Sandpeoples Ahb Xmas Case 2005

[deebee]

Case I have put your two plump beauties along with Simon's monster brew under the floorboards for some summer cellaring. Sounds like Simon's will need a few months and I might give one of yours about 6 months and drink the other one soon.

Your fermentation schedule sounds interesting. Did you re-pitch a second starter after two months? If it has been 4 months in the making, it might be drinking sooner than I thought.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Dave

We tried Cases beer at a West Coast Brewers meeting, it is drinking well now.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Its taken me a while to get started on the case beers but Mrs GL is out tonight so I am into a few. I think feedback would be useful and I hope some other sandgroper rises to the challenge so we can get a spread of opinions. I'm going to post in here cos I cant be arsed sending pms.

Big Als rice lager
This is the first CPBF beer I have ever opened that went pssst when I opened it and had good carbonation to the end. Pours very bright, golden straw colour, with a pillowy, tight head, that reduces to a lacy foam that lingers to the very end and leaves a few memories on the side of the glass. Very impressive appearance. Body is light, malt is also light, but with a little sweetness up front. Finishes dry and clean with just the right amount of bitterness to balance the restrained malt. If it wasnt for the fact that my dogs have destroyed my lawn, I would definitely drink this after mowing it. Clean, well balanced, very drinkable, well crafted beer.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Barfridges Eternal Winter Golden Ale

Not really bomb material, but carbonation can be described as vigorous, enthusiastic, or maybe frantic. I'd be keeping them in the fridge. Golden colour. Not bright, some haze, which looks a bit like chill haze but may be related to the yeast lifting as soon as the cap comes off. Pillowy head with good lacing. Aroma light malt and fruit, estery. Reasonable to light body, some tart carbonation bite, light malt, some fruity esters in the middle which I taste as pears/apples, finish is mostly malt. Very drinkable, slightly fruity, tasty summer ale and a jolly fine beer. Maybe weighted a little too far to malt for me, wouldnt mind a little more hop presence.

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

The only one I've had so far is Big Als.
Seemed very pilsner like in the malt, balanced hops, extremely clear and clean, but head and retention on mine were non existant, could have been a couple of shitty glasses, carbonation was spot on.
Very enjoyable, very more-ish but I'm not buying a lawnmower. Nice one Al.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Deebees Bongwater Black
Enjoyed the back label, even if the description of ingedients is misleading to the point of actionable. Not really black, very dark brown with a strong reddish tinge. Has a lovely ruby colour when held to the light and is very bright. Off white/tan head reasonable lacing, nice carbonation level. Aroma is dominated by smoke. Taste also dominated by smoke. Truly smoky, not really bacony, not really ashy (as in who put a fag butt in my beer?), but smoky. Clean fresh rich malt, very well balanced, not a hint of any extract sweetness, no standout roasty or toasty flavours, finishes very dry with the smoked malt contributing more to the aftertaste than the hops. A beer to be proud of.

 

[sinkas]

Hi Dave,
My beer started out as a Hoegaarden Grand cru clone, but for no real reason I cultured up the Unibrou yeast, as It's adamn good brew. The 4 month shceduale was by accident more than anything, I noticed it was pretty slow at 2 months, so I cultured up the hoegaarden yeast, and threw it in, and it revved up for another week or so, the last months or so, was my laziness in organising a time to pick up the bottles from our very own Barfridge. Taking some overeast on the plane tomorrow, ...hope there is no leakage in the overhead lockers..


I was wanting to take GL's beast over for christmas, but being the greedy bugger I am, hate to see it wasted by looks of shock and platitudes from the beer un-savvy inlaws.

BTW where did Darryn get 650ml long necks....

Cheers

Case

 

[ausdb]

BTW where did Darryn get 650ml long necks....

International homebrew on Collier Rd in Bayswater.

I had bought nice shiny new coopers bottles and was going to bottle in them until mrsausdb looked at them and said "you're not going to stick labels on those bottles are you" "umm yes" was the reply but that did not wash so I found those, they were brand new so didn't need cleaning (they did get a real good soaking in 1shot tho) the only thing was they were $1 ea.

 

[deebee]

Well I have been a bit slack, drinking these beers without taking any notes so I dont have much in the way of tasting notes to contribute. Sorry about some of my vague recollections but here goes

I have drunk one of Ashers Heifer Vice Inns and found it a predictably fine and classy beer. Wish I could come up with something else but I cant remember much about this beer except thinking, Trust Asher to come up with such a fine specimen.

I have drunk both of ausdbs beers, again without notes. The Merican Mild was a lovely beer. Hoops and I shared the bottle last night after dinner and it was well enjoyed. It had plenty of flavour and body for a mild and was very moreish, except I didn't have any more.

The IRA was chockablock and not a beer for the faint-hearted. Big malt big hops and big bitterness. The bitterness had too much edge on it for mine and finished with a slightly puckering bite. Some wont mind that. I nevertheless enjoyed the beer.

Simons English Special Bitter last night was like a Flintoff cover drive smacking into the fence elegant and glorious. Beautiful aromas of malt and hops abound. The malt aroma was not quite grainy, but fresh and fragrant. I was actually going to take notes while drinking it but I got distracted. Sorry, but I do remember that this was a very good beer indeed.

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

BTW where did Darryn get 650ml long necks....


So by my maths AusDB owes us 200mls of beer each

 

[barfridge]

BTW where did Darryn get 650ml long necks....


So by my maths AusDB owes us 200mls of beer each

[post="99167"][/post]​

It's ok vlad, that extra bit has been covered with my bottles. Just the other night I managed to fill 2 pints and a jug, out of 1 bottle. Now that's good value!

 

[deebee]

2 pints and a jug, out of 1 bottle.

Sounds like the loaves and the fishes. A very special touch of the divine for the Christmas case, barf.

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Thats excellent value Barf' but I went one glass better.

 

[Goat]

Impressive !

I think I might pop that bottle in the fridge....

 

[Tony M]

Thats excellent value Barf' but I went one glass better.

[post="99461"][/post]​

Gee Vlad,
I'm sitting back here in Prague trying to digest the turkey, and looking at your fotos, thinking how lucky I am to have an icecream shop below our apartment. By the way, have a great Christmas.

Edit: Also I must add that you guys seem to have set such a high standard with the Xmas swap that I think I'll have to come back to Prague next year. The pressure will be just too great!

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Good to hear from you Tony, look forward to hearing of your adventures in the north.



Goat, what a pair of sad bastards we are, xmas night and we are the only ones online.

Have a good whats left of it, i'm of to bed.

 

[Goat]

Yep - there's only so much trifle and family one can take.

 

[Guest Lurker]

Ashers Hefeweizen and Goats Half Wit
Both easy drinking, smooth, well crafted, balanced beers with no dominant flavour component. Both well gassed with head disappearing after a while. Not qualified to make any other comments as I dont usually drink wheat beers.

Vlads Laugh and Titter
Slightly overgassed, but settles down rapidly in the glass to a creamy lacy head. Not completely bright, but seems more clear when warmed up a bit. Aroma is dry, slightly roasty?, hops. Has a dry, crisp flavour, light malt up front, assertively bitter in the middle and end, finishes with a very crisp dry taste that lingers on the sides of the tongue. Crisp finishing taste is I think mostly hop bitterness, with maybe a bit of dark grains as well? A refreshing beer on a hot afternoon, for me could do with a bit more malt for balance.

 

[deebee]

Goat's Half-Wit went superbly with roast pork on Christmas Day and I chain-drank them one after the other. I thought this was a really good beer even though, like GL, I don't normally drink the style, so my assessment might have no value at all. Anyway, I found it neat and well-proportioned and it left a clean refreshed palate, not overwhelmed by flamboyant spiciness or esters like I sometimes find with this style. It smelled and tasted of bananas in the nicest way and I think I caught a whiff of bubblegum with the first few sips. Oh and it has to be a finalist for best label too!

Last thing Christmas night as we all sat around digesting I opened Sinka's Les Chants de Maldoror (sp?) and shared it with my Dad. This is a really fine drink. Bold, fruity, aromatic, hypnotic, magnificent craterous head on it. Couldn't tell the colour in a room lit only by the Cristmas tree lights and after a couple of sips I couldn't find my way to the light switch. The ten-point-something percent alcohol was discrete and warming while I drank it, then jumped out at me like Kato when i tried to stand up. I took no notes but I kept saying to myself, "Remember to say it tastes were well-ripened raisins." My Dad was intrigued. He had never tasted a beer like it but asked for more. I will save the other bottle for a few months.

Well done lads.

 

[barfridge]

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you guys for the best christmas ever!

When faced with 3 whole days at the farm with a bunch of religious non-drinkers, I was faced with a dilemma. Do I follow my normal path and don't drink, or do I pack a few bottles and enjoy a few quiet ones? I took along some bottles, and after striking up a convo about the mother-in-law's non-alco ginger beer that went septic, I offered her a glass of Goat's wonderful wheat beer with lunch.

She was impressed, saying it tasted nothing like the bitter smelly crap that she though was beer, and from there I started to educate her about styles and beer making. We then moved onto Asher's heifer-vice-inn, which went down quite well also. While things were going so well I pulled out a bottle of gulden draak, just to see how she would react. She wasn't too impressed, and thought it was too rich and alcoholic.

By this time is was almost dinner time, and she was too busy cooking to rnjoy a chimay red. But after dinner I producted GL's magnificent fruit salad surprise. SHe managed a glass and a half of this, before tottering off to the couch for a bit of a sit down. At this point she exclaimed she was feeling a bit light headed and might go to bed.

Well she got up from the couch....eventually, and didn't hit too many walls on the way to the bedroom. Of course now I am in trouble with the wife for leading her mother astray, but somehow I think it's worth it
h34r: :beer: :beerbang: