Vic Xmas Case Swap 2008

[Wardhog]

7 - Chris Taylor - Mild

I don't really understand dark milds. Maybe it's because I'm not always a fan of the darkest malts. A stout I can understand, there's plenty of other things going on that the black malts are a part of, but a mild will be dominated by them.

Ignoring any preconceptions of what a mild is, this beer is perfect. Not a fault to be found. No off tastes anywhere, no aromas that seem out of place. Chris certainly knows how to make a good beer.

My reservations about this beer are purely reviewer's bias, it's no reflection of the brewer's skill. It's probably a great example of what a dark mild is, but all I can smell and taste is roast, and that's not really my bag. I would love to try it sans roast, I think I would rave about it.

Edit: I have some visitors from the UK staying with me right now, and they like dark milds. They thought this beer was great.

 

[Wardhog]

3 - Moonee - Robust porter.

I just had to pull out another black beer, didn't I? However, I think a porter carries the black malts well.

Another good beer. Roast aroma and flavour again, but with a thickness of body that complements, and is not overpowered. No faults apparent here either.
Nice bitterness that subsides quickly, leaving roast across the palate.

A well made beer.

 

[Kleiny]

#20 haysie (belgian)

brown cloudy with low carb and low head, but a nice beer with some belgian yeast style flavours
i enjoyed this beer

#25 by Can't Count (pale ale)

bitter smell, light brown color, might just be me but i found this overly bitter not good hop bitter just hard to drink,

#21 Wardhog (blande ale)

as intended a blande ale but i also found it very thin and a tad watery, undercarbed, could be a good lawn mower beer had it a little more body and higher carb.
You got what you were after wardy

 

[Wardhog]

24 - apd - 'b' ale

I think the bottle might not have sealed too well, very little escaping gas when opened, and had to work very hard to pour some head on the beer.

Nice golden colour, a little bit hazy. A little bit undercarbed, but that's probably the bottle's fault. Plenty of winey hop flavour, but - dare I say it - a lingering impression of butterscotch.

 

[[email protected]]

By random selection i tried #9 and #10 this evening ... I was going to try #3 but for the life of me couldn't get the cap to twist off (will have to resort to a drill or hacksaw to get at the beer next week maybe).

So #10 Superhero's Belgian Wit vs #9 Hair of the Dog's Cumquat Wheat:

The Belgian Wit poured with a nice white well maintained rocky head, strange spicy aroma, though the taste is thankfully slightly muted. The mouthfeel and finish is consistent will the aroma and flavour. For me this beer was pretty hard going. While there didn't appear to be any standard brewing flaws, you get the feeling that the recipe really let down the brewer on this occasion--though fermentation temp can have a big effect on the flavour of wheat based beers, so you never know the difference fermenting it higher or lower may have had. BTW the way I got my wife to give an independent smell and taste test and she called it "rubbery"--you can take that with a grain of salt as she doesn't really like beer all that much.

The Cumquat Wheat was similar in texture (though clearer in the glass), but had a more floral with a slightly citrus aroma and flavor. Similar carbonation level, with a slightly smaller head. I think its good to compare these two beers (even though it happened by chance), as I get the feeling that this one is a more tested recipe that the brewer is familiar with--every flavor in this beer seems to have a purpose. This beer was quite drinkable, and would have been even better on a hot summer's day.

As you could imagine I am all wheat beered out at the moment, but tomorrow I'll have to clean some bottles for the weizen I have almost done and dusted in the fermenter...

Cheers
Mal

 

[[email protected]]

#3 - moonee - Robust Porter
I'm not that familiar with the style, but this seemed like a lovely beer. Very approachable, a bit of toffee & roasty flavor balancing the bitterness. Small head at the beginning receded quite quickly, nicely carbonated. The second glass was a bit mirkier due to some yeast getting stirred up, but a really nice beer. I'll have to brew something like this myself sometime.

Cheers
Mal

 

[haysie]

#15


I seen some earlier post, beer spewing out the top. I chilled it right down 3 days in the fridge, jugged it
what a beer, dry, balanced, really enjoyed it, Thanks Q, Merry Xmas,

I have had a few others over the weekend, some I drunk, some I tipped out, I wont recall all otherwise people may take things a little personal and for one I aint NO beer judge. Individual choice at the end of the day, I favour a balanced beer, yet dislike hoppy beers.
Meery Xmas too Everyone

 

[brettprevans]

carn haysie surely you can do better than that. even if its generic comments.

why'd you tip some out? infected? if not infected then yeah a little offensive. actualyl it makes you sounds like a bit of a snob if they just werent to your likeing.

Im just rereading this and it sounds a little like im having a go at you. im not. but i cant be buggered rewording it.

EDIT: god that pic makes me thirsty. I might have to have #15 tonight.

 

[haysie]

carn haysie surely you can do better than that. even if its generic comments.

why'd you tip some out? infected? if not infected then yeah a little offensive. actualyl it makes you sounds like a bit of a snob if they just werent to your likeing.

Im just rereading this and it sounds a little like im having a go at you. im not. but i cant be buggered rewording it.

EDIT: god that pic makes me thirsty. I might have to have #15 tonight.

certainly"no snob" CM2, moreso probably not "good enough" too appraise each beer, certainly some havent been to my liking, vice versa yada yada. I didnt mean to be offensive. Sometimes no words are better than some.

Haysie

 

[Leigh]

Bit of a brain fade the other day when I posetd this in the recipe thread:

5. Barra's Brew

A very nice drop Barra, I was looking for another by the end of the bottle.



Tonights drop:

7 - Chris Taylor - Mild

Not a big fan of the darker ales, but this one was great. Nice mild roasty flavours etc etc. The only critisism was it was a little undercarbed.


Hey Haysie, if it was mine, I'm with ya...its starting to get milder with age, but the first bottle I opened nearly knocked my socks off with bitterness LOL

 

[Wardhog]

moreso probably not "good enough" too appraise each beer

No such thing. Your tastebuds work well enough for you to figure out you don't like something. You don't have to go in depth about the bouquet or depth of malt character, but you know if a beer is too tilted in favour of hops or not, and the brewer would like to know if this is the case.
The main difference between a self-professed noob at appraising beers and someone who is comfortable writing a review is taking a chance and speaking up. Their tastebuds are unlikely to be any better than yours. Yes, you'll get it wrong sometimes - everyone does - but that's how you become better at something. Do it for a while, and you'll be able describe what you taste more accurately, and give some constructive and helpful reviews.

Take a chance, dare to be wrong occasionally and grow from it. Being silent does not benefit anyone.

I cannot get angry at anyone who tells me they don't like my beers as long as they tell me why.

 

[brettprevans]

nah haysie no offense i just meant that any feedback is good feedback,. even if its just i liked it or didnt and why. well i find its good to help me make better beers. no one is exoecting bcjp judging (except from Chris! lol). were all here for the fun mate.

 

[haysie]

Well said Wardy. Concise yet subtle.

I have a about 10 to go in the swap, so I`ll keep having a go.

#25 a real dryness, little hops, cloudy, no carbonation, couldnt pick the style though. Tipped it.

# Johhno`s, hoppy, bitter (felt it in my nostrils) alas very little carbonation, all in all an enjoyable drop. Good beer

# Kleiny, yeah it was weizen, effervescent, real wheat and yeast character, enjoyed it, no head retention which i thought was a little unusaul for a wheat. Good beer

#22 Sorry Leigh, it was really unbalanced, very little malt , little hops, "how did you pick yours" tipped it.

 

[Quintrex]

Ok first things first, Apologies

I must apologise for my lack of tastings so far, I've managed to have one so far. Mark_M's, which is as per usual an extremely drinkeable beer and hit the spot. Unfortunately I lost the tasting notes, however if you provide me with another bottle or 2 I'm sure I can rustle some up for you :icon_cheers:

I've booked in a whole afternoon with a mate on the weekend and we're going to work through as many as we can, in a moderately sensible manner! All will be prechilled and treated with love! :icon_chickcheers:

The second is that this brew was pushing it to get the litreage I needed for the swap, I had my mill on a different setting from normal and didn't realise and so ended up with horrible efficiency and had to boil for an age, to get to my desired gravity, the reason for the apology is that I just had enough for 24 bottles and so didn't rack when I bulk primed, just gave it a bit of a stir and so it seems there is a bit of variance between all the bottles. So my apologies for that, my advice, just stick it in the fridge 24h before drinking it if possible. :unsure: sorry!

The second part of this post is what I was aiming for my brew to be

I guess I wanted to make a bit of a caricature of a saison, this is not poking fun at it or anything, just maybe extending some of the characteristics of it so that they are pronounced. Hopefully it has worked ok, took an age to ferment out too(but still gotta love the dupont strain for its flava!).

Cheers
Q

15 Quintrex - Saison de votre mre

If mcooks Belgian Pale Ale was a gusher this one was the Niagara Falls of gushers.

Needless to say I did not get a very good impression of the initial aroma. But when it did finally calm down enough to drink.

Very aptly described as "farmhouse ale" aroma. Some straw, grapefruit, low malt, very spicy.

Very cloudy (due to suspended yeast), slightly tart and bitter, very dry in the finish

Some noticeable alcohol.

This beer actually reminded me a lot of Super's wit, but with a touch of grapefruit.

Slight hint of vanilla and some more malt sweetness coming through as it warmed up.

Was there by any chance some coriander in there Q?

As always can rely on you to take us out the limb with something we wouldn't normally get much exposure to ... thanks for the experience.

Thanks Chris for the very detailed notes, I'm feeling the need to crack one of the 2 bottles I had left to see if I can pick up some of those things. Much appreciated for the feedback.

No coriander in there however I did use grains of paradise for the first time ever in this brew, it's potent stuff.

I'm hoping the recipe is available in the recipe thread.

Thanks Q.

Andrew

Hi Andrew, thanks for your comments I'll try put the recipe up soon, promise!

I seen some earlier post, beer spewing out the top. I chilled it right down 3 days in the fridge, jugged it
what a beer, dry, balanced, really enjoyed it, Thanks Q, Merry Xmas,

Looks like you treated her like a lady, Thanks mate.

Cheers again
Q

 

[haysie]

#8
This was great Maple, I didnt give a shit about the brown versus the red, malt, some choc, ekg was fantastic. I did drink this at about 12deg. then went looking for the recipe.. wyeast1084 is a good yeast, i did a robust with the same yeast at vicbrew.
Great beer Pal. Merry Xmas

 

[Maple]

Glad you liked it haysie, I too love it once it's come up to temp, cold doesn't do much for me. 2 years ago I never thought I'd like beer that was above 3 degrees. this obsession hobby has certainly opened my mind to new things. I must say that i do enjoy the 1084 in this.

I have yet to get stuck into the swap tasting, and will likely not be until after xmas, but rest assured, I will get through them all and post up my humble thoughts.

 

[beerDingo]

Pitty you didn't like it haysie. I agree it was not very hopy. I've made a similar brew since, and added more Galaxy, but found it a bit full-on. But cheers anyway, any feedback is appreciated! Hopefully next time I can make one that you can at least get through, if not enjoy! Just got a new false bottom, and much less crap gets through now! Yay.

Oh yeah, It was supposed to be an American OR Australian Pale Ale (not sure of the styles yet).

 

[Wardhog]

Johnno - APA

Big hop aroma, bigger hop flavour, lots of great malt. This is what I think of when I think APA, American hops out the wazoo all through this beer. This is an excellent beer.

Great work, Johnno.

 

[chris.taylor.98]

9 Hair of the dog (cumquat wheat)

This beer is without a doubt the best wheat I beer I have ever had.

Some banana and a little clove, very clean (if that is possible with a wheat), some sweet malt. Bready malt character.

This beer is very soft on the pallet, and the fruit and spice flavours just blend so well together that is just fantastic.

I will have to re-asses my prejudices against dried yeast after trying this beer.

 

[hairofthedog]

9 Hair of the dog (cumquat wheat)

This beer is without a doubt the best wheat I beer I have ever had.

Some banana and a little clove, very clean (if that is possible with a wheat), some sweet malt. Bready malt character.

This beer is very soft on the pallet, and the fruit and spice flavours just blend so well together that is just fantastic.

I will have to re-asses my prejudices against dried yeast after trying this beer.

Thanks mate where are you judging next ive got a wheat beer id like to enter :lol: :lol: