Vic 2017 Xmas in July Case Swap - TASTING

[Midnight Brew]

Exceptional feedback Wiggman!

 

[MartinOC]

The likes of MartinOC will tell you with more certainty and he is certainly honest with his feedback..

Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not in the swap, so don't have anything to sample & provide feedback.

Also, I've not been "trained", I've just tried a lot of beers over the years. Haven't judged in a VERY long time...

 

[GrumpyPaul]

14. GrumpyPaul - American Rye
Here's a new one, I've never brewed with rye before so was hoping to learn something from this. Well, I most certainly have. Very clean on the nose with very little going on with a pleasent, grainy beeriness - which seems like that's how it's supposed to be. It's quite dry and the rye is coming through in spades, with a wheat-like phenol character pairing with what seem like boil hops only with mild bitterness. A drinking beer for sure. Overall well balanced and a welcome variation on US beers as the restraint with the hops is not an easy thing to get right for the hop junky home brewer. I reckon if there was a bit more late Amarillo it'd work perfectly.

Wiggman - thanks for the feedback.

I was surprised by the "wheat like phenol" too. I wanted to brew something easydrinking and a c hange from all the heavily hopped IPA's Ive been doing lately. Picked this style out of the AABC style guidlines (see below) and went hunting for and American Rye rcipe. In hindsight it shouldn have that phenol.

I agree that it would work with some late hop additions - might not be strictly to style if it did, but who care.


16.1 American Wheat or Rye Beer [BJCP]


Aroma: Low to moderate grainy wheat or rye character. Some malty sweetness is acceptable. Esters can be

moderate to none, although should reflect American yeast strains. The clove and banana aromas common to German hefeweizens are inappropriate. Hop aroma may be low to moderate, and can have either a citrusy American or a spicy or floral noble hop character. Slight crisp sharpness is optional. No diacetyl.

Appearance: Usually pale yellow to gold. Clarity may range from brilliant to hazy with yeast approximating the German hefeweizen style of beer. Big, long-lasting white head.

Flavour: Light to moderately strong grainy wheat or rye flavour, which can linger into the finish. Rye versions are richer and spicier than wheat. May have a moderate malty sweetness or finish quite dry. Low to moderate hop bitterness, which sometimes lasts into the finish. Low to moderate hop flavour (citrusy American or spicy/floral noble). Esters can be moderate to none, but should not take on a German Weizen character (banana). No clove phenols, although a light spiciness from wheat or rye is acceptable. May have a slightly crisp or sharp finish. No diacetyl.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. Medium-high to high carbonation. May have a light alcohol warmth in stronger examples.

Overall Impression: Refreshing wheat or rye beers that can display more hop character and less yeast character than their German cousins.

Ironically I was looking at brewing something to enter into category that didnt have huge entry numbers in Vicbrew such as Wheats. The new 2017 AABC style has moved American Rye into "Specialties" so if I do enter it will now be in the biggest category.

 

[TheWiggman]

Spewing. Reading through the the style guides I think you've nailed it, all my comments - in isolation of the guide - are on the money bar the phenol. I get the two confused but I think it's more of an ester. I don't like the clove flavour in general, this didn't exhibit it. Moderate hop flavour is acceptable so would still be to style, but I'd only edge it in. I think if you entered it it would score well. I'd give it 38/50 oats.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Oats?? [emoji23][emoji23]

 

[technobabble66]

FTW, dude.
Oats FTW.

 

[AJ80]

8.GrumpyPaul - Grapefruit Sour

Stop. You had me at sour.

This is a really nice sour mate. Slight haze in the appearance which is a lovely golden straw. No head to speak of, but that's expected with a sour. A really thirst quenching sourness in the flavour. I get the grapefruit vibe too. Nothing over the top RE sourness and is well balanced. This would be a ripper on a hot Saturday arvo. Very clean ferment. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Danscraftbeer]

3: DJ_L3THAL. English Brown. Drink Sep 2017 Oops! I read that after Opening it...
I opened this because feeling the bottles this was the hardest in pressure so I fridged it 5 days then tryed 2 smallish samples. I then squeesed the head space out, carbonation capped it and repressurized and put back in the fridge for september. No harm done, Gotta love carb caps. So I will try it again in Sep.

This is very nice. Not in the realm of style I've brewed yet. Higher carbonation, quick to make a head but doesn't last thats interesting considering it has a nice body and mouthfeel.
Aroma yum, flavour yum. Like the way it has the character of a higher Alcohol beer than 4.7%. Seems more like 6% that's a good characteristic sometimes. Better then the odd anything I've bought in that realm.
Obviously using different ingredients then I go to. Love to see the recipe I really like this.

 

[Shortybronx]

I added mine to the description. I found a google doc I made when making this. So I found what I was going for. Sorry for the vagueness originally.

10. Shortybronx - Tried to replicate Sierra Nervada Pale Ale for my first all grain.... I think I missed the mark, but still I like it. Enjoy

7th July - 9th July Location: Idzy's Brewery - Ferntree Gully

Drink Now:
4. AJ80 - grapefruit pale ale (Ready - drink fresh)
5. droid - Nefarious Villain; A three way blend of Stouts - drink now or let age, whatever you like
7. mofox1 - Monster Pale (drink now)
8.GrumpyPaul - Grapefruit Sour. (drink now) [Note there are 15 sours labelled 8 and 5 of the American Rye in this case labelled 8a)
9. mofox1 - Heady Topperish (drink now!)
13. TheWiggman - Haters' Wheat© (drink now)
14. GrumpyPaul – American Rye (drink now)
16. Danscraftbeer. All mine are ready to drink. Bottled from kegs.



Drink Later:
3. DJ_L3THAL - English Brown - ready from September.
6. Midnight Brew, IPA - drink end of July.
11. Whiteferret - British Strong Ale (Give it a couple of months say September)
12. Laxation - Stout, American style. Bottled early June, but has been conditioning in a cold room. Will be better in a while.


TBC what it is and when to taste:
1. Idzy
2. Husky
10. Shortybronx
15. Tahoose

 

[GrumpyPaul]

is it ready to drink now Shorty?

 

[Shortybronx]

is it ready to drink now Shorty?

I think so..to be honest dont know if its the type of beer that gets better with age. If say drink it haha

 

[GrumpyPaul]

4. AJ80 - grapefruit pale ale (Ready - drink fresh)

Drinking this with MrsGrumpy and her girlfriend. Now MrsGrumpy is very hard to please when it comes to beer.....You've done well AJ her first reaction was "I quite like this"...

Appearance - Nice golden colour. A bit cloudy. NIce white head - didn't last long but nice lacing.
Lovely aroma - smells delicious. Nice and fruity.
Taste - can taste the grapefruit. Well balanced beer - just the right amount of bitterness.

Good Job AJ

 

[droid]

tasty!

 

[Shortybronx]

Ok... beer 7. Tastes good. My kind of beer. A hint of smokyness and nicely bittered. I like it. Going to enjoy the rest in the shower. Goes down well after sport. Whoever made I'm jealous of your skills

 

[droid]

8a - Grumpy Paul

look at it ^^
such an easy ale to sidle up to - it's James Bond smooth but I'm not sure what that means
this was had from the shed and probably 6dC or maybe more???
I don't know much about Rye, it reminds me of a Celtic Red or an English Brown - the body is divine, low-carbed but it lends itself to this
clean yeast character - what yeast is this GP? has this beer got a bit of bubblegum in a good way?
damn it - it's gone!

it was malty and lovely and surely is a crowd pleaser, I was hoping for the sour but this is a beer that can hold it's own in any company, ok well it would have a place at my brew-pub anyway

cheers GP!

 

[GrumpyPaul]

8a - Grumpy Paul

what yeast is this GP?

cheers GP!

Where the bubblegum comes from is a mystery to me. The yeast was just Mangrove Jacks M44 US West Coast.

However it was doing its second tour of duty - it was used first up in the sour. I saved about a litre of the trub. Let it settle in fridge overnight, rinsed it and tipped it straight into the American Rye.

 

[TheWiggman]

16. Danscraftbeer - Session Ale low carb blah blah
I wrote something up on the phone last night but it vanished when posted it - getting ****** with the app since the upgrade. I'll do my best to recall.
Low carb? This thing was spritzier than an Aussie champagne knockoff (zing!). I served it in a headmaster glass which necessitated knocking the froth off a few times, though the head was persistent and held itself well. Aromatically it was mostly floral hops with little if any malt until the glass was finished. Nothing really to fault there. To taste though the hops are definitely there and has a Galaxy character. There's little/nothing in the way of malt but I think it's masked by the hops. I associate Galaxy with tea flavours, and this didn't dominate but still came across like Galaxy. Personally I don't like Galaxy but I wasn't too off-put by this. It is dry as the fancy little label promised, but a little too bitter to make it sessionable for me. A longneck no worries, but I couldn't spend a night drinking it. I think if the bitterness was backed off a frag it is would make for a very approachable beer to wannabe hipsters and newcomers to the world of hops. But then again maybe others will love it as-is, we all have our own tastes. A good showing.

 

[laxation]

I had the #4 grapefruit on Saturday night and absolutely loved it... really nice hint of grapefruit in it that gave a nice bitterness.

I've got a tree full of grapefruit I'll never eat - is it hard to add into the beer?

 

[TheWiggman]

It worked for bananas, why not make a grapefruit wine?
1. Cut grapefruits into slices leaving peel on
2. Boil and add a ****-ton of sugar
3. Put contents in a fermenter and add some wine yeast
4. Leave it sit for a year because the internet said so ok?
5. Bottle
6. Blow minds at swap

 

[laxation]

Haha that banana wine was delicious!

I keep thinking grapefruit wine would taste like *** (I don't even like grapefruit...) but then up until last weekend I would have thought banana wine would taste like *** as well.

I'll look into it (and free grapefruit all round if anyone else wants to try - we get heaps on our tree)