Vic Xmas Case Swap 2010 - Tasting

[haysie]

#5
A little sharp on alc, no caramel or english yeast character that defines the style.
Outside of the style, it was well made, 35 ibu on the label is darn thereabouts. At first taste after the alc thing, I thought yum yum lawn mower beer. Luckily I havent got a big lawn otherwise this would have me in bed early. Fuggles? higher mash temp, a proven english yeast and some british crystal will kill it.
It was a nice beer, no evident problems and well done big fella.
Thx Matt.

 

[haysie]

How's that cali common going haysie? I wanna try that. I reckon I might just attach my carbonater cap and gas these ones up that are a bit flat.

I had to edit the post mate, the bottle still has a bit of squeeze about it

 

[mxd]

9. Seemax - Galactic Casarillo Ale
golden colour, small tight head, cloudy, maybe a little over carbed, good aroma, good balance, good beer thanks



Thanks every one for the comments about mine, I will not start again on my ESB and take the great advice here, cheers all

 

[haysie]

#6
I was always wary of this one being 92 ibu, a complex malt bill and an even more complex hop bill, did i like it? No.
Can only think how good this would be with another month or 2. As bitter as an ex wife, hop profile says boom boom boom, I would have liked more finishing hops. Its clean, its out there, and a worthy contribution. On the downside, a fair bit of grassiness is evident and the bitterness is too extreme even for style, under attentuated gave me a thick mouthfeel with a sweet aftertaste on the palate, lacks malt taste. Afterall that..... it was just too bitter.
Thx


edit 3 to go

 

[Leigh]

How carbed was the beer in the first place Leigh? I have found you lose a bit thru headspace but if the beer is as cold as ice and carbed to the level you want, all should be good. I have had a few issues when first purchasing a CPBF i.e beer in eyes hair face and roof. It took me a while to grasp it, the tip I can offer is get the beer down to near ice 2deg and chill your bottles.

Was carbed up just right straight from the keg and everything was icy cold. I think I need more practice with the cpbf...some would fill with a lot of froth and others would be filled with beer. I made sure all ended up filled with beer, but I suspect my inability to use the cpbf has contributed.

Anyway, onto the next beer:

16. Siborg - Scottish 80/

Another great beer in this swap, quit drinkable at room temperature with plenty of carbonation. Slight hop bitterness, and lovely rich maltiness with a little roast at the end.

Well done Simon

 

[Siborg]

17. Leigh - Irish Red
Cracked this one last night. Had a strange aroma and smell, possibly yeast? (what did you use?)

Carbonation was minimal, but notable enough to form a decent head. The carbonation gave a smooth mouth feel, which sort of reminded me of kilkenny, with a tad more carbonation.

It was a very thick, malty, roasty full-bodied brew. I quite enjoyed it and the yeast aroma smell wasn't unpleasant, but still something I couldn't quite place.

Possibly a little too sweet, as it left a bit of a cloying feeling. Was still overall enjoyable. Really enjoying the home-brewed versions of this style lately. Might have to give it a go myself.

 

[mxd]

7 Leigh irish red, sorry mate no carbonation here, had a good flavour etc..

 

[WarmBeer]

12. Beersatan - Jaggery Pale Ale

Poured with an awesome, 2 inch high, off-white head that hung around for the whole glass. Seriously, this thing was like an art installation, it was that stable.

A little bit of diacetyl in the aroma, but it's not too bad, and just makes me think it's going to be rich and malty.

Pretty cloudy, which persists through the entire glass, clearing up a little after letting the beer warm up to just below room temp at the end of the 2nd glass.

Taste is very bitter, but also flavourful. Maybe lacking a bit of complexity, and definitely balanced more towards bitterness. Carbonation is just right. Maybe try toning down the quantity of 60 minute hops, or adding more caramel malts, of various lovibond, to balance it out. I couldn't detect the Jaggery sugar, but it might just be me.

Good effort, just needs some refinement. Thanks Beersatan.

 

[donmateo]

17. Leigh - Irish Red Ale (Better Red than Dead)
Loved every bit of this beer
Reminded me of some of the (3 ravens) cask conditioned
beers I've tried off the handpump at lambsgobarr.
Loved the subtle english hops, nice malt character, bit of crystal.
This beer was gone well before the sandwich I was eating it with.

 

[Siborg]

7 Leigh irish red, sorry mate no carbonation here, had a good flavour etc..

Hey matt. Was that Leigh's (17) or MLB's (7)?

 

[mxd]

Pretty sure it had a 7

 

[haysie]

#8
Not familiar with this "common" type beer :lol: Is it named for Collingwood supporters and residents of Heidelberg West
After deciding a few days days ago not to open this due to a little squeeze in the bottle. I opened it to accompany some fresh calamari I caught during the week in the bay, hot panned garnished with lime n chilli.
This beer didnt let things down, poured well, carb is just right.....phewww!. A wee bit cloudy? maybe the low floc yeast. Nice soft velvety mouthfeel, nothing big in bitterness or hops (is it a bit earthy in the finish?), very nice toasty biscuit maltiness. Tasted about my preferred alc% med>norm. Everything seemed well balanced. A real quaffable beer. The warm dregs of the jug did have that earthy taste for mine which I dont mind at all. It went down a treat with lunch.
Thx and well done Fourstar

 

[Leigh]

Cracked another spare of mine on the weekend, lots of carbonation. Given it was force carbed, I'm putting it down to inability to use a CPBF. Sorry guys.

Onto more tastings:

14. Don Mateo - Hefeweizen

An excellent example of a Hefe, great head, good mouthfeel, lots of banana and the wheat malt flavours. Unfortunately (for me) neither bananas nor wheat beers are to my liking.


20. Shimple - Punxsatawney Porter

While the example I got was hugely overcarbed (to the point that the lid and base of the bottle were bulging), I experienced no medicinal flavours that others had. If anything, it was quite acidic (probably due to the high carbonation), but otherwise this was a great porter that we enjoyed down to the end of the bottle.


3. WarmBeer - Zulu Sioux

Another dark AIPA. I'm really enjoying these. Poured with a great head, subtle hop aroma. Into the mouth it's all malt, over the tongue a brilliant hop burst. If anything, I'd pull the hops back slightly to achieve a better balance. Brilliant beer Brett.


6. Vitalstatistix - AIPA

Poured with a 1 inch head, beautiful hoppy aroma, nice balance on the tongue, but over the tongue the hops were too much. Have to agree with others that this one is definately not balanced. I did enjoy this beer, but it could do with some fine tuning.


OK, That's me done now. What a terrific batch of swaps, and having the low number of 15 made it really manageable.

For mine, I can't split two beers for "Best of Swap", Haysie's American Brown and Cocko's Dark APA. Special mention goes to MXD's ESB and 4* Kentucky Common. I will be attempting all four of these beers at some point in the future.

And thank you to all swappers for what has been a great swap.

 

[Fourstar]

#8
Not familiar with this "common" type beer :lol: Is it named for Collingwood supporters and residents of Heidelberg West

Nope, that would be woodstock or bulleit bourbon common. :lol:

Glad you enjoyed, funny about the yeast with this one as 1469 is supposed to be an excellent floccer. The last of the keg blew on the weekend and was poring quite bright although i have noticed a few of the extra bottles still seem dusty, maybe 2/3 of a bottle has dropped bright.

Hops where US Goldings so shold be floral like EKG. I wonder what the issue was with the bulk priming as the keg was primed in the same manner and also had 1/2 the vessel of headspace with perfect carbonation. At this point you seem to be the onlyone with decent CO2 volumes. Atleast you got the good one! B)

Cheers!

 

[zebba]

Had both cockos DAPA and siborgs 80/-. Both great beers. Both pick of the swap for me so far. No notes I'm afraid, as they were drank whilst slaving away in the kitchen. They hit the spot damn fine though. Well done.

 

[haysie]

#9

Having recently belted out a few "try clones" of stone and wood. The galaxy was right on me, the hop combination has produced a very nice beer. Has a BIG fluffy pillowy head, almost too big. Not the best in appearance, very cloudy. I would like a little more upfront malt, insaying that its a very hoppy beer and to rob peter to pay paul maybe detriment to what you are trying to achieve. I really enjoyed down to the last drop and with a few minor tweeks this beer is certainly a winner. Well done and thx Seemax

edit 2 to go... 16 and 20

 

[donmateo]

6. Vitalstatistix - AIPA
Wow, talk about being smacked over the head with a hop sock.
Great aroma - fresh passionfruit and pine
Pretty impressive and solid depth to the hop flavour,
Hops are assertive and dominant, but somehow I don't find them
overpowering (meybe due to the high ABV?)
Have to say I really enjoyed this beer - one of the few highly
hopped beers where I would not have to think very hard to have a second.

 

[donmateo]

#14
[...]
edit. mine was in a Manticle bottle? Right beer yeah? ^_^

Yep - I admit I'm a slackarse when it comes to cleaning the _outside_ of bottles

 

[haysie]

#16
Talk about saving the best for last, or near last. This is an absolute cracker, pours reddish amber, cloudy/hazy. Wafts of malt are so inviting, no initial bitterness or hop character to speak of because this beer is so rounded. Lace until the end of the glass. A real chewy mouthfeel of I want more. This is superb beer Siborg. Well Done

edit 1 to go #20

 

[donmateo]

8. Fourstar - Kentucky Common Mk II
Got home and realized I forgot to chill down some more bottles
so I dropped this one in the freezer for as long as I could wait
which was about 20 minutes.
Great aroma, some nice sweet malt.
Full body, and smooth - really smooth, touch of caramel.
Low carbonation - this one also reminds me of some delicious cask conditioned
ales I've tried.
Glad I didn't chill this one right down, cause the flavours
really deserve to be let loose.
Lordy Lordy...
Loved it.


Have to say I'm wrapped at the standard of the case swap this time round.
For me this has easily been the stand out swap i've participated in.