Nsw Xmas Case 2006 - Consumption

[T.D.]

I'm with Duff, my bottle of the "Cricket Quaffer" by Shonky is not infected. When I saw the post I stuck it in the fridge straight away. As I popped the top off it I was anticipating a big release of pressure but it was just the same as any other beer. Then I tasted it and was very pleasantly surprised! Not only is my one not infected but it tastes bloody good! I can see exactly why it was intended to be a beer for the cricket - would go down perfectly as the Aussies smashed the Poms all over the SCG!! Shame I didn't keep it till tomorrow!

And yeah I agree the beers I have had so far have all been really good! I am a little disappointed that my entry didn't turn out as nice as previous versions of the same beer but you can't win 'em all!

 

[shonky]

That's a relief! But weird! I'm thinking now that my case may have got a bit cooked in Gerards flashy new ute while he was busy making deliveries.

Hope that hasn't spoiled any of the others. Will post my reviews as they get drunk in Jan.

Phew....

Shonky

 

[Josh]

Josh's Sparkling Ale. Caramel and toffee malt aroma. A bit hazy, good head. Balanced, taste of PoR at the end. Medium mouthfeel. A better copy than the real thing IMO. More maltiness and a better aroma. Did you use sugar?

Yeah I used sugar. Sorry the recipe isn't up yet. Will add later on. Here it is now though...

3.7kg JW Pale malt
350g Wheat malt
70g Dark crystal c.250ebc
mashed at
65C 50mins
68C 10mins
75C 15mins

600g Sugar added to boil

21g Pride of Ringwood 10.4% 60mins
12g Pride of Ringwood 10.4% 20mins

OG 1.050
Fermented 18-20C
racked to secondary 2 days in cold fridge

 

[homebrewworld.com]

Sorry Shonky..............but i got the infection in your beer big time.

I have been really slack this time keeping notes on the beers,but have had a printout sitting on the corkboard in front of my computer (where i drink most of my beer) and i have keep all comments to a few words next to the entrants name. And yep your says infected..........sorry mate but i recon you may have picked it up during filtering at a guess. <_<

I filter sometimes, but always really worried about infection. I know i shouldnt be,but hey it is another transfer,and the odds then increase in the homebrew situation.

I agree that this years beers have been fantastic, and us NSW guys really need a pat on the back this time.

Anyway shonky,it happens to all of us............and those who say it doesnt tell little white lies !

Cheers
HBW

 

[Doc]

Hey Shonky,

Had yours in the first week of the case. It wasn't infected, but I think my one was on its way out. It was pleasant drinking, but not up to your usual standard. No harm done, I'm still standing

Beers,
Doc

 

[goatherder]

n00ch's hefeweizen

Deep gold in colour and showing off the typical hefe haze, this beer poured beautifully into my Erdinger world cup glass. The generous head filled the top of the glass and lasted to the very bottom. The first aroma was of fruit - not so much bananas but more like peaches or nectarines, maybe even some pineapple. As the beer warmed up the clove-like phenols increased, becoming the dominant aroma. The flavour is nicely rounded, with a hint wheat flavour. Again the cloves are at the front with the esters now showing the classic banana flavours. The bitterness is noticeable and the finish is quite dry, keeping the beer very refreshing.

Cracking beer n00ch, just what I was looking for tonight. I'm brewing my very first weizen this weekend, I hope it's as good as this one. Cheers.

 

[Weizguy]

numbers 11, 15 and 26 into the fridge tonight.

Looking forward to "n00ch's hefeweizen", and I hope to see if this was the beer that he asked me for brewing info about. Either way, some great beers to be consumed soon.

Beerz

Seth

 

[goatherder]

18 - Weizguy - Kmas Kase Weizen (Seth Weizen #2)

Deep gold and hazy with a tight white head, this is a great looking beer. Maybe it's my fantastic looking Schneider glass, maybe it's just the beer. The aroma is balanced between the banana and the cloves with neither managing to dominate. As the beer gets warmer there are some citrus notes coming through, along with a slight tartness which is also in the taste. I love this in a weizen. The bready wheat flavour is prominent, this is definitely a wheat beer. The phenols are strong in the flavour, complimenting the bitterness which is spot on for the style. The beer has that classic weizen mouth-coating effect, making the flavour linger. The finish is quite dry, perhaps a little too dry for my taste, but still very drinkable and refreshing.

Thanks Les, I'm very pleased the Weizguy put his best foot forward for this case. I've got a 3068 starter stirring away in the fridge, I'm getting very excited about using it in anger this weekend after tasting 2 top samples this week. Cheers.

 

[nifty]

Just finished homebrewworlds apa, geez, I enjoyed that one.

many thanks

nifty

 

[Barramundi]

Had shonkys , cricket quaffer beer last night , basically it is what it says a good beer to quaff whilst watchin cricket although at the time i wasnt , what exactly was this beer / style etc...

nice clear beer that held a good head and was well carbed...

 

[goatherder]

14 - Linz'z Wit - Pale golden with heaps of carbonation and a head to match. Lightly spicy aroma with a background sweetness. The classic witbier flavours are all there - a hint of citrus, subtle malt and a great balance between sweet and dry. The finish is crisp and dry making a really refreshing beer. Cheers Linz, this is just what I was looking for while watching the cricket on this stinking hot afternoon.

13 - Beerslayer's APA - A most excellent copper colour with an ample head. There is a solid citrus hop note to the aroma, very clean. The aroma suggested a hops-only affair but the malt really comes through and scotches that one completely. What I like about this beer is that it is dry enough to be really drinkable. My case APA was way too sweet - I was aiming for something just like this but missed it completely. Top beer thanks Beerslayer, I loved it.

17 - Hopsta's Brown Porter - This beer looks everything a porter should look - tight, off-white head, deep brown, bordering on black with beautiful ruby highlights. Loads of choc-malt on the nose, blended with some subtle yeast esters. Sweet toffee and caramel up front in the mouth with the choc following, enough bitterness to keep things in order, this is a very tasty beer. Thanks Hopsta, you've showed me that a porter can be a really drinkable beer if made properly. Nice work.

 

[Hopsta]

17 - Hopsta's Brown Porter - This beer looks everything a porter should look - tight, off-white head, deep brown, bordering on black with beautiful ruby highlights. Loads of choc-malt on the nose, blended with some subtle yeast esters. Sweet toffee and caramel up front in the mouth with the choc following, enough bitterness to keep things in order, this is a very tasty beer. Thanks Hopsta, you've showed me that a porter can be a really drinkable beer if made properly. Nice work.

Great! I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the review! I've yet to get my case, its still sitting at Gerards place waiting for my next order, shouldnt be too far off. Looking forward to trying all these tasty sounding beers.

 

[goatherder]

22 - Berto's ESB - Pours deep copper in colour, a little hazy, with a small, long lasting head. The nose has some nice esters with a big toffee and caramel hit at the end. This beer coats your mouth all over with a good balance of hop flavour and caramel malt. The bitterness is assertive yet crisp and there is just a hint of alcohol. This is a very tasty beer thanks Berto, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[mikem108]

Don't be scared fellas no.12 is drinking ok. The smokey aroma is almost gone but bitterness from the dark grains seems to have increased in recent weeks might even be described as a tad harsh. I'm keen to hear what others think.

I had a few bottles whilst away on holidays and didn't keep notes but suffice to say I haven't hit a bad one yet!

 

[crozdog]

I've tried a few more over the last 2 weeks:

Trent & POL. You've convinced me I must brew some dark beers. I was raised on black beers, but gave them away when I moved to Sydney 23 years ago.

Ben, sure it's carbonated enough? Once it stopped foaming, I enjoyed the 1/2 glass I ended up with.

HBW.com & Beerslayer - great APA's for my palate. not OTT with hops like most others I've tried. Thanks

Keith, your raspberry wheat K&K was an interesting pink colour, sweet with a pleasant malt backbone & no K&K "tang". My mate Chris loved it, but it was too sweet for me.

Hopsta - please post your recipe. I loved this & want to give it a try.

Stephen your hoegargen grand cru was excellent. What's the recipe?

Shonkys, cricket quaffer beer was an easy drinking session beer - wish I had some more. My mate Chris said he wished they served it in the members @ the SCG instead of VB.

Thommo, your bitter needed more carbonation for me.

Thanks guys for all the great beers to date. Anyone tried mine yet?

beers

Crozdog

 

[berto]

Thanks Goatherder, I'll have to put another in the fridge and see how it is now. I wasn't overly happy with it at first as i *******ised another recipe and this ended up further away from the original than i had planned. It tasted a little low on hops to me at the beginiing, but hopefully that has balanced out a little.

 

[Barramundi]

i had Duffs brew last night and well the label says it all, it certainly is a bitter one alright ... perhaps a little much for my tastes but nontheless a quality beer, heaps of flavor behind the bitterness too, held a head to the bottom of the glass and carbing was great...

 

[shonky]

Hi Barramundi, thanks for the feedback. As posted earlier at least some of my bottles have gone way south, may have been some kind of infection when bottling. It took around 4 hrs to bottle as this beer was gassed in the keg and then bottled - fine if you are doing one or two to take out to dinner but a test of endurance when doing 28! My brewing mate and I were sinking a few as we were bottling, as you do, but could barely right the numbers on the bottle by the time we got to number 28! I'm glad at least some of the case swappers have received a drinkable bottle.

Anyway, I digress, you asked for the style etc. This was a bit of a mis-matched style. It was a german pils malt bill, with German style hops (Tassie Hallertau) but fermented with a San fran yeast at ale temps - ~ 18c.
V happy there are some that are enjoying it, apologies again for those that got a duff.

I've been supping on a few of the case beers and have really enjoyed all the beers so far, FWIW here are some comments:
13-Beer Slayer, v nice APA mate, lovely on a summer afternoon when brewing, which was when it was drunk. Nicely hopped, slightly earthy hop flavours, any english hops mixed in with the American? Cheers B Slayer went down a treat

19 - Thommos bitter - Ahhhh how's the nostalgia? Crystal clear with thick long-lasting head. Malt driven bitter, some amber or brown malt maybe, giving those roasty flavours? really well-balanced easy-drinking bitter. Took me back half way across the world. Thanks Thommo.

26- Josh's sparkling ale - I know it's not a competition and all of this is highly subjective but if I was awarding any prizes for best in show I can't see Josh's entry being beaten (would love to be proved wrong). This was sensational. Better than any coopers sparkling I've tried but the similarities are very clear. Not sure what gives this one the x factor for me, just a really well-rounded quaffability, looks great and definately packs an alchoholic punch, not sure of the gravity Josh but wouldn't be surprised if it is even higher than coopers. Didn't taste really strong, just felt it after drinking half the bottle (shared it with a mate who also loved it) This was one beer I was VERY disappointed to see the end of, thanks alot Josh.

3- Goatherder APA. thoroughly enjoyed this one a really assertive bitterness and aroma, huge hop bill on this one I'd guess. Haven't tried an APA with the complexity of aromas that this one had. Loads of interesting facets to this beer and went down really well. Thanks Goatherder this was tops!

 

[Josh]

26- Josh's sparkling ale - I know it's not a competition and all of this is highly subjective but if I was awarding any prizes for best in show I can't see Josh's entry being beaten (would love to be proved wrong). This was sensational. Better than any coopers sparkling I've tried but the similarities are very clear. Not sure what gives this one the x factor for me, just a really well-rounded quaffability, looks great and definately packs an alchoholic punch, not sure of the gravity Josh but wouldn't be surprised if it is even higher than coopers. Didn't taste really strong, just felt it after drinking half the bottle (shared it with a mate who also loved it) This was one beer I was VERY disappointed to see the end of, thanks alot Josh.

Thanks very much for the kind words. I've put the recipe up now. Sparkling Ale

 

[goatherder]

25 - Josh's Sparkling Ale - Hazy amber in colour with a big fluffy off-white head which laces the whole glass. There is a subtle banana hint on the nose along with good solid malt aroma. There is a little pleasant grainy note in there as well. The taste has some sweetness up front with rounded malt the dominant flavour. The bitterness is spot on and the finish is just a shade on the sweet side. Comparing this to CSA, I find this one a little fuller in body with slightly less carbonation - both of which help to make it incredibly drinkable.

Josh, I can't help but echo shonky's praise for this beer. It is perfectly balanced and easy to drink, a shining example of the style. My pick of the case so far, cheers.