Vic 2007 Xmas Swap Taste Thread

[NRB]

I'm not part of the swap, but had the pleasure of enjoying a contributor's beer this afternoon and thought I'd join in and post some thoughts.

Maple - Industrial Strength Flea Remover (Rye IPA)

I've never had a rye beer before, but have been keen to try making a Roggenbier for some time. I jumped at the chance to try it.

Poured a gold/copper colour with a nice tight white head. A little hazy, but with the amount of hops in it I'm not surprised. Head lasted to the end of the glass.

Hoppy aroma, predominantly Cascade. Citrussy and floral, just the way it should be.

Being an IPA, dominant hop flavour with a reasonable, but not overwhelming bitterness present. Malt flavour also coming though nicely, can taste Munich, but little of the peppery rye flavour or slickness that I was expecting. I think the hops have drowned out the small amount of rye present.

Overall a clean beer with no noticeable fermentation faults and a good balance between malt sweetness and hop bitterness. Well done!

 

[voota]

Mark M's House Ale,
Not much to say about this one, its just outstanding... the fuggles give so much depth to the flavour and aroma. Just when I was getting sick of APA, this comes along. I'll probably brew something like this in the next couple of days.

Perfect beer in every way, loved it all the way through. Awesome head too.

Thanks heaps,
Chris

 

[Wardhog]

Andreic's Hefeweizen

I don't normally go in for beers with flavours outside of malt and hops, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The only (sorta) negative comment I can make about it is that head retention was poor. Everything else that my mind's eye expects in a hefeweizen was delivered.
A beautiful beer with banana on the nose, and the bubblegum on the tongue. Good work, excellent beer.

 

[brettprevans]

drank these with my old man saturday night. I did write some basic tasting notes up but ive lost em, so its going to be brief. I also didnt pick the drinking order, he bollocksed that up.

Andreic - Hefeweizen
Bubblegum alright. nice way to start the evening. a bit of muskstick in the flavour too. Huge head and lasting lace. very nice

Thirsty Boy - Hefeweizen
Sorry Thirsty, this one was off/infected. although in saying that my sister's boyfriend was over and he drank it. he thought it was ok.

mark_m - APA/IPA house ale -
wow talk about interesting. very dark which I wasnt expecting as its got light cyrstal. Cascade bit with Fuggles smothing the finish off. very very intesting and could drink it all through the cooler months. nice.

Spillsmostofit - Belgian Dumb Blonde
Had the colour and head of a belgian, but really wasnt much too it. Dont get me wrong I liked it and would have drank it all night long if I had more. Its just that nothing jumped out and grabbed me as being specificly noticable. maybe my palate was slightly dulled after Mark's APA/IPA

lucas - NS Summer "Real Ale"
Not as much hops aroma or taste as Hairofthedog's NS ale, butthat was massive. This was more subdued and allowed you get apprecaiate the floavours of NS. Maybe a tad sweet in the bofy for my likeing. Great beer to introduce the old man to NS.

Wardhog - ESB - ready to drink now
This was my dad's favourite - made him think he was in a london pub. I certainly loved it too. mangnificent aroma, and colour. perfect bitterness for style. great stuff,

Citymorgues Kenzie Hop Ale,
ballpoint pen thing you get from using kits that are a little too old. I don't really know what to suggest other than perhaps fresher ingredients. ,Chris

Thanks for the feedback - its all useful. The kit etc was fairly fresh for a kit (hops etc were all fresh from Ross). Im thinking that part of the flavour is from the fact its a k&k. I certainly get the whole sort of slightly 'muted/suppressed' thing, I noticed it myself. I think this might have been a 'drink fresher' batch. oh well live and learn. actually I keep forgetting that this was a backup as I accidently smashed all the bottles with my initial caseswap in it.

 

[wambesi]

Thirsty Boy - Hefeweizen
Sorry Thirsty, this one was off/infected. although in saying that my sister's boyfriend was over and he drank it. he thought it was ok.

Its a conspiracy I tells ya! Mine and Thirsty's both wheats, both bad, hhmmmmm.

16. Citymorgue2 - Hop Ale: Ready to Drink
Nice creamy head which stuck around and overall a nice drink, especially with the BBQ tonight, and a few drops came in contact with the onion too, nice onion...mmmmm, is there anything Beer cant do?! :beer:

 

[andreic]

therook - Alt

dark brown colour. low carbonation - not much head as a result. both aroma and taste were very malty - caramel. A moderate bitterness. Fairly smooth and tasty. I don't know much about Alts... is the low carbonation to style? I felt like I wanted a bit more... other than that - very nice. Thanks therook

cheers, Andrei

 

[voota]

I had the ESB and no.24 Lavenders IPA, didn't really take notes but they were both decent. The ESB had some interesting berry ester thing going or something, not overly complex in the malt profile, but well hopped and a pretty good drop.

The IPA was ok, tasted like it was fermented on the warm side (giving some pineapple/funky alcohols) this seemed to have muted the cascade a bit. Still pretty bitter though, and its got a pretty thick feel to it for the body it seems to have.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[65bellett]

I drank the ESB last night and was looking overly forward to it as it is a beer that I have not been overly fond of. This one though changed my mind. I was really impressed with the way that all the flavours blended together to make a really nice drinkable beer. Nicely hopped with just the right amount of carbonation. I never thought I would have a go at brewing one of these my self but will definitely have one bottled for next winter.

 

[therook]

65 Bellet - Squirrel Foot

Nice pfft when opening the lid which went with the nice creamy head, there was a nice malty flavour that then turned to the bitterness of the hops. A well balanced beer in my opinion. This beer also had a nice colour about it, an enjoyable drink.

Thanks 65Bellet

Maple - Rye beer

This was a lovely orange colour beer with a lovely creamy head that subsided down to a 2 - 3 mm head that laced the glass to the end. There was little hop aroma and a florally flavour, nicelly bitttered. I agree with NRB that i couldn't detect any peppery flavour from the Rye, is this what Rye should impart??? i dont know as this was my first experience at a rye beer. My father in law who is an stout man from way back really enjoyed this beer and has put it on his list of things for me to brew.

Excellent beer.

Citymorgue - Kenzie Hop Ale

I dont agree with Voota that the ingredients were old, this beer was your typical extract Beer. It had a nice dark colour to it and pour a nice head wich subsided fairly quickly to 1mm. Lacked Hop aroma and flavour but this sort of beer i could sit down and drink all day as a my lawn mower beer. This beer is the type that is not over empowered by malt or hops which makes it a very very easy drinking beer.

Thanks for the beer

Rook

 

[AUHEAMIC]

19. Chris Taylor - Red Ale (American Amber Ale - well sort of)

I was taken by surprise that it was so (American) hoppy although I shouldnt be as the name says it all. Its dark and I was expecting to be malt driven.

If I was to brew this beer (and I probably will)I wouldnt change a thing. Top drop Chris.

 

[Maple]

driveitlikeyoustoleit - ACA

ACA, betting it's american Cream ale, and If so, you did a fantastic job. I've made a Cream ale a few batches ago, and it turned out quite similar, but not as good. I must commend you on the clarity, was crystal clear. nice smooth taste, not malt or hop dominant, but a perfect session beer. Reminded me alot of Sleeman's Cream ale, which I spent many a summer night with back in Canada. Have to ask, did you use flaked maize or polenta? or neither?
A very nice session beer, well done!

 

[voota]

Had the one with hair on the lid, again didn't take notes but this stuff was really really nice to drink, the NS is so well balanced in there with some really typical pils flavours, wasn't too dry imo... I loved the touch of sweetness in the finish.

cheers hair(ofthedog?), top brewing.

,chris

 

[chris.taylor.98]

9. mark_m - APA/IPA house ale - should be good to go - bottled 31/10 after 5 weeks c/c

Great clear deep gold color.

Great hoppy aroma ( can easily identify the Cascade hops in there ).

Good level of carbonation to highlight the hoppy aroma.

Great hop malt balance, medium to full body.

Some background bitterness to balance out the body and malt, but nothing overly assertive.

Slightly sweet in the finish, but nothing that does not add to the overall experience.

All up a really refreshing beer.

Just what I needed to get over the "locked myself out of the house" experience.

My only criticism would be a slight grassy note (presumably from the dry hopping, most probably the cascade). Don't think you can really get away from it when dry hopping completely.

Would be interested to know what your OG and FG are.

BTW I have one more beer that is not labeled, somewhat dark colour, in a coopers PET bottle. Could this be your Alt rook, as I can't seem to find anything else that would be it.

I also received one of my own beers back, even though I only supplied 23, so if anyone is missing it and wants it let me know.

 

[chris.taylor.98]

19. Chris Taylor - Red Ale (American Amber Ale - well sort of)

I was taken by surprise that it was so (American) hoppy although I shouldnt be as the name says it all. Its dark and I was expecting to be malt driven.

If I was to brew this beer (and I probably will)I wouldnt change a thing. Top drop Chris.

Thanks Peels, not sure that American Amber Ale's are supposed be quite that hoppy, but seeing how it was for a case swap thought I would put in something a bit different.

BTW have purchase the Wyeast 1728, and am planning to brew a Scotish Ale this weekend, after tasting your sensational contribution to the case swap.

 

[Quintrex]

Thanks Peels, not sure that American Amber Ale's are supposed be quite that hoppy, but seeing how it was for a case swap thought I would put in something a bit different.

BTW have purchase the Wyeast 1728, and am planning to brew a Scotish Ale this weekend, after tasting your sensational contribution to the case swap.

1728 is an awesome yeast IMO. don't think you will regret that purchase.

Q

 

[Fents]

Drank the all amarillo ale last night and emptied the bottle with a mate, we both loved it.

ALso tried DFT's FES. Sorry mate i just cant do stouts but drank it anyway. biggups.

 

[therook]

BTW I have one more beer that is not labeled, somewhat dark colour, in a coopers PET bottle. Could this be your Alt rook, as I can't seem to find anything else that would

Chris, fair chance thats mine, have a close look at the cap and see if you can see a black 8.......pretty smart hey, using a black texta on a black cap

Rook

 

[chris.taylor.98]

8. therook - Alt

... you where right it did have a black 8 on the black lid.

Very low carbonation, some caramel in the aroma, no hops slight grainy aroma (which is to style).

Flavour did not seem to match the aroma, and seemed to be somewhat subdued. There was some slight bitterness in the finish, but not much caramel or malt.

There was also possibly a trace of acetic acid, although I could have been mistaken here, but would explain some of the flavour observations.

I'm expecting this was a localised issue (to my bottle) as others have described much more flavour then I experienced.

 

[apd]

Voota's 'SS' stout

I loved this beer. Black as the proverbial. Luxurious dark tan head. Roasty, roasty, roasty! Here's hoping you've put the recipe in the recipe thread...


Andrew

 

[Hutch]

65bellet - Squirrel Foot Bitter

Nice job - good carbonation level for a bitter. I had it straight out of the fridge, which was too cold for a bitter, and it got better as it warmed up.
Good clean beer, a little extract twang, great creamy off-white head retention, and nice caramel malt notes. Very subtle Goldings aroma - I would up this a little, and perhaps bitter with another pommy hop like Challenger.
A slight apple aroma in the finish that I found a bit unusual.
I'm not much of a fan of Safale S-04. I would probably have used a different English Ale yeast (Nottingham or Windsor) as these really seem to contribute those characteristic Pommy-Ale flavours.
Very hard to make this style well, so a great effort using extract.
Cheers 65bellet.