Vic X-mas In July 2009 Tasting Thread

[chris.taylor.98]

23. Shortz - EoX Porter

Nice coffee and chocolate ... and if I squeeze my imagination really hard a hint of raspberry as well.

Bit of crystal malt sweetness off the nose.

Small dark tan head that dissipates quickly.

Burnt smoked taste predominates right through to the finish. (really does have that smokey phenolic in addition to the more traditional black and or roast malt flavours)

The dark malts probably promote this phenolic somewhat.

Some hop bitterness to support malt.

Very dry finish which is accentuating the bitterness the more that I consume.

Could not see your recipe in the recipe thread Shortz so one of two things going on here:

You where aiming for a smoked porter and have added some smoked malt.

or

The smoke phenolic is unintentional.

I have had similar phenolics in past with a brown ale, and in the end put it down to chlorine in the water screwing with the yeast during the fermentation stage. Since then I filter all my water through a carbon filter and have not had the problem.

Either way was still an enjoyable beer, and I do really enjoy my dark beers .

Would love to see the recipe so I could better understand where some of the flavours are coming from.

 

[Fourstar]

4. Hairofthedog - Dortmunder export

Perfect Colour, deep yellow to gold in appearance with some chill/yeast haze (a little bit of sediment in the bottle so some was expected so early into the swap). Beautiful creamy pils like head. Fluffy like a cloud!

Aroma is very clean with a deep sweet pils malt aroma, almost honey like. No detectable hops (may be too cold, serving at lager temps) some phenolics.

Very heavily pils malt forward on the palate with clean bittering and finishes off with residual pils malt sweetness. Carb is perfect with a dryness on the center my tongue... Im assuming some calcium additions?

Flavour is very malty pils sweet, interested to know the manufacturer of the pils? Ive never had a pils malt flavour so sweet like this. Very nice indeed. Are you happy to share the recipe?!

What can I say? Awesome beer mate. In a nutshell, a Bohemian pils on the malt and German pils on the water. Hops well Im unsure off, noble either way. Kickass beer mate!

Cheers! :icon_cheers:

 

[[email protected]]

12. mcook - American IPA

Orange to amber in colour, holds a smooth blankety head. Got a little hop/yeast haze as expected in a highly hopped beer like this.

Aroma, slightly grainy, no hop presence whatsoever! Not much to it on the nose, slight alcohol warmth.

Onto the lips. A high carbonation with some solventy hot alc characteristics at the back of the throat. finishes very very malty. Lots of munich/melanoidens going on. hop to bitterness ratio is balanced more like an APA than an AIPA. very nutty in the finish. Its lacking American hop. Noteably C hop characteristics. Considering your recipe it should be all US hop flavour/aroma. I detect nothing, all im getting is bitterness, no hop flavour unfortunately. The flavour is all munich with some crystal sweetness.

What happened mcook? Did you have a high temp ferment going on? what ABV did this finish at? All hop aroma is lost and a noticable solvent character too. I was expecting a battle of the gladiators man! Maybe i got a ugly bottle..

Cheers for the beer either way mate!

The ABV is around 7%, fermented at 19. Can't say that this matches what I tasted a couple of weeks ago, and I doubt it would go south that quickly--but we'll see what others think.

 

[Fourstar]

The ABV is around 7%, fermented at 19. Can't say that this matches what I tasted a couple of weeks ago, and I doubt it would go south that quickly--but we'll see what others think.

Yeah, i dont know man... maybe i got a bad bottle. I can vouch the ABV it was quite heavy on the alc... but everything else seemed lacking except the munich presence.

 

[Leigh]

22. Lucas - Smoked Porter

This beer is very dark (indeed you can't see through the glass!), pours with a small head that dissipates quickly, typical sweet porter-esque sweet aroma.

On tasting, a mild burnt chocolate flavour at the front of the mouth that travels rearward, leaving a bitter aftertaste that remains at the back of the tongue. The bitterness is a bit stronger than the other porters I've tried.

Not a bad effort Lucas, my comments come from a non-porter drinker

Update: The bitterness is a lot less present with a good meal...very good as a "dessert beer"

 

[Fourstar]

whichever way doesn't really matter, I just mentioned it because the aussie cascade a friend had in his randall was throwing out some massive watermelon flavour.
Q

Hmm... i do have a 7.8% Cascade in the fridge. maybe i have my batches mixed up when i posted that. Only a small amount is missing so i'd assume its for my latest batch. (I buy all my hops in 100g lots unless its from craftbrewer) i'd say ive only used it in my current american amber. Currently that is very deep bitter on the back of the tongue that my AAA. im hoping it fades over time.

I'm a little upset with it actually, i was expecting a really sweet amber (11% crystal) except its quite dry and slightly astringent. i'm hoping its just a hop thing that will mellow over time due to this extra AA cascade. i'll have a chat with Dave from Greensy HB next time im in. I immediatly assumed it was US cascade, not AUS as thats what he usually stocks. it does taste different to our run of the mill cascade in this AAA. Saying that, i'd assume it was the 5.5% US cascade in the AIPA due to the hop differences.

Cheers!

 

[Fourstar]

2. Fents - Bitsa Pale Ale

Colour of a decent US pale ale. Gold to orange when held to light, a slight hop/yeast haze constant carbonation.... nice.

Fruity/estery/yeasty on the nose, some malt presence. Relatively clean otherwise. Not detecting much hops on the nose.

Sharp bitterness on the palate with decent carbonation. Deep bitterness takes the stage on this one. There is resin coating my teeth (yep definitely the Chinook). It finishes quite dry with some cascade grapefruitiness in the finish. Rounds out with the typical JW ale malt flavour I get from being at the Portland hotel/js brewhouse in Russell st. I love that malty flavour you get from the Portland pale! I think I'm a JW lover!

Decent beer mate! If you can help me clone the Portland pale with that maltiness you manage to scrape out of JW ale I'll brew you a kegs worth! Top work!

Edit: forgot the picture

 

[[email protected]]

Yeah, i dont know man... maybe i got a bad bottle. I can vouch the ABV it was quite heavy on the alc... but everything else seemed lacking except the munich presence.

Okay as you got me interested so here's the side by side:

Fourstar AIPA : Low carbonation, strong in your face aroma, head recedes but doesn't disappear completely, nice (passion fruit / citrus / floral / etc?) aroma still present throughout. Nice up front hoppy flavor, though quite bitter, hangs around in the mouth for quite some time (almost cloying after getting towards the end of the first glass). Hop flavor and bitterness overpowers anything else that might have been present (i.e. maltiness, alcohol or yeast characters)--not nescessarily a bad thing. Still all in all it is a nice beer--this is the kind of beer that would finish of a session (beer, dnd, poker, etc) in style.

My AIPA (possibly served a bit warm ... doh!) : High carbonation, subtle american style aroma -- lower than my APA. Slight solventy overtones accentuates the 7% alcohol but over-powers other flavors. Quite bitter, but bitterness doesn't linger very long. I would serve this a few degrees colder next time (hopefully to mask the solventy characters). Hopefully still drinkable, but unfortunately nowhere near the masterpiece we all hope to produce.

My tastebuds are shot to shreds after both of these beers, though I can't get enough of the smell of Fourstar's beer. I think you've comfortably won this battle Fourstar. :icon_cheers:

Cheers
Mal

 

[Hutch]

16. Chris Taylor - Red Weizen

Very well crafted beer, if not exactly fitting the usual Weizen mould. Lots of sweet toffee/malt character going on, low bitterness, good carbonation, average head retention.
Some characteristic Weizen aroma's going on, clove/banana, but not dominant in any one.
Definitely sweeter than Don's Hefe IMHO, though not dissimilar in yeast character.

Cheers Chris.

 

[hairofthedog]

Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 kg Pilsner, Malt Craft Export (Joe White) (1.6 SRM) Grain 65.84 %
4.00 kg Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 32.92 %
0.15 kg Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 1.23 %
70.00 gm Hallertauer Aroma [7.00 %] (60 min) Hops 22.7 IBU
70.00 gm Hallertauer Aroma [7.00 %] (5 min) Hops 4.5 IBU
1 Pkgs Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124) [Starter 125 ml] Yeast-Lager



there you go 4* :icon_cheers:

 

[Fourstar]

My tastebuds are shot to shreds after both of these beers, though I can't get enough of the smell of Fourstar's beer. I think you've comfortably won this battle Fourstar.
Cheers
Mal

I'd say yours would have been closer to the post if the ABV was a little lower. i think the ABV overpowered the IBU count. the malt presence was there just the hops where lacking. Maybe more hops late in the boil rather than bittering may have pushed you forward too. I know the aroma was A+ in my beer and why i have told everyone to drink it asap while its there and fresh!
AIPA = hops hops hops and more hops which is what i tried to achieve, i think i only suceeded with hops hops and hops. :icon_drunk: which is still too bitter for some! :blink:


Cheers! :icon_cheers:

 

[Hutch]

1. Peels - Black Beer

It's black all right!
Pours with medium to low carbonation, head dissipates quickly to a nice amber lace.
Seems quite low on bitterness, allowing the roasted malt character to come through. Some faint hop character there, well balanced.
I'm a complete noob when it comes to dark beers, so have no idea where this one fits in the spectrum (I presume it's a dry stout???)
Not exactly my cup-o-tea, but certainly a well made beer, with no obvious fermentation flaws to note.
Thanks Peels.

 

[[email protected]]

I'd say yours would have been closer to the post if the ABV was a little lower. i think the ABV overpowered the IBU count. the malt presence was there just the hops where lacking. Maybe more hops late in the boil rather than bittering may have pushed you forward too. I know the aroma was A+ in my beer and why i have told everyone to drink it asap while its there and fresh!
AIPA = hops hops hops and more hops which is what i tried to achieve, i think i only suceeded with hops hops and hops. :icon_drunk: which is still too bitter for some! :blink:


Cheers! :icon_cheers:

My beer finished alot lower in gravity than I expected, so I am not 100% sure what caused that, whether it was mash temp or some something to do with fermentation--but I am guessing that was probably the culprit.

Looking at the BJCP style guidelines I think your hop fetish might be more in line with an IIPA--borderline in IBU, but definitely in flavor and aroma--now that aroma you really need to extract and market as some kind of spray on fragrance...

 

[chris.taylor.98]

16. Chris Taylor - Red Weizen

Very well crafted beer, if not exactly fitting the usual Weizen mould. Lots of sweet toffee/malt character going on, low bitterness, good carbonation, average head retention.
Some characteristic Weizen aroma's going on, clove/banana, but not dominant in any one.
Definitely sweeter than Don's Hefe IMHO, though not dissimilar in yeast character.

Cheers Chris.

Well curiously this was what I was actually aiming for the sweet caramel malts mixed in with the weizen character, but now that its "there" not sure that it actually works that well.

Guess you have to try these things to find out.

Maybe a touch more bitterness required next time to balance it all out a bit, and possibly a drier finish.

This one finished fairly high from memory. I even had to add more yeast which is pretty unlike normal 3068 behaviour.

 

[Fents]

Chris your beer was sensational...a mate and i were very happy with it as we both dont like wheats but this was malty with a hint of wheat, nice one.

Fourstar - your AIPA was great. proper AIPA business.

Bennys Lemon Ale? this ones good as well, prob not as good as the above two but still a nice beer. can def get lemon from the taste. and i dont think it needed more time was perfectly carbed up etc.

CM2 might have to remind me what else i tasted last night, big night all a bit hazy now tho.

 

[brendo]

Lets hope its a typo, I'd be suprised if Brendos has hopped his LCBA to 60 IBU! not to mention the amount of crystal i used was 8.5%, rather sweet for a bright ale clone. Who knows what Neils palate is like! App his taste in women is supurb though!

Yeah Neil's description doesn't sound like mine - I'd say it was a typo and he left the 1 off the front of the 15.

With a careful pour, mine should appear very bright and clear, I used no crystal so there isn't much in the way of sweetness and it is bittered to around 36 IBUs - may seem a little higher due to NC'ing, but a long way short of Fourstar's 60 IBUs.

I have been slack and the beers that are ready only just hit the fridge last night, so I will crack one or two tonight and start posting opinions.

Cheers,

Brendo

 

[brettprevans]

16. Chris Taylor - Red Weizen
Interesting beer Chris. Bubblegum.. sweet bubblegum. only a touch drier finifsh needed. we (fents myself) were debating how you got the colour and I can see now from your recipe it wasnt carroma or carrared. Could have done with a little more carbonation. definitiely a differant wheat beer and a nice change.

27. Wardhog. Vienna Lager
Top stuff Wardy. This should be sold in pubs as a standard lager or at least as a house standard. Great flavours. smooth, balanced bitterness. You could hook into this all night long. nice carbonation and head. didnt detect any solvent flavours. yum. We all liked this one.

25. Benny's Lemon Ale
Im going to take a stab at the ingredients casuse you stumped us last night as to what we were tasting. It probably should have been colder when we drank it. so that may have also influenced what we tasted.
Cervesa kit with maltodex, some ultra light crystal and glacier or perle hops? not a lot of head and a bit more carbonation required but ok. slight thickness in body that was unexpected and only a hint of lemon at the end. Im guessing served at the right temp this could be a god summer beer as a thirst quencher, but I couldnt drink it as a sessional beer (again temp may have played an issue).
no technical faults that we could detect. be interested to see the recipe.

Fents I seriously doubt you remember what you tasted last night I should have stayed for another one. I couldnt justify starting by the time I got home. I know you thought 4* was a cracker but I didnt taste that. so your on your own there.

 

[Fents]

yea how good was that bubblegum is chris's! first proper beer i have ever got bubblegum off and i loved it.

thats right wardy's was in the mix too. top beer ward, sensational session beer, it got nailed.

 

[Neill]

woops yeah i left off the 1 in front of the 5, it was definately fourstar's beer.

someone take one for the team and try my english ale, i don't have any left but it should be starting to get nice to drink now. i want to make another one and need some tips on improving it.

 

[Fourstar]

someone take one for the team and try my english ale, i don't have any left but it should be starting to get nice to drink now. i want to make another one and need some tips on improving it.

Tonight, the gloves are off. :icon_cheers: