March Swap ~ LostDakota's Brews

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LostDakota

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Sent out only two of my brews to each of my swappers. After seeing the lists from other people, I feel somewhat inadequate. I wish I could keep it around long enough to have a selection to choose from, and believe me, I brew a lot. Also, I feel kinda bad about just sending pales. Someone told me to brew what you like, so guess what I like.

Mika Haus Pale Ale: One of my first recipes. If y'all like it, I will post the recipe. I am a firm believer in not tossing one of my recipes into "Recipe" section without some form of validation.

Sorta SNPA: Found here. Used Notty instead also left out the 10 min addition.

These were both bottled from keg, my first attempts (Thanks BierMuncher.) The SNPA was also my first try at using gelatin.

Please do not worry about offending me. The only person who has tried my stuff if my best bud who if a big fan of Bud Select, and I really need to know WTF is up with my **** even though I am happy putting it down all by myself. Once again, thank you all for supporting my habit and helping me out with feedback.
-Drew
 
Mika Haus Pale Ale

I have to start with, "Great label". I looked at it for a long time thinking "did he send a store bought beer?"

The look of the beer is a very nice red/brown and clear. So clear I could see the TV thru it. It did not hold a head long but still laced the glass right to the bottom. It just kept forming it at I drank. Very nice actually. The aroma is strong and citrusy, I like that a lot. The flavor started with a sweet light malt then switched to the citrus and grassy from the hops and then finished dry and light.
I enjoyed this very much, it's a great beer. I'm really looking forward to the rest of them if they are anything like this.

Please post the recipe.
 
SORTA SNPA

So far out of this swap this is my favorite. This is a great beer, a beautiful copper color, just the right amount of carbonation that produced very small bubbles that cascaded the glass and laced it right to the end. I would have licked the lacing out of the glass if I could fit my face in there it was so good.
At first sip you are met with a sweet malt but it was not to sweet then quickly the flavor changed to a strong grapefruit citrus and finished with a good bitter hop bite that I loved.
You did a great job on this, I absolutely loved it.. If I could get the beersmith file on it that would be cool..
 
Thanks FSR402,
I posted the recipe for the Haus under the bleeding 'naner.
If you want the BS file for either or both, just PM me and I'll be happy to help you out. Thank you very much for you reviews, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the input of fellow HBTers.
-Drew
 
I just read the other notes on your house pale. First I have to agree that I at first questioned whether the bottle was a commercial beer or a home made label. Very nice looking. Also I think the first bottle I tried may have been oxidized or something from the bottling. Here are the notes I took when I tried it.

Mika House Pale Ale 3/23/08
minimal head with moderate retention,
Appears to be a little under carbonated for an American Pale Ale.
Nice nose of Cascades
Nice dark amber color but a little cloudy (maybe because I only gave it a day after shipping to settle)
netural malt flavor
Could be a little cleaner, there is a subtle off flavor in the after taste. (Extract twang?)
moderate hops flavor
Bitterness is well balanced
As beer warms up malt flavor becomes more pronounced as does aftertaste
The after taste/off flavor was really quite bad by the time I finished this beer. It really made it difficult to enjoy the beer. Otherwise the beer showed promise and I think the recipe was good I think either the extract (if it was extract) was old or something was wrong with the fermentation temps.

After further thought oxidation may have contributed to the problems I tasted. I post additional comments about this beer when I open the second bottle.

Craig
 
Sorta SNPA

Mine came undercarbonated, little pop upon opening and almost no head. However, I loved the aroma, kinda sweet, more hoppy than what I normally drink. I let the beer rest almost a week, but the yeasties had not settled out yet, was a bit cloudy, with some chunkies. Shipping is rough on beer! Good texture and mouthfeel. I am not a hophead, nor have I had SNPA, but it was a pretty smooth beer with a bit more "bite" than I am used to.
 
CB,
I have to say, though it's unfortunate, you might have gotten a bad one. Either that or you can detect things that I can't. The carbonation issue is accurate. I like a milder carb lately, so I didn't charge it to style. I am about to put in an order from Austin Homebrew for another batch of this, so you might just get another round sent out of shame.
-Drew
 
Sorta SNPA

Nice Amber color, slight haze

low carbonation with no head

moderate hop aroma, big floral and piney hops flavor, this was a pleasant surprise because of the more restrained aroma. As it warms up aroma increases.

Very clean American style pale ale. Could use a little more malt backbone for my tastes but over all a good flavor. The clean background really allows the hops to stand out with a nice balanced bitterness.

Over all this makes up for my experience with your Haus Pale ale. Now I'm really looking forward to revisiting the Haus with my second bottle. I have a feeling my first bottle was the exception.

Craig
 
Holy crap I love your pale ale. I want it for breakfast. It is very citrusy and a bit sweet. I got a creamy head and hazy beer, but I think shipping is making everybody's beer hazy no matter what. I am getting a bit of that twang, but not enough not to bother me. still workin on it...
Still smells like Oranges and sugar- got the recipe hiding somewhere?
 
Mika Haus Pale Ale - revisted
The hops flavors and aromas are great
It has a nice malty backbone that balances well.
Pours a nice clear amber color, no haze on this one.
Still a little under carbonated. I had to pour very vigorously to get any kind of head. The carbonation level is about perfect for an English pale ale but I think the hops aroma will be even better with a little more spritz.
I'm still noticing a little of that off-flavor I noted before but this one is much better. I suspect it is some kind of oxidizing from the bottling process but I could be very wrong.
Over all I am enjoying this pint :mug:

Craig
 
Cran-Apfelwein

I tried your variation on the most brewed recipe on HBT the other night. I had made my own version last summer but never really cared for it, so it was with some hesitation that I opened your bottle.

Your version is much better.

The cranberry flavor is very subtle with just a slight tartness that gives it away. I would probably have trouble picking out the flavor if I didn't know what it was. I think this made it a crisper and more refreshing beverage. Even my wife sorta liked it which is a better response than I have gotten from any thing I have made.

The only negative is that it was quite cloudy, this may have been due to transport but it has sat in a fridge for about a month before sampling. The version I did ended up a very clear wine.

This one bottle renewed my interest in the drink and I picked up some more apple juice and some cranberry juice from Costco over the weekend. I will be putting a Cran-Apfelwein in the fermenter just as soon as I bottle the Midas clone in there now.

Craig
 
I had the Cran-apple last night with dinner. Sorry to say, I did not care for it.

Like CBBaron stated it was VERY cloudy and I could not make out any of the cran in it. For the most part I even had a hard time making out the apple. It was extremely sour. If it was intended to be a lambic then maybe with some tweaking it would be good..

Could you show your recipe? I would like to know what all you did.
I have a Apple-cran I did in a keg right now and it's nothing like this. I did 50/50 on the apple and cran and 2# sugar with a cider yeast . It's dry, just a little tart on the finish, blush in color and cyrstal clear.
 
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