Denver Area Winter Beer Exchange

I realized after I posted last night that the porter isn't bottle carbed...hopefully just this one bottle is off. I was curious, so I opened a wheat last night as well; it was only lightly carbed.

The Vanilla Porter was bottled from the keg. I haven't tried a bottled version, but from the tap it is perfect. I do the filling and SWMBO does the capping. I cant blame her though. She may never help me again.
One thing about keg bottled beer, they are never over carbed unless you take steps by jacking up the pressure. Sometimes bottle conditioned beers get over carbed by bottling too early or not paying attention to the volumes before adding sugar. Keg bottled beer is what it is. My kegs are kept at 38 deg F @ 9 lbs. If your fridge is colder, say closer to 32 F, than the carbonation may seem low. Let it warm up some before you pour. Porters should be enjoyed around 48 F anyway.

Thanks Mark. I am pretty sure that I let it sit for a while, but I will pay more attention to the temperature on the next bottle. On a tangent, my saison is 2.65-2.7 volumes...a little low for a Belgian-style, but high enough to notice a difference.

Just got out from under the knife. wont be doing much drinking for a while so my evaluation of the exchange beer will be down the road. Thanks again guys for the beers, and thank you polecat boy for carrying my beer to the truck. Cheers

Oww, that does not look pleasant. I hope that you heal quickly!

Yeah he better heal in time for the summer exchange!

Well crap Mark that does look angry. Well the beers should hopefully be nice and ripe when you get around to drinking them.

I cracked open the wheat of pine. it was slightly under carbed but it wasn't to bad. I didn't pick up any of the pine. However, it was a damn refreshing beer I would drink after mowing or doing yard work.

I had the wee heavy last night and the amount of peat was right on! It poured a good tan head that lasted about a minute or so. It was an easy drinker for the alc. in it.

I haven't tried the others yet but I am making my way towards them. I'll be cracking on open tonight most likely. So I shall let you know.

Cheers all!

Glad you liked the Wee Heavy Hernando. I've had one of your Dark Ales last week, and I thought it was great. Nice and hoppy without having a mouth inverting bitterness that I dislike about a lot of "hoppy beers." I don't know that I would change anything about it.

Had one of Botigol's Saisons too. Nice. Not overspiced, still let's the yeast shine through, as it should on a Saison.

-"Polecat boy"

I am glad the Orko came out. Every exchange beer I have done something happened with them. I know Harry didn't like the Orko because it wasn't bitter but had the hop flavor. He stated that the beer was like drinking the smell of opening a bag of hops.... I thought that was the point

Sadly, I have been put on a ten day drinking restriction by my doc for blood work next week so I was unable to try any others and won't be able to till next Saturday.

On another note and thinking ahead. If anyone here was interested in the summer exchange I was thinking maybe doing a "Summer in Belgium" theme????

As I mentioned to a couple of you at the exchange, APA/IPA isn't normally my thing, but I thought Orko was pretty good. It is obvious that you used a large amount of hops, but they flavors and aromas seemed to play well together.

I liked the Wee Heavy also. It is a bit heavy on the tongue (I hope this makes sense), but tasty and like Hernando said, an easy drinker for the alcohol level. It would have been perfectly at home next to a nice fire.

Wheat of pine, ditto Hernando's comments, except that I picked up a little of the pine on the finish. I probably let it warm a bit more than I should for a wheat, but since it's winter I figured that a little warmer wouldn't hurt.

Second bottle of Vanilla Porter was much better than the first. The vanilla was a little strong for my taste, but still good. I going to try to save the next bottle until the end of the month (try is definitely the key word) to see how it develops.

Reinbeer and Nut Brown have been in the frig all week, I should get to them either tonight or tomorrow.

What kind of beer is the Reinbeer? Which temperature range is right for it?

Note on the Vanilla Porter. I felt on my last batch the vanilla was a bit light, so I went from 5 beans to 6 for this batch. It made a noticable difference, and I would agree that perhaps it is a bit much. Sticking w/ 5 beans in the future. Still drinkable though, and as I have half a keg left, it better be.

I agree on the vanilla being a bit too much, but only so in the finish. Smells and tastes great, but leaves a little off flavor in the mouth afterwards. It goes great with my wife's homemade brownies though! I thought my bottle was a bit under-carbed too but still carbed enough to enjoy.

And yeah, Bogitol, I think I know what you mean about it being "heavy on the tounge." I think it has a bit too much body. It's thick and chewy. Not sure if it was because of my my mash, or a result of the really long boil I put it through. Glad you like it though.

Also, I'm game for a Summer Belgian theme...

The Saison was tasty! What temp did you ferment the saison at? Having the vanilla porter tonight.

I will get the Summer in Belgium figured out shortly and post it up.

Thanks Hernando! The fermentation temperature is an interesting quandary at the moment...I had planned to start it cool and then let it rise a bit, but ended up fermenting cool the whole time. Based on this I expected the yeast flavors and aroma to be subdued, but obviously that wasn't the result. I will have to check my notes for actual fermentation temps, but I know that ambient was 61-64.

botigol said:

Thanks Hernando! The fermentation temperature is an interesting quandary at the moment...I had planned to start it cool and then let it rise a bit, but ended up fermenting cool the whole time. Based on this I expected the yeast flavors and aroma to be subdued, but obviously that wasn't the result. I will have to check my notes for actual fermentation temps, but I know that ambient was 61-64.

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Interesting. I have been wanting to do a Saison but can't till my ferm chamber is done. But now that I know you can get some awesome flavor with an ambient temp. below 70. I may give that a try sooner than later.


Had the Vanilla porter and I have to disagree on the vanilla. For a holiday beer, I personally think it was perfect, festive and delicious. I did not find it to be one-sided; the roast and chocolate bite, balanced well with sweet aroma of the vanilla. I had no carb issues.

Has anyone tried my double red, was just curious as I was thinking of entering that in NHBC for craps and laughs.

I wasn't diligent with my readings on this one, but the highest recorded temp that I have noted was 65F. The key is probably the yeast. I love WY3711 and that is what I used. WY3724 has a suggested range of 85-93 or something similarly ridiculous. IIRC most of the other saison yeasts have lower suggested ranges, but still much higher than WY3711.

Negative so far on your red, but it's now in the frig.

Hernando said:

Has anyone tried my double red, was just curious as I was thinking of entering that in NHBC for craps and laughs.

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What does the cap look like again? Ive been out of it for a while but am coming off my meds soon and will be back in the game. Ill try it first. Its been tough reading you all talk about these beers, and not imbibing. Couple days now.

chessking said:

What does the cap look like again? Ive been out of it for a while but am coming off my meds soon and will be back in the game. Ill try it first. Its been tough reading you all talk about these beers, and not imbibing. Couple days now.

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You didn't get a red I don't think. If you did it has a Red E on the gold cap. I know i gave you a Smoked Imperial Stout which is also going to the NHBC. but I only had a limited number of bottles on those.

I had one of the Red-E Eddie's. I thought it was good, but nothing truly memorable for me, other than a little hoppier than I like my beers to be, but I don't recall it being bad or something I don't want any more of either. I'm not too familiar with the style either, so it could be really good for what it is. I tend to like the darker / maltier stuff, that's all.

Hernando said:

You didn't get a red I don't think. If you did it has a Red E on the gold cap. I know i gave you a Smoked Imperial Stout which is also going to the NHBC. but I only had a limited number of bottles on those.

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I apparently am one of the lucky few to receive a "Red E" , and gave it a tasting last night. As my first in a long time, it may be that my palate is out of shape, or perhaps it has rebooted itself and is sharper than ever. Depends on how you look at it.
Anyway, I found the beer to be thoroughly enjoyable and drinkable. The color being a dark red/ light brown, crystal clear, with a solid off white head. Aroma of malt and some hops (not a hop forward nose), and with a firm bitterness up front, malty smoothness throughout, well balanced, with a slight bitters in the finish. With strong Belgian lace on the empty glass as proof of a properly conditioned beer, however as this beer went down so well (my first in a while, remember) the lacing had only about four levels, indicating that the beer was drank in long swallows and not sipped.
IMHO it was a bit out of style for an Irish red as too big, and to hoppy, but as a West Coast Red it was spot on, or if anything, not hoppy enough. Unfortunately West Coast Red is not an official style so you may want to squeeze it into an Alt category, or perhaps an American Amber. I don't brew for competitions, I brew what tastes good to me. And I liked this beer. Judges, understandably, have a different job and agenda.
Competitions aside though, I could drink pint after pint of this beer. Very drinkable. If you don't mind sharing I would like to add it to my recipe book, in the "beers to be made" folder.
Thanks. Mark

Edit: I plan to dive in to the Wee Heavy tonight. Man it is great to be back among the living.

I consumed and enjoyed the Wee heavy last night. It was fairly close to spot on. Dark color, tan to brown head, malt and dark fruit in the aroma. Taste was malty sweet with some roast, and dark fruit, fig, maybe burnt raisin. All with in style. Full body and low to no hop character lead to a sweet finish. A lot going on in this beer. Very enjoyable. Although not a session beer, it was tasty, drinkable and the alcohol was smooth and warming.
My only complaint would be the peat smoke malt. I don't like it in beer. However, in saying that, it was noticeable in this beer, it was not overpowering, and didn't ruin the pleasure of drinking it. If it is the smoke character you wanted, then it was about right. I wouldn't increase it any in your recipe. You may though want to try a beech smoke malt, or the new oak smoke malt as an alternative. Just MHO.

Two down, Honey Nut Brown Next.

Glad you enjoyed the brew ChessKing! So yeah, I know the smoked malt is not in style, but I love me a good smokey Scotch, and wanted a little of a reminder of it in this beer. I definitely wouldn't add anymore either. I haven't ever tried Beech or oak smoked malt, so maybe I'll do that if I decide to make this again. I'm glad everyone seems to like it so far though.

I appreciate both opinions on the red very much. I definitely have it in the alt catagory as a double red. Chessking I will send you the recipe for sure; once I get home.

Reminder. Home brewers night at the Brew Hut this Thursday 15 May.

Second time through the order. I'm digging the Reinbeer more now for some reason. Maybe just aging. Also the American Dark ale has held up well. Still has the hop presence, and frothy head you could eat with a spoon. I think I'm enjoying them all more. Nice job Guys.