Nsw Xmas Case 2006 - Consumption

[Gerard_M]

Unfortunately the below entry has become a bottle bomb as Shonky's case was sitting here awaiting delivery.


27. Philmac - American Brown - leave until at least 21/12 - Wyeast 1056

Cheers
Gerard

 

[crozdog]

I cracked Duffs AIPA last night. Your right about the bitterness! It certainly was an educational experience for some of my taste buds. :beerbang: Great colour & aroma with lots of carbonation. I enjoyed it but don't think I could drink much more than 1 bottle in a sitting. Maybe that's cause I haven't had much exposure to this style.

Beers

Philip

Updated list
1. Duff - American IPA - WLP029 - Ready to drink.
2. Stuster - American Rye- ready to drink - WLP320
3. goatherder - APA, Wyeast 1056, Bottled 11/11. Drink sooner rather than later.
4. Trent - Nut Brown Ale - Ready to Drink. Wyeast 1028.
5. DJR - Klsch - ready to drink. WLP029/US56 mix.
6. Pint of Lager - Dunkel - ready to drink, give it some quiet time - yeast WL800
7. Doc - Saison - ready to drink - WLP565
8. Homebrewworld.com - APA....Bottled 1/12/06, allow for carbonation time then drink it !
9. Chilled
10. Keith - Raspberry Wheat Beer (Kit and Kilo, Wyeast 3068 + US56, Drink Now)
11. n00ch - Hefeweizen - Ready to drink after 15/12/2006 - Wyeast 3942.
12. mikem108-Wood aged Smokey Choc Porter- Nottingham Ale for primary- and muntons gold for bottling- Ready To drink from now on. 11/12/06
13. Beer Slayer- APA Bottled 1/12/06 ready to drink 23/12/06
14. Linz - Belgian Wit bier (like No16)-T-58-Just finished bottling it, so after 14/12/06 get into it !!
15. Shonky - Quaffing Cricket Beer - good to drink now
16. Stephen - Hoegarden White - Will be ready to drink by the time of the swap. Yeast is cultured from Hoegarden Grand Cru. I've used this before and seems to work very well,
17. Hopsta - Brown Porter - Nottingham yeast - Best give it till after 08/12/06 to ensure enough carbonation.
18. Weizguy - Kmas Kase Weizen (Seth Weizen #2) - contains 3rd gen Weizen yeast (W3068). Warner (Classic Beer Series - German Wheat beer) suggests that you serve it at 8-10C. Thought that I might bottle without removing the weizen yeast, this time. Next time, I'll prob bottle with W34/70, after a few weeks of cc'ing. More? Go to my Spruik your Beer thread.
19. Thommo - Bitter, bottled 30/11/2006. Leave it two weeks. - US56
20. Barramundi - Wanna Be Vintage Ale-S04 Yeast ,bottled 11th November should be good to go when the sediment settles again ive tested it and it seems pretty good to me ... but as with most home brews time is always a good thing ..
21. Barry - Munich Dunkel
22. Berto - English Special Bitter, Bottled 29/11, WLP002
23. Nifty- some sort of Old Peculier - Bottled 13/11/06. Can be drunk now, but as it is supposed to be a low end strong ale, it might get better with age. This is the first time I've brewed this baby, so I'm not sure how it will go. - WLP005 used
24. Gerard_M - Something Dark
25. T.D. - Hunter Valley Pale Ale - ready to drink now - US56
26. Josh - Sparkling Ale - ready to drink 22/12 - Coopers Sparkling Ale yeast
27. Philmac - American Brown - leave until at least 21/12 - Wyeast 1056
28. Crozdog - PhilsAle. Made with Pils, wheat, crystal, N Brewer, Hallertauer & US56. my 1st attempt @ bulk priming - testing indicates it may be a bit undercarbed, sorry. Ready now. I reckon its a good session / lawnmower beer. Enjoy

 

[DJR]

Unfortunately the below entry has become a bottle bomb as Shonky's case was sitting here awaiting delivery.
27. Philmac - American Brown - leave until at least 21/12 - Wyeast 1056

Cheers
Gerard

I'll make sure that one goes in the freezer before opening..

Sorry everyone about my overcarbonated Kolsch, it is a nice beer, i agree, but i put too much dextrose in i think Could probably do with a degree or less in the first step mash temp as well (probably 63 or 64 rather than 65)

 

[mikem108]

Had #2. Stuster's - American Rye-
last night and couldn't identify the aroma, it had a real Belgian smell about it, very nice carbonation a light bitterness that disappears quickly leaving behind that nice Rye mouth feel.
Now that I see WLP320 was used which explains the phenolic aroma, my Mrs couldn't get enough of this beer.

 

[Keith the Beer Guy]

Hi everyone,

I drank Doc's Saison the night before last.

I was looking forward to trying this style, and was not disappointed.

Tall and fluffy head, crystal clear beer - all very appealing.

Phenolic clove-aroma with a little bubblegum in the background - very wheat-yeast like. I was wondering at this point whether a saison was going to dissapoint me by simply being a wheat beer in disguise.

After taking a mouthful I realised there was need to worry.

The first thing to amaze me was the very light mouthfeel. It all happens right at the front of the pallet and disappears as you swallow it. I can understand why this beer was drunk for centuries by farmhands as a refreshing brew to give them the energy to get back to work.

The next thing that got my attention was the delicate fruit flavour. I detected pear and perhaps some apple flavour. These flavours just added to the refreshing nature of the beer.

Anyway, drank the rest of the bottle. Enjoyed it mightly.

Thanks very much Doc, I think it's just the kick up the butt I need to put one on over christmas.

Happy Brewing,

Keith

ps. Edited for speeeling

 

[Thommo]

Thanks for the warning Gerard.

Cracked the lid on my #27 to let some of the gasses escape and then re capped quickly. Didn't sound too bad though. When I tried to take the lid off again to make sure, it started trying to climb out the bottle. I've put it in the fridge and will be trying it this weekend. The way it tried to climb out of the bottle I'd recommend everyone do the same.

I've had two samples of my effort. (#19) It may be a bit undercarbed, even for a Bitter. (Actually turned out more of a Special Bitter.) Someone with more knowledge may be able to give me some hints. It has a bit of carbonation, not much head. I'd probably recommend leaving it another week, just to be on the safe side. Tastes a bit tame to me, and I think I've got to start using something other than Northern Brewer for bittering.

My Case is disappearing way too quick again. Not sure how that happens. Haven't had a bad one yet though.

Cheers,
Thommo.

 

[Stuster]

Keith's Raspberry wheat

Not a hot day here but for some reason I had this hot weather beer. Good, strong raspberry aroma and flavour, but no wheat beer esters to my taste. Not much of a head which quickly disappeared probably due to the fruit. Excellent red colour from the fruit and a nice, tart aftertaste. Clean flavour, with no wheat esters evident. Very refreshing due to the light wheat beer body combined with the fruit. Good one, Keith. :super:

 

[Weizguy]

Keith's Raspberry wheat, too:

I had a go at Keith's wheat beer earlier in the week.

Apologies to all that I had food with this, and that factor that may have overridden some of the flavours.

What I did get, is plenty of raspberry and some strong tartness. The beer had a thin body, making it it very drinkable. I didn't get much bitterness, but the beer was balanced by the tartness & phenolics instead.
Certainly, this was better than any sweet fruit&wheat beer that I've had before, as this was not too sweet at all.
Keith has advised me that this was a quaffing ale and not meant to be much more complicated than that.

I feel this beer hits the mark, and as any good beer, it invites you back for another sip after the flavour fades on the palate. Well crafted Kit Keith.

Seth Kase Weizen #18:

Yep, I'm reviewing the progress of my weizen again. First, I notice that the carbonation has increased, and it's close to right now. It holds a good, dense head, but it's less than rocky, IMHO. I smell banana, malt, cloves; in that order...and bread, after I poured the yeasty bits in!
Taking a sip, the body is medium, and I taste breadiness, banana, sweet malt/wheat, bitterness, cloves, and a mildly bitter, tart dry finish.

All pretty much what I wanted...a banana-accented old-school weizen
Please feel free to drink and post, as I'm sure that I missed a few negatives.
This beer is a fairly dry thirst quencher. Should be OK for a BBQ, and it goes with anything, from spicy foods to sweet desserts, I find.

Let me know

Seth out

 

[Weizguy]

Bi Bi Miss American Rye

Stuster. Respect!! This is a weird beer.

IMHO, nicer than a Roggenbier. Spicy as an American wheat and yet clovey, like a weizen.

The hopping suited this hybrid style.

I get the hops, I get the yeast, I get the wheat and the rye, and the muted banana and clove from the hops. Dare I say bubblegum?

Quite well balanced, although perhaps a little clovey for my taste. This is probably one I'd try to make.

Lace all down the glass.

Seth out

 

[DJR]

Doc's Saison

What a cracker of a beer, textbook example of the style. Definitely one i should be doing myself after trying this style for the first time.

Loads of pear, caramel apples and peppery spice, a good whack of sour malt character and heaps of carbonation on the tongue, even after filling from the keg. Top notch.

I've put some mystery beers in the fridge, i think i have only had 1 or 2 out of them all so far, don't know how some of you are almost finished! :lol:

 

[Stuster]

Philmac's American Brown

Well, what a disaster. I popped this one in the fridge based on Gerard's heads up. I was opening this warily, thinking of exploding glass, but there was no frothing, just a very gentle ssshhh. Not overcarbed at all. In fact, not yet ready to drink. Intense dark brown, darker than any brown ale. Rich, malty aroma. Strong dark malty flavour, much more porter-like than brown. Tobacco and liquorice. Thick mouthfeel. It's a shame I opened this so early. It was still quite green. This seems like a porter rather than an American Brown though, philmac. I didn't really notice much hop flavour or aroma over the rich maltiness, though the bitterness balanced the beer nicely. Hard to suggest leaving this one with some obviously overcarbonated, but a shame because this could be a nice beer with more time in the bottle.

 

[DJR]

I did the same thing Stuart after the warning - perhaps Philmac was priming with sugar and forgot that he had already added the required dose to the bottle that Gerard had, and added another dose, or there was an infected bottle.... Mine was pretty green too, recapped it and going to wait a bit longer. Might drop even a bit more sugar in it to get the carb levels back up.

 

[pint of lager]

My case arrived this morning. Thanks everyone for your efforts. Looking forward to letting them settle and fridging them.

 

[nifty]

I finally picked my case up yesterday, thanks Duff.

As there are so many beers to choose from, I decided to just work my down the list, starting with Duffs.

When I read the label, it said it's "a bitter *******" and "I hope you like your hops". Well it wasn't joking.

My first swig nearly took my breath away. This was some much more hoppier than any beer I ever make. What a top beer and a great start to the case.

Thanks

nifty

 

[Stuster]

So a day late, but I tried Les's weizen last night. Not really a proper review, sorry Les, due to circumstances within my control.

Big rocky head that faded through the glass. Seemingly a bit of chill haze, but that enhanced the look as far as I'm concerned. Lots of mainly banana initially, with more clove to balance as the beer warmed up. Medium body, which was different to most weizen's I've had/made. This was definitely a plus as far as I was concerned. Still to style according to the book, and it rounded out the beer really well.

Thanks for this one, Lesseth. It has converted my wife to weizen's (a long time hater of the style). Now I may make this style again, but will I be able to match this example, or fall tragically short in my wife's estimation. h34r: :lol:

 

[crozdog]

Reviews from the weekend:

Stuster - American Rye.
I really liked this. It was complex, balanced & well carbonated. Numerous flavours including banana & clove permeated at different times. Can I have another?

goatherder - APA,
Heaps of carbonation, great aroma, complimented by the high bitterness & alcohol. I gave some to a mate to try - i think it was too much for him, he could only describe it as strong & bitter!! h34r: Despite me not being a huge fan of this style (mainly as I can't drink much of it), Top marks goatherder.

Beers

Crozdog

 

[Barramundi]

ok heres my first 'review' for beers in the case swap excuse my amatuerish ignorance gents ...


1st of the rank was keiths raspberry wheat , i like it !! never had a beer like this before but it certainly is a nice one for a summers day by the pool or BBQ , dont think its quite a cricket watchin beer it is after all pink , great flavor, well carbed , great coloring and clarity ...

next was goatherder, with an APA, nice beer ,high on the bitterness , great browny color and clarity ,carbed up nicely, good all round beer even if a touch bitter for my tastes ...

is an APA supposed to be this dark?? , this isnt a criticism i honestly dont know so im askin the question

 

[shonky]

Can't believe I mentioned the cricket and my beer in the same sentence. Not fun being an ardent pommie cricket fan in Sydney today. Thinking of changing my description to "good for sipping in the garden on a summers afternoon".

Well done Aussie cricket fans, you kicked arse - bring on The Ashes 2009.

I get my case from Gerard tomorrow - can't wait to get stuck in. Off to NZ for xmas (probably not a bad thing with boxing day test looming) so will not get a chance to sup on too many until the NY.

Merry xmas all case swappers and all other AHBers. Cheers to a great brewing year 2007!

Shonky

 

[Stuster]

I thought it was definitely in the range for an APA, barra. The guidelines for an APA are from 10-28 EBC. That's supposedly dark amber whatever that is. Googling does not seem to find me a good beer colour chart. Anybody know of one? This page has one in the top corner. That's in SRM, so 5-14 is the range for APAs.

 

[goatherder]

next was goatherder, with an APA, nice beer ,high on the bitterness , great browny color and clarity ,carbed up nicely, good all round beer even if a touch bitter for my tastes ...

is an APA supposed to be this dark?? , this isnt a criticism i honestly dont know so im askin the question

Cheers Barramundi. According to beersmith, the colour is about in the middle of the style for an APA. It surprised me a bit too that the guidelines are so broad for this syle.