2017 SEQ Christmas Case Swap - Tasting thread

[winkle]

Cracked Liams Saison, nice beer mate, can't miss the peppercorns! How much did you use? My blackpepper and lime saison used 12 whole peppercorns, initially in your face but the pepper fades a bit too fast for my taste (as you may have noticed).

 

[Insensate]

NickXB made one last swap.

Yeh sorry guys, I was a last minute inclusion and had everything to make this beer. Always a good beer though so I don’t think many will complain.

 

[Insensate]

Cracked 11. Zombie dust clone. From memory someone did one of these a few swaps ago? This beer is amber in colour and oozes ripe mango and stonefruit. Head didn't hand around long but neither did the beer. Great drop.

Hey benken, thanks for the nice comments. I haven’t cracked any of mine yet as they’re only a few weeks old. Did it seem carbed up enough?

 

[madpierre06]

Hey benken, thanks for the nice comments. I haven’t cracked any of mine yet as they’re only a few weeks old. Did it seem carbed up enough?

Might be some comments on this tonight

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Cracked Liams Saison, nice beer mate, can't miss the peppercorns! How much did you use? My blackpepper and lime saison used 12 whole peppercorns, initially in your face but the pepper fades a bit too fast for my taste (as you may have noticed).

I used 16g of whole peppercorns which I then crushed, & threw in a cube. I think that's about 10x your rate
When do you put yours in?

 

[madpierre06]

Cracked Liams Saison, nice beer mate, can't miss the peppercorns! How much did you use? My blackpepper and lime saison used 12 whole peppercorns, initially in your face but the pepper fades a bit too fast for my taste (as you may have noticed).

I don't get it, my bottle came up ferpectly balanced, there was just enough peppercorns to give a smidgeon of presence.

 

[earle]

Hey benken, thanks for the nice comments. I haven’t cracked any of mine yet as they’re only a few weeks old. Did it seem carbed up enough?

@benken25 , do you even know spreadsheets?

 

[crowmanz]

6. Liam_snorkel - Saison with black peppercorns

There's peppercorns in here? Haha I'm getting a touch on the backend but getting strong Saison esters (they are peppery). Persistent white head, good carbonation, all round solid Saison.

 

[winkle]

I used 16g of whole peppercorns which I then crushed, & threw in a cube. I think that's about 10x your rate
When do you put yours in?

5 minutes (roughly crushed) along with the lime rind.

 

[benken25]

@benken25 , do you even know spreadsheets?

Auto sparkies have no need for spread sheets

 

[benken25]

Yeh sorry guys, I was a last minute inclusion and had everything to make this beer. Always a good beer though so I don’t think many will complain.

No complaints here. I have actully never heard of the beer zombie dust and have tastes 2 clone beers. Both very good

Hey benken, thanks for the nice comments. I haven’t cracked any of mine yet as they’re only a few weeks old. Did it seem carbed up enough?

 

[benken25]

Had 1. Pcqypcqy julebryg last night. Tastes like thooheys old with spices. Very well balance with the spice and the malt. None of the spices really dominate over the others. Probably not as enjoyable as a trip to 4 pines hence there isnt a pic

 

[nickxb]

1. Pcqypcqy - Julebryg - Really nice beer. Perfect balance of malts with the spices. Really nice rich ruby colour and a good level of carbonation.

4. Bribie G - Tooths 1950s XXX ale - To be honest I had never even heard of this beer/brewery before so I did some googling. Seems like they had a pretty interesting history. Where did you get the recipe? I enjoyed this one and I think the best way to describe it is it tastes like beer. Good job.

6. Liam_Snorkel - Saision with black peppercorns - Huge pepper on the nose but is balanced on taste with the phenols that a saison should have. Very enjoyable beer.

 

[Parks]

16. seeheusen - Blueberry hefe

So good to see this one back martyin, one of my all time favourtie drops. Lovely ubtle scolouring, the fruit comes through very balanced.

View attachment 110368

Agreed. Fruit was very fresh and balanced well.

It was a bit sad the colour didn't show in the glass as well - when pouring the blue was very evident.

 

[Parks]

Had 1. Pcqypcqy julebryg last night. Tastes like thooheys old with spices. Very well balance with the spice and the malt. None of the spices really dominate over the others. Probably not as enjoyable as a trip to 4 pines hence there isnt a pic

I had this one on the weekend. I'm not a big star anise / aniseed / five spice fan but this seemed to really work.

Well done Pcqypcqy

 

[Parks]

Liam 6 Pepper saison

I'm almost perceiving the pepper and saison character as a bandaid fault. But I don't think that's a real issue with the beer, it's just an associated flavour in my brain so that's just how I perceive it.

It's very interesting you noting this. I tried Liam's beer pretty soon after the swap and let him know I felt it had a strong Chlorophenol fault picked up as bandaid / burnt rubber. I didn't want to influence anyone else's perceptions so kept it private at least until a number of people tried it.

I am wondering if pepper at certain concentrations hits the same olfactory memory or if I simply can't distinguish the two.

Interesting. I might have to dose a beer with black pepper to see how it goes.

 

[madpierre06]

11. Insensate - Zombie Dust Clone

Mate, I reckon have a yarn to Nickxb who might have some ideas for ya on bringing this up to a higher level. As a stand alone beer, lovely drop, fresh as, and fresh fruit abounds. A bit darker in colour when compared to the same beer which Nick did last swap, and which was one of my top 5 all time swap beers. Real pleased I have a second bottle of this to look forward to.

 

[crowmanz]

It's very interesting you noting this. I tried Liam's beer pretty soon after the swap and let him know I felt it had a strong Chlorophenol fault picked up as bandaid / burnt rubber. I didn't want to influence anyone else's perceptions so kept it private at least until a number of people tried it.

I am wondering if pepper at certain concentrations hits the same olfactory memory or if I simply can't distinguish the two.

Interesting. I might have to dose a beer with black pepper to see how it goes.

Do you get chlorophenols from a lot of saisons? At QABC I judged a beer that I thought was bang on for Saison phenols but was picked up by 2 others as chlorophenols. Maybe it is close in sensory or maybe I can't detect it unless at significant levels?

 

[nickxb]

11. Insensate - Zombie Dust Clone

Mate, I reckon have a yarn to Nickxb who might have some ideas for ya on bringing this up to a higher level. As a stand alone beer, lovely drop, fresh as, and fresh fruit abounds. A bit darker in colour when compared to the same beer which Nick did last swap, and which was one of my top 5 all time swap beers. Real pleased I have a second bottle of this to look forward to.

I haven't tried your one yet Insensate but until then here is the recipe I use and some thoughts on hoppy beers. There is 4 main things I think are important aside from the obvious like limiting oxygen post fermentation.

1. Keg - Bottle conditioned hoppy beers seem to lose their punchiness. Need to keg and bottle from the keg for max effect.
2. Water - Need to nail the water profile (see mine below for Pales/IPAs)
3. Hop Stand - Add 0 min hops at 80c rather than at flameout and let them sit at or around that temp for 20-30 mins before chilling (NFI how this translates if you cube)
4. Huge dry hop - I dry hop for 3-4 days at ferm temp before cold crash. Seems to work well.

Not sure of your process or recipe but this is what I found to make a difference for my beers.

Nickxb - Zombie Dust - APA

OG = 1.063
FG = 1.016
ABV = 6.4%
IBU = 51 (estimated)
Colour = 14.2EBC
Mash Efficiency = 83%
Mash = 67°C for 60 mins
Boil Time = 60 mins
Post Boil Volume = 23L
Ferment Temp = 18°C
Water Profile = Ca 140, Mg 18, Na 38, S04 322, CI 61

Grain
4.7kg BB Ale Malt
0.45kg Munich
0.20kg Carapils
0.20kg Crystal Medium
0.20kg Melanoiden

Hops
20g Magnum FWH
10g Citra 15 min
20g Citra 10 min
30g Citra 5 min
40g Citra Whirpool at 80c + Hop stand for 20 mins
100g Citra Dry Hop

Yeast
Safale S-04 x 2 – Rehydrated

 

[crowmanz]

15. Benken25 - random Saison cube

Saison on the lower levels of phenolic, on the darker end of saison. The subdued phenolics and dryness make it quite quaffable

 

[Parks]

Do you get chlorophenols from a lot of saisons? At QABC I judged a beer that I thought was bang on for Saison phenols but was picked up by 2 others as chlorophenols. Maybe it is close in sensory or maybe I can't detect it unless at significant levels?

Nope. I've had quite a large number of saisons and normally I get a peppery spice note or the clove Belgian yeast phenolic. This is quite different to me but again maybe it's just the intensity.

That's not to say I didn't judge your QABC saison and call it chlorophenolic...

 

[crowmanz]

Nope. I've had quite a large number of saisons and normally I get a peppery spice note or the clove Belgian yeast phenolic. This is quite different to me but again maybe it's just the intensity.

That's not to say I didn't judge your QABC saison and call it chlorophenolic...

Nah wasn't my beer, just a beer I was judging.

Have you had my swap beer yet? I was worried i might get pinged chlorophenols simply because I was getting similar phenolics as this qabc Saison (I couldn't taste any). I've tasted true chlorophenols, from Adr_0 in Gladstone when he forgot to treat his chloramine high water.

I think the clove and pepper phenolic descriptors of Belgian yeast come very close to the chlorophenol descriptors, as you say maybe the intensity is causing it?

 

[benken25]

15. Benken25 - random Saison cube

Saison on the lower levels of phenolic, on the darker end of saison. The subdued phenolics and dryness make it quite quaffable
View attachment 110401

I would love to know what that cube was i initially ment to be. Nothing in my records looks right

 

[seehuusen]

4. Bribie G - Tooths 1950s XXX ale - To be honest I had never even heard of this beer/brewery before so I did some googling. Seems like they had a pretty interesting history. Where did you get the recipe?

This, the 059 yeast, a bunch of other old school recipes and a great deal about Aussie brewing history was written about/ dug up by Peter Symons in his 2015 book, called Bronzed Brews - it's a great read (no affiliation blah blah blah)

 

[crowmanz]

This, the 059 yeast, a bunch of other old school recipes and a great deal about Aussie brewing history was written about/ dug up by Peter Symons in his 2015 book, called Bronzed Brews - it's a great read (no affiliation blah blah blah)

He also has a new book out "6 o'clock brews", it is on my xmas wish list.

 

[Parks]

Have you had my swap beer yet? I was worried i might get pinged chlorophenols simply because I was getting similar phenolics as this qabc Saison (I couldn't taste any). I've tasted true chlorophenols, from Adr_0 in Gladstone when he forgot to treat his chloramine high water.

I have had yours. Really enjoyed it. No Chlorophenols.

I think the clove and pepper phenolic descriptors of Belgian yeast come very close to the chlorophenol descriptors, as you say maybe the intensity is causing it?

This is definitely something I want to investigate further.

 

[Parks]

15. Benken25 - random Saison cube

Saison on the lower levels of phenolic, on the darker end of saison. The subdued phenolics and dryness make it quite quaffable
View attachment 110401

Pretty much on par with my thoughts. A good, honest and simple beer. Much like its brewer.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

hey @Parks on the chlorophenol issue - I opened the 'dregs' bottle of my swap beer with Rokaxe and he picked up bandaids as well. We ended up tipping it as there was too much sludge and particulate, so I guess any yeast or leftover pepper character would have been amplified.

 

[Parks]

so I guess any yeast or leftover pepper character would have been amplified.

And maybe that's the truth of it. There is *some* fault there and the combination with the other phenolics just amplifies it.

But it's also possible I am particularly sensitive to that fault too.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

I got heaps of cloves so I it's definitely phenolic, and at the least the shitloads of piperine combined with that could give a similar result.