Beerswap 2007 - the Kaiser's beers

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Kaiser

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Sean, Cheese and Vermicous,

If if had my beers, let me know what you liked or didn't like. Or if there were even some problems with them.

Kai
 
I'll taste yours this weekend. I'm looking forward to it. I want to read a bit about the styles, and possibly find a commercial comparison, so I can sound at least a bit educated.
 
Sean said:
I'll taste yours this weekend. I'm looking forward to it. I want to read a bit about the styles, and possibly find a commercial comparison, so I can sound at least a bit educated.

Let me know if you find any good example of an Alt in the US. Because it is so hard to get one this might be one of the most misunderstood German beer styles. A very good source for this is the Jamil Show podcast: http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/archive/Jamil06-19-06.mp3

Kai
 
Drank the Dopple - or should I say, hopple - tonight. Really good, but hoppier than I expected. Low carbonation, nice malty tones but a dominant bitterness.

Good beer, Kai. Very nice work.
 
Cheesefood said:
Drank the Dopple - or should I say, hopple - tonight. Really good, but hoppier than I expected. Low carbonation, nice malty tones but a dominant bitterness.

Yes this is what I don't like about it either. The beer has a rather sharp taste. Though it has about 1% fermentable sugars still in it, which should give it a sweet and malty taste, it doesn't go down as smooth as it should.

I think it is a combination of hot alcohols and hop bitterness.

Kai
 
Kaiser said:
Yes this is what I don't like about it either. The beer has a rather sharp taste. Though it has about 1% fermentable sugars still in it, which should give it a sweet and malty taste, it doesn't go down as smooth as it should.

I think it is a combination of hot alcohols and hop bitterness.

Kai

You take that "either" out, bro. I liked it.
 
Last night I drank both the dopplebock and the dusseldorf alt. I was unable to find an alt to compare Kaiser's too, I used Spaten's Optimator to compare his dopplebock. Being largely unfamiliar with these styles, I wanted to research them as much as possible to give the best review I can. Why?, because Kaiser frankly intimidates me with his beer. Cheese said professional grade and he is right. I know that I will eventually be able to brew as well as he, it was frustrating and enlightening to see what can be done with a home system. Enough with the but-kissing and on with the reviews.

Dopplebock

Appearance: A beautiful crystal clear dark brown color. The carbonation was perfect, a good medium level. Your notes said it was bottled with a cobra tap, I will have to confer with you at some point because my bottling using the same method has come out rather poor. The Optimator had a slightly darker color and a little less carbonation, the starting gravities between the two were close, but I couldn't find Optimator final gravity. I am curious if there was a large difference in the final.

Aroma: A good strong malt aroma, fairly complex as well. It was hard to pick out any dominating smell. Comparing it to the Optimator, the Optimator had a similar aroma, but stronger.

Taste: Good strong malt flavor with a small amount of bitterness. Hop bitterness I guess, it didn't feel tannic in any way. The Optimator again had very similar malt flavor, but to a stronger degree.

Mouthfeel: Both were similar, heavy almost viscous mouthfeel.

Overall: I have no idea if it was fair to compare Kaiser's brew to Optimator. However, I am glad I didn't compare it to my local's dopplebock, S'muttonator. Optimator was superior to S'muttonator in every way, I greatly enjoying this beer and there wasn't even any oxidation, I was sure that would be all I could taste. Kaiser's beer was very good, beautifull to look at, however I preferred the Optimator's stronger malt flavor and aroma. Please bear in mind that my favorite style currently is RIS, that my be coloring my judgement. Regardless, I will stand by Cheese's comment, Kaiser's beer was professional grade.



Dusseldorf Altbier

I was unable to find an altbier and this was the first time I had ever tasted one, I pretty much studied the BJCP guidelines and winged it from there.

Appearance: Medium carbonation and a medium brown color. I screwed up and didn't read the bottom of the notes. I poured it thinking it had been bottled from a tap, so I got a little yeast in the beer, made it slightly cloudy.

Aroma: Slight hoppy aroma, dominated somewhat more by a malt character. Neither was very strong, just noticeable.

Taste: Strong bitter taste with a medium level of malt to smooth it out. The bitterness really surprised me. I had read that this style was characterized by bitterness, but it just didn't click that a German style could have strong hop bitterness. Not much hop flavor, just the malt at the end.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium mouthfeel, didn't feel at all heavy. My best comparison would have to be to an APA level of mouthfeel, just enough to not make it feel thin.

Overall: A very good beer. This style is what I would use as a gateway beer from APA's to maltier German styles. It would also make a great house beer, easy to drink and none of the flavors really overpower you.
 
Vermicous,

Thanks for the detailed review.

Vermicous said:
Your notes said it was bottled with a cobra tap, I will have to confer with you at some point because my bottling using the same method has come out rather poor.

I found that you have to push out the beer with only 1-2 psi, that it should be fairly cold (just below 50 F actually works for me) and that the bottles should be wet. Then you have to heavily tilt the bottles so the beer can slowly run down the side. It took me some practice and not all bottling attempts go that well. Especially when I'm in a rush.

Overall: I have no idea if it was fair to compare Kaiser's brew to Optimator. However, I am glad I didn't compare it to my local's dopplebock, S'muttonator. Optimator was superior to S'muttonator in every way, I greatly enjoying this beer and there wasn't even any oxidation, I was sure that would be all I could taste. Kaiser's beer was very good, beautifull to look at, however I preferred the Optimator's stronger malt flavor and aroma.

As I replied to Cheese, I think it is a decent Doppelbock, but I'm not happy with it yet. Like you said I want to have a stonger malt aroma and flavor. I also want the initial taste to be less harsh.


Dusseldorf Altbier
....
Taste: Strong bitter taste with a medium level of malt to smooth it out. The bitterness really surprised me. I had read that this style was characterized by bitterness, but it just didn't click that a German style could have strong hop bitterness. Not much hop flavor, just the malt at the end.

I'm surprised that you found the Alt bitter. I do think that this is a more hop forward beer, but still much less bitter than most APAs. I will need to have some original German Alts to figure out where I want the bitterness to be.

Overall: A very good beer. This style is what I would use as a gateway beer from APA's to maltier German styles. It would also make a great house beer, easy to drink and none of the flavors really overpower you.

This was my first good beer after a series of really crappy ones. The recipe was designed after reading in a German brewing text about brewing Alts and I don't think I there is anything that I need to change with the grain bill. As you said, this is a great house beer which will become a seasonal favorite of mine during the winter. It was also brewed at the low end of its gravity range to make sure I can drink more of them w/o having to feel guilty.

I'll soon be brewing the 3rd batch of this recipe before I'll lay the recipe to rest until September.

Kai
 
Review of Kaiser’s Duesseldorf Alt


Pour: It is well carbonated, as I poured, it developed a substantial head that diminished in volume to nice foam that covered the entire surface until the end.

Appearance: A bit hazy when it was cold, then clear as it warmed. Light brown beer with a light tan head.

Aroma: It has an indefinable earthy aroma, almost a faint pipe tobacco? As the beer warmed, the nice malty aroma came out. It has a very interesting and subtle aroma.

Taste: Very dry and light on the palate, and a very clean finish. Very nicely balanced hoppy bitter – sour lager flavor with a nice maltiness.

Proximity to Traditional Styles: ??


Overall: This is a very balanced, drinkable beer with some nice subtle flavors and aromas. The bitterness is a different kind of bitter than I’ve had before. It is almost sourness. And I love the head on this beer. It is still in the glass. It just coats the top of the beer, and does not dissipate. Is this a factor of the gelatin?


Very cool beer Kaiser. Extremely polished, or refined.
Thanks,
Sean
 
Just found your doppelbock in the back of the fridge. (been a while since it has been cleaned out.

So review. Admitting I am way out of my league reviewing this.

Nice head, decent retention. Beautiful brown color. great roasted malty aroma.

Nice full mouthfeel, esspecially when it is cold.

Very nice sweet bitter balance, though a bit on the sweet side for me.

Great roasted barley flavor. I really enjoyed this beer. I cannot compare it to anything as I've never had a dopplebock before, but it might just be worth seeking one out.

Thanks
Sean
 
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