Nsw Xmas In July Case 2008 - Tasting Notes

[Muggus]

Brew: redbeard - belgian dubbel'ish
Date: 7/7/08
Beer info: Bottled in brown 750ml bottle, gold cap "11"

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in goblet. Pours a hazy sort of pale brown with a collar of white foam. Get yeasty bread straightup on the nose, slightly sulfury, some caramelly malt, and spicy citric hops cutting through it all. Carbonation is soft, very much on the low side, body is particularly lean for a Belgian-style, has a stickiness about it that gives an overall sweet impression with a reasonably sharp hop bitterness taking the edge off it. Mildly fruity body, watered down raspbery cordial!? yeah maybe not, some malt caramel and bread, a touch of citrusy hops. Finishes dry, reasonably clean. Not too sure if you could really call this a dubbel, seems more like some sort of amber Czech pils hybrid. Interesting and quite enjoyable anyway, thanks Redbeard!

 

[floppinab]

Thought I'd hop into Jon's NSPA tonight

Poured into a smallish butcher glass.

Coursish thick heads which persists, light amber colour with some chocolate tones, very clear.

Lovely interesting aroma there, peaches, resins, citrus, lovely combo.

Up front bitterness that lingers and finishes just a little harsh (suspect quite recent production, may well moderate a bit over time). Medium bodied with a creamy malt texture and moderate to low carbonation.

Great beer Jon, and will certainly please the bitter hop heads.

 

[Muggus]

Brew: 5. Crozdog - American Brown
Date: 7/7/08
Beer info: Bottled in brown 750ml bottle, gold cap "5"

Sampling notes:
Served lightly chilled in goblet. Yet another one of these beers in a style i'm yet to 'commercially' try...gotta love it!
Deep bronze body, verging on opaque(ness?), small but thick white head leaving sparce lace. Nose packed full of typical American hop character; grapefruit rind, pine, stone fruit and grass, some supporting toffee and liquorish malt in the background. Body is full, thick syrup like texture balanced with a bitey carbonation, resinous hop bitterness manifests itself early on and lingers long after. Zesty lemon/grapefruit hop character really dominates the body, some grass and pine needle hopiness also, with an underlying rich, slightly roasty liquorish maltiness, that possibly adds a touch of astrigency to a highly bitter finish. Boldly flavoured, plenty of balls to this one, probably why I really liked it! Cheers Crozdog!

 

[Muggus]

Brew: 6. Kabooby - Xaviers Bock
Date: 7/7/08
Beer info: Bottled in brown 750ml bottle, gold cap "6"

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in goblet. Opens with a bit of an unconvincing pop with the resultant beer looking a bit inactive, a headless deep bronze body with the odd bubble. Luckily the aroma promises alot more than the appearance; rich chocolate maltiness, bread, subtle vinous fruitiness. A slight kick of carbonation on the body, rich bodied, smooth, liqueur-like at times, sticky with a slight drying lactic sharpness. Dark chocolate and bread on the body, flavour is very well rounded overall, some caramel and milkiness emerges, as do subtle dark fruit flavours. A very nice satisfying bock, perfect for a cold day like this. Thanks Kabooby, another fine brew!

 

[floppinab]

Tucking into Docs Schvarzy this evening.

Not going to go into details, roasty lovelys hit the nasal passages well before beer hits glass, very porterish this one with only the dry finish to convince you it's a lager. Nicely done Doc.

BTW, cracked my brown tonight also, it's ready to drink, a little disappointed but will await feedback.

 

[Muggus]

Brew: 20. Cortez The Killer - Almost Dark Ale
Date: 7/7/08
Beer info: Bottled in brown 750ml bottle, gold cap "20"

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in goblet. Small thick tan head atop a ruby-highlighted near-black body. Earthy hops on the nose, roasted malts in there too, quite nutty. Carbonation is moderate to low, full body with a rich creaminess to it, slight sharpness possibly from roasted malts(?). Nutty roasted malt on the body, some toffeeish malt sweetness, hint of liquorish and wood, with earthy hop spice. Finishes reasonably bitter, not too dry. Well balanced, highly drinkable dark beer, a porter of sorts perhaps? Cheers Cortez!

 

[Gulpa]

5. Crozdog - American Brown

Pours dark brown with a nice small head. Lightly carbed. I mainly get toffee/chocolate in the aroma with the hops in the background. Taste is malty and bitter with the hops coming through the malt backbone. Just how I like it. Nice beer Crozdog. Thanks.

Cheers
Andrew.

 

[Gulpa]

Gulpa - English Bitter

...Any BC in this or is it just the dark crystal?...

Hi Stuster,

Glad you liked it. Not sure what BC is. Malts were

Maris Otter
Munich I
Dark crystal
Chocolate

Ill post the recipe when I get the chance.

Cheers
Andrew.

 

[Stuster]

Glad you liked it. Not sure what BC is. Malts were

Maris Otter
Munich I
Dark crystal
Chocolate

Sorry to be cryptic, Andrew. I was just wondering where the dark fruit tastes came from and thought it might be from Bramling Cross hops. The other thought I had was that it was dark crystal which may well be what it was. Would like to see the recipe though.

 

[Muggus]

BTW, cracked my brown tonight also, it's ready to drink, a little disappointed but will await feedback.

In that case...

Brew: 9. floppinab - Nthn English brown
Date: 13/7/08
Beer info: Bottled in brown 640ml bottle, gold cap "9" WLP004, bottled 12th June

Sampling notes:
Served with a light chill in goblet. Deep bronze body with ruby highlights and a smallish offwhite head on top. Muted nose (probably a bit too cold) of sweet toffee and earthy hops, some dark fruits play in the background. Decent creamy carbonation, slight richness about the body, drying throughout. I'd consider the body quite complex and flavoursome; slight roasted malt presence lending some dark chocolate and nuttiness, as well as some toffee sweetness, plum and dark berry fruitiness, spicy hops lending an earthy vanilla element, and bread and milkiness that drys and draws out the bitter finish of the beer. Not sure what you were worried about here Gav, but this beer is really nice! Cheers!

 

[Doc]

21. Jon W - NZPA
Great pour, nice steady fluffy head.
Nice opaque golden colour. Refreshing hop aroma.
Damn solid and enjoyable pale ale.
You mention that it is more bitter than what you were aiming for, but I reckon it is spot on.
Awesome beer Jon.

Doc

 

[Gulpa]

21. Jon W - NZPA

I had this as well tonight. Poured clear slightly darker than gold. Big hop nose. Resiny with a definite tropical bit in there. Really hoppy and bitter in taste. Took me half a glass to get used to it. :huh: . Once Id adjusted, it was very nice and the malt started coming through. Good body for style. Love the mix of hops. Nice beer. Thanks Jon.

Regards
Andrew.

 

[Doc]

redbeard - belgian dubbel'ish
Poured with minimal head, that looked good, but dissipated quickly.
Lovely deep golden colour.
Big toasty aroma.
Not a lot of body, and quite dry on the finish.
I think it is lacking some of the complexity required for a "to style" Dubbel (which is why you call it dubbel'ish) ?
Still very clean, no off flavours. Good level of carbonation. Easy drinking.

Doc

 

[Gulpa]

Sorry to be cryptic, Andrew. I was just wondering where the dark fruit tastes came from and thought it might be from Bramling Cross hops. The other thought I had was that it was dark crystal which may well be what it was. Would like to see the recipe though.

Hi Stu,

No problems. I was having trouble coming up with a malt BC . Hops were a Target and Challenger mix. Recipe posted in recipe thread.

Cheers
Andrew.

 

[jonw]

I'm a bit behind on my tasting notes, so here goes, in order of consumption.

17. Pint of Lager - Munich Lager

The first one I've had from the case, and I picked a good one! Pours very clear. Lovely "authentic German" aroma (spicy?). Nicely malty flavour and bitterness. Thin white head persists. A thoroughly enjoyable beer. Thanks PoL.

25. Loftboy - Blue Mountain Lager

Pours pale and clear. Quite low carbonation. Nice hop flavour and bitterness. Slightly cidery flavour, but I was pretty impressed to hear that this was a kit. Well made, easy drinking lager. Thanks Loftboy.

12. Gulpa - English Bitter

Pours dark brown with a thick off-white head. I'd have said this was rather highly carbonated for the style. Substantial body with lots of malt. The malt may mask the hop flavour, but there's a nice level of bitterness. This grew on me more and more as I got through the bottle. I enjoyed it. Thanks Gulpa.

5. Crozdog - American Brown

This is a style I'm not familiar with. Pours dark brown, with a thin head. Lots of malt and a good balance of hop flavour and bitterness. Another highly enjoyable beer. Thanks Crozdog.

22. DK - American Amber Ale

Dark amber and very clear. Quite a light body and low carbonation. Really nice fresh hop flavour, and well balanced maltiness. I really enjoyed this beer. I'd be interested to hear if you chill or not, as I don't think my (no-chilled) beers have this hop freshenss. I'd also like to see the recipe! Thanks DK.

13. SAH - Helles Bock

Very clear. Bready aroma. Malty, somewhat sweet flavour. Low carbonation. More body than I had expected. I think I probably drank this a little warm - a bit colder with more carbonation would have given a better balance. Nontheless, I enjoyed it. Thanks SAH.

2. Tony - ESB

Pours dark brown. Thick off-white head that fades quickly. Nice level of carbonation. Earthy hop flavour comes through with a big malt backbone. I picked up a very slight tartness on the finish, but that might just be me! Another great beer. Thanks Tony.


Thanks for the feebdack on my NZPA. It's a recipe I've only made a couple of times, and this time I upped the late additions, including adding flowers to the no-cill cube in an attempt to impart more flavour and aroma. I think the flowers in the cube ended up adding quite a lot of bitterness too. It's first wort hopped with Southern Cross and the late additions are B Saaz.

Cheers,

Jon

 

[Flex Broker]

Tasted Schooey's English mild last night. Poured a beautiful clear copper colour with a thick head. The head fell to be a finger's thickness and stayed to the bottom of the glass with good lacing. Smelled of biscuits and bitter caramel. Taste was similar - lots of crystal malt bitter caramel flavours with very mild hop presence, faint honey taste. I suspect a bit of aroma malt was used here. Mouthfeel is thinner that you expect from the aroma, but makes the beer very, very drinkable. Finished dry and refreshing. An excellent, excellent session beer. The first mild I've ever had, and I liked it.

Fantastic work, Schooey.

 

[Muggus]

Brew: 2. Tony - ESB
Date: 14/7/08
Beer info: Bottled in brown 750ml bottle, gold cap "2:" Wyeast 1469 TTL 6.5% abv

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in goblet. Pours a deep amber body, quite hazy, with small thick beige head that seems happy enough sticking around and leaving dense lace. I get some subdued grassy/woody/piney sort of hops on the nose, caramel maltiness with a touch more earthy spice (very much like clove!) chucked in there. Body is reasonably lean with moderate carbonation, slightly abrupt maltiness, theres quite a sharp clovey note early on that is quite offputting. Grassy hops on the body with a toffee malt background, nothing too standoutish against the odd woody clovey flavour that seems to have popped up. Flavour lingers on the finish, quite bitter and sharp. Not sure if its just me, or a bad bottle, but something doesn't seem right. Besides that it seems very good...hope I just got a bad bottle Tony!

 

[Tony]

if a couple of my other beers latly are anyting to go off (pun intended) id tip it out if you havnt already tried it.

I seem to have concoured my infections for half a dozen good brews and now they are back. Its a different one again.

All this yeast was grown in my starter flask, and i did find some suspect looking stuff inside the rubber bung, after all these beer were made.

The Scottish 80 i have in the keg is developing a tartness, wheat beerish, the Mash paddle maibock is getting poured out on the weekend, it has progresovly got sour like vinigar, and the ESB, seems to be doing the same thing.

I only entered it because it was fine to start with.......... this seems to be a slow growing thing.

The **** in the airlock/bung was sour smelling :angry: at myself for coplacency. Its been fine for years but as i have learnt recently.......... things change and "everyting" needs to be looked at closley.

Apploagies for the **** beer folks........... Im not even going to bother entering anything in a comp this year and wont be doing the swap thing again either.

Might open up a lambic brewery, but i guess they would just get infected as well.

sorry

Tony

 

[Flex Broker]

The more infected, the better the lambic.

 

[Tony]

mmmmmm ive never tried a true lambic........... will one day in belgium on holidays im sure (if i win lotto or sell the kids on ebay...... wont get anything for my kidneys) but im not real sure its a case of "infection is good" in a lambic. To my knowledge its a certain combo of wild yeasts that do the job.......... and i dont think the wild yeasts in my garage will make me famous

cheers