Nsw Xmas In July 2006 Case Consumption

[Trent]

Gday
First up, very interested to hear the lesson Gerard leanr on the effect the "punt" has in the champers bottle. Can you enlighten us?!?

Anyway, tried BARRY'S ROBUST PORTER the other night. It had a roasty malt aroma, with coffee and dark chocolate, with low fruity esters, and a low hop aroma. There was no deacetyl or any other faults. Almost opaque, but was jet black with ruby highlights and good clarity when held to the light. Dense tan head dissipated fairly quickly in my glass. The flavour was a very roasty maltiness, with coffee or roasted coffee beans a strong flavour, and a slightly metallic flavour at the end, possible the yeast. Medium bitterness lingers into the aftertaste along with the roastiness. Moderate fruity esters, balanced towards the malt. It is (if this makes sense) reasonably dry due to the roasted malts, but still finished medium sweet. Low carbonation, and a medium body that seems a little thinner due to the slight roast malt astringency (to style), witha moderate alcohol warmth.
Overall, it is quite a nice drop, and obviously well crafted. But for mine, the roastiness is a little too high, lending a slight astringency that makes it something I couldnt drink all night. Possibly ferment cooler next time, to reduce fruity esters. Fits into style well, though I would prefer more maltiness from the base malt. If I were to try and suggest improvements, it would be to reduce some of the specialty malts, to make it less roasty, even though that is to style. I felt there were a little too many malts in there, I like to keep my beers simpler. That said, though, you have obviously gone to alot of trouble and time to get a recipe that you are happy with (and also, as Kieth mentioned, had the recipe published) and done well in comps with it. I am just not into that astringency from the roasted malts so much. At the end of the day, I am not the one drinking it all the time, so take my "improvements" with a grain (or three) of salt. I gave it 38.5/50
All the best
Trent

 

[MHB]

Re: - Barrys Robust Porter

I was lucky enough to get a couple of bonus bottles from the case one was Barrys robust porter, we had this beer at our BJCP training day.

The average score was 43.5 the range was 42 to 45.
Any criticisms/observations were personal preference rather than stylistic.
I dont think I could suggest any way to improve this beer except in ways that suit an individual pallet.

On a personal note;

Barry I am glad I am not entering any robust porters in any comps any time soon, I think my best would come out looking very second best.

One spectacular drop - dont change it - go commercial I will buy lots.

Thanks for a memorable beer.

MHB

 

[Trent]

Ah, MHB, so THAT was the last beer I tried at the BJCP before I was whisked away by the mrs and a mate, to get back to his house in time for the second half of the rugby (where we lost miserably by about 20 points). In light of that, as I didnt finish my scoresheet, I was on the way to about 42/50. The only change in that, after having a whole bottle, was personal taste, rather than anything else, so I shouldnt have marked ya lower, but I did :blink: . Great beer none the less. Speaking of great beers...

NIFTY'S CALIFORNIA COMMON
Malty sweetness in the aroma, some caramel with a firm hop aroma, which is hard to describe, but would probably fit under minty (very slight mintiness) and woody? Low fruity esters. It was a very appealing aroma, almost ale like, but still clean and malty. Exactly like the style intended, I do believe. A deep amber to copper in colour, with an orange hue (but my loungeroom light has an orange shade over it, so that may have been it). It was clear, but not brilliant, and it had a low white head, possibly due to low carbonation. The flavour was quite clean, and had a firm maltiness with a caramel quality to it. The hop flavour is almost piney (couldnt taste any mint, and as far as style goes, I am buggered if I know what "rustic" tastes like!) and quite nice. The bitterness is firm, med/high maybe, though not as pronounced as I would have expected from the style guidelines, and is in good balance with the malt. The aftertaste is a nice blend of bitterness, malt and hop flavour, with a low hint of fruity esters, but finishes a little sweeter than style demands. It has a medium-high body with a med-low carbonation, quite a creamy mouthfeel with a low alcohol warmth.
Overall, it is a very nice beer, one that exemplifies the style well, though IMO it is probably a little too full bodied and a bit too sweet as far as the style goes. I really, really enjoyed this beer, and have the yeast spinning away on my stir plate, to make one next weekend. My only suggestion to improve this beer would be to increase the carbonation, as it was almost English ale level, more on the low side of med-low. I think that this could solve my 2 major complaints, by drying out the finish a little, and crisping up some of the residual sweetness. I could be wrong, but tasting some of the overcarbed beers I (and others) have done over the last few years, they seem dryer and crisper than ever intended due to higher carbonation.
Anyway, well done, and thanks for sharing, I gave it 37.5/50
All the best
Trent
EDIT - Apparently I am on crack. The additional carbonation will not only dry it out, and crisp it up a little, but also lower the perception of body (my other "major" complaint) by making it taste a little thinner

 

[T.D.]

A couple more...

Stickler's Pale Ale: At first I found this one a little lacking in body, but after I got into the second glass I was really enjoying it. In fact the second half of the second glass seemed to disappear without me even realising! Good hop flavour (tasted like Cascade to me) but as always with me more would be better! All in all not a bad drop at all. There was some kind of weird characteristic that was overpowering the whole flavour. The closest thing I can compare it to was a beer I did a while back that was brewed too warm (25deg+). In fact it was also an APA style and was quite similar. That was the only negative in my eyes, other than that it was a very nice beer.

PoMo's Bitter: I must say after reading some comments so far about this beer I didn't have particularly high hopes. But I was pleasantly surprised. It has a kind of sharp edge to the flavour and kind of an oxidised nose, but other than that I think its just fine. The aroma reminds me of an old red wine (a bit musty) which usually points to oxidation in some form. The flavour is quite good though I think. It may not be perfect but its not a basket case by any means!

 

[Trent]

Gday
Just finished SCHMICKS ESB while watching the sunday arvo league. It had a clean malt aroma, caramelly and biscuity, with a low hop aroma, and low fruity esters. There was also a little yeast aroma in there. It was a deep copper in colour, very clear, with a low white head/ When tasting, there were caramel notes to the maltiness, some yeast flavour, and a med/high bitterness that cuts through the maltiness quite nicely, though I would like to taste the malt a LITTLE more, as the finish is fairly dry, due to the use of black malt (?) for colour correction? Possibly chocolate malt, as there is the SLIGHTEST hint of chocolate in the flavour? Whatever it is, it makes for a dry finish. There are moderate fruity esters, and low hop flavour. The balance is decidedly bitter, and bitterness lingers into the aftertaste. No diacetyl, no off flavours. The body was med-light, with med-low carbonation and a low alcohol warmth. There is very little creaminess, due to the dryness of the finish, but its JUST there (my mrs picked that for me, and the chocolate flavour).
Overall, this is a very nice beer that I thoroughly enjoyed. Quite drinkable due to the low-ish body, and dry finish. My suggestions for improvements (or what I would do), would be add some more (or bigger) late addition hops, to increase hop flavour, and change the black malt portion a little. If you are using 50g of black malt, maybe use 25 or 20g, and then 100g of dark crystal (245ebc) to give a little more sweetness to the finish (and malt flavour) lightening the colour a touch, but still keeping it reasonably dry. This tastes similar, yet bigger, than my first attempt at an ordinary bitter. I have since dropped my 50g black malt, and replaced it with 200g of crystal 245 (on top of my crystal 145), and it tastes great to me. Anyway, this was a very good beer, I wish I had another bottle, and I gave it 41.5/50
All the best
Trent
EDIT - Just looked at your recipe. I was shocked to see flaked Maize, I certainly couldnt taste that! And it is choc malt (dont ya hate it when the Mrs is right?) Anyway, I would at least double your late hop additions, but that is just me. If ya dont mind me asking, why flaked maize? T.

 

[berapnopod]

Doc's "Aidan's Irish Red"

Aroma: Medium aroma overall with an emphasis on malt. The malt character is smooth, with a hint of toffee. I think there's also some diacetyl in there too. The hops are noticeable but in the background and lend a good complexity to the aroma - slightly earthy.

Appearance: Head is thin and lasting, supported by medium carbonation. head colour is a light tan and the bubbles are fine. Colour is a beautiful deep red. Clarity is close to brilliant.

Flavour: Flavour tends to be hop dominated with the hop flavour coming through first and finishing off with an assertive bitterness. Hope flavour is again quite earthy. Underlying malt character is somewhat masked by a high carbonation. Finish is dry and bitter and clean.

Mouthfeel: Medium bosy. Carbonation is high and gives a foamy mouth that masks other characteristics of the beer. A little astrongent which is probably a result of the high hopping rate?

Overall: The beer has a very enticing aroma. The flavour is Earthy and hoppy. Overall it is a great drop! But I would like to suggest a couple of minor tweaks for the next recipe: First, teh carbonatin is on the high side, second is the bitterness appears to be on the high side too. The second point is not so clear since it could also be a carbonation bite increasing the apparent bitterness.
As it stands it is a very distinctive beer and I guess I am just pointing out things that seem out of whack with the Irish Red style. So if you want to brew an Irish Red, bring down the hops and carbonation. If not, its great as it is! I'm thinking that also the malty/caramel could be increased. Perhaps boiling a bit of the first runnings could help with this? Or chuck a couple of red hot rocks in the boil?


Berp.

 

[nifty]

Ok, at last, I've finally had a chance to try a couple of these beers.

Sorry about the poor descriptions, these are just my impressions...

Barry's Robust Porter - This is what my porters want to be like when they grow up, a really flavour filled beer. Really enjoyed this one.

Stephens Special Bitter - A bit overcorbonated. I thought this beer had a spicy taste ??, dunno, hard to describe, but a good drinking beer.

Doc's Irish Red Ale - Really nice. Very smooth. When I took the first sip, I was unsure about it, but I kept sipping and thinking this is a really tasty beer. I was very dissappointed when I got to the end of the bottle, I wanted more..

cheers

nifty

 

[Josh]

Josh's Pilsner

Not bad at all for a first AG.

Ummm not my first AG. First decoction mash.

 

[PostModern]

PoMo's Bitter: I must say after reading some comments so far about this beer I didn't have particularly high hopes. But I was pleasantly surprised. It has a kind of sharp edge to the flavour and kind of an oxidised nose, but other than that I think its just fine. The aroma reminds me of an old red wine (a bit musty) which usually points to oxidation in some form. The flavour is quite good though I think. It may not be perfect but its not a basket case by any means!

I think it may be improving as the yeast scrubs the oxygen out of the bottle. Thanks for braving a taste.

Ummm not my first AG. First decoction mash.

Apologies. I was misinformed. Decoction explains the huge malty taste. Worth the effort, imho.

 

[Thommo]

Tried a tester of mine on Saturday night. It's ready. Can already see room for improvement, could be better, but pretty happy with it considering it was my first AG.

(You could have been thinking of me PoMo.)

 

[shmick]

EDIT - Just looked at your recipe. I was shocked to see flaked Maize, I certainly couldnt taste that! And it is choc malt (dont ya hate it when the Mrs is right?) Anyway, I would at least double your late hop additions, but that is just me. If ya dont mind me asking, why flaked maize? T.

Thanks for the kind words Trent - glad you enjoyed it.

This recipe is still work in progress. The previous version had a very heavy body, a slightly astringent hop flavour (which does fade to a nice smoothness given time) and a mildly cloying finish. I guess I just over corrected with this one.

I used the flaked maize (no name cornflakes actually) to thin the body a little, backed off (halved) the mid boil & 10 min hop additions and substituted caramunich for caramel malt to dry the finish. It is a little darker than intended but not by much.
Sounds like I should have stuck to the original. :chug:

 

[T.D.]

Shmick,

Its funny you should mention "astringent hop flavour". I noticed you have Challenger hops in the recipe. I have made a few beers in the past were I used a large amount of challenger and I got quite a harsh astringent flavour as a result. Did you use challenger in your previous effort? This hop variety has always frustrated me because it smells so damned good in its raw form, but I have never gotten a beer to yield those same characteristics. The more I used the more astringency I seemed to get. Anyway, it may not have anything to do with your experience but I just thought it was worth a mention.

 

[DrewCarey82]

Tried one of mine on the weekend fellas and to my alarm it looks like morgans have stuffed me up big time, its got Pride of Ringwood in it.

Even though the finishing hops clearly stated that it was Saaz.

Normally its a great beer so pretty pissed off that they've stuffed it up for me!

Next swap I'll make it up to you's.

 

[Samwise Gamgee]

Can you taste the POR?

 

[DrewCarey82]

Very much so mate, I squeezed down a schooner and chucked the other half......

Give it a try though it might be to your taste, never know, but to me was revolting.

 

[T.D.]

Nooch's Dark Mild: Bloody awesome. I have a mild bubbling away in the fermenter as I type and drinking this beer has made me feel very happy about it! :beerbang: This beer reminds me a lot of Kent Old Brown, one of my favouritest beers that you (unfortunately) rarely see these days. The body is light (as you would expect for a 3.4% beer) but certainly not in a bad way. I would be happy to drink this all night long. Nothing is out of place - its balanced beautifully between malt, bitterness and hop flavour. All I can hope is that my one in the fermenter ends up as enjoyable as this one. Well brewed Nooch!

I have KoNG's bitter in the fridge. It should get a run later in the evening...

 

[T.D.]

Nooch, I don't see your recipe in the recipes database. I'd be interested in having a look if you are willing to part with it!

 

[KoNG]

Tried one of mine on the weekend fellas and to my alarm it looks like morgans have stuffed me up big time, its got Pride of Ringwood in it.

Even though the finishing hops clearly stated that it was Saaz.

Normally its a great beer so pretty pissed off that they've stuffed it up for me!

Next swap I'll make it up to you's.

Dont stress it DC82, PoR is still a decent hop.. Coopers use it with great results..!
I always found that finishing hops in a kit are fairly muted anyway... although if you have made the beer before and it was saaz, i dont think they would have changed the hops on you, maybe it was just a different fermenting regime or the like.

 

[Gough]

Nooch's Dark Mild: Bloody awesome. I have a mild bubbling away in the fermenter as I type and drinking this beer has made me feel very happy about it! This beer reminds me a lot of Kent Old Brown, one of my favouritest beers that you (unfortunately) rarely see these days. The body is light (as you would expect for a 3.4% beer) but certainly not in a bad way. I would be happy to drink this all night long. Nothing is out of place - its balanced beautifully between malt, bitterness and hop flavour. All I can hope is that my one in the fermenter ends up as enjoyable as this one. Well brewed Nooch!

I have KoNG's bitter in the fridge. It should get a run later in the evening...

I liked Nooch's beer as well TD, but he wouldn't believe me when I told him It isn't a bad drop at all mate... Well brewed.

Just to further this thread's sudden turn to the positive, I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of appreciation of Barry's Porter. Bloody lovely beer :beerbang: Chocolaty goodness with a textbook dryish finish and a head you could stand a 20 cent piece in right to the bottom of the glass. Seriously good stuff Barry. Some slight 'hot' alcohol, but only very slight. Perhaps a warmish pitch? This is the most minor criticism though of what is far and away the best beer I've had from either of the two Xmas cases I've been part of. There was some criticism of the 'roastiness' of this brew... All I can say is if they thought this was too roasty they should stay away from my Dry Stout.

Top darts Barry. A really great Porter. My new benchmark for this style

Shawn.

 

[nifty]

I had a few more from the case tonight -

T.D.'s Boston Lager - A top beer, looks good - a great colour, tastes great. Another one that I wanted more of..

Stickler's - Top drop, I really enjoyed this beer, I was sad to see the end of it.

PoMo's English bitter - After the prevoius reviews of this beer, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I thought this beer tasted bloody good.

Thanks

nifty