Hag Christmas Case Drinkin'

[stephen]

#24 Stephen's EPA
Well, it was certainly overcarbed, from what I assumed to be an infection from th eheavy line of crud around the fill line of the neck. I tried it ice cold from the fridge, so it was hazy, and an orange/copper colour. The aroma had moderate maltiness, some hoppy grassiness and a definite fruitiness that didnt suggest the lactic infection somebone else noted. Medium light body, moderate malt, strong fruitiness, and some low level hops. Firm bitterness, but not too bitter. Not a great beer, but certainly not as bad as I anticipated. Well, at least, that is how I found it when it was ice cold.
As it warmed, the aroma started to go a bit more funny, and the fruitiness left. The flavour got quite a bit more tart, and drowned out any other flavours, suggesting an infection (though why it seemed alot less prominent straight from the fridge is beyond me).
This beer would have been quite niec if it didnt get an infection in there. I would suggest that anyone that tries it from now on, try it quite cold, straight from the fridge to get an idea of how it would have been.
Sorry it happened to a case beer, Stephen, I know you are a very good brewer, and I look forward to the next case contribution from you.
All the best
Trent

Well, looks like something bad has happened to my brew. The last couple of stubbies I had left over didn't seem too bad apart from the fact that the fermentation temp got away from me.

My most sincere apologies for an inferior product that was thrust upon my fellow brewers. I will definitely try better next time and hopefully produce something a little pleasurable in the tasting/drinking department.

Again Sorry folks,

Stephen

 

[goatherder]

23 Schooey's NS Summer Ale

The bottle gushed a bit and poured nothing but foam for a while. Once I got a glass poured the beer was a pale straw colour, understandably cloudy with a perpetual lacing head. The aroma had a big hit of sulphur in it, a distraction from the passionfruit hop aroma underneath. There is a nice hop flavour up front, falling away into a delicate malt middle and a hint of sulphur in the finish. Perhaps I should have waited longer for the sulphur to lager out, this would have been a top beer without it. Cheers.

 

[goatherder]

24 Stephen's English Pale Ale

Plenty of carb in this one. It poured loads of foam and like Trent's sample showed the dreaded bottle ring. Once it settled a bit, it poured a nice amber colour with a tall persistent head and good clarity. The aroma is pleasantly fruity with some english hops in the background and delicious maltiness. There was a mild sourness in the flavour, confirming the infection. It's a damn shame Stephen, I reckon this would have been a cracking beer based on the malt flavour that came through. Cheers.

 

[m_peve]

Catchups

7. Sammus - Some sort of English ale

I probably opened this one too early but anyway.
A slight maltiness on the nose. Dark-red brown colour with a medium head that lasted well.
Smooth and well balanced though there was something in the background (slightly phenolic??)
A good beer.

Thanks
Pete

 

[m_peve]

More Catchups

13 - Insight - Smoked Robust Porter

A medium-sized head that lasted well. Definite smoke flavour but not overpowering. Sweet tasting but once again not overly so. Smoked beers are not my favourite style as a rule because they remind me too much of bacon, which I enjoy but not from a pint glass (it's in my head I know). This example is not over the top so I could definitely drink a couple/few. Thanks a lot Insight. It's a style that I haven't brewed and have rarely bought. Your brew is approachable enough that I am tempted to try making the style though maybe not a 50L batch

Thanks
Pete

 

[m_peve]

And Again

17 - Snagler - ESB

A deep copper with some haze. Quite a fizzy pour. Malty nose. Quite sweet but not cloying. Good bitterness though not as bitter a some bitters I've tried.
A good session beer. Thanks Snagler!!

Pete

 

[m_peve]

24. Stephen - English pale ale

Low-Medium head that lasted very well. Medium body with some hints of peach aroma and flavour. Quite hazy. Good bitterness balancing the malt. Something in the background that wasn't quite right though .
My tastebuds aren't adept enough to determine what it was but this would have been a good session beer without it. Thanks Stephen

Pete

 

[m_peve]

23. Schooey - Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale

Massive head that was comparable with Craig's rye. Was considering using the head as an ingredient in a pavlova. Aroma: Oooh !! There's Nelson in this. Big passionfruit aroma. Light-Medium body. Passionfruit flavours with noticeable bitterness. A very enjoyable drop!! Thanks Schooey

Pete

 

[Sammus]

Catchups

7. Sammus - Some sort of English ale

I probably opened this one too early but anyway.
A slight maltiness on the nose. Dark-red brown colour with a medium head that lasted well.
Smooth and well balanced though there was something in the background (slightly phenolic??)
A good beer.

Thanks
Pete

Not sure what was in the background? unless you were the unlucky one to get the tip of my bottling wand The stupid thing was brand new and it popped off into the first bottle and sank... Also, I know at least one brewer here isn't a big fan of the WY1968 London ESB yeast I used because of something funny he can taste...
It was quite a vigorous start to fermentation, whilst the ambient crept up around 19-20, so it could have been a couple degrees above that inside....a little too warm of a fermentation for the opening bit perhaps?

Come to think of it, this yeast is also famous for producing diacetyl, so that could well be it. It took just over a week to ferment out I then let it rest for 2 weeks with an occasional swirl to try and take care of it.. but there are my theories as to what could've gone wrong! Good to hear some feedback though, its the first I've ever heard from a fellow brewer.

Cheers
S

 

[m_peve]

Hi Sammus,

I didn't find a wand tip in my glass :blink: .
My palate isn't trained enough to determine what the flavour was that I was tasting (Hopefully the BJCP course will fix that ). The taste wasn't bad, it just jarred enough to mention. Maybe it was the yeast I was unfamiliar with??

Pete

Edit - changed typo 'is' to 'isn't'. Kinda changes the meaning a bit :blink:

 

[Insight]

9. nooch - AIPA bottled 15/12/07. Leave at least 2 weeks to carb up.

Not much I can add that hasn't already been said. Carbonation on my bottle was fine. Quite malty, hiding the American hops. Nice beer, but its no AIPA. Thanks nooch!

 

[Insight]

26. Fingolfin - UK Double IPA - Double IPA with a british twist

Light brown in colour, quite hazy, fluffy persistent head. Yeast esters dominate the nose, very fruity. Sweet and malty flavour, toffee and biscuit, but pretty well balanced with the hops. Nice earthy hop aftertaste (goldings?). Medium body, and quite warming. Some slight but still noticable solvent, especially when it warms up. There's some alcohol in this one too! Good job Fingolfin, its nice to taste something like this - its hard to nail down the style.

 

[Tony]

drank the second botte of the little bottles with SH on them..... everyone else had the number?

not sure what this was but it was a nice clean darl, sweet porter like beer. ballance was towards malt with a sweet finnish that was not cloying. It was an enjoyable beer, clean and well made.

well done!

 

[Tony]

No.? Spiced belgian ale..... my list is in the garage and im having trouble typing so please have pacince!

Wonderful, light sweet malt, crisp, sweet, medium boddied, bitterness ballances well. Spices.........i cant pick them.... i find malt and ueast but no real spice. Im sure its there but it doesnt stick ut which is great also.

Im not sure if ita 9.3% abv. i drank the bottle and had no probs for a while after........i could still walk fine.

but now i ahve finnished off Trents bottle of saison.

HAzier then the spiced no... something.

same low carb....... both needed more carb to hold a nice reich head and lighten the beers somwhat.

fantastic malty, hoppy, yeasty character...... all work in well together to make a well made, enjoyable beer.

not sure what you were stessing about mate,,,,,, its not tart at all. I actiallyu found it sweet and a bit low on yeast character.

Im still confused about this Saison style.................!!!

cheers

 

[schooey]

8. MHB - LCBA clone

Poured a treat and was perfectly carbed. The silky white head laced the glass all the way to the bottom. Mine kinda had that watered down, sweet sugary aftertaste of an extract beer which subdued the maltiness a little though. I liked the hop flavours in this though and it was really a great K&K beer, very enjoyable. Thanks Mark.

 

[Trent]

#29 Michael Mosely's Cascade/Amarillo IPA
This beer poured a deep amber colour with a fairly high carbonation. Maybe a little higher that I would expect, but hey, ya get that. The head held on for a while, but it was no match for the pizza I was having for dinner!
The aroma is caramelly malt, almost toffee-like, and some citrusy hop aroma, though it had a distinct grassiness to it that muted the hop aroma a little, so it wasn't "clean". The flavour was fairly similar - caramel malt up front, followed by a grassy hop flavour, fairly sharp and finished a little cardboard like. The body is medium up front, but after that sharp hop flavour kicks in, it thins it out quite a bit. The bitterness is med-high and well balanced with the malt, but I think the bitterness could stand to be a little more assertive and still be balanced.
I am having trouble picking why the hops are so grassy and slightly distracting, when the overall presence of them isnt OTT, and it isnt too bitter. The carboard-y effect leads me to think that the beer was somehow splashed a little after primary, but I could be wrong on that count.
FWIW, there was a line of scum around the neck of the bottle, but seeings as I couldn't say this beer has an infection, I will assume you primed with DME. An infection would certainly explain that funny cardboardy thinning on the back of the palate, (and the highly carbonated pour) but I cannot think of what it could be if it were one.
The beer itself should have been a pretty good recipe, I just found the grassy/cardboard flavour a little too distracting to really enjoy.
I look forward to your next contribution, and doubtless most others will enjoy this beer, but typing what I found!
All the best
Trent

 

[Tony]

27. Michael Mosely - APA.

Just finnished this beer and opend this to read trents review.

seeing as there are 28 in the swap...... maybe your 29 was a ring in because mine was fine.

Perfect carb, newhere near deep amber. It was darker than JSGA but lighter than JSAA if you know what i mean. Kind of inbetween. I love beers this colour..... around the 16 to 18 EBC mark......am i close? corect me if im wrong!

I was cooking T-bones on the BBQ to go with a nice ceasar salad with fresh cooked bacon and black olives...... a tasty number.

I wanted something with some flavour and spice to go with it and i looked at my list and what was in the fridge. THis beer got pulled for duty!

I cracked the cap and stuck my nose over the bottle as i always do..... first impressions count!

I thought to myself.......please dont be shit, please dont be shit....... took a sniff....... and it was good!

clean amarillo hops on the nose with some cirtus in there but no real pine in the aroma which i liked.

poured perfectly carbed, great tight head that held to the death, clear as a bell and as i said great dark golden, light amber colour.

The flavour was cascade......strong pine/citrus with some malt that was sweet to hold up the firm bitterness. the hops were a tad grassy but from me....who dislikes american hops.... this was nice.

A well made beer and i found no cardboard flavours. The cascade character in the flavour fatigued my tastebuds and 2 glasses was enough but i would rather drink that then LCPA any day.

cheers

 

[schooey]

Ermm.. a tad embarrassingb, but I drank # 27 as my last beer at about 3.00 am this morning. Sorry Michael, I can't remember too many of the subtleties of it, and I'd probably only be having a half arsed guess anyway (unlike the two previous reviews), but I can say what I do remember is I really enjoyed it. I loved the hops, I have never used Aamarillo, but I can see myself having a play with them somewhere down the track soon.

Apologies again for the lack of quality feedback, but I do remember it being tasty. Thanks for sharing

 

[Trent]

#28 Colin Hansell's I.R.A
Poured a deep copper colour, with a medium head that disappeared quickly. The colour doesnt have the real "redness" I was expecting, and may be a little too dark overall, but it still looks very nice.
Alot of caramel and some toffee in the aroma, just like the guidelines say it should be, no hops (and I am blind to diacetyl, so if it is there, I dont know about it!).
The flavour is an up front caramel sweetness, I guess from a fair slug of crystal, and then some graininess and slight roast in the finish. If I am gonna be picky, I would have to say that it finishes a little sweeter than I would expect in an IRA. Bitterness is moderate, and to be quite honest, the carbonation is a little bit too high, at around med/high. As for suggestions, I would think that lowering the carbonation, and increasing slightly the amount of roast barley in there will help give that characteristic dryness to the finish, and lend some more redness to the colour. The finish is definitely drier than the up front sweetness would suggest, but for mine, not quite dry enough.
Overall, this is an excellent beer, very well brewed, nice and clean, and I finished my 2 glasses in no time at all. Just a few TINY tweaks to the recipe, this would be a sensational example of the style. I am really impressed, so thanks for sharing, Colin.
All the best
Trent

 

[Tony]

8. Marks LCBA brew.

I tried this beer in marks shop a few weeks ago and i liked more then........ my bottle had a bit of a dusty character in both flavour and aroma. THe beer i tried in the shop....... that was great is underneath this character!. the origional beer with sweet slightly spicy hops and sweet malt comes through as an after taste.

Its not strong or offensive........ its very slight but its there and i notice it ever time i taste the beer

Im wondering if i got a bit of a bug in my bottle.

nice beer mate and better than most of the extract brews i ever made.

cheers