2014 July Lotto Tasting Thread

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Another thing I'm noticing - with a lot of the beers desperation committment has seen me crack some open within a week of when I'm supposed to (so like early).

I reckon that Australia Post's careful handling of the merchandise is speeding up attentuation somewhat for bottle conditioned beers (getting the carbonation done quicker).

Not one beer bottle conditioned beer has been undercarbonated, despite me drinking some slightly early.

There is a certain level of committment which says "dude, if you want a beer tonight, you have to write a report".

But I wish this lotto thing would never end - not just the free beer, but more so the reviewing. I quite like it.
 
I don't see it as giving away free beer either.....

I see it as a $10 postage fee for really good feedback - just like entering a comp.

And given that you've been evaluating and scoring them all you could easily pick a winner to.
 
I've already got a winner and it'd take a mighty effort to knock it off. The winner knows who the are as well.

You're right, it's not free beer in that sense. Some of the brewers have been happy because it's the last chance they've had for some feedback prior to comps (and some brewers have stated that the feedback is better and the scores bang on with the comps as well).

Maybe next year's should be done in June, give the brewers who want comp feedback some time to fix any errors.
 
GrumpyPaul said:
Are you saying mine wasn't the best????
Someone scored three more points than you - it was near the perfect beer. But for that, yours was on top with Fat *******'s on 39 points. And I think the interesting thing is that if the winning beer wasn't that good, then the joint winners would be beer styles I do like, but aren't necessarily my favourite.

Hopefully that means I've been objective enough - that 2 beers that are not my fave styles would be winners. I judged the beer, not on my preferences.

I think the flip side is that because my favourite beer style is what it is, and I brew my own very well, that it would be much harder for me to award a beer that wasn't near perfect. This might explain some harsh marking on some of the beers which were reasonably good. That would mean that the winner was indeed worthy, because they had to get past picky prejudice to get up there.

Again, I should add that I really appreciate all the brewers sending their beers (even the not-so-good ones) - it takes balls to do that, and wonder what will come of the other end of it. I really hope that those who received the feedback have really found it useful, and I'd love to share a beer of your 'new' versions.

I wonder if there is such a thing as "AHB amateur beer evaluator"? :lol: :drinks:
 
you most likely doing a better job of tasting and making notes more than some BJCP judges.. :icon_offtopic:
 
I was happy to send the beers as I lost. Fair and square. The feed back though was much appreciated and the first time I've had my beer judged as such. Normally just family friends who'll say something like "oh yeah it's allright... I still prefer (insert random lager here) but"
This thread has actually made me think we almost need a give a beer get a beer type ongoing thread, or where the list is shuffled somehow so you send one and get one to judge. Allthough I'm not sure my judging would be up to LRG's efforts.
 
Lord Raja Goomba I said:
I wonder if there is such a thing as "AHB amateur beer evaluator"? :lol: :drinks:
personally, i think it would be helpful if there were such a person.
send beer sample and $5, get unbiased report back with some suggestions
 
mind you, you would probably have to taste some pretty horrible beers...
 
Bridges said:
I was happy to send the beers as I lost. Fair and square. The feed back though was much appreciated and the first time I've had my beer judged as such. Normally just family friends who'll say something like "oh yeah it's allright... I still prefer (insert random lager here) but"
This thread has actually made me think we almost need a give a beer get a beer type ongoing thread, or where the list is shuffled somehow so you send one and get one to judge. Allthough I'm not sure my judging would be up to LRG's efforts.
I think I got this and thought "I like reading threads like this, so I'll do that".

That it became a useful tool for others was an unexpected surprise. I didn't start reviewing to give people feedback that helped them fix up faults, it just kinda went that way. Once the first person said "look, this is really useful information to me" - I realised that more people actually want more than "nice beer" as feedback. I just followed the bouncing ball after that.

I'll put my hand up to be an amateur beer taster - even more so since I'm not brewing over the next couple of months and all my beers are higher abv% big beers.

Edit: forgot to add, if anyone (esp those that PMd for further info) would like to let me know how the 'follow up' brew went (were the faults fixed, that sort of thing), I'd be really interested to hear about it.
 
Lord Raja Goomba I said:
Recipe would be fantastic, I'd like to see if my assumptions about hops and the schedule are correct.
Here it is below, I remember I also subbed Columbus in for Chinook which was what the LHBS used for their fresh wort kit (in same quantity).

My actual numbers were 18-19L in the cube at 1.064, so diluted with 1.3L of water to start at 1.060 on the day I pitched the cube. I am starting to realise my other F-ups, as on brew day I realised I forgot to adjust the AA% of the hops, so the IBU on that recipe is not representative of the actual. True AA%s of what I used were Citra 14%, Amarillo 4.8%, Magnum 12.5%, Simcoe 13% and Colombus 13.9%.

Also realised I didn't use a fresh pack of US-05, rather harvested slurry from a previous batch, had pre-calculated the volume based on Mr Malty estimations and went +10% for good measure. Primary for 9 days then I dry hopped and set the fridge to 1C for cold crashing and left hops in for 4 days before kegging/bottling.

Final gravity there were discrepancies, refractometer (corrected) suggested 1.011 but on kegging/bottling day, hydrometer measure 1.014 (sample take at a different height of the beer as I kegged 9L then took sample, then bottled the remainder. So ABV in range of 6 - 6.3%

Dave's IPA *tweaked* (ode to LHBS owner)
American IPA
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 5.870
Total Hops (g): 83.20
Original Gravity (OG): 1.060 (°P): 14.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.37 %
Colour (SRM): 7.4 (EBC): 14.5
Bitterness (IBU): 49.3 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
3.110 kg Weyermann Pale Ale Malt (52.98%)
1.840 kg Weyermann Pilsner (31.35%)
0.710 kg Weyermann Munich I (12.1%)
0.210 kg Weyermann Caramunich I (3.58%)
Hop Bill
----------------
7.2 g Citra Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.3 g/L)
7.2 g Columbus Pellet (14.2% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.3 g/L)
7.2 g Magnum Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.3 g/L)
7.2 g Simcoe Pellet (12.2% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.3 g/L)
3.6 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 g/L)
3.6 g Citra Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 g/L)
3.6 g Columbus Pellet (14.2% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 g/L)
3.6 g Simcoe Pellet (12.2% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 g/L)
10.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Citra Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Magnum Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.4 g/L)
10.0 g Simcoe Pellet (12.2% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (0.4 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
1.5 g Irish Moss @ 10 Minutes (Boil)
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes.
60min boil.
Fermented at 18°C with Safale US-05
 
Thanks mate.

Pretty close to my guess, the Citra came through loud and clear with Amarillo and Simcoe supporting.

I picked Chinook but CTZ makes sense. That's what the balance hop wise needs.
 
A couple have arrived, thankfully, so I get to review more.

Beersuit American Light Wheat 3.5%

I reviewed as an American Wheat with an eye to Leitches Weizen to get the appropriate cues for lower abv%.

Aroma: Light wheaty aroma with moderate citrusy aroma over the top. Smells like Cascade hops. 8/12

Appearance: Pale straw-gold colour with wheaty cloudiness. Big thick fluffy head like marshmallow which persist and leaves wads of mousse on the glass. 2/3

Flavour: Very light body with faint tartness typical of wheat. Finishes dry with slight spiciness. Bitterness is balanced with body and tastes lower than the 'average' beer but does not bely how low it really is. Bitterness does take on a slight harshness, almost rubbery and metallic, which detracts from the flavour a little. Hop aroma is not translated into the flavour, which is a little bit of a shame, but is still pleasant. Some diacetyl but i actually think it's pleasant. Some pils-like graininess on the aftertaste. No esters and phenol - very neutral flavour yeast. 10/20

Mouthfeel: Good full mouthfeel with diacetyl adding body that's not otherwise there. Great carbonation further adds fullness. Mouthfeel is again greater than 3.5% indicates. Not thin or watery. Has the spritziness of the a german wheat.3/5

Overall: Good beer. The harshness of hte hopping just detracts from it a little. I would think it could be fixed with either a hop variety for bittering that isn't prone to harshness or bringing an early addition down later - but without knowing the hopping schedule, that's all I could add. I personally would like a bit more hop flavour commensurate with the aroma. Good refreshing beer with more to it than the lower alcohol would indicate. Bitterness is spot on and balance is excellent.

Extra:

To me the harshness of the bittering addition?? (I'm not sure about the exact cause - but would surmise it could be the variety used early or just a bit too much early vs late). If I'm right, then a change in bittering variety and bringing some of the early addition IBU down a little later in the boil will be a good fix. This is being harsh though - I know how hard it is to get a light beer to be full flavoured. One tends to choose a good style and then make compromises and retain the same balance until they get down to the lower abv%. The other issue with smaller beers is the lack of place for off-flavours to hide. I really think this is a fantastic crack at what you've tried and would love the recipe because it's better than any lower abv% I've made (my mild excepted) and would only need a minor tweak to be really what I want from a low abv% beer.
 
Beersuit AIPA 62IBU 6.2%

Aroma: Low-medium American hop aroma - faint passionfruit and Fanta. Bigger body on nose than seems typical of examples I have been having lately. 6/12

Appearance: Amber-orange with medium offwhite head which laces but isn't massively persistent. Fairly clear and would be more so if it hadn't come in the post today. 2/3

Flavour: Tastes like an ol' skool AIPA, not the more recent interpretation - bitter and a bit more body than the fruitier versions which are now ubiquitous. No brewer faults at all, and the bitterness lasts and gives further body and balance. Not hot, no esters or yeast derived flavours. Just a big, bitter enought balancedAIPA. A slight caramelness but is overcome but a drying effect which tastes like a little roasted grains, that dries out the finish nicely. Appears to be a less fruity hop (CTZ, Amarillo and/or Simcoe) which comes through and rounds it out as a dank, peaty hop in the finish. Nice. 12/20

Mouthfeel: Good full mouthfeel with right carbonation. Bitterness and drying effect (roasted grains?) keeps it nice and balanced. No flaws obvious and no diacetyl. 4/5

Overall: Excellent beer. I'd like more "hoppy" flavour, but that is a personal thing. Only real fault would be that if it is modelled after the ol skool IPA, then more aroma on the nose would have been better. Balance is spot on and body is where it needs to be to support bitterness but does not try to dominate. 7/10

Beersuit - I feel like I've gotten to know you through your beers. You're not faddish, that's obvious to me. You like what you like and have made beers that clearly reflect the balance you like, not what is necessarily trendy. I prefer my beers slightly different but because both have been well crafted and with recipes I reckon would take no time to tweak to my flavour, because clearly you have it right where you like it. Well done mate, thank you for sending these to me.
 
Thanks for the feedback mate. The wheat is going to be my house beer over summer so I will take what you said on board.
 
Recipe: Light American Wheat 21 IBU NC

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 28.00 l
Post Boil Volume: 25.00 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 25.00 l
Bottling Volume: 25.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.036 SG
Estimated Color: 7.7 EBC
Estimated IBU: 20.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 80.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1.63 kg Pilsner (Weyermann) (3.3 EBC) Grain 1 45.4 %
1.59 kg Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann) (3.9 EBC) Grain 2 44.4 %
0.16 kg Wheat Malt, Dark (Weyermann) (13.8 EBC) Grain 3 4.5 %
0.11 kg Acidulated (Weyermann) (3.5 EBC) Grain 4 3.0 %
0.10 kg Carawheat (Weyermann) (98.5 EBC) Grain 5 2.7 %
20.00 g Amarillo Gold [9.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 6 8.1 IBUs
7.00 g Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 4.0 IBUs
4.00 g Polyclar Brewbrite (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 8 -
36.00 g Amarillo Gold [9.20 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 9 8.7 IBUs
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 10 -
1.0 pkg American Wheat Ale (Wyeast Labs #1010) [ Yeast 11 -
30.00 g Amarillo Gold Dry Hopped 5 Days


Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash Step Add 16.28 l of water at 53.4 C 50.0 C 10 min
Mash Step Heat to 60.0 C over 4 min 60.0 C 20 min
Mash Step Heat to 68.0 C over 4 min 65.0 C 25 min
Mash Step Heat to 70.0 C over 4 min 70.0 C 20 min
Mash Step Heat to 77.0 C over 4 min 77.0 C 10 min
 
Recipe: IPA 62 IBU NC


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 28.00 l
Post Boil Volume: 25.00 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 25.00 l
Bottling Volume: 25.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 19.6 EBC
Estimated IBU: 44.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 80.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4.46 kg Pale Malt, Ale (Barrett Burston) (5.9 EB Grain 1 72.5 %
0.44 kg Munich I (Weyermann) (14.0 EBC) Grain 2 7.2 %
0.44 kg Pilsner (Weyermann) (3.3 EBC) Grain 3 7.2 %
0.26 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt Light - 60L (115.0 Grain 4 4.3 %
0.22 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) Grain 5 3.5 %
0.20 kg Caramalt (Thomas Fawcett) (29.6 EBC) Grain 6 3.2 %
0.13 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt Meduim - 80L (170. Grain 7 2.1 %
28.73 g Centennial [9.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 34.7 IBUs
4.00 g Polyclar Brewbrite (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 9 -
41.44 g Centennial [9.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 10 10.0 IBUs
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 11 -
60.00 g Cascade [7.20 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
2.0 pkg American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) [124 Yeast 13 -
30.00 g Cascade [7.20 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs



----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Protein Rest Add 27.92 l of water at 57.7 C 55.0 C 10 min
Mash Step Heat to 66.0 C over 15 min 66.0 C 45 min
Mash Step Heat to 72.0 C over 4 min 72.0 C 15 min
Mash Out Heat to 75.6 C over 10 min 75.6 C 10 min
 

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