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

[Parks]

Cardinal sin in our house is running out of "black beer", then I remembered I still had Liam's porter to share.

5. liam_snorkel - robust porter

Delicious toffee and roast character with a somewhat thin malt character (the malt really disappears quickly after each sip, not a bad thing).

I could only drink one of these, in between 6 more of them.

Excellent beer.

 

[Ciderman]

I had quite a few beers last night so the memory is a little hazy. Sorry no pictures.

23. Earls Hoppy Hefe

I'm not a big fan of the style so it was good to have a different take on it. Great carbonation and as the name suggest plenty of hoppy characters offset the usually dominant yeast. I'm assuming it still used the 3638 yeast because it was kinda there in the background. Overall it was a nice opening beer for the evening.

9. Kiwi Bright Ale

Well made beer. Clear and head retention till last sip. Mildly hoppy and fairly neutral. Not a lot going on, but not in a bad way. Just something that I'd probably enjoy more in summer than the heart of winter. Stylistically I found it similar to a lager though I'd much rather drink this. Good job.

20. English IPA

I remember drinking this and being super impressed. Everything about it was awesome but sadly I can't remember what I liked about it. It didn't last long and I was disappointed that the bottle was empty. I really wanted another one of these.

8. Mocha Stout

I was expecting bigger flavours due to the ABV. Honestly if it's really 7% you have done really well to hide it. It's silky and dangerously sessionable.

 

[angus_grant]

#23 Earl's hoppy hefe

I think my review is going to be the same as everybody else.

Big whiffs of banana on opening.

An interesting mix between classic hefe aroma and for-taste and hoppy bitter after-taste. I wouldn't say either style dominates.

Great beer and a nice wind down beer for the weekend.

Edit: actually as the beer warms up, the hop characters start dominating and there's not much hefe going on. Still great beer.

 

[madpierre06]

Cardinal sin in our house is running out of "black beer", then I remembered I still had Liam's porter to share.

Never been a massive black beer fan other than the cans of Guinness with the widget until getting into this again. Of this batch so far I've had Liam's and Parks' beers, both real easy to drink. A Cavalier Imperial Stout the other day and Ciderman's stunning RIS at the swap really confirmed for me a taste for the style, even Porters of which I've not been a fan. Gonna give Harry's Mocha Stout (unless there's some others best drunk sooner) a burl this arvo while cleaning my brew vessels, then tasting is gonna have a break to end of August as my dress belt is right on the limit of the notch I always swore I wouldn't go past again. Good timing to get back into it in early Sept. just in time for my birthday.

 

[Natdene]

Beers so far

23 Earles Hop Hefe - I don't like wheat beers but this was great, I think the hops made up for my dislike of wheat beers, had a slight vinegar smell as it warmed up
6. Parks coffee stout - solid beer with a nice coffee undertone, mine had low carb but didn't take away from the experience, good work.
5. Liam's robust porter - this was a tasty porter, nice roasty flavours with a hint of liquorice, nice one Liam.
21 (green) APA, Radshoes - fantastic job!, great tasting beer, malty, the right amount of hop flavour and aroma. This is the best beer I've had so far. My I ask - did you use the CraftBrewer us05 yeast?

 

[Adr_0]

Has anyone who's had the 20 poured the yeast in? If you typically brew ales with American yeasts and haven't had many English yeasts, give it a go.

 

[earle]

I had quite a few beers last night so the memory is a little hazy. Sorry no pictures.

23. Earls Hoppy Hefe

I'm not a big fan of the style so it was good to have a different take on it. Great carbonation and as the name suggest plenty of hoppy characters offset the usually dominant yeast. I'm assuming it still used the 3638 yeast because it was kinda there in the background. Overall it was a nice opening beer for the evening.

Actually made on kolsch yeast. 3638 is totally out of style for an American wheat which is more about the hops. The name hefe is probably misleading but was based on the Mad Brewers Hoppy Hefe so the name stuck.

 

[angus_grant]

#24 screamadellica's choc raspberry saison

Getting bags of choc and raspberry. Well named.

Reminds me of a dark chocolate cherry ripe.

Carbonation seems down a bit for a saison so I'm finding the saison yeast flavours a bit misplaced, (edit) misplaced is not the word. Maybe understated or not primary taste which I'm used too in the few saisons I've had. And they take a back seat to the raspberries.

An intriguing beer.

 

[Screamadelica]

24. (READY) Screamadelica - (18 of them are belgian IPA, 6 are choc-raspberry saison) DRINK NOW

I'm not sure if this is a Belgian IPA or not. What I am sure of is it's delicious! I haven't cared for the 2 commercial white/Belgian IPAs I've tried.

Your worry about carbonation was off -

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1436251663.502048.jpg

My only thought is personally I'd like it with a little less body, but not much.

Great beer!

Thanks mate! Next time I'll give it a little more body - I mashed pretty low so next time I'm planning on bumping it up around ~68 see how it turns out.

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)

good to hear man - yeah sorry about the carbonation, the keg was slightly warmer then the other one so it was foaming up in the connection before it even got into the bottle, was crossing my fingers there was still some left but i guess there was less in there then i thought. Should have given them a hit of CO2 in the bottle before capping but oh well. It was sitting in a keg under my house for ~8 months so I guess thats why some of the yeast character is missing.

24 - Screamadelica's Belgian PA

Wow, awesome beer. The smell is great, with banana, cloves, slight woodiness and herbs

Flavour is this again and some aniseed seems to come through. Really awesome beer. Not sure about the Belgian IPA as a style but it seems to be a solid Belgian PA for me. Really well done, a really well made beer and nicely matched malts, hops and yeast.

On a side note, it reminded me a lot of Chimay Red, but swapping the caramunich out and the herbal aniseedy hops in. Did you use 1214 or something else?

Awesome beer, really impressed by this one, great job.

awesome! - I think it was the 1388 - Belgian Strong Ale but I'll double check beersmith tonight when I get home and let you know.

#24 screamadellica's choc raspberry saison

Getting bags of choc and raspberry. Well named.

Reminds me of a dark chocolate cherry ripe.

Carbonation seems down a bit for a saison so I'm finding the saison yeast flavours a bit misplaced, (edit) misplaced is not the word. Maybe understated or not primary taste which I'm used too in the few saisons I've had. And they take a back seat to the raspberries.

An intriguing beer.

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1436686371.756651.jpg

yeah the super-raspberry flavour wasnt on purpose - was trying to give it a hint of raspberry but it was a little over the top haha, next time I wont just dump the whole 300g packet in the secondary

 

[madpierre06]

8. Harry's Mocha Stout - loved this one, very easy to drink with to me what seemed a nice mocha sweetness slipping through.

23. Earle's Hoppy Hefe - Loved this. A beautiful beer, fantastic fruity aroma and so, so drinkable.

That's me done 'til early Sept, there'll be a few more tasted then.

 

[menoetes]

It's quart past midnight, I've just got home from work and it's 7'c outside - time for a cold beer methinks, as I'm a sensible lad.

24 screamadellica's Belgian IPA

I crack the beer and she has an earthy sweet smell that is accentuated as I raise her to my lips, inhaling through my nose as her deep amber body comes into contact with mine. My first taste of her is of rich malt with floral tones that soon turns to a spicy well-rounded bitter note. Her sweetness is drowned out by the lingering bitterness at first but in the end it is a balanced malty tang and memory of hoppy bitterness that lingers on my tongue with a soft warm alcohol afterglow. I smile and I think we understand each other...

A nice beer sir, I don't think I've had a Belgian IPA before. It seems like one to end a night on rather than a session beer and I'm glad I had her. If I have any criticism it might be that she seemed under-carbed to me but that might just be a personal taste thing, I like <a> good head.

No pic this time sorry, I tried but my hands were shaking a bit with the cold and I couldn't get a clear focus on my phone...

 

[madpierre06]

I'm thinking that I'd have rather not seen the photos to be honest Meno, I don't think this section is rated NSFW. And I'm betting that it's not 'cause of the cold your hands were shaking.

 

[seehuusen]

That's me done 'til early Sept, there'll be a few more tasted then.

I hope you've had my wheat beer already Allan, coz it won't be as good by then *cough cough have another drink*

 

[madpierre06]

I hope you've had my wheat beer already Allan, coz it won't be as good by then *cough cough have another drink*

PMSL Alright, you talked me into it mate. Would hate to see a fine beer go underappreciated. I've got some work to do in the shed today so that'll be my 'tidying' beer. :lol: Wondering now if there's any more that can't be allowed to age. BenKen's rice lager could easily go off too I'm guessin'. :drinks: And they reckon those Kiwi Bright Ales can go off real quick too.

 

[menoetes]

Definitely get onto those Kiwi Bright Ales soon sir. I had one this past weekend & they are good for drinking now while the hops are still pretty fresh. I'm real happy with the way it turned out. It almost makes me wish that I hadn't swapped it all away (but then I wouldn't have all this other excellent beer). I'll have to brew another batch real soon...

 

[HBHB]

Had a taste of my RIS entry last night. OK, I had 2 bottles and suddenly felt all warm and fuzzy.

It's good to go if you feel the need to relieve a winter chill, run out of chainsaw fuel or need a cure for the common cold. h34r:

 

[madpierre06]

Definitely get onto those Kiwi Bright Ales soon sir. I had one this past weekend & they are good for drinking now while the hops are still pretty fresh. I'm real happy with the way it turned out. It almost makes me wish that I hadn't swapped it all away (but then I wouldn't have all this other excellent beer). I'll have to brew another batch real soon...

That's why I do 23L batches B) Yeah mate, about to have yours now with a couple chiko rolls for lunch, then out to the shed with Martin's and Benken's beers. THEN the cut off begins.

 

[Parks]

That's why I do 23L batches B) Yeah mate, about to have yours now with a couple chiko rolls for lunch, then out to the shed with Martin's and Benken's beers. THEN the cut off begins.

Or ditch the chiko roll, get stuck into HBHB's RIS and sleep through dinner - diet sorted!

 

[seehuusen]

Had a taste of my RIS entry last night. OK, I had 2 bottles and suddenly felt all warm and fuzzy.

It's good to go if you feel the need to relieve a winter chill, run out of chainsaw fuel or need a cure for the common cold. h34r:

I had yours the other day too, beautiful oak/vanilla flavours backed by a strong malt back bone, I really enjoyed it a lot Martin! Top effort on that beer as usual
In fact, I too had an extra, kindly donated by Martin, and my oh my, at 10pm I decided, while everyone else was sleeping, that it was a good time to go skateboarding LMAO Bigger hills somehow seemed more wobbly than ever before, or perhaps my trucks needs tightening up, not too sure LOL

 

[madpierre06]

Menoetes - Kiwi Bright Ale

A lovely drop Meno, very clear good sir. Really clean, not a massive head but held it all the way down with nice defined lacing. A very sessionable Qld summers day drop, and sets off the chiko rolls nicely.