Vic 2017 Xmas Case Swap - Tasting Thread

[laxation]

Really enjoyed droids wit and mjs sour. Great work guys!
Will be making a wit for sure after this one.

Still don't trust myself to make a fruit/sour tho

 

[laxation]

Now onto dr.rocks igneous pale ale. This is a ripper... Could drink this one all day! Is this the same one we drank a few bottles of at the swap?
Love to make this one too if you don't mind sharing the recipe

 

[JB]

Still don't trust myself to make a fruit/sour tho

Do it! Do it! Do it!

 

[TSMill]

OK,
quadruple review time:

Mofox1 - Blended Stout Thing

This one raised a lot of questions for me. What was blended, and what was the thing? Where was the breakaway ring on the bottle cap? Is it Mofox-1, or Mofo-x1? (I have the whole online name thing...) Questions aside, this was a great drop, with a beautiful slick mouthfeel, almost like a little rye was in there (maybe that was the thing?). If not, I'd love to know the mash schedule, as that mouthfeel was what is lacking in my own stouts/porters. Top stuff!

Micbrew- Citra Smash

Wife's review: Yuck, all I can taste is hops.
My review: Yum, all I can taste is hops.

Another one that was light on the fizz, starting to think that perhaps I'm the only one who likes my hoppy beers with some CO2 bite as this is the general trend of the swap. But great flavours nonetheless.

Idzy PA

This one was a bit of a mystery flight to pale ale - destination unknown. Carefully decanted this one into a jug so as not to awaken the yeast beast in the bottle feet...I'm guessing this one was bottled in a hurry for the day. Nice changeup to a more old skool ale, with plenty of nice crystal malty goodness.

Laxation - Xmas Ale
What can I say....this Xmas ale really went off like a cracker!

For those playing at home, a blowout in the base of the bottle appears to have caused the bottle to rocket upwards and into the top of my storage cupboard, with sufficient force to push the neck in to the extent shown. Sadly, the bottle was one brew away from retirement. Out of respect, I dipped my finger into the warm ooze pooled on the garage floor, but it didn't taste a whole lot like Christmas.

 

[laxation]

*reading through*

"What can I say....this Xmas ale really went off like a cracker!"

Oh cool, nice to hear.

*sees picture*



jesus! sorry bout that =/
I've had a few and found them to be a little too carbonated, but didn't think it was anything like that!
hopefully it's just a one-off - but maybe everyone should drink them soon to be safe?

 

[JB]

*As you didn't drink this Xmas beer by Xmas, it will self destruct in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

 

[laxation]

haha well look I did say to drink at christmas...

 

[droid]

 

[MartinOC]

I didn't get the full suite of swap beers ('dunno how I ended-up with that, including a sour that I'm sure I gracefully declined & removed from my crate & will be deliriously happy to pass-on to someone who likes to drink vinegar...). 'Could've sworn I got the lot for feedback. Did some unscrupulous ******* stiff me on the quiet??

2 x #18 just went straight into the fridge in light of the above post!!!

'Got a couple of the WLP059 (Melbourne) beers & gotta say I wasn't impressed. Nothing to do with the brewers, who I know can knock-out some absolute corkers. The beers were obviously well-made. Just that the yeast profile left me thinking of VB.

'Had Droid's Wit on Saturday whilst it was stinking hot & man, for the moment, it was ******* magnificent! I'd like a bit more in the spice-department if I was to split-hairs, but thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless & at just the right time. Thanks mate! Recipe please?

I've also got a mystery-bottle of dark something with an unreadable label. With any luck, it's Mofox's stouty-thing (he does GREAT stouty-things), but I'm not sure.

 

[droid]

@MartinOC thanks, still have a keg and a half of the wit here to get through

the recipe is on the previous page bud, cheers

 

[Danscraftbeer]

*As you didn't drink this Xmas beer by Xmas, it will self destruct in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

Woahh. I put a face shield on when plucking that out of the box and it is extremely hard. Very carefully placed in the fridge with a prayer to Ninkasi. "Please don't let this bottle explode"

 

[laxation]

Just put mine in the fridge and drinking a few of them I had in glass bottles lol. Tastes nice once the foam dies down!

Id used Belgian strong ale yeast, the website said it stalled at 1.035 so I left it fermenting for longer than normal, even though it finished well past that. turned the temp up and everything. The website did say racking or slight aeration could get it going again, but I only shook it a bit and it did nothing more. So I dunno what's happened here

 

[TSMill]

My theory is that extreme temps can kick these things off. Only 2 cubes I have ever had swell were in 35C plus weather. A bottle of my bier de garde which was bottled in September looked foamy on top, and went straight into the fridge and settleddown.

 

[Mardoo]

It was very fizzy, but I really enjoyed it. More later.

 

[technobabble66]

You guys DO realize one of the big benefits of PET bottles is you can just loosen the cap a little, let off a bit of CO2, then re tighten.
No more overcarbed bomb. [emoji6]



(That is, after someone else's bottle has exploded, so the rest of us know what to be wary of. Thanks, Troy)

 

[Mardoo]

Pssshhh…

 

[Dr_Rocks]

Now onto dr.rocks igneous pale ale. This is a ripper... Could drink this one all day! Is this the same one we drank a few bottles of at the swap?
Love to make this one too if you don't mind sharing the recipe

Lax...It's very similar I just added centennial and dropped a bit of the caramber so it's much lighter in colour. I'm currently globetrotting but will post the recipe when I'm back in Aus.

If you can't wait my original recipe is in the Jan-Feb edition of BYO magazine on page 60 but ill post the xmas swap one when I'm in front of my computer in Feb.

Already looking forward to Droid's mid-year!

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Got to Lax’s PET just in time, thought it was in the fridge but it was in the cupboard [emoji44]
Decarbed it a bit as well as droids Wit as both were as hard as glass. In fridge now looking forward to trying them tomorrow [emoji3]

 

[mofox1]

Mofox1 - Blended Stout Thing

This one raised a lot of questions for me. What was blended, and what was the thing? Where was the breakaway ring on the bottle cap? Is it Mofox-1, or Mofo-x1? (I have the whole online name thing...) Questions aside, this was a great drop, with a beautiful slick mouthfeel, almost like a little rye was in there (maybe that was the thing?). If not, I'd love to know the mash schedule, as that mouthfeel was what is lacking in my own stouts/porters. Top stuff!

Blend was 50/50 (I think) Vic July Case Swap Stout & a Stout done as a partigyle from my RIS mash.

No breakaway ring, I re-use my bottle caps (for a while anyway... periodically toss 'em all). But don't worry, I lick them all clean before re-using*.

It's more of a MofoXXX thing.

Y'know what - yes, there was rye in there. The RIS mash had 20% rye. Why? Some sort of masochistic thing I think. It's not "the trick" I use for my stouts... I just don't like dry stouts so much (they lack the mouthfeel I like), so I tend to mash high or use a little xtal (more for lower grav stouts), and I'll use 10-20% amber/munich and a combo of brown/choc/roast/black for a range of choc & coffee flavours. So they'll finish higher/sweeter but I'll usually also bitter them to ~70 - 100 IBU as well. The partigyle stout was ~90 IBU, although quite a lot of that bitterness is from late additions.

This was the RIS grain bill (excuse the Pils & the two types of brown, was using up malts):
10.834 kg Gladfields American Ale Malt (39.21%)
5.410 kg Rye Malt (19.58%)
4.329 kg Amber Malt (15.67%)
2.801 kg Brown Malt, Bairds (10.14%)
1.200 kg Chocolate, Gladfields Light (4.34%)
1.200 kg Wheat Malt, Roasted Dark (Briess Midnight Wheat) (4.34%)
0.600 kg Pilsner (2.17%)
0.519 kg Chocolate, Gladfields Dark (1.88%)
0.441 kg Brown Malt, Simpsons (1.6%)
0.300 kg Roasted Barley (1.09%)

The above made up a cube each of 1.128 RIS & 1.073 Stout (plus starter leftovers etc)... I probably could have flooded the mash tun again and got a enough for another small stout but that was enough for one day ;-).

* Jk. Rinsed after use, stored dry & perc soaked then acid sanitised before use.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Dr Rocks Pale Ale - Stunning mate! Loving the hops, perfect balance between fruit/aroma/flavour and bitterness.

Mj raspberry sour - Enjoyed this today, perfect weather for a sour and has edged me closer to wanting to take the sour plunge

Droids wit - think I got a dud bottle as mine was as hard as laxations PET, gushed and had a horse blanket aroma. I did try the wit at the case swap and it was delicious with a hint of coconut there. It happens [emoji853]

PS. Should we be shifting this thread to a new home? [emoji6]