Vic Xmas Case Swap 2008

[Wardhog]

Quintrex - Saison

Wow. I don't know where to begin. That IS most different from anything I've had before.

There's some sort of herby/spicy flavour that presents itself up front that I can't put my finger on. It's reminiscent of ginger, but it's a little bit different - help me out here what is it? I'm sure I know that flavour but I can't put a name to it, and neither can the other 5 people here. Ginger/nutmeg/clove/licquorice is the best we can come up with. A definite alcohol presence.

A little too different to make it a regular feature, but interesting to try.

 

[Leigh]

1. Reg - Golden Ale

Cracked this one and barely had any gas escape. Had to pour into my glass from almost a foot away to get a little head...carbonation was too low for my liking. Very little aroma (probably due to low carbonation), colour was a bit light for a golden, and slightly hazy...

Enough of the bad stuff, a mouthful of this was a shock given the other characteristics...very well balanced with rich honey/golden syrup tastes, but not overly sweet. Some interesting flavours were thrown off by the yeast?, will have to check out the recipe to see what I was tasting.

Overall not a bad beer.

 

[brettprevans]

#5 - Barra's Summer Wheat Beer
mate, great beer, i grabbed this without knowing what/whos it was. before i knew it..gone. didnt pick it as a wheat though. the bitterness made me think APA but it didnt taste like one. loved the Pacific Hallertau. simple recipe and great tastikg beer. great carbonation level. very little head though (could have been my glass).

its on my brew list. could be a summer staple.

 

[[email protected]]

#20 - Haysie - Colonial Belgian Pale Ale
Quite clear light amber colored beer, presents well in the glass. Spicy/unusual aroma, masks any more recognisable hop aroma. Similar spicy flavor, not very subtle, flavor not balanced by maltiness or clean hop flavor. Bitterness not coming through. Perhaps dropping the fermentation temp by a couple of degrees might help, though not familiar with the Ardennes yeast.

#12 - Mortz - Australian Pale Ale
Light straw colored beer, low hop aroma but more interesting hop flavor. Comparing to my memories of a sparkling ale Mortz's has more and varied hop flavor, slightly crisper, and a bit clearer (probably due to not much yeast sediment being present in the bottle I recieved), less carbonated and this seems to enhance the crisp dry finish in the mouth. It feels as potent though. Really nice beer. I would call it Sparkling Ale's slightly younger brother (either that or a twin brother seperated at birth by a freak yachting accident).

Cheers
Mal

 

[Quintrex]

There's some sort of herby/spicy flavour that presents itself up front that I can't put my finger on. It's reminiscent of ginger, but it's a little bit different - help me out here what is it? I'm sure I know that flavour but I can't put a name to it, and neither can the other 5 people here. Ginger/nutmeg/clove/licquorice is the best we can come up with. A definite alcohol presence.

A little too different to make it a regular feature, but interesting to try.

Grains of Paradise, a little goes a long way

"A little too different to make it a regular feature, but interesting to try." I Agree

Q

 

[reg]

1. Reg - Golden Ale

Cracked this one and barely had any gas escape. Had to pour into my glass from almost a foot away to get a little head...carbonation was too low for my liking. Very little aroma (probably due to low carbonation), colour was a bit light for a golden, and slightly hazy...

Enough of the bad stuff, a mouthful of this was a shock given the other characteristics...very well balanced with rich honey/golden syrup tastes, but not overly sweet. Some interesting flavours were thrown off by the yeast?, will have to check out the recipe to see what I was tasting.

Overall not a bad beer.

Thanks Leigh

I think that this beer is getting better with age.
I had a problem with the yeast that was due to, in my opinion, a lack of aeration. I used US 04 from memory.

I still have 2 bottles left so I might throw them in the fridge and try again.

By the way I followed Dr Smurtos golden ale recipe

Cheers

 

[Kleiny]

#1 Reg Golden Ale

Found it very similar to the one i brewed at the swap Dr Smurto's except reg's example was a bit lower in hop aroma/ flavour
A nice beer clear with nice malt and hop combo (what do you expect 23 brewers dont give a 5 star rating for nothing)

On a separate note glad i made dr smurto's and now i have 2 kegs full.



#4 Rook Pommie Bitter

This beer was great i sat down with kids screaming looking for a happy place
The pommie bitter provided nice malty flavour with a not over the top bitter flavour
Rook i would like to taste this with a bit higher IBU at the bitter end



#13 CM2 Mongrel black

Well it was black and i do like a black beer so have been loocking forward to cracking this one
Can i say COFFEE aroma and flavour on first impressions stong malt bitterness but a great finish
CM2 thanks for reminding me i have to make a dark ale very soon


Have a great xmas and i hope Brew Santa brings all your Brewing dreams true
Kleiny

 

[[email protected]]

#4 - Rook - Pommie Bitter

This is withoput a doubt the best beer of the case swap for me so far. Just having been to the UK this was reminiscent of the variety of bitter's that I sampled over there. The hop aroma and flavor is simple but effective. The carbonation helps fill the mouth with an amazing hop aroma and balanced maltiness. The head was fluffy and well maintained. The bitterness was spot on for a UK bitter, which are generally less bitter than american and aussie ales. Every sip and mouthful felt like a luxury ... definetly one to try and do again as is to see if you can reproduce it (which is easier said than done for most of us homebrewers).

Big Cheers
Mal

 

[[email protected]]

#1 - Reg - Golden Ale
Very drinkable. Low to medium carbonation, mild flavor, golden color. Moderate bitterness, somewhat subdued by the low carbonation. This makes for a great session beer. Easy to drink in quantity (and lets be honest, this is what homebrew is about a lot of the time). This would be a great beer to introduce people unfamilar or sceptical about homebrew. Nice clean flavor and mouthfeel, nice starting point for an aussie ale (i.e. with some subtle hop and/or malt additions this could turn into a great beer).

Cheers
Mal

 

[chris.taylor.98]

Johno's APA - not sure which number

Aroma has lots of good wholesome cirtusy hoppy goodness,

Well balanced in the flavour between malt and hops. Bitterness is quite assertive and very dry finish.

A slight soapiness also present. It can come from the hops when in higher concentrations especially with Cascade

Some slight phenolic most likely hop derived.

Alcohol was a little bit on the hot side, and tended to make the finish bitterness slightly harsh.

Sorry Johno I am ambling a bit here on the negative points, but really it is a very well crafted beer,

All in all a pleasant way to way to celebrate the first "real" day of summer

 

[brettprevans]

#5 - Barra's Summer Wheat Beer
mate, great beer, i grabbed this without knowing what/whos it was. before i knew it..gone. didnt pick it as a wheat though. the bitterness made me think APA but it didnt taste like one. loved the Pacific Hallertau. simple recipe and great tastikg beer. great carbonation level. very little head though (could have been my glass).

its on my brew list. could be a summer staple.

Barra finally figured out what it reminded me of...Harvistouns Bitter & Twisted. Probably the very present Hallertau and bitterness. nice work.


#8 - Maples Irish Red
yeah ok lets move paast the colour. maybe chestnut than red. deep malt profile that hit the palate after the initial bitterness, then tailors off nicely. nice body. almost a m,eal of a beer. good head. Probably too warm (weather wise) for me to have drunk this, I would have enjoyed it a bit more if it was slightly cooler.

 

[Kleiny]

#5 Barramundi Wheat

great beer with a med hit of wheat malt great taste malty with a good balance for bitterness, was clear with great carb and a long lasting head
I really enjoyed this beer, but for a wheat i would really like to see a higher wheat flavour


#22 Leigh Pale ale

One of the best beer s in the swap Great work Leigh i thought this one was really well balanced, I would love keg of this on tap over xmas


#23 Johnno Pale ale

I thought this beer was more on the malty side with some lingering bitterness, My thoughts on this would be to up the late hop additions, A nice beer none the less. Good work Johnno




OK i have one Left Q's Saison im going to save it for xmas day (Q's head gets a little bigger)
No serious though i left this one till last because Q said on the wiki to wait for his go ahead so xmas day is the day no matter what.

Have a happy and safe xmas y'all

Kleiny

 

[Barramundi]

#5 Barramundi Wheat

great beer with a med hit of wheat malt great taste malty with a good balance for bitterness, was clear with great carb and a long lasting head
I really enjoyed this beer, but for a wheat i would really like to see a higher wheat flavour


Kleiny

funny , perhaps the hops have hidden the wheatyness as its 80% wheat , dunno

 

[Kleiny]

funny , perhaps the hops have hidden the wheatyness as its 80% wheat , dunno

You serious tasted nothin like the 60% wheats i make

what yeast did you use

Sorry just seen a belgian yeast was used, would explain why i didn't get the usual flavours/aromas because i use Wienstephen which gives Cloves/ Bubblegum as the norm with a definite wheat flavour.

Still a good beer with a definite difference

 

[Barramundi]

yeah well now that ya mention it could have had a lot to do with the yeast ...

 

[Leigh]

Thanks Kleiny. Seems my contribution is a love it or hate it one...I love it some days and hate it on others depending what I'm really after versus what is chilled in the fridge.

#2 Mark_M Summer Ale.

Quite pale in colour, nice head that lasted, good clean taste with some strongish spices (cinnamon?). A very drinkable beer that I found myself yet again looking for more when the bottle was empty. Top job Mark.

#3 Moonee Robust Porter. Will more than likely try this one tonight, but found that the bottle I got had a bad sealing lid so there is no carbonation. I think I read somebody else had this issue too?

 

[mark_m]

Morning fellow case swappers,

Time to break radio silence & actually post some feedback.

So far I've been enjoying a number of the beers, have kept sketchy notes but haven't posted, so here goes:

1 reg-golden ale, good beer Reg, golden ale is one of my preferred quaffing styles, this one certainly didn't disappoint. Clean & hoppy.

3 moonee - robust porter, full flavoured enjoyable r.p.

4 rook - pommie bitter, blurry notes on this one rook, tasted after robust porter which overpowered a bit (probably should have gone in reverse order).

5 barramundi - summer wheat, not a big wheat fan, but enjoyed this one, may have to explore the genre further

6 cummins - imperial alt, good malt backbone, with some flavour complexity I couldn't identify but enjoyed

7 chris taylor - mild, malty & good

8 maple - irish mbtr ale, agree more towards a brown, but a very enjoyable brown (ish) ale

9 hair of the dog - cumquat wheat, worth trying if only for the name. Per my notes "interesting & very drinkable"

10 superhero - belgian wit, another great beer, neither a big belgian nor wit drinker, but beers like this might swing me

11 fents - hallertau ale, a nice clean summer quaffer, enjoyed

14 mcook - belgian pale ale, again not a style I lean toward, but well crafted & enjoyable

That's it for now, I'll be off air now until mid Jan, off to the beach tomorrow for some sun (hopefully), beer (definitely - 7 kegs ready to keep the visitors happy) & snapper fishing (bagged out in 50 minutes on Friday night's trial run, so promises to be a good one).

Merry Christmas to all, thanks for the beer & may Santa bring you lots of brew toys.

Mark

 

[chris.taylor.98]

5 - Barra's Summer Wheat Beer

Great beer Barra, and really puts paid to the whole "wheat has to taste funky" debate. In fact would not have picked wheat in it if I had not seen the recipe.

Comes across as a very good Belgian Blond Ale.

Spicy esters in the aroma, bit of noticeable malt.

More esters in the flavour and some very pleasing malt to balance it out.

Some noticeable alcohol but not hot.

Some noticeable bitterness in the finish.

Definitely has that Westmalle thing going on with the 3787.

 

[Wardhog]

22 - Leigh - Pale ale.

Another really good APA. Clear as a bell, tons of hop flavour, and slightly lesser aroma. Good job.

I don't know if it's what I had for dinner, but I'm left with a slightly sour taste in my mouth. Anyone else get that, or does lasagne throw the tastebuds out?

 

[Wardhog]

Too late to edit, but this is part 2 of Leigh's Pale Ale.

That sour taste just got worse as the beer warmed up. I can't really put a name to it, but it made me tip the rest. Maybe someone else has come across that before and can give it a name.