RDWHAHB - What Are You Drinking in 2020?

[Shamus O'Sean]

Side-By-Side Taste Test as promised a few weeks ago.  These were AG brews I did to better understand the malts and what they bring.

SMaSH Pilsner

SMaSH Vienna Lager

SMaSH New Zealand Pilsner with a good dry hop of Riwaka (This was a 50:50 split off the SMaSH Pilsner, so exactly the same base)

Sorry for the boring background in the photo.  As you can see, the Vienna Lager is a little bit darker.  It has a slightly more toasty flavour.  The Pilsner has a slight honey aroma and flavour.  Both beers were bittered with Hallertauer Mittelfruh and have very similar bitterness.  The Vienna Lager has just a tiny bit bitterness (24 IBU's compared to 22.6 IBU's).  All are very pale.  They are all as clear as the NZ Pilsner.  I can just about watch the telly through them.

The NZ Pilsner aroma is tropical.  Not pineapple.  Maybe some passionfruit and some floral.  In the What's in Your Fermenter thread I described it as a little bit like terpentine.  Supposedly it is A-terpeniol that is considered a good aroma - similar to lilac.  Hence the "floral" I can also pick up.  Nice hoppiness to the flavour that is a repeat of the aroma.

Nice beers, albeit a little one dimensional.  SMaSH beers have been described like that by others too.  The only unfortunate thing is that they were all half batches.

[Pezzza]

53 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Side-By-Side Taste Test as promised a few weeks ago.  These were AG brews I did to better understand the malts and what they bring.

 

Nice job Shamus! 

[Pezzza]

What are you drinking?  Well here we go - nitro pour with a lovely creamy top - Bit like Kilkenny or Boddington's Bitter.... herewith known as Bushkenny:

[MitchBastard]

3 hours ago, Bearded Burbler said:

What are you drinking?  Well here we go - nitro pour with a lovely creamy top - Bit like Kilkenny or Boddington's Bitter.... herewith known as Bushkenny:

Hope you got a knife n fork handy to get through that mate

[MitchBastard]

@Shamus O'Sean they all look great! How are you liking the riwaka? I’m going to use that in a pale ale in the next few weeks. 
 

 

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 hour ago, MitchBastard said:

@Shamus O'Sean they all look great! How are you liking the riwaka? I’m going to use that in a pale ale in the next few weeks. 
 

 

I have not decided yet.  It has an unusual aroma and taste.  It is supposed to include a lilac smell.  I get a turpentine aroma, which I do not mind.  It is just different.  I wish I could smell lilac, because I reckon if I could, it would reset my reference for this hop away from turpentine.

I did use 68g of it in a dry hop of a craft sized batch.  Maybe less would be better too.  I might have to experiment some time.

[Malter White]

5 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I have not decided yet.  It has an unusual aroma and taste.  It is supposed to include a lilac smell.  I get a turpentine aroma, which I do not mind.  It is just different.  I wish I could smell lilac, because I reckon if I could, it would reset my reference for this hop away from turpentine.

I did use 68g of it in a dry hop of a craft sized batch.  Maybe less would be better too.  I might have to experiment some time.

Hence the phrase "getting on the turps".

[Pezzza]

6 hours ago, MUZZY said:

Hence the phrase "getting on the turps".

Ha ha Muzzy you are "the ideas man" ha ha.... (borrowed from "The Castle")

[MitchBastard]

11 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I have not decided yet.  It has an unusual aroma and taste.  It is supposed to include a lilac smell.  I get a turpentine aroma, which I do not mind.  It is just different.  I wish I could smell lilac, because I reckon if I could, it would reset my reference for this hop away from turpentine.

I did use 68g of it in a dry hop of a craft sized batch.  Maybe less would be better too.  I might have to experiment some time.

Hmm interesting. Almost making me re think using it now haha. Maybe The  prince of the NZ hop @BlackSands might be able to offer some wisdom?

Side note @BlackSands I’m wanting to use some NZ hops late and dry any suggestions on a pairing for a pale ale mate? 

[BlackSands]

15 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

It has an unusual aroma and taste.  It is supposed to include a lilac smell.  I get a turpentine aroma, which I do not mind.  It is just different.  I wish I could smell lilac, because I reckon if I could, it would reset my reference for this hop away from turpentine.

Yikes...doesn't sound like the Riwaka I know.  I'm drinking a single-hop Riwaka golden ale at the moment where I used 100g total -  50g being dry hop.  The beer was beautifully aromatic when it was still young, though I can't actually comment on the lilac thing because I'm not sure what lilac actually smells like!   Describing aroma as "turpentine" is more suggestive of at a solventy off-flavour?  

 

3 hours ago, MitchBastard said:

Side note @BlackSands I’m wanting to use some NZ hops late and dry any suggestions on a pairing for a pale ale mate? 

Well,  of course it comes down to personal taste and preference and I can only really mention the combos that I've tried and liked.  One that comes to mind, and a combo I've used several times now is Kohatu and Pacifica.    Both these hops are very mellow though so I did find to really get a good sense of what they were all about I had to up the dosage from what I might otherwise use when using more potent hops.   A few months back I tried out some 'legacy' hops Dr Rudi, Sticklebract and Green Bullet.  Very affordable here and the blend was actually very nice I thought. Not sure why they lost popularity to be honest.   I've just today bottled a PA using Southern Cross and Taiheke.  Bottle time sample tasted promising.   Motueka is another favourite which I've paired up with a variety of others.  And of course Nelson... that one I'm actually undecided about.  It's very potent on it's own and the vinous quality I found a bit much in lighter beers like the golden ales I often brew.  I did however once pair it up with the very mellow Kohatu mentioned above in a 1:2 ratio which seemed to work better for my tastes.   Another nice one I've used a lot is Wakatu - a descendent of Hallertau.  Oh, and I brewed a terrific PA earlier this year using Wai-iti and HORT4337.  Maybe hard to get but they both have 'peach' in their descriptors and so that was what I went for - "Peaches PA" I called it.   Riwaka, as mentioned above I've only ever experienced as a single hop.  

Edited April 6, 2020 by BlackSands

[Shamus O'Sean]

@MitchBastard go with what @BlackSands describes for Riwaka.  Something may have gone amiss with my brew.  However,

• I split a single 18L batch into two batches
• 9L in each craft fermenter
• Brewed side by side in my temp controlled freezer
• They did start at 20°C for the first 12 hours
• Controller dropped to 12°C after 12 hours, was definitely stable within 12 hours (probably sooner)
• Temperature raised to 20°C after SG was 1.015
• The only difference - Dry hopped one of the fermenters with 68g of Riwaka (equivalent to 174g in a 23L batch)

The unhopped Pilsner has no evidence whatsoever of turpentine aroma.  If it is in one of the brews, you would think it would be in both.  This aroma, which is supposed to be ethyl acetate, is produced by a too hot fermentation.  I know I started this brew at 20°C, but that is not exactly hot. 

Baffling!

[ben 10]

Quote

Ingredients:
------------
Amt              Name                                             Type          #          %/IBU         Volume        
3.00 kg          Pilsner (Weyermann) (3.3 EBC)                    Grain         1          75.0 %        1.96 L        
1.00 kg          Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC)           Grain         2          25.0 %        0.65 L        
25.00 g          Nelson Sauvin [10.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min          Hop           3          31.1 IBUs     -             
3.65 g           Brewbrite (Boil 10.0 mins)                       Fining        4          -             -             
1.0 pkg          Belgian Saison II Yeast (White Labs #WLP566) [50 Yeast         5          -             -             

So bluddy lovely and crisp and refreshing.

[Beerlust]

21 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I have not decided yet.  It has an unusual aroma and taste. 

Something has unfortunately gone adrift with your brew here mate (IMHO). This hop is massive grapefruit. Boil additions 20mins & below matched with a good dry hop creates something other similar hops have a hard time keeping up with.

Not sure what has gone wrong, but may be worth a look at John Palmer's How To Brew - "Common Off Flavours" for a possible cause.

Don't give up on this hop, it's awesome!

Lusty.

[MitchBastard]

Cheers @BlackSands awesome info thanks mate! I decided on moteka and taiheke. Keen to get this one on!

[Beerlust]

8 minutes ago, Ben 10 said:

So bluddy lovely and crisp and refreshing.

I knew it would turn out well.

Congrats.

Lusty.

[ben 10]

15 minutes ago, Beerlust said:

I knew it would turn out well.

Bridge Rd Brewery use that yeast in their India Saison and I find it really good.

[PaddyBrew2]

One of my favourite commercial IPAs is Pirate Life IPA. Which uses riwaka. I’ve heard it labelled as the diesel hop cos some people get that diesel aroma and taste which I can kinda see why they would think that but I love it. Very interesting flavour profile. 

[RDT2]

Found a bonus bottle of Pale Ale hopped with cascade and orange zest from ten months ago which was a surprise, very smooth although the hop and orange was gone but extremely clear and well carbonated nice beer  

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 hour ago, PaddyBrew2 said:

diesel hop

That's a really interesting description.  Because of my uncertainty I had another of the Riwaka Pilsners  tonight.  It is not a bad brew.  Not turpentine in any bad way.  Certainly drinkable.  "Diesel" was a very interesting comparative description.

They might be stuffed, but I intend to drink them all.  Nothing wrong with them at all.  Unusual, yes.  Tippable, no.

[BlackSands]

22 hours ago, MitchBastard said:

Cheers @BlackSands awesome info thanks mate! I decided on moteka and taiheke. Keen to get this one on!

Ahh.... yeah, Motueka and Taiheke... forgot about that combo.  Brewed a PA with that combo last year, well... I think it was last year...?   Anyway, I recall liking it... which is why my 'Lockdown PA', which I just bottled today actually, was supposed to be that exact combo.  I placed an order a couple of days before our NZ lockdown but the LHBS in the mad last-minute rush lost my order!  By the time we'd sorted things out they'd already sold the last of their Motueka.  So... ended up with Southern Cross and Taiheke instead.   Sample tasted nice enough so I'm not too bothered.   

 

[RDT2]

Smoked Porter with S04 yeast delicious definitely one of my favourites

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

1 hour ago, RDT2 said:

Smoked Porter with S04 yeast delicious definitely one of my favourites

Yep. Looks beautiful mate. To all those who hate S04. Sorry your doing it wrong.

[RDT2]

15 minutes ago, Greeny1525229549 said:

Yep. Looks beautiful mate. To all those who hate S04. Sorry your doing it wrong.

Cheers it’s worked great for me so far as well touch wood in porters and stouts...  As I touch more wood 

Edited April 7, 2020 by RDT2

[Titan]

After a hard day at home office the bar is open.

This is my wheat beer about 3 or 4 weeks in the keg, banana party going on. This is a great beer, reminds me of my time when i worked in Frankfurt.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Nothing. The bastard blend had nothing left when I did a test pour the other day. 

The brewing schedule had been stuffed around a bit lately and that infected batch also didn't help. The pale ale currently in the fermenter is probably another week and a half away from being kegged, and if my new grain bag doesn't arrive tomorrow I won't be brewing again until next weekend. 

After that gets here I will be able to go back to normal production, but it'll be a little while before I can have batches fermenting while others are on tap. Wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to waste the week driving empty buses around.