BeerSwap III: PseudoChef's Libations

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PseudoChef

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Beer were shipped today to SuperiorBrew, Orpheus, and wop31.

Everyone got a Nut Brown Ale, an Oatmeal Stout, and 2 x Rye India Pale Ales. Also included is a happy ending.

Booyeah.
 
Nut Brown Ale
Obfuscation Brewing Co.

First let me say that I was impressed, surprised and slightly disappointed all at the same time when i opened the box from PseudoChef. I was welcomed by three homebrews and two commercials from Terrapin Beer Co.. The disappointment came from the fact that the Impy Stout that the Chef sent was broken in shipment, images of the carnage can be viewed in my gallery. Now on to the first beer.

Appearance:
There was a strong pop upon opening the bottle, it poured slightly cloudy, in part due to not enough settling time. The color was a dark brown with copper highlights, perfect as per style guidelines. Nice thick head stuck around for most of the sampling and clung to the glass.

Aroma:
Right up front the malt comes across sweet in the nose followed up by a roastyness, surrounded by what could be described as a biscuit in a glass. No hop aroma, but has slight fruity esters with small hints of citrus. Alcohol esters creep through as the beer warms up.

Mouthfeel:
This beer has a light to medium body that rolls around the tongue. Carbonation was medium to high, slightly above guidelines.

Flavor:
A toasted bitter bite grabs right upfront, and mellows toward the end. There is a subdued hop bitterness to balance out the sweet malt flavor, but the majority of the bittering comes from the roasted grains. There is a slight extract twang picked up in the front of the mouth. The beer finishes dry and the toasted grain comes out more predominantly as it warms.

Over all I am very impressed as this was Chef's first beer (as per the enclosed marking sheet), it is very drinkable. The only suggestion i could make would be to try a late extract addition to try and lighten the color and reduce the amount of caramelization of the malt extract. But as I understand PseudoChef is moving on more and more from the extracts so wouldn't be an issue if brewed again.

Cheers
 
Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad that you agreed with my opinion in that my first beer wasn't terrible.

Also as a note, it actually was a late extract addition (the 0.6 lbs dry was added at the beginning, then the remaining syrup provided with the kit was added at 15 'til flameout). That said, I still taste a twang as well. But, like you said, I don't really need to worry about that anymore, eh? AG in the hizzy.:mug:
 
Obfuscation Nut Brown:

Pours gorgeously. Deep brown color and very clear. Thick full head that clings to the glass and laces all the way down.

The aroma is slightly sweet with just a hint of hoppiness.

I took my first sip before looking at the insert you sent along with the beer. As soon as I tasted it, I wondered whether it was extract or not, which isn't a bad thing. Then I read that it was a Northern Brewer kit. You are very correct in thinking this is a very drinkable beer. It's a great tasting brew that is a pleasure to drink.

:mug:
 
I just tried the American Brown Ale, I had aged it for a few weeks at 70-72º & chilled it last night.
I thought it was very good, Nice pop when I opened it but not much head. the carbonation seemed right on.
It was a little more bitter, and had more of that toasted, coffee, chocolatey flavor then I was expecting.
I drank it a little on the cold side and was planning on letting it warm up, but it only made it a minute or two tops :)

Overall a really good beer.
 
Nut Brown:
Loud pop when opening, poured slowly but still had over half a glass of head. I let it settle a while and topped it off. Super nice color, nice thick creamy head. Light hop aroma and nice biscuit smell.
It did have a noticeable extract twang & was highly carbonated, but was over all a nice drinking beer.

Rye India Pale Ale:
Loud pop again, this one was even more carbonated than the nut brown. Took 3 pours to get the glass filled but was definitely worth the trouble. Nice creamy head, excellent hop aroma and a little spicy or peppery which I assume is the rye, I really liked that and have never had anything with rye before. Great job, I will be doing a rye soon.

Oaty Kinda Impy Stout:
Soft pop and no head at all, great color, great aroma, everything I would expect from a oatmeal stout. A little more carbonation and this would be another good brew.

All Simpcoe Pale Ale:
For what ever reason this one didn't sound good to me, but something about the smell made me think I was really going to like it and I did. Small head and it faded fast, it seemed slightly undercarbed from opening the bottle and the lack of head but it didn't drink that way at all. This one was a sleeper, I would love the recipe.
 
Thanks for the reviews, it wasn't my intention to come across abrupt in the other thread. I appreciate your taking time out to post the reviews.

Since I strictly bottle condition, I am going to start paying a lot more attention to carbing to style.
 
PseudoChef said:
Thanks for the reviews, it wasn't my intention to come across abrupt in the other thread. I appreciate your taking time out to post the reviews.

Since I strictly bottle condition, I am going to start paying a lot more attention to carbing to style.

I was glad I noticed it, I was more than grateful do drink them and give you my 2 cents worth. Wished I had more :drunk:
How much rye was in that IPA? I looked for the recipe in the DB but didn't see it.
 
The recipe is in my drop down. I'm pretty sure it's 1.5 pounds.

If I could use more than 2 oz hops per recipe now, I'd probably be trying to brew v2.0 of this sometime soon.
 
Hey everyone, I dont know anything about this beer swapping, But I would like a few of you to try my Old Town Steam, and my Crimson Ale. They were my first 2 all grains and would like the feedback How do I get Involved?

Thanks, Rich
 
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