according to the calcs. Next IPA to come out of it was a drastic improvement.

In Brissie, I whacked about 200g of acidulated malt into the grist, and that was a lot better. But I wasn't using filtered water.

D-Resting will work as well. The big thing is that some beer can have it and it works well and others it's just an out-and-out no-go.

As I said, great effort for your first AG. It only gets better from here.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Bridges - Pale Ale 4.8% (cool label too, and extra information was helpful).

I judged it as an American Pale, so take all comments as being reflective of this.

Aroma: Low-Moderate aroma of hops, nil grain or malt aroma, with a mild honey aroma. For mine - not enough hop aroma.

Appearance: Good, golden colour, which pours clear with a moderate to low off white head which does not persist (forgot to photo, sorry).

Flavour: Minor hops flavour, with a grainy/bready flavour and wheaty aftertaste. Bitter enough as a beer to remain balanced, neither hops nor malt dominate, but bitterness comes through to give the impression of a drier finish than otherwise should have. Not enough hop flavour to go with the bitterness. Honey taste and minor diacetyl is pleasant.

Mouthfeel: Good mouthfeel, very minor diacetyl but not unpleasant. Balanced mouthfeel - body is spot on with the bitterness.

Overall impression: Nice enough lawnmower beer, but misses the mark for me (and that is a personal taste thing, rather than a flaw in the beer) on aroma and hop flavour. If this were my beer, I'd shift some of the bittering additions forward to later in the boil (or cube hope if no-chill). Refreshing, not cloying. Not a bad beer at all, and very sessionable.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Waggastew's West Coast IPA:

Judged as an American IPA (obviously)

(picture does not do justice)

Aroma: Very prominent aroma with citrus and some wood/pine notes, along with some tropical fruit notes (Pineapple/Passionfruit). Very pleasant. Faint malty aroma. Smells awesome.

Appearance: Golden-Amber colour with fairly hazy hop haze. Good head retention with lacing down the glass.

Flavour: Hoppy and bitter. Classic American style hops - citrus with a touch of dank, pine and wood. Bitterness is dominant but does not become harsh. Not a massive body but enough to carry the hoppiness with good balance. Burps very nicely.

Mouthfeel: Body spot on - not too thin, no astringency, no prickly carbonation. No diacetyl.

Overall impression: Loved it. Great bitter beer with excellent hop aroma and flavour. Strong flavour but almost sessionable (for me). Bitter but not unbalancedly so.

(SWMBO comments: Syrupy mouthfeel for her (I think she means that the body is where it need to be - she said it's a good thing), Yummy, hoppy. Like something you'd get from a good craft beer bar on tap. Smells awesome. Feel free to send more (she finished this in record time).)

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Bridges' Northern English Brown Ale:

Aroma: Lightish sweet, caramelly aroma. Faint earthy hop aroma, some esters but very low. Very very nice.

Appearance: Coppery-brown, okay clarity, low head which doesn't persist.

Flavour: Nice caramelly flavour & sweet at the front of the palate, before becoming more bitter but still balanced toward malt (sorry for the convoluted description). Some roast comes through and becomes more prominent as it warms up - which isn't to style but I really like it. Faint esters but overcome by the herbal hops flavour (which is still low). Faint dried fruit aroma comes through a bit more as it warms up further, but lacks the nutty flavour that the style dictates (but I like it nonetheless)

Mouthfeel: Low mouthfeel with aids the finish to be not too cloying. Faint diacetyl but very pleasant. Low-medium carbonation, which is spot on (to my tastes) for the flavour.

Overall impression: Lovely beer, but 2 pints would be the limit with the sweetness. Burps nicely with the herbal hops and roasty character coming through. Looking at the style 'stat's it appears to be the top end for the body/gravity and alcohol.

Thanks heaps, Bridges, I've enjoyed your beers.

 

[Bridges]

Thanks heaps for the feedback LRG, glad they arrived safely and you enjoyed 'em. They were just what I had good to go. Pale ale was neither an American or Aus Pale just a bit of a bits and bobs with the feedback from my brother who asked "Why do your beers generally taste like some fruity mess?" to guide me a bit. He's a committed melbourne bitter drinker so your judging is about what I was aiming at. Happy days! Oh yeah and he liked it.
The northern brown was a bit of a combo of a few recipes and a chance to see what the fuggles brought along. I really do appreciate you taking the time to fill out and post the judging forms. Cheers!!!

 

[waggastew]

Cheers Goomba for the kind feedback. The detailed analysis really helps and its hard to get outside of the odd competition. The recipe is constantly being tweaked to get the best out of it. This beer is set for the NSW comp later this month so hopefully the judges there will agree.

Thanks again

Stew