kylevester
Well-Known Member
I brewed up 1 gallon batches of 02, 03, 04, and 05 at the end of January this year. My friend has gotten all from 06 on and we're doing a tasting in December of all of them, and then after I brewed them he got drunk and won some eBay auctions for one or two of the ones he didn't have.
I followed the guidelines on Stone's website and did BIAB. I'm pretty confident in the mash and spices/hops/etc. Due to the small batches, I used either Safale's "belgian" or the wheat and split each package into two brews. So I know the yeast character isn't there.
I tasted them tonight and if I came anywhere close, I'm gonna be ecstatic. Except on 03.03.03, the bottle I opened was horrid and cloyingly sweet. It finished at 1.018 with an OG of around 1.080. It got wheat yeast, so this may be why it was so sweet.
02.02.02 -- this is the best one
Fruity aroma, a little boozy
Spicy, slightly fruity, peppery flavor. Strong on alcohol. Nice
bitterness and not sweet. Well balanced overall.
03.03.03 -- disgusting and I hope it was a bad bottle and not
indicative of the whole batch
Fruity and boozy smell, orange and spice noticeable
Cloyingly sweet, did not fully ferment apparently or this bottle got
too many carb tabs.
Only had a couple sips of this and dumped bottle. Hopefully just a bad
bottle and whole batch isn't like this.
04.04.04 -- second fave
Big lime aroma, citrusy
White head, lots of carbonation, hazy due to carbonation
Boozy, strong lime flavor, good belgian character, lots of alcohol warmth
05.05.05 -- solid, not my cup of tea but tasty
Little aroma, some dark fruitiness, pretty malty
Little to no head, tan in color
Sweet (almost too much), alcohol warmth on the finish, prunes and
cranberries, very rich with Crystal 120L really shining with the
yeast. A very rich Belgian Dubbel, chewy, but drinkable.
Anyone else try their hand at brewing them?
I followed the guidelines on Stone's website and did BIAB. I'm pretty confident in the mash and spices/hops/etc. Due to the small batches, I used either Safale's "belgian" or the wheat and split each package into two brews. So I know the yeast character isn't there.
I tasted them tonight and if I came anywhere close, I'm gonna be ecstatic. Except on 03.03.03, the bottle I opened was horrid and cloyingly sweet. It finished at 1.018 with an OG of around 1.080. It got wheat yeast, so this may be why it was so sweet.
02.02.02 -- this is the best one
Fruity aroma, a little boozy
Spicy, slightly fruity, peppery flavor. Strong on alcohol. Nice
bitterness and not sweet. Well balanced overall.
03.03.03 -- disgusting and I hope it was a bad bottle and not
indicative of the whole batch
Fruity and boozy smell, orange and spice noticeable
Cloyingly sweet, did not fully ferment apparently or this bottle got
too many carb tabs.
Only had a couple sips of this and dumped bottle. Hopefully just a bad
bottle and whole batch isn't like this.
04.04.04 -- second fave
Big lime aroma, citrusy
White head, lots of carbonation, hazy due to carbonation
Boozy, strong lime flavor, good belgian character, lots of alcohol warmth
05.05.05 -- solid, not my cup of tea but tasty
Little aroma, some dark fruitiness, pretty malty
Little to no head, tan in color
Sweet (almost too much), alcohol warmth on the finish, prunes and
cranberries, very rich with Crystal 120L really shining with the
yeast. A very rich Belgian Dubbel, chewy, but drinkable.
Anyone else try their hand at brewing them?
