Vic Xmas 2009 Case Swap - Tasting Thread

[chris.taylor.98]

11. Warmbeer -ESB - Drink after 1/12

Earthy spicy hop aroma with a hint of some fruity esters poking through. Suspect a bit of EKG and/or Fuggles action going on there.

Score: 7/12

Lovely light copper hue, slightly hazy and off white colour head that does not persist

Score: 2/3

More of the English hop flavours ( earthy, spicy goodness ) with a slight vegetable flavour (possibly derived from dry hopping?).

Malt flavour not very assertive and more of a background to dominate hop flavour.

Pleasing dry finish with even balance between malt and bitterness.

Score: 14/20

Medium body with low to medium carbonation ( good for this style ).

Some noticeable alcohol, but not hot or unpleasant.

Score: 4/5

Good attempt at a very difficult style Warmbeer. No major technical issues. Biggest issue with this example is the absence of assertive malt flavour expected with this style. Note I have brewed about 2 or 3 of these now, and don't seem to come close to achieving both assertive malt and hop character required. I find that the malt character takes a bit of time before it really matures ( > 3 months ) so it may come through with a bit of age.


Score: 7/10

Overall Score: 34/50

 

[hairofthedog]

17 Supra jim apa

was looking forward to this beer after maples review so was really disapointed when i opened mine not that there was anything wrong with it just didnt taste anything like the review very little hop flavor no hop aroma not much malt flavor so quite a well made easy drinker just didnt have the punch of an apa imo did you make your swap up out of 2 batches ?

 

[hairofthedog]

25 apa

i agree with maple on this 1 more fruity than expected tastes like maybe us05 at a high ferment temp & a little heavy on the crystal malt but all said drank the whole thing & could drink another

 

[hairofthedog]

15 Don Mataos

really nice Hefe mate everything youd expect from a good wheat beer cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[hairofthedog]

9 Liegh Dusseldorf alt

one of my favorite styles of beer unfortunalty this example is infected sorry mate better luck next time

 

[Supra-Jim]

Hi Hairofthedog,

Sorry yours didn't measure up to the hype . i had two bottles from this batch (single batch) and i been pretty happy with both, hop flavour and aroma have been good. Not sure what went wrong with yours.

Cheers SJ

 

[notung]

Bit of a catch up post for me... Forgive the brief notes. I drank these beers a couple of weeks back but have felt bad posting nothing.

2. Maple - Rye IPA - Dec 1 onwards.
I think I was lucky to score one of the good bottles of this. Great hop-driven beer with nice body and interesting slippery mouthfeel imparted by the rye content. I had never tasted a beer with rye before, so thanks for this!

6. CM2 - Aussie Gold Digger Lager. READY TO DRINK

I'm sure we could develop an abusive relationship with this beer. Interesting deep gold colour, with a head that dissipated quickly. As I've mentioned before, I am a much bigger fan of ales and darker beers. All the same, this was a refreshing drinker and I enjoyed the moderate hoppiness.

10. Manticle: Robust Porter: Ready to drink, Chill first then allow to warm to between 6 and 10 degrees.
Wonderful chocolate/toffee notes coming from the malt. This was a delight to drink. You've inspired me to get some ingredients together and brew a MILD.

5. Fourstar - Reunification Express, Viet Rice Lager - Ready To Drink!
The others have said it already, but this was a beer with great clarity of flavours (while still being complex). I enjoyed the faint sweetness in the aroma and a certain flavour I was picking up which I assumed was the flaked rice. This has been one of the stand out beers of the swap, thanks heaps.

19. Fents - cream ale - Drink my beer now or risk losing it for ever
Interesting beer. I suppose this style is all about quaffability... Despite the flaw which others have already gone over, I enjoyed drinking this beer on a warm day.

21. Hutch - Nelson Sauvin pseudo-lager - Ready to drink
I'm sorry but I had to tip this beer out! My bottle was probably infected and gave off a real strong lactic sourness. What a shame, I was looking forward to this one!

24. Wonderwoman - summer ale - ready to drink now
Delicious and very morish. Mouthfuls of fruit salad as manticle described. Very refreshing, and went well with a cheese platter and apricots... I'll have to give something like this a go and my partner really liked it. Great label! :lol:

Huzzah - caught up!

 

[Hutch]

I'm sorry but I had to tip this beer out! My bottle was probably infected and gave off a real strong lactic sourness. What a shame, I was looking forward to this one!

Damn sorry for that mate.
I rarely bottle, and when I do, I'm pretty anal about sterilisation, etc. however I have noticed in one bottle of this a very slight phenolic, indicative of post fermentation infection. It's certainly never happened in the past, though I could probably put it down bottling the beer on a very warm night during the heat wave in early November, and a few little bugs hanging around the brewery wanting a taste

Thanks for letting me know, and hopefully it didn't affect anyone elses.

 

[notung]

Damn sorry for that mate.
I rarely bottle, and when I do, I'm pretty anal about sterilisation, etc. however I have noticed in one bottle of this a very slight phenolic, indicative of post fermentation infection. It's certainly never happened in the past, though I could probably put it down bottling the beer on a very warm night during the heat wave in early November, and a few little bugs hanging around the brewery wanting a taste

Thanks for letting me know, and hopefully it didn't affect anyone elses.

Don't worry about it Hutch. Shit happens, especially when you're brewing for a swap it seems. My pumpkin beer was a horrible writeoff for example. Maybe it's the pressure of those other tasters, now compounded by the BJCP crew and their scoring? Just kidding, I would really appreciate it if the others scored my beer - feedback is good!

 

[Fourstar]

I would really appreciate it if the others scored my beer - feedback is good!

Not to mention you are getting it for free!

I've so got to dig into my swap beers, i've been putting it off for sometime. The rate im going, CM2 will finish his cases before me!

 

[brettprevans]

Not to mention you are getting it for free!

I've so got to dig into my swap beers, i've been putting it off for sometime. The rate im going, CM2 will finish his cases before me!

doubtful. all my little babies are tucked away untouched

Im thinking i might jump off the wagon on xmas day and try some of the swap beers (in moderation of course), then hope back onto the wagon again

 

[Wonderwoman]

24. Wonderwoman - summer ale - ready to drink now
Delicious and very morish. Mouthfuls of fruit salad as manticle described. Very refreshing, and went well with a cheese platter and apricots... I'll have to give something like this a go and my partner really liked it. Great label! :lol:

thanks!

sorry to everyone for not putting up many reviews, I've been riddiculously busy organising multiple work christmas functions, my own birthday party, getting (my first set of) kegs runnning before my birthday party and in three days I'm driving to bryon bay. I haven't cleaned up from the party yet, let alone packed for the trip! anyway, I haven't actually drunk many of them, so hopefully in the new year I can get around to taking a few notes.

 

[beerDingo]

First I tried Kleiny's Munich Helles. Little to no head, dissipated quickly. Low hop aroma(but I assume it's supposed to be like that). Quite clear. Very tasty beer. Just would have liked a little more carb, but otherwise, I'd happily drink a bunch of these. Nice work.

Then, I tried Maple's - Rye IPA. Probably not the best beer to drink directly after Kleiny's beer! I say that as the Munich Helles, had little hops, whereas this punches you in the nose with them (it is an IPA, so it's supposed too). Again, little to no head that dissipated quickly. Huge hope aroma and flavor. I enjoyed this beer, but surprisingly I was almost hopped out. Nice beer, and you could taste lots of nice fresh hops.

Followed with, Zebba - "Redcoats" IPA. After the last 2 I was trying to put a head on it, but that was a mistake. Poured with a nice big head, that stayed around for a bit. Had to try not to give it a head on next glasses. Nice beer, but maybe not as hoppy as Maple's. It seems similar bitterness, but the hop flavor does not come through as much, and definitely not the fresh hops that I got from Maple's. However, I enjoyed this.

Then yesterday I tried Manticle's: Robust Porter. Pulled it out of the fridge and poured myself and a mate a glass, then realised that it was supposed to be pulled out and left to warm up to 6-10. Left it out a while while I did some gardening. Once it warmed up, it tasted so much better! The malty roasted characteristics started to come through. My mate really enjoyed it as well. I've only really started to appreciate darker beers lately, and this is a good one! Would happily have a keg of this in the fridge.

Anyway, so far, thanks guys! Looking forward to trying more!

 

[Leigh]

Bugger! Soory to those who have got an infected version of mine. I drunk one a few weeks ago that was still a bit green, but very much drinkable (but may have been before the infection took over the taste profile).

Tasted another since reading the reviews and had to tip it out! Not sure whether this infection has occured during fermentation or post fermentation, would love to hear peoples thoughts on this. I've got a keg of this aging, I sure hope it is only the bottles that are bad

 

[WarmBeer]

We sure are getting a whole lot of infections in this current batch of case swap brews.

Is it possibly due to the particular Melbourne weather around the start/mid November?

Last case swap, I can't recall a single infection being mentioned. Temperature would have been considerably lower, though.

Thoughts?

 

[Hutch]

We sure are getting a whole lot of infections in this current batch of case swap brews.

Is it possibly due to the particular Melbourne weather around the start/mid November?

Last case swap, I can't recall a single infection being mentioned. Temperature would have been considerably lower, though.

Thoughts?

I'm suspicious of this as well WarmBeer.
I personally have never had a post-fermentation infection before this swap, and it is very dissapointing to know you've given out infected beer to other brewers. I can only really put it down to the weather at the time, and the fact that I bottle my beer outside, where air-born nasties have a small chance of spoiling the party.

Having said that, cheers to those who have avoided infections in this swap :icon_cheers:
Hutch

 

[Fourstar]

I can only really put it down to the weather at the time, and the fact that I bottle my beer outside, where air-born nasties have a small chance of spoiling the party.

To me thats like walking through a minefield blindfolded! I'm cautious enough not to aerate my beer going into the fermenter with the back door open! :lol:

 

[Hutch]

To me thats like walking through a minefield blindfolded! I'm cautious enough not to aerate my beer going into the fermenter with the back door open! :lol:

I totally agree 4*, however... I had a beer disaster in the kitchen some time ago, (cracked fermenter and 20Ltrs unfermented wort all over/under floating floorboards - say no more!). So much so, I DO NOT let full fermenters/cubes inside the house any more, for fear of a repeat episode.

Valuable/painful lesson learnt - HDPE fermenters are not UV stabilised, becoming very brittle after storage in the sun. 'nuf said.

 

[Fourstar]

Sounds painful. Reminds me i have a cube cleaning and sitting out in the sun! h34r:

 

[beerDingo]

:icon_offtopic:

Does anyone know what the HDPE reading mean? ie., Rays Tent City has 20 litre cubes which are HDPE 6. Are they OK to use?