Beerswap 2007 Ryanh1801's beers

Guess its that time to make my thread. Sent out beers to Beerrific, eriklupust, and Rhoobarb

1st beer was one of my first an extract American Wheat. There is an AW on the cap of this one
2nd beer is an all grain Belgian wit. There is a B on the cap on this one.
3rd is Orfy's Hobgoblin clone with a few slight changes. It is in the 22 oz. bottle.

UPS just delivered...they are in the fridge.
If you had one to drink after just 4 hours in the fridge which one would you choose? I am leaving to go out of town tonight, would like to try one before I leave, will get to the rest when I get back.


Actually I might just wait and have them when I get back, don't want to rush it.

I would say the hobgoblin, its my favorite that I have made so far. Glad to hear they made it all in one piece. Oh and on a side note, its pretty carbonated so pour slowly if you don't want lots of head.

Got mine Saturday morning b/c I was at my fiancee's Friday night. They are in the fridge chilling. I'm going to let them settle this week and give them a try this weekend.

I figure that letting them settle from their long journey will be the best way to give them a fair evaluation. Thanks for sending them out! I'm really looking forward to trying them.

Glad to hear they made it all right.

all beers arrived safely on monday, been in the fridge since.


american wheat

nice phht on opening not much of a head when poured though. what little there was soon dissapated leaving pockets of lace
nice hazy golden color
no hop profile detectable, but the balance is great with not much malt coming through either. easy drinkin not what i'm used to for AW ie BELL'S "oberon".
having said that i could definitely go for some more of this brew. nice job ryan

All right. After a week in the fridge, I am back in town and looking forward to tasting these beers...

American Wheat

Opening/pouring: Nice psst when opening, small head that sticks around

Aroma: definitely smells like a wheat, in fact grainy wheat is the only aroma I am getting, very little if any hop aroma

Appearance: somewhat hazy, light copper with gold highlights, seems a bit dark for the style from all the commercial examples I have had

Flavor: very tasty, wheat graininess dominates, just enough hops to give a hint of flavor, complements the wheat flavor very nicely, very well balanced. I detect a bit of tartness in the finish. Not as noticeable as I drank more. No fruity esters detected.

Mouthfeel: Well carbonated, I think most of the commercial examples I have had were more carbonated than this but I liked it. I think the carbonation could be increased to produce a larger head, but I think that would compromise the taste/mouthfeel.

Overall impression: I am not a big fan of American wheats, but this was a very tasty, refreshing beer. It was about 98F out when I opened this, if I had another I could easily see myself drinking a couple of these in one sitting.

I think this fits the American wheat style exactly except for the color and slight tart taste. SWMBO took a sip and could taste it too, she described it as the taste I have had in some of my beers. Did you use LME? I think that might be the so-called 'twang.' But, like I said, I could only taste in the first couple sips. Overall an excellent beer.

Great, thanks for sharing!

carbonation: not much pfft on opening, however very nice creamy head sticking around quite awhile

aroma: more malty than anything else

taste:again malty slightly sweet hop flavor is nice but not enough bitterness for balance imo

appearance: dark but no chill haze very clear

Beerrific, I think I know that taste you are getting, not sure what it is from, I got it on my two extract beers I did. But I did use DME on that wheat. Im thinking it might just be from old ingredients, That taste was the main reason I went to all grain so fast.

Ryanh1801 said:

Beerrific, I think I know that taste you are getting, not sure what it is from, I got it on my two extract beers I did. But I did use DME on that wheat. Im thinking it might just be from old ingredients, That taste was the main reason I went to all grain so fast.

Click to expand...

Hmm...strange. I only picked it up in the first few sips, could have just been me, not the beer.

All right, on to the second one...

Belgian Wit

Aroma: Smells of orange and coriander, some wheat/malt notes come through too

Appearance: nice golden color, small but persistent head, it is cloudy but I wasn't paying attention when I poured it and got a bunch of yeast in there...opps

Flavor: tastes great! excellent balance between the spices, malt, and bitterness, no hop flavor as expected, a slight spicy sourness in the finish from the Belgian yeast no doubt...maybe a bit more pronounced since I am drinking half the yeast in the bottle , citrus flavor lingers for quite a while (in a good way)

Mouthfeel: just right, dry but not too dry

Overall impression: This is a really excellent beer. This is going on my list to brew, hopefully by next spring I can get this on tap for the summer. People easily pay $5-6 for the same quality Belgian-style at bars.

Great beer! Thanks!

EDIT: I assume this is the one you have in your recipe menu, right?

yes this is the one in my recipe menu, Probably my fav. summer beer and my friends, I have made 15 gallons of it so far. Glad you liked it.

Well, the fiancée and I sampled these last Saturday and I finally got around to transposing my notes last night. Even though I am not a BJCP certified judge, I'm going to give these an overall point rating using the BJCP scale of 1-50, as shown at the bottom of this sheet - just for the hell of it! I'm just wingin' it here with the numbers, so take it with a grain of salt.

American Wheat

Appearance: Nice pffft sound when uncapped. Thin white head which soon dissipated. Deep gold color. Slightly hazy.

Aroma: Slight citrus aroma is noticeable. No hop or strong malt aroma, which is correct for the style.

Flavor: Nice, refreshing flavor, very low bitterness with a very muted fruity ester. The wheat doesn't overpower and there is no clove or banana flavor, again, right for this style of ale. There is a slight roast/burnt taste in the finish, possibly from the extract (?). It doesn't detract enough from the overall experience to make you not want another!

Mouthfeel: Nice medium mouthfeel, not too heavy, not too light. Just right for the style.

Overall Impression: A very good beer and very close to style. If you can reduce or eliminate that burnt finish, this would really stand out. Well done!

Rating: 25
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Belgian Wit

Appearance: Very nice pffft sound when uncapped. Nice two-finger white head which soon dissipates to a very thin layer that never diminishes. Color is a straw gold/yellow - dead on for style. Excellent looking beer!

Aroma: Nice malt & spice aroma. No hop aroma to speak of - again, right to style!

Flavor: Very nice, 'bright' and refreshing beer. Very low bitterness; nice balance of malt and hops. The only thing missing is any spice/coriander flavor. Good clean finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Just right for the style.

Overall Impression: This is a very good beer and very close to style. If you can just tweak this so that the spice flavor lives up to the promise of the spice aroma, you'll have yourself a real winner here. It doesn't have to be overpowering, just 'there'. If you can do that, then this will be competition worthy! I really enjoyed it a lot! You should be proud.

Rating: 32

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Hobgoblin Clone

Appearance: Nice pffft sound when uncapped. Nice two-finger off-white head which soon dissipates to just a thin layer that alls but never completely diminishes. Deep ruby, nearly brown color. The beer looks very inviting!

Aroma: Malt is the star here. Wonderful malt aroma! No hop aroma discernable!

Flavor: What else is there to say - malt! Nice, warm, malty flavor, but with the right balance of hops to malt so that it isn't sweet or cloying. Yet the hops are not all the evident. A nice balancing act. There is a hint of roast flavor in the finish, which is really nice.

Mouthfeel: Nice, smooth, full mouthful. Just what you'd expect from a malt-centric ale like this!

Overall Impression: I've never had a Hobgoblin before, so I have nothing to base this on. That said, this beer makes me regret not having tried the real thing and I definitely plan to try one very soon! I really enjoyed your version. This beer would be perfect for a crisp fall day! I'd like to try and brew it myself. Excellent job - very well done!

Rating: 38

Thanks so very much for giving me the opportunity to try your beers. I only wish I had more!

Thanks for the feedback, glad you enjoyed them. You might have gotten an older brewed Wit, which might explain the loss of spiceness. I have noticed that the coriander dies down really fast after a few weeks. Once again thanks for yalls feedback.

belgian wit

wow really pale gold( sure it's not bmc?...jk)

small pfft in open not much head did stick around for most of the beer though

slight aroma of citrus no spice detectable nor malt

damn i like this! vry nice crisp finish w hint of lemon/citrus again no spice from coriander. slight pucker factor might be from the coriander and not over hop. doesn't take away just there and imo calls for another drink.

kinda thin light feel but something i like


man send me more. looks like i found #2 for ag

Thats for the good feedback guys, nice to hear what people other than my friends think.
about the color I was in shock with the first one I had after doing a few extract batch's that came out so dark.

seriously, that color is light enough to give bubweiser a bad name for dark beers
:rockin:

Last one,

Hob Goblin Clone

This looks like it might have made part of the tip on its head, there was yeast all on the top, oh well.

Aroma: very malty, the roast character comes through as it warms

Appearance: copper to brown in color, nice and clear

Flavor: very smooth, nice roast flavor, very balanced bitterness, can taste some hops, no one flavor really dominates,

Mouthfeel: nice, good level of carbonation

Overall impression: very good beer, i have had a string of stale, skunked brown ales for a while, this was nice

Thanks again

Thanks again for the feedback guys. Had lots of fun doing the swap. Glad no one tore me a new one.