Xmas in July Lotto

[Grott]

I'm stoked to be able to sample some of the Members beers.
I will give the best feed I can on my limited knowledge.

If Grott and mtb want to send me your addresses I'll post a sample of mine for organising it.

Happy hour starts now.

Received your QLD bitter today and now in the fridge, will report when consumed. Thanks as appreciated.
Loved the Xmas paper wrapping and Xmas card with brew details, excellent touch. Lol.

 

[mtb]

My feedback below is so detailed because I'm only writing it for two or three beers - the winners are by no means required to be this thorough in their own since they're receiving many more beers than I.

@abyss / Nick:

Got your Belgian Ale in the post a couple days ago, it's chilled in the fridge for 48hrs and I've just finished a glass.
Overall Impression: I really enjoyed drinking this. If I didn't I would be honest.. but probably PM you the feedback I'm very glad you sent a longneck because it means I can pour a second glass. Had you not told me it was an extract brew, I would've assumed it was all grain.
Clarity: bloody excellent, first thing I noticed was zero sediment in the bottle. Do you fine with gelatin - if not - how long was this in the keg before you bottled it? Do you use another fining if not gelatin? My bottle had commercial quality clarity.
Appearance: On the golden end of copper, which is just fine for the style. Head is fairly minimal, likely a symptom of bottling from the keg.
Flavour: Moderate malt flavour with light biscuit, lightly fruity, smooth. Light spicy flavours likely from the MJ Belgian Ale yeast. No off flavours present.
Mouthfeel: Medium body. Low carbonation - likely another symptom of bottling from the keg.

@BrockHops - your Dr Smurto's Golden Ale: Citra turned up today, I'll chill it and give it a go Sunday.

Both of your bottles of Hellion IPA will be posted this weekend.

 

[2cranky]

View attachment 107281 View attachment 107282 2cranky
I'm getting towards the bitter end of your Imperial IPA Crazy 8 and have never tasted anything quite like it.
Sending this to me was like feeding strawberrys to a pig.
Nice light head & colour,good carbing.
Heaps of aroma, fruit/passion/strawberry ? Earthiness and pleasant bittering.
Nice mild caramel malt flavour.
I see in your photo 9.8%, I bet you could make a mess of your mates with this beast.
I'd love to know which 8 hops you used but don't expect you to share which Kit.
Thanks for the experience.

Hey, thanks abyss
I'm only a new brewer with just over a dozen batches under my belt so it's nice to get the encouragement. Yeah it doesn't take long to get messy drinking this one. Surprisingly the ladies seem to like this beer as well. The numbers of hops is a bit of a gimmick but they seem to compliment each other or at least not offend each other.
Hops are:
Centennial
Cascade
Willamette
Amarillo gold
Mosaic
Simcoe
Citra
Riwaka

All grain recipe

Thanks for the review

 

[abyss]

My feedback below is so detailed because I'm only writing it for two or three beers - the winners are by no means required to be this thorough in their own since they're receiving many more beers than I.

@abyss / Nick:

Got your Belgian Ale in the post a couple days ago, it's chilled in the fridge for 48hrs and I've just finished a glass.
Overall Impression: I really enjoyed drinking this. If I didn't I would be honest.. but probably PM you the feedback I'm very glad you sent a longneck because it means I can pour a second glass. Had you not told me it was an extract brew, I would've assumed it was all grain.
Clarity: bloody excellent, first thing I noticed was zero sediment in the bottle. Do you fine with gelatin - if not - how long was this in the keg before you bottled it? Do you use another fining if not gelatin? My bottle had commercial quality clarity.
Appearance: On the golden end of copper, which is just fine for the style. Head is fairly minimal, likely a symptom of bottling from the keg.
Flavour: Moderate malt flavour with light biscuit, lightly fruity, smooth. Light spicy flavours likely from the MJ Belgian Ale yeast. No off flavours present.
Mouthfeel: Medium body. Low carbonation - likely another symptom of bottling from the keg.

@BrockHops - your Dr Smurto's Golden Ale: Citra turned up today, I'll chill it and give it a go Sunday.

Both of your bottles of Hellion IPA will be posted this weekend.

Glad you enjoyed it MTB
The yeast was Morgan's Premium ale 5th gen + O2 and no finnings. It was cold crashed 4 days and kegged for 10 days.
It had an ice cream like head from the keg.
Thanks for your feedback.

 

[mtb]

@BrockHops , got impatient and cracked your DSGA: Citra for lunch.
Overall Impression: Good beer, subbing Citra is a good choice for DSGA, I might give it a go soon myself.
Clarity: Moderately clear, had I chilled it longer I'd say it would've cleared further.
Appearance: 10mm persistent head, bit of lacing. Head retention is great, I'd like to know how you achieved that.
Flavour: Typical DSGA malt profile, is that rye I'm tasting? The recipe variation with rye is one of my favourites, slight peppery taste really complements the beer.
Mouthfeel: Medium body. High carbonation - good thing this was bottled in a Grolsch swingtop or the cap would've taken my head off! The bitterness is on the high side, but when you sub Amarillo for Citra that's going to happen to some unavoidable degree

Enough of my wannabe beer judge shenanigans now. I'll be posting my Hellion IPAs to all three winners tomorrow.

 

[abyss]

G'day mattfos01
Just downed your Kolsch longneck.
I've never tried one before and am guessing it has some wheat in the mix.
A clean tasting, refreshing beer with good carbonation it held a head all the way home. I found very mild bitterness with a subtle malty aroma.
Much enjoyed thanks.

 

[BrockHops]

@BrockHops , got impatient and cracked your DSGA: Citra for lunch.
Overall Impression: Good beer, subbing Citra is a good choice for DSGA, I might give it a go soon myself.
Clarity: Moderately clear, had I chilled it longer I'd say it would've cleared further.
Appearance: 10mm persistent head, bit of lacing. Head retention is great, I'd like to know how you achieved that.
Flavour: Typical DSGA malt profile, is that rye I'm tasting? The recipe variation with rye is one of my favourites, slight peppery taste really complements the beer.
Mouthfeel: Medium body. High carbonation - good thing this was bottled in a Grolsch swingtop or the cap would've taken my head off! The bitterness is on the high side, but when you sub Amarillo for Citra that's going to happen to some unavoidable degree

Enough of my wannabe beer judge shenanigans now. I'll be posting my Hellion IPAs to all three winners tomorrow.

Thanks for your kind review MTB!
My DSGA+C is my 1st time using Citra, and it is the kit version.
I thought it was a bit bitter too and just out of balance.
The use of the sparkling can plus a 15 min boil of Cascade may have contributed towards the bitterness?
I've been playing with spec. grain additions for a while, mainly Crystal, this time it was some Caramunich and a little touch of choc. Which contributes to the darkness.
No rye!
Us05 rehydrated.
Dry hopped with some Amarillo and Citra.
Thanks again, I'm glad you didn't pm me to say it was shit hahah.!
Brock

 

[abyss]

Thanks for your kind review MTB!
My DSGA+C is my 1st time using Citra, and it is the kit version.
I thought it was a bit bitter too and just out of balance.
The use of the sparkling can plus a 15 min boil of Cascade may have contributed towards the bitterness?
I've been playing with spec. grain additions for a while, mainly Crystal, this time it was some Caramunich and a little touch of choc. Which contributes to the darkness.
No rye!
Us05 rehydrated.
Dry hopped with some Amarillo and Citra.
Thanks again, I'm glad you didn't pm me to say it was shit hahah.!
Brock

No need for anybody to pm me if mine is shit just say what you reckon...unless it is shit of course.

 

[abyss]

Just downed Chaps S&W Pacific ale clone for Sunday breakfast.
Super tasty, heaps of fruit with a bit of earthiness, nice malt and mild bittering.
Carbonation was low which can happen when posting bottles from kegs but it still laced the glass.
I dead set enjoyed it and can imagine it not lasting long in the keg and would love an extract recipe if have one mate.
Only downside is I want more now.
Thanks for a top Breckie mate.

 

[Chap]

View attachment 107326 Just downed Chaps S&W Pacific ale clone for Sunday breakfast.
Super tasty, heaps of fruit with a bit of earthiness, nice malt and mild bittering.
Carbonation was low which can happen when posting bottles from kegs but it still laced the glass.
I dead set enjoyed it and can imagine it not lasting long in the keg and would love an extract recipe if have one mate.
Only downside is I want more now.
Thanks for a top Breckie mate.

No worries abyss, glad you enjoyed it. Pretty stoked actually, this is the first beer I've sent off for another brewer, so to get that feedback is awesome. Happy to share the recipe, it's originally earle's extract recipe I found while trawling the web for a decent clone, which I've tweaked slightly. Extract only, no steeping grains, only galaxy hops.

Chaps Pacific Ale

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: American Wheat Beer
Boil Time: 20 min
Batch Size: 23 liters
Boil Size: 4 litres

2.0 kg - Liquid Malt Extract - Light
1.5 kg - Liquid Malt Extract - Wheat
90g Galaxy Hops
1 pack US-05 Yeast

Bring 4L water to boil and add 0.5kg Light Liquid Malt Extract. Boil for 20 minutes with below hop schedule:

10 g - Galaxy @ 20 min
15 g - Galaxy @ 10 min
35 g - Galaxy @ 0min

Add remaining malts with 0 min hop addition and stir for 10 min, then add to sink of cold/ice water and continue to stir while cooling. Add wort to fermenter and top to 23L @ 18oC. Pitch rehydrated US-05 yeast and ferment for 7 - 10 days @ 18oC. Cold crash for 2 days @ 2oC. My OG was 1.040 and FG 1.009.

Im a kegger, so I added the remaining 30g Galaxy into the keg which stay in until the keg is empty. If you were to bottle, look to dry hop for 3-5 days before bottling. Not sure how the cold crash would affect the dry hop though.

 

[abyss]

Thanks Chap
I'll give it a crack.

 

[laxation]

Breakfast of champions

 

[BrockHops]

Quick update for those who have sent me their bottles- SWMBO has cleared out our po box ( she had a full shopping trolley hahaha)!
I'm still out on a mine site in BF nowhere, she assures me the precious little darlings are being looked after, I'll be home and tucking into them before you can say Reinheitsgebot.
Needless to say I'm keen to pop a top.
Cheers, Brock

 

[Grott]

abyss sent me a QLD Bitter with dry hop additions.
Good gas on opening, poured well with nice head and perfect small bubbles in carbonation.
Nice lacing to the end.
Beautiful hop after taste with that bitterness expected of a good bitter. This is a "session" beer and you'd want to mow the lawn first because if you don't, the lawn won't get mowed.
Top drop, most enjoyable. Thanks. (and this is an honest assessment) Sorry last pic out of order in list.

 

[abyss]

abyss sent me a QLD Bitter with dry hop additions.
Good gas on opening, poured well with nice head and perfect small bubbles in carbonation.
Nice lacing to the end.
Beautiful hop after taste with that bitterness expected of a good bitter. This is a "session" beer and you'd want to mow the lawn first because if you don't, the lawn won't get mowed.
Top drop, most enjoyable. Thanks. (and this is an honest assessment) Sorry last pic out of order in list.
View attachment 107362

View attachment 107364 View attachment 107364 View attachment 107365 View attachment 107362

I'm stoked that you liked It Grott .
The Kit is actually Morgan's QLD Lager, most of the bitterness is from the dry hopping.

 

[Grott]

That is true and your, right the hops have truely given it the nice bitter characteristics to the lager.

 

[stewy]

View attachment 107281 View attachment 107282 2cranky
I'm getting towards the bitter end of your Imperial IPA Crazy 8 and have never tasted anything quite like it.
Sending this to me was like feeding strawberrys to a pig.
Nice light head & colour,good carbing.
Heaps of aroma, fruit/passion/strawberry ? Earthiness and pleasant bittering.
Nice mild caramel malt flavour.
I see in your photo 9.8%, I bet you could make a mess of your mates with this beast.
I'd love to know which 8 hops you used but don't expect you to share which Kit.
Thanks for the experience.

As his neighbour I can confirm the Crazy 8 has been known to get the better of the odd beer enthusiast from time to time.... (usually cranky. Haha!)

 

[abyss]

Black IPA from bevan 5.7%.
My eyes are opening as I learn from this lotto.
Brilliant beer mate.
It is Black with a light creamy head and smooth carbonation.
So many different flavours with a fruit / toffee ? Aroma.

Loved it thanks bevan

 

[bevan]

View attachment 107378View attachment 107377 Black IPA from bevan 5.7%.
My eyes are opening as I learn from this lotto.
Brilliant beer mate.
It is Black with a light creamy head and smooth carbonation.
So many different flavours with a fruit / toffee ? Aroma.

Loved it thanks bevan

Thanks Nick! It's always nice to have other brewers drink your brew and like it!

 

[abyss]

View attachment 107396 View attachment 107395 View attachment 107396 View attachment 107396 View attachment 107396 Drinking an American Brown ale sent by Aus_Rider_22.
This beer looked scary to me due to the opaqueness ?
Great carbonation with a nice hop aroma and bitterness plus earth and dankness.
Way different to my goo and yes I enjoyed it but a bit heavy for my swilling habits.