Beerswap 2007 - Brewsmith's Beers

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Brewsmith

Home brewing moogerfooger
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Here's my thread for the tasting since bottles should arrive starting tomorrow. (Monday for two of you. Sorry, it's a long way from Los Angeles) Just a reminder in case you throw out the list I packed in the boxes:

Gold Cap - Old Helicon Barleywine 2006
Red Cap - Belgian Dubbel
Black Cap - Vienna Lager
Blue Cap - 07.07.07 Rye IPA
 
Dubbel:

Opening/pouring:Good sound upon opening poured a nice head that fell back to a thin layer but stayed around the entire time. good lace

Aroma: all the malty complexity a dubbel should be. picking up hints of all different kinds of flavors

Appearance: slightly hazy, beautiful deep red color was perfect and even looked complex.

Taste: Very complex there were raisin tastes as well as molasses and a few other independent sweet flavors I could not nail down

Mouthfeel/carbonation: carbonation was good. However, there seemed to be some hotness in this beer. At times it was almost like I was drinking a red wine. there was just too much of the back of the throat hotness.

Overall: The flavor complexity and color were perfect. The alcohol burn just brought this one down a little. If you want to send me another one in december I would be more than happy to drink this again:mug:
 
Rye IPA, 7.7.7

Opening/Pouring/Aesthetics: Nice long pfft on opening. Poured vigorously, nice 1/2 inch head which faded after a minute or so, very small head remained. Clarity is good but not great -did not clear up as it warmed. Nice deep golden color.

Aroma: Good spicy aroma, nice and malty. I smell some alcohol as well. Hop aroma is faint but there. Good complex aroma.

Taste: Good malty, spicy, fruity taste. The rye in this is really nice, definitely adds complexity to the malt taste. Hop bitterness is well balanced, I was expecting more - but I shouldn't go off expectations. Finishes bitter, a little alcohol heat.

Accordance with Style: What style? Other than the rye, this would make a nice high-grav IPA. With the rye it makes a non-traditional great beer.

Overall Impression: Unfortunately, at 4 months old the hop aroma has no doubt faded, I would like more hop aroma, but maybe that's just personal preference. Other than that, and the slight presence of alcohol taste and aroma, this was a great beer. Very well balanced, great spicy complexity from the rye, body was really nice, and all in all very enjoyable. Looking forward to the rest.
 
Old Helicon Barleywine 2006

Aroma: Strong malt aroma with some complexity. I could pick out some molasses and caramel notes. No hop aroma at all.

Appearance: A good dark brown, almost black. Too dark to make out any clarity.

Taste: After the strong malt aroma, I was very disappointed to find only a mild malt flavour with little complexity. Only a slight touch of hop bitterness. There was a strange off-flavor at the finish, possibly the onset of oxidation.

Mouthfeel/carbonation: Mouthfeel was on the thin side for a barleywine. Carbonation left an inch head that persisted almost to the end of the glass.

Overall: I was really confused by this one. The aroma was strong, but the flavour was not and I really can't figure out why this might be. Possibly the bottle picked up a little wild yeast? Might explain the dryness and lack of flavour, but I am just guessing at this point.
 
Belgian Dubbel

Aroma: No detectable hop aroma. Low level of phenolics. A faint amount of alcohol aroma.

Appearance: Nice light golden colour. Some haziness, but that's expected with most belgians.

Taste: Faint amount of hop bitterness with a low amount of alcohol heat. Phenolics were stronger in the flavour, complementing the malt and not overpowering.

Mouthfeel/carbonation: Fairly dry mouthfeel. Carbonation was a little light for the style, but the head persisted through most of the glass.

Overall: A very good dubbel. The carbonation was the only thing that was a little off, but not enough to detract from a very enjoyable beer.
 
Vermicous said:
Belgian Dubbel

Aroma: No detectable hop aroma. Low level of phenolics. A faint amount of alcohol aroma.

Appearance: Nice light golden colour. Some haziness, but that's expected with most belgians.

Taste: Faint amount of hop bitterness with a low amount of alcohol heat. Phenolics were stronger in the flavour, complementing the malt and not overpowering.

Mouthfeel/carbonation: Fairly dry mouthfeel. Carbonation was a little light for the style, but the head persisted through most of the glass.

Overall: A very good dubbel. The carbonation was the only thing that was a little off, but not enough to detract from a very enjoyable beer.
Are you sure this was the Belgian? The color on this one was a dark brown, almost red. :confused:
 
My notes might be screwed, or maybe my lighting. Definitely golden colour though with enough haze that I could only just see my fingers through the glass. I will double check my notes to make sure I did not transpose something with the lager when I copied them to bring to work.
 
Sorry, but didn't take good notes on these. Drank Vienna lager last night and the Dubbel tonight. Trying my best, I feel bad like I disrespected you/your beers.:eek: This is all from memory, didn't get drunk either night so they should be pretty accurate. I had the dubbel only a couple hours ago.

Vienna Lager - This one was very nice, malty and smooth. Dark amber, no hop aroma but nice rich malty aroma. This was a very enjoyable beer, the beer poured with a nice head but faded fairly quickly. And after that there wasn't much carbonation. That would be the only shortcoming in my mind. Other than that it was a very smooth easy drinking beer. The mouthfeel was medium bodied, again could of used more carb IMHO. Everything was stylistically corect except for the carb. Great beer.

Dubbel - This beer was very nice as well. Poured with nice head that remained throughout. Nice medium brown/red color w/good clarity -beautiful. Taste was very dark fruity and caramelly. Good flavor complexity but not great, it was fairly straightforward but I liked it in this belgian style. You don't need crazy complexity evrytime. Carb level was nice and high, bubbles seemed almost too small or something I can't place. There was a little alcohol heat/burn but not too bad at all. Nice raisiny/fruity/malty aroma. This was my favorite so far, the little alcohol heat did not get in the way of me really enjoying this beer.
 
Vienna Lager

Aroma: Right off the bat, I liked this beer. Beautiful malt and noble hop aroma that was moderate at cold temps and increased as the beer warmed.

Appearance: Light amber color, strong white head that lasted through most of the glass.

Taste: Low to moderate hop bitterness and flavour, good clean malt flavour that was the principal taste throughout. An off-flavour at the finish, which I think is DMS. I know this is common with this style, but I don't have enough experience to pin-point it or say if it was too much.

Mouthfeel/carbonation: Medium mouthfeel, carbonation seemed a little light overall, but I think most of it went into the head.

Overall: I need to brew this style. With the possible exception of the off-flavour in the finish, everything was well done.
 
Rye IPA

Aroma: Moderate hop aroma, nice floral character

Appearance: Light amber colour, medium head that disappated about halfway through the glass.

Taste: Clean malt flavour. This is the first rye IPA that I've had, but the combination of floral hops and rye gave this beer an outstanding flavour. Just a great spicy/floral combination that did not overwhelm the malt.

Mouthfeel/carbonation: medium mouthfeel, carbonation seemed to be okay for the style.

Overall: Of the four beers, this one was by far my favorite. Well made and with no off-flavours. I have a copy of Denny Conn's recipe for a rye IPA, but if you could share anything about your own recipe, I would love to hear it.
 
The recipe was Brewpastor's 777 Rye IPA:

11 lbs 2-Row
2 lbs Flaked Rye
0.5 lbs Crystal 15

0.5 oz Columbus 15% 60 min
0.5 oz Columbus 15% 40 min
0.5 oz Amarillo 10% 20 min
0.5 oz Cascade 5.75% 10 min
1.0 oz Cascade 5.75% 5 min
0.5 oz Amarillo 10% 0 min
1.0 oz Columbus Dry Hop
0.5 oz Cascade Dry Hop
0.5 oz Amarillo Dry Hop

WLP 007 Dry English Ale

Mash at 147 for 70 min

Sparge, boil, chill, pitch, ferment at 68 for two weeks, dry hop for two weeks, bottle, carbonate for two weeks, chill, pour and enjoy.
 
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