RIS Swap ~ Brewt00l's Beers

Warped04, Flowerysong & PseudoChef each were sent (1) 22oz and (2) 12oz bottles of the 8-8-8 RIS.

Slightly different recipe than the original posted and this beer was the end result of my first (and hopefully last) massive stuck sparge. I had to remove the grain from my MLT by hand with a strainer and collected significantly less than anticipated. Should be an interesting test subject for the possibility of HSA through long term storage.

brewt00l said:

Warped04, Flowerysong & PseudoChef each were sent (1) 22oz and (2) 12oz bottles of the 8-8-8 RIS.

Slightly different recipe than the original posted and this beer was the end result of my first (and hopefully last) massive stuck sparge. I had to remove the grain from my MLT by hand with a strainer and collected significantly less than anticipated. Should be an interesting test subject for the possibility of HSA through long term storage.

Click to expand...

I'll have to let you try a eight year old barleywine I made. I used to use a pump on my keg system to recirculate the wort and for temp boosts. I got a stuck sparge and was pumping a lot of air through the mash. The barleywine is the most oxidized beer I have ever had.

Warrior said:

I'll have to let you try a eight year old barleywine I made. I used to use a pump on my keg system to recirculate the wort and for temp boosts. I got a stuck sparge and was pumping a lot of air through the mash. The barleywine is the most oxidized beer I have ever had.

Click to expand...

I intentionally oxidized some beers post fermentation while bottling and they were absolutely disgusting with a greasy rancid wet cardboard flavor and bad aroma...if it was anything like that, yuck...pass!

The 8-8-8 was brewed on 12/23/07 and I wound up having to scoop all the grain out of my MLT with a strainer and lost about a gallon and a half. Samples to date do not exhibit any oxidation.

Background: Brewed by HomeBrewTalk member brewt00l. Received as part of the 08/08/08 RIS swap. Sampled early due to brewer's concern over possible hot-side aeration during sparging.

Appearance: Opaque black with brown highlights. Minimal brown head displaying no retention.

Nose: Rich, roasted malt.

Taste: Chocolatey, with a medium bitterness. High notes are alcohol, low notes are malt. Some generic hoppiness. Dry finish with hints of coffee and tar.

Mouthfeel: Moderate carbonation, smoothly warming alcohol. Medium body.

Overall: Good, but still young. No overt signs of premature oxidation.

Thanks for the feedback

http://flowerysong.livejournal.com/57504.html

I'm too lazy to re-cut the notes to separate each individual beer.

brewt00l's 8/8/8 RIS:

Aroma: A beautiful aroma. Leaned towards the malt side, with a hint of alcohol.

Appearance: A brown head that came up beautifully but subsided quickly, left reasonable lacing down the glass.

Flavor: This beer was balanced, but leaned towards the malt rather than the hops. There was a slight alcohol taste without the warming.

Mouthfeel: There was not as much body as this style is supposed to have, but my personal tastes made this a perfect amount of body for this style. The carbonation was nice, I think it was right on for this style.

Overall Impression: No signs of oxidation, but it still tasted young. After I had a couple of sips, I wanted to run out and grab a big piece of cheese. I can't wait to have this in the winter, not the summer when it's 93 at 11pm. I don't score beers because I'm not good enough, but I woudl have to put in the Excellent Category (38-44). This was a great beer, I look forward to having more.

Thank you for swaping beers.

-Wally

Thank you both for the feedback. Interesting that the two of you are noticing some harsh/fusel alcohols in this one...it was fermented w/2 packs of S33 @ 68~70, well below the range that yeast should kick anything like that out.

Considering the nightmare of a brewday this one was, I'm just glad the end result came out enjoyable. I want to keep a couple of these around for the 1 year mark to see what comes of any oxidation. Maybe there really is something to Charlie P's cinnamon in the boil!!!

It was slight. I wouldn't consider it tasting real alcoholy (like a fusel), it just had a hint of alcohol you get from like a green beer.

I stored your beer in the wine fridge at a nice 55 degrees, and I'm telling you, I can't wait to try this in winter when it's not 100 degrees.

I'm also no BJCP qualified judge, and beers like this, typically are not my style, so I thought my 8/8/8 was great, until I tasted all of the others, and realized mine was not to style.

I really appreciate the feedback and I am right there with ya...excessive carb for the style and it's on the thin side. This has been an interesting ride. I thought about a re-brew at first but then figured what better situation than to have the feedback from a few other folks on the end result.

If I were to brew this recipe again, I would prb make a few changes to suit my preferences but not necessarily based on this example. In this recipe as brewed, I sub'd brown malt for the pale chocolate and I think pushes it towards intense.