Not-So-Secret-Santa Christmas Swap

[BrewWho]

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Just found this on the back of one of my new coasters. Ha great!!!

 

[poptarts]

I brewed today so its totally normal and possibly mandatory given the day if i start drinking at like 8am right?

 

[poptarts]

Hopefully the first of many Christmas beers today.

Fill level was good and bottle appeared in decent condition despite sitting in freezing cold all week in the back of a truck so thats good news. Pour pretty dark but you can tell it has decent clarity when looking at the edge of the glass. Pours with a decent size 1 finger head that dosnt hang around too long despite its adaquate and possibly higher than average carbonation.

In the aroma there is roast, chocolate, alochol (no idea what the abv is on this beer but that might point to the limited head retention. ) Verry little hops despite it being an ipa, I get some frutiy esters most likely from the English yeast. The hops that are there have an earthy english like smell but it is faint. from the smell I would have not guessed this is an ipa. It smells pretty close to yoopers oatmeal stout that is aloso fermented with an english yeast, less fruit but similar. fermented with an english yeast, less fruit but similar.

Flavor is that of roast and chocolate but it is thin, porter like. It comes across as dry slightly sweet and a smooth bitterness on the back. Slight alochol at the roof of my mouth and back of my throat. I honestly am not getting any hop flavor only bitterness.

mouth feel is thin and drying, leaves you ready for another drink.

Overall this beer is decent but I would not call it an IPA. I dont notice any off flavors in the aroma or flavor. My thoughts are this beer is getting old or there were just not enough late addition hops and or dry hops to make it an IPA. The beer appears to have good brewing and fermenting practices but the recipe needs some tweaking, especially in the hop department. I do look forward to the two others I have that were made with the same wort and just different yeast though to see what flavors get lost and added.


EDIT: Noticed that the bottle says IIPA not IPA so that explains alot of the alocol i was getting, and am currently feeling after just the one.

 

[Weezy]

I need some of those coasters to take to the pub with me.

 

[campbellmike]

Drinking the pumpkin ale from inkman15. This one has a nice copper color and creamy head. A fair amount of carbonation, which I like. Mild spice in the nose and flavor. This is exactly what I like in a spiced beer. Very clean flavor and just enough bitterness. Very well done! That's my rescue poodle in the background.

 

[inkman15]

Drinking the pumpkin ale from inkman15. This one has a nice copper color and creamy head. A fair amount of carbonation, which I like. Mild spice in the nose and flavor. This is exactly what I like in a spiced beer. Very clean flavor and just enough bitterness. Very well done! That's my rescue poodle in the background.

Thanks for the thoughts! We added spices at bottling to up the aroma and flavor but tried not to overdo it. Glad you liked it. Nice poodle too haha

 

[sfgoat]

3) Gose Straight to the Head, 7%, Bottled from keg. Sour Mashed Gose. Tart, salty absolutely hit the nail on the head with this one. Think of it as a more balanced Westbrook gose. I think it is up there with that one.

Tried this out tonight. Gotta say it is currently my favorite of yours. But there is still more to try. I do want this recipe though.

Appearance: straw yellow, Crystal clear with a thick, fluffy head .

Aroma: mostly malt with a bit of citrus.

Taste: you really did hit the nail on the head with this one. Slightly salty with sour upfront, but wait there's more, the sour stays with you all the way to the finish. Absolutely delicious.

Mouthfeel: felt almost like drinking a sour patch kid that never goes sweet. Very smooth Mouthfeel feel coupled by a an assault of sour.

Overall: I loved this beer. Could easily take gold in a competition imo. Please post recipe.

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[DisturbdChemist]

Tried this out tonight. Gotta say it is currently my favorite of yours. But there is still more to try. I do want this recipe though.

Appearance: straw yellow, Crystal clear with a thick, fluffy head .

Aroma: mostly malt with a bit of citrus.

Taste: you really did hit the nail on the head with this one. Slightly salty with sour upfront, but wait there's more, the sour stays with you all the way to the finish. Absolutely delicious.

Mouthfeel: felt almost like drinking a sour patch kid that never goes sweet. Very smooth Mouthfeel feel coupled by a an assault of sour.

Overall: I loved this beer. Could easily take gold in a competition imo. Please post recipe.

Glad you enjoyed it. Im proud of that one. Ill post the recipe soon. Its simple just need to prep a little. The recipe has been requested before. Once i post it ill let you know. Need to brew that again. The keg is getting low lol. Hope that one does not tarnish the others lol

 

[Hello]

@hello

haha, I'll type up full descriptions asap, sorry about that.

Wine is a cab merlot blend.
PP = Pecan porter
ALA = American Light Ale (that one needs some explaining)
IPA = IPA
MSA = Maple Syrup Ale

On the commercial brews I tried to pick regional beers that didn't have much distribution out of the area and that you probably didn't get in a previous swap.

The tape.....In a gross overestimation when painting, I bought the "contractors pack" and I'm still working on it years later.

Drinking your pecan porter. The sweet smell is nice. I don't get a ton of pecan but it's there. I like the feel of it. Definitely a solid brew. Nice work.

 

[LiquidFlame]

Here's my review of abeasst beers.

Bourbon Vanilla Porter:

• Minimal head, disappears quick
• Very dark
• Aroma has some hints of chocolate
• Mouthfeel very light and crisp cause of carbonation
• Taste lots of chocolate, some coffee
• Very slight vanilla as the beer warms up
• Dry finish
• Pretty decent beer

Rum Pumpkin Ale:

• Nice head
• Nice dark color
• Aroma has some really nice pumpkin spice notes
• Mouthfeel is light, but nice
• Nice pumpkin pie spice taste
• Wet finish, if that makes sense
• Pretty decent beer

 

[sfgoat]

5) India Black Lager, 7.1%, Bottled from Keg. A little experimental brew. This is basically a highly hopped Baltic porter. Hops upfront gives way to chocolate roast. Next batch will be a little less roast but it is still tasty.

Tried this out today.

Aroma: hoppy in the sense of grapefruit and pine. Not much malt aroma that I can detect over the hops.

Appearance: black with a tight light brown head that laced the glass. Clear and very pretty beer.

Taste: bitter and hoppy with some roasted backbone. All the makings of a black IPA but with the smoothness of a lager. Could have been hoppier and may have been at some point but lost some of the hop flavor during lagering and over time.

Mouthfeel: has an initial bitter bite on the tongue with a smooth finish. Has the consistency of chocolate milk without tasting like chocolate milk.

Overall: beautiful beer, I really enjoyed it as I do love hoppy beers. Just the right amount of roast for a well balanced yet complex beer.

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[sfgoat]

4) 100% Brett Rye (IPA), 8.5%, Bottle Conditioned. The IPA in parenthesis because this brew is about 8-9 months old so the hops probably faded a little. Same strain as #2. Slightly tart fruity/Funk saison

Warning: this review comes with slightly negative feedback. This beer was very overcarbed and gushed a lot so I wasn't able to save very much of it.

Appearance: cloudy and was a gusher, what I was able to pour had almost no head. Pale yellow in color.

Aroma: acidic and funky, not much else on the nose.

Taste: lots of funk upfront with an acidic tart finish. Not getting any of the rye in the taste. Perhaps use more flaked rye next time to bring that spice through. This one is lacking in malt complexity all that is noticeable is the funk and acid which are good but they need that malt character to carry them. This is labeled an IPA but I'm not getting any hop at all which would be out of character anyway for a brett but it would have been nice to see to maybe add some complexity.

Mouthfeel: it is very thin and lacking but Bretts don't typically win many points for mouthfeel.

Overall: I'm really not sure what happened in this one but it could be a number of things. Compared to your other beers this beer is below par but I wouldn't dump it so it is still certainly drinkable.

Please keep in mind that while this may be a negative review it is just my opinion and if you enjoy this beer then there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Cheers!

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[DisturbdChemist]

Sorry about that. I havent opened one in a while. It was better fresh and its a little old so the hops have faded. I never had a gusher when i opened my bretts. I put little sugar to carb but guess that one got too much sugar. Hope that is the only one like that. That is homebrew for ya. Sorry again

 

[sfgoat]

Sorry about that. I havent opened one in a while. It was better fresh and its a little old so the hops have faded. I never had a gusher when i opened my bretts. I put little sugar to carb but guess that one got too much sugar. Hope that is the only one like that. That is homebrew for ya. Sorry again

I kind of expected it to be a gusher at least. Bottle conditioned bretts don't travel well. I still got about half the beer out of it so it's all good.

 

[Wolfhound180]

@Keith_O

Had the double dunkel the other day but no pics.

Poured a nice dark caramel with seemingly low carb and a one finger head. Smelled malty sweet, but tasted not as sweet as it smells. Very clean taste, slightly phenolic.

Overall I enjoyed it as it was a very tasty brew.

 

[Keith_O]

@Keith_O

Had the double dunkel the other day but no pics.

Poured a nice dark caramel with seemingly low carb and a one finger head. Smelled malty sweet, but tasted not as sweet as it smells. Very clean taste, slightly phenolic.

Overall I enjoyed it as it was a very tasty brew.

Glad it was ok!
I am always either rushing or have help during brewing. ( 14 month old)
Like most of my HB, there was an error involved with this one, but it still turned out drinkable.
I've come to enjoy many of my mistakes, hey! you never know, right?

 

[BGBC]

@Johnnyhitch1 's Cranfelwine.

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Doesn't really have the color I would have expected, but the cranberries come through in the dry mouthfeel. Like the effervescence, very clean overall. Nice semi-dry taste.

 

[sfgoat]

8) Yummy Sound Sour Stout, 8%, Bottled Conditioned. One of the best beers I made so far. This sour stout stands up to Funk Metal from Jester King. People comment that it is actually better. Puckering sour gives away to tart cherry, slight roastiness. Version 2.0 is planned

Tried this one out tonight.

Aroma: lots of sour funk in the nose with a touch of roast and caramel.

Appearance: black as Sauron's soul but clear leaving me to believe he is more of a misunderstood teen than an evil entity. Lightly carbed with no head formation.

Taste: impossibly sour, just the way I like it. Sour funk is all up front leading to a roasty finish. Nice malt backbone to carry the funk around. It is very different to have all that roast in the finish. Starts out like a sour summer quaffer and ends as a winter warmer, which was welcomed during this Nebraska cold snap. This all left my palate delightfully confused.

Mouthfeel: thin, like drinking black coffee but instead of astringent roast you get an assault of puckering sour that rivals the devastation of the five armies of middle earth.

Overall: points to you for a unique brew. I enjoyed it a lot.

Side note: this beer went straight to my head so I went full nerd in this review.

Cheers!

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[BGBC]

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[BGBC]

Having @Johnnyhitch1 's Drunken Pumpkin.

This is the best pumpkin brew I've had in a while, and I had basically given up on the 'style'.

Apparently this one has 3 years on it and it has really come together well. Thick mouthfeel, biscuit/graham crust combined with a good balance on the spices.

Really reminds me of a pumpkin pie in a glass, in a great way. Thanks for this one!
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[Wolfhound180]

@Keith_O

Had the cider tonight.

Really clear and nicely carved. Nice and clean, sweet finish. This was delicious. I would love the recipe if you care to share.

 

[nmfree]

@nmfree

Old Balakirev v1

Jet black in appearance. Nice lasting creamy head with a roasty chocolate nose. I didn't get any hop aroma, but that's ok cause I'm not a hop head at all. No off flavors detected with perfect carbonation level.
I really enjoyed this beer and would like the recipe!
I'm gonna be trying the apfelwein while watching some football today.
GREAT BEER!

I'm glad you liked this one, it's one of my favorites. I'm a bit late, but here's the recipe and the brew log of that one.

 

[sfgoat]

6) Morning Hangover Rx (Breakfast Stout), 7%, Bottled from Keg. Basically a dessert beer. This beer is sweet with massive coffee, chocolate and slight vanilla really makes this beer great. Fully body deliciousness

Had the last of DC's beers tonight.

Appearance: black with a moussey light brown head that stuck around through the finish and laced my glass. Very clear stout.

Aroma: strong coffee roast aroma with lots of caramel and a hint of vanilla.

Taste: bitter and astringent at first taste lending to a toasty finish. I almost missed the coffee but if I let it linger on my palate I definitely picked it up it is just suttle maybe more coffee and less roasted barley?

Mouthfeel: silky smooth and thick with a bit of astringent bite.

Overall: a good drinkable stout. I have had better but I have also had much worse. Decent beer overall.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to try and review some of your beers. Cheers!

 

[sfgoat]

Had the last of DC's beers tonight.

Appearance: black with a moussey light brown head that stuck around through the finish and laced my glass. Very clear stout.

Aroma: strong coffee roast aroma with lots of caramel and a hint of vanilla.

Taste: bitter and astringent at first taste lending to a toasty finish. I almost missed the coffee but if I let it linger on my palate I definitely picked it up it is just suttle maybe more coffee and less roasted barley?

Mouthfeel: silky smooth and thick with a bit of astringent bite.

Overall: a good drinkable stout. I have had better but I have also had much worse. Decent beer overall.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to try and review some of your beers. Cheers!

Forgot the pics.

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[Johnnyhitch1]

Forgot the pics.

Drop some syrup in that stout!!

 

[sfgoat]

Have we heard from everyone yet? Seems like we had a pretty good size list and I can't recall if everyone has started reviewing the beers they've received.

 

[LiquidFlame]

I haven't gotten any reviews on mine, but I'm proud to say that two of the ones I sent just received medals!

 

[campbellmike]

You can send me some if you want a review. 😄

 

[jtd_419]

I haven't gotten any reviews on mine, but I'm proud to say that two of the ones I sent just received medals!

You're not the only one, I haven't heard a thing

 

[coyote68]

one of mine got reviewed.