Vic Xmas Case Swap 2010 - Tasting

[seemax]

9. Seemax - Galactic Casarillo Ale
Pretty cloudy, but a nice pale orange colour. Have a smell, and as they say in the ads "The Citra really Hits-ya" (boom, tish). Firm bitterness, lots of hops flavour. A good beer, mate. You should have brought this one along to Brewshare the other night.

It was unusually cloudy out of the esky, post boil and after fermentation. I chilled it at 2C for 3 days and nothing. It was also my maiden attempt at using Nottingham for an APA... I think it's turned out nicely.

1. Chris - saison
Cider? Wine? Champagne? Something in between... quite refreshing but I think it really need more bubbles.

2. Zebba - APA
As I said before, very good!

3. WarmBeer
My 1st BIPA and what a delight. The very subtle roastiness works so well with the hop bite , a real winner!!

5. mxd - ESB
Nice , very nice ... more pls?

 

[MeLoveBeer]

16. Siborg - 80/-

Perfectly carbonated with good head retention and lacing right to the end. The beer itself is nicely balanced with a malty backbone and just enough EKG. For the style, the clarity and colour are good with a nice reddish hue. I really enjoyed this and could be brewing this recipe before too long...

Edit: added the brew number

 

[donmateo]

5. mxd ESB
Nice beer. Pretty well balanced I thought. The only thing I'd say is it could have had a bit more of that malt character - caramel or meybe toffee. That would have really topped it off
Enjoyed this.

1. Chris - Saison
Interesting one. Haven't tried many of this style, but this was nice.

19. Haysie American Brown
Nice beer - full flavour and body, nice rich chocolaty malt - plenty of hops.
Went down well today in the cooler weather.

 

[WarmBeer]

16. Siborg - Scottish 80/

A little chill haze, but probably my fault for not taking it out of the fridge a half hour beforehand. Initially thought this was going to be undercarbed, but the lacing has been consistent through the whole glass, and mouthfeel is great.

Something about the aroma makes me screw my nose up a little, but whether this is from the yeast, the hops or the particular malt, I'm not familiar enough with the style to be sure.

Taste is Fantastic with a capital F! Malty, some raisin, smooth, and with a long lasting bitterness.

This is a great tasting beer, and reckon that a 70/ or 60/ recipe based on this would be a great all-night session beer.

Well done!

 

[Fourstar]

16. Siborg - Scottish 80/
A little chill haze, but probably my fault for not taking it out of the fridge a half hour beforehand. Initially thought this was going to be undercarbed, but the lacing has been consistent through the whole glass, and mouthfeel is great.
Something about the aroma makes me screw my nose up a little, but whether this is from the yeast, the hops or the particular malt, I'm not familiar enough with the style to be sure.
Taste is Fantastic with a capital F! Malty, some raisin, smooth, and with a long lasting bitterness.
This is a great tasting beer, and reckon that a 70/ or 60/ recipe based on this would be a great all-night session beer.
Well done!

Had this lastnight and everything you have said WB, resonates with me too (ecept for the nose screwup, thats probably the peaty/earthy aromas you get from the scottish yeast). If its the case, the yeast selecdtion really makes this interesting siborg. Me likey very much!



On another note, mine should be ready to go!( the bottle ive got at home is quite firm and the keg tastes ok and seems fully carbed). Drink now if you want it 'brewery fresh'*, leave a fortnight if you want to drink it bright.

* this is your choice, i have no preference. A recommendation from one of the readings was the best examples where bright/well handled by the best 'cellar masters' but the typical stock version was served fresh and somewhat cloudy.

 

[Siborg]

16. Siborg - 80/-

Perfectly carbonated with good head retention and lacing right to the end. The beer itself is nicely balanced with a malty backbone and just enough EKG. For the style, the clarity and colour are good with a nice reddish hue. I really enjoyed this and could be brewing this recipe before too long...

Edit: added the brew number

16. Siborg - Scottish 80/

A little chill haze, but probably my fault for not taking it out of the fridge a half hour beforehand. Initially thought this was going to be undercarbed, but the lacing has been consistent through the whole glass, and mouthfeel is great.

Something about the aroma makes me screw my nose up a little, but whether this is from the yeast, the hops or the particular malt, I'm not familiar enough with the style to be sure.

Taste is Fantastic with a capital F! Malty, some raisin, smooth, and with a long lasting bitterness.

This is a great tasting beer, and reckon that a 70/ or 60/ recipe based on this would be a great all-night session beer.

Well done!

Had this lastnight and everything you have said WB, resonates with me too (ecept for the nose screwup, thats probably the peaty/earthy aromas you get from the scottish yeast). If its the case, the yeast selecdtion really makes this interesting siborg. Me likey very much!

Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale. Fermented at around 17, but accidently let this one go up to 19 for a day. From what I hear there is a phenolic in this yeast that develops that peaty/earthy more and more over time. I just got the keg back from maple that I did for ANHC which was my first go at this style, and it definitely has more of that character in there.

Glad you guys enjoyed it. I'm still not familiar with any commercial examples, but I think I'll have to go and find some as I'm really getting into this style.

I'm planning on having a crack at a stronger Scotch Ale version and modding that as a base recipe, but a 60/ or 70/ version may be good too for some session drinking as you suggested, WB.

Grabbed a bunch of swap beers at random from my crate last night and fridged em, so gonna knock back a few back now. Will report back soon

 

[Siborg]

14. Don Mateo - Hefeweizen

Ahhh shit. I just read "Open after 4 Dec".

Oh well I've poured it and I'm drinking it. It is carbonated, but definitely should have left this. Has that characteristic "hefe" flavour I've come to expect from this style, while not being as overpowering as some of the commercial examples I've had. Getting some banana flavours.

F**K! This is a nice beer. I'm just bitching that I didn't check if it was RTD before I opened and poured it. Like I said in my last post, I just grabbed a few at random. Sorry mate, probably didn't do your hefe any justice by drinking early. Another week or so and this will be a fantastic beer. It's already showing signs of its potential.

 

[pk.sax]

I've been giving his bottle time as well, but my own hefe (which I brought to the swap to drink) was the same yeast and carbed in 4 days from bottling. Don't worry Simon.
PS: Actually, In all I've heard first hand and read about this yeast (schneider weiss), its best as fresh as possible.

 

[Siborg]

1. Chris Taylor - Saison

Not too familiar with this style, but here's what I got from it last night:

Noticed some citrus flavours and aromas with some moderate alcohol flavour. Very bright beer with a nice white head on it. I must say, I quite enjoyed this one. Carbonation levels where moderate to high. Possibly a little higher for this style? Did I drink this too early?

 

[donmateo]

16. Siborg - Scottish 80
This one was an easy choice, have been shivering at work all day
and this looked just the medicine.
Pours nicely clear with a good lasting head.
Love the aroma - nice and malty, sweet, some caramel.
Good clean taste, soft and subtle. nice low carbonation.
The only thing i'd say is that I think the malt flavours
could have been a touch more prominant.
The malt flavour is good, but after such a great aroma, I got
left expecting a little more from the flavour.
In any case it was delicious, enjoyed this thoroughly.
Could certainly have another couple.

 

[Fourstar]

20. Shimple - Punxsatawney Porter

Was as tight as a nuns nasty before chilling (PET brick) so i burped it to drop the carbonation somewhat. a porter should never be sparkling.

first aroma i get is juniper... A Juniper phenolic, very strange. Infact smelling side by side w/juniper is almost identical. you didnt doctor this with gin did you!?!

Mild roast undetones and some sharp alochol. The juniper aromas are getting me confused with US hops, somewhat piney but the medicnal aromas mask the hops. i also get abit of bubblegum.

Toast, roast and more gin on the palate. Some dark fruit flavours detectable. moderate to high carbonation with a dry finish. Interesting.

I have an inkling there is something fishy going on in this beer. The phenolics (gin, juniper, medicinal) are typically related to an infection of some sort. Kind of a bummer as i can tell the malt profile is there, just masked alot by the medicnal flavours.

Bummer dude.

 

[mxd]

19. Haysie American Brown

served at cellar temp, low to no head, nice malty choc aroma, nice and dark but it's clear not murky. Some roasty, choc flavours, got the bitterness, a little of the bitterness on stays on the roof of the mouth, over all great beer. Really enjoying this, well done as always.

 

[MeLoveBeer]

Must be the night for American browns...

19. Haysie American Brown

Nice resilient low compact head and tons of roasty chocolately goodness. Perhaps a little bitter for me personally, but I think the boldness suits the style. I'd imagine that this would be amazing with a month of cellar time and think it'd be an great colder weather beer.

 

[WarmBeer]

2. Zebba - APA

First sniff is very piney, very appealing, in a US type of way.

A little cloudy, even at "cellar temperature", maybe due to the wheat? It certainly helped the head retention, which stays consistent through the whole glass.

Taste is sharp hoppiness up front, again, that piney-ness from the hops coming through. Plenty of hop taste, nicely balanced by the malt. The maltiness is very complex, possibly a little too sweet, rather than clean, but I believe this probably due to the base malt being Vienna rather than Trad Ale. Very full mouthfeel.

I'm really surprised to see it was dry hopped with Amarillo, as I can't pick it, it tastes/smells like all "C"-hops to me.

A good American-styled beer. Just either tune down the biscuit, or use Ale malt instead of Vienna next time to provide a cleaner mouthfeel.

 

[mxd]

6. Vitalstatistix - AIPA

almost Ruby in colour, low off white heat, great citrus aroma, medium high carbonation, full mouth feel, great citrus flavor, unbelievable it's ibu is 92, it's so well balanced, it's not high on the bitterness, I love it, even worse my wife will drink it. As it warms up there is a little after taste on the roof of the mouth, for a 7% beer it doesn't have the hotness of the alcohol.

I will be attempting this one at some stage, it's great. Well done and thank you.



I was lucky enough to have a Brendo and Zebba high hopped (10 to 15 g of hop per litre) beer on swap day and now this, it's like wow, I can see why my AIPA was only a 90.

 

[haysie]

zebba #2
maybe a tad overcarbed going to the jug, after a bit of settling the glass is pouring ok, i love the hops surprise surprise, the bitterness doesnt quite balance ,i.e i was expecting a little more pleasant palate cleansing, but the mouthfeel was too full and thick. It could be better with a drier more attentuated finish which in turn would balance things out a bit more,and I would be upping the ibu`s a lot more to match. Good beer nonetheless, clean ferment and a bottle thats empty.
Thx Zebba
edit, checked out the recipe, suggestion lower mash temp, dump all that medium crystal for some carapils.

#7 Love it, aroma is toffee biscuit, taste is hmmm but hasnt got a bubble in it. Serve an awesome beer flat.. no one will drink it.Then again....................
It was great, clean, a little too sweet but that was as things warmed up. Not sure of if any... style but I didnt like the no carb thing. I love this beer and am still tasting ambers and crystals when maybe they shouldnt be so dominant, I reckon you did a super job on this beer.......... i can taste good brewer.

 

[MeLoveBeer]

#7 Love it, aroma is toffee biscuit, taste is hmmm but hasnt got a bubble in it. Serve an awesome beer flat.. no one will drink it.Then again....................
It was great, clean, a little too sweet but that was as things warmed up. Not sure of if any... style but I didnt like the no carb thing. I love this beer and am still tasting ambers and crystals when maybe they shouldnt be so dominant, I reckon you did a super job on this beer.......... i can taste good brewer.

Shattered about the lack of carb Haysie... will bring another (carbed) bottle for you at the next Melbourne Brewers meeting.

 

[Leigh]

11. Cocko - Dark APA

Pours dark as you'd expect from an APA :huh: nice head that dissipates slowly to a thin foam, hoppy freshness on the nose with hints of citrus. Into the mouth and it tastes like an APA (sort of), over the tongue and the malty hoppy burst leaves a pleasant reminder of the beer.

An interesting beer that I really enjoyed.

 

[Cocko]

11. Cocko - Dark APA

Pours dark as you'd expect from an APA :huh: nice head that dissipates slowly to a thin foam, hoppy freshness on the nose with hints of citrus. Into the mouth and it tastes like an APA (sort of), over the tongue and the malty hoppy burst leaves a pleasant reminder of the beer.

An interesting beer that I really enjoyed.

Cheers for the feedback Leigh, glad you drank it!


I nearly went with the style name 'Beer' - I am sure it would be tasted differently if I had of now.... Its an APA recipe with some darker malts for colour so was confused on title...


I will be 'heavily' in to the case this weekend so will report back on all tasted as they are consumed!

Cheers!

 

[zebba]

Great feedback haysie, thanks.

MXD, ESB.
First glass poured crystal clear, with a fluffy head. A lot more carbed than other ESB's I've had, but that would be the only negative I could pick. Loved the combination of fuggles and styrian. For some reason, this beer reminded me of the old days, sucking back cans on the bank of the snowy river, line dangling in the water but no intention of actually catching anything. That's a good thing.