11-11-11 Old Ale Swap and Critique Thread
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Drinking a KingBrian RIS as I brew a spelt saison. Notes to follow. Damn good though I'll say right now.
Aroma - Molasses and dark sugars and dark fruits
Appearance - deep chestnut at the edges but black through and through
Flavor - Smooth roast with balanced hop bitterness. If anything I would say it is more malt forward. Probably an aged RIS that has allowed the hop bitterness to fade a bit. Alcohol is non-apparent. Flavors of sweet roasty malts, maybe slightly nutty and biscuity.
Mouthfeel - Nice and smooth
Overall - Solid RIS with appropriate carbonation. I think this is an aged offering and the fresh version would be more what I expect in a RIS. Most I drink are more on the fresh side, less than a year old. I don't detect anything off or needing improvement from my point of view.
I'm interested in knowing the ABV since the alcohol is well hidden by the malt flavors.
Appearance - deep chestnut at the edges but black through and through
Flavor - Smooth roast with balanced hop bitterness. If anything I would say it is more malt forward. Probably an aged RIS that has allowed the hop bitterness to fade a bit. Alcohol is non-apparent. Flavors of sweet roasty malts, maybe slightly nutty and biscuity.
Mouthfeel - Nice and smooth
Overall - Solid RIS with appropriate carbonation. I think this is an aged offering and the fresh version would be more what I expect in a RIS. Most I drink are more on the fresh side, less than a year old. I don't detect anything off or needing improvement from my point of view.
I'm interested in knowing the ABV since the alcohol is well hidden by the malt flavors.
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KingBrianI
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Awesome, thanks for the review. You're right that it is aged, it is about 1.5 yrs old right now. And the reason it is still around is because it took that long to get good! It was overwhelming for my tastes every time I drank it before. I hadn't tried it in a while and was trying to figure out what to send for the swap so I popped one in the freezer for a few minutes then tried it, and it was actually really good. It just took a long time to mellow out. Anyway it is 9.4% ABV. I'm glad you liked it!
I'm gonna attack AlphaWolf's Berliner Weisse this evening. Can anyone suggest a good temp for the style?
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KingBrianI
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AlphaWolf's Berliner Weisse
Aroma - Green apples and tart cherries. Very fruity. Appealing. A touch of popcorn.
Appearance - Poured a pale yellow with a very light haze. Lots of carbonation produced a fizzy white head that almost immediately dissipated like that of a soda.
Flavor - Tart, lemon in club soda. Flavors other than the tartness very mellow. Refreshing. Finishes with a very nice bready/biscuity note. Reminiscent of cider.
Mouthfeel - Thin body, moderately high carbonation. Fizzy and effervescent on the tongue.
Overall - Very nice beer. The only other berliner weisse I've had was a homebrew at a group brew and I had already had several other beers so I don't remember it much. Would have been much more appropriate for me to be drinking a couple of months ago when it was sweltering. Today it is cool and rainy here. I'm really liking that biscuity finish that lingers into the aftertaste. I'd be curious to see the recipe to figure out what that's coming from since as far as I know, berliner weisses are just wheat malt and pilsner malt. Actually now that I think about it, it could just be the pilsner malt, which would also explain that little bit of popcorn I was getting in the nose. It's very nice whatever it is. Thanks for sending it along!
Aroma - Green apples and tart cherries. Very fruity. Appealing. A touch of popcorn.
Appearance - Poured a pale yellow with a very light haze. Lots of carbonation produced a fizzy white head that almost immediately dissipated like that of a soda.
Flavor - Tart, lemon in club soda. Flavors other than the tartness very mellow. Refreshing. Finishes with a very nice bready/biscuity note. Reminiscent of cider.
Mouthfeel - Thin body, moderately high carbonation. Fizzy and effervescent on the tongue.
Overall - Very nice beer. The only other berliner weisse I've had was a homebrew at a group brew and I had already had several other beers so I don't remember it much. Would have been much more appropriate for me to be drinking a couple of months ago when it was sweltering. Today it is cool and rainy here. I'm really liking that biscuity finish that lingers into the aftertaste. I'd be curious to see the recipe to figure out what that's coming from since as far as I know, berliner weisses are just wheat malt and pilsner malt. Actually now that I think about it, it could just be the pilsner malt, which would also explain that little bit of popcorn I was getting in the nose. It's very nice whatever it is. Thanks for sending it along!
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KingBrianI
Well-Known Member
Just got your package tonight. Are all of them carbed up and ready to drink or should I let them sit for a couple weeks?
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
MarsColonist
Well-Known Member
Everything bottled, everything boxed. Out on Monday. Got two packages, havent sampled yet.
All good. Toss them in the fridge. The IPA I was thinking about sending would have needed to condition longer but I left it out.
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KingBrianI
Well-Known Member
Sweet! I'm eyeing that saison for a tasting tomorrow while brewing an experimental belgian amber table beer.
Damn why didn't I think of sending some of the yeast from the batch with the beer. You know in case any of you guys wanted to use some.
AlphaWolf-Brewery
Well-Known Member
Glad you liked the Berliner Brian. It was indeed just wheat malt and pilsner malt. It turned out pretty good, I think it could have been just a little bit tarter but other than that I was happy with it. Were you able to detect any brett taste in it? It had a pretty good pellicle for awhile.
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KingBrianI
Well-Known Member
Smokinghole's Ryeson
Aroma - Fruity esters tending towards citrus peel blends with pungent phenolic notes. The nose has a character that reminds me of vomit, but not in an unpleasant way.
Appearance - Poured a hazy, peachy-gold. A vigorous pour led to a billowy white head with very good retention.
Flavor - Light grainy malt combined with watered-down orange juice. Finishes very dry and smooth. Subtle tartness to the finish. As it warms it gets very "juicy" and some malt sweetness appears.
Mouthfeel - Moderate body, moderate-high carbonation. Slightly coating mouthfeel, probably from the rye.
Overall - I really like this beer. It's a very well-made saison and I can detect no flaws. I especially enjoyed it after it warmed a bit and the carbonation dropped some. That allowed the malt to shine through a little more and the fruitiness was allowed to shine. Very nice body for such a dry beer, I think the rye was playing a big role in that.
Aroma - Fruity esters tending towards citrus peel blends with pungent phenolic notes. The nose has a character that reminds me of vomit, but not in an unpleasant way.
Appearance - Poured a hazy, peachy-gold. A vigorous pour led to a billowy white head with very good retention.
Flavor - Light grainy malt combined with watered-down orange juice. Finishes very dry and smooth. Subtle tartness to the finish. As it warms it gets very "juicy" and some malt sweetness appears.
Mouthfeel - Moderate body, moderate-high carbonation. Slightly coating mouthfeel, probably from the rye.
Overall - I really like this beer. It's a very well-made saison and I can detect no flaws. I especially enjoyed it after it warmed a bit and the carbonation dropped some. That allowed the malt to shine through a little more and the fruitiness was allowed to shine. Very nice body for such a dry beer, I think the rye was playing a big role in that.
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KingBrianI
Well-Known Member
I didn't taste much brett, but it was definitely in the aroma. The tart cherry in the aroma was actually very similar to my 11-11-11, though much more subdued. You'll see.
AlphaWolf-Brewery
Well-Known Member
I didn't taste much brett, but it was definitely in the aroma. The tart cherry in the aroma was actually very similar to my 11-11-11, though much more subdued. You'll see.
Good thats exactly what I got, lots of it in the aroma but very little taste. Im excited to try your 11.11.11 the brett pretty much completely took over mine.
I was happy to send these saisons out to you guys after I tried one this week. Back in September it just wasn't ready. I bottled it counting on a point or two being shaved off in the bottle and in Sept it needed more time. The interesting thing about this yeast blend is that I think it contains some of the 3711 strain mixed with other strains. I also believe there is a brett added that is from Fantome. I do not really taste much in the way of brett though. I really like the yeast though. I'll see if I get more brett in the most recent batch.
MarsColonist
Well-Known Member
I sent mine today (via UPS). Everyone getting 2x 11-11-11, 1x Berliner, 1x Dry Stout WLP005 (British Ale), 1x Dry Stout WLP810 (Belgian Wit II). CA-LT1 got a Wood Aged Baltic Porter, and Strat/jmo88 got my MCAB qualifier Belgian Strong Dark (only had two). OK by 11/9, but CA and WA by Monday 11/14, maybe Friday.
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Reading about the tasty homebrews going out is making me feel bad. My two bottles each of 11-11-11 went out today, but I have to fess-up. Had a brewing slump. Work and family got in the way and the pipeline turned unexpectedly dry. So along with my Old Ales youll be getting something from my most local brewery. River Horse is just down the Delaware from here. They have a new brewmaster and have been turning out some pretty decent stuff. Hope its something you enjoy and cant get where you live.
I know the effort and pride that goes into every homebrew. Sorry for not being able to exchange more.
I know the effort and pride that goes into every homebrew. Sorry for not being able to exchange more.
Not to worry. I was concerned that I didn't have anything ready or really worthy to send out. I ended up having something to send, otherwise I was going to send everyone some Troegs.
I got the box already. I'll toss them in the fridge.
So are we all pretty much waiting for closer to 11/11 to taste all the 11/11s in the packages?
KingBrian's Holiday ale:
I sat down this evening with my wife to sample this beer. We both had a good time drinking it and writing our critiques of it. We both didn't discuss the beer until after we had finished. She has a really good palette but she cracks me up the way she describes things sometimes (not conforming to the typical beer flavor descriptors) but that is why I appreciate her helpful yet candid feedback. Because it's a holiday beer, it was actually really hard to critique since the style has so much versatility and and complex flavors, hence you'll read some disagreement.
Jmo's notes:
S- Caramel. Pumpkin pie Spice. Mace? The mace/pie spice gives a subtle impression of brett/leather. Ginger snap cookies and lots of baking aromas jump out and mingle well and are too fleeting to pinpoint. As it warms, whiskey and vanillin aromas come out.
A- Dark brown, opaque (yeast?), quickly dissipating head.
F- Ginger Snap cookie flavor up front with a welcome sweet finish. No off flavors detected. Good bitterness to balance sweet finish. Malt is fairly one-dimensional letting the spices take the leading role.
M- Surprisingly refreshing and tangy mouthfeel upfront despite the full-bodied finish. Alcohols are warming but never hot.
O- A drinkable holiday ale. A good beer to have after a festive dinner or just to contemplate and relax with.
:fro: A's crit:
S: root beer, anise? caramel, whiskey, vanilla, nutty. Very complex smell with the sweetness hitting nose immediately and fizzling into a vanilla-rootbeer-nutty-whiskey. The spices are too subtle to detect; the vanilla/whiskey combo smell is the primary for me.
A: creamy/opaque, smooth, light-to-no head, mocha colored head, caramel coffee colored body.
F: scotch? oaked? strong vanilla extract flavor up-front; maybe a little heavy on the vanilla-whiskey flavor, and not balanced in that it overpowers the spicing and other flavors. No detectable hop flavor. Aftertaste a little like aspirin.
M: smooth, fizzly in my nose but low carbonation, chocolate/velvetty feel.
O: Vanilla-whiskey root beer, slightly hot to me, and possibly higher alcohol content than I want for a beer. I think the flavor of the spices were a little hidden by the other bold flavors. I would only drink one of these in a sitting but enjoyed it.
I sat down this evening with my wife to sample this beer. We both had a good time drinking it and writing our critiques of it. We both didn't discuss the beer until after we had finished. She has a really good palette but she cracks me up the way she describes things sometimes (not conforming to the typical beer flavor descriptors) but that is why I appreciate her helpful yet candid feedback. Because it's a holiday beer, it was actually really hard to critique since the style has so much versatility and and complex flavors, hence you'll read some disagreement.
Jmo's notes:
S- Caramel. Pumpkin pie Spice. Mace? The mace/pie spice gives a subtle impression of brett/leather. Ginger snap cookies and lots of baking aromas jump out and mingle well and are too fleeting to pinpoint. As it warms, whiskey and vanillin aromas come out.
A- Dark brown, opaque (yeast?), quickly dissipating head.
F- Ginger Snap cookie flavor up front with a welcome sweet finish. No off flavors detected. Good bitterness to balance sweet finish. Malt is fairly one-dimensional letting the spices take the leading role.
M- Surprisingly refreshing and tangy mouthfeel upfront despite the full-bodied finish. Alcohols are warming but never hot.
O- A drinkable holiday ale. A good beer to have after a festive dinner or just to contemplate and relax with.
:fro: A's crit:
S: root beer, anise? caramel, whiskey, vanilla, nutty. Very complex smell with the sweetness hitting nose immediately and fizzling into a vanilla-rootbeer-nutty-whiskey. The spices are too subtle to detect; the vanilla/whiskey combo smell is the primary for me.
A: creamy/opaque, smooth, light-to-no head, mocha colored head, caramel coffee colored body.
F: scotch? oaked? strong vanilla extract flavor up-front; maybe a little heavy on the vanilla-whiskey flavor, and not balanced in that it overpowers the spicing and other flavors. No detectable hop flavor. Aftertaste a little like aspirin.
M: smooth, fizzly in my nose but low carbonation, chocolate/velvetty feel.
O: Vanilla-whiskey root beer, slightly hot to me, and possibly higher alcohol content than I want for a beer. I think the flavor of the spices were a little hidden by the other bold flavors. I would only drink one of these in a sitting but enjoyed it.
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KingBrianI
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jmo, thanks for the review! You're right, your wife does have an excellent palate. The beer was oaked and had black rum added. The base style is a belgian dark strong, I guess I should have mentioned that earlier. Thanks again for the great reviews, and the great bargain! Two reviews for the price of on bottle!
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Received all my packages. Everything arrived safe and is chilling / settling. Probably wait until the weekend to get into them. Doing the Old Ale on the 11th sounds like a plan.
On that note, I have bad news for jmo88. I just tracked all my out going packages and found that NJ to Seattle takes a full week. Your package is scheduled to arrive on Monday the 14th. Sorry for not making it for the 11th.
edit to say:
My other outgoing packages were scheduled for 1-2 day delivery.
KingBrianI said:jmo, thanks for the review! You're right, your wife does have an excellent palate. The beer was oaked and had black rum added. The base style is a belgian dark strong, I guess I should have mentioned that earlier. Thanks again for the great reviews, and the great bargain! Two reviews for the price of on bottle!
Good to know. It was fun not knowing anything about the base style or spicing though— no preconceived notions. What spices did you use?
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KingBrianI
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Cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and clove. They infused in the rum with the medium toast oak cubes for a while before adding to secondary with the beer. The rum was a really molasses-y black rum.
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KingBrianI
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smokinghole's Belgian Pumpkin Ale
Aroma - Esters of overripe fruit and prickly phenols dominate. There's a sweetness from the malt that brings out a touch of cocoa. Hints of caramel are buried in there.
Appearance - Poured a hazy chestnut brown with reddish-orange highlights. A creamy, luscious ivory head sprung up and retains well. Solid cap of foam remained through the glass and left nice lacing.
Flavor - Sweet malt with almost a hint of smokiness hits first, then evolves into a chocolatey finish with what I think are hints of pumpkin. Beer starts sweet and finishes sweet, but is never cloying. There's a bit of bitterness in there to help balance the malt. I'm getting very little in the way of spices, maybe a touch of something in the finish, though I can't pull out any particular spice. The alcohol is definitely noticeable, but not at all harsh. The smokiness I detected in the first couple of sips went away further into the glass, but there remains a bit of a roasty/burnt character in the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel - Very smooth and creamy. Nice medium-full mouthfeel backed up by a moderate carbonation feels just right for this beer.
Overall - Definitely not your typical pumpkin ale. I really like it though. The use of a belgian yeast helps to set it apart as does the darker flavors and lack of strong spices. I'd be very interested to see the recipe for this beer. I'm also very interested to try the version fermented without belgian yeast. I'm not done enjoying this beer yet though. I'm going to quit typing and start drinking!
Aroma - Esters of overripe fruit and prickly phenols dominate. There's a sweetness from the malt that brings out a touch of cocoa. Hints of caramel are buried in there.
Appearance - Poured a hazy chestnut brown with reddish-orange highlights. A creamy, luscious ivory head sprung up and retains well. Solid cap of foam remained through the glass and left nice lacing.
Flavor - Sweet malt with almost a hint of smokiness hits first, then evolves into a chocolatey finish with what I think are hints of pumpkin. Beer starts sweet and finishes sweet, but is never cloying. There's a bit of bitterness in there to help balance the malt. I'm getting very little in the way of spices, maybe a touch of something in the finish, though I can't pull out any particular spice. The alcohol is definitely noticeable, but not at all harsh. The smokiness I detected in the first couple of sips went away further into the glass, but there remains a bit of a roasty/burnt character in the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel - Very smooth and creamy. Nice medium-full mouthfeel backed up by a moderate carbonation feels just right for this beer.
Overall - Definitely not your typical pumpkin ale. I really like it though. The use of a belgian yeast helps to set it apart as does the darker flavors and lack of strong spices. I'd be very interested to see the recipe for this beer. I'm also very interested to try the version fermented without belgian yeast. I'm not done enjoying this beer yet though. I'm going to quit typing and start drinking!
If anyone wants a recipe for anything I've sent let me know and PM me your email. I will happily send you the beer smith file if you have beer smith. If not I'll send a text file.
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KingBrianI
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strat_thru_marshall
Well-Known Member
AlphaWolf & MarsColonist:
I got your packages, but I am suffering a cold today so I want to wait until I can taste again before I try any of them. I'm headed out of town for a wedding this weekend also. I will start on Monday afternoon and post reviews as I go!
I got your packages, but I am suffering a cold today so I want to wait until I can taste again before I try any of them. I'm headed out of town for a wedding this weekend also. I will start on Monday afternoon and post reviews as I go!
KingBrianI's 10-10-10
Aroma: This beer has smells like pear cider almost. To me it definitely has a pear nose I can't really decide whether it's pear cider or poached pears, but I smell pear. I smell the sweet smell of alcohol as well. Belgian esters and slightly yeasty show up but are less pronounced than the pear and alcohol scents.
Appearance: It pours a deep golden with a slight haze. The foam poured to a good two fingers in my glass but then slowly died down to a thin ring. I think it could have been more clear but the shipping and only a week in my fridge may not have settled the beer back down.
Flavor: Slightly cidery, with spicy phenols. The spicy flavor has a very long finish. I can taste it for 30-45 seconds after taking a sip. The belgian esters are there with a very apparent alcohol presence. This reminds me of a tripel I put cane jaggery sugar into. It has a mild unrefined sugar flavor that could be contributing that cidery flavor. I get the alcohol and cidery flavor more in my sinus while sipping the beer than through the nose or in the mouth. There is some solid pils malt sweetness in the background that seems slightly amplified potentially by the sweet flavors associated with the alcohol. The best summation of the beer is very wine like.
Mouthfeel:
The mouth feel is about perfect. It's lighter than a tripel but it is heavier than Duvel. It is a nice medium bodied beer with moderate carbonation. The carbonation allows for the flavors to prickle off my tongue while holding the beer for a long taste. I suspect the carbonation may have been slightly higher since this I assume is from the 10-10-10 swap. With that being over a year ago this beer was likely brewed two years ago.
Overall:
This is a solid beer. As I said it reminds me a lot of a Tripel I made with cane jaggery. I think while the recipe is nice and solid it might benefit from less sugar and lower alcohol. It has aged gracefully into a winelike high alcohol golden ale. This is something I can certainly drink and it'd be a beer I could see buying if sold in a store.
Aroma: This beer has smells like pear cider almost. To me it definitely has a pear nose I can't really decide whether it's pear cider or poached pears, but I smell pear. I smell the sweet smell of alcohol as well. Belgian esters and slightly yeasty show up but are less pronounced than the pear and alcohol scents.
Appearance: It pours a deep golden with a slight haze. The foam poured to a good two fingers in my glass but then slowly died down to a thin ring. I think it could have been more clear but the shipping and only a week in my fridge may not have settled the beer back down.
Flavor: Slightly cidery, with spicy phenols. The spicy flavor has a very long finish. I can taste it for 30-45 seconds after taking a sip. The belgian esters are there with a very apparent alcohol presence. This reminds me of a tripel I put cane jaggery sugar into. It has a mild unrefined sugar flavor that could be contributing that cidery flavor. I get the alcohol and cidery flavor more in my sinus while sipping the beer than through the nose or in the mouth. There is some solid pils malt sweetness in the background that seems slightly amplified potentially by the sweet flavors associated with the alcohol. The best summation of the beer is very wine like.
Mouthfeel:
The mouth feel is about perfect. It's lighter than a tripel but it is heavier than Duvel. It is a nice medium bodied beer with moderate carbonation. The carbonation allows for the flavors to prickle off my tongue while holding the beer for a long taste. I suspect the carbonation may have been slightly higher since this I assume is from the 10-10-10 swap. With that being over a year ago this beer was likely brewed two years ago.
Overall:
This is a solid beer. As I said it reminds me a lot of a Tripel I made with cane jaggery. I think while the recipe is nice and solid it might benefit from less sugar and lower alcohol. It has aged gracefully into a winelike high alcohol golden ale. This is something I can certainly drink and it'd be a beer I could see buying if sold in a store.
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