Vic Xmas In July 2008 Tasting Thread

[chris.taylor.98]

Ok here are my last 2

24. Leigh's Golden Ale

Definitely golden, slightly hazy.

Nice balance of hops and malt in aroma, very fruity with hint of pears.

Fairly balanced with less appreciable hop flavour then suggested in the aroma.

Slightly harsh in the finish which is really accentuating the bitterness. May have finished a little bit on the low side, also would be better with a little bit more body to round it out.


23 Moonee - Oak Butt Brown Ale

Some caramel. slight hops (english), good english malt character. Well balanced with slight nutty flavour coming from the malt. Slightly dry in the finish.

Again this is one of those beers that really gets better as it warms up.

Very pleasant way to finish off the day.


As for top 3 my votes go to:

3 for 21. superhero - Milk stout
2 for 2. Fents - Some sort of US Lager
1 for 6. Andreic - Irish Dry Stout

(this is mainly showing my bias towards stouts, so from a more objective viewpoint Fents beer probably would come out on top)

Cheers to all, and thanks for the great case.

 

[Leigh]

Started on the case tonight.

First up was Hutches London (not the) Best Bitter. Drank it straight from the shed so was just under 10 degrees. Poured with a little less head than I would like from a pommie style beer (probably asking too much without a "widget"), but having been in the UK just last year, this beer took me straight back there. And it just got better as the bottle was drained. Not many "Real Ales" that I've had from the tap in the UK are as good as this one. Lovely, clean crisp taste with a nice english style strong aftertaste (is that the hops lingering?).

Great beer that would put many english beers to shame. Well done Hutch.

 

[Hutch]

16. DoppelBrewer - Helles Bock

Nice subtle alcohol, towards the low end for a Bock, slight haze (not sure if it's chill or yeast).
Perfect carbonation, and lovely bronze colour.
Nice biscuity sweet malt character - Munich is such a great malt isn't it!
Low hop aroma, medium to low bitterness, some lingering higher alcohols and fusels suggesting minor fermentation issues. Not sure which of the two batches I got ("10" was written on the bottle) whether it was the 2206 or the S-23 (only ever made this style with 2206 myself, which has a very similar yeast profile to yours). Perhaps it could do with a bigger yeast pitching, lower temp, and longer lager (2-3 months). These big beers take quite some time to clean up, but it's well worth it.

Overall a fine beer, perfect on a cold mid-winter night.
Cheers DoppelBrewer.

 

[Leigh]

3. Harold - Very nice drop! Great malty taste. Took me three or four mouthfuls to adjust to the bitterness, but am now looking for another bottle!

 

[Leigh]

8. Chris - Weizenbock

Was not expecting a beer this sweet! Is this typical of the style? Certainly can taste the bubblegum and clove flavours mentioned by somebody else.

 

[chris.taylor.98]

8. Chris - Weizenbock

Was not expecting a beer this sweet! Is this typical of the style? Certainly can taste the bubblegum and clove flavours mentioned by somebody else.

This beer actually finished too low for the style (from 1.075 down to 1.014), but it did have some cane sugar in it. My theory is that you can actually taste the cane sugars residual flavour, and it comes across as tasting sweet.

Also weizen style is very low hopped ( only 17 IBU in this one ) so the balance is towards the sweetness, but the weizen yeast is supposed to provide some counter-balance.

If you want to try a good commercial example of this style go and get a Schneider - Aventinus.

 

[Wardhog]

Aaaand lucky last - 5. Hutch - Best Bitter

I found this to be an excellent bitter, but a little low on carbonation. Never having been over to the old Dart to experience CAMRA-approved stuff - I know English bitters are supposed to be low carbonation, and maybe my expectations of what 'low carbonation' is are wrong, but it made it a little harder to drink.

Outside of that, it is everything that I would want in a bitter. Heaps of great flavours abound - another great beer.

 

[Leigh]

1. Peels - Kinda Porter

After getting used to this beer (hadn't had a porter before), I really enjoyed it. Went down well on a cold Melbourne evening. Nice caramel and coffee flavours and an enjoyable aftertaste.

 

[andreic]

22. Quintrex/Voota - Coffee Stout Vootas

I got the PET bottle version. Very dark brown/black in colour with brown head. Smells of chocolate, vanilla and coffee. Tastes fairly roasty and has a strong, drying slightly bitter coffee finish. The coffee is fairly prominent at first but by the end I decided it was not too much (I'm not sure I would have liked the massive coffee version as much though). It went down pretty nicely - another good stout from the case.

cheers, Andrei

 

[Quintrex]

22. Quintrex/Voota - Coffee Stout Vootas

I got the PET bottle version. Very dark brown/black in colour with brown head. Smells of chocolate, vanilla and coffee. Tastes fairly roasty and has a strong, drying slightly bitter coffee finish. The coffee is fairly prominent at first but by the end I decided it was not too much (I'm not sure I would have liked the massive coffee version as much though). It went down pretty nicely - another good stout from the case.

cheers, Andrei

I Mucked up the mash temperature for this, I was aiming for 66oC but only hit 63oC which really made it far too dry for how roasty/coffee flavoured it is. If I was doing this beer again I'd definitely aim for more body and I think it'd be much more enjoyable.

 

[Leigh]

6. Andreic - Irish Dry Stout

I'm not really a stout drinker, never have been, but I really like the roasty flavours in this one. Another good beer!

 

[Fents]

So i put # 7 and # 4 in the fridge last night. look on the list and suprise suprise its roycie (HOTD) and rookstar. troys first.. ripped me off mate i only got a 600ml GLASS bottle. fix up would ya. hahahaha good beer though but you knew that. i tasted this beer real early on befor the swap and i can tell you now its improved a fair bit. i'm really happy with it and so should you be even if you are a vadooch..

your up after dinner sir rook from tullarook who dosnt mind a rook before bed.

 

[Leigh]

2. Fents - Some sort of US Lager

I was a bit worried with this one when I poured a glass...looked like dirty dish water rather than a beer. Had a quick look around for some lime, but having read the comments on here, decided I should try without.

Anyway, lovely beer with nice malty tones, and subtle hop flavours making it a really well rounded beer.

Apart from the colour, I though it tasted more like a German Pils than a US Lager...

Beautiful beer and one that I might try to replicate when I go AG.

 

[Fents]

Intresting on the colour Leigh..so you mean the actual beer looked bad or the head wasnt bright white? cause that was one of the clearest beers i've made if i remember correct, must have been a bad bottle sorry mate. Will do better on the next one.

edit - looking back on the posts it seems it sufferd bad from chill haze...

Wook - cracked your premiership ale and guess what (did end up having it the other night)...its flat! no premiership for you this year old mate. hehehe just kidding it wasnt half bad...not totally flat, drinkable flat and i really like what im tasting so biggups.

 

[andreic]

16. DoppelBrewer - Helles Bock

First glass was ruby red to brown, nice almost white head, medium carbonation, very slight haze. Aroma was mostly malty - biscuity and some caramel. There was also some sweet alcohol. Tasted rather malty as per aroma and lots of warming alcohol. It has a creamy texture. Mmm... I liked it.

My wife said it smelled of almond biscuits and butterscotch. She also thought it was fairly bitter. She said it reminded her a little of armagnac.

My second glass looked like mud! It was a very cloudy grey with lots of particles. It still tasted great but I think I've just drunk a crap load of break material (or maybe yeast?)...

I really liked this beer apart from the 2nd glass not looking too pretty.

cheers, Andrei

 

[nick_lavender]

Hey,

So I've just finished the swap beers and decided to make the difficult choice of electing some favorites...

I really enjoyed almost all of them but my top three (from memory) were:

Superhero - Milkstout, Chris Taylor -Weizenbock, Fents - US Lager.

Well done, thanks for the great beers!

 

[Leigh]

Intresting on the colour Leigh..so you mean the actual beer looked bad or the head wasnt bright white? cause that was one of the clearest beers i've made if i remember correct, must have been a bad bottle sorry mate. Will do better on the next one.

edit - looking back on the posts it seems it sufferd bad from chill haze...

Wook - cracked your premiership ale and guess what (did end up having it the other night)...its flat! no premiership for you this year old mate. hehehe just kidding it wasnt half bad...not totally flat, drinkable flat and i really like what im tasting so biggups.

Yeah, a little chill haze, but the colour freaked me out initially (hence the lime comment)...I have never consumed a beer so pale that tasted so good! Kudos to you.

I've had Rooks beer sitting in a nice warm place since I took charge of it, and it's gone from being a soft bottle to being quite firm. Anybody who has any left, I'd recommend stirring up the sediment and letting it sit in a warm spot for a few weeks. I'll give it another week of carbing before cracking it open.

 

[Hutch]

I've had Rooks beer sitting in a nice warm place since I took charge of it, and it's gone from being a soft bottle to being quite firm. Anybody who has any left, I'd recommend stirring up the sediment and letting it sit in a warm spot for a few weeks.

+1.

Mine was almost flat in the fridge, so I took it out, gave it a jiggle, and kept inside for 2 weeks. Only slightly undercarbed after doing this.
And an excellent beer too, if memory serves me correctly!

...just realised I never posted a review of this beer Rook.

4. Rook - American Amber Ale

My memory is very blurred, but I recall it was well balanced, nice amber and crystal malt flavours, well balanced earthy hops (Willamette is a bit more English than American I reckon). Good clean fermentation, slightly hazy (like my memory!). In fact I was surprised to see that you had used US-05, as it was very clean indeed, contrary to my recent experiences with US-05.

...This is not doing justice to it Rook - I remember REALLY liking this beer.

A Premiership effort - Go Cattas!

 

[haysie]

Finally had a shot at a few tallies after a hard day,

Andre`s stout, was really good, enjoyed too the last mouth full.

Chris`s weizenbock, clean clean pilsner clean, no where near enough "weizen" for me, horses of course, this is probably the cleanest beer i have i drunk thus far (out of 6) very enjoyable.

All in all, 2 great beers.
Thanks Chris Thanks Andreic

:blink: Must have been a hard day! I visited the "case" this afternoon, 11 left. Hmmm which ones will i try, p/up 2 low and behold NUMBER 8 IS ONE OF THEM :blink: Apologies Chris.

No wonder there was no weizen :lol: , no idea what it was That i did drink. but this REAL number 8 IS the real deal, great beer, a lil sweet, a lil alcoholy, the alchohol thing is probably too style? I like it! Ticks all the boxes ala the milkstout.

ps, what/who/was #7, thats next.

Nevertheless I am still :lol: about this previous post.

Haysie


ps, when fishing eildon, look me up fellas, happy to bring the quinny along.

 

[Leigh]

9. Barramundi - One grain One Hop Ale

Having read others comments about this one, and having had a hard days work in the yard, I thought I'd give it the test.

Sensational hard yakka beer! Innoffensive maltiness with nice bitterness. Very simple, but at the same time very flavoursome. 9/10 in my eyes!

This is definately in my top 3 beers of the swap so far! :icon_cheers: