Sandgroper Christmas Case 2006 Consumption

[Guest Lurker]

What he said - spot on Ant. This APA has grapefruit in spades - smells like grapefruit, tastes like grapefruit - middle palate is sweet - appealing malt and caramel notes. I dont get the grassy front palate - my tastebuds are still recovering from the grapefruit bomb. Superb beer! Can I have the recipe pleeeeeeeeese!!

Definitely in the top 3 for mine.

About half way through the case - seriously - I havent had anything approaching a bad beer yet.

RM

Had that one tonight as well, nice Chinook character, and no one has yet mentioned the tight lacy head.

 

[deebee]

Tonys Dezemberfest
Cloudy, a little dark and slightly under carbonated for style, corresponding thin head that laced the sides as I drank it. I love this style and really enjoyed this beer: malty yet finishing dry and very easy to put away. It does lack a little of the crispness that makes this style, nevertheless, a tidy beer with good balance of malt/dry/bitter. Very enjoyable beer and one of my favourites of the case.

Simons Green Tea Lager
A courageous step indeed to brew this hallowed recipe and then subject it to the rough and ready palates of the AHB sandgropers fraternity. Top marks for that alone. Yes, it does have a strange greenish tinge and some chill haze but that would only deter beer wimps. I clearly detect green tea in the aroma and cant remember if I picked that up in Ashers beers. Can taste it too although Im sure I couldnt name the flavour if I didnt know what it was. I really like this beer/tea combo and could honestly acquire a nasty habit for drinking tea in lager. This beer finishes slightly maltier than a lager purist might want, but thats my preference so it doesnt worry me. And it seems slightly more alcoholic than Ashers beers, (both in taste and effect) or is that just because it welcomed me home from my first 11-hour day back at work after two weeks off? The recipe is a classic in the making and this a worthy version.

 

[JasonY]

Simon's Green Tea Lager

Poured with a thin head which lasts the glass. Mine seemed a bit under carbed? Could be me chilling it in the freezer? Definitely a green tinge to it and a nice aroma of tea & malt no noticeable hop aroma. Lovely taste to it, some tea and malt in there and neutral bitterness which lets the tea come through. Enjoying this now, just wish it was a bit warmer today

 

[Tony M]

Tonys Dezemberfest
Cloudy, a little dark and slightly under carbonated for style, corresponding thin head that laced the sides as I drank it.

Sorry Deebee,
Somebody had to get the dregs of the keg. I guess you've never won lotto either.

 

[Simon W]

Simon W Amber hopburst
Its a clean malty, tasty beer, some subdued hop flavour, pretty good. The problem is that after seeing the hopburst label, you expect a more prominent hop character. But the bittering is smooth, as you would expect from a burst. Carbonation and head retention are low, probably could have had more time in the bottle.

The maltiness is due I think to melanoiden, its the first time I've used it so dunno. The mash was 25/35min at 60/70c, probably shoulda gone a little drier.
I was also surprised by the lack of hops, considering the quantity/varieties used and the late hopping(all additions in the last 30mins). Had I been able to taste it before the swap, It would have been labeled differently.

I cracked open another bottle on NYE and was enjoying it alot more than the green pre-xmas bottle. Interestingly the bottle on NYE had great head and good carbonation, they were bulk primed so dunno whats going on there, mine are all in glass stubbies and I've heard that PET can be porous to gasses so maybe thats it?

Will be interesting to see your future tastings, I think you got two more in the 'spares' case.

 

[ausdb]

The maltiness is due I think to melanoiden, its the first time I've used it so dunno. The mash was 25/35min at 60/70c, probably shoulda gone a little drier.
I was also surprised by the lack of hops, considering the quantity/varieties used and the late hopping(all additions in the last 30mins). Had I been able to taste it before the swap, It would have been labeled differently.

I cracked open another bottle on NYE and was enjoying it alot more than the green pre-xmas bottle. Interestingly the bottle on NYE had great head and good carbonation, they were bulk primed so dunno whats going on there, mine are all in glass stubbies and I've heard that PET can be porous to gasses so maybe thats it?

Will be interesting to see your future tastings, I think you got two more in the 'spares' case.

Simon

I drank mine last weekend and as I am crap at coming up with these great descriptors will just describe it as nicely malty, not very hoppy and a bit short on the carbonation side of things. I don't htink the PET bottles are good long term but the timeframe we are talking about here (<1 month since bottling) then it should not make a difference.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Kroozys summer ale
Amber colour, good carbonation, lacy retained head. Poured the brightest of any bottle conditioned beer so far. Balanced more to the malt than I would usually expect from a summer ale, but enough bitterness to balance, and a bit more hop flavour as it warms. Good quaffing material goes down very easily.

 

[JasonY]

What he said - spot on Ant. This APA has grapefruit in spades - smells like grapefruit, tastes like grapefruit - middle palate is sweet - appealing malt and caramel notes. I dont get the grassy front palate - my tastebuds are still recovering from the grapefruit bomb. Superb beer! Can I have the recipe pleeeeeeeeese!!

Personally I would back off a few IBU on this one, the kegged half of it was quite bitter but also much hoppier Oh and I reckon more chinook at the end

Recipe Specifics

----------------



Batch Size (L):		  43.00	Wort Size (L):	43.00

Total Grain (Kg):		 9.10

Anticipated OG:		  1.052	Plato:			12.96

Anticipated EBC:		  10.4

Anticipated IBU:		  34.4

Brewhouse Efficiency:	   80 %

Wort Boil Time:			 90	Minutes



Actual OG:  1.048   Plato: 11.91

Actual FG:  1.012   Plato:  3.07



Alc by Weight:  3.70	  by Volume:  4.74  From Measured Gravities.

ADF:			74.2	  RDF		 61.8  Apparent & Real Degree of Fermentation.



Actual Mash System Efficiency: 81 %

Anticipated Points From Mash:  52.40

Actual Points From Mash:	   53.33



Grain/Extract/Sugar



   %	 Amount	 Name						  Origin		Potential EBC

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 86.8	 7.90 kg.  Pale Ale Malt (IMC Trad)	  Australia	  309.07	  5

  3.8	 0.35 kg.  JWM Caramalt				  Australia	  300.71	 56

  2.2	 0.20 kg.  Hoepfner Caramel Malt Pils	Germany		300.71	  3

  3.8	 0.35 kg.  JWM Wheat Malt				Australia	  334.13	  4

  3.3	 0.30 kg.  IMC Munich					Australia	  317.42	 12



Potential represented as IOB- HWE ( L / kg ).





Hops



   Amount	 Name							  Form	Alpha  IBU  Boil Time

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 28.00 g.	 Cascade						   Plug	 6.80  11.4  60 min.

 18.00 g.	 Hallertau Northern Brewer  Pellet   9.30  10.8  60 min.

 28.00 g.	 Cascade						   Plug	 6.80   5.6  15 min.

 56.00 g.	 Cascade						   Plug	 6.80   4.5  5 min.

 56.00 g.	 Cascade						   Plug	 6.80   1.0  1 min.

 30.00 g.	 Chinook						   Pellet  13.00   1.1  1 min.





Extras



  Amount	  Name						   Type	  Time

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

  2g			Koppafloc					  Fining	15 Min.(boil) 





Yeast

-----



WYeast 1056 American Ale 



Mash@66degC for 90min

 

[mika]

SaisonWeizen

Sorry Case, I was prepared with the umbrella, but the beer didn't even fizz, took a sip but it wasn't tasting great without the carbonation, so down the sink it went

Jason Y's APA

Amazing
So much hop aroma, it was dancing in my mouth. Sensational APA too, exactly the way I'd like to brew it.

Fallen Angel Bo Pils

Another excellent beer, I really like a Pilsener. I would have thought it should have poured clearer, but other than that I couldn't find fault with it. Would really like to see the recipe for this one for when I make the move to AG.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Mikas golden harvest
Nice label, a malty easy drinking ale. Maybe a little underattenuated for me, leaving it with a bit of a sweet finish.

Deebees Rainy Pale Ale
A rich malty well attenuated ale along the lines we have come to expect from the Bludgeon Brewery. Well hopped for the malt, but not harsh, just gives it a clean dry finish. Would cellar quite well I think, might hang on to my second bottle for a while, would actually taste good with a little oxidation. Very nice drinking, but this beer made me very sad as I raised a toast to Rainy.

 

[mika]

The Ale did finish a little higher than I wanted, it took ages to get that far, I had fears I was going to have to buy commercial.
I used a fair amount of Amarillo hops as well, and it hasn't shown thru in the finished beer.

For the interested parties the recipe

 

[Hillbilly]

Sat outside with my wife tonight with another crack @ the case, this one was the Goat - Belgian Wit. Mate for me you are an absolute legend not because it is the very best of the case but because it was so different we really loved this one, thanx Goat top stuff.
The Hillbillys. :beer:

 

[Whistlingjack]

Confession time...

Forgive me brewers, its been 10 minutes since my last beer...

I admit to drinking a large quantity of the case at a farewell BBQ with some of my friends.

All the drinkers tasters were impressed by the quality and taste of the selection. I had full intentions of analysing each beer with the help of many sets of taste buds, but somehow the cataloging of the samples got muddled... :chug:

Seriously good beer, except for one sample which I can't remember.

Sorry about that. Two beers got evaluated in a previous post.

I hope to be in the next one, if I get home in time.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Chillas wheezing south african game animal

Highly carbed without being over the top. Pours with a good head that didnt hang around in my glasses. Chocolate brown colour with a hint of red. Aroma is esters and a bit of spicy alcohol. Light medium body, made lighter by the spritzy carbonation. Flavour is quite a delicate balance between banana ester, carbonic bite, alcohol warmth, slight toasty malt, maybe a little bubblegum. Everything seems to sit in its place without dominating. Wouldnt know how it goes style wise, but seems like a very well crafted beer to me, impressive, almost convinces me to make a wheat beer.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Fletchwiezen
Bugger me, another wheaty in the case. Pours very bright, big carbonation, head retention poor, probably a function of eating smoked chorizos at the same time. Seems to have the right flavours in the right places. Crisp wheatiness, carbonic bite, restrained banana, maybe a few more phenolics in this one but I am not good at picking them. Good beer (for a wheat).

 

[ausdb]

Chillas wheezing south african game animal

Highly carbed without being over the top. Pours with a good head that didnt hang around in my glasses. Chocolate brown colour with a hint of red. Aroma is esters and a bit of spicy alcohol. Light medium body, made lighter by the spritzy carbonation. Flavour is quite a delicate balance between banana ester, carbonic bite, alcohol warmth, slight toasty malt, maybe a little bubblegum. Everything seems to sit in its place without dominating. Wouldnt know how it goes style wise, but seems like a very well crafted beer to me, impressive, almost convinces me to make a wheat beer.

Holy Sh!t GL considering brewing a wheat beer h34r:

 

[mika]

GL's Green Tea Lager

Tastes like beer, I had one of my own APA's not too long before (bit of a silly move in Hindsight) and I got nothing of the Green Tea taste coming thru, even on the second glass. Maybe just too subtle for my tastes...apart from that seemed like a good beer

Goat's Wit For Brains

Moderate carbonation for style (to my mind), cloudy to style. First tastes I got didn't indicate the Coriander and Orange Peel flavour, I thought more Nutmeg :unsure: Maybe the steeping n Vodka modified the taste a bit. Did you use fresh coriander seeds and grind them yourself ?
Their addition was probably a good thing, personally I can't taste anything else behind the Coriander/Nutmeg.
A good beer none-the-less.

 

[JasonY]

HillBilly's Pale
Opened it and it looked flat? Poured it and it was vigorously carbed settled down after a few minutes. Very clear beer, with a spritzy carbonation. Pretty clean taste to it no major hops jumping out, Can taste a little extract twang? Easy drinking brew this one.

ant - Strong London Ale
Drank this one a couple of weeks ago after a few warm up beers but from what I recall. Memories of Coopers vintage ale which I like. Too cool initially but nicer once warmed a little. Plenty of caramel with some choc/roast smoothness and that nice warming alcohol. Be a nice one for winter! Wouldn't mind seing the recipe for this, a strong ale is on my 2do list

 

[Guest Lurker]

Barfridges Toby
I would say keep this one a bit longer. Carbonation is Ok, but not yet clear, and head retention is average, which is OK considering 9% but I think it will improve. Also I think it may attenuate a little further in the bottle which would achive that clean crisp belgian taste. Apart from that, it is a nice Belgian beer with the right sort of flavours in the right sort of places and the alcohol very well disguised.

OK guys, I have now posted reviews for every case beer, plus an extra one that I thought was a case beer.

One of the reasons for doing the case is to get some feedback on what people think of your beer, so lets see some more reviews. Doesnt have to be BJCP sanctioned descriptions, "I liked it because, or "I didnt like it because" are fine.

But let me make the point that this was a truly excellent set of beers, and there was not a single beer in the case where I would have rathered receive a commercial version, so lets all remember that next year at case time. Get involved, and dont worry too much about whether the beer is up to standard.

Cheers
Simon

 

[ant]

Please Sir Strong London Ale (Maw Beer)

OG 1.065
FG 1.014
ABV 6.9%
IBU 52

5.5 kg Maris Otter
0.5 kg 55L Crystal (Joe White)
0.5 kg rolled wheat
400 gm rice hulls
38 gm East Kent Goldings @ 5.2% (90 min)
14 gm Fuggles @ 5.7% (75 min)
28 gm East Kent Goldings @ 5.2% (15 min)
38 gm East Kent Goldings @ 5.2% (1 min)
WY1968

Mash @ 66.7C for 90 min w. 15L water @ 75C
Sparge w. 15L water @ 75C
90 min boil down to 22L
Cooled to 21C, pitch 1.5L starter, aerate 5 minutes

Racked 20.5L to secondary after 16 days @ 1.014 (78% attenuation)
Bulk primed w 80 gm dextrose in 0.3L water (far too much for style!!!)

 

[deebee]

Ashs Bavarian Surprise
Lovely honey amber tones, a billowing off-white head and an instant whiff of hops, even at the icy temp I poured it at. Knowing nothing about the recipe, I would describe it as a well-hopped lager towards the bitter side with big hops aroma and flavour, especially as it warmed up. A specialty malt seems large in the finish but it doesn't come over as sweet. I found the bitternss a little too big, but overall, a well-brewed beer.

Hillbilly
The clearest and brightest beer in the pack. Light to medium bodied with straight up malt profile, little hops presence and a satisfying dry finish. Very highly carbed: climbing out of the glass. Some slightly untidy flavours from fermentation temperature or sanitation, but drinking fine at this stage. I would keep an eye on the carbonation in case of bombs.

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

aye aye cap'n

Fallen angel bo pils
Read the BJCP guidelines for this one, cos that is what you get. I would be surprised at anything less from the Junctyard.

Wit for brains
Its a while since I 've had a Wit, and after this one I should revisit the style soon. All the spicy notes in the right place that set it apart from the German wheats, refreshing to the last drop.

Wheezing Bock
Great label, and a beer to match. Had one of Jeffs bocks before and this is a refinement of the process, nice colour, well carbonated to style, alcohol warming may be a little out of place but will mellow. Time to start entering comps Jeff.

Jason Y APA
Poured out to reveal a massive rocky white head out of character for the style but very pleasing on the eye, and it stayed for the end of the beer.
Not much hops on the nose but made up for in the taste, huge aggresive citrus hops up front that decimate the pallate for any later malt, very satisfying and one for the hop heads.

Roger Mellie Summer Ale
Nice pour , restrained carbonation, subtle well formed head. Citrus hops seem to dominate and come though to the finish, but there is something else there, probably the Nelson Sauvin which I am not familiar with, a sort of mint herb aromatic thing. The malt is balanced well with the hop, but slightly more toward the hop which is fine with me. This could be a classic with a bit of tweaking.

Ash's Bavarian Surprise
Mrs. Vlad is the wheat beer afficianado of the family, and gave it the claws up, which is a compliment.

Unidentified wheat beer
The bottle has a Ren or Stimpy character sucking on a bottle, sorry I can't identify where it came from.
The beer itself is a dunkel weisse, and a good one to boot. Plenty of body, the aromas lasting through as was the fine thick head, whatever it was it was a good one.

 

[Tony M]

Ash's Bavarian Surprise slipped down and was popular with the pool players, which on a Friday night is the ultimate aim. Personally I detected an earthy flavour at the finish which I was unsure of and whose absence I would have preferred. Perhaps someone can tell me why it was there.

Whistling Jack's Hefeweizen was not as popular. The brew was well constructed in that it was just like the first blonde I took out--well built, a good lively lasting head and had a great mouthfeel, but no personality. I think that like the blonde, it should have been trotted out a little earlier when everything was new and wonderful.

 

[Kroozy]

Vlad - Transylvanian Pale Ale
Cloudy and light on carbonation. Plenty of hop flavour and complexity, some chalkiness - lots of gypsum maybe? Nice ale.

Simon W - Hopburst Amber Ale
A good enjoyable beer. Lightly carbonated, virtually no head, cloudy. Colour more like a pale ale. Hop flavour lower than expected but still good drinking.

Deebee - Rainy Zephyr Pale Ale
Well balanced darkish pale ale. Nice maltiness, with plenty of hops. Lovely beer.

Ant - Strong London Ale
Cloudy, medium carbonation, small head. Nice and malty, but could still taste the hops - well balanced strong ale. Noticeable alcohol flavour. Probably would have been better if I had left to mature for longer before drinking. Good beer and like your choice of style.

JasonY - APA
Nice medium carbonation, cloudy. Thin head that lasts. Nice hop flavour, typical piney/resinous American hop flavour but slightly overdone - in my opinion, but others will disagree. Everything after this tastes bland. Really enjoyed this and wanted another, but not sure my tongue will recover.

 

[mika]

Rainy Zephyr Pale Ale

No offence but my bottle of the beer seemed to be really watery. Almost no flavour at all. Maybe I got a dud bottle :unsure:

Marlboro Bock

Only a light 'pfft' on opening, but it tried to climb out of the glass when pouring....I got really good mileage out of this one. Whiff of Banana at the same time, and it certainly tasted very Estery.
I know the Bock is an aquired taste and I must admit to never having tasted a true Bock, but to me this one seemed like it wasn't done cooking. I can't describe the taste any better than that... it's probably just me.

Shotgun Pale Ale

I can read the post's on AHB thru this ! How did you get it so clear ?
This also tried to climb out of the glass as I poured, yet the head, by the time I'm half way down the glass, is almost non-existent. I'm getting almost like a smoke flavour to the beer ?
Easy to drink, but for my personal taste it needs a more dominant malt or hop flavour to make it stand out

Santa's Saaz B Lager

The bottle's empty so I must have drunk it, but I have no idea what it was like :blink:

 

[Asher]

Now the new year has arrived I'm hoping for some time to sit down and enjoy some of the case..... First up was Goat's 'Wit for brains'
Vanilla flavours and orange oil. A very nice wit. I believe there was some bottle tampering involved in this beer... What ever it was it adds a great complexity to a style that I have been finding hard to appreciate of late. Very tasty

 

[chillamacgilla73]

Some of these my tastings are a little 'foggy' from too much christmas cheer...

Deebee - Rainy Zephyr Pale Ale
Shared this as an aperitif for the traditional New Years Day webber luncheon with the family. Well balanced with decent carbonation, darkish colour, small head that didn't dissappear, big malt flavour and hops that are a little light on but still there. We raised a toast to Rainy and sent your family good healing thoughts.

Ant - Strong London Ale
Not too carbonated, nice crystal aroma(?), a great balance of full flavour malty crystal, hops and warming alcohol. I am not experienced with the style other than the coopers drop and enjoyed this beer very much and may have to have a crack at the style sometime.

Simon W - Hopburst Amber Ale
Prepared myself for the worse after Simon slipped the boot into his brew on a previous post! Low carbonation and hop aroma, a little light in colour and a touch cloudy(Prob my clumsy pour!), light on in the hop department but malt flavour present, still a very enjoyable beer that slid down on a balmy twilight.

All beers have been top notch and a credit to the brewer.
Cheers

 

[facter]

aye aye cap'n

Unidentified wheat beer
The bottle has a Ren or Stimpy character sucking on a bottle, sorry I can't identify where it came from.
The beer itself is a dunkel weisse, and a good one to boot. Plenty of body, the aromas lasting through as was the fine thick head, whatever it was it was a good one.

sounds like my Fletchweizen I think? the dude on the pic was definately sucking on a beer bottle hahaha

dont tihnk anyone else had a label like that! If its mine, thanks ... hefe's are my favorite so its always nice when one turns out well.



Im going to post all my notes together from this point on! So give me another week or so (well, for all except the heavy ones, im going to let them go a while longer)

 

[Hillbilly]

Not sure what went wrong with the carbonation, bulk primed with 160 grams of dextrose, must say it's been a year and a half since i've bottled ( go the kegs! ). Might be a good thing to drink my one a few minutes after opening, bugger, sorry guys.
Hillbilly. :unsure:

 

[Hillbilly]

Golden Harvest.

Heavy roast flavor at the start, bit over powering, but a few sips later it's like it blends in a bit more, perfect carbonation, great lace. As I've lived most my life in Holland I could see myself enjoying a few of these on a cold winter night.

Asher.

Nice creamy head, great carbonation perfect hop balance, can't add anything else but a top drop.
9 out of 10 for me. Great stuff.