Sandgroper Christmas Case 2006 Consumption

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It's almost like a burnt-toffee flavour, not the normal diacetal honeycomb/butter taste. Even with this strong sweetness, it's amazingly well balanced, so the IBU's must be quite high, I'm guessing about 35.

How was this achieved? Decoction? Boiling down of wort to syrup?

Yup 35IBU. Not sure on toffee taste could be a combination of the caramalt (4%) or some yeasty byproducts? This was pitched with my suspect black wyeast so maybee that was part of it?
 
Onto my 6th bottle the "Saisonweizen" from Sinkas. Not sure if it's a weizen and it has not carbonated, shame because I realy like wheats. Hope it's just this bottle or does it need more time? Sorry Sinkas.
Hillbilly. :unsure:
 
Ash in Perth - Bavarian Surprise!
Nice prominent aroma of noble hops with a little spiciness to it that lets you know it's not a macro POR jobbie in your hand. Great prickly carbonation on front of palate as well as a clearly present (but not dominating) note from the hops. Has just what you're after from a Euro lager - nice light body and a dry, crisp finish with a bitter gullet bite. Fantastically balanced too.

BigAl - Saaz B Hopped Rice Lager
My first (conscious) foray into the world of Saaz B, and it's a welcome showing straight out of the bottle; bit less spice than trad Saaz to, and it also translates nicely from aroma to taste across the front palate, more detectable malt providing body than I was expecting from a rice lager, but balancing nicely with the Saaz to provide a light body. There's maybe a harshness (to my humble tongue :rolleyes: ) in the back palate reminiscent of slight oxidation, but I had to really dig down to detect it (quite possibly figment of my own imagination, or maybe 2042 driven?). Minor chill haze, but a beer I'd definitely have a crack at.

Roger Mellie - English Summer Ale
Another first for me (geez - how much of a beer virgin am I???) with a Nelson Sauvin hops brew. I like these, I was getting nectarine and peach on the nose adn it really was reminiscent of some fruit-driven Marlborough Sav Blancs. The nectarine carries across the front and mid palate, where I get a mediuim mouthfeel and a smooth butteriness across the roof of my mouth (possibly touch of diacetyl - if anyone can pick it, it will be Asher...). It finishes with a sharp trending towards metallic bitterness, much like a dry stout (maybe this is the 1084 influence?). Slightly under-carbed, but I love the fruit driven hoppiness, and will get my mitts on some of this Nelson Sauvin stuff... Super beer.


So - 3 from 3 have been good. All better than I could manage. Love this case swap stuff.
 
Whistling Jack Hefe
Uncluttered, refreshing and dry with a hint of tang. Didnt taste all fruity and queer like I usually get from hefes. Bananas very distant, but I agree with Jack definitely no bubblegum, (thank goodness). A very refreshing drink.

Ashers Fallen Angel
Well-carbed with a fluffy white head. Cloudy. Nicely spritzy on the tongue, light to medium bodied, malty flavours finishing dry, which is always good . There is some sweetness here, slightly fruity, but the finish is quite dry and refreshing. A very nice beer.

Roger Mellie's
Amber-bronze, cloudy with a persistent thin white head and low carbonation. The overall impression is crisp, fruity and refreshing. Lovely light, cleansing mouth feel. A totally unique hops aroma, tart stone-fruit, marmalade, can I be a pretentious twat and say lychee or a total wanker: rambutan? Intense bitterness, not at all sharp, a spritzy dry finish. Would really like to see the recipe, please. As Roger himself would say, F*ckin top pint, this

Cases Saison
This beer came out utterly uncarbonated; no head at all, not even by pouring from altitude. Takes more than that to deter me but the sound of pouring from high reminded me I needed to go to the toilet. I was gone but a couple of minutes, came back and someone clearing up dishes had tipped it out, thinking it was a flat and neglected beer. :angry:

Sorry Case, I didnt even get to taste it. :(
 
Santas smashed bitter

For a beer that was bottled on swap day this is amazingly conditioned and pretty much ready to go. Medium carbonation, nice malt with strong toffee notes, balanced by clean bitterness with a tasty English hop character, a very fresh tasting, very drinkable bitter. Doesnt hold a head so well which will probably improve, but I would be getting in to it soon while it is nice and fresh.
Edit: As you let it warm up, the hop flavour comes through, I get marmalade and vanilla, delicious with the toffee character in the malt.
 
Whistling Jack Hefe

I admit to drinking this before reading the note to roll the bottle before drinking. Which could have made all the difference as I think the banana flavours I was looking for were hiding. Cloudy, almost non-existant head, but I liked it - the malt was evident, finished dry and most importantly SWMBO gave it the thumbs up. A refreshing wheat.

Hillbilly's Shotgun Pale Ale

Excellent label - nice belly flop.

Bright, clear, attractive in the glass. The hop aroma which I found subdued at first came through eventually. I picked this as K+K - very faint tin flavour - reminded me of the Malt Shovel 2 Row kit. It was 32 in Mandurah today and after walking the pup on the beach this totally hit the spot - very enjoyable.

Really enjoying these beers - even more so now I have 2 weeks off :super:

Merry Xmas

RM
 
Roger Mellie's
Amber-bronze, cloudy with a persistent thin white head and low carbonation. The overall impression is crisp, fruity and refreshing. Lovely light, cleansing mouth feel. A totally unique hops aroma, tart stone-fruit, marmalade, can I be a pretentious twat and say lychee or a total wanker: rambutan? Intense bitterness, not at all sharp, a spritzy dry finish. Would really like to see the recipe, please. As Roger himself would say, F*ckin top pint, this

Will post the recipe in the the recipes section.

RM
 
We gave four beers a try last night around the pool table, but I have to admit that they were not approached with a clean palate and clear head as we were highly primed when I remembered them.

(1) Big Als Saaz B lager. Probably the most popular. Well constructed and dangerously easy drinking. Loved the floral overtones of these hops. They seem more in the style of hallertau than the more austere Czech saaz.

(2) Ashers Bo-Pils. Personally my favourite. A more complex beer. When I saw 39 IBU on the label, I expected a frontal assault but because of the inherent sweetness of the beer, the hop bitterness was no more than a gentle massage at the end of the swallow.

(3) Vlads Transylvanian Ale. I had to say this was a good one because I could barely tell the difference between it and the Pale Ale on tap in my fridge. I guess this comes from bulk buys. The head disappeared half way down the glass but that may have been the fault of the cheese and Hungarian salami.

(4) Cases Saison thingamajig. Barely got enough to taste. Opened the bottle carefully and sat it on the bench. Said to myself Thats behaving OK, turned my back to get a glass then the time delay fuse ignited. I tell you Case, you could sell these on Guy Fawkes night. We managed to get a mouthful and it tasted like a wheat beer which I guess was the object of the exercise. I have never made one, rarely tasted one. Reading other posts here I reckon your bottles were either double primed or missed out.
 
Ash's Bavarian Surprise

I gather from the colour I got the Pale Lager. Apart from a very very faint wiff of socks (sulphur??) on the nose - this is sensational. Perfectly carbonated, perfectly balanced, bright in the glass with a head that lasts until the final mouthfull - a refreshing lager. Best so far for mine.

RM
 
Down to my 8th tasting, Vlads Transylvanian Ale. What a rippa, great taste nice color, good carbonation, spitt'n chips I only had one bottle, top brew Vlad!
Hillbilly.
 
Vlad - Transylvania Pale Ale
Possibly bit undercarbed, but some Cascade type aromas on opening and sweet caramel type aroma from the malt come through. Pours with thin white head, which persisted through the glass. Slight haze but nice copper colour from crystal(?) malt. Medium bittering which continues across the palate to the tune of something like 25IBU with a satisfying dry finish.

Goat - Wit for Brains
The absence of an SG reading on the bottle prob gave way potential underattenuation before the fess-up :p . Aroma of coriander and candy sugar on opening, body shows residual sweetness from the malt, which is more prominent than the wheat tang of the wheat. Not quite what I was expecting, but it is refreshing cold!

Jason Y - APA
Grapefruit and bit of resin with grassy notes (Cascade?) on opening, pours with a nice copper colour and a tight off white/ivory/cream (someone call Richie) head. This is a Cali style APA - assertive hoppiness, but with a medium mouthfeel sweetness along top of palate from the malt - suggests caramel to me. There is a nice grassiness from the front through mid palate, then a gen-u-ine APA Cascade vs Amarillo bitter finish. Nicely balanced between the hops and the sweetness of the malt, and my teeth are happy to retain enamel...

Guest Lurker - Green Tea Lager
Never had a green tea lager, so not sure if it's tea or possibly a hint of sulfur upon opening. There's certainly a green tea presence on the front palate along with a carbonic bite, and it takes a bit of getting used to when you've only really had it in hot tea before. But it's good - you can see this would be a fantastic hot weather palate cleansing lager. Dry lager finish start somewhere on the mid palate and continues through, very crisp and ~20 IBU'ish? Slight haze.

WhistlingJack - Herrlicher Hefeweizen
Aroma almost reminsicent of a wit, bit of coriander, low Hallertau type noble aroma. Pours with a thick white head, cloudiness from wheat/yeast right on style. No prominent banana esters or clove phenolics, but there is a breadiness aroma from the yeast which is pleasant, and balances the malt. Low hopping also to style.
 
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Guest Lurker - Green Tea Lager
Never had a green tea lager, so not sure if it's tea or possibly a hint of sulfur upon opening. There's certainly a green tea presence on the front palate along with a carbonic bite, and it takes a bit of getting used to when you've only really had it in hot tea before. But it's good - you can see this would be a fantastic hot weather palate cleansing lager. Dry lager finish start somewhere on the mid palate and continues through, very crisp and ~20 IBU'ish? Slight haze.

Slight haze? Its clear when warm and as cloudy as all buggery when cold - polyphenols from the tea I think. 20 IBUs from the hops, but I boiled the green tea which would contribute quite a lot of additional tannic bitterness.

Enjoying your reviews, keep em coming.
 
Just sose yas know, I cracked one of mine on xmas day and it seemed to be all ready and carbed, musta gone quickly due to the heat lately!


Ill post more notes soon, had a few more over xmas :)
 
Slight haze? Its clear when warm and as cloudy as all buggery when cold - polyphenols from the tea I think.

It was prob around 5-6C when the first pint was poured, and suitably hazy, but I left the bottle out to see what difference it would make for the second glass - guessing it was somewhere in the 11-12C range, and it was clearer, but not as good as when it was cold... hardly surprising being a lager and all.
 
It was prob around 5-6C when the first pint was poured, and suitably hazy, but I left the bottle out to see what difference it would make for the second glass - guessing it was somewhere in the 11-12C range, and it was clearer, but not as good as when it was cold... hardly surprising being a lager and all.

Im drinking the green tea lager as we speak - theres only a very slight haze, and its chilled at about 2c. I cant really see a huge amount of it in the glass, its only very recognisable?

Its very refreshing - theres a taste to it that I cant put my finger on, and Im betting that that is the green tea. I love cold green tea, so it works well - but I do think that there could, yes, be even a little more of it! Im not one to worry too much about haze ... I also think that this one would be great as a darker pils - liuke a dark bohemian, I tihnk the tea would mix really really well with it, plus, being a bit darker the haze may be even less noticable.

All in all, a great beer though!
 
Please Sir - Strong English Ale

Slightly overcarbonated - big bubbles - certainly was better once the head subsided a bit. I think I drank this way too cold aswell - came out of its skin a bit when it warmed up a bit. Classic Goldings nose - very fragrant. Palate was malt driven with toffee notes and some heat from the alcohol showing through. Finished a bit sweet - but in all very enjoyable. Good to see an english bitter in amongst the APA's.
 
Ashs Bavarian surprise
I'd had a few by then, but remember it was a very good lager, nicely balanced.

HillBillys pale ale
Id had even more by then. Refreshing clean beer, very drinkable, thought I could taste an extract note in there.

Ashers Bopils
Lovely. Whiff of sulphur on opening, perfect level of carbonation. Not quite bright. I would say it was malty rather than sweet, and the hop character balances perfectly. Reasonable head, didnt stick around to the end though. Jolly good beer.
 
New Years Day is of course Eng ale day.

Vlads transylvannia waters
Not quite bright, perfectly carbed - low to medium, reasonable head but didnt make it to the end of the glass. Bloody good, and even better when I let the second glass warm up. Strong malt backbone, perfectly balanced by the hopping, didnt get a lot of hop flavour, when warm some soft fruituness comes through, really well balanced. Kind of thought I could taste a little dark malt in the clean aftertaste, but Vlad would never do that to me. Would like to see the recipe for this one.

Please sir from Ant
The bottle was pretty firm, and it was a bit overcarbed. Left it a while and warmer and less gassy it shows a lot of character. Even though I left it about 30 mins, the head was still hanging around nicely. Aroma is rich malt, with a bit of hop in the background. Has crystal malt up front, a bit of fruit and alcohol warmth in the middle, and a nice balanced finish, maybe a little sweet in the finish if I was to quibble. Definitely one to let warm a bit and a very nice beer.
 
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.
 
TonyM's Dezemberfest
Nice mid-brown colour with a long lasting off-white head. Bready aroma and subdued hopping. Taste was malty and rich, with a wonderful mouthfeel.

Fantastic effort mate, a truly top notch beer :)

On a side note, I tried a bottle of my beer ('Toby'). It's well carbonated and has a good head, but could still use a little time in the bottle. So if you're desperate you can drink it now, but it will only get better.
 
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