Sydney Easter Case Swap - Drinking Reports

[Muggus]

Brew: 1. Retsamhsam - American IPA
Date: 3/5/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml twisttop bottle gold cap "1" 8% ABV 40.5 IBU

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in pint.

Big psst on opening. Pours a big moussey offwhite head atop a lively copper-gold body.

Nice fragrant hop aroma, Pepper and spice, citrus peel, pine, floral herbacousness. Hint of grainy malt and golden syrup sweetness in the background.

Slight creamy texture, body seems a bit lean for strength, carbonation is bit high and prickly somewhat accentuating the bitterness and dryness. Some alcohol warmth present on the finish.

Plenty of American hop character, very unfront and aggressive, wood/pine and spice seem most prominant, some bitter citrus and grass. Underlying malt backbone comes through a bit more on the body, quite nice light caramel and breadiness about it. Dried apricot and sultana come through with warmth. Finish with detectable alcohol spice, bitterness is high and assertive, lingering grassiness.

I quite enjoyed the flavour of this one, solid American hop flavour with a nice malt backbone that is often underdone in this style. Only thing I could fault is body, could probably be a bit denser to soak up that big abv. Besides that great stuff, cheers Rets!

 

[Bizier]

I'm buggered if I know where the smokey dominance is coming from. There is no peated or smoked malt in the grain bill. I fermented it at a reasonably coolish 20C for the Ardennes yeast. I guess with the medicinal flavours people are tasting it has to be coming from infection, which is a bit upsetting. Although, in my experience, infections usually lead to gushers, but the carbonation has still been quite low.... so I'm lost

My apologies to anyone who has tried it and has had a bad experience, I can only hope I give you something more worthy next time. I have one in the fridge that I mighttry tomorrow and see if I can pick up the same flavours being described.

It happens. I've had 2 definite infections (neither gushers) in my lowly 33 batches, which is a significant failure rate. You have a HERMS setup, temp control and are obviously neither a luddite or philistine. I really look forward to your next swap beer Schooey.

 

[Josh]

I guess with the medicinal flavours people are tasting it has to be coming from infection, which is a bit upsetting. Although, in my experience, infections usually lead to gushers, but the carbonation has still been quite low.... so I'm lost

My apologies to anyone who has tried it and has had a bad experience, I can only hope I give you something more worthy next time. I have one in the fridge that I mighttry tomorrow and see if I can pick up the same flavours being described.

Perhaps if you have any left, enter them in comps under Rauchbier Always look on the bright side of life Schooey.

I hope it isn't an infection problem... made up a starter split between your Wyeast Ardennes and the WLP500 Trappist from Muggus' Belgian. Currently fermenting a Belgian Pale Ale. Was planning on then re-using the yeast from that for my first really high gravity Belgian.

Took a sample from the Pale tonight and things seem okay so far... fingers crossed.

 

[Muggus]

Brew: 2. Bizier - Strong US IPA
Date: 4/5/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml Coopers crownseal bottle gold cap "2/BIZ" ~10% (US05)

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in pint.

Decent pop. Pours a tightly packed finger-worth of white foam atop a hazy orange-amber body.

Citrusy hops straightup on the nose; grapefruit, bitter orange, unripe stonefruits and melon, touch of herbaceousness and cinnamon spice, more towards the fruit end of the spectrum with the Yankee hops, as opposed to woody and grass, as than often can be. Faint whiff of malt sweetness.

Big mouthfilling body BAM! Creamy texture with a nice moderate carbonation. Very well rounded and balanced with malt sweetness and hop bitterness seemingly on par with each other.

Lovely juicy hop flavours dominate the body; orange, nectarine, grapefruit, raisin, cinnamon, rockmelon, pine, touch of grass and floral notes. Malt background is slightly detectable with a touch of golden syrup sweetness. Finish is highly bitter, yet smooth with a lingering spice and alcohol warmth...that has remained dormant until now!

Wow! Another fantastic IPA in the swap! Excellent flavour and tremendously well balanced for its strength. Love it Biz, cheers!

 

[schooey]

Perhaps if you have any left, enter them in comps under Rauchbier Always look on the bright side of life Schooey.

Jeez... Thanks, Josh... :unsure:



Nah it's all good. I just would really like to know what happened... The only thing I did different this swap to any other time is use a no rinse sanitiser when bottling. I was a little anal after the last NSW swap where it seemed a few people picked up bottle infections. Not sure that this would account for the smokey flavour though.... If I get a chance a bit later I'll dig outthe recipe so maybe some one can give me some advice on where it may have come from

 

[schooey]

Recipe: BPA I
Brewer: Schooey
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 18.93 L
Boil Size: 26.05 L
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 8.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 120 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.75 kg Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM) Grain 41.2 %
1.00 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Thomas Fawcett) (3Grain 23.5 %
0.75 kg Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (3.0 SRM) Grain 17.6 %
0.25 kg Amber Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 5.9 %
0.25 kg Carafoam (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM) Grain 5.9 %
0.25 kg Caramunich I (Weyermann) (51.0 SRM) Grain 5.9 %
30.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.80%] (90 min) Hops 20.2 IBU
12.00 gm Styrian Goldings [4.80%] (30 min) Hops 5.3 IBU
20.00 gm Saaz [4.00%] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU

Fermented at 20C with WY3522

 

[Bizier]

Love it Biz, cheers!

Cheers a bunch Muggus.

It is a bit disappointing that the initial rockmelon character is quite faded. It was HUGE when I bottled. I think I will need a randall type decive.

 

[Muggus]

Brew: DW 1/4? Not sure!
Date: 4/5/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml Reschs twisttop gold cap "DW / 1/4

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in pint.

Offwhite head atop a slightly hazy amber body.

Aroma has a bit of sweet toffeeish malts with some metallic skunk about it.

Medium-to-lean body, carbonation is quite spritzy drying out the beer and accentuating the metallic off-notes.

Nice toffee malts to begin, some notes of spice leading onto what i'd best describe as "Aussie macro skunk" metallic bready flavours.

Not really sure what this is. Tastes somewhere between JS Amber Ale and Tooheys New when warm, hmmm.
Wasn't exactly sure who to thank or what do think about this one, but uh cheers anyway!

 

[RetsamHsam]

Brew: DW 1/4? Not sure!
Date: 4/5/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml Reschs twisttop gold cap "DW / 1/4

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in pint.

Offwhite head atop a slightly hazy amber body.

Aroma has a bit of sweet toffeeish malts with some metallic skunk about it.

Medium-to-lean body, carbonation is quite spritzy drying out the beer and accentuating the metallic off-notes.

Nice toffee malts to begin, some notes of spice leading onto what i'd best describe as "Aussie macro skunk" metallic bready flavours.

Not really sure what this is. Tastes somewhere between JS Amber Ale and Tooheys New when warm, hmmm.
Wasn't exactly sure who to thank or what do think about this one, but uh cheers anyway!

That sounds like my Dunkleweizen

 

[white.grant]

Sideswap Rye 11/3 on cap

drinking this beer now and really enjoying it, can't recall now who crafted it. Has a light hoppy aroma, and really well balanced flavour, malt and hops working together to make a very refreshing and well made beer.

Thanks

grant

 

[RetsamHsam]

Sideswap Rye 11/3 on cap

drinking this beer now and really enjoying it, can't recall now who crafted it. Has a light hoppy aroma, and really well balanced flavour, malt and hops working together to make a very refreshing and well made beer.

Thanks

grant

that was my rye pale ale with NS hops.. Glad you enjoyed it. I am currently drinking one of the side swap beers, it had WB on the cap. Drank the first half pretty warm, nice and malty, appearance is awesome and has a nice red hue. I'm guessing the ABV is pretty high, what style is this? I have my money on weizenbock..

 

[Gulpa]

Muggus - Centennial Barley Wine - side gift

Incredible beer. Sorry I dont really have tasting notes, I was watching a movie. The floral/citrus US hops with the malty sweetness went really well together. Carb was good and laced the glass (i thought barley wine had trouble carbinating). Layered complexity. I still have my glass with the yeasty dregs and it still smells awesome a day later. Thanks Mike.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[white.grant]

that was my rye pale ale with NS hops.. Glad you enjoyed it. I am currently drinking one of the side swap beers, it had WB on the cap. Drank the first half pretty warm, nice and malty, appearance is awesome and has a nice red hue. I'm guessing the ABV is pretty high, what style is this? I have my money on weizenbock..

I think that might be the beer I swapped for your Rye :icon_cheers: . If it is, it is a Weizenbock, just under 8%. It was my first big beer.

cheers

grant

 

[RetsamHsam]

I think that might be the beer I swapped for your Rye :icon_cheers: . If it is, it is a Weizenbock, just under 8%. It was my first big beer.

cheers

grant

sounds like the one, was in a 500ml bottle. Mind if i grab the recipe off you?

 

[white.grant]

sounds like the one, was in a 500ml bottle. Mind if i grab the recipe off you?

No worries. The fermentation is the most important thing, I ramped 3068 up through a weizen and dunkelweizen and then dropped this on top of most of the dunkelweizen cake. I still took 3 weeks to ferment out to finish at 1021.

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Whyzenbock?
Brewer: Grant
Asst Brewer:
Style: Weizenbock
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Size: 30.96 L
Estimated OG: 1.088 SG
Estimated Color: 13.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.53 kg Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 53.11 %
2.30 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 26.96 %
1.00 kg Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 11.72 %
0.30 kg Caraaroma (130.0 SRM) Grain 3.52 %
0.30 kg Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 3.52 %
0.10 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 1.17 %
45.00 gm Hallertauer [5.70 %] (60 min) Hops 30.2 IBU
1 Pkgs Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) Yeast-Wheat

 

[Muggus]

Muggus - Centennial Barley Wine - side gift

Incredible beer. Sorry I dont really have tasting notes, I was watching a movie. The floral/citrus US hops with the malty sweetness went really well together. Carb was good and laced the glass (i thought barley wine had trouble carbinating). Layered complexity. I still have my glass with the yeasty dregs and it still smells awesome a day later. Thanks Mike.

Cheers
Andrew

Thanks Andrew! Glad you enjoyed it.
I think I have some notes on that pilsner you gave me...might dig them up...either way it went down a treat!


Brew: 8. DiscoStu - Scottish 80/-
Date: 11/5/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml twisttop gold cap "8" Wy1728 Scottish Ale - bottled 18/3/09

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in mug.
Decent pop, pours a murky sort of copper body. Creamy white foam sticks around for most of the journey leaving bands of lace.

Seems to have a metallic phenolic yeast note, somewhat spicy, bready and smokey, that can be common place in warm/stressed fermentations. Some underlying caramel maltiness detectable, but the yeast overpowers.

Full bodied, moderate carbonation, body has a nice smooth creamy texture. Dries out quite a bit by a metallic bitter yeast note.

Malt flavours are more prominant on the body; rich caramel sweetness, honey, biscuit, sweet cake. Subdued yeastiness, still plenty of pepper and spice, hint of smoke and sharp metallic notes. Finishes quite sweet, moderate bitterness.

Bit of a shame about the yeast fault, because it seems like a nicely made and tasty beer underneath.
From past experiences, i've had a few beers with such faults after being exposed to a few days in warmer weather during primary fermentation. Might not be the problem here, but it's a bit unfortunate when it happens.
Cheers Stu!

 

[Muggus]

Not far to go...

Brew: 9. Schooey - Belgian Pale Ale
Date: 12/5/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml Coopers bottle black cap "NINE" , WY3522, 5.1% ABV, bottled 3/4/09

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in mug.

Only a small pop on opening. Hazy amber-gold body with a small cap of dense offwhite foam. Whisps of lace weave the glass on the way down.

Peppery yeast aroma, odd undertones of dried apricot, damp wood, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg spice. Faint indicater of floral hopiness and cereal malts.

Medium bodied, carbonation is subdued, quite a lean texture slight malt stickiness. Has a wierd drying sensation that lingers on the tongue.

Nice bit of biscuity malt sweetness starts off the palate then hit with ALOT of clove, like seriously chewing on a whole clove! Well, maybe not that intense, but it's very prominant. Bit more spice follows, some dried fruit and citrus, i'm somehow reminded of Gluhwein! Slight woody quality lingers on a mildly bitter finish.

Intriguing to say the least. Some might find the clove character in this beer a bit overpowering but I quite like it. It'd probably work a bit better in a bigger beer, but then you lose the drinkability of this style. Certainly not infected, just interesting phenolic character!
Nice stuff Schooey, I dig it!

And here's one I dug up...
Brew: Pilsner by Gulpa
Date: 9/4/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml screwtop bottle gold cap "PL"

Sampling notes:
Served lightly chilled in pilsner glass.
Nice persistant thick fluffy whiote head atop a pale golden body with a slight haze.
Grainy malt aroma, water cracker biscuit-like pilsner maltiness about it. A light but nice floral citrus hop character blends in very nicely.
Medium bodied, moderate to high carbonation, drying texture throughout.
Plenty of biscuity, cereally malt on the body, only slightly sweet, bit of bread leading towards the finish that brings out a bit of herbaceousness, spice that lingers with a moderate dry bitter note.
An enjoyable pils. I'd probably go as far as to call it a Helles, had more malt body and less bitterness that you'd expect to find in a standard Pils, but i'm not complaining!

 

[Gulpa]

Brew: Pilsner by Gulpa
Date: 9/4/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml screwtop bottle gold cap "PL"

Sampling notes:
Served lightly chilled in pilsner glass.
Nice persistant thick fluffy whiote head atop a pale golden body with a slight haze.
Grainy malt aroma, water cracker biscuit-like pilsner maltiness about it. A light but nice floral citrus hop character blends in very nicely.
Medium bodied, moderate to high carbonation, drying texture throughout.
Plenty of biscuity, cereally malt on the body, only slightly sweet, bit of bread leading towards the finish that brings out a bit of herbaceousness, spice that lingers with a moderate dry bitter note.
An enjoyable pils. I'd probably go as far as to call it a Helles, had more malt body and less bitterness that you'd expect to find in a standard Pils, but i'm not complaining!

Thanks for the feedback Mike. I agree it doesnt quite hit the mark. Nice enough but doesnt have that crispness that you would normally associate with pils. I was going through the "lets not make it too bitter" phase which followed my "lets make it really bitter" phase

cheers
Andrew.

 

[Muggus]

Can't say i've saved best to last...

Brew: 7. Muggus - Brutus Belgian Ale
Date: 12/5/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml twisttop bottle gold cap "7",6.0%, WLP500, bottled 16/3/09

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in mug.

Quite a loud psst upon opening. Pours a hazy amber body with an fluffy offwhite head that dies into a fingers worth of persistant foam.

Hops come through on the aroma, pepper, bitter citrus, a bit of grass. Underlying phenolics seem subdued since last sample, bit of metallic spice and woodiness, sweet breadiness that seems to allude to maltiness.

Medium-to-full body, moderate carbonation, slight creaminess to the texture which is somewhat taken down a notch by a drying note.

Malt body is upfront, bit of wholegrain bread, dough, brown sugar, somehow not as sweet as expected. Dried fruits combine with woody/earth spice, plenty of pepper and cinnamon in the works, bit of apple, citrus and overly ripe fruit. Finishes particularly yeast, subtle milky/creamy dryness with a moderate bitter note that lingers.

Quite an odd ale. Certainly another beer that would translate better into a full-blown "Belgian Strong" catagory, mainly due to lack of body to carry phenolic flavours. Also has an odd hop twang (B Saaz) that is probably more misleading than anything else.
Having said that, I think like alot of other Belgian-style ales, the yeast character in this beer will mellow and intergrate and will probably benefit from some short-term bottle aging. (3-6 months)

 

[schooey]

Not far to go...

Brew: 9. Schooey - Belgian Pale Ale
Date: 12/5/09
Beer info: Brown 750ml Coopers bottle black cap "NINE" , WY3522, 5.1% ABV, bottled 3/4/09

Sampling notes:
Served chilled in mug.

Only a small pop on opening. Hazy amber-gold body with a small cap of dense offwhite foam. Whisps of lace weave the glass on the way down.

Peppery yeast aroma, odd undertones of dried apricot, damp wood, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg spice. Faint indicater of floral hopiness and cereal malts.

Medium bodied, carbonation is subdued, quite a lean texture slight malt stickiness. Has a wierd drying sensation that lingers on the tongue.

Nice bit of biscuity malt sweetness starts off the palate then hit with ALOT of clove, like seriously chewing on a whole clove! Well, maybe not that intense, but it's very prominant. Bit more spice follows, some dried fruit and citrus, i'm somehow reminded of Gluhwein! Slight woody quality lingers on a mildly bitter finish.

Intriguing to say the least. Some might find the clove character in this beer a bit overpowering but I quite like it. It'd probably work a bit better in a bigger beer, but then you lose the drinkability of this style. Certainly not infected, just interesting phenolic character!
Nice stuff Schooey, I dig it!

Cheers for the review, Muggus, excellent feedback as always... after reading it I think the penny has dropped for me. I'm pretty sure I chose this beer to start playing with water chemistry and by the sounds of it I may hve gone a little overboard. I added some CaCl to this one, and I'm thinking I have added too much which has over accentuated the cloviness and phenolics thrown by the yeast. I was pretty sure the samples I kept for myself weren't infected, but I wasn't sure what was going on. I'm kinda relieved in one hand, and still a little disappointed in the other.. ahh well, lesson learned