Qld Xmas in July in June2014 case swap * tasting thread *

[Liam_snorkel]

Thanks Liam, I'm planning on tasting one of these on Sunday arvo when I get home from being away then hopefully updating as ready to drink. How did you find the carbonation?

It was spot on. Certainly not under carbed, at a guess about 2atm?

 

[Donske]

What better way to add to Liam's lovely drop than follow the inspiration of an earlier post and rather than marinate ribs in it, HAVE a beef rib with it. A bloody top drop.

I've used part of Liam's offering in a jerky marinade, seemed as good a way as any to get some smoke into the meat.

Unfortunately I can't offer any useful feedback on the beer Liam, as much as I try I just can't get into smoked beers.

I'm completely stumped about what to do with Benken's Rauch.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Hehe, I could see both of them working pretty well as a reduction - sticky smoky sweet glaze *drool*

 

[robv]

RobV's Red IPA.
Phwoar. Dark fruity almost creamy aroma, taste is malty with a heavy kind of ripe pineapple hop flavour, pretty dank. Firm bitterness but not overpowering. Head retention & lacing are epic, this beast is packed full of hop oils. Nailed the colour and carbonation is appropriate. Onya Rob! This is one of the best of the swap I've had so far, the missus puts it at the top.

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Thanks for the awesome review mate, been worried about the carbonation, they just haven't carbed as they should have.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

The one I got was bang on

 

[earle]

1) Winkle, Apricot, Sour.
2) Beersuit - American Wheat. - READY
3) Benken25 - Raunchybier - READY
4) Earle - smoked rye porter - READY
5) Bradsbrew - Hazelnut Mild Ale - READY
6) Robv - Red IPA Give it 2weeks
7) Liam_snorkel - cherrywood rauch dunkelweizen READY!! DRINK NOW!!
8 ) lukiferj - Reign in Blood Red IPA - READY
9) Parks - Single hop Amarillo IPA. - READY (pour carefully, some have a bit of trub in there)
10) Daemon - Zythos IPA - Wait 2 weeks
11) Angus - dunkel weizen - READY
13) ballantynebrew - Vintage Ale - READY
14) TheCarbinator - Belgian Golden Strong Ale - Ready.
15) NickB - APA - READY but would probably be best after a week or 2 of cold storage
16) Snow - Imperial Witbier - give it two more weeks.
17) Aydos - Blueberry and Black peppercorn Belgian stout. -Ready
18) leahy268 - Cascade and Galaxy pale ale
19) Donske - Rye Dark Mild - READY
20) tazman1967 - Kraken Rum Oak Aged Stout - READY
21) Madpierre - Sparkling Ale (kit 'n' bit) - GIVE ANOTHER MONTH OR SO
23) Seehuusen - Blueberry Hefeweizen - Should be ready, but can sit for a little while if you prefer. I like my hefeweizen fresh. Bottled

Updated as now ready for drinking

 

[daemon]

10) Daemon - Zythos IPA
Well all is right with the world. Great head and lacing all the way down the glass. Great hop taste up front and some nice oily bitterness in after taste. I'm getting some malt coming through. Great IPA!

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Thanks for the feedback. I'd aimed it at a more malt forward variant of an IPA and initially thought it may have ended up too sweet. It's come back in balance, but I could probably squeeze a few more hops in

Benken25 - Raunchybier

Big upfront smoky aroma, along with some malt sweetness. Loads of smoke / bacon like flavours yet extremely smooth and well balanced. I drank this one over an hour and enjoyed every sip. There aren't many good examples of a Rauchbier here in Australia so very well done.

 

[benken25]

number 15 Nickb apa bloody mate goes well with the spicy chicken I cooked on the webber. maybe a little under carbed but a fair wack of hop aroma. I get passion fruit, and orange . balanced well with enough malt to offset the bitterness. I expected a more bitter finish but I reckon the beer is perfect. very sessionable

 

[madpierre06]

1) Winkle, Apricot, Sour.
2) Beersuit - American Wheat. - READY
3) Benken25 - Raunchybier - READY
4) Earle - smoked rye porter - READY
5) Bradsbrew - Hazelnut Mild Ale - READY
6) Robv - Red IPA Give it 2weeks
7) Liam_snorkel - cherrywood rauch dunkelweizen READY!! DRINK NOW!!
8 ) lukiferj - Reign in Blood Red IPA - READY
9) Parks - Single hop Amarillo IPA. - READY (pour carefully, some have a bit of trub in there)
10) Daemon - Zythos IPA - Wait 2 weeks
11) Angus - dunkel weizen - READY
13) ballantynebrew - Vintage Ale - READY
14) TheCarbinator - Belgian Golden Strong Ale - Ready.
15) NickB - APA - READY but would probably be best after a week or 2 of cold storage
16) Snow - Imperial Witbier - give it two more weeks.
17) Aydos - Blueberry and Black peppercorn Belgian stout. -Ready
18) leahy268 - Cascade and Galaxy pale ale
19) Donske - Rye Dark Mild - READY
20) tazman1967 - Kraken Rum Oak Aged Stout - READY

23) Seehuusen - Blueberry Hefeweizen - Should be ready, but can sit for a little while if you prefer. I like my hefeweizen fresh. Bottled

Updated as now ready for drinking

Really enjoying these, haven't had one yet that wasn't enjoyable. Just finished RobV's IPA and about to follow that with TheCarbinator's and Aydos' brews. Update: Not sure if I'll go at TheCarb's Belgian yet as Aydos stout has a real kick in it and I do want to be capable of really tasting the thing. I would recommend staying away from antihistamines when having something which has such a solid alcohol kick/warmth. A lovely drop.

The major standouts in terms of brewing styles to do myself have been Liam's CRD, Seehuusen's Blueberry hefe and Beersuits American Wheat (and any other wheat beer variants), and Donske's Rye Dark Mild. I loved the strawbeery/lilac hue of Seehuusen's drop.

Planning to try tomorrow - brews by Benken + pie , lukiferj (any bad pun like "this beer really slayed 'em" will do), and Angus. I'm planning, after much dilly dallying, to put my first AG down tomorrow. Only been slowed down by fear up to now, time to just go for it. Two days off is well timed.

 

[Snow]

Ok... had a big Thurs - Sun last week, so a few reviews to update. Please bear in mind that I was a tad inebriated when i wrote the notes for some of these, so they may be a bit sketchy.... :chug:

7) Liam Snorkel Cherrywood Rauch dunkel
Freaking delicious! Aromas and flavours of ham hock, ripe fruit and BBQ sauce. As it warms, more of a "candied woodchips" note.I think that means smokey caramel. Makes me hungry. would go well with pork sausages. No faults to speak of. Super beer, mate!

19 Donske - Rye Dark Mild
Nice aromas of light roast malt, with hints of dark chocolate. Hints of sweet roasted caramel. Not as carbonated as I would have hoped, but nice enough. Pleasant mouthfeel, flavoursome yet refreshing. Good session ale.

15) Nick B - APA
Great aroma! Citrus, sweet malt. Lovely grainy malt flavour with good hop notes. Some fruit from yeast. Perfect balance with mouthfeel and bitterness. Typical IPA - great job!

23) Seehuusen - Blueberry Hefe
Massive foam in glass - way over carbonated and hid all aromas unfortunately. Very muddy appearance with lots of floaties. As it warms up and the head drops, I'm picking up lemon and wheat grain aromas. Nice fruit flavours, some phenols, but mostly very light blueberry and mango(??). Finishes sweet, but with good bitterness to balance. Lovely wheat finish that lingers. After a while this turned out to be a lovely refreshing wheatie!

4) Earle - Smoked Porter
Light roasty aroma. Flavour is nice hints of smoke and coffee. light sweetness on the back palate, light mouthfeel and no astringency. Quite refreshing - makes me want to eat cheese with it. Delicious beer !

6) Rob V - Red IPA
Delicious malt aroma, with fruity hops. Toasted caramel and biscuit. Nice caramel malt flavours with noticeable hops that don't dominate. Mouthfeel is a touch heavy for my liking. maybe more carbonation is needed. Lovely beer, nonetheless.

10) Daemon - Zythos IPA
Beautiful, creamy (moussy) head. Rich, inviting amber colour. Nice tropical fruit and grassy hops aroma. Tastes of sweet malt and fruit salad.Lovely lingering bitterness that balances the malt.sweetness perfectly. A seriously good IPA that is as good as or better than most commercial examples out there. Awesome job dude!

17) Aydos - Blueberry and Black Peppercorn Belgian Stout
Hazy notes for this one, unfortunately. Black, funky, roasty. A touch of spice. not astringent. quite mild mouthfeel. No blueberries to speak of. Nice funky stout!


20) Tazman 1967 - Rum Oak aged Stout
Yumm malty, rummy aroma with hints of wood. Rich, roast character that is smooth with hints of caramel, prunes and spiced rum. Head died pretty quickly.. might be alcohol. Nice and warming. Lovely beer - perfect for a cold winters nightcap!

This case swap is seriously the best one yet. Never have there been so many faultless brews in the one case. I am really pleased I joined in this one - it has inspired me to get back into brewing some different styles. Nice one, boys!

Cheers - Snow

 

[Snow]

I forgot one!!

1) Winkle - Apricot Sour

Nice inviting light colour. Light fruity, spicy aroma - lemon, wheat, some funky phenols. Tastes refreshing with a nice tartness that isn't overbearing. Flavours of light lemon, orange and grainy wheat. No real apricot flavour that I can pick up, but i may have drunk it too cold, A tasty beer that would go well with a cheese fondue!

Cheers - Snow.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

And thanks to all those that review the beers and post (despite inebriation) some really good descriptors.

It's funny, I'm thinking that these case swaps are the 'real' beer awards - beers brewed without restraint required for comp beers (though listening to the BJCP podcasts and the new guidelines, the "if it's a good beer, it should be scored as one" line being taken by the new guidelienes might change this), judged by some fussy peers with good palates and no chance of prizes - just the love of the craft and the desire to experiment and share.

 

[benken25]

11 Angus dunklewizen very nice mate. hint of banana nice dark malt character. better than any dunklewizen I have made

 

[Donske]

11 Angus dunklewizen very nice mate. hint of banana nice dark malt character. better than any dunklewizen I have made

Gotta agree, was a cracking beer. Really enjoyed it Angus. The dry finish was perfect to my tastes, made the beer seem much more sessionable than I suspect it actually was.

 

[angus_grant]

Looking at my brew notes
OG: 1054:
FG: 1011

So around 5.6% plus "a bit" for bottle priming. That passes for sessionable these days. h34r:

Looking forward to re-brewing it and seeing what difference my little tweaks make. Problem is I belted most of my spare bottles during the swap so have a very fuzzy memory of what they tasted like. Have one spare bottle left which I will drink over the weekend.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

So around 5.6% plus "a bit" for bottle priming. That passes for sessionable these days. h34r:

I've been suffering from this. Lupulin threshold shift isn't the only issue that homebrewing causes.

One doesn't notice a tallie of anything below 6% anymore h34r: :chug:

 

[angus_grant]

Earls smoked rye porter.
Nice creaminess up front with some gentle smoke aroma.
Gentle smokey malt mid taste. I was eating a Vegemite and cheese roll at the time and it was a surprisingly good match. The Vegemite matched well with the gentle bitter after-taste.
A nice gentle smokey porter.
I imagine myself drinking a few of these whilst reading a book in front of a roaring fire.
Well done earl. Sometimes a gentle touch should be appreciated.

 

[Lakey]

Not sure if it has been said yet, but any chance of getting the recipes for these beers in this thread. I have been watching this thread and my mouth waters reading all the reviews.

 

[angus_grant]

NickB's APA
I was snorting the bottle cap on this one cause I've been drinking my smash APAs over the last few days so was looking forward to some complexity . Nice citrus aroma and the smell in the glass is so familiar. I'm getting a nice battle between the hops and malt sweetness. Some good resins and general bitterness.
A good balanced APA!!
#rightGlass

 

[Liam_snorkel]

16) Snow - Imperial Witbier

Light aroma of spice (my nose is a bit blocked so I'm probably missing out here sorry mate). Creamy smooth wheat mouth feel, taste is quite peppery with some citrus zest. Complex beer, the combination reminds me of sarsaparilla! I'm eating some cheese with hot tomato chutney and it works together perfectly haha. Yum.
What yeast & spice combo did you use Snow? And how imperial is this bad boy... it's bloody smooth drinking and I'm a bit sad that the bottle has run out as I type this. Dayum.