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Author Topic: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread  (Read 50036 times)

Offline 69franx

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #225 on: May 05, 2016, 08:40:19 pm »
I had the first of Hooper's brews a while back, just forgot to post my thoughts. This was his "Hop Candi Pale Ale"

     It poured nice and brilliantly clear(can't wait til I get around to kegging) with a light amber in color. It poured with a great head that stuck around through the glass, but no lacing (likely my glassware)

     Aroma was of citrus, low malt presence. He says its chinook and simcoe. i love the spicy notes I got from the Chinook, and I detected no cat pee, but I have not ever from simcoe myself.

     Flavor wise, it really opened up for me. I got a much deeper malt note than in the aroma, and I liked that. There was a very low bitterness from the hop schedule, just enough to off set the malt notes nicely. I think the subtle sweetness I picked up was from the homemade amber candi syrup, not the malt. It all played together very nicely.

    Constant tiny bubbles coming up throughout the glass. Carbonation seemed just right to me.

Overall, I would love to drink this all summer long. I did not notice any flaws in flavor, or aroma. I think Glenn did a great job with this brew. thanks for sending it to me. I am hoping to get to the other 3 this weekend and am very excited about your "Not Orval" that did arrive in an Orval bottle, a nice touch. Did you do an entire batch in those bottles?
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 erockrph

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #226 on: May 05, 2016, 08:54:38 pm »


Tried my first beer from Eric today. Quick disclaimer: I have been a picky eater all my life. I didn't have my first steak until my honeymoon at 22 years old. I can count how many burgers I've had in my life on 2 hands. My abilities to deceive flavors are pretty limited to the minimal exposure I've had as a picky eater.
Now, the first beer I tried was his challenge beer, which he describes as a Marzen style lager.

Appearance was a orange-ish copper color. Slightly hazy, but I didn't give it long to settle in the fridge. White head quickly faded to thin lacing. Aroma was a sweet malty nose with a faint hint of earthiness. Flavor was semi-sweet malt. There was a nice sting from the carbonation, which I really enjoyed. Didn't get any detection of hop aroma or flavor. Bitterness was just enough for balance. There was a flavor/mouthfeel that I have struggled to describe. After finishing the beer the best I could come up with was the aftertaste of an apple.
Overall I enjoyed the beer a lot. Thanks for sending it Eric. Look forward to diving into another one after dinner tonight.
Glad you liked it! There is a flavor to that beer that I couldn't quite pin down, either. It was my first time brewing with S-189, and I think I'd ferment it a bit cooler next time. I'm thinking it was from an ester or fusel that the yeast threw.
Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer

Offline Hooper

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #227 on: May 06, 2016, 08:57:21 am »
I had the first of Hooper's brews a while back, just forgot to post my thoughts. This was his "Hop Candi Pale Ale"

     It poured nice and brilliantly clear(can't wait til I get around to kegging) with a light amber in color. It poured with a great head that stuck around through the glass, but no lacing (likely my glassware)

     Aroma was of citrus, low malt presence. He says its chinook and simcoe. i love the spicy notes I got from the Chinook, and I detected no cat pee, but I have not ever from simcoe myself.

     Flavor wise, it really opened up for me. I got a much deeper malt note than in the aroma, and I liked that. There was a very low bitterness from the hop schedule, just enough to off set the malt notes nicely. I think the subtle sweetness I picked up was from the homemade amber candi syrup, not the malt. It all played together very nicely.

    Constant tiny bubbles coming up throughout the glass. Carbonation seemed just right to me.

Overall, I would love to drink this all summer long. I did not notice any flaws in flavor, or aroma. I think Glenn did a great job with this brew. thanks for sending it to me. I am hoping to get to the other 3 this weekend and am very excited about your "Not Orval" that did arrive in an Orval bottle, a nice touch. Did you do an entire batch in those bottles?

Thanks for the generous review Frank. When I do a Belgian style Ale, I usually keg to a 3 gal keg and bottle the rest in preferably Orval bottles...
“Stay with the beer. Beer is continuous blood. A continuous lover.”
—   Charles Bukowski

Offline 69franx

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #228 on: May 06, 2016, 11:14:05 am »
Your welcome Glenn. We also got into the Soma Saison and Texas Chili Stout last night.

Soma Saison: again poured brilliantly clear, just gorgeous. Nice white head of fine bubbles that did last throughout  with nice lacing (made sure to have a properly cleaned glass this time.)  A great pale yellow in color that you could read a newspaper through (does everyone remember reading newspapers?  ::))

     Aroma was all saison spice and peppery, from the yeast and Tettnang? Little to no malt notes above the mentioned phenolics.

     Taste: front of palate(as I understand it) was great. Typical saison notes and first inkling of the phenolics. As you mentioned though, the mid to late palate is bombarded by the High AA Tettnang, I think you said 11%! The heavy hop presence really did clash with the saison characteristics. I could really enjoy this in the hot summer months as a hop head, but it really came off as odd last night late in the session. I can only imagine how great it would have been if you had the AA that you planned for. Again, the hops dominated the mid to late taste, but that front of palate taste was awesome. The 6.1% ABV was not at all noticeable, making this a dangerous summer afternoon beer.

     Mouthfeel was crisp and dry as a bone. Hop bitterness kept it from being quaffable but was still enjoyable. Light body. No alcohol warming. Nice, high carbonation level.

     Overall: Despite not hitting intended target of bitterness, still an enjoyable brew. As I said above, would love to try it with the intended hop presence. What was your recipe, as I need to fit a saison into my brew schedule this summer: the garden is overflowing with Lemon Balm just waiting to add to a saison.


Texas Chili Stout: from your notes, you think the blackberries are too light, but I did get and enjoy them. They had enough presence to notice, but not sure if my palate could have named what I was tasting if you had not told me. They were a nice addition. I am assuming from the name that were some peppers used and gave off a little back of palate heat. Not overwhelming, just a nice tingling. The brew itself was easily drinkable but I did not get a lot of the usual stout notes of roasted malts, chocolate, or coffee. Coming in at 5.6%ABV, there was no alcohol heat or warming. In the end, I would drink more of this with no concerns. Not a typical stout, but definitely enjoyable. Thanks for sharing both of these with me. On the to "Not Orval" this weekend sometime
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)

Online pete b

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #229 on: May 06, 2016, 03:18:27 pm »
My girlfriend and I who are both taking some time off to pursue projects we're separately working on enjoyed two of Frank's commercial offerings last night and one of his home brewed this afternoon.
The commercial offerings were both from Rhinegeist brewery in Cincinnati. One was Peach Dodo, a gose. It was good. I like sours but not so much that I drink them regularly. I would describe it as a non funky sour, and sour it was. Frank thought it wasn't very peachy but I actually thought it had good peach flavor without being fakey.
The other commercial one from the same brewery was called Hustle and was a Rye Pale Ale. It was fantastic. Crisp, firmly bitter without being over the top, it was very refreshing and yes, I'll say it: crushable.
Edit: hit post by mistake, The homebrew review will be in the next post.
« Last Edit: May 06, 2016, 03:21:20 pm by pete b »
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Online pete b

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #230 on: May 06, 2016, 03:36:49 pm »
OK: Frank's Smoked Porter:
This beer was a very dark brown/black with a reddish hue around the edge of the glass and had a 1/4 inch off white head that subsided over a minute or so. The aroma was malty sweetness with a bit of roast. I didn't detect smoke or hops aroma. The taste was also at first dominated by malt sweetness which gave way to moderate roast flavor and moderate to light smoke flavor, followed by an appropriate amount of bitterness for the sweetness that preceded it.the mouthfeel was full and the carbonation just a tad high for style.
Frank, you got a lot right with this beer that IMO a lot get wrong. I would like to know how much smoked malt you used because the subtle but not hard to discern smokiness was spot on. I also liked that the roast wasn't over the top and no hops aroma was added to compete with the roast, smoke, and maltiness. The only thing I would possibly do differently is maybe just add a small amount of toasted barley. I know I said that I appreciate that roast wasn't over the top but I felt the roast could have used just a bit more of an edge.
I enjoyed this beer and so did my girlfriend who loves stouts and porters.
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Offline 69franx

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #231 on: May 06, 2016, 04:16:33 pm »
Awesome, thanks Pete. I'm out and about so no notes in front of me as to the grist. I'll add some specs when back in front of my lap top
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 fmader

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #232 on: May 06, 2016, 06:31:44 pm »
Amanda's goodies arrived today! Two versions of her Gooaaalden sour, a cyser, a bottle of her Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebraska Sexy Betty, Crane Orange Gose, and a pound of Simpsons new double roasted malt.

Frank

Offline 69franx

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #233 on: May 06, 2016, 07:07:54 pm »
I'm sure you will love @amandak's brews Frank.  I know I did back in Swaptoberfest!
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 69franx

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #234 on: May 06, 2016, 08:25:45 pm »
Peteb the smoked porter was 9# pale LME, 1# light DME, 1# Chocolate Malt, 1# Briess Cherrywood Smoked malt, and 1/2# C60. Projected 32 IBUs of 13% AA Nugget at 60 for bittering and the only hop charge. As i said elsewhere, the Munton's Gold (x2 packs) took it from 1.071 down to 1.018. I am surprised that it was overcarbed, as I told you, my first sample at 2.5 weeks was so flat, I was afraid I had forgotten to add my sugar at bottling. I will have to revisit my numbers more closely if/when I make this again. It was a partial boil, topped off in the fermenter, so hop utilization was likely lower than would normally be for that charge, but I just followed the kit recipe, but added the DME to make sure I met challenge rules. In the end, I am glad you both enjoyed it, I know my SO loves it as well
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)

Online pete b

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #235 on: May 07, 2016, 06:20:15 am »
Peteb the smoked porter was 9# pale LME, 1# light DME, 1# Chocolate Malt, 1# Briess Cherrywood Smoked malt, and 1/2# C60. Projected 32 IBUs of 13% AA Nugget at 60 for bittering and the only hop charge. As i said elsewhere, the Munton's Gold (x2 packs) took it from 1.071 down to 1.018. I am surprised that it was overcarbed, as I told you, my first sample at 2.5 weeks was so flat, I was afraid I had forgotten to add my sugar at bottling. I will have to revisit my numbers more closely if/when I make this again. It was a partial boil, topped off in the fermenter, so hop utilization was likely lower than would normally be for that charge, but I just followed the kit recipe, but added the DME to make sure I met challenge rules. In the end, I am glad you both enjoyed it, I know my SO loves it as well
Thanks Frank. I would say that the carbonation only appeared high for the first few sips. Maybe the combination of the travels and an overzealous pour resulted in the carbonation being very active to start. Also, since it was bottle carbed maybe I got some sediment in there which caused the co2 to be active and tingly then die down. It's good to know that you put one pound of smoked malt for 5 gallons. I have a different smoked cherrywood malt from my local malster so it will still be a guess but it's a starting point.
Don't let the bastards cheer you up.

Offline redzim

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #236 on: May 07, 2016, 08:50:26 pm »


redzim's Vienna Lager

FWIW, the only Vienna Lager I’m familiar with is Devil’s Backbone’s version, and even then it’s usually close to the drink by date.



Just in case no one else said this, Negro Modelo is an OK Vienna-style lager, Brooklyn Brewery's regular lager (greenish label) is also called Vienna-style, and SN has thrown a Vienna in some mix-packs over the years (I found one this winter in a mixed SN 12-pack here in New York).  I tasted all three of those with the batch of Vienna I sent you Phil, and Brooklyn's was the closest match to mine. The Modelo was the weakest/wateriest (not surprising as it's the only macro of the lot). All 4 beers had their differences but were clearly of the same style.
-red

Offline Phil_M

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #237 on: May 07, 2016, 09:02:33 pm »
redzim, I haven't forgotten that I've still got your final beer, as well as your commercial examples to review. Late season cold and some allergies aren't the best for tasting fine brews.
Corn is a fine adjunct in beer.

And don't buy stale beer.

Offline jeffy

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #238 on: May 08, 2016, 11:02:03 am »
[/URL][/img]

The first of Mort's beer-swap beers.  So malty it reminds me of pumpernickel.

Trying to post pictures makes me feel like an idiot.
This would be a photo of Queen City Brewery's Munich Dunkel, from Burlington, Vt.
[/URL][/img]

I give up.  20 minutes is too much time and I have a beer to enjoy.

« Last Edit: May 08, 2016, 11:22:01 am by jeffy »
Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
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Offline cempt1

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Re: 2016 Spring Swap - Official Thread
« Reply #239 on: May 08, 2016, 03:38:43 pm »
Ynotbrusum, I will pack and ship next weekend. Sorry for the delay. Life got in the way!

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