Vic 2007 Xmas Swap Taste Thread

[voota]

Ah cool, glad you enjoyed it, its was an experiment in using D saaz and columbus to make what I had hoped would be like a unique but somewhat similar style to De Ranke XX bitter or Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel, but I had no idea what to expect from the D saaz!!!
They are something else!!!! Powerful as all get out!

My advice with it, to anyone who hasn't drunk it yet, is to play with the drinking temperature, I actually prefer it a little warmer.

Q

Haha, I liked it when it was colder for some reason. In terms of commercial styles I reckon its close to, Hommelbier is pretty similar from memory. Never tried Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA, seems to be pretty restricted to the US markets.

 

[65bellett]

Allycat - light summer quencher

Just cracked this bottle and only on my first glass, but what a lovely beer. I am serving it really cold and it has a really nice light carbonation and nice light flavour. For me it seems like one of those beers that no matter what style of beer you regularly drink you could drink this and enjoy it a beer to unite all beer drinkers. Well maybe I am going a bit to far but I really like this beer. The name definitely says it all.

 

[andreic]

Spillsmostofit - Belgian Dumb Blonde

Light golden colour. A little hazy. Nice white head which mostly disappears despite a good effervescence.
I didn't get much aroma - some very faint hints of spice and vanilla.
Taste was fairly neutral - a little bready perhaps, bitterness at the end. Light to medium bodied. Easy drinking.

thanks Spills..

 

[andreic]

Wardhog - ESB

Very nice! Deep brown - light head and carbonation. Aroma was chocolate, berries and smoke. Taste was malty, roasty, chocolate, fruit/berry, smoke/peat. Towards the end it felt a slight bit dusty. Medium to thick bodied. It wasn't overly bitter but a good match for the beer. Its not a session beer but I could definitely go back for another.

I don't know much about ESBs. I tried to brew one earlier in the year - this is way better than my attempt. A very tasty beer!

thanks Wardhog

 

[apd]

mark_m's house ale
Great beer. Massive hiss as I opened the bottle and difficult to poor without too much head. Once it subsided is was beautifully clear and tasted great.

Fenton's K K Kolsch
Another massive hiss as I open the bottle. This one nearly climbed out of the bottle. In terms of flavour, I think the Kolsch had too much alcohol or perhaps too much of the wrong alcohol.

It reminded me and my fellow taster of a brew a mate did. The recipe called for X amount of suger. The bag of sugar he had was twice as much as he needed and since he didn't think he'd have any other use for the left over sugar, he added the whole lot... we dubbed it the Rocket Fuel. It tasted like solvent which is apparently a sign of too much fusel alcohol. This is the taste that the Kolsch had. Sorry Fenton, this one was definitely not for me.

According to this wikipedia article, fusels can result from temps being too high, pH being too low or nitrogen being too low so I'm not sure how that fits with my mates use of too much sugar but in any case, I think there might be a couple of things you can work on in producing your next Kolsch.

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[Maple]

Peel's Scottish Ale

Gold, this is an awesome drop mate. nice head retention through-out, carbonation level was spot on, balance was brilliant. getting the earthy tones, but not to the point I expected (read: feared) and was amazed how smooth it was. my compliments, this will be in the winter pipeline to brew, fersure! thanks, really appreciated this one!

Maple

 

[wambesi]

1. Fenton - 2565 Kolsch - Drink it now!!

Big head, lots of it, settled a little and poured myself some more.
Very carbonated, have no idea about the style as never had one before, but got through this one ok. Cheers.



20. driveitlikeyoustoleit - ACA

Anyone know what ACA stands for or am I just not in the know??
Not too bad, very little head which all disapeared and as it got warmer I found it got more flavoursome and enjoyed it more.

 

[Wardhog]

Maple - Rye IPA

I'll admit to having reservations about this beer -
1. I'm fairly new to IPAs
2. I've never had rye in a beer before
3. The metric fuckton of hops you listed in the other thread

But after tasting it, I can only say that that was a thoroughly enjoyable beer, and well done. Some of the more highly-hopped beers have had an issue where the hops have left the malt for dead, but this beer was beautifully balanced. You even got higher accolades from SWMBO than I've ever got from her. It was still too bitter for her (she doesn't like beer at all, and well, it IS an IPA), but she said it was really tasty apart from the bitterness.
I can't think of a single thing I'd change about your beer, it's a really good one.
Well done.

 

[Hutch]

I'm going to continue the theme...

Maple - Rye IPA

Top marks. Lovely golden-amber colour, slight chill-haze, perfect carbonation. The very distinctive Columbus hops kick you in the proverbials, and leave a lingering bitterness. Perhaps slightly on the high end of bitterness:gravity ratio, and quite dry in the finish - did you mash low? I love those American "C" hops, and this is a brilliant example. I continued to enjoy this more and more as it warmed up. Only problem with this beer is that my bottle is now empty :angry:

Fantastic effort Maple.
Hutch.

 

[Maple]

OK, so i should have read or printed off the other thread before cracking into this one....

lucas - NS Summer "Real Ale"

Absolutely a showcase for the Nelson Sauvin Hop. initial thoughts - huge aroma tropical rainforesty type fruity, nice....taste, well got a gob full of Peach/plum somekinda stonefruit, berry, clean type thing (I am a big fan of this hop btw). So much flavour, it really dominates, prolly to the unbalanced point, where I struggled for the malt to come through. the bitterness was a tad more than I would have done as well, but this is my own fault as I should had let this mellow a bit before digging into a freshy... This is certainly a great example of the NS hop, and how powerful is is in bittering, flavour, and aroma. kudos for capturing all 3 aspects of this hop in one.

I would suggest to anyone who hasn't cracked into this one, that they leaving this one for another few weeks to come into it's own. It'll be a beauty!
on ya lucas!

Maple

 

[andreic]

Maple - Rye IPA

Light amber-gold colour. Slight haze. Nice off-white head.
Aroma was fruity/citrusy - cascade. Could taste some malt initially then was whacked with the bitterness. Its real bitter with a distinct bite at the end. There was a slight sourness in the aftertaste. Felt like it was a fairly strong beer too...

I've never had a beer with Rye in it so I'm not sure what to expect from the Rye. I enjoyed the beer but the slight sourness (is that from the Rye?) brings the mark down a little for me.

thanks Maple

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Looks like a rush on Maples Rye IPA -

This thing is everything I like about IPAs

Beautiful complex hoppy aroma ... all cascade and grapefruit till you swirl the glass up.. then lots of floral jump out... settles back to grapefruit but then you get to swirl again.

Nice malt at the start moving into a big hit of hoppy flavour, the bitterness waits a little while for you to enjoy the other stuff before it kicks in (hard). Rye in the finish with that spicy dry thing on the back of your throat that I always get for a few breaths when I breath out after swallowing a mouthful.

In the top 5 IPA's I have ever had, homebrewed or commercial. Great beer. Thanks

Thirsty

 

[DarkFaerytale]

drank the bottle with APA on the lid last night, i think it was marks? this was a really really good beer, there was nothing that comes out and grabs you (in a good or bad way). just a perfectly balanced easy drinking beer, if this could be reproduced consistantly i think it would sell like hotcakes. Sorry to blow smoke up your ass but this beer really surprised me, i was expecting another hoppy APA and got something pretty perfectly balanced and clear to boot. top work!

-Phill

 

[apd]

Maples Rye IPA

Add me to the list of fans of Maple's Rye IPA. That's good stuff.

 

[Wardhog]

Wambesi - Honey Wheat

Would be a great easy drinker except for the mediciney flavours. However, I can still taste the honey through it. Other than the mediciney fault, this would be a very good summer refresher.

 

[therook]

Is anybody missing a bottle of Wardhogs ESB as for some reason i have an extra one, i'm not complaining but i can forward it onto who ever missed out.

Rook

 

[AUHEAMIC]

Is anybody missing a bottle of Wardhogs ESB as for some reason i have an extra one, i'm not complaining but i can forward it onto who ever missed out.

Rook

At the moment I am missing everyone bottles. I have been stuck here in New Zealand since last Friday. By the time I get home I fear I will be the only one with bottles left to taste and the only one posting into this thread. I went out last night to the Cock and Bull and drowned my sorrows with a few pints of their Fuggles (English Ale).

 

[lucas]

Is anybody missing a bottle of Wardhogs ESB as for some reason i have an extra one, i'm not complaining but i can forward it onto who ever missed out.

Rook

I think that might be me. I've gone though my case with the list and I think that's the only beer not accounted for. you're not missing one of alley cats summer quenchers are you? I have two of those.

that said, you can probably hang onto it. I'm not sure I can be arsed traveling to "the bush" to swap beers

 

[Wardhog]

Allycats Light Summer Quencher

Nelson Sauvin?

This is purely personal preference, but the overly fruity hop finish of this beer stops it being an excellent summer quencher for me.
For mine, dropping the finishing hops right back or altogether, and a bit of wheat malt for head retention, and you could call this Allycat's Perfect Summer Quencher.

Edit : The above is based on the assumption that you named it what you set out to do. It's still a nice beer, it just doesn't really seem like a quencher to me with the NS finishing hops.

 

[Fents]

Thirsty's Wheat

Mate i was just drinking a fresh batch of wheat beer with dave down at greensborough HB so i've got somthing to compare against. I normally dont like wheats but in the last couple of days its growing on me.

No head

but tastes fantastic. just like the one i was drinking only a bit more spicey. biggups, good beer.