NSW 2013 Xmas in July Case Swap - tasting thread

[jonw]

Picking a couple of these out to have while watching the game tonight...

1. Cortez the Killer 100% Heavily Peated Distilling Malt Strong Ale ~7% - Ready

2. matho AIPA 8.5% wyeast 1272 bottled 25/3/2013
3. grantw Theakston Old Peculier 5.8% bottled 28/06/13 leave till August 11.
4. black_labb Mystery!
5. barls honey bitter ~4% bottled 28/06/13 leave for a month after bottling.
6. RexBanner farmhouse ale 6.7% from memory (can't access computer right now) & it's ready to go.
7. Josh Belgian Dubbel - 6.2% - 90% JW Pils 10% Homemade dark candi - Wyeast 3787 - Bottled 28/6 - Wait till August
8. Nick R Aconcagua Ale - 4.7% - Quinoa and Maize (and barley) ale w/ Saaz. Bottled 23/6 - I'd give it a month in this weather!
9. The Village Idiot Was aiming for a Bock, not sure how good my aim is. Might be a clean tasting Brown Ale???
10. pimpsqueak Doppeldunkelweizenbock 8.3% Should hopefully be ready to drink before the end of winter
11. ScottC English bitter 4.9% - Was supposed to be a Worthington Whiteshield IPA clone. Ready end of July.
12. nifty - Some sort of Irish Red (ish brown) Ale - 5% Wyeast 1084 - Bottled 23/06/2013
13. Fatgodzilla (unlucky 13)
14. JonW Belgian Blonde Ale. 7% WY3787. Kegged 11/5, CPBFing this morning. RTD.
15. Gulpa. Belgian Strong Ale. 7.5%. Wy1388. Bottled 23/6, probably needs a month.
16. Ester Trub Belgian Dark Strong 8.2% WY #3655PC Belgian Schelde Ale. Bottled 30/4. Best left until end of August or later. Let this one warm up before drinking, 8c or higher.
17.
18. homebrewkid
19. monkeybusiness Southern English Brown 3.5%ABV. Bottled 23 June. Juniper added late to the boil for something different but went light on so not sure if you'll be able to pick it.
20. Goldenchild Hoping to bottle a 6ish% choc/oat stout if it drops a few more points by saturday. If not will be Belgian wit or a red ipa from the keg
21. Littlejohn Oak smoked Porter 4.7% - Bottled 02 Jun - good to go

 

[Gulpa]

2. Matho AIPA

Thought I would start here.

Lovely gold with fluffy head. Clear. Aroma is biscuity malt with some resiny hops there too. Flavour matches this, with a very smooth bitterness that persists, quite spicy. Clean ferment. Great balance with very dry finish. Hard to believe there is 8.5% in there, its probably helping the spicy finish. Technically I'd say it's under hopped for the style but that doesnt really matter in the actual drinking bit because it's a great beer to drink. Dangerously sessionable.

Great start to the case. Thanks for sharing Matho.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Gulpa]

14. JonW Belgian Blonde Ale

Pale gold. Bright. Smallish head falls away. Aroma is a pleasant blend of light sweet malt, slightly toffee, fruity esters, light phenols. Flavour follows aroma. Well balanced. Everything is in place. Soft bitterness keeps everything together with an off dry finish. Pretty much nailed the style as far as I can tell.

Another great beer. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers
Andrew.

 

[matho]

Thanks Andrew,
21. Littlejohn Oak smoked Porter 4.7% - Bottled 02 Jun - good to go

A very dark rich red colour with a small tan colour head, faint smoke aroma that is hiding behind the rich malt smell. The flavour is malty rich with a hint of roast, the smoke flavour showing itself when the beer warmed up a bit.

A very nice beer thanks for sharing Littlejohn

cheers

steve

 

[Goldenchild]

Having just moved to Sydney and not having my kegs with me I have opened a few bottles to date.

2. matho AIPA 8.5%
Nice balanced beer for the abv mate.
Aroma hops may have faded a bit.
Similar to some of the American iipas I have had that haven't been the freshest by the time they got here.
Still a mighty fine drop and could drink more of this very happily.

6. RexBanner farmhouse ale 6.7%
On this one as I type.
Taste slightly of alcohol and saisony esters. Surprising actually as I haven't found that with the farmhouse yeasts myself.
What strain did you use mate?
Very nice anyway. Sad to see the bottom of the glass !

14. JonW Belgian Blonde Ale. 7% WY3787.
Really enjoyed this one.
Very nice typical Belgian style blonde beer.
Much enjoyable mate. Assuming this was a clone brew? Its up there with leffe anyway! Wish I had another bottle.

 

[jonw]

21. Littlejohn Oak smoked Porter 4.7% - Bottled 02 Jun - good to go

I had this in front of a roaring log fire last night. Just the thing. Very dark red - almost black. I didn't get smoke in the aroma, but I did get the big chocolatey/malty aroma. The smoke is subtle in the flavour, along with rich malt, and I got quite a "berry" fruit flavour. Nicely balanced. I really enjoyed this - I must make some more porters. Very cool that it's smoked with oak from the family farm. Thanks.

Gulpa, Goldenchild: My Belgian Blonde is straight out of Brewing Classic Styles, as far as I remember. Glad you both liked it.

Jon

 

[white.grant]

No. 14 JonW Belgium Blonde

Opens with a definite fsst and pours light straw and brilliantly clear (quite impressive that) with a moderate white foam receding. Gentle pear and apple sauce, light bready malt on the aroma. Tastebuds enjoy the malty upfront taste then some yeast phenols add complexity, a bit more pear, some simple sugar and various tasty esters heading towards a dry finish. Carb is low, medium mouthfeel, no alcohol apparent (though it's there!).

Nice beer JonW and quite delicious. The abv is very well hidden and I enjoyed every drop.

cheers

 

[pimpsqueak]

If you've kept the bottles warm/ish then my beer (#10) is carbed. It may benefit from a bit more time to mature, but seems reasonable if not a touch boozy.


1. Cortez the Killer 100% Heavily Peated Distilling Malt Strong Ale ~7% - Ready

2. matho AIPA 8.5% wyeast 1272 bottled 25/3/2013
3. grantw Theakston Old Peculier 5.8% bottled 28/06/13 leave till August 11.
4. black_labb Mystery!
5. barls honey bitter ~4% bottled 28/06/13 leave for a month after bottling.
6. RexBanner farmhouse ale 6.7% from memory (can't access computer right now) & it's ready to go.
7. Josh Belgian Dubbel - 6.2% - 90% JW Pils 10% Homemade dark candi - Wyeast 3787 - Bottled 28/6 - Wait till August
8. Nick R Aconcagua Ale - 4.7% - Quinoa and Maize (and barley) ale w/ Saaz. Bottled 23/6 - I'd give it a month in this weather!
9. The Village Idiot Was aiming for a Bock, not sure how good my aim is. Might be a clean tasting Brown Ale???
10. pimpsqueak Doppeldunkelweizenbock 8.3% Ready but may benefit from a bit more time to mature.
11. ScottC English bitter 4.9% - Was supposed to be a Worthington Whiteshield IPA clone. Ready end of July.
12. nifty - Some sort of Irish Red (ish brown) Ale - 5% Wyeast 1084 - Bottled 23/06/2013
14. JonW Belgian Blonde Ale. 7% WY3787. Kegged 11/5, CPBFing this morning. RTD.
15. Gulpa. Belgian Strong Ale. 7.5%. Wy1388. Bottled 23/6, probably needs a month.
16. Ester Trub Belgian Dark Strong 8.2% WY #3655PC Belgian Schelde Ale. Bottled 30/4. Best left until end of August or later. Let this one warm up before drinking, 8c or higher.
19. monkeybusiness Southern English Brown 3.5%ABV. Bottled 23 June. Juniper added late to the boil for something different but went light on so not sure if you'll be able to pick it.
20. Goldenchild Hoping to bottle a 6ish% choc/oat stout if it drops a few more points by saturday. If not will be Belgian wit or a red ipa from the keg
21. Littlejohn Oak smoked Porter 4.7% - Bottled 02 Jun - good to go

 

[white.grant]

As it happens had a taste of mine tonight (#3) and it is ready to go too.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

That's peculier...

 

[Gulpa]

6. RexBanner Farmhouse Ale

Hazy pale gold with a thin dense stand of foam. Aroma is sweet malt with a hint of Belgian phenols. Flavour is really about the sweet malts, almost like a blonde but the bitterness is a touch firmer. Some eatery fruits are there but the finish is all peppery spice. Nice beer. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[technobabble66]

Hey Grantw, or anyone else that's tried his Old Peculier

How did it end up? Is your batch kinda similar or very similar to the original TOP?

Could you please post the recipe, or PM it to me?

I'm looking at scraping together a recipe for it from the many varied versions of it here & elsewhere on the net...treacle/no treacle...etc

Thanks!

 

[white.grant]

Hey Techno ,

I use the recipe out of wheelers Brew your own British real ale. Not near my puter with the recipe at the moment, but its pretty straightforward and doesnt include treacle. I've only had pretty poorly travelled examples of the real TOP so can't claim to be able to compare. It's a tasty stout in any case.

 

[technobabble66]

Thanks,
Yep, got his recipes. I'm assuming you've done his more recent version.

It's a tasty stout in any case.

Yeah, that's the problem - all the recipes i've found for it look pretty damn tasty. I've just gotta decide which one to try first! :lol:

 

[white.grant]

Yep its from the latest edition, and I recommend you just brew one and enjoy

 

[jonw]

Hey Grantw, or anyone else that's tried his Old Peculier

How did it end up? Is your batch kinda similar or very similar to the original TOP?

Could you please post the recipe, or PM it to me?

I'm looking at scraping together a recipe for it from the many varied versions of it here & elsewhere on the net...treacle/no treacle...etc

Thanks!

I've got a TOP in the fridge, so I'll do a side by side this weekend. The commercial example's been lovingly cared for by Dan Murphy's, so I'm expecting a few differences.

 

[technobabble66]

Thanks,
Yep, got his recipes. I'm assuming you've done his more recent version.

Nope. I'm an idiot.
I thought i had his recent one (2009?) but i've just got the grain bill for it. Could you post or PM me the recipe?
Also, did you check out Stephen Jenvey's recipe on British Brewer when deciding which one to follow?
Link:
http://www.britishbrewer.com/2010/02/recipe-theakston-old-peculier-version-1/

Apologies for dragging this :icon_offtopic:

@ jonw: Definitely love to hear how your tasting goes

 

[matho]

14. JonW Belgian Blonde Ale. 7% WY3787. Kegged 11/5, CPBFing this morning. RTD.

a very nice beer, exactly what I would expect from a belgian blonde except that it was slightly under carbed for a belgian blonde.
I really enjoyed this beer and I thank you Jon for sharing.

cheers steve

 

[Gulpa]

4. Black_labb Mystery


Rocky head that falls back to a small tight head. Hazy pale copper. Aroma is caramel malts, quite fruity, a of herbal hop, it has an "englishness" about the hop character. Flavour is sweet malts, the fruity character come across as dark fruits/berry. Carb is quite spritzy, bitterness is about right. Enjoying this one, thanks black_labb.

I'm going to come out and say the mystery is an English bitter with brambling cross . There are hints that the alc % is higher so But doesn't seem to have the body of an esb. Special bitter?

Cheers
Andrew

 

[black_labb]

Was a Belgian pale, from memory it uses all saaz but it may have been bittered with styrian goldings . I've updated the thread about a week ago to identify it. I used duvel yeast for the first time on it so I wasn't sure what to expect from the yeast character.

Glad you liked it and good to hear how it's turned out, I'm in the middle of Siberia and can't drink my beer or really find much worth drinking anyway.