Hag Christmas Case Drinkin'

[bigfridge]

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

Hi Lee,

I had your bottle last night and I am afraid that I have to agree with Scott - although my sourness was pronounced. It was very sour and highly carbonated.

There were no other tell-tale signs so I suspect that the bottle had picked up some lactic bugs.

But I will agree with you that bottling is the pits !

Dave

 

[Trent]

#4 bigfridge's AIPA
Wow, quite a lively pourer this one, with a good 1/3 of the glass headstand! The bubbles were quite large to start with, and back off as the beer warms, but it is definitely carbonated on the high side. Quite clear, and a beautiful orange colour, as most good AIPA's are.
The aroma is great, plenty of american citrusy hops, with an almost tropical fruit note there, and some definite yeastiness, plus a touch of grassiness that I find sometimes in highly hopped beers. The grassiness isnt offensive, per se, and I must say it reminds me quite a bit of the aroma of some of the Flying Dog ales I was lucky enough to try recently. From memory, those beers also exhibited an amount of yeastiness, so I can only assume it is a trait of the Flying Dog yeast.
Sweet malt up front, that gives way to the hoppiness, then feint grassiness, then yeastiness, and finally, a firm bitterness that lasts right through and helps dry out the finish. I find the yeastiness a little offputting, but overall this is an excellent example of an AIPA, I just like em a little cleaner (and we all know that 1056 puts out almost NO yeasty characters).
The hops and malt are balanced, and it is decidedly bitter, I have had several commercial examples of this style in the US, and this stands up to many of those. The 7.3% alcohol is well hidden, though by the end of the bottle you can feel it. The substantial maltiness is negated by the dry and bitter finish, and I have drunk this whole bottle WAY too quickly and easily. if I had another in the fridge, I would probably do myself some damage!
I am not super keen on the yeasty characters, but it certainly adds a "je ne sais quoi" to the beer, and I am definitely a fan.
Full bodied, but finishes dry. Hoppy, but well balanced. Yeasty, but it just adds character. The carbonation needs addressing, but that is a very minor complaint.
Mate, without trying to blow smoke up your arse, I would have to say that this is one of the best non commercial beers that I have had in a looong time, thanks very much for sharing.
All the best
Trent

 

[goatherder]

2 - offline's APA

Deep amber in colour, a little haze with a big well lasting head. Lots of lime and grapefruit aromas on the nose with a touch of sweetness behind it. The hop flavours lead, enhanced by the sharp carbonation which is followed by a soft sweet malt. The sweetness falls away to leave a crisp bitter finish, very balanced and dry enough to keep it well drinkable. Thanks offline, this is an exceptionally well made beer, full of flavour and easy to drink. Cheers.

 

[Keith the Beer Guy]

Heads - Irish Red

Can't say it was much of a Irish Red but this is one of the beers I have most enjoyed from the case.


The aroma reminded me of a chocolate milk, hmmm yummy, a little bit of yeasty character and a low fruitiness from hops.

A very light tan head with med/fine bubbles that lasted for ages sitting on an amber/orange hued beer that was quite hazy.

The beer has light chocolate flavour. The bitterness is on the money, it balances the malt well, combining with the creamy mouthfeel to create a finish that is delightful. There is a hint of a grain flavour that in the past I have associated with extended mashing times or weird arse mash profiles, but it is not out of control (I hope someone else can enlighten me - I'd love to know). Balance between hops and malt great. There is a little bit of a yeast character which I can take or leave, if you want to get rid of it, lower your fermentation temperature and rack the beer as soon as the primary fermentation is complete. (On reflection I think I would probably change to a cleaner yeast, I think the beer would be a little easier drinking if you used something cleaner like US-56 or even the wyeast bavarian lager yeast 2206, but if you prefer the complexity of the yeast character leave it there - it's a personal choice thing.)

Medium to med/high carbonation. Body is light but seems a little bit bigger with the carbonation level. Creamy texture makes this beer a pleasure to drink.

I don't know that you would do exceptionally well in a competition as an Irish Red, but this beer is made for enjoying and it's very much my cup of tea.

Thanks,

Keith

 

[Trent]

#26 n00ch's Foreign Export
Obviously poured a nice colour of jet black, was pretty much opaque, and had a nice tan head that lasted... right up until I got stuck into my home made sausage roll and bbq sauce!
Roasty, chocolatey aroma with a hint of licorice, and more than a hint of fruitiness from the esters. Lovely chocolatey roast flavour, with a late note of licorice, medium-high bitterness, and plenty of fruity esters. I finishes a bit dry, but still sweet enough to fall into the tropical spectrum of the style (and allow the fruitiness!).
Quite a tasty beer, I really, really enjoyed it, though you DID manage to make me swallow part of a hop flower, ya *******! Apart from that, it was an excellent beer, thanks for sharing.
All the best
Trent

 

[Sammus]

though you DID manage to make me swallow part of a hop flower, ya *******!

did you get a buzz from it? Recently I had stored some hops in the fridge next to the butter - I used the resultant hop smelling butter to cook before heading to uni once and ended up with a pretty strong buzz that kicked in about 1-2hrs later, and lasted for about 2 or 3 hours. Coulda been a coincidence I guess, it made me move the hops though, I couldn't work!

 

[goatherder]

did you get a buzz from it? Recently I had stored some hops in the fridge next to the butter - I used the resultant hop smelling butter to cook before heading to uni once and ended up with a pretty strong buzz that kicked in about 1-2hrs later, and lasted for about 2 or 3 hours. Coulda been a coincidence I guess, it made me move the hops though, I couldn't work!

Sure they were hops Sam?

 

[Trent]

#19 Leeboy's AAA
Hate to say it mate, but my bottle was in accordance with the other 2 reports. The colour was absolutely beautiful, but the aroma was phenolic and sour, as was the flavour. Crystal clear it was too, but heavily overcarbed. No need to tell ya where to be more careful with sanitation, as I am sure that ya already know. I look forward to the next case's contribution from you though.
All the best
Trent

 

[n00ch]

Sorry about the hop flower Trent, must eat your greens though. However...that beer was for the NSW Xmas case swap beer not the HAG one

I know the AIPA I put in the HAG swap was dark but I was aiming for something a little less then jet black :lol:

Cheers

 

[bigfridge]

Hi Trent,

Thanks for your kind words - the smoke feels rather nice !

Needless to say I agree with pretty much all that you have said. It was my first attempt at the style based on trying about 20 different IPA's when I was in Denver last year.

As a first attempt it does need some fine tuning, particularly as it was my first:

- batch of AIPA
- use of the Flying Dog yeast
- dry hopping with Columbus (aka Tomahawk) hops

The carbonation issue is a bit of a surprise, but on the other hand it isn't. The Flying Dog yeast took off like a rocket in the starter and then took 3 weeks to chew through the gravity. It was still 1.018 a week before the swap and slowly dropped a point per day to be bottled at 1.012.

I bulk primed on the light side as I was worried that it still had a few points to go. I tried a bottled at the end of Dec and the carbonation was fine so I relaxed a little about sending out 'bottle bombs'.

Looks like your bottle either got more than its fair share of the priming or it has continued to work in the bottle.

For those interested in such details the recipe was:

86% Maris Otter
10% IMC Munich
4% Crystal Malt - 80L (150 EBC)

Bittered to 68 IBU's with:

Horizon (60 min) 47 IBU
Goldings, East Kent (10 min) 5 IBU
Columbus (Tomahawk) (10 min) 10 IBU
Santiam (10 min) 6 IBU

120.00 gm Columbus (Tomahawk) Dry Hopped for the 50 litre batch


Thanks again for the detailed feedback,

Dave

#4 bigfridge's AIPA
Wow, quite a lively pourer this one, with a good 1/3 of the glass headstand! The bubbles were quite large to start with, and back off as the beer warms, but it is definitely carbonated on the high side. Quite clear, and a beautiful orange colour, as most good AIPA's are.
The aroma is great, plenty of american citrusy hops, with an almost tropical fruit note there, and some definite yeastiness, plus a touch of grassiness that I find sometimes in highly hopped beers. The grassiness isnt offensive, per se, and I must say it reminds me quite a bit of the aroma of some of the Flying Dog ales I was lucky enough to try recently. From memory, those beers also exhibited an amount of yeastiness, so I can only assume it is a trait of the Flying Dog yeast.
Sweet malt up front, that gives way to the hoppiness, then feint grassiness, then yeastiness, and finally, a firm bitterness that lasts right through and helps dry out the finish. I find the yeastiness a little offputting, but overall this is an excellent example of an AIPA, I just like em a little cleaner (and we all know that 1056 puts out almost NO yeasty characters).
The hops and malt are balanced, and it is decidedly bitter, I have had several commercial examples of this style in the US, and this stands up to many of those. The 7.3% alcohol is well hidden, though by the end of the bottle you can feel it. The substantial maltiness is negated by the dry and bitter finish, and I have drunk this whole bottle WAY too quickly and easily. if I had another in the fridge, I would probably do myself some damage!
I am not super keen on the yeasty characters, but it certainly adds a "je ne sais quoi" to the beer, and I am definitely a fan.
Full bodied, but finishes dry. Hoppy, but well balanced. Yeasty, but it just adds character. The carbonation needs addressing, but that is a very minor complaint.
Mate, without trying to blow smoke up your arse, I would have to say that this is one of the best non commercial beers that I have had in a looong time, thanks very much for sharing.
All the best
Trent

 

[goatherder]

4 - bigfridge's IPA

Plenty of carbonation in this one, it took two pours to get it into the glass. The head started a monsterous large bubbled affair but pulled back to a one finger tight foam with good lacing. The beer was a nice deep amber colour with some haze, to be expected in the style. There is a wonderful hop aroma - not your classic cascade number. There's some lemon citrus notes along with some softer floral aromas. The hop flavour really stands out - it is the first thing that you taste and lasts long into the finish. I struggle to get this kind of flavour in my beers. A sweet caramel malt flavour emerges in the mid palate and complements the hops perfectly. I get a hint of dusty yeast in the finish, not too distracting though. The bitterness is firm but not harsh and well balances the malt sweetness which emerges towards the finish. I hope you like smoke David, 'cause there is some more coming from this direction. A magnificent beer, thank you.

edit: I just poured the end of the bottle into the glass - no hazier than the rest of the bottle! This yeast sticks to the bottom of the bottle like tar.

 

[goatherder]

27 - michael mosely's IPA

I lost the review I wrote of this one the other night so I'm going from memory. The colour was a deepish amber and the clarity was quite good. The head poured OK but didn't stick around. There was some hop aroma - typical citrus and fruit of the american hops. My wife reckoned she got lychees, but she's a little better at "name the aroma" than I am. The hop flavour was mild up front and was followed by some caramel malts. There was a weird metallic type tasted in the finish which didn't quite fit. I also got some yeast character towards the back end - quite a dusty type of taste. Which yeast did you use? The carbonation could have been a little higher which might have helped the head retention. The bitterness was on the low side for style but still quite balanced. Overall, not a bad attempt at the style and worth a try. Thanks for contributing Michael.

 

[Trent]

#8 Mark's LCBA Clone
This beer poured a magnificent gold colour, and was crystal clear. The carbonation was fairly high, and it had a nice white head. Sweet malt on the nose, reminsent of a kit, but doesnt have that real kit twang, along with some lemony hops and a bit of yeast character.
Quite a light bodied beer, with medium bitterness, sweet malt and lemony hops make a moderate appearance. I cannot recall tryinbg LCBA except at Bitter and Twisted, (memory not so great from there!) so I cannot comment on it's likeness, but I have to say that this is quite a nice beer. It has an easy drinkability to it, light body and flavour. I can pick that it had a kit used as the base, but obviously has something better than just sugar put in there, and you have used a good yeast.
While it isnt my favourite beer of the case so far, I think that it will be the standout extract based beer, it is super clean, well made and flavourful - but mainly, it is going to be a fantastic beer for your customers to make easily, from a kit, and with next to no fuss. If I had known you could make beers of this quality when I was brewing extract, I may not have gone all grain!
That extract twang comes out a bit more (to me at least) as it warms, but I cannot really fault this beer, excellent work, Mark.
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

Mitch
Sorry I got the review in the wrong thread :lol: I killed myself laughing when I read your post - the mrs didnt find it so funny though. I guess jokes arent so funny when ya have to explain them, and ESPECIALLY not when they disturb her from survivor! I will post it in the NSW thread.
Sammus, I too, think that those hops may have been something else. Your housemate didnt cook them in the said butter? Was it green? Thankfully, n00ch only left me with a little hop flower to swallow, so there was no buzz going - at least, not from the hops. I'm not inviting you to use my house fridge though, goodness knows how the mrs would react to hop butter :lol:
David, glad you liked the review, and am even gladder that goatherder came to the same conclusion, lest I be accused of favouritism!
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

#2 Offline's APA
Very highly carbonated, I got almost half beer and half foam with a careful pour. I still have 4 fingers of head, and it doesn't look like abating
Nice deep orange-y colour that is slightly hazy. I get citrusy hops and yeast on the nose, with some carmael like malts.
Flavour is definitely yeasty, almost as if the yeast were under stress (and possibly didnt finish fermenting fully before bottling?) There is some caramel malt showing through, and also some american hops, but for me it is predominantly the yeast character, which I think I am at least reasonably sensitive to.
Bitterness is medium, and it finishes kinda sweet, another thing that makes me think maybe it didnt fully attenuate out.
The colour is great, and you have obviously thrown plenty of hops at it in the back end, but I think that there has been some kind of fermentation problem that is detracting from the beer overall. It is clean, and not infected at all, and far from undrinkable, it is just not quite as good as it could be.
I have no idea of your brewing experience and methods, but everything is obviously fairly sound, I would just look at pitching rates and yeast health, as in my opinion that is where the beer has been let down. Actually, as it warms, there is almost a feint phenolic taste right at the back of the palate. All things I think plenty of healthy yeast will fix.
Thanks for sharing
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

Heyyyyy
It looks like I am now over 1000 posts And trying to calcliate just when it was done, I think it was my misdirected post about n00ch making me swallow part of a hop flower! Oooohhh, you are never gonna live it down now :lol:
Trent
PS How the hell did I make 1000 posts? Surely what i have to say cant be that important that I force it onto the world 1000 times?!? Sincere aplogies :lol:
edit spelling

 

[goatherder]

hey, me too Trent! I only just noticed when you mentioned it. I suppose it's easy to rack them up with meaningless contributions like this one...

 

[puffer_pics]

19 - Leeboy's American Amber Ale


Was very clear in the bottle before it was open once opened it was a super hazy beer probably from the stirring up of the yeast on the bottom. I opened the bottle and lost about of the bottle from overflowing from being over carbonated. Rough head held for the duration of the glass I poured.
Citrusy and a background acidic aroma sort of like in a Belgian beer.
Fairly dry on the palette light bodied, light copper in colour. I suspect another beer with an infection.
Looking forward to the next beer I try of yours !

Cheers Colin

 

[m_peve]

12 - Peve - American Pale (Golden)

Been very disorganised with Xmas. Resurfacing now. Mine is ready to drink.

Goatherder - Yes, same recipe. Different batch.

Pete

 

[///]

Yep - had the last bottle of Ninny on Friday, would move on this beer now. Now whilst you have all been very kind no need for smoke on this one.... the 6 different hops in the end make for an 'interesting' outcome...

Scotty