2016 NSW Mid Year Case Swap - Tasting & Recipes thread

[contrarian]

Number 15 strong Belgian ale. Nice clear golden pour. Smooth, slightly sweet and plenty of yeast character. Very drinkable although something about this beer tells me I should slow down!

Cheers!

 

[waggastew]

#1 Pratty1's Choc Vanilla Porter

Pours black with deep amber highlights. Low tan head, carb on lower end. Aroma is rich mocha and roast. Flavour is sweet malt with a really nice background note of bitter chocolate. Finishes medium dry but not thin, lots of cocoa lingers.

Becomes richer as it warms, chocolate comes out even more. I would love to know how you got the chocolate flavour in Pratty.

 

[n87]

#23 is now officially award winning

Did anyone else enter any case swap beers into the comp?

 

[barls]

my dark strong was in there.
was that the same one you dropped me an extra bottle of?

 

[Mikeyr]

#23 is now officially award winning

Did anyone else enter any case swap beers into the comp?

Top of the charts! Nice job Brydon!

 

[n87]

my dark strong was in there.
was that the same one you dropped me an extra bottle of?

Possibly? it would be marked 23 or BP on a black cap if it was

I know Mikey got an extra, and I think Mr Godzilla ended up with one as well... for some unknown reason, that day seems to be a little foggy

 

[barls]

Possibly? it would be marked 23 or BP on a black cap if it was

I know Mikey got an extra, and I think Mr Godzilla ended up with one as well... for some unknown reason, that day seems to be a little foggy

my bad that was pratty that dropped off to me

 

[waggastew]

#21 Peter80's English Brown Ale



Not too familiar with this style but I thought I would compare this beer to the 2008 style guidelines for Southern Brown.

Aroma check, appearance check, flavour check, mouthfeel check, overall impression check!

Just missing Peter80's name in commercial examples!

 

[n87]

#3 Dark Belgian Dark Strong Dubbel ish thing - barls



Dark... tick
Persistent tight off white head

Sweet malty aroma, with hints of dark fruits. Maybe a touch of sherry?

Moderate carbonation, sort of a slick mouthfeel, alcohol makes itself known, but not too much

In the taste, there is dark, toasty malt, a little burnt too. some belgiony spices. a little bite, not sure if it is from the dark malts or the carbonation.

Overall, there doesnt seem to be enough taste. The only 'bad' thing i would say is the bite that i get.
Honestly barls, not that much a fan of this one. I have another one that i will leave in the vault for a while longer to see if it blends.

 

[Dan Pratt]

#1 Pratty1's Choc Vanilla Porter

Pours black with deep amber highlights. Low tan head, carb on lower end. Aroma is rich mocha and roast. Flavour is sweet malt with a really nice background note of bitter chocolate. Finishes medium dry but not thin, lots of cocoa lingers.

Becomes richer as it warms, chocolate comes out even more. I would love to know how you got the chocolate flavour in Pratty.

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1471687341.520292.jpg

Thanks Waggstew, I'd forgotten about that beer. The chocolate flavour came from adding 150g of cocoa nibs to secondary, along with 2 vanilla beans. It was a 20lt batch and the beer sat on the nibs/beans for 5 days at 21c before chilling and bottling.

Reading the tasting notes has made me thirsty. Lol

 

[Weizguy]

#23 is now officially award winning

Did anyone else enter any case swap beers into the comp?

Ha, I didn't have any spares, what with case swap and a few tasters along the way. Probably couldn't have got more enjoyment from it if I'd won a prize in the comp.
Maybe next year.
edit: Fk, almost forgot to mention. Congrats on the win and "good drinking now?"

 

[n87]

Thanks Les,

It is awesome drinking now, but i feel that it will be amazing at 6 months (bottle date is on the lid)
Really hoping the extra time will make it standout (moreso) at the nationals.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Fellas

I had one my entries (#13) blow on the weekend.

If you haven't had this beer or don't have it in the fridge already - you should probably deal with it ASAP.

A few of the bottles have had a higher than normal carb - I'm not sure what is going on. I'm thinking maybe the oak wasn't sanitised adequately and it has introduced something that has kept chewing through the unfermentables.

Sorry about the inconvinience

Cheers

 

[gone brewing]

3 barls - belgian dark strong/ dubbel

I'm enjoying this beer immensely and I'm taking my time to drink it (I think the alcohol is hitting the right part of the brain - I'm having some trouble typing :kooi: ).

It's not so easy to make high alcohol beers that score high for drinkability but this is what you've achieved with this beer. I could easily go another - although that would leave me a bee's dick away from being legless.

It's dark and fairly well carbonated. The aroma gave some dried fruit, plums and Xmas pudding. The taste was sweet malt, caramel, dried fruit and phenolic character. A lot going on there which all balances out nicely, with a light bitterness in the finish. I got a little but not much of the burnt/toasty flavour that Brydon got.

Overall a very tasty beer with a lot of character. Perhaps could be a little more malt orientated (but I do have an inclination towards malty beers).

Nice job with that one and a great contribution to the case swap.

Cheers
Dick

 

[n87]

#22 Dick's Dirty Dubbel

Pours clear and golden, small tight persistent head

Aroma: Sweet malt, a bit of spice and a dark sugar smell like treacle or molasses.

Taste: Spice up front, Malt and sweet fruits, and a bit of pepper on the back end. No alcohol to note

Mouthfeel: Medium-Light, Smooth, Maybe a little low carb for style, but i like it that way

Overall, Enjoyable beer, glad i have another one to put aside for a bit longer.
Note: This beer seems to have a favourite temp. Cold... well its cold. as it passes its best, it starts getting thinner and you seem to loose some of the malt taste.


#13 Oaked Strong Ale

Didnt take full notes for this one, Had it after a long (44 hours long) day before crashing, but from memory:

This took a long time to pour... like a long time... and even after that i only had ~50ml of liquid in a pint glass.
My sample was over carbed, which would likely explain the head.
carbonic acid makes itself known and I couldnt catch any oak.
Overall, there was quite a nice beer behind the CO2

I have another one in the fridge, ill leave it for a time that i will be in a better state to give a little better feedback.



Re: #3 Its not necessary a bad beer, but i woudnt order it gain if you get my meaning.
Dark belgians (dubbel, quad etc) are usually hit or miss with me, much more a fan of the lighter ones (tripel, blonde etc)

 

[welly2]

#15 - Belgian Golden Ale

I really like this one. It has the right level of bitterness, sweetness and fruity Belgian esters. I think it ticks pretty much all the boxes on the description. Well done mattfos01. Have you got any more?

 

[n87]

#15 - Belgian Golden Ale

I really like this one. It has the right level of bitterness, sweetness and fruity Belgian esters. I think it ticks pretty much all the boxes on the description. Well done mattfos01. Have you got any more?

Just trying this one myself, and agree with the above.

Pours a slightly hazey golden with low semi course head

Aroma: Sweet, with some pepper

Taste: Spicey, peppery, carbonicy, a touch of bubblegum and a very subtle alcohol on the back end.

Mouthfeel: High carbonation, Dry, really smooth with just a tickle of alcohol warmth

Overall, This is a nice beer... not much more to say, really enjoying this.

 

[mattfos01]

#15 - Belgian Golden Ale

I really like this one. It has the right level of bitterness, sweetness and fruity Belgian esters. I think it ticks pretty much all the boxes on the description. Well done mattfos01. Have you got any more?

That was my first run at this recipe. Have run through a keg of the mark II on the back end of winter which has been nice but headache inducing... I have a couple of bottles from the mark two sitting around. Happy to flick you one.

 

[Weizguy]

Fellas

I had one my entries (#13) blow on the weekend.

If you haven't had this beer or don't have it in the fridge already - you should probably deal with it ASAP.

A few of the bottles have had a higher than normal carb - I'm not sure what is going on. I'm thinking maybe the oak wasn't sanitised adequately and it has introduced something that has kept chewing through the unfermentables.

Sorry about the inconvinience

Cheers

I have mine in the fridge. I noticed when I moved the crate of remaining beer that I tipped the bottle and it commenced fizzing from under the cap. It's now chilled and will be consumed soon, with feedback provided.

 

[Reman]

#9 welly english bitter




Appearance - dark amber colour, little bit of haze. Massive foam up on pouring, huge amount of bubbles.

Aroma - malty aroma, low hop aroma. Slight sulphur note.

Flavour - malty flavour, nice caramel sweetness. Balanced by bitterness with low hop flavour. Slightly astringent.

Mouthfeel - medium body with a fair bit of carbonic bite.

Overall - gets better as it warms up and the carb settles down. Really nice bitter.