Nsw Special Case Swap Tasting Thread

[white.grant]

I had the pleasure of drinking -

9. Cortez The Killer - Hop Rod Rye Clone - Rye IPA - ~7% last night.

Very nice, thanks.

cheers

nifty

Snap

No. 9 CTK's Hop Rod IPA

27.3.10

Subtle PSS on opening pours clear light copper into my nonic pint dressing it with a white fluffy head, persisting.. (Nice lacing BTW)
aroma of citrus hops, touch o stone fruit and some sweet malt. Soft mouthfeel and lowish carb, (I sense water adjustments) bringing out the hop flavours on the front palate - ripe stonefruit, balanced by sweet malt and prominent bitterness on the finish.

Loverly beer CtK really enjoyed it.

cheers

grant

 

[Gulpa]

26. floppinab - Belgian Strong Dark - ~9% - Cap has "1209" on it WLP830

Pours ruby with little head. Aroma is dominated by the yeast. Low carb. Flavour is sweet malt, fruity esters are forward with subtle spice. As it warms, biscuity malt and spices come up more with a hint of hops. Medium body, appears sweet but finish is dry enough. Low bitterness. Alcohol is very well hidden. Nice beer, thanks Gav.

Dont drink this beer too cold.


Cheers
Andrew.

 

[white.grant]

No.6 Gulpa's American IPA

Big psst on opening and pours clear and light copper into my nonic pint, topped by a big fluffy white head. Nice hit of hops on the nose, floral and enticing. Down the hatch and,I find bright carbonation complementing hop flavours and accentuating bitterness. Balance is more towards hop though sweet malt makes an appearance before leading you to the satisfyingly bitter finish.

Lovely beer Gulpa, really enjoyed it.

cheers

grant

 

[Gulpa]

9. Cortez The Killer - Hop Rod Rye Clone - Rye IPA - ~7%

This seemed like a good choice after a hard day in the garden.

Pours clear copper with a nice dense head. Head falls away but persists and laces the glass. Aroma of light caramel and biscuity malts. Flavour is malt driven and follows the aroma. There is good complexity here, Im not that familiar with Rye but I think Im getting it. The hops are there in the finish with the bitterness building with each mouthful. Really nice beer, thanks Gino.

Cheers
Andrew.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

25. Bizier - Belgian Blonde Ale

Medium to high carb. Deep gold into a St Bernardus chalice. Hazy. Lovely phenolics, spicy, stone fruits. Some awesome belgian funk. Which yeast is this? Gotta get some in my library.

Sweet initially, finishing slightly dry. Some warmth. Great balance, lots of funk and interesting complexity.

This is one of the best belgian blondes I've had in a long time. Hard to pick from a commercial example. Most awesome.

Cheers

 

[Bizier]

Which yeast is this? Gotta get some in my library.

Wyeast 3655-PC Belgian Schelde Ale Yeast - Grab it quick! - I found it very workable and encouraging for my first go at Belgian yeast, though I did get anautolysis character that developed quickly with a few days warm maturation trying to accelarate the dry finish. I also an over pitch on my second batch was not nearly as satisfying in the ester dept. - but a good yeast overall.

Thanks for the positive review Cortez.

 

[floppinab]

26. floppinab - Belgian Strong Dark - ~9% - Cap has "1209" on it WLP830

Pours ruby with little head. Aroma is dominated by the yeast. Low carb. Flavour is sweet malt, fruity esters are forward with subtle spice. As it warms, biscuity malt and spices come up more with a hint of hops. Medium body, appears sweet but finish is dry enough. Low bitterness. Alcohol is very well hidden. Nice beer, thanks Gav.

Dont drink this beer too cold.


Cheers
Andrew.

Thanks Andrew, I'm reasonably happy with it as a first attempt. Missed the carb a bit, probably needed a bit of fresh yeast in the bottle. And although I know many Belgians have a high ferment temp I think the combo of that and this yeast has pushed the yeasty phenols out a bit too hard. Maybe a different yeast might've handled the higher temps a bit better.

As you have stated, it's great at around 15 odd degrees with some chocolate, definately not one to have cold.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Why not.

Perhaps loosen the Imperial Stout to Big Dark Beer. Im keen to do an Imperial US Porter (Gonzo kind of thing).

Cheers
Andrew.

Great idea. Anyone else want to suggest any variations on the theme?

Another plus .. start brewing these big beers now and look at optimal(?) condition for State / National championships later in the year.

 

[nifty]

I had 10. Josh - Imperial IPA last night.

Very nice, thank you very much.

cheers

nifty

 

[Josh]

Great idea. Anyone else want to suggest any variations on the theme?

Another plus .. start brewing these big beers now and look at optimal(?) condition for State / National championships later in the year.

Bock

 

[barls]

big arse braggot like the dark one i had at the swap, im fairly sure i wont have any complaints apart from is there anymore

 

[DiscoStu]

Thought I'd kick off the weekend with a IIPA

No. 3 Discostu's Imperial India Pale Ale

26.3.10

Opens with a psst and glugs into my nonic, darkish amber/copper, producing a proud offwhite foam stand and resinous haze (mmm resiny!), Subtle hop aroma (c hops?) plus sweet malt greets the nose and then you sip, Oh yeah, bitter, very definite bitterness here and then it kind of smooths out as the sweet malt balances against the hops, then comes some relaxing alcohol warmth, smooth not harsh, on the back of a nice soft mouthfeel before the hops reassert themselves for a mouth puckering finish.

I'll just have me another sip of this.....

Warming in the glass (and it be hot hereabouts this evening) the hop aroma increases adding to the enjoyment.

Stu, this is a great beer, well done.

cheers

grant

Thanks Grant, very happy with how this one turned out. Nice to put something in a swap that I'm really quite proud of.

Hops were all NZ varieties, a mixture of Southern Cross, Pacific Gem and DSaaz, ran out of DSaaz.

Cheers

Stu

 

[Josh]

4. Stuster - Rye IPA - 6.8% - Wyeast 1450, Amarillo & Centennial - Ready to drink.

Enjoying this beer with a spot of Family Guy. My bottle was perfectly carbed, no bombs here either.

The high, but appropriate carbonation lifts the fruity hops right up into my nose. Little bit of sweetness up front, followed by the citrus mainly grapefruit hops and rye spiciness. Finishes with a hefty bitterness and nice and dry. I've knocked over the whole longneck in no time...

:icon_offtopic: I'm gonna know about it after my bottle of IIPA which is already cracked up on the bench. Really felt like a couple of big beers tonight after dealing with incompetence and laziness at work. Thankful for 4 days off starting now!

 

[Bizier]

9. Cortez The Killer - Hop Rod Rye Clone - Rye IPA - ~7%

Well, I will preface by saying the dented-up cap made me wonder how you capped this thing (or what it had been subjected to afterward).

Beer pours a lovely deep warm brown. I am unsure if I wanted to see it, but I thought the look of the pour even looked viscous, perhaps just psychosomatic. Nearly dead flat, sorry.

Aroma is light floral, perfumey hops with very pleasant sweet pastry notes (I am thinking mulberry pie or something) plus a little dark fruit.

On sipping, I am very glad you got the FG down, because this is very nice, even with 0.25 vol carb. I get lots of toasty and some biscuity malt mixing with the light fruity and spicy hops. It finishes clean and dry, and makes me want more.

This is an interesting beer, and I will testify that it would do well on cask, great work mate.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

4. Stuster - Rye IPA

Pours with large white head. Which drops to a 1/2 inch. Deep amber, clear. Spicy, citrus and pine on the nose, soft malty background.

Smooth mouth feel, definite rye notes combining lovely hop flavours with a dry finish. Bitterness well balanced with upfront sweetness. This beer goes down exceptionally easy.

Most awesome. Please send crateful at once.

Cheers

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Well, I will preface by saying the dented-up cap made me wonder how you capped this thing (or what it had been subjected to afterward).

Nearly dead flat, sorry.

I apologise about the carb. 5g went in - but perhaps it wasn't retained.

I thinks its time I got a proper capper.

Glad you enjoyed it though.

Cheers

 

[gruntus]

4. Stuster - Rye IPA

Pours with large white head. Which drops to a 1/2 inch. Deep amber, clear. Spicy, citrus and pine on the nose, soft malty background.

Smooth mouth feel, definite rye notes combining lovely hop flavours with a dry finish. Bitterness well balanced with upfront sweetness. This beer goes down exceptionally easy.

Most awesome. Please send crateful at once.

Cheers

+1

Just enjoying this one as well. Great beer Stuster....wanna share the recipe.

 

[Stuster]

No problem, Gruntus. Really relieved that it's not going pop for anybody except Bizier.

Batch Size: 25.00 L
Boil Size: 29.59 L
Estimated OG: 1.069 SG
Estimated Color: 13.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 56.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 kg Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) Grain 68.03 %
1.50 kg Rye Malt (Weyermann) (5.9 EBC) Grain 20.41 %
0.20 kg Carahell (Weyermann) (25.6 EBC) Grain 2.72 %
0.15 kg Medium crystal (145.0 EBC) Grain 2.04 %
55.00 gm Horizon [10.90 %] (60 min) Hops 51.0 IBU
10.00 gm Amarillo [8.20 %] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
10.00 gm Amarillo [8.20 %] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
20.00 gm Centennial [7.20 %] (5 min) Hops 2.4 IBU
20.00 gm Centennial [7.20 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
20.00 gm Centennial [7.20 %] (0 min) Hops -
20.00 gm Amarillo [8.20 %] (0 min) Hops -
20.00 gm Amarillo [8.20 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
0.50 kg Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (2.0 EBC) Sugar 6.80 %
1 Pkgs Denny's Favourite (Wyeast Labs #1450) Yeast-Ale

 

[floppinab]

9. Cortez The Killer - Hop Rod Rye Clone - Rye IPA - ~7%

Well, I will preface by saying the dented-up cap made me wonder how you capped this thing (or what it had been subjected to afterward).

Beer pours a lovely deep warm brown. I am unsure if I wanted to see it, but I thought the look of the pour even looked viscous, perhaps just psychosomatic. Nearly dead flat, sorry.

Aroma is light floral, perfumey hops with very pleasant sweet pastry notes (I am thinking mulberry pie or something) plus a little dark fruit.

On sipping, I am very glad you got the FG down, because this is very nice, even with 0.25 vol carb. I get lots of toasty and some biscuity malt mixing with the light fruity and spicy hops. It finishes clean and dry, and makes me want more.

This is an interesting beer, and I will testify that it would do well on cask, great work mate.

Just drinking this now, hard to add anymore than this but the dry finish really complements the pleasantly high bitterness. Love beers like this, pours almost like honey but finish quite dry. Also poured a big rocky fluffy head that really hang around.

Nicely done.

 

[Muggus]

Apparently i'm on holidays already, time to get cracking with some of these beers...

Beer: Monkeybusiness - RIS
Date: 1st April 2010
Details: Malt shovel bottle (345ml?) gold cap 29/RIS - 9.6% bottled Feb 2010
Sampling Notes:
Served lightly chilled in pint glass.

Light psst on opening. Pours a pretty much opaque black body. Looks reasonably bubbly, only a slight tan ring hangs around on top

Restrained aroma, even with a bit of warmth; I get some caramels, coffee grinds, soy and slight vegetative grain aromas in there.

Moderate carbonation, medium bodied much less than youd expect from such a potent beer, texture starts off somewhat syrupy yet finishes dry and astringent.

Sweet upfront; caramel and sweetened black coffee; doesnt last until a big dose of bitter cocoa, unrefined cereals, soy and what Id describe as oyster-like flavour. Bitterness is high; finish is phenolic with slight autolytic yeast character, hugely lingering with astringency and a note of espresso coffee. Some alcohol warmth on the way down.

Cant say Ive ever come across a stout like this. Its hard to get past the abrasiveness (too much roasted grain?) of it at first, but once my mouth became accustomed to it and the beer had warmed up, I found the flavour to have layers of complexity unlike anything Ive tried. I managed to get 3 bottles of these, might see how one goes in a few years time. Cheers MB!