Tasting Notes - Vic July 2007 Swap

[Fents]

Cheers DFT

4. Wardhog Sloppy Skunk Fart APA - 'WAPA' on lid, will crack a tester soon and update

Apperance - Cracked with a nice hisss. Struggled to pour a head but what was there was white n creamy. Beers not so clear. In fact i tipped the bottle about a week ago to rouse the yeast so it would be nice n carbonated. could of not settled properly.

Aroma - Beautifull hop cascade hop aroma.

Taste - Lovley crisp clean finsihing taste. Hops and some clean malt. Bitter enouff for me too. Tastes a little thin on the malt side. And i swear i picked up a hint of coffee dunno, i had it with mexican tortia's so...?

All in all a nice beer, some improvements could be made but im no expert and im enjoying as much as anything else. biggups ward

 

[andreic]

11. apd - brown ale - Labelled BA 0507 - Ready to drink

poured a light-medium brown colour. Was quite hazy/cloudy. Small head which didn't last too long - this has been a common theme with my tastings - its my glasses. The carbonation was medium - a good level for the beer.

The aroma at first was malty, a little sweet. As I worked my way down the glass I started to notice an earthy/spicy aroma. It was very similar to what I noticed in DFT's smoke ale. Can't quite describe it... my wife thought it was citrus? Once I noticed this aroma it seemed to push aside the malt aroma until I topped up the glass again.

The taste was malty at first, but had a real effervescent / spicy / peppery feel on the tongue. This mellowed greatly as the glass emptied... it had a slightly creamy texture and was medium bodied. I really noticed the hops more than the malt. I think the bitterness was well balanced with the flavours.

I really enjoyed this beer. It is high on the drinkability scale!

Cheers apd :beer: well done.

Andrei

 

[Wardhog]

And i swear i picked up a hint of coffee dunno, i had it with mexican tortia's so...?

All in all a nice beer, some improvements could be made but im no expert and im enjoying as much as anything else. biggups ward

Yeah, there was a touch of choc malt in there, but not a lot. You've got a keen sense of taste there.

I gotta say I'm disappointed with my contribution, sorry guys. Not one of my best beers. At least I've learned something, which I set out to do on this case swap, don't bother with two Cooper's carbonation drops per king brown. Bulk prime instead.

Probably a little underhopped for the style, but hey, that's my personal tastes coming through.

 

[andreic]

5. Fents - IPA - Labelled Clearly - Ready to drink!

Poured a brown colour with slight reddish tinge. Very cloudy - muddy looking. I got a big, just off-white head which looked sensational.

For aroma I thought I got a little caramel, a bit of fruit and some spice?

I tasted malt up front, then real spicy / peppery, then a burnt / toasty flavour and a real bitter, drying finish. Its very bitter, and the bitterness lingers afterwards.

I find it medium to full bodied and it had a real creamy feel to it.

I am really enjoying this beer... I have half a glass left and will be sad when it is gone.

thanks Fents - another top beer from the case

I went to Purvis Cellars today and got a range of english bitters and 2 IPAs (research ) - I am looking forward to trying the IPAs to see how they compare now....

 

[apd]

2. DarkFaerytale - Smoked Ale

False advertising, I say!
I couldn't get any smoke in the aroma or flavour. Neither could my fellow tasters at the time.
That being said, the ale was great. Great carbonation, great head, great aroma and flavour. Just no smoke.

7. Thirsty Boy - Witbier

Mmm, witty. I'll copy/paste some of what I said about DFT's smoked ale:

"Great carbonation, great head, great aroma and flavour. Just no smoke."

9. Quintrex - Tripel

This little blighter climbed out of the bottle. It was obviously begging to be drunk. Even after initially spilling half a glass then pouring a full glass, the creeping tide of head kept coming. The alcohol is just about the only thing I could detect in flavour and aroma. I think this needs a lot more time in the bottle.

 

[andreic]

13. Mmmmm... beer - Dark Ale - Labelled 'Dark Ale - Belgian twist'

Pours a nice brown - copper colour. Its fairly clear. I got a decent off-white head, which did not last the full glass.

For the aroma the main thing I could get was malt... some toast perhaps.

The main flavours I got was real malty, with some spice, and quite a bitter, roasty finish. It also has some warming alcohol taste.

Its medium to full bodied for me.

I poured it cold out of the fridge. I enjoyed this quite a lot more towards the end as it warmed. It also feels like it packs a bit of a punch in the alcohol department.

Thanks for another great beer mmm... :beer:

Andrei

 

[apd]

and finally...

5. Fents - IPA

andreic seems to have said all I wanted to say except one thing. I had a good little laugh to myself when I saw the label - "Thankyou, come again". Champagne comedy!

That's my case done, unfortunately. Thanks for everyone's feedback on my beer and thanks to everyone for offering up your brews.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Wardhog's Sloppy Skunk Fart APA

Drunk after work so I'm nice and thirsty. Temp is about 6 degrees on the first glass and I'm tasting from a stemmed stella glass.

Appearance

A quite hazy dark amber / light copper colour. It needed a bit of a vigorous pour to raise a small, white, tightly formed head. Head faded down to a light cap on the beer fairly quickly, but the cap is sticking around and also sticking to the side of the glass for light but fairly nice lace-work.

Aroma

Interesting... its got a smell that is made up of a bunch of components that are all individually nice, but I'm not sure I like the overall effect... not sure I don't like it either. Its got me a bit confused.

Hops are obviously American, but the particular variety isn't leaping out at me. At a guess I'd say Amarillo is in there, but something else as well?? I think whats throwing me a bit about the smell is that there are fruity esters meshing in with the hop aroma and I'm also getting a bunch of spicy peppery phenol smells as well... or it could be spicy hops?? The malt is a little sweet and grainy/worty on the nose, it smells like its going to be pretty thick and chewy.

Flavour

Well, not nearly as thick and chewy as it smell like its going to be. But still quite a lot of body to it. Fair amount of residual sweetness, but its not overly sweet or anything. Maltiness is quite soft and a little grainy, there, but not overpowering. Not very bitter, but nicely in balance.

Hop flavour is there but only lightly. I'm getting a little citrus.

The dominating flavour is a strong peppery spiciness at the mid to end of the palate. And I get a sort of curacao orange taste.. its almost a little like corriander.. but not quite

It finishes with a light dry bitterness and lingering spice

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bloody interesting beer !! It grew on me as I drank the first glass, and I'm heading out to grab the second right now. Never had an APA with such a strong spiciness before. Not sure if I'm a fan. Torn about this beer, need to drink more of it to make up my mind if its love or hate.

Either way, a drinking experience I'm really glad to have had.

Thanks Wardhog

Thirsty

Edit: - came down on the side of love after finishing my second glass.. still spicy as buggery and I'd almost say it was approaching belgianess.. several thumbs up

 

[andreic]

6. Velophile - Amarillo Pale Ale

Pours a copper colour with a slight haze. It was very hard to get a head, and what was there disappeared quickly. Carbonation was light.

The aroma was a little fruity / orange-y. The aroma was there, but not over the top by any means.

The taste was malty for me up front, then citrusy, then some bitterness. There still seemed to be a bit of malty sweetness still there - it was not overly bitter.

It was medium body, and fairly easy drinking but probably too much for a session.

I think the lack of carbonation let this beer down a bit. A big fluffy head would have enhanced the amarillo aroma which I like a lot. I also imagine that some of the hopheads in this forum would call this a little light on in the hops department for an APA, but I liked it. I did enjoy the beer, but a little more carbonation would have improved it a lot I reckon...

cheers Velophile :beer:

 

[Fents]

and finally...

5. Fents - IPA

andreic seems to have said all I wanted to say except one thing. I had a good little laugh to myself when I saw the label - "Thankyou, come again". Champagne comedy!

That's my case done, unfortunately. Thanks for everyone's feedback on my beer and thanks to everyone for offering up your brews.

was waiting for someone to finally say somthing..

 

[Wardhog]

Quintrex, I've only got your tripel left in my case, and am wondering how long it should remain undrunk for best results. Got a best after date, or should I hoe into it now?

Thirsty : Cheers for the feedback, that's excellent reading. It was a Chinook/Cascade combo aimed at (and probably undershot) the low end of APA bitterness range. It was fermented with US-56, so maybe there's some local strain of brettanomyces residing in my fermenter or in the Greensborough air

 

[Quintrex]

Quintrex, I've only got your tripel left in my case, and am wondering how long it should remain undrunk for best results. Got a best after date, or should I hoe into it now?

Thirsty : Cheers for the feedback, that's excellent reading. It was a Chinook/Cascade combo aimed at (and probably undershot) the low end of APA bitterness range. It was fermented with US-56, so maybe there's some local strain of brettanomyces residing in my fermenter or in the Greensborough air

To be honest, I have no Idea. I've only been brewing since November last year , hardly time to have accumulated beer aging knowledge.
I've been drinking them sporadically lately and been enjoying them.
Coupla notes on the beer though.

This beer is a foamer :-(, using candy sugar made from dextrose gives head, lottsa head :unsure: so be prepared to just let the first bit foam out.

Also, I've found that depending on what i've have been eating or drinking before I have this sucker dramatically effects my opinion of it.

My Advice, keep it in the fridge a day or so then drink as a desert beer after dinner, while mashed and fermented as dry as possible, still has sweetness.

I have one bottle that was exposed to the same bottle conditioning as the others so I'll crack that open tomorrow and let you know.

Hope you guys like it, its a fairly different beer, and I can understand if its not a fave!!!

BTW loved your wapa wardy !!

Quintrex

 

[DarkFaerytale]

same goes just have quintrex and apd's beer left

unsure when to drink it, the brown ale will dissapear sometime this weekend i'm sure

-Phill

 

[apd]

same goes just have quintrex and apd's beer left

unsure when to drink it, the brown ale will dissapear sometime this weekend i'm sure

-Phill

I'd definitely get into the brown ale sooner rather than later and give Quintrex's a few more weeks at least.

Andrew

 

[DarkFaerytale]

it'll dissappear tomorrow arvo as i'm mashing in most likely

 

[andreic]

4. Wardhog Sloppy Skunk Fart APA - 'WAPA' on lid

Was a light amber-copper colour, and a little bit hazy.

I could not get much of a head except for my 2nd glass where I poured very rough and from high. The carbonation was very low - basically flat.

I could smell a fruity/citrusy hop aroma..

I tasted some malt, but not much, and also some hop flavour but I couldn't quite pick it. It had a low bitterness. It tasted a little thin. The body was low to medium.

I have one of my own beers at the moment that just won't carb up and it suffers greatly. Unfortunately I think this beer suffers from the same fate - it doesn't reach its potential because its a little too flat for me.

cheers,

Andrei

 

[Fents]

6. Velophile - Amarillo Pale Ale - labeled - Keep it warm for a week or so. I'll open a tester soon & report

I've been hoarding my stash, time to get back on board! :beerbang:

Apperance - Struggled to pour a head, got a tiny one in the end looks like it may last the whole glass tho (small 280ml mini pint glass). Deep Golden roasted copper colour, spot on i reckon. Maybe next time use some carapils (say 5% or 10%)...i do it all the time and people say my beers give pour good head.

Aroma - Unmistakable amarillzle my nizzle shizzle, prob not enough for my liking tho, but top marks anyway.

Flavour - Bam....amarillo backed up by some nice ale malt, bitter enough too. god i love this hop. anyone thought about naming their duaghter amarillo? :unsure:

Overall a good beer. Some refinements may be needed but if thats how it turned out then well done, would be a great session beer i think.

 

[Fents]

9. Quintrex - Tripel- Labeled Q on cap, ready to drink, as with most big beers, aging will very much improve it.

Time for the Trip! Got a mate here who will be assisting me in the process :chug:

Apperance - Deep clear as daylight golden finish! 9 out of 10 paintjob on this mate, defiantly the best looking beer outta the case hands down for me. No fog (haze) in site :super:

Aroma - Sweet subtle fruit....hops presnt and another smell we dont know how to describe but we like it...alot!

Taste - Just a great balance between everything, i dont drink heaps of tripels but i can tell you i want the recipe for this one. Absolutley lovely beer Quintrex, best in the case for me so far.

 

[Wardhog]

Quintrex's Tripel

I'm curious, what was the FG on this? 1.020? 1.025?

Beautiful deep gold, but not much head, even when poured roughly. I'm not surprised that the CO2 can't make it's way through the beer, it's so thick with malt.

A very sweet beer, with that characteristic spicy Belgian yeast flavour through it.

I found it a little off balance, tending more towards sweet than anything else, but I guess that's the style.

I've only ever had one tripel before, and it was a while ago, but this beer brought the memory of it flooding back. A very good beer, keep up the good work.

 

[Quintrex]

Quintrex's Tripel

I'm curious, what was the FG on this? 1.020? 1.025?

Beautiful deep gold, but not much head, even when poured roughly. I'm not surprised that the CO2 can't make it's way through the beer, it's so thick with malt.

A very sweet beer, with that characteristic spicy Belgian yeast flavour through it.

I found it a little off balance, tending more towards sweet than anything else, but I guess that's the style.

I've only ever had one tripel before, and it was a while ago, but this beer brought the memory of it flooding back. A very good beer, keep up the good work.

Wow, No head!!!, I usually find this one foams like nothing else!!!
anyway, FG was 1010, to give ~9.8%.

Finished the ferment by ramping the temp up a fair bit, managed to chew a lot of the gravity off.
The belgians typically have low bitterness/hops so I made it reasonably to style, although i probably hopped it at the higher end, mainly to allow a little aging. But it ended up a lot sweeter in taste than my previous triple.


BTW Fents glad you enjoyed it, means a lot considering how much I enjoyed your IPA, similar someone else's comments all I could think of was adding a little oak. I'm really tempted to make it and let it sit on some oak chips. Great work!!!