White Rabbit White Ale

[Screwtop]

Tried it tonight for the first time. Liked it, well crafted. Would swing between WRWA and Ferel White, depending upon time of year and mood. Great Beer!

Screwy

 

[MattC]

I had it on tap a couple of months ago at the Little Creatures Dining hall in Melb. Loved it. it was the last beer i had, then we had to leave. Not happy, shouldve started with it. Cant wait to find it somewhere up here..

C'mon Screwy, whip us up a clone recipe eh?

Cheers

 

[///]

Well, am hoping by this weekend I have have on tap my 4 kegs of said beer @HArtspub. The last batch was awesome, they had better not disappoint!

(Sung to 101 green bottles o the wall) 4 kegs of LCW kegs in the cellar, 4 kegs of LCW kegs in the cellar, if one were to accidentally blow out ....

 

[kieran]

Not at all. The open fermenters are in a pressure-positive room with HEPA filtered sterile air pumped in.

So what is the point of an open ferment then?

I get why you're going positive pressure and hepa filtered sterile air.. but I think the nature of the open ferment is to through a little caution to the wind and to allow your own natural selection happen over time in successive brews.. It will definately change the flavour of your beer, until the fermentation flora settles to an equilibrium, but that is the nature of open fermentation as I understand it.

By going positive pressure and hepa filtering, you know that (a) no bugs are going to waft in through the door or any cracks in seals that your fermenter is in, and that (B) any air that is pumped into the room to maintain positive pressure is clean to the point of 'bubble boy' clean. I completely understand why you're doing that. Consistency from day one, using the yeast you want, to give the flavour you want, and avoiding any bacterial contamination.. But in essense, you are doing a closed fermentation, no? On a macro scale.

 

[Kai]

I see your point and indeed there are two fundamentally different ways you can look at open fermentation. There's 'open fermentation' in the sense of open and exposed and establishing a house culture of sorts, or 'open fermentation' involving the dynamics of a squat open vessel compared to a cylindro-conical fermenter and all the associated bits like top vs bottom cropping your yeast for repitching.

Besides, the room isn't as sterile as those fancy air filters would make it out. We're in there daily for cleaning, yeast cropping, pumpovers and so on and I have no allusions about my person being sterile or monocultural.

And one more thing, sure it'd be great having a go developing a real open house fermentation culture but the risks would almost always well outweigh any benefits. Wild yeasts and lactics and bugs, oh my! Beer doesn't handle that stuff as well as wine.

 

[Acasta]

sure it'd be great having a go developing a real open house fermentation culture but the risks would almost always well outweigh any benefits.

yeah! it'd suck to get a massive batch of 'weird' tasting beer, or inconsistent beer.

Keep up the good work!

 

[barfridge]

Kai: all you'd have to do is make sure the same person swims in the fermenter every day, and that they don't shower. I'm sure there would be plenty of volunteers for that job

 

[aaronpetersen]

Anyone care to suggest a recipe that might be slightly similar?

C'mon, some of you experienced brewers must have some idea of how to make something similar.

 

[white.grant]

I tried some on the weekend and have to say that I really enjoyed it, nice flavour profile, fresh and crisp on the palate. Should be particularly enjoyable once the weather has warmed up.

Cheers

Grant

 

[fcmcg]

Westgate home brewers did a bus trip there yesterday...( as well as Coldstream and Hargraves)
It was pretty fresh off the tap..some of the orange peel really stood out...compared to bottle version...the side by side comparison was draught won...
We were pretty lucky ,Josh , one of the brewers took us on a mini tour as he's mates with one of our members....and my god...we stood outside the sealed open ferment room ( yeah...THAT room) ...and where the filted air outlet was blowing out...YYYUUUMM...hop blast...it smelled brilliant ! Looked kinda cool too..
Anyway back on topic...nice beer...i also enjoyed their dark too !
I'll have to think about a recipe....
Cheers
Ferg

 

[Wolfy]

SWMBO's work Christmas party was at 'Windows By the Bay' earlier this evening, and of the very limited number of beers they had on the menu, both WR's White and Dark (bottled) ale were on the menu.

Having not sampled WR products before, still don't know if the White Ale was expected to taste how it was (or if I got an old, ill-treated or infected bottle). The appearance (was poured for me) very pale yellow/straw and very cloudy and it tasted nothing like any 'beer' I've sampled before. It was overly spritzy, fruity, sweet with no noticeable hop flavour or aroma with a predominant strange fruit salad that overpowered everything else. If it was something I brewed at home, I'd have dumped the batch thinking it was infected (or simply 'wrong' and not for my taste-buds), one of my (mega-swill drinking) dinner companions compared it to cheap cask wine and said he couldn't manage the after-taste.

The Dark Ale was much more to my liking, and it at least tasted like 'beer', however - while poured lovely dark-clear - I found the hop bitterness and aftertaste overpowering and harsh, with very little malt (which I expected due to the appearance) to balance it out. Mind you it was my 3rd beer of the night and sampled after my pork-belly main, so so it's something I'll have to try again before judging it too harshly.

 

[stakka82]

The Dark Ale was much more to my liking, and it at least tasted like 'beer', however - while poured lovely dark-clear - I found the hop bitterness and aftertaste overpowering and harsh, with very little malt (which I expected due to the appearance) to balance it out. Mind you it was my 3rd beer of the night and sampled after my pork-belly main, so so it's something I'll have to try again before judging it too harshly.

yeah i'm not the biggest fan of the white ale, but the dark is an absolute cracker.

initially i was surprised at the lack of maltiness, and a bit disappointed. but in my opinion after many more is that the hop aroma/taste/yeast produced flavours/whatever other goodness they put in gets to shine more with less malt contribution, contrasting with the red-ale like expectance of heavy malt flavour considering the color of it.

had a few and got one left in the fridge, great stuff!

 

[Nizmoose]

Massive thread dig up but just had one of these for the first time (mate bought me a six pack for my 21st), Loved the taste in the mouth but then found the after-taste a little bit basic or sodic is the only way I can describe it. Anyone else get that?

 

[thebigwilk]

Yeah was up that Healesville way a few weeks back, had their beers on tap the white and the dark, I was there with four other mates nobody wanted a second pot. Pretty surprising with all that bling equipment this is the best beer they can do. -_-

 

[Spiesy]

Yeah was up that Healesville way a few weeks back, had their beers on tap the white and the dark, I was there with four other mates nobody wanted a second pot. Pretty surprising with all that bling equipment this is the best beer they can do. -_-

Usually pretty decent beer, IMHO.

 

[Nizmoose]

Tbh I thought it tasted nice it was just the after taste, and I'm not heaps crazy with my beer pallet if I'm honest (only 21) so I normally drink from a corona to a squire golden ale and don't touch anything heavier but this white ale wasnt like anything I've ever tried before and it was kinda cool. Almost like a weak cidery hint to it lol it was just that after taste that I wasn't massive on, the same after taste as soda water.

 

[Spiesy]

Tbh I thought it tasted nice it was just the after taste, and I'm not heaps crazy with my beer pallet if I'm honest (only 21) so I normally drink from a corona to a squire golden ale and don't touch anything heavier but this white ale wasnt like anything I've ever tried before and it was kinda cool. Almost like a weak cidery hint to it lol it was just that after taste that I wasn't massive on, the same after taste as soda water.

Good on you for being honest.

If you haven't tried a Wit before, it certainly would taste odd. Wheat, Belgian yeast, coriander, Juniper berries and orange zest aren't usually associated with the likes of Corona and Squire's Golden Ale.

Personally, I enjoy a wit, particularly on a hot summer day. And generally speaking I wouldn't turn my nose up at a White Rabbit ale, be it White or Dark.

 

[panzerd18]

After seeing some marketing online, I decided to get a six pack.


Have to say it taste just like T-58 yeast. Its a dead ringer in my book to T-58.