Todays tastings

[Classic Brewing Co]

22 minutes ago, Kegory said:

When it first came out in glass bottles I used to enjoy it (which is not to say I would still enjoy it today). After a short amount of time, maybe a year or two (could have been longer but probably not much) they switched to plastic bottles and it didn't taste the same. A number of people I have spoken to over the years agree that the taste changed when the bottle changed and there is a general consensus that they tasted worse. 

It tasted like a beginner's home brew, even had a twang to it, I don't like Victorian beers much anyway, Carlton Draught is OK, Melbourne Bitter, not bad & the odd Crowny, as far as the rest, tell them they are dreaming.

[Uhtred Of Beddanburg]

@Kegory plastic bottles? for carlton dry? when?

[Kegory]

11 hours ago, Uhtred Of Beddanburg said:

@Kegory plastic bottles? for carlton dry? when?

My apologies, I was thinking of Carlton Cold.

[Uhtred Of Beddanburg]

8 hours ago, Kegory said:

My apologies, I was thinking of Carlton Cold.

I thought they stopped making that year's ago and was eventually replaced by Carlton dry? Are you saying they went to plastic bottles before stopped making it?

[Kegory]

1 hour ago, Uhtred Of Beddanburg said:

I thought they stopped making that year's ago and was eventually replaced by Carlton dry? Are you saying they went to plastic bottles before stopped making it?

Yes, they did.

[Uhtred Of Beddanburg]

3 hours ago, Kegory said:

Yes, they did.

ok I can't remember buying any while plastic just that they disappeared 

[Kegory]

12 hours ago, Uhtred Of Beddanburg said:

ok I can't remember buying any while plastic just that they disappeared 

According to this article it was for a short time in the late 1990's.

[Kegory]

Burnley Brewing Schwarzbeir

I got this last week at Burnley Brewing. I only had a small sample tasting of it while there.

Aecht Schlenkerla Raunchier Marzen

Of the three of their beers I've had this seems to be strongest in both aroma and flavours. It's a bit confronting at first but after a while the depth comes through.

[Classic Brewing Co]

51 minutes ago, Kegory said:

Burnley Brewing Schwarzbeir

I got this last week at Burnley Brewing. I only had a small sample tasting of it while there.

Aecht Schlenkerla Raunchier Marzen

Of the three of their beers I've had this seems to be strongest in both aroma and flavours. It's a bit confronting at first but after a while the depth comes through.

It's not actually that bad, they call it a smoked beer.

[Kegory]

1 hour ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

It's not actually that bad, they call it a smoked beer.

Yes, it's made with smoked malt.

[Brauhaus Fritz]

20 hours ago, Kegory said:

According to this article it was for a short time in the late 1990's.

It really does not happen often , but the only time I tasted Byron Bay Lager I took one sip and went down the sink. Probably the worse think I ever put into my mouth

[Aussiekraut]

9 hours ago, Kegory said:

Yes, it's made with smoked malt.

That's the problem  

There aren't many beers I don't drink but smoked beers I can't handle. I once bought a selection of beers from Bacchus Brewing, Barley wines and a few strong beers and they all tasted like a bacon butty. IMHO, the smoky taste overpowers all other flavours. 

I don't like peated whiskey either, for the same reason. That peat smoke the grain is subjected to when malting just doesn't do it for me. 

[Kegory]

3 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

That's the problem  

There aren't many beers I don't drink but smoked beers I can't handle. I once bought a selection of beers from Bacchus Brewing, Barley wines and a few strong beers and they all tasted like a bacon butty. IMHO, the smoky taste overpowers all other flavours. 

I don't like peated whiskey either, for the same reason. That peat smoke the grain is subjected to when malting just doesn't do it for me. 

The first smoked beer I tried was from 3 Ravens Brewing. I bought it when my friends had returned from living in Germany for several years. I thought it would be a nice surprise for my mate who had become quite a German beer connoisseur but he said the same thing, he didn't like it and he thought it tasted like bacon.

The smokiness is too intense for me, too, but I had to try the Aecht Schlenkerla range at least once, just to know. However, on a very small sample size, I don't have the same issue with peaty whisky.

[Classic Brewing Co]

33 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

That's the problem  

There aren't many beers I don't drink but smoked beers I can't handle. I once bought a selection of beers from Bacchus Brewing, Barley wines and a few strong beers and they all tasted like a bacon butty. IMHO, the smoky taste overpowers all other flavours. 

I don't like peated whiskey either, for the same reason. That peat smoke the grain is subjected to when malting just doesn't do it for me. 

I have tried the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock & I thought it was disgusting although I am very fond of German beers.

Single malt scotch for me!

[Kegory]

8 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I have tried the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock & I thought it was disgusting although I am very fond of German beers.

Single malt scotch for me!

I used to lean into the maltier whiskies until I tried the Laphroaig PX Cask Triple Matured bottle I picked up in the Duty Free shop. It was/is sensational.

The only other peaty whisky I've tried is the Ex-Loch Hungarian Oak Cask aged whisky I tried at Loch Brewery & Distillery a few weeks ago. It, too, was sensational and the next time I can manage to get myself down there I'm going to invest in a whole bottle. Half a dram was nice but not enough.

[Aussiekraut]

20 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I have tried the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock & I thought it was disgusting although I am very fond of German beers.

Single malt scotch for me!

With the Scotch, it depends on where it is from. There are apparently 5 distinct Whiskey areas in Scotland, like the highlands, lowlands and can't remember the others  Highland whiskey is usually peated, lowland isn't IIRC. 

Hellyers Road in Burnie offer, or at least did, various whiskeys from unpeated, slightly peated and peated. It's basically the same whiskey, just made with different malts and IMHO, the unpeated wins hands down. Much smoother in flavour. The best of theirs I have tried is the Pinot Noir finished unpeated. What a nice drop that is. Not cheap, mainly because of our ridiculous alcohol excise.

Edited October 7, 2023 by Aussiekraut

[Kegory]

4 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

With the Scotch, it depends on where it is from. There are apparently 5 distinct Whiskey areas in Scotland, like the highlands, lowlands and can't remember the others  Highland whiskey is usually peated, lowland isn't IIRC. 

Hellyers Road in Burnie offer, or at least did, various whiskeys from unpeated, slightly peated and peated. It's basically the same whiskey, just made with different malts and IMHO, the unpeated wins hands down. Much smoother in flavour. The best of theirs I have tried is the Pinot Noir finished unpeated. What a nice drop that is. Not cheap, mainly because of our ridiculous alcohol excise.

The Isles are another region. I thought the Highlands were maltier and the Lowlands were peatier (that's where the peat bogs are) but I could be wrong.

Edited October 7, 2023 by Kegory
L

[Aussiekraut]

Just now, Kegory said:

The Isles are another region. I thought the Highlands were maltier and the lowlands were peatier (that's where the peat bogs are) but I could be wrong.

Yeah, that's why I said IIRC  My memory isn't what it used to be anymore. I remember my primary school layout and which classes were in which classroom but ask me what I had for dinner the day before yesterday... 

[Aussiekraut]

4 minutes ago, Kegory said:

The Isles are another region. I thought the Highlands were maltier and the Lowlands were peatier (that's where the peat bogs are) but I could be wrong.

Just asked my friend Dr. Google. The regions are Highland, Lowland, Campbeltown, Islay and Speyside.

[Classic Brewing Co]

15 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

With the Scotch, it depends on where it is from. There are apparently 5 distinct Whiskey areas in Scotland, like the highlands, lowlands and can't remember the others  Highland whiskey is usually peated, lowland isn't IIRC. 

Hellyers Road in Burnie offer, or at least did, various whiskeys from unpeated, slightly peated and peated. It's basically the same whiskey, just made with different malts and IMHO, the unpeated wins hands down. Much smoother in flavour. The best of theirs I have tried is the Pinot Noir finished unpeated. What a nice drop that is. Not cheap, mainly because of our ridiculous alcohol excise.

I like this one, as well as some others.

[Kegory]

42 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

 IIRC

One of my favourite acronymns.

[NBillett09]

The whisky from Islay is especially peaty, such as Laphroaig

[Kegory]

1 hour ago, NBillett09 said:

The whisky from Islay is especially peaty, such as Laphroaig

I had a bottle of Jura, from the isle next door to Islay, and it was far more malty than peaty.

[NBillett09]

@Kegory I got gifted a Laphroaig 10yo and not being a scotch enthusiast I was just learning online about it, 

according to Wikipedia:

”The region is characterised by whiskies with a peat smoke aroma, such as Laphroaig, Lagavulinand Ardbeg.^[2] In total, there are nine active distilleries on this island which measures only 25 by 15 miles (40 by 24 kilometres), and the industry is Islay's second largest employer after agriculture.^[3][4] Islay is a centre of "whisky tourism", and hosts a "Festival of Malt and Music" known as Fèis Ìle each year on the last week of May, with events and tastings celebrating the cultural heritage of the island. 

The whiskies of the distilleries along the southeastern coast of the island, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg, have a smoky character derived from peat, considered a central characteristic of the Islay malts, and ascribed both to the water from which the whisky is made and to the peating levels of the barley. Many describe this as a "medicinal" flavour. They also possess notes of iodine, seaweed and salt.^[9]Caol Ila, on the northern side of the island, across from Jura, also produces a strongly peated whisky. Trees, other than plantations, on these islands are scattered and the peat is free of rotting wood. (Normal peat bogs are invaded by trees and periodic fires kill the encroaching tree line.) Islay peat is reputedly the best flavoured for scotch production. “

Im no expert at all, just quoting.

but I feel we should all really get back to discussing BEER and leave the whisky chat for another thread lest the Thread Polizei kick the doors down!

[Kegory]

36 minutes ago, NBillett09 said:

@Kegory I got gifted a Laphroaig 10yo and not being a scotch enthusiast I was just learning online about it, 

according to Wikipedia:

”The region is characterised by whiskies with a peat smoke aroma, such as Laphroaig, Lagavulinand Ardbeg.^[2] In total, there are nine active distilleries on this island which measures only 25 by 15 miles (40 by 24 kilometres), and the industry is Islay's second largest employer after agriculture.^[3][4] Islay is a centre of "whisky tourism", and hosts a "Festival of Malt and Music" known as Fèis Ìle each year on the last week of May, with events and tastings celebrating the cultural heritage of the island. 

The whiskies of the distilleries along the southeastern coast of the island, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg, have a smoky character derived from peat, considered a central characteristic of the Islay malts, and ascribed both to the water from which the whisky is made and to the peating levels of the barley. Many describe this as a "medicinal" flavour. They also possess notes of iodine, seaweed and salt.^[9]Caol Ila, on the northern side of the island, across from Jura, also produces a strongly peated whisky. Trees, other than plantations, on these islands are scattered and the peat is free of rotting wood. (Normal peat bogs are invaded by trees and periodic fires kill the encroaching tree line.) Islay peat is reputedly the best flavoured for scotch production. “

Im no expert at all, just quoting.

but I feel we should all really get back to discussing BEER and leave the whisky chat for another thread lest the Thread Polizei kick the doors down!

I'm not an expert either and I agree with you about Laphroaig being peaty, I have a bottle.

I also agree that we should bring the subject back to beer before the sheriff arrives, it's just a bit early for me to crack one.