Nsw Xmas In July Case 2008 - Tasting Notes

[Tony]

Just poured the bottle of ESB i got back from the swap and i must say im burping up hops. I didnt get any sour......... not like my other beers ATM.

I think it was probably over hopped for the style and the meaty english hops like challenger have not responded well

HEre is the recipe

Tonys ESB

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 27.00 Wort Size (L): 27.00
Total Grain (kg): 6.80
Anticipated OG: 1.062 Plato: 15.14
Anticipated EBC: 27.3
Anticipated IBU: 51.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
88.2 6.00 kg. TF Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt UK 1.037 5
7.4 0.50 kg. TF Crystal UK 1.034 145
2.9 0.20 kg. JWM Dark Crystal Australia 1.036 230
1.5 0.10 kg. TF Brown Malt UK 1.033 160

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.00 g. First Gold Pellet 7.70 8.3 First WH
36.00 g. Wye Target Pellet 9.00 28.6 45 min.
10.00 g. Wye Northdown Pellet 7.20 3.4 15 min.
10.00 g. Wye Challenger Pellet 7.90 3.8 15 min.
30.00 g. Wye Challenger Pellet 7.90 4.5 5 min.
20.00 g. Wye Northdown Pellet 7.20 2.8 5 min.
30.00 g. E.K Goldings Pellet 4.30 0.0 Dry Hop


Yeast
-----

1469 TTLL yeast


The challenger has a really meaty character that i thing is percieved as extra maltiness in this beer, and the northdown has a slick sweet fresh finish from my experiences with it. This could be the tartness (not to mention the 51 IBU)

The haze will be the dry hops........ they soaked for 2 weeks and ive never made a clear dry hopped beer.

The yeast has a very strong nutty character too. Its a tops yeast IMO.

All these things make up a beer with massive character.......... its not the best ESB...... and not the best beer ive made (oops just burped up more hops...... they are there just under the malt and yeast) but its not infected imo. Well not this bottle anyway.

Or maybe i cant taste it anymore?

Im happy for honnest opinions on the beer........ be harsh with your review. Im learning and i hate tip-toeing around the truth

cheers

 

[Muggus]

In comparison to 'infected' beers i've had in the past, your ESB doesn't even register on the same scale Tony.
I'm of the oppinion that the strong flavours I experienced in the beer were a combination of plenty of hops and a characterful yeast.
Sure, probably not ideal in that style of beer, but I found it to be a more woody, spicy type of sharpness that i'd more associate with hops than anything else.
As opposed to your typical wild yeast sort sharpness, which is certainly more vinegary/natural yoghurt/strong cheese-like from experience.

Either way...its got nothing in the way of sharpness on my 'sour ale' I brought along on the caseswap day!

 

[Tony]

thanks mate.......... that gives me a tad of confidence.

I really agree.......... its over hopped for style and very malty, with a big yeast character........... as someone said.......... its a seriouis beer. But i dont do things in halves.

The Scottish 80 on tap has developed a sour sharpness, like a few others, my maibock ,a weizen i made, that the ESB doesnt have.

Im going to stick up for my beer and say its a shit ESB but its not infected

Its just "bigger" than any ESB you have probably tried.

cheers

 

[schooey]

Brew: 17. Pint of Lager - Munich Lager
Date: 3/7/08
Beer info: Bottled in brown 750ml CUB bottle, IBU 28 Hallertauer 3.7% Gold cap "PoL"

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in goblet. Pours a copperish gold body with slight haze and a creamy white head atop. Sweet biscuity grain maltiness on the nose, hint of bread, nice touch of hops; zesty citrus, a herbaceousness to it, they come through more as it warms. Smooth texture, carbonation is reasonably low, has a bit of malty body about it that verges on stickiness. Plenty of sweet toasty biscuit malt upfront, hops cut through well with a leafy citrus note that lingers on the finish and balances out the overall body. A particularly nice, no-nonsense lager I
could very easily see myself drinking alot of. Cheers PoL!

Beer 17 is my first of the swap and I reckon what Muggus has to say here pretty well sums it up for me. Very persistent fine creamy head that laced the glass all the way to the bottom. Excellent, excellent beer, POL, Thanks! Any chance of the recipe if it hasn't been posted already?

 

[schooey]

2. Tony's ESB

My bottle seemed to lack carbonation with no noticable 'cchhssssh' on opening. I had to pour with a big slosh to get a decent head and it faded rather quickly. Not sure if I chilled it too much for this style? Smells of grassy earthy hops and caramelish toffe maltiness. Has a thinnish mouthfeel and a rather tart aftertaste. Doesnt seem to be infected or I would would have thought the carbonation activity would have been much higher? Maybe the tartness is a yeast thing, I'm not sure... with that tartness removed and a little more body, I think this would be an enjoyable beer.

 

[Tony]

Shudders and recoils to the corner of the room in shame :unsure: :icon_vomit:

i obviously cant taste the sourness, ive gotten used to it

someone shoot me

 

[schooey]

Chin up mate, of all your beers I've tasted, this is probably the only one I'd be confident of stacking one of mine up against. Just gotta get back on the pony...


7. Fatgozilla - More than a half wit

Poured a lovely straw golden colour with a medium silk white head and just a hint of haze that could have been me disrupting the yeast moving the bottle around. Bready malt aromas on the nose with some clove and a small hint of banana after swiling and burying the snoz right in the glass. Has a fruity taste and a smooth mouthfeel with a clovey subtle spicy finish. Great session beer on a warm day, cheers FG

 

[nifty]

I finally got a chance to pick up my xmas case beers from Josh's last weekend (thanks for minding them for me Josh) and tried Tony's ESB tonight.

You're right about the hops Tony, I kept burping and every time I did, I would go "ahh hops". My missus just kept shaking her head and mumbled something about f#cking beer nerd or something like that.

Anyway, the carbonation was ok in mine and even though it had quite a sharp taste, I thought it was ok, thanks Tony.

cheers

nifty

 

[Gulpa]

10. Insight - Terrapin Rye Pale Ale clone, WLP051

Poured hazy with a tight creamy head. Nice gold colour. Lovely aroma hops balanced with the grainy malt. Lightly carbed with a medium body. Hoppy taste but the malt really comes through after a few mouthfuls. Really well balanced for my tastes. Lovely beer. Thanks Insight.

Wouldnt mind seeing the recipe for this one.

Thanks
Andrew.

 

[Gulpa]

11. redbeard - belgian dubbel'ish

Pours with a small head that disappears quickly. Gold with a slight haze. Interesting aroma with a marzipan/maltyness to it. Definitely Belgianish. Medium light body with a floral sweetness to it. Really quite different but Im enjoying it because of that. Nice beer. Thanks Redbeard.

Cheers
Andrew.

 

[schooey]

28. Linz - Over dunked Dunkelweizen

I poured this into my newly acquired Scheider glass that had been chilled in the freezer for a while. Poured a lovely darkish colour, very clear and with a superb fine head. The head laced the glass all the way to the bottom. Had nice malty and biscuity aromas up front and the mouthfeel was excellent. Well done on a really good malt/bitterness balance too, Linz. A very very enjoyable beer, Cheers!

 

[sah]

10. Insight - Terrapin Rye Pale Ale clone, WLP051, 5.4%, bottled 08/06.

Aroma of passion fruit and tasted like passion fruit. Moderate bitterness and carbonation, dryish. Enough malt character to support the hops perfectly. Hazy dark gold to brown. It all comes together very nicely.

Cheers Insight.

Scott.

edit: this had me burping hops, that's a good thing

 

[nifty]

I cracked Schooey's mild last night.

It was a lively bugger when I opened it, luckily I was near the sink. After it kept frothing out of the bottle for a few minutes, I decided to try pouring it into a glass. I got a decent amount of beer into the glass and it settled down after that, the next glass poured better.
Even though a lot of yeast was stirred up by all the activity in the bottle, it still came out a very nice beer, thanks.

nifty

 

[Stuster]

Well, Tony, I know you're worried about your beers at the moment but I don't think there was anything wrong about your swap beer at all. It was a very solid bitter in my opinion. I certainly picked up the notes Muggus was mentioning but having brewed with this yeast it's just the character from that rather than anything wild unless we have the same infection. :lol: A beer with a lot of flavour for sure with the yeast playing a starring role and a good amount of hoppiness there as well. Mid-brown with some reddish hints, thick head which lingered. Some chill haze which was my fault for not taking it out of the fridge a bit earlier. This yeast definitely strips the malt flavours from the beer and I was surprised to look at your recipe and see you'd used 10% crystal since it has a very dry finish, partly due to the hops of course. But a solid bitter with lots of fruity flavours from the yeast and hops.

Doc - Schwarzbier

Roasty, coffee malts. Floral hops. Dark brown-black with ruby highlights. Clear, thick fluffy head which fell back to a thin layer. Great lacing down the glass. Dark roasted malts fight it out with fruity hops and the hops win on points. Rich, dark-chocolate maltiness develops as the beer warms up. Medium body lightened by the dry finish due to a clean bitterness and a good level of carbonation. A delicious beer that developed its maltiness as it warmed up, but stayed remarkably drinkable which is what this beer should be. Great stuff, Doc. Will be looking up this recipe. :chug:


I also drank Linz's Dunkelweizen while I was on holidays so shorter comments on this sorry. Was a nice drop, Lindsay. Very much to style, though could have done with a touch more weizen yeast flavours I guess. Nice malt flavours though and a very quaffable beer. Thanks.

 

[Tony]

:huh:

thats what my impression was too.

I have found this yeast to be the most in your face yeast.

Worked better in a darker beer IMO.

cheers

cheers

 

[Stuster]

I have found this yeast to be the most in your face yeast.

Worked better in a darker beer IMO.

Agreed. It's a really full on yeast. I brought a bottle to a club meet and DJR guessed it was a Belgian yeast which I think is a very accurate assessment. It's definitely a good yeast for dark beers. :chug:

 

[floppinab]

I cracked a bottle the other day & it was dead flat :angry: I recall I had a bad bottling day (aren't they all) but hope that I got the only dud bottle.

Sorry Phil, I got one too . Was still good enough to drink half the bottle though!!!!!

 

[Gulpa]

20. Cortez The Killer - Almost Dark Ale - Recipe #37 - http://hyperfox.info/allgrain01.htm

Darker than almost dark, ruby highlights. Pours with a medium creamy head which drops down to a thin head that lasts the glass. Roasty nose, slightly yeasty with a almost minty bit. Taste is quite sweet with a medium roasty/malty backbone. Nice beer Cortez but a bit sweet for my tastes. Hard to believe its more than 50 IBU.

Cheers
Andrew.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Thanks

It's only just under 30 IBU

I think I went a bit overboard with the crystal

Cheers

 

[Stuster]

A few quick notes.

floppinab's Brown Ale

Just drinking this tonight. Not a bad beer at all, and certainly could be a good session beer. Good malts which really came out as the beer warmed up. There's a distinct taste there which I think is from that 004 yeast. I think it works well in this beer though, giving it a bit of character. I know you weren't that happy with this beer, but not sure why. A good brown.

JonW's NZAPA

Great stuff here, Jon. Delicious APA I thought. Notes are sparse, but I really enjoyed this one. Not too bitter, though the bitterness was a touch harsh. Looking through your recipe, I wondered how much gypsum you added. But for me that wasn't really much of a downside. Delicious. :chug:

Schooey's English Mild

A mild that was very much like the mild's I drank through most of university, apart from the carbonation which was a bit high as you said. But other than that very much to style and a real easy drinking beer.