Nsw Xmas In July 2006 Case Consumption

[PostModern]

THOMMO'S APA

I could detect no aroma in this beer. As in almost nothing. Maybe my nose was desensitised by Stickler's hoppy beer. There was a waft of diacetyl as it warmed. The beer was a nice and clear with a deep rich amber colour. The flavour was quite restrained, bit of crystal malt with diacetyl dominating. Was this brew fermented exceptionally cool? The carbonation was nice and lively, and a nice crystal thickness without being at all syrupy. I think for an APA is was very much underhopped. I would have added more hops at the start, middle and end of the boil. I'd be looking to trace the source of the diacetyl, as I think with less of it the beer's other characters stand out.

 

[Doc]

TD's Boston Lager

To be honest up front, I shouldn't really be trying to eval beers after drinking my Hop Whompus, because even my Ordinary Bitter tastes like water after the HW.

Pours well, nice carbonation, with minimal head. Not a lot of aroma, and a nice deep golden colour.
If it wasn't labelled a lager I could have easily mistaken it for an ale. Good body, nice residual sweetness, low bitterness.
Great easy drinking beer.

Beers,
Doc

 

[shmick]

My appologies to all re the lack of reviews - I've just been too busy

I've downed a few with only breif notes so they are not particularly detailed reviews.
They are not judged to style - only to my own warped sense of personal preference.

Keith's Choc Porter (last Fri night) - Poured flat with no head what so ever. On closer inspection carbonation was there and had a very slight bite right to the end. Not sure what level of carb was intended but it works quite well at this level. Colour black with nice ruby highlights. Surprisingly intense choc/coffee malt in the mouth with a little lasting sweetness - very smooth. Slight hop flavours hiding in the background where they should be. I really liked this one for the luscious flavours and the absence of burnt/charcoal astringency which can sometimes overpower porters. Well done Keith

Trent's IIPA - I had big hopes for this one and it didn't disappoint. A solid malt base supporting a huge whack of earthy hops. Bitterness and aroma is right up there and lingers for quite a while without being harsh. Soft warming alcohol present in the background but holds a head well. Loved it - my favourite so far.

n00ch's dark mild - Dark, subtle and well balanced flavours. A little thin bodied for my tastes but it hangs together pretty well - If the kidneys held out you could drink it all night. Overall pretty good for such a low alcohol beer. My personal preference would be to push up the crystal a little to fill it out and add a slightly sweet ending.

PoL's Dortmund lager - Slightly sweet malt with wonderful noble hop aroma. Bitterness was good but maybe a tad low - again my personal prefernece. It had a slight yeasty/fruity/funky after taste that was a little disturbing - sort of reminded me of a wheat beer (notes?). I suspect it may need a little more cold conditioning (I only left it 4 days in the fridge). I usually find my bottle conditioned lagers need a good 4 - 6wks extra conditioning after bottling to crisp up. They can be a bit soapy otherwise.
This was one of the first ones I opened so maybe somebody else can give a more accurate report later on.

Barry's Robust Porter - I would have to agree with some of the other evaluations posted already. A supurbly crafted porter by all accounts but just a touch too toasty for my personal tastes.

Nifty's Calif common - First one of these I've tasted in the flesh (as opposed to tasting in a book review) so I have nothing to compare it to. Definitely different but in a good way. Smooth, malty & slightly fruity. Underlying bitterness is firm but good and the hop flavours come through well. Very enjoyable.

Linz's very grumpy Scottish stag - Huge carbonation bite with a very dry malt finish (after I beat it's head back with a large stick). However I am lucky enough to have an extra one due to my transporting efforts which I'll treat with a little more care and get back to you.

Stephen's Special bitter - Beautifully clear flavoursome bitter. Well balanced malt / hops. Slight metallic/yeasty aftertaste. Initially a little overcarbed resulting in almost lagerlike attributes but upon slight warming and settling it was quite enjoyable. Good stuff Stephen.

That's all for now

 

[T.D.]

Hi all. I got back from overseas this morning. I have put the recipe for my Boston Lager up in the recipes section of the site. The only problem is the calculations/estimations of IBUs, gravities and colour are not the same as what Beersmith came up with. So, the recipe is exactly as it appears in the database, but with the following stats according to Beersmith:

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.009
Colour: 14.3
IBU: 36.3

And just a few more little details that may be helpful...

Mash temp was 65degC
No chiller method was used
Yeast was in fact W34/70 but is not available in the recipe database


I am gearing up to get stuck into these beers now! I have Linz's brew in the fridge already. The Jetlag's starting to kick in so I'm not sure if I'll crack it tonight - I might fall asleep after the first sip!

Cheers, and thanks for the comments on my entry. :beer:

 

[Stickler]

Thanks PoMo for the kind review, I think the aroma that you got upon opening would have been the Cascade that I added. The kit I used as a base was a Morgans IPA and I haven't used one before and I'm not sure if it has Amarillo in it.

I tried a few more over the weekend and took a few more notes this time:

Schmick's ESB - Had a dark amber/caramel colour which was nice. No head on this one - could be my beer glasses, I gave up giving them any special treatment ages ago.
Had a tough time getting any aroma for a while, probably started off a bit cold. As it warmed up a bit I was getting a sweet rich/alcoholy nose and after a while I think I pinpointed it as dark dried fruits like raisins or prunes.
On tasting, again probably a bit cold to begin with and I couldn't find anything standing out except for a lingering bitterness on my back palate. However I really liked it but couldn't work out what flavours I was getting. My brother was tasting with me and after a while he came up with "a little soapy"? but didn't pick up on that myself.
Anyway we both enjoyed it despite being a little confounded by it - but be assured that is because of our lack of tasting experience not the beer. Thanks Schmick.

P.O.L's Dortmunder Export - Had no idea what to expect of this - we had never heard of this style before. I opened this on Friday and it had been in my fridge for a week. Perhaps I should have heeded P.O.L's advice and given it a while longer cos when I opened it it started foaming out the top. After racing it to the kitchen sink and putting it there it continued to slowly foam out for about 10 mins. I'd never seen a beer do that before and even thought about videoing it and posting it. We still managed to get a good glass full each though.
The appearance was alot like Schmick's, Dark honey/amber and again very little head.
It had a really sweet aroma with that candied banana, and hints of clove just like those European wheat beers.
It tasted nice and rich and was really well balanced. The flavours really backed up the aromas and I was pretty much tasting what I had smelled. We really enjoyed it and were quite impressed.
Now to put my neck out - is this a wheat beer?, it really reminded me of some of the beers I had when I was in France. Thanks P.O.L.

Keith's Bastard Chocolate Porter - Almost black appearance, with a really thin tan head.
HUGE dark chocolate/coffee aroma, absolutely unmistakeable - which is nice for me as I always have trouble pinpointing smells. My brain recognises them but I have a hard time putting them into words.
Wow this is a thick, rich beer - no shortage of flavour here. Again - alot like the smell it was very chocolatey and coffeeish. With this beer I don't think I was in the best tasting mood and towards the end of the longneck started to find the residual sweetness a little cloying. But I had had a huge night on Fri (tasted this on Sun) and I don't think I had fully recovered by the stage I cracked it open. I have learnt from that mistake. Thank you Keith.

Now that I've taken some notes on the beers, I am feeling encouraged about doing it some more, it's really good fun. For those of you who haven't tried - give it a go and I highly recommend having someone with you who's interested in giving it a go too, it helped me out a bit. I haven't done it yet but I want to try and do a blind tasting with some of these - just gotta organise myself. When I used to work with wine I found it was the only true way to taste without any bias. Amazing how some of the "experts" become a little introspective when they don't know what they're tasting. Enough of my rambling. THanks again for the great beers.

Sticko

 

[shmick]

Thanks for the comments Stickler - don't worry about your glasses, the ESB was intentionally carbed on the low side.
It was also brewed with S-04 yeast which maybe the soapy taste - some people are sensitive to it.

Just a note for anybody else trying it - I would recommend allowing it to warm slightly (7-8degC) before drinking.

It is primarily a malt driven strong ale and as such is a bit of a balancing act between bitterness and malt sweetness. Too cold and it becomes flavourless and overbitter (as Stickler described), too warm and it is cloyingly sweet. Somewhere in the middle it seems to work ok. Higher carbonation levels tend to cause harsh flavours also hence it is not very lively.

This one started life as a Fuller's ESB clone but was toned down bit for the case swap. My previous efforts were hopped almost to nose bleed level which some people aren't keen on.
I only got to taste 1 very green stubby of this one before the swap so I don't know how it's maturing.
Any feedback is welcome.

 

[Gough]

Dunno 'bout nosebleed Shmick :lol: It wasn't that full on mate!

Just a headsup re: my contribution, the 'Pogue Mahone' Dry Irish Stout. After 25 days in the bottle, unless you've been keeping it at really cold temps, it should now be pretty well carbed up so drink at will Thanks for waiting and letting it carb up...

Shawn.

 

[PostModern]

Thanks PoMo for the kind review, I think the aroma that you got upon opening would have been the Cascade that I added. The kit I used as a base was a Morgans IPA and I haven't used one before and I'm not sure if it has Amarillo in it.

Impressive beer. I couldn't tell it was from a kit, not that I'm an AG snob. Some of my best beers were/are partmash plus kit.

 

[KoNG]

Dunno 'bout nosebleed Shmick :lol: It wasn't that full on mate!
Shawn.

Gough, I think you'll find he was referring to previous brews he has done of this style.
(edit: just re read it, maybe gough had tasted the other attempt..? either way i'll just shut up)


I echo what Shmick said regarding his ESB for my Beer......
DRINK IT @ about 8 - 10*C (any lower and it loses quite a bit of its MO profile)

EnJOy
KoNG

 

[Gough]

Dunno 'bout nosebleed Shmick :lol: It wasn't that full on mate!
Shawn.

Gough, I think you'll find he was referring to previous brews he has done of this style.



I echo what Shmick said regarding his ESB for my Beer......
DRINK IT @ about 8 - 10*C (any lower and it loses quite a bit of its MO profile)

EnJOy
KoNG

I was referring to previous versions of his brew as well Kong

Shawn.

 

[warrenlw63]

From what I can gather here nobody will be fabricating a Marris Otter Ice Beer. :lol:

Warren -

 

[KoNG]

I was referring to previous versions of his brew as well Kong

Shawn.

Sorry Shawn .. you'll note i figured that out just after adding that reply.
Stop talking up your hopping levels Shmick h34r:

 

[Gough]

I was referring to previous versions of his brew as well Kong

Shawn.

Sorry Shawn .. you'll note i figured that out just after adding that reply.
Stop talking up your hopping levels Shmick

:lol: :lol:

My memory of it was that it definitely wasn't lacking in hops... but it wasn't nose-bleed territory. Bit hard on yerself mate.

Shawn.

 

[Stuster]

I've had 5 of the beers so far. I gave some feedback to Linz in person so here are the rest. Fairly short, but hopefully of some use. Personal taste only.

Doc's Irish Red
Nice red colour. Good carbonation and head. Perfect appearance altogether. Thick body, probably a good example of the style but a little too sweet for my tastes.

Stephen's Special Bitter
Good head. Overcarbonated. Light colour. Some herbal aroma and flavour. There was an unusual aroma and flavour to this beer that I couldn't really describe (not very helpful I know.) I know it was an AG beer, but I found myself wondering if it was an extract beer, partly due to the fairly thin body. Sorry that my review can't be more specific, but I couldn't work out what the flavour/aroma was.

T.D.'s Boston Lager
Good head. Perfect carbonation. Good clarity. Honey aroma at first, slightly softening as the drink went on. Clean, crisp flavour, slightly floral. Medium body. I enjoyed this beer, T.D. An easy drinker with nice crispness and some floral flavour.

Nifty's California Common
Again, good head, carbonation to style, slight haze. Gentle, minty flavour (from the NB hops I presume). My notes on this finish here, but I remember I really enjoyed this beer. Great beer and very nice yeast which is currently continuing its work on a steam beer I made on the weekend. This was the first beer of this style I've had and I'm glad I liked it as I had already got all the ingredients together.

 

[Doc]

Stusters Dubbel

Had the pleasure of Stusters Dubbel last night.
Poured cleanly, but with minimal to no head. Good level of carbonation though and a great deep burgundy hue.
Appears to be a little chill haze as well. Not a lot of hop aroma going on, but then that is expected for a Dubbel.
First taste I got some higher alcohols that maybe due to a highish fermentation temp ?
Good body, nice residual sweetness with some low level belgian flavours coming through.
As it warmed up the chill haze receeded slightly and the higher alcohols seemed to diminish. Also a few more flavours became evident.
I really enjoyed this one Stuster, and am happy I have another bottle to savour again later.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Stuster]

Glad you enjoyed it, Doc.

It was actually fermented a bit too cold actually as it was fermented outside at the start of the colder period. Could probably have been fermented a bit warmer to give more of the Belgian flavour to it. It's good to go now from Doc's review. Drink warmer is a good idea. Ratebeer reckon 12-14 for this style. :blink:

 

[Keith the Beer Guy]

Thanks for the feedback about the beer Shmick and Stickler.

I gotta agree with you Stickler - the tasting and thinking about the tasting is a heap of fun, and I'm certainly enjoying the process.

Had the chance to share a couple more ales on the weekend with a few people.

Kongs Bitter

The aroma was malt with an out of place note. At the time I thought the aroma had a solventy note. Others with me suggested burnt rubber.

The beer presented very well. Clear copper coloured capped with a white head.

The beer had malt sweetness and earthy flavours with a dry finish.

Low/medium carbonation.

Overall it was a very drinkable beer, lacking a little bitterness for style.

Thanks for the drop.

Trent's IPA

Let me say Fuggles, Fuggles, Fuggles.

Enjoyed your IPA trent. Aroma was malt and fuggles. The bitterness was good but I suffered from some hop astringency, perhaps a little too much hop as a taste addition (for style at any rate).

However, one of my drinking buddies, namely Dr Dan, was a huge fan. Bring on the hops!

Sorry for the crapiness of this review. Was too busy socialising and not taking enough notes. I apologise in person next BJCP get together.

Thanks,

Keith

 

[KoNG]

Kongs Bitter

The aroma was malt with an out of place note. At the time I thought the aroma had a solventy note. Others with me suggested burnt rubber.

The beer presented very well. Clear copper coloured capped with a white head.

The beer had malt sweetness and earthy flavours with a dry finish.

Low/medium carbonation.

Overall it was a very drinkable beer, lacking a little bitterness for style.

Thanks for the drop.

Thanks,

Keith

Hi Kieth, that doesnt sound to good at all... i definately didn't add any "michelin - low profiles" into the last 10min of the boil... :lol: i had a few extra bottles left over from that brew and have had 2 or 3 in the last couple of weeks, put it this way.. i'm not overly happy with the way it turned out <_< (i think i needed to mash 1-2*C higher and maybe up the flavour additions) but i havent noted any solvent/rubber. I think i have one bottle left, so i wil crack it tonight - give it another go and take note.
sorry about the rubber. (hopefully it was just your bottle..!?!?! )

Cheers
KoNG

ps. i have had a few beers now, so i'll try and get some comments up on board tonight.

 

[Barry]

Good day
Had Stickler's Bitter/APA last night. Really enjoyed it.

Appearance: Gold/dark gold, very clear, fairly good head, low+ carbonation. Looks inviting.

Aroma: Citrus hop (cascade), clean malt with caramel coming through, good balance for style.

Flavour: Fairly rich malt with caramel coming through, citrus hop flavour builds up well, finish is medium malt with some lingering cascade bitterness, low medium carbonation. very good balance of hops and malt.

Mouthfeel: smooth, soft with medium body and enough carbonation to support flavour.

Overall: Really liked this APA, very drinkable. reminds me of subdued LCPA. A very good APA without being extreme.

38+/50. You might give this less in a comp re the high hop bitterness, flavour and aroma expected for the style but I like it the way it is for drinking a pint or two. A very good home brewer I know, who has won many awards for his APA, use to a make high hopped version for comps but drank a more subdued version at home. Hope this makes sense, matter of personal taste in the end. :beer:

 

[berapnopod]

...with apologies to Borrett...

PoMo's English Bitter

Aroma: Papery/perfumy aroma with a bit of toffee malt underneath. Some esters. Little to none hops.

Appearance: Red/brown. Clear. Very thin head.

Flavour: Strong harsh and vinuous flavour that hits you in the nose. No hop flavour. Some malt in there that is characteristic of extract malt, but more pronounced than usual. Bitterness is miedium to low and could be a bit higher for a bitter. Finish is puzzling. Its dry, slightly bitter, also cloying and a touch sour.

Mouthfeel: Medium body ( a bit full for a bitter?). Low carbonation - just right. Pronounced warming that initially hits you in the nose, suggestive of higher alcohols (high fermentation temp?)

Overall: OK, so you reckon there's something wrong with this beer, PoMo? Well, lets see what evidence we have: papery aroma. No hop aroma or flavour. Vinuous, with a slightly harsh warming character, cloying finish. Most of those (paper,no hops, vinouos) point towards oxidation. Pretty strong too. Not sure why it is cloying but there might be something else going on in there that I can't identify. Its difficult to comment on your recipe because the oxidation has killed the hops and so its hard to see what it could have been. Sorry to sound so negative. But I hope this helps for next time!


Berp.

 

[Doc]

Kungy AIPA

Tight white head on a deep golden ale.
Great nose of American hops.
Nice crisp very clean beer. Lots of hop bitterness, flavour and aroma.
If there was anything to detract from it for me, was the dry finish. Probably just me, but I like a slightly more sweet finish in my hoppy beers.
That isn't to say I didn't enjoy it though. I have throughly enjoyed it. A very well made beer. Very enjoyable.

Beers,
Doc

 

[PostModern]

Vinuous, with a slightly harsh warming character, cloying finish. Most of those (paper,no hops, vinouos) point towards oxidation. Pretty strong too. Not sure why it is cloying but there might be something else going on in there that I can't identify.

I don't want to drag this thread down with discussion of the beer that could have been, so I'll try and keep future comments to PM. I think what you say here makes something sing out to me. The beer tasted fine coming straight from secondary to a sampling glass. I always sample from the spiggot before racking to the bottling bucket to see if all is well, and, as usual, it was. As I have not bottled for some time, I have not used the hose I use for racking to the bottling bucket for some time as the one I use for kegging is a lot shorter. It seems feasible to me that my old bottling hose doesn't sit as snug inside the tap as it used to. Perhaps it was sucking air in, in enormous quantity, as I racked from secondary to the bottling bucket? This would account for the massive oxidisation that was not present anywhere before the bottle...

Apologies for harping on.

Now, as it is Friday night, I'll be sampling 3 case beers. I have HardMans Golden Sarz Pilsner. Whose is that? And one labelled JB. Is this James Boag? Who is James Boag?

Already tried PoL's Dortmunder, I will post reviews on tonight's brews tomorrow.

Cheers,
PoMo.

EDIT: typo

 

[Josh]

And one labelled JB. Is this James Boag? Who is James Boag?

Cheers,
PoMo.

JB is me. Already put my hand up for poor labelling. Will be fixed for next time if I am lucky enough to get in.

I have tried a few of the beers and will post my thoughts soon. Currently looking at the last inch of TDs Boston Lager. Don't want to finish it as I am loving this beer.

 

[PostModern]

Josh's Pilsner

Poured a nice pale amber. Slightly overcarbonated, so I had to pour into three glasses and wait for head to settle. Still drinking this as I type.

Excellent pils malt aroma. Nice and rich that aroma. I take a whiff every sip.

Apart from the carbonation, this is a nice sipping beer. Personally I would have lots more late hops, to balance the malt, but am really enjoying this. Maybe some more Caramalt would not go astray (not looking at your recipe, just basing this on taste).

Not bad at all for a first AG.

 

[PostModern]

pint of lager's Dortmunder export

Poured a deep copper colour. Also a bit over carbonated (seems to be a case theme ). Once settled, formed a moussy head. Nice aroma of hops, malt and some yeasty notes as well. Slightly hazy when poured, which I put down to the yeast getting out of floc with the carbonation. A little yeast carried into the flavour but didn't detract too much from the malt and hops. Flavour nice and balanced, with a medium body. Very morish. My wife really enjoyed it. She said it reminded her of the beers she drank in the beer gardens of Germany. My son also enjoyed a little taste and asked for a whole glass A really nice drop only spoiled by the carbonation. Thanks PoL!

 

[PostModern]

DrewCarey84's Pilsner

Poured very clear with a few yeast clumps in the second glass (I guess I tried to squeeze too much out of the bottle). A harsh yeasty aroma like say Toohey's New or VB. No malt or hop aroma. Flavour was clean with no discernable malt or hop. I'm assuming a high adjunct rate as the body was also quite thin, but a... ?? sliminess... maybe from maltodextrin? This beer could have done with more malt and hops and I didn't really like the finish because of the slimey mouthfeel and possibly the kit yeast. No signs of infection, cleanly fermented but lacking in "oomph" to make it stand out. Not a bad beer, but not a great one.

I hope you get some good results with your newly found passion for partial mashes, DC. Seems you have the fermentation side down pat.

Well, that ends my Friday night 3.

Cheers,
PoMo.

 

[T.D.]

I've tried a few beers so far. I figured I'd wait and give my comments for a few beers at a time so now is that time...

Linz's Scottish Stag: Its been said before but the carbonation was too high. In fact it kind of made it difficult to dig down to the flavours that lay beneath. There was some nice malt, but a kind of harsh, almost astringent edge to the flavour. This wouldn't have been helped by the high carbonation of course. Not a bad beer but I must say it doesn't make me want to run off and buy a Grumpy's masterbrew!

Doc's Irish Red: Very nice beer. Really well balanced between the malt and bitterness and a great colour. Also was nice to be able to pour it down to the last drop (gotta get me a counter pressure bottle filler!).

Stephen's Special Bitter: An enjoyable beer but lacked in hop flavour and bitterness for the style in my opinion. Still went down very nicely mind you! Great colour - definitely had that quintessential English Ale look about it.

Barry's Robust Porter: My favourite so far, and I am not usually a big drinker of porters. Beautiful tan coloured head - almost looked like the crema of a coffee! Plenty of body (especially given the 65deg mash temp). Carbonation was spot on. This was a really well brewed beer - you can tell it was brewed with a lot of attention to detail and carefully chosen ingredients etc. I know its probably not traditionally the done thing with this style, but being a hop-crazed brewer I would have liked some more hop flavour/aroma, but geez it was bloody nice as is!

I am just about to crack open Nifty's Californian Common. Looking forward to it - I have only ever tried this style once and it was in North America.

 

[pint of lager]

Have just opened another bottle of my swap beer and it is overcarbonated. Could everyone please check their bottles, release some of the pressure and keep them somewhere safe.

 

[T.D.]

POL, is it ready to drink? I might throw it in the fridge if it is and try it next...

I am onto my last few mls of Nifty's Californian Common and I am wishing it wasn't so! This is a great beer! As I said, my experience with beers in this style is limited, but I am really enjoying this brew! The carbonation is perfect, and its as clear as crystal! Yet another user of the No Chiller Method who is getting perfectly clear beers! The flavour is great - plenty of body (probably helped by the significant amount of Munich in the grain bill) and the hopping is perfect for an every day drinking beer. Head retention is very good also. I have only about 1cm left in my glass now and its still got a few mm of head and nice lacing on the glass. Well brewed Nifty!

 

[Gerard_M]

I was fortunate to score a few extras from the swap case that I have tried over the past week. POL's was a gusher, so was a blank bottle marked JB on the crown. I really enjoyed T.D's Boston Lager. The non-brewers that tried it were very impressed. I also had another bottle of the same brew, but bottled in a Champagne bottle. Interesting to note the effect that the "Punt" in the base of the bottle had on the beer. Lesson learnt.

I am drinking a Ten Inch Porter whilst watching the Rugby. Interesting beer. Very nicely put together.

Cheers
Gerard