Sandgroper Christmas Case 2006 Consumption

[Asher]

Fletch weizen

First up on a hot Saturday. The colour of copper to brown was a good hint that plenty of crystal or roast malt had been used here.... Aroma was sweet with bubblegum bananna and a touch of caramel. flavour backed all this up with plenty of nutty caramelness. Finish was crisp.

 

[Tony M]

View attachment Xmas_case_reviews.docThis is so you can keep up with the gossip folks.

 

[ant]

Nice work Tony. Would be nice to see 21-odd reviews for each beer???


Hint: Pls post your thoughts; no-one here dislikes feedback; positive, constructive or otherwise...

 

[deebee]

Good stuff Tony. I have a few additions to make.

No apologies for these hazy memories and inarticulate ramblings: these were beers I drank either too drunk to remember well or too geographically removed from pen and paper

JasonY's APA: A Thai chef once told me that the best Thai food should be too hot to eat but too delicious to resist. This beer reminded me a little of that: too hoppy to drink, too delicious to resist. I love beer like this, APA on steroids, one of my favourites of the case.

Fletchweizen: Made me feel like I was sitting next to a beautiful woman at a dinner party. I knew I was in the presence of class but had nothing clever to say. It made me think: "wheat?" and then suddenly "Belgian?" then "mmmmm bloody good." Sorry I don't really drink these beers much and if it had really been a woman, I would have gone home alone. Fortunately, it was a beer and I got to drink it all, which was nice.

Hopburst: I loved this beer too. Like others I expected more hops flavour and aroma, but once I got over that I rated this beer as well-balanced, clean-flavoured and good drinking.

Please Sir Strong Ale: Bloody magnificent also. I seem to remember esters and raisiny flavours, a warming drink, then a sadly empty glass.

 

[Guest Lurker]

View attachment 11021This is so you can keep up with the gossip folks.

Nice work Tony, could you just add the poster and their home address, so we can throw rocks through the window of anyone that was rude about our beer.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Currently drinking my second bottle of Ash's Barvarian surprise. Bloody good beer, very well crafted, wish I could get my lagers like this.

 

[JasonY]

Mellies summer ale I had tonight bloody tasty and very refreshing almost like a fruity APA but not if that makes any sense. Never tried Nelson Sauvin hops but assume that was a good part of the flavour. Very nice, shame there was only one.

Must confess I drank another two last night but can't remember whos they were :huh: they were nice but. I will figure it out by elimination perhaps.

 

[Simon W]

Must confess I drank another two last night but can't remember whos they were huh.gif they were nice but. I will figure it out by elimination perhaps.

I'm gonna confess too. The same thing happened to me over Xmas/NewYear
and I'm still trying to work out who's who's. Some of the labels fell off in the esky too, which doesn't help.

 

[Asher]

Kroozy's Smoggy Summer Ale

Poured with a bit of weight probably due to high final gravity. Head thick and creamy. Some cloudyness despite 3 weeks cc'ing in fridge. Nice flavour of subdued maltiness. Some extract twang there but not enough to turn me away. This beer reminds me of the kitted product but its great drinking and with a bit of hop tea added it would be a great beer. Not sure of what yeast was used but if it was the kit yeast you have done a geat job taming it and cheers to you

Asher for now

 

[Asher]

Mellie's English Summer Ale

I savoured this beer over three glasses and even the last one poured relatively clear. Aroma - It had me stumped as to what it was at first untill I read the label and noticed the word 'Sauvin'. Anyway it was malty with some floral notes. A whole lot less body than Kroozy's even though both state 1014 as the FG. Bitterness becomes evident only because it lingers past the malt. Flavour wise, I got aniseed and a herbal mix as well. Nelson Sauvin is such a complex beast that I'd hate to be judging styles where this hop is appropriate in the coming years... Its just such a mixed bag of flavours...

Asher for now

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Hopburst

Poured to firm head, cloudy amber colour, mild American hop aroma that faded . Only enough hop to balance the beer but as there was very little malt taste, this was easy.

Big Dog Gt Lager

Dense white head, hazy light straw colour, gentle stream of bubbles feeding the head. Slight whiff of sulphur, clean and refreshing, very easy to drink. A modern classic.

Golden Harvest Ale

Huge fluffy head lots of steady carbonation. Beautiful copper colour and absolutely crystal clear. Inviting American hop aroma, citrus at the front with a lingering grapefruit at the end, and a dry finish. I think this is a kit and bits beer, (I could'nt pick any "extract twang" or maybe it was masked by the Amarillo), and as such is an excellent example of what can be achieved with good brewing practice.

 

[facter]

Smashing Santa Ordinary Bitter

Oh man, I liked this. My non-beer drinking friend, she liked this too - which is a change! Her commentsz were that it had that nice creamyness, that it was quite bitter which she didnt like all that much, but as she sat ther with her midriff top and her very tiny skirt sipping on it on a summers day I reckoned that if SHE liked it, then it had to be good. Which is my opinion as wel - nice, rich head. Nice, malty malty - good level of bitterness and not much on the hops flavour and aroma. She left flourishing her denims, and the glass was empty - she wanted another glass, but, alas, it was all gone ...

 

[mika]

Golden Harvest Ale

Huge fluffy head lots of steady carbonation. Beautiful copper colour and absolutely crystal clear. Inviting American hop aroma, citrus at the front with a lingering grapefruit at the end, and a dry finish. I think this is a kit and bits beer, (I could'nt pick any "extract twang" or maybe it was masked by the Amarillo), and as such is an excellent example of what can be achieved with good brewing practice.

Think you got that review mixed up Vlad :huh:
I used US56 for a dry finish, but it finished fairly high at 1014, though I guess it's had a while in the bottle now.
I'll have to try this beer again, as when I first tried it (before the swap) the hops hadn't come thru very well at all.
And it was an extract brew, made from a couple of tins of Coopers liquid malt extract and a few extra grains added for good measure.

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

nope

 

[mika]

Oh well...Cheers then

 

[barfridge]

Goat's Wit For Brains

Pours a hazy gold, with a thin but long lasting fine white head. Aroma is low on the esters, some moderate bubblegum detected, but high on the orange. There's something else there as well, but I can't recognise it.

Flavour is midly malty, it's there but doesn't dominate. The orange flavour is quite strong, possibly could be a little more subtle. Mouthfeel is fantastic, finish is medium to slightly dry.

Not a bad effort, considering the 'interesting' fermentation regieme.

 

[mika]

HopBurst Amber Ale

My version seemed to be fairly under carbonated as while it poured with not a bad sort of head (after a bit of a flourish) there was no bubble activity in the glass and the mothfeel matched that. Seemed to have a bitterness bite upfront which after a couple more sips mellowed and it turned into quite an easy drinking beer. I've tasted another beer like this but can't think what causes it. While it's well known that it wasn't what the brewer was hoping for it's still turned out as a very easy drinking APA.

Roger Mellie's Summer Ale

This was drunk a little while ago, so my memory is somewhat hazy. I recall it had a weird hop aroma, taste. IIRC this brew used Nelson Sauvin or whatever it's called, either way I'd attribute the taste to the hop rather than the grain bill or a by product of fermentation. That being the case, I can't claim to be a huge fan of the Nelson hops, though the beer base itself was great.

Smashed Santa Ordinary Bitter

The smell on opening made me think the 4.2% printed on the label was a lie, though it certainly didn't taste like a high alcohol beer. Light carbonation, not the level of bitterness that I'd usually attribute to this style, but a nice drop that disappeared all too quickly.

 

[Simon W]

My version seemed to be fairly under carbonated as while it poured with not a bad sort of head (after a bit of a flourish) there was no bubble activity in the glass and the mothfeel matched that.

Thanks mika, was going to request some feedback on this, was wondering about it last night.
It's very strange, I have had 14 of the 16 'leftovers' I have in glass bottles, and all have been perfectly carbonated, with active bubbles to the end of the glass. The brew was bulk primed.
I'm thinking the PET bottles definatelly need a higher prime to compensate for seepage(sp?) or expansion or something.

Simo

 

[Goat]

JasonY's APA

Bloody nice beer !

The hop aroma leapt out of the bottle and poured a cloudy but rich amber/golden colour with a good head. Strong bitterness followed the lovely rich/sweet malt. I had an LCPA immediatley after this and regretted the order of my selection - the APA was much nicer. Great work Jason, the 'hood will miss your contributions over the next couple of years.

What was your hopping regeme with this one ?

 

[roger mellie]

Fletchweizen

Found this quaint little (big) beer shop in Warnbro - opposite the Last Drop. Had amongst other things a 2 pack of Erdinger Wiesse with a 500ml glass. Would have to admit to not owning many beer glasses - I drink most of my beer from Riedel Wine Tumblers - this time I couldnt help myself thoough - hope the beer tastes OK.

So - Down to my last 4 bottles of the case swap - what better to christen my new glass than with a Wheaty.

Well carbed, nice tight white head - golden almost reddy tints - I had taken the liberty of rolling the bottle so the pour was cloudy by my design.

Sweet Caramel Malt , quite thick mouth feel. Overt bubblegummy flavours - I didnt get banana - finished with a very slight metallic flavour which detracted slightly. Dont get me wrong - this was a superb beer.

Good way to break in my new glass.

3 to go.

RM