Sandgroper Christmas Case 2006 Consumption

[Hillbilly]

I'm amazed how you guys can define a beer, I've been writing notes of all the case beers I've been drinking and find it interesting how they compare with other peoples views and tastes. As a K+K man it's been a great experience having a full grain brewed beer every night, top stuff cheers guys.
Hillbilly :beer:

 

[mika]

Ash's Bavarian Suprise

Opened with an odd smell (not bad, just couldn't identify). Think it must have been a bit sulphury as the beer was cloudy, but didn't taste like a wheat beer to me.
Thin persistent head on the second pour, think the first pour was better though it seems to be fairly lightly carbonated.
Seems to be affecting me pretty quickly, but that could be because I've been running mad for the past couple of hours. Little to no hop flavour (that I can detect)
Can't tell you much else about it, flavour or taste wise except that it seems to work...nice beer Ash :chug:

Edit: fixed the bold thingo...having issues tonight

 

[roger mellie]

Half way through my first brew of the year - 007 Summer Ale - all good so far - no stuck sparge.

So I thought I would have a quiet beer.

Rainy Zephyr Pale Ale

Lovely full carbonation, big head that lasted the entire glass. Lovely full bodied flavours here - heavy malt influence but balanced nicely with hops (cant pick them but they tasted american). Lovely mouthfeel and the flavours lasted for a while - if it were a wine it would have "good length" - finished dry.

Based on this - keen to try the 1318 - shame I shared this with SWMBO my glass was empty in no time - back to the shed.

RM

 

[Guest Lurker]

Mikas big head heffe

Dont know much about wheat beers, but thought this was a pretty good example. Head lives up to the name, all the right flavours seem to be there without going over the top. Jolly refreshing.

 

[barfridge]

Mikas big head heffe

Dont know much about wheat beers, but thought this was a pretty good example. Head lives up to the name, all the right flavours seem to be there without going over the top. Jolly refreshing.

Is GL starting to like wheats?

Next thing he'll be brewing with lots of dark crystal and caramalt (but still no coffee).

 

[mika]

The Big Head Heffe is not actually part of the case. I t was bought along for the day of the swap and left for the Host to enjoy...wasn't aware of his dislike of Wheat Beers :unsure:

 

[randyrob]

That big head heffa is one tasty drop, u cant have many left now mika?

 

[mika]

Suked down the last bottles on NYE...all gone now

Time to brew another

 

[deebee]

balanced nicely with hops (cant pick them but they tasted american).

Thanks for the feedback Mr Mellie. Bittered with northern brewer, then EKG and cascade at 30 mins and more EKG at 15 mins.

Recipe in recipe section.

DB

 

[roger mellie]

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...

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

 

[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.