What are you drinking in 2023?

[Classic Brewing Co]

25 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said:

Had some dollars left on a visa gift card and got myself a life membership for https://www.beerlabelizer.com/ . I make a label for every brew I make, just for fun, I don't label every bottle, just print a few on my home printer to stick in the crates to remember their content

I mucked about with that for a while but too bust kegging these days.

[Classic Brewing Co]

43 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

bust

should say busy. 

[Aussiekraut]

Vienna Lager. Very tasty but not as clear as I would have expected after 8 or 9 weeks in the keg.

[Aussiekraut]

Bitsa Lager. Nice creamy head that stays around for a while. Decent clarity and rather yummy. A nice beer born from leftovers

[DavidM]

Coopers Pale Ale

Just a perfect Winter's day with glorious sunshine.

Had to have a Pale sitting in the sun!

[Kegory]

Taste Test Challenge time: 004, Coopers Dark Ale, bottled 12/6/23, conditioned for 20 days, vs Coopers Brewery Dark Ale, a.k.a. Coopers Brown, Best After 24/4/2022.

The respective colours are indistinguishable but the Brown is progressively superior through head, retention and lacing. The aromas are similar but 004 smells a bit twangy. Taste follows aroma. The body is similar but Brown is better carbonated and has a better mouthfeel.

Overall, of my three Coopers clones I think 004 is closest to the original. I think the roastiness masks the twang better.

[stquinto]

@iBooz2 Boozer’s COPA AG. Yum!

And an Ashes Ale. Yum too!

Finally a Budvar AG. Not bad, next time I’d put more hops in

Edited July 16, 2023 by stquinto
Typo

[Kegory]

A Taste Test Challenge with a difference: on the left hand side 003, Bewitched Amber Ale, bottled 1/6/23, conditioned 24 days, vs on the right 005, Autumn Amber Ale, bottled 18/6/23, conditioned 24 days. They are both the last minus 3 to be bottled and this is my first tasting of each.

Well, as you can see, neither of them are Amber. 003 is a tad darker, brown, basically, a very similar colour to 004, my Coopers Dark Ale. 005 is, if I want to be generous, brown ruby.

003 is the real surprise here. It's the most basic brew I've made, just the can, water, and the can yeast. I selected it because it came with the kit and I thought it would make a good comparison brew to go with the Autumn Amber Ale which was the craft recipe of the month when I was planning my first brews & equipment purchase. It is the base for the Autumn Amber Ale.

003 was also my first attempt at priming with powdered dextrose instead of carbonation drops.

Colour aside, it is quite good. The small, creamy head has a bit of staying power. The aroma has hints of liquorice. The taste has a good balance of bitterness and mild roastyness that counters the twang admirably.

005 was my first brew with any complexity: added to the Bewitched Amber Ale was some steeped Golden Naked Oats and a dry hoping.

005 was also the first brew in which I made a number of errors, mistakes, and/or oversights. I won't go into them here, they are in the "fail" thread,  except to note that there was also an unplanned overnight temperature drop during conditioning which I tried to rectify by extending the post temperature drop time in the conditioning cave.

005 has had since testing samples for gravity, and retains, a suggestion of liquorice allsort in the aroma. It had no head and no lacing although I could see bubbles on the side of the glass after pouring.

The taste had echoes of musk sticks, the old childhood sweet, that seemed to dovetail into the twang, almost obscuring it. If I wasn't so familiar with the twang I doubt I'd even notice it.

[Shamus O'Sean]

43 minutes ago, Kegory said:

A Taste Test Challenge with a difference: on the left hand side 003, Bewitched Amber Ale, bottled 1/6/23, conditioned 24 days, vs on the right 005, Autumn Amber Ale, bottled 18/6/23, conditioned 24 days. They are both the last minus 3 to be bottled and this is my first tasting of each.

Well, as you can see, neither of them are Amber. 003 is a tad darker, brown, basically, a very similar colour to 004, my Coopers Dark Ale. 005 is, if I want to be generous, brown ruby.

003 is the real surprise here. It's the most basic brew I've made, just the can, water, and the can yeast. I selected it because it came with the kit and I thought it would make a good comparison brew to go with the Autumn Amber Ale which was the craft recipe of the month when I was planning my first brews & equipment purchase. It is the base for the Autumn Amber Ale.

003 was also my first attempt at priming with powdered dextrose instead of carbonation drops.

Colour aside, it is quite good. The small, creamy head has a bit of staying power. The aroma has hints of liquorice. The taste has a good balance of bitterness and mild roastyness that counters the twang admirably.

005 was my first brew with any complexity: added to the Bewitched Amber Ale was some steeped Golden Naked Oats and a dry hoping.

005 was also the first brew in which I made a number of errors, mistakes, and/or oversights. I won't go into them here, they are in the "fail" thread,  except to note that there was also an unplanned overnight temperature drop during conditioning which I tried to rectify by extending the post temperature drop time in the conditioning cave.

005 has had since testing samples for gravity, and retains, a suggestion of liquorice allsort in the aroma. It had no head and no lacing although I could see bubbles on the side of the glass after pouring.

The taste had echoes of musk sticks, the old childhood sweet, that seemed to dovetail into the twang, almost obscuring it. If I wasn't so familiar with the twang I doubt I'd even notice it.

Nice description.  I could almost taste the beers as I read along.

[RDT2]

Red IPA this is really nice riddled with Idaho7, Citra and Eclipse late with a solid initial bittering of warrior for an IBu of 50. Love my reds they are so good! I tried a Red IPA at a local well known brewery and it didn’t taste much different to mine either so really happy with this!

Edited July 18, 2023 by RDT2

[Classic Brewing Co]

A sneaky taste of the FWK with Nottingham & a late 3 days hop with 50gm of Citra - ALL IN LEGBREAKER IPA.

It was kegged on Sunday but needs more time, but I must say the aroma, taste so far is delightful.

It will improve each day as will the carbonation.

Cheers.

 

 

[Back Brewing]

Make sure you have a few before the neighbours smell it

[Kegory]

Another 001 skunking exbeeriment: I put this one out in the sun for a couple of hours on Sunday.

Success, I think. It does have a different, and stronger, aroma. It's reminiscent of the whiff of a just struck match (remember matches?), at least that's what comes to mind.

It's not bad, though. It kind of brings out the bready, grainy aroma of Coopers Pale Ale. It also helps mask the taste of the twang, which has probably faded a little more, too.

[stquinto]

Should have enough of this Ashes Ale to last until the end of the series, and then a victory or a  commiseration pint, or schooner, depending of which side of the field you’re from

Alright, I should be having a big glass but it’s a bit warmish here even I can’t gulp if fast enough before it becomes undrinkable 

Edited July 19, 2023 by stquinto
Typo

[Classic Brewing Co]

On 7/19/2023 at 2:12 PM, Classic Brewing Co said:

A sneaky taste of the FWK with Nottingham & a late 3 days hop with 50gm of Citra - ALL IN LEGBREAKER IPA.

It was kegged on Sunday but needs more time, but I must say the aroma, taste so far is delightful.

It will improve each day as will the carbonation.

Cheers.

 

 

One day later & it's better, still not carbonated enough but full flavour & great hop flavours/aroma.

This is going to be good.

 

[Graculus]

Bump this one up too.

No pics, but I'm drinking a Coopers Pale Ale at the moment.
Stock standard, 500 grams of LDME & Dextrose.
Just a beer to have around for friends.

Also got a Coopers Canadian Blonde. I haven't made this one before.
The jury is still out. Not bad, but not sure I'd make it again.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Graculus

[Cheap Charlie]

On 7/19/2023 at 8:17 PM, Kegory said:

Another 001 skunking exbeeriment: I put this one out in the sun for a couple of hours on Sunday.

Success, I think. It does have a different, and stronger, aroma. It's reminiscent of the whiff of a just struck match (remember matches?), at least that's what comes to mind.

It's not bad, though. It kind of brings out the bready, grainy aroma of Coopers Pale Ale. It also helps mask the taste of the twang, which has probably faded a little more, too.

Interesting experiment mate

[Cheap Charlie]

Beermonster Brewing FWK - Czech Pilsner.

Been in the keg for 1 week, needs more time to clarify. Very flavourful, generous on the hops more than commercial mainstream pilsners. Deeper colour, ABV about 6%. It seems these guys put a lot of emphasis on making a generous real beer, not skimping on the ingredients. Similar backend taste to their American Pale Ale, but I guess that's due to their setup and brewing style. I would have to try all of their FWK's before I can make a judgement on that  . Quite enjoyable, nonetheless

[Classic Brewing Co]

My neighbor has developed a liking for my IPA's, somehow, I need to steer into something else, maybe a subby of VB 

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

A lovely Stout to end the beer drinking for the day.

Perfection.

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 minute ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

A lovely Stout to end the beer drinking for the day.

Perfection.

OK I lied, just a quick IPA out of the tap & then it is a wine with dinner. 

[Kegory]

I've been neglecting 002's Taste Test Challenges so here it is: Coopers Sparkling Ale by The O'Connorwery, bottled 22/5/23, vs Coopers Brewery Sparkling Ale, a.k.a. Coopers Red, Best Before 7/8/23.

002 poured a nice head but Red's was better and had better retention. Red had a distinct bready aroma with a hint of malt. I could detect a similar aroma from 002 but it was more muted.

Red had fine effervescence rising through the center. 002 had quite bigger bubbles clinging to the glass.

Red tasted malty, bready and bitter. 002 was bitter, sweeter, a bit bready, but the chloramine twang (more on that in late August/early September) made it's presence known in the middle and lingered at the end. Red had a small amount of sustained lacing. 002 had none.

Red is still the clear winner but 002 has gained clarity and reduced sweetness since the first taste test challenge.

In 002's defence, several times I did have to look down to check which one I was actually drinking. When I'm concentrating the distinctions between the two beers are quite stark but when I'm distracted the two are a lot closer.

[Shamus O'Sean]

Pickle Sour Beer - Funnily does not actually have any pickles in it (I was going to add it, but when I tasted the brew late in the fermentation, I thought it was enough).

• Smells like a jar of pickles
• Tastes like liquid pickles
• Faint chili burn on the lips
• Has a dryness from the salt addition
• Very close to what I was hoping for

I think this could be a ROTM very easily with say 

• Australian Pale Ale
• Coopers Wheat Malt Extract
• Packet of Pickle Spice
• 1.2g Chili Powder
• 28g Salt
• Boil the above 3 ingredients for 10 minutes
• Ferment with Lallemand Philly Sour yeast

Having suggested that, I know some people who have tried a Pickle Beer and hate it.

[ChairmanDrew]

8 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Pickle Sour Beer - Funnily does not actually have any pickles in it (I was going to add it, but when I tasted the brew late in the fermentation, I thought it was enough).

• Smells like a jar of pickles
• Tastes like liquid pickles
• Faint chili burn on the lips
• Has a dryness from the salt addition
• Very close to what I was hoping for

I think this could be a ROTM very easily with say 

• Australian Pale Ale
• Coopers Wheat Malt Extract
• Packet of Pickle Spice
• 1.2g Chili Powder
• 28g Salt
• Boil the above 3 ingredients for 10 minutes
• Ferment with Lallemand Philly Sour yeast

Having suggested that, I know some people who have tried a Pickle Beer and hate it.

Going off the ingredients, sounds pretty inoffensive. I'm still only very partial to sours in general, but they have their place and can be nice and refreshing.

I'm just drinking my Coffee Stout. That Coopers Stout kit is a winner, and the simple addition of some coffee (and a little sweetener) makes for probably my most successful brew yet.

[RDT2]

13 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

A lovely Stout to end the beer drinking for the day.

Perfection.

I love your label and bottle top looks just like the real thing????