Hag Christmas Case Drinkin'

[Sammus]

Drinking this right now:



Not much more I can add to whats been said, top effort mate, cheers!

Sam

 

[Thethirstywench]

Greetings.

I've been seperated from pc for several weeks so I'm now playing catch up on reading the reviews.
I haven't yet cracked a bottle so I'm unable to leave feedback for anyone but now the school holidays are over it's back to the serious business of brewing and tasting again.

Thanks to those who left feedback on No 25, if memory serves me correctly I used Safale 05 yeast and Fuggles hops.

Insight, no I dont treat the water here as it's drinkable from the tap so I didn't bother. Maybe it was an infection???

I'm looking forward to tasting everyone's efforts.

Slainte

Ms TW

 

[schooey]

25. Ms Thirsty Wench - Dark Ale


with all this cool inclement weather we've been having, I thought I'd make a beef pie tonight. Apologies in advance for the sacrilege to dark beer drinkers, but I have never taken to it. So I made a compromise and put a cup of your entry in the meat gravy for the pie, and let the other half warm a bit to have with it.

well, the pie was absolutely delicious and as you'd expect. the beer matched it perfectly. I tasted roast flavours in there, but not too overpowering and neither was the hop finish. My glass and a half was at room temp by the time I drank it and the dusty flavour that Tony mentioned before was present. it didnt hold much of a head for long, but that didn't detract too much from the enjoyability. Carbing was good and I didn't get any metallicy taste in my bottle.

Very enjoyable with the meal, thanks for sharing Ms TW.

Cheers,

Schooey

 

[loftboy]

Thanks for the feedback Goatherder. Not sure how wide spread that infection is. I had two spare bottles and just had one to see what mine was like and it seemed ok. Will be interesting to see who else has bad ones. Guess it was probably bad not to of bottled for over 4 years and then enter beer in a case swap. Sorry Goatherder! Others I'd like to hear from to see if its just a bottle here and there or not.
Lee

19 - Leeboy - American Amber Ale

Lee,

Sorry to say that I've got the huge head & infection/sourness that some of the others have reported. Thanks for the brewing effort anyway.

David.

 

[loftboy]

2. Offline - APA

Now that's what a head should look like ! :beerbang: . Silky, lasting all the way to the bottom of the glass & lacing as it goes. Perfect carbonation.

Oh, and it tasted like a well made APA into the bargain. Well done.

 

[goatherder]

13 - Insight's Smoked Robust Porter

It pours inky black with a one finger tight bubbled tan head. The aroma has a good mix of sweet toffee malts, a hint of choc and some nice esters. The smoke is there too but only just. The beer is sweet and full up front, complex and very malty through the middle with the smoked flavour coming through at the end. It's restrained but there is enough to know it's there. My only criticism is that the beer is a shade too sweet, affecting the drinkability a bit. Apart from that, a very tasty and well made beer. I loved the touch of smoked malt. Great beer thanks Insight.

 

[loftboy]

20. Danny Boy - Scottish Heavy

There are some wonderful chocolate, toasty & caramal flavours in this beer. Low to medium bittering & a creamy head that lasted all the way to the bottom of the glass. The only thing I would change with this beer, is to give us more next time !- 1 stubbie is just not enough.

Great job.

 

[goatherder]

22 - Loftboy's Hahn Premium Clone

Nicely golden in colour with excellent clarity. The head was course and tall but disappeared quickly. The noble hop aroma is noticable and pleasant and there is a hint of underlying malt. The malt flavour is a bit thin in the middle but seems to linger on very well. This was a very well balanced and cleanly made beer thanks Loftboy. It didn't much taste like Hahn Premium to me and that's certainly not a bad thing. Cheers.

 

[Offline]

Hi guys and girls

Just finished my last bottle from the swap
My thanks go to everyone who participated.

Just to answer a couple of questions regarding the hops used in my contribution

For a 23 litre batch

Cascade (6.7%) and Northern Brewer (9.9%)

42gms NB @ 60 min

14gms NB plus 14gms Cascade @ 15mins

14gms NB plus 14gms Cascade @ 5 mins

Dry hop - 28gms of cascade


Offline

 

[goatherder]

25 - Ms Thirsty Wench's dark ale

Very dark brown with a wonderful red hue when held up to the light. The smallish tan head faded quickly. The nose reveals some nice roasted malt aromas, yeast esters and a slight solventy aroma, perhaps from an overly warm ferment. The flavour is easy drinking with some good malts in the middle and a shade too much sweetness on the end. The carbonation is excellent for style. Thanks Ms TW, an easy drinking and enjoyable drop.


7 - Sammus' English Ale

The head stands tall and fine on top of the deep copper coloured beer. There is a little haze but the beer still looks tops. Wow - a big English hop aroma with plenty of caramel maltiness beneath it. There is a good dose of marmalade type hop flavour up front, giving way to caramel, toffee and toasted bread flavours in the middle. The finish is long with the hop flavours lingering. The finish is a little sweet - it could use a shade more bitterness or a lower mash temp to offset this. The carbonation is on the low side which is just perfect, especially as this beauty warms up. Awesome beer Sammus, one of the highlights of the case for me.

 

[goatherder]

20 - Danny Boy's Scottish Heavy

Deep and dark brown with gorgeous red highlights and a small head which lingered well. Sweet malts dominate the aroma with toasty and molasses undertones. The flavour is melanoidin overload, deep and rich with hints of burnt sugar and dark toffee and just an illusion of smokiness. The beer is wonderfully balanced - the bitterness is bang on and the finish is beguilingly dry. Cracking beer thanks Danny Boy, the glass emptied way too soon.

 

[goatherder]

18 - Schmick's Spiced Belgian

Deepish golden with wonderful clarity and a typical Belgian head, this beer is a real picture in my Leffe chalice. I'm having trouble putting my finger on the aroma. I get pears, some malt and a hit of alcohol. There is more to describe but my vocab is failing me. Must be those spices alluded to in the title. Some sweetness up front in the mouth gives way to a long deep caramel malty middle and a crisp dry finish. The 9.4% is wickedly well hidden. I'm glad I'm reviewing the first glass, this bottle will be the end of me tonight. This is great drinking thanks Schmick, the complexity keeps me thinking about it on each mouthful. A great way to finish the case.

 

[Tony]

you must be the only one with beers left mate.

 

[goatherder]

Not after tonight mate. All done now. That's what I get for taking on two cases.

Still got a couple to go out of the NSW case though...

 

[Tony]

i had 2 case swaps but with infecting upwards of 300 liters of beer so far... its all i had to drink.

AND I NEED TO DRINK!

I think i have a leak in my chiller. Im going to pressure test it on the weekend.

cheers

 

[goatherder]

another one? uncool, I hope you didn't spoil that bitter on Sunday.

 

[Weizguy]

you must be the only one with beers left mate.

Nup, I still have a few,as well as some from previous swaps. I found a number 12 in my cellar and reckon that it's a Punter's Schwarzbier. It may not have stood the test of time, but I'm still gonna finish it, as it's still mostly drinkable. That's a testament to a good brew regime, isn't it.

...and I'll dob on the Thirstywench, as I believe that she has a few to finish. She might yet beat me though, but it's not a race, so who cares?

Sammus's beer is in the fridge and the remaining 10 or so are still in the box.

FWIW, I still have a Barry's Robust Porter in the cellar. Really hope it held up well, coz it was superb when younger. I don't often give a beer a rating of superb, but it earned it. It was a "Barry" beer, all right.

Beerz
Les (back to the Schwarz)

 

[Weizguy]

So, before I finish the remains of bottles in my fridge, has anyone else a yeast worthy of mention in this lot?

1 - Les - W3638 (Schneider weisse)
3 - Goatherder - W2001 (Urquell H strain)
4 - David L - Flying Dog Ale
5 - Keith AIPA - WY1028 London Ale
7 - Sammus - WY1968 London ESB Ale
18 - Shmick - Belgian Ardennes
19 - Leeboy - Fat Tyre
26 - Fingolfin - W1332 Northwest Ale
Ninny (6-hop) lager - W2124
11 - Trent (saison) WY3624, or whatever the regular saison yeast is

I have been saving the dregs from the bottles I've sampled and storing in the fridge, in case I want to keep the yeast (and why wouldn't I? ...). Anyway, my fridge is becoming full and I need to do my tidy-up, with your help.

Goatherder, can you tell me more about the 2001 yeast? Commercial descriptions are very limited, and I'm afraid that all the hops in the Imperial pils were enough to obscure the yeast characters for me, so I could not detect any finesse or nuances of the yeast.

Thanks to all, and I'll d my best to post more reviews as I get to them.

Les out

 

[goatherder]

Les, I find 2001 to be nicely balanced, perhaps a little towards the malty side. What I like best about this yeast is how clean it is. Pitch big, pitch cold and give it a good 3 weeks at 10-11 degrees. It comes straight out of primary without any detectable sulphur or diacetyl. I just carb 'em up and start drinking. I'm thinking seriously about making this my sole lager yeast.

 

[Gough]

Les, I find 2001 to be nicely balanced, perhaps a little towards the malty side. What I like best about this yeast is how clean it is. Pitch big, pitch cold and give it a good 3 weeks at 10-11 degrees. It comes straight out of primary without any detectable sulphur or diacetyl. I just carb 'em up and start drinking. I'm thinking seriously about making this my sole lager yeast.

G'day Les,

We are using this yeast at Murray's and Goatherder's description is pretty spot on. The hops come through loud and proud but it gives a good rounded malty finish. Plenty of sulphur during the ferment but it is gone by the end of primary. We condition/lager ours for quite a while though and the beer comes up a treat. 2206 and 2001 are my two lager yeasts of choice depending on the brew FWIW!

Hope all is well down in sunny Medowie/Newie mate. Hope to be down there to say G'day again before long.

Shawn.