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Author Topic: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread  (Read 49919 times)

Offline Hooper

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #120 on: April 12, 2016, 06:58:33 pm »
If they did walk off with the box...Do you think they're sitting around their south side backyard going...Damn...this Pils is awesome?
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Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #121 on: April 12, 2016, 07:12:09 pm »
South suburbs.  They're sitting in a culvert talking about how it ain't no Miller Lite.
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline Hooper

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #122 on: April 12, 2016, 07:49:08 pm »
I joke...but I really hope they find the box...it's early yet...
“Stay with the beer. Beer is continuous blood. A continuous lover.”
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Offline brewinhard

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #123 on: April 13, 2016, 07:15:19 am »
Wasn't sure if we were posting tasting reviews on this thread, so here goes.

I received a nice package from Phil M. I started off by reviewing his Mild offering.

Appearance - Crystal clear light copper color with tiny bubbles rising up throughout creating a minimal head
                     consisting of large white bubbles (fisheyes) that remained during entire session.

Aroma - Light toasty base malt with subtle caramel notes emerge as beer continues to warm. Leads into a low
            earthy hop aroma with light fruity esters. No DMS, no diacetyl.

Flavor - Sweet, toasty, biscuity malt with low caramel notes.  Slight toffee presents towards end. Malt character
            quickly overtaken by med-high hop bitterness that lingers into the finish. Light fermentation esters
           (mostly subtle pear) are pushed off the palate by a medium hop flavor that is earthy and woody. A dry
            finish that is balanced towards hop bitterness. No DMS, very slight diacetyl that complements the
            the overall flavor.

Mouthfeel - Light body with minimal carbonation. No astringency noted.

Overall impression - Phil's mild was an easy drinking session beer. The hop bitterness kept it crisp and dry.
                              Low carbonation added to the ability to easily pound a few of these (especially on a warm
                              summer evening). As I was finishing the beer, I kept thinking to myself that this probably
                             represents an English bitter better than a true mild, unless he was going for a paler hopped
                             up mild. This would make a great beer to come home to after a long days work.

Thanks for sharing Phil, well done. I am looking forward to sampling the other beers now too! 

Offline pete b

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #124 on: April 13, 2016, 07:22:57 am »
Nice review, and yes you posted in the correct thread.
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Offline Phil_M

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #125 on: April 13, 2016, 07:25:40 am »
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it, and I'm elated that there weren't any signs of infection or other awful off flavors. I'm always paranoid about that sort of thing.

The beer was supposed to be a mild, but I'd agree it ended up more like a bitter. That beer had a 3-hour boil, and I used a wrong value  calculating the 3 hour hop addition as a 1 hour addition.

This beer was also a major experiment with invert sugar. Lyle's Golden Syrup mixed with blackstrap molasses to approximate Invert No. 3. I swear that's where the caramel/toffee notes come from.
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.

Offline brewinhard

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #126 on: April 13, 2016, 08:06:00 am »

This beer was also a major experiment with invert sugar. Lyle's Golden Syrup mixed with blackstrap molasses to approximate Invert No. 3. I swear that's where the caramel/toffee notes come from.

Wow!  That is cool. I did pick up some very subtle toffee notes right at the end after a few sips. Did you have any other crystal malt in there?

Offline Phil_M

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #127 on: April 13, 2016, 08:39:32 am »
Nope. Here's the grist:

68.6% Briess Pale Ale malt
14.9% Briess Flaked Barley
16.5% Invert No. 3 (Made from Lyle's and blackstrap.)

Cascade was used for bittering, I'd have to look at my log to find more details.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2016, 08:42:49 am by Phil_M »
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.

Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #128 on: April 13, 2016, 08:57:07 pm »
I used Lyles golden syrup for years in a Boddington's style English Bitter.  I would always prime the keg with priming sugar and it had that nice dry finish, but nicely biscuity malt flavor for an edge of sweetness....loved that easy drinker and it sounds a lot like Phil's recipe.  And yes - what a great refreshment after work on a Friday or any day.
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Offline 69franx

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #129 on: April 14, 2016, 05:55:03 am »
My package came in from Hooper yesterday. He sent me his Pale Ale, Soma Saison, Texas Chili Stout, Not Orval, Märzen, and 2 locals from 2 breweries I had not heard of before: Hopadillo IPA from Karbach Brewing Co and Buried Hatchet Stout from Southern Star Brewing Co. Very generous package, cant wait to start trying them out tonight. Thanks again Glenn
Pete B, the beers I'm sending you need another week of conditioning and then I should get them in the mail last week of the month after verifying that I am satisfied with them
Frank L.
Fermenting: Nothing (ugh!)
Conditioning: Nothing (UGH!)
In keg: Nothing (Double UGH!)
In the works:  House IPA, Dark Mild, Ballantine Ale clone(still trying to work this one into the schedule)

Offline blair.streit

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #130 on: April 14, 2016, 10:39:19 am »
Hopadillo IPA from Karbach Brewing Co
Strangely I haven't had their IPA, but so far I haven't had a beer from Karbach that I didn't like. They're putting out some great stuff.

Offline Hickory

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2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #131 on: April 14, 2016, 11:27:48 am »
Hopadillo IPA from Karbach Brewing Co
Strangely I haven't had their IPA, but so far I haven't had a beer from Karbach that I didn't like. They're putting out some great stuff.

Indeed, both Karbach and Southern Star are putting out great beers. Hopadillo is on tap regularly at my local pub.

Edit: Actually Southern Stars Bombshell Blonde is another regular on tap.

Offline 69franx

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #132 on: April 14, 2016, 07:07:16 pm »


Hooper's Marzen, a bonus bottle in my box o goodies.

     Crystal clear though the pic may not show it. Nice head, just over 1/4" Fine bubbles constantly coming up from the bottom.
     No hop aroma, just a nice grainy scent (best I can do) no diacetyl or dms to me
     Flavor continues with malty goodness, no hop flavor to speak of, just a little bitterness to keep it even. Short bottle fill from the end of a keg shows no sediment at all.
     Overall,  a nice bonus and I'm looking forward to the rest of his brews
Frank L.
Fermenting: Nothing (ugh!)
Conditioning: Nothing (UGH!)
In keg: Nothing (Double UGH!)
In the works:  House IPA, Dark Mild, Ballantine Ale clone(still trying to work this one into the schedule)

Offline Hooper

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #133 on: April 15, 2016, 04:48:44 am »
Thanks for the kind review Frank...Only my second Lager...will be doing more though.
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—   Charles Bukowski

Offline Phil_M

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #134 on: April 18, 2016, 07:18:48 pm »


redzim's Bourbon Barrel Porter

Pour/appearance:

Dense cream colored head that lingers and laces nicely. Color is brown, but appears as a deep red when held up to the light. The beer is crystal clear, I couldn't get pics of this but despite how dark it is details can easily be seen through it.

Aroma:

The most apparent aroma is that of the bourbon, followed closely by that oaky smell characteristic to me of wood aged beers. There isn't enough of this to overpower a roasty steel though, and there are some hops detectable as well.

Flavor:

Again, the bourbon and wood are the most prominent players here. These give way to a smooth roasty/caramel/toffee malt backbone. This toffee flavor is certainly not diacetyl, as I don't detect any slickness in the mouthfeel. The beer however is very smooth, with a firm but soft bitterness. Again there are flits of hops, but not enough to hone in on what they might be.

Remarks:

This beer is excellent. I really enjoy barrel aged beers, but more and more breweries seem to be overdoing the aging these days. This leads to beers that are overwhelmed by the barrel flavors, and these beers suffer for that. redzim has managed to keep everything balanced though, and this beer shines because of that. My wife really enjoyed this beer as well.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2016, 07:20:25 pm by Phil_M »
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.