Beerswap III... Paulthenurse's brew's

I'm sending out one 22 of each of the following brews.

Great Googaly Gurhka IPA. All grain

I'm Starting to Like Porter. All grain

Gee Ma, Look Wheat I Found. DME

Hope you enjoy them.


CAVEAT... The wheat isn't ready yet, it needs to condition so leave it for a while. I just bottled it today, time it accordingly. The doofus name on the wheat comes from me finding a long lost stash of DME in a box in the back of a closet. I remember when I bought the makings, it was probably two years ago. I obviouly misplaced it and just came across it when I was putting stuff away a few weeks ago. For an extract brew made from 3 year old DME, this stuff ain't too shabby. Megga bannana and some nice clove notes. The other two brews got bottled from the keg, the wheat got a good old fashioned dosage at bottling.

PTN

This beer held carbonation well. Beergun? With a normal pour, it yielded a nice 1/2" white head. Nice clear beer, pale orange color. The aroma is moderately hoppy. It doesn't smack me in the face with hops though I can smell that the ABV is pretty high.

The first few sips seem overly malty but the hop bitterness creeps up to balance it out. The bitterness is nice and smooth. Nothing is overly prominent. I can tell that fermentation temp was well controlled because although I know the alcohol content is over 6%, I don't get a lot of fusels.

When I first started, I thought, hey, really drinkable but as I approach the last of the bomber, I've got a solid buzz on. I honestly can't find any flaws in this well done IPA. It actually reminds me a bit of DFH60.

I'm hardly an expert on the nuances of any style but I know a "good" beer when I taste it.

Just back home from your neck of the woods. What a LONG drive home.

No beergun. Overpressurized for a few days knowing I was going to have to bottle. Glad you enjoyed it.

Did you try the Porter yet?

What is DFH60?

paulthenurse said:

What is DFH60?

Click to expand...

Just looked it up on RealBeer. Not even close.

PTN

paulthenurse said:

What is DFH60?

Click to expand...

An awesome compliment

paulthenurse said:

Just looked it up on RealBeer. Not even close.

PTN

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure Bobby_M meant it tastes like DFH60', not that your recipe was based on it.

DFH 60's an IPA that's known for being real malty (arguable too malty for an IPA) and for having an exceptional amount of balance despite a substantial amount of hops. I'd definately take it as a strong compliment.

It's not a perfect copy of Dogfish but it reminded me of it. It's basically the IPA I've been trying to make every time I brew an IPA. I'd love to see the recipe.

Ok, first thing I need to say is that I typically steer away from Porters because I just haven't had one that made me want to keep drinking them. I'm in the same boat on Stouts as well and it pisses me off that I'm not into them.

I'll look at this one from a style perspective as much as I can. The color is spot on, being mostly brown with a hint of ruby towards the bottom of the pint glass. The first pour lacked the head I'd expect, but I had it chilled too cold. On the second glass, the head was nice, thick, and persistent.

The initial aroma is mild roasted coffee but some fruit comes with it. The flavor is very similar with a combination of roasted and caramel malty sweetness (just a hint of chocolate). It's actually very smooth with very little alcohol heat. If I had to compare it to any commercial porter I've had, it would definitely be Yuengling Porter. Whether it's style appropriate or not, my personal preference to improve this would be a hint less roasted character. Overall though, after getting through the 22oz (and I did drink every drop), I'm that much closer to actually liking this style. I would def drink a few more pints of this. I appreciate that because I don't buy porters and NOT drinking them isn't going to help the cause.

That's funny, cause up until recently I didn't care for Porters myself. Stouts I loved, porters not so much.I made a consious descision to try to like them and made myself brew a few batches. Well, you know how it goes, if you make it yourself you find something to like in it, and it grew on me. I tend to like them more on the style of a stout and so that is probably where the heavyness on the roasted flavor comes from.

I made a batch this past Saturday when the guys came over for the Mass Brew Day and I'm going to try something new. I picked up a few ounces of cocoa beans that I'm planning on roasting and grinding and adding to the secondary. I hope it doesn't overwhelm the profile. Might violate the German Purity law but I'm not German.

I'm at work so I can't post the recipie on the IPA but I'll look for it in the morning and try to post it tomorrow.

The Porter I can do from memory because I just bought the grains last Thursday and brewed it on Saturday.

11.5 lbs Marris Otter
12 oz Choc malt
6 oz black patent
12 oz 120 degree crystal (I may have used 60 on the one I sent you)
6 oz Victory malt
mash at 154 F for 60 minutes and complete conversion

I batch sparge to a volume of 6 + gallons and boil down to 5 + gallons

1.75 oz Fuggles for 60 minutes and I used a second generation Nottingham yeast.

Glad you liked the beers.

Paul

Your beers arrived today, Paul . I'm fighting a cold, so it'll be a couple days before I can tip them.

Porter 12A

Aroma: I smell roast malt, caramel, sweetness like dark chocolate. Mildly aromatic, doesn't knock you over. Smells like a good porter
11/12

Appearance: Very dark black. Very faint ruby highlights. Perhaps too dark for style. Nice tan head that came up with a fairly vigorous pout and remained for several minutes. Good lacing.
2/3

Flavor: Sweet, mild bitterness near the end. Definately more on the malty side. Strong coffee like flavor, but like a coffee with lots of cream and sugar. Some caramel undertones in the sweetness and a little toffee. Very slight raisin aftertaste.
18/20

Mouthfeel: medium mouthfeel, good body, some roundness. Not overly carbonated. Not quite as round and chewy as a Sam Smiths Taddy Porter, but very close.
4/5

Overall Impression: Very nicely done for a porter. color is closer to that of a stout and may be just a hair out of style guidelines. Has a great roundness that many porters don't have and is a big part of the style. I could drink several of these and be very happy.
9/10

Overall 44/50 Excellent!




Now about my review and post. I saw that Bobby has already reviewed this and I didn't read his review yet. I didn't want it to affect my thoughts while tasting it. My club just did a blind tasting of a porter at our last meeting. It was the Sam Smiths Taddy Porter which is considered a classic example of the style. I judged that one at 46 (world class example). Yours is right up there.

For me this is a hard style to pull off. Mine usually come out thin and too dry. The roundness and chewiness of the beer is really well done. I think SS has you beat by a hair on that point, but just by a hair. My one complaint would be that it is maybe a bit dark.

I haven't seen the recipe yet, but I think it is posted higher up in the thread. If I were to guess, I would say lighten up on either the chocolate malt or a dark crystal. Sub in a light crystal 10L to keep the sweetness. Just my thoughts on it.
I'm definately going to take a look at the recipe and try to make this one on my own though. It :rockin:. Very well done!

Ok, I just looked at the recipe. I thought I sensed black patent, but was surprised it didn't have the burnt acrid smell or taste I usually get with a stout. Do you know for sure it was 120L crystal? The raisin aftertaste I picked up I've gotten in some of my recent brews and think it comes from the crystal 60 I'm using from MFB. Maybe go lighter on the black patent and see if that changes the color to a couple shades lighter. Very nicely done.

I had to get 60 Crystal on one of the batches I brewed recently cause that is all they had. This may have been that batch. Very good pickup on the raisin, I couldn't quite place the taste myself but I think you are right. I wouldn't be totally against reducing the BP to perhaps 1/4 lb but then again, you gave me a 44 out of 50? Do I really want to muck around with it?

Thanks for the positive review, glad you liked it.

PTN

No, you don't need to change it, but I think it borders on a stout as far as color goes. The BP might also be giving me the raisin taste which I pick up in my nose after I take a swig. It wasn't pronounced, just a little hint of raisin. It was really well done and I wish I had a keg of it to contemplate on. A little BP goes a long way flavor wise.

I may add it to my list of upcoming brews.

IPA:

I'm drinking the IPA now. Overall impression: nice job covering up the alcohol. I can feel my head swimming, but there is absolutely zero alcohol flavor. Nice.

The beer pours a light orang color, mostly clear, with a small head that quickly dissipated to a ring around my glass. Good lacing down my glass.

The nose is light floral hops and a touch of sweetness. I ~think~ I may be able to detect a bit of an alcohol smell.

The flavor starts out with the caramel malts with hops flavors joining later. The hops are subdued - not the "in your face" style of IPA, but rather a smooth drinker. The malt flavors are never pushed out of the picture, and there is very little bitterness on the finish. It's an interesting change of pace from the IPA's I usually see out here on the west coast. Not having access to many eastern beers at all, I've often wondered about the differences between east- and west-coast beers of similar styles. Not a huge sample for study, but interesting anyway. It's a study I'm willing to continue .

Mouth feel is true to style - a perfect medium body. Carbonation is light, but within range. It's smooth as silk.

Overall, this was quite an enjoyable beer to drink. It's a perfect before bed snack. Now that I've drained the bomber, I'm guessing it weighs in at around 7% ABV, but it's a smooth drinking 7%. Nice job.

IPA

Aroma: moderate hop aroma, earthy, not very strong aroma, but nice
6/12

Appearance: dark gold color, good lacing, head dissipates quickly but leaves a nice lace. Good clarity
2/3

Flavor: Malty sweetness and complexity, with strong hop bittering. Hops are earthy in flavor and I would guess that there are EKG in there. Slight woody taste, some moderate grassy flavors as well. Not much in the citrus department.
15/20

Mouthfeel: Smooth malty sweet mouthfeel. medium body.
5/5

Overall Impression: tasty pub style IPA. A very good beer.
8/10

and the survey says: 36/50.


Nice job. a very good IPA.