Vic 2015 Xmas Case Swap TASTING

[Grainer]

14. Mudd - Rauchbier- 100% Gladfield Manuka Smoked Malt (ready to drink - but should keep for a month or too if your scared)

Appearance: Quite unexpected that It is a lighter colour beer. Typically Rauchbier are a darker colour amber to dark. Obviously you weren't trying to hit the typical style. Very little white head, but it laces the periphery of the glass. Hazy for what should be a clear beer.. maybe time is needed.

Aroma: Mild smoke flavour with bacon and ham hocks.

Taste: Mid smoke with little malt driven flavours. Mouthfeel is good to light..gives the appearance of watery at the end, but nice upfront. I would like to see a little more substance in the beer from the malts as this compliments the smoke. Not sure if this works and needs more complex malts to compliment the beer. Good to experiment tho to see what the malts do.

Overall: No obvious faults. I am surprised of the little smoke character as I was sure my last manuka smoke beer had more smoke than this one and mine was only like ~ 60% smoke malt, maybe it has a smoke taste threshold??? Hmm you got me thinking maybe I need to supplement my own Manuka smoked receive if I want stronger smoke.. maybe a little mesquite smoke with it.

Heres my last receipe I gave away to Beerco. it did well at the last Bayside Brewers Oktoberfest and is now a staple at my house. Mind you I really prefer the Bavarian Lager Yeast over the Marzan yeast.

http://www.beerco.com.au/blog/4-dogz-brewery-manuka-smokin-marzen/

Thank you now I know what 100% smoke tastes like, but I would suggest complementing the smoke with more complex malts. Good job

 

[MartinOC]

#7 - B&T's Altbier.

Gorgeous deep, burnished copper/orange with a fine bead & creamy head that lasts all the way to the end of the glass.

Little in the way of hop flavour/aroma & bitterness is appropriately low (mid-20's?).

It started-off great, but as I progressed through the glass, it developed a dry/minerally/ashy/roasty character, which I believe is inappropriate for the style.

Lovely to begin-with, but a bit of a struggle later-on....

 

[idzy]

Good work on the tasting notes boys. I believe the positive/constructive feedback will be appreciated by all the swappers.

 

[JB]

10. AJ80 (Portlander Weiße - west coast IPA vs Berliner Weisse) - ready, best drink soon.

Fair warning, could be worst beer review ever ...

I've just smashed this one & to my novice brett palette my second comment is 'wow', my first comment is 'mother-freaking'. First the sourness karatefied me in the back of the throat, then the citrus sucker punched me in the taste buds, feeling as if they were challenging me to a duel @ high noon. And I accepted, oh my did I accept!

The further I journeyed through this beverage, the rounder & more combined the sour & citrus characters seemed to meld. I think after a while it lulled me into a false sense of security, because on the next sip - BANG! here comes the boom - karate citrus & sourness again Holly Holm'ing me across my freaking taste buds. The one thing I notice about sours in general, that I'm just starting to get into recently is they way they seem to transform as you drink them, the flavours become combine and fuller as you progress, I think it's ace.

So, I dug this beer, but I'm still trying to nail the taste elements, I get the definite IPA characteristics, but not sure if it's just the Berlinner adding the fruity acidity / bitterness at the back end of the experience. So I would love to know the background of this one. Is it a blend of a fermented IPA & BW? Is it a sacc primary & brett secondary ferment? Which strains? How did you sour?

Excuse all the questions, you know I still have my sour L plates on

 

[AJ80]

10. AJ80 (Portlander Weiße - west coast IPA vs Berliner Weisse) - ready, best drink soon.

Fair warning, could be worst beer review ever ...

I've just smashed this one & to my novice brett palette my second comment is 'wow', my first comment is 'mother-freaking'. First the sourness karatefied me in the back of the throat, then the citrus sucker punched me in the taste buds, feeling as if they were challenging me to a duel @ high noon. And I accepted, oh my did I accept!

The further I journeyed through this beverage, the rounder & more combined the sour & citrus characters seemed to meld. I think after a while it lulled me into a false sense of security, because on the next sip - BANG! here comes the boom - karate citrus & sourness again Holly Holm'ing me across my freaking taste buds. The one thing I notice about sours in general, that I'm just starting to get into recently is they way they seem to transform as you drink them, the flavours become combine and fuller as you progress, I think it's ace.

So, I dug this beer, but I'm still trying to nail the taste elements, I get the definite IPA characteristics, but not sure if it's just the Berlinner adding the fruity acidity / bitterness at the back end of the experience. So I would love to know the background of this one. Is it a blend of a fermented IPA & BW? Is it a sacc primary & brett secondary ferment? Which strains? How did you sour?

Excuse all the questions, you know I still have my sour L plates on

Really chuffed you enjoyed the beer mate. This is what I like to call a 'cheaty sour'. I took all of my runnings as normal and then soured the beer in the kettle for 48 hours. This was done by dunking a hop sock full of uncracked Pilsner malt in the un-boiled wort, sealing her up and keeping it at 40C for 48 hours. After this, remove the grain and boil/hop away for 60 mins as per normal. Doing it this way it allows a degree of wildness to enter the brew, but the boil sanitises everything which means you can ferment safely with a neutral yeast (I used the mangrove jacks US west coast ale) having killed all the bugs. Best of both worlds - sour beer without dedicated equipment or waiting months and months for lacto/Brett to do its thing plus a stack of hops not interfering with the souring lacto.

The grist was 60/40 Maris otter and wheat malt and the hops were a blend of Amarillo, mosaic and chinook (dry hopped with all three at a rate of 1.5g each per litre).

 

[mudd]

14. Mudd - Rauchbier- 100% Gladfield Manuka Smoked Malt (ready to drink - but should keep for a month or too if your scared)

Appearance: Quite unexpected that It is a lighter colour beer. Typically Rauchbier are a darker colour amber to dark. Obviously you weren't trying to hit the typical style. Very little white head, but it laces the periphery of the glass. Hazy for what should be a clear beer.. maybe time is needed.

Aroma: Mild smoke flavour with bacon and ham hocks.

Taste: Mid smoke with little malt driven flavours. Mouthfeel is good to light..gives the appearance of watery at the end, but nice upfront. I would like to see a little more substance in the beer from the malts as this compliments the smoke. Not sure if this works and needs more complex malts to compliment the beer. Good to experiment tho to see what the malts do.

Overall: No obvious faults. I am surprised of the little smoke character as I was sure my last manuka smoke beer had more smoke than this one and mine was only like ~ 60% smoke malt, maybe it has a smoke taste threshold??? Hmm you got me thinking maybe I need to supplement my own Manuka smoked receive if I want stronger smoke.. maybe a little mesquite smoke with it.

Heres my last receipe I gave away to Beerco. it did well at the last Bayside Brewers Oktoberfest and is now a staple at my house. Mind you I really prefer the Bavarian Lager Yeast over the Marzan yeast.

http://www.beerco.com.au/blog/4-dogz-brewery-manuka-smokin-marzen/

Thank you now I know what 100% smoke tastes like, but I would suggest complementing the smoke with more complex malts. Good job

cheers Grainer. I'll read your notes when Im next having one. Intent of the beer was to go over the top on the smoke- I agree much more subtle than I expected. Couple of the beers were bottle conditioned more recently. I'm not generally overly fussed on clarity, interesting if clarity would cloud the smoke flavour at all.
Malt freshness for this particular malt could also contribute to less smoke. I had this for 3months stored in airtight container.

 

[Black n Tan]

#7 - B&T's Altbier.

Gorgeous deep, burnished copper/orange with a fine bead & creamy head that lasts all the way to the end of the glass.

Little in the way of hop flavour/aroma & bitterness is appropriately low (mid-20's?).

It started-off great, but as I progressed through the glass, it developed a dry/minerally/ashy/roasty character, which I believe is inappropriate for the style.

Lovely to begin-with, but a bit of a struggle later-on....

That sounds a bit disappointing , but appreciate your comments . The IBU are meant to be about 50, although I agree they seem much lower: the style guidelines indicate that there should be significant hop bitterness but should be balanced by the malt complexity. I think polyclar VT stripped my hop flavour: I will drop it from my next brew to confirm that is what is going on. As for the dry/minerally/ashy/roast character I am not sure. I don't really get it in my kegged version, so interested to see if others agree with your assessment. You didn't smoke a rollie half way through?

 

[Mayor of Mildura]

That sounds a bit disappointing , but appreciate your comments . The IBU are meant to be about 50, although I agree they seem much lower: the style guidelines indicate that there should be significant hop bitterness but should be balanced by the malt complexity. I think polyclar VT stripped my hop flavour: I will drop it from my next brew to confirm that is what is going on. As for the dry/minerally/ashy/roast character I am not sure. I don't really get it in my kegged version, so interested to see if others agree with your assessment. You didn't smoke a rollie half way through?

*Caveat* I had this after aj's beer so i was impaired. Probably not much help. I enjoyed it though. I should have had it first.

Interesting your comment regarding the ibu's. In my memory it reminded me of a super Irish red ale.


my notes ...

7. Fizzy. Copper. Good head. Dry. Smells like something . Malty as balls. Good

 

[Nullnvoid]

I think there is one review we are all waiting on

 

[MartinOC]

I think there is one review we are all waiting on

Yeeukkkk! Bleech! Utter crap! Whatever possessed you to put THAT **** in bottles?!?!?!!?

Insert participant's particulars here: ->

 

[AJ80]

12. Grainer -Popcorn and Polenta Cream Ale - Friken weird.... Ready to drink

Brilliant clarity and pretty decent head retention. Not much on the nose and get the corney/grainy thing on the palate. Quite easy to drink and a clean ferment. Nil popcorn (I imagine that'd be hard to get into a finished beer...maybe a 'dry pop corn'?).

 

[Grainer]

Was dry popped but the kernel dominated ... i actually didnt mind it .. it was easy to drink once i got used to it..

 

[Mayor of Mildura]

14. Mudd - Rauchbier- 100% Gladfield Manuka Smoked Malt

I cracked this one a few minutes ago. I think I can hear the cfa sirens approaching. Holy bajoogems there is a bush fire in my glass.

 

[MartinOC]

14. Mudd - Rauchbier.

For someone who's not a fan of Rauchbier's without a food accompaniment, I'm finding this surprisingly very drinkable as-is.

Having smelled this malt as it comes out of the bucket every time I process an order at Clever Brewing, I was expecting it to be much bigger & bordering on smoked oysters intensity, but it's actually quite subdued compared to the fresh malt itself. I guess it loses some of that in the brewing process.

I could happily drink a few of these. Great experiment!

PS. I'm eating now & it's just as good.

 

[MartinOC]

Thought I'd bring this down a bit so folks don't have to go trawling-back through pages for it. Don't forget to add your suggested drinking-age/dates..

1. Idzy - NZ Pale Ale - Ready February 2016
2. VPBrewing - Kölsch. Ready to drink.
3. MartinOC - Whilst we're all getting apologetic, slightly undercarbed Weizen. Drink in a few weeks
4. JB - Belgian Golden Strong 11% - bottled 2/12/2015 - leave this til autumn, if patient go for winter
5. Micbrew - Irish Red Ale
6. Mayor of Mildura - Stouty Stout - Bottled 20-9-15 .... Ready to drink
7. Black n Tan-Dusseldorf Altbier-CPBF 3/11, should be ready to drink by the time you drive past Seymour.
10. AJ80 (Portlander Weiße - west coast IPA vs Berliner Weisse) - ready, best drink soon.
11. Midnight Brew (+ Bruce the old man) Amber Ale bottled 27.11.2015.
12. Grainer - Popcorn and Polenta Cream Ale - Friken weird.... Ready to drink
14. Mudd - Rauchbier- 100% Gladfield Manuka Smoked Malt (ready to drink - but should keep for a month or too if your scared)
15. Awesome Fury - APA Bottled 21-11-2015
17. Whiteferret Red IPA Bottled 1-12-2015
22. Mardoo - 1954 Pale Ale - Centennial/Southern Cross - Drink New Yearsish
23. DJ_L3ThAL - Chestnut Pilsner v4 - Pre-lagered, drink now.
24. Host Spot - oh they were so generous!!! -- Keep Cold and Drink Fresh !!!

 

[MartinOC]

23. DJ's Chestnut pilsner.

First impression is that this is a very nice pilsner....but there's something "else" there.

Body is very full & rather too sweet for a pils (ie. it's not a quencher with that expected cleansing, bitter, hoppy punch). Still, there's something "else".

I'd be hard-pressed to identify it specifically as chestnuts, but there's a creaminess/nuttiness to the body/flavour.

In a comp. as a specialty, it would be marked-down as not expressing the character of the "special" ingredient.

 

[MartinOC]

OK, someone is going to have to do it & I've "stepped through the door" a few times....

Bandicoot Rusty Pale Ale:

Lovely copper colour, with decent lacing/head-retention.

The nose gives no indication of what's to come, which is a rather dark-crystally & hop-bitter initial attack. That then dissipates as you get through the glass.

By the end of the glass, I'm still enjoying the bitterness, but the crystal is still (to me) a bit overpowering the flavour & it finishes kinda dry without an obvious malt or hop backbone.

OK, I've broken the seal.....Everyone else's thoughts can now ensue whilst I take refuge in a fire-bunker somewhere in Canada.....

 

[Grainer]

lol I was living them till later.. was moving onto 22 later

 

[Mardoo]

About 22...That was a fustercluck of a bottling session and I lost a few litres in a mishap. I had to drain down to the bones of the fermenter to get barely enough for 24 bottles (and one stubby) into the priming bucket. Hence a few hop bits in some of them. Sorry. Annnnnd I wasn't real stoked with the three batches I fermented as possible swap beers so decided to BIAB brew up a very flavourful liter of wort to use to speise the beer for carbonation, hence the sediment. Am I happy now? Yeah, I'm pretty surprised, but it came out well in the end, relatively speaking. I only got three bottles leftover from the swap and I've had one and the stubby. No signs of infection, and honestly pretty enjoyable, but they're pretty particulate-heavy bottles to be fronting for a swap. My apologies in that regard, but the experiment in flavour alteration post ferment when bottling doesn't seem to have been a complete failure, so all good. Reminder to self: brew age-able swap beer in February.

 

[Grainer]

Lol my next swap is getting close to end of ferment ... started earlier on this one..