SE QLD Xmas-in-July 2015 (Tasting Thread)

[seehuusen]

24 - chocolate raspberry Saison

I was one of the people that got the Saison, pretty happy that I did too

It certainly presents dominant chocolate and raspberry flavours.
It was in my opinion not close to any Saison I'd had before and more reminiscent of a light bodied porter.
Fairly low on carbonation, which isn't really style correct for that beer and possibly a fair amount of yeast characters lost due to the fruit and chocolate.

Having said that, I really liked it a lot, even had to pry it out of my wife's hands haha
(it also went well with the chocolate in the pic, which brought out a tiny amount of the Saison flavours I was looking for)

 

[hwall95]

2 - Rye IPA

This was quite enjoyable although my bottle wasn't carbed very much. Sweet maltiness with a bit of ryeness. Hoppiness is citrus and resin for with a bitterness to follow. Nice beer mate, enjoyed it was while waiting for my uni results to be released

 

[Ciderman]

Oh that looks worse than the first beer I made! I forgot to whirlfloc but it still looks good from the keg. That's a shame about the carbonation. Seems to be a common theme so far. I counter pressure filled from the keg and tested one which was fine.

Maybe I'll just bottle ferment next time. At least it tasted good! Here's one I had last night.

 

[menoetes]

20. Adr_0 - English IPA

Had it at midnight last night after knocking off the late shift at work. A really nice drop!

I thought I got a whiff of bubblegum when I cracked the bottle but upon pouring the aroma was spicy with a hint of floral tones; It poured nicely (no chunks or anything in mine sir) with a nice head that was pretty persistent. A beautiful flavour, a great balancing of rich malt and smooth bitterness. Not much in the way of flavour hops but that's completely in style with an English IPA, IMHO.

I enjoyed it, it was a good way to relax before going to bed. I've got no real criticisms, thanks for the drink Adr_0!

 

[Adr_0]

Thankyou sir for the kind feedback! Good to hear it was without chunk. I do hope people remember it's meant to be a nice, drinkable English IPA not a Northern Hemisphere Harvest. 6.4% ABV and (theoretically) 75IBU so hopefully everyone still finds it drinkable.

Thanks again, glad you enjoyed.

 

[Parks]

8. hwall95 - Mocha Stout, 7%, Should be ready

Excellent beer. I would like more roast but I think that would take away from the extremely smooth chocolate/roast that is there now. Fantastically smooth for a 7% beer.

I do think it needs a touch more bitterness or roast to balance but the more I drink the more I don't care!

F me I wish I had your brewing skill at your age (or even knew beer was made from grain :blink: )

 

[Adr_0]

8. hwall95 - Mocha Stout, 7%, Should be ready

Excellent beer. I would like more roast but I think that would take away from the extremely smooth chocolate/roast that is there now. Fantastically smooth for a 7% beer.

I do think it needs a touch more bitterness or roast to balance but the more I drink the more I don't care!

F me I wish I had your brewing skill at your age (or even knew beer was made from grain :blink: )

Beer is made from grain??!?

And I have to say, that mild on Saturday night was outstanding. Great job. I might just try one of these so-called *finger quote* "8's" - made from grain you say?

 

[Adr_0]

Ah we made pizza so I went with Ciderman's RyePA instead:

2 - Rye IPA


I gave it a bit of air with the pour, and looked like a nice waterfall of CO2 with nitrogen. Good persistent head. Very opaque, which was a touch off-putting at first but once tasted it was a whole different ballgame.

Smell is actually balanced pretty well between malt (rye and some sweet crystal) and hops - tropical fruit mostly, but the hops is surprisingly subdued. Fairly neutral bitterness.

Taste is great, nice rye flavour, good spiciness and bitterness. Some more tropical fruits, orange in the flavour. Good body. I think I picked up a touch of chlorophenol - do you dechlorinate your water? - but I could have been imagining it. The wife took most of the beer unfortunately. From her... "That's absolutely beautiful", "What's in that?" and "That's beautiful." so full marks from her.

Overall the look originally detracted a bit as it's quite opaque, but the flavours are nice. The bitterness was a touch subdued and there might have been some chlorophenol but probably my imagination. Awesome rye, sweet crystal and bitterness, really drinkable and interesting beer. Great job, I do wonder what it would look like with a bit more clarity.

 

[Ciderman]

Thanks for the detailed review! Yeah the clarity is an issue. Looks better out of the keg but it's not great. I made a mild on the same day and it's exactly the same. Only beers that I didn't add whirlfloc to, so I'd say that's the reason. I had expected a nice red tinge if it had dropped clear.

As for the water, I collect rain water off the kids cubby house into a small tank and carbon filter it. I've tested it before, but not regularly as its only 100L and I turn it over pretty quickly.

 

[ballantynebrew]

23. Earle - Hoppy Hefe

Fantastic aroma and a great balanced hoppy hefe. One of the most enjoyable hefe's I've had for a while.

 

[Adr_0]

Thanks for the detailed review! Yeah the clarity is an issue. Looks better out of the keg but it's not great. I made a mild on the same day and it's exactly the same. Only beers that I didn't add whirlfloc to, so I'd say that's the reason. I had expected a nice red tinge if it had dropped clear.
As for the water, I collect rain water off the kids cubby house into a small tank and carbon filter it. I've tested it before, but not regularly as its only 100L and I turn it over pretty quickly.

Just out of curiosity how clear was your wort? How long was your boil?

 

[Ciderman]

Just out of curiosity how clear was your wort? How long was your boil?

Boiled for 70 mins and I can't really remember how clear the wort was. Possibly another factor was both beers I made that day had 15% Rye. Even with the rice hulls it didn't drain out of the mash tun perfectly and required some prodding which now that I think about it, probably seems more likely to create the problem than the non addition of whirlfloc. It's a strange one because all by beers are clear. Even my hefe turned out looking like a Kristalweizen.

 

[Parks]

Smacked down a few last night for some unknown reason...

23. Earle - Hoppy Hefe
Possibly one of the tastiest Hefe's I've had. Huge tropical fruit aroma and flavour, I got a big passionfruit whiff atop the other fruits others noted.

Perfect high carbonation leaves a slight prickle on the tongue and a huge fluffy white head.

I hope you're getting this beer into QABC mate! (freshly brewed of course )

10. Seehuusen - American Wheat IPA
Was getting right into happy territory when I popped this one. I didn't take much in the way of specific notes but remember thinking "fark Martin, you've done alright here".

:chug: :chug: :chug:

 

[earle]

Smacked down a few last night for some unknown reason...

23. Earle - Hoppy Hefe
Possibly one of the tastiest Hefe's I've had. Huge tropical fruit aroma and flavour, I got a big passionfruit whiff atop the other fruits others noted.

Perfect high carbonation leaves a slight prickle on the tongue and a huge fluffy white head.

I hope you're getting this beer into QABC mate! (freshly brewed of course )


:chug: :chug: :chug:

Thanks to everyone for the good feedback on this one. Might make a fresh batch for Oktoberfest, bottle a couple for comps. What category do you think it might fit into. It's definitely not in the German wheats, maybe the American wheat?

 

[HBHB]

Thanks to everyone for the good feedback on this one. Might make a fresh batch for Oktoberfest, bottle a couple for comps. What category do you think it might fit into. It's definitely not in the German wheats, maybe the American wheat?

The delicious American wheat category. Nicely done.

 

[madpierre06]

21. Radshoes - Vanilla Mocha Porter

Really enjoyed the roasty vanilla and a lovely little coffee hit late. Very easy beer to drink.

 

[Adr_0]

Thanks to everyone for the good feedback on this one. Might make a fresh batch for Oktoberfest, bottle a couple for comps. What category do you think it might fit into. It's definitely not in the German wheats, maybe the American wheat?

Yes, I was going to say definitely American and not German - 23, Earle's wheat


Looks amazing, great thick chunky head that hangs around forever.

Smell there is no clove really or banana, but citrus, pineapple and melon and a slight dry bready wheat. Dominated by these citrus/tropical fruit flavours rather than the spicy, clovey banana German wheat aromas.

Taste is great, same citrus, pineapple and dry bready wheat with a very slight touch of vanilla but only a trace. Solid bitterness.

Awesome job, super tasty beer and very well made. Haven't really had any American wheats but this seems to be a great example.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Definitely US wheat, the whole time I was thinking this is similar to pacific ale with a higher proportion of wheat. More juicy less grassy though.

Gotta say, Adro, your palate is much more perceptive than mine!

 

[Liam_snorkel]

17. Brewkid - OATMEAL STOUT 4.7%

Aroma of chocolatey coffee, nice low carbonation, smooth, some sweetness towards the end. I could have a few of these in a row

 

[hwall95]

17 - Brewkid - Oatmeal Stout

This was a really nice and drinkable stout. At first I thought it was lacking in body but it made it really drinkable which went well with the choc and coffee flavours. Smooth and easy to drink, would be a dangerous beer to have on tap