Beerswap III: Yooper's Beers

[Yooper]

I'm sending out three or four different beers. These are the ones you might get:

B= Brown ale. This is Bernie Brewer's bust-a-nut recipe here on the site. (I stole it exactly from him).

P= Pale Ale. An American Pale Ale with cascade hops. This one has just been bottled, and needs a couple of weeks. Basically EdWort's recipe. The only change is the yeast- I used Pacific Ale yeast because I wanted some residual fruitiness.

DG= My Dead Guy Unclone. I used Pacific Ale yeast since the pacman yeast is not available. It's based on the Rogue Dead Guy. Recipe is posted.

I= Imperial IPA. This is stolen directly from Dude's recipe here on the site. It's the Pliny Clone he has posted.

If you told me that you're not an IPA fan, you'll be getting the first three.

 

[WOP31]

Dead Guy Clone​

Initial impression upon opening this beer was fully carbed. There was a strong pop on the bottle and yielded a great first pour with a nice off white head that faded a little sooner then i would have liked. It has a haze to it that is from shipping, I am sure that this beer is clear given plenty of time to settle, and it has zero impact on the beer itself. The color is a rich amber with honey hues when held to the light.


There is a slight twang or spice that hits the nose right up front on the initial pour, but fades immediately after given a moment to breath. Then the hops and the malt shine through. There is a spicy hop nose right up front, initially i thought Tetnanger, or something similar given the spiciness of the hop aroma on this. After going back and looking at the recipe I see Saaz for for the aroma. The hops is followed by a toasted/Crystal maltiness. Hop aroma is slightly elevated for the Maibock style, but given the nature of the "hybrid" basis of the Rogue brew, it follows the Dead Guy style guidelines quite nicely.

This beer has a medium to light body with a good amount of carbonation. It is smooth and clean with no astringency detectable, has some alcohol warming as the beer nears the end.

The bittering that grabs the tip of your tongue mingles well as it balances through with the malt sweetness to the finish, that fades with little to no lingering bitterness left in the mouth. There is a spicy bite from the hops that plays well with caramel and German malts. It has the toastiness of the Maibock style that shines through, with the fuller finish of an ale yeast, complimenting each other very well.


My overall impression of this beer is that it is a spot on clone for Dead Guy Ale, Great job Yooper! I really wish that I had a Rogue on hand to do a comparison with. I have no suggestions for this brew other than you could send me more if you like


Cheers

 

[Mutilated1]

I just tried the Imperial IPA. I'm not really informed about what the style is supposed to be like, but anyway here is my review for what its worth. The beer had an excellent hoppy aroma, and was nice and bitter as you'd expect from an IPA but not overpowering with the bitterness. Perhaps a bit overcarbonated, but the beer had a nice thick head on it. I couldn't tell how long the head lasted because the beer didn't last that long, nice and refreshing. Not much flavor of malt or sweetness, but I suppose thats how its supposed to taste. I really enjoyed this beer, and I will look forward to trying the recipe.

 

[Mutilated1]

I tried the Dead Guy Clone last night. Since I'm not familiar with what a non-clone dead guy tastes like, I would leave the more educated review to WOP31..

Anyway, here is my impression of the Dead Guy Clone.

After the excellent Imperial IPA from YooperBrew ( seriously the best homebrew I ever tasted ), I had high expectations from the Dead Guy Clone. Plus with "Dead Guy" in the name, I figured the beer would be right up my alley.

The beer was nicely carbonated, not over carbonated and clear and brown, my beer didn't have any of the noticable haze that WOP31 mentioned. When I tasted the beer, the maltiness kind of overwhelmed the hoppiness, and the beer had an overwhelming aroma and moderate taste of nuts ( peanut butter ? ).

I was a little disappointed in the dead guy clone, which is not to say that it wasn't a good beer or anything - it just doesn't really fit well with the style of beers that I prefer drinking. Still it was better than the beers I sent YooperBrew in exchange so I probably came out on the better end of the trade. It just really wasn't that great of a beer to my personal tastes, especially considering the high expectations I had from her wonderful IIPA that I tried the day before.

There is probably not a lot of constructive criticism that I could add to my review of the beer, I enjoyed tasting it and trying something new - but this is just not the kind of beer that I'd like to experience again.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

B = Brown Ale

Aroma = Nice malty slightly hoppy aroma

Appearance = Nice chocolaty brown head, lasted pretty quite a while

Flavor = Nice nutty chocolaty taste.

Mouthfeel = Nice feel, may have been slightly over carbed. Top really blasted off the bottle and glass overflowed when poured. Settled down quickly and did not taste over carbed.

Overall Impression = Had it with Chineese for dinnerr and could have used another. Good all around Nut Brown.

Disclaimer = I know nothing about beer judging printed a BJCP sheet so I at least had an inkling of what to look for

 

[Mutilated1]

I'm also really enjoying the Brown Ale. Makes me glad she sent two of them

 

[RichBrewer]

That is one awesome looking beer! It really looks good in the SA glass. Nice and clear too.

 

[WOP31]

Imperial IPA

Initial Impressions: Bottle opened with a good pop, started to foam a little in the bottle. poured with a thick off white head, that was very thick and creamy.

Aroma: All hop right in your face, really nice. The standard American hop aromas dominated this beer masking the malt that poked through ever so slightly. It was all pine and citrus, very good blend of hops.

Taste/Mouthfeel: All hoppy goodness! Excellent hop flavor in here. I would say it was close to absurdly high hop flavor, I love it. The elevated carbonation rendered a slightly dry finish. The body was a little thin for the style but didn't take away from the beer at all.

Overall Impressions: Great beer for any hop head. I think that there could have been a little more malt presence, which could have helped to add a little body. The head retention is great, strong head all the way to the bottom of the glass.

Thanks for the opportunity to try this wonderful beer.


Cheers

 

[WOP31]

Brown Ale​

Initial Impression: Bottle opened strong and foamed up, poured gently down side of glass and yielded a large light brown head. Very clear with a deep brown/mahogany color.

Aroma: The malt and roast aroma faded to a nutty and spicy aroma. Little to no hops detected in the nose. Malt comes out as the sample warms.

Flavor: There is a gentle malt flavor that is balanced out very nicely with the hops. Toasty/biscuit bittering bite up front with a slight hop bitterness in the back. No hop flavor which is nice.

Mouthfeel: First pour was overcarbed slightly out of style, as the bottle foamed out the neck when opened. the second pour from the deuce was just right. Beer had a great medium body on the second pour just prefect for the style.

Overall: Very good beer, I could drink this one all night. Just slightly over carbed.


Cheers

 

[Dude]

IIPA:

Pour: Big head. Lace stayed the entire duration.

Aroma: Big time hops. Spicy, fruity, piney.

Taste: Piney, almost harsh bite at first, but I attribute this to being young. With time the hops would mellow into the rest of the beer, I'd bet. In the middle I do get a nice residual sweetness, which is key in this beer (the real pliny is pretty dry for a IIPA, but it does have some maltiness in it). Overall a very nice clone of a difficult beer to get "right".

Additional comments: I'm curious to see what the second bottle does for me. I can almost bet the hops will be less harsh. I hope they remain intense though. All around, a nice one. No faults at all, but I think age will make it even better. When I did my clone, the older it got, the better it got.




Brown Ale:

Pour: Good head, big carbonation. I had to let the first pour settle a minute before I poured the last 1/3. The lace stays thru the whole brew.

Aroma: Caramel. Slightly nutty but also a hint of chocolate and raisin.

Taste: Slightly hot (for a brown ale), but the classic brown ale taste is distinguishable immediately after. I don't know the specs on the recipe at all (without looking) but it tastes higher in alc % than a classic nut brown, which I kind of enjoy. Nice melding of flavors here.

Additional comments: You could sit and drink this all night. I do not find faults in this beer at all. Typically I find browns boring but this has enough character and subtelties to keep me interested. I think I also did it an injustice because I drank the IIPA first (what can I say, I'm a hophead!).

 

[Kevin Dean]

Top really blasted off the bottle and glass overflowed when poured. Settled down quickly and did not taste over carbed.

I didn't get any of Yooper's Brews (I REALLY need to join in these swaps) but the head on that looks like a little too much. Is head like that charactaristic of the Brown Ale style or is this excessive?

All in all it sounds like Yoop got some good reviews.

 

[Yooper]

I didn't get any of Yooper's Brews (I REALLY need to join in these swaps) but the head on that looks like a little too much. Is head like that charactaristic of the Brown Ale style or is this excessive?

All in all it sounds like Yoop got some good reviews.

No, that is definitely not "too style" for the head. I really have no idea why they are overcarbonated- I used my usual 4 ounces of priming sugar I believe, and I didn't bottle early. The ones here at home seem ok, but the ones that traveled seemed to really be overcarbed.

I'm glad you guys liked the beers- thanks for trying them!

 

[Kevin Dean]

I really have no idea why they are overcarbonated- I used my usual 4 ounces of priming sugar I believe, and I didn't bottle early. The ones here at home seem ok, but the ones that traveled seemed to really be overcarbed.

Awesome. Superior's review indicated that it didn't taste overcarbed, so perhaps it was agitation in shipping? Either way, that certainly does look like an awesome brew that I'm going to have to make soon.

Merry Christmas ya'll!

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Dead Guy Clone

Nice pop when opened, i poured it into a pilsner glass and had to stop twice, but it was worth the wait just for extra time to smell all the hop aromas.

Nice amber color, nicely carbed, good head, that lasted all the way to the bottom with nice lacing.

I drank it a little on the cool side but it tasted great, I have never had the original so I cant help much there but I will be copying the recipe and brewing it soon. I did save an inch and let it warm a bit (had plans to let more warm up but had no willpower) then it tasted & smelled even hoppier and more of the crystal & munich showed through.

Great job Yooper!

 

[MULE]

I've really enjoyed reading the reviews on this thread and find it a bit inspiring. Thanks