The Friday Night 6 Pack Session

[Hairy]

All nice beers Lusty. I like the Endeavour Pale Ale more than than the Amber but it is still nice.

 

The AB Pale Ale and the Bridge Road Beechworth Pale Ale will demonstrate how Galaxy can be a little bit rough as a bittering hop. Again, still nice beers though.

[Beerlust]

Hi guys.

 

Just finished the 6 pack mentioned in an earlier post.

 

A couple of those beers have already been discussed over & over previously so I won't bore you with comments on those.

 

The others I thought some might appreciate a bit of biased input on.

 

Australian Brewery Pale Ale (from the can): Nice aromas & flavour. Noticeable Galaxy influence but not overly dominant & worked well with the Cascade. Subdued bitterness to a nice Aussie level as opposed to typical American Pale Ales. Nice light malt bill. Well carbonated. Lowish head but maintained fairly well to the bottom of the glass. Exceptional glass lacing, arguably one of the best I’ve seen in this area for an Australian styled Pale Ale. For what it is aimed at being, I was impressed as the Aus Pale Ale category is fairly restrictive.

 

Wicked Elf Pale Ale: American Pale Ale in style. More caramelised malt bill & increased hopping levels. Nice aromas with good hop & malt integration on the palate. Bittered to a nice level without being in anyway harsh. Good carbonation & nice glass lacing from top to bottom. A well made beer that I enjoyed.

 

Karl Strauss Tower 10 IPA: American Styled IPA. Very light coloured malt bill, much lighter than their more caramelised malt billed Pale Ale. Nice bitterness level, good forward hop influence on both palate & aroma. Very good head, good lasting carbonation, & very good glass lacing. For those that like lighter malted IPA’s you’ll enjoy this beer. For me though, I like an IPA that has more caramelisation to maintain the malt sweetness consistency with the increased hopping levels. Based on my tastes, I certainly prefer Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo IPA to this one. Admittedly, a little disappointed given the hype.

In contrast though, I’d buy Karl Strauss’s Pale Ale above Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale anytime!

 

Endeavour Vintage Beer Co. Reserve Amber Ale: Lovely heightened chocolate aromas on opening the bottle. Lovely colour for an amber ale. Compared with my own Mosaic version, much more focused on the chocolate malt flavours of the beer. Very pleasant bitterness level that allows the malt character to shine. Hop character is subdued & more in the background, that is quite fine by me for this style of beer. Probably using noble hop varieties here. Lowly carbonated, little to no head & or head retention. No real glass lacing as a consequence. Nice chocolate flavours that border on Dark Ale territory (IMHO) with a slight hint of alcohol. Despite a few shortcomings in a couple of areas, I still enjoyed it.

 

Franziskaner Dunkel Weissbier: I haven’t had a commercial Dunkel for quite a while so picked this up to re-acquaint myself with those flavours. Poured a nice head, lovely colour. As the name suggests, wheat yeast inspired & based. The darker grains involved in this beer play a very secondary role to the yeast used that as previously mentioned is wheat beer orientated. If I close my eyes & drink this beer, I know I’m drinking a heavily wheat yeast influenced beer. As a consequence of that, many of the other ingredients take a back seat to the yeast in this beer. Noticing any hop notes I could care less about, but was hoping for a nice balance of darker malt flavour combining with the yeast. Admittedly I’m not a huge wheat yeast fan, but even with that, I was a little disappointed with this beer. Take my uneducated palate view of this beer with a pinch of salt though.

 

Just my 2 cents,

 

Lusty.

 

[Del]

#1 a straight outta the can Wheat beer i brewed start of summer.

 

#2 a Citra IPA i brewed 8 months ago. lots of crystal and lots of citra hmmmmmm

 

#3/4 AG Choc oatmeal stout Philbo and i brewed way back when... too much to list.. and bloody delightful though lacking head a over a year later..

 

#5/6 a twocan coopers stout with lots of additives.. its a black hole in a glass.. and totally hits the spot...

 

over all.. im cheerful and heading to bed...

 

ive got about 40 home brews left.. 6 wheat beers, the rest stouts. time to brew again!

[porschemad911]

Nice writeup Lusty, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm a big fan of the Wicked Elf pale ale (and their porter after sampling it after reading Hairy's thoughts) and I agree with you that while the Tower 10 IPA is quite good, it's not as good as I had hoped. I found the Mornington Peninsula Brewery IPA much tastier for example.

[Brownsworthy]

G'day guys,

 

Grabbed a six pack of Riverside Brewing Co. 77 IPA 7.7% earthy and piney nice malt sweetness and good bitterness very nice.

[Hairy]

G'day guys' date='

 

Grabbed a six pack of Riverside Brewing Co. 77 IPA 7.7% earthy and piney nice malt sweetness and good bitterness very nice.[/quote']

This beer rocks! And the limited edition 777 Imperial IPA was awesome too.

 

Dave Padden, the former brewer at Riverside Brewery, is a top bloke and has just started a new brewery. It is called Akasha Brewery and they have just released Freshwater Pale Ale and will soon release Hopsmith IPA.

 

Check it out if you can

[Brownsworthy]

Yep a lovely IPA Hairy

 

Checked out the Akasha website and they sound like a couple of tasty brews will definitely be keeping an eye out for those in the near future.

 

So today i grabbed a Murray's Punk Monk, a Big Shed Brewing Co. Californicator West Coast IPA and a 4 pack of Arctic Fox IPA to try out whilst I watch the UFC I recorded this morning.

 

Just cracked the punk monk and it reminds me of the Leffe Blonde which isn't bad at all.

 

Cheers

[RussellB5]

I didnt try anything new last Friday night - dad was over from WA and we grabbed a carton of Cascade Export Stout to get through the cold nights

 

I rate Cascade Stout - its a nice beer if you dont want the extra heaviness that Coopers Best Extra has - in saying that, the Coopers BES is the best mainstream stout currently available in my local BWS

 

Over Easter i grabbed a 6 pack of the Hop Thief #6, Hop Thief #7 and a 10 can pack of Cricketers Arms Spearhead Ale

 

* Hop Thief #6 - I didnt think it was great. First stubby really gave me nothing, didnt have the body or flavour I now expect from an IPA.

 

* Hop Thief #7 - honestly doesnt give me what i associate with an IPA but I enjoyed the flavour

 

* Cricketers Arm Spearhead Ale - pretty good. Nice flavour, easy drinking, first time O have drank from a can in many years and I did enjoy it. Would not put it into the class of hoppy craft pales but a nice session beer and for the $20 for a ten pack i paid - great value!!

[antiphile]

Hop Thief #7 - honestly doesnt give me what i associate with an IPA but I enjoyed the flavour

 

Gotta agree with you there. It's interesting that JS don't label it as an IPA but an American-style Pale Ale. I found #6 to have a high bitterness at the expense of flavour (possibly like you). To me, #7 is better balanced in that regard.

[Hairy]

Not a six pack but I called into Harts Pub in Sydney today and had a Thirsty Crow Vanilla Milk Stout on nitro.

 

Wow

 

This would be the smoothest stout I have ever had. The nitro helps with this but but even without that it would still be a great beer.

 

If you find this at a pub near you then I recommend you try it. One of the best stouts I have had.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Nothing special here, just a few Pilsner Urquells in preparation for tomorrow's BoPils brew day.

 

In saying that, definitely one of my favourite beers. Any time I go to a BBQ or whatever, I always bring this with me, mostly because I can't be bothered being careful enough with my own beers not to stir them up and also it seems to drink just as well straight from the bottle as it does if poured into a glass.

[Alpaca Brew]

1st St Peters Ruby Red Ale I made in Feb. Put it directly into the keg and filled 5 bottles to keep for later. Sadly the keg is almost dry. Great great can. Will be doing it again next week.

 

2nd Mort Subite Original Gueuze. Taste of green apples clean and fresh.

 

3rd 5AM Saint Red Ale by BrewDog. 5 different malts. Hops/ cascade, amarillo, nelson sauvin, simcoe, ahtanum, and centennial. Will be buying more of this one too.

[Gibbo]

Finishing off the last 2 bottles of Big Eye IPA -- was originally thinking about polishing off the last Vale Ale in the fridge, but I'm not a huge fan (plus Big Eye is a hard act to follow).

[Gibbo]

Pardon the double-post -- brew club had a tasting session on Saturday and I figured I'd share my thoughts of the stand-out beers from the day:

 

Timmermans Oude Gueuze (Brewery John Martin & Brewery Timmermans)

Hadn't tasted a Gueueuzueuzue before, so I was pretty keen to try this one -- was much more sour than I thought it'd be, but way more delicious. The sourness was balanced with a citrus twang that leaves you wanting more - 5/5

 

Monk's Café Flemish Sour Ale (Brouwerij Van Steenberge)

Much like Timmermans, this was my first crack at a Flanders Oud Bruin, and given the chance, I'll definitely drink it again. Got a bit of a floral/citrus combo on the nose, balanced sourness and a surprisingly refreshing mouthfeel. Think I liked this a smidgeon more than Timmermans - 5(.25)/5

 

Jack Hammer (BrewDog)

This may well be the highest IBU beer I've ever had (200 IBU), but it was balanced/executed so well it was hard to notice. A bit maltier than you'd expect, but still a bloody delicious drop for those who have ever finished an AIPA and wished for a bit more punch - 4.5/5

 

Wild Devil (Victory Brewing Company)

I was handed this brew and told it was a "Brett IPA" -- I knew what each of those things were by themselves, but couldn't put the concept together in my head. Thankfully, my mouth came to the rescue and solved the mystery -- a hoppy/earthy/funky IPA with a sour twang and a mellow finish - 4.5/5

 

Boris Russian Imperial Stout (Feral Brewing Company)

This isn't as unusual as the other brews, it's just that I've been wanting to try Feral's take on an RIS for a long time. It's a big beer with chocolate and coffee in spades, with such a balanced profile that it's hard to pick the 9.1% ABV. Enjoyed it so much I've moved my own RIS up the brew schedule to get it down ASAP - 4.5/5

 

Praline (La Sirène Brewing)

This was an amazing brew that I struggle to describe, so I'll just let the Brewery's blurb do the talking: "A very special Belgian chocolate ale. Building on a Belgian stout base, it is brewed with organic vanilla pods, cacao nibs and hazelnuts and with a creamy body, it is velvety, dark and seductive." -- honestly one of the best beers I've ever tried - 5(million)/5

[antiphile]

Great reviews, and clearly understandable. Thanks mate.

[porschemad911]

Well, it looks like Dan Murphy's is stocking Sierra Nevada beers in cans now! Good thing I bought the Pale Ale instead of the Torpedo Extra IPA ... took me a while to decide in store. Tastes really nice, balanced and fresh.

[RussellB5]

Friday night I bought a stubby of Taverner's Honey Porter, a locally brewed beer here in Launceston

 

I have had this beer previously straight from the brewer at a farmers market and absolutely loved it but the one i had on Friday was nasty - had to actually force myself to drink it

 

It tasted like the honey had oxidised in the beer - not a pleasant taste

 

I will put this down to the porter being on the shelf too long at the shop i bought it from and hope this is the case because it really was a standout with me the previous time I tried it

[Beerlust]

Hi guys.

 

We recently began selling the "Yenda" range of beers at work, so I thought it was about time I tried one of them, so grabbed a six pack of the Pale Ale when I knocked off from work earlier tonight.

 

I poured the first one in a glass (as one should). Reasonable carbonation, low head formation that dissipates reasonably quickly. No noticeable hop aroma or yeast presence. Fairly drinkable bitterness & that's really it for the positives.

 

Negatives: Generic, bland, megaswill, come to mind. Then again this range comes from those wonderful people who gave us "Arvo" beer, so why should I have expected anything really that different.

 

Let's just say I haven't bothered pouring any more of them into a glass as it really offers no positive affects on the beers flavour etc. I don't think I'll be bothering to try any of the other supposed "styles" claimed in the range. If Casella spent half as much on merchandising & packaging the product & put that money into the ingredients for the beer, they might actually have a chance of making a half decent beer!

 

Hey P2 if you're out there, I can state that it's better than Arvo, if barely!

 

All I can say is thank @#$% I have a few Coopers Celebration Ales in the fridge!

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[Alpaca Brew]

I just tasted a Delta by beer project brussels. It is a Belgian IPA with challenger, smarago and citra hops. WOW great stuff. Have to admit when a friend gave it to me I put it on the back of the shelve of beers to taste because of the label. I am very happy I tried it because I will be ordering more! Just goes to show labels ARE as important as what is inside.

[Gibbo]

Located some better bottle-shops close to my work, so I've been dropping in every now and then and grabbing a few samplers:

 

Old Engine Oil (Harviestoun)

Heavy on the roast (maybe a little burnt?) with a pleasant, lingering dry bitterness. Rich, dark, and perfect for the cool weather - 4/5

 

Red Ale (Prickly Moses)

I think I might have liked a smidge more bitterness, but this is still a bloody tasty beer. Rich caramel toffee on the nose, yum - 3.75/5

 

Buggin' Out (BrewCult)

Smells amazing and has the subtle roast of a typical BIPA, but the bitterness seems a little out of balance. Still, a bloody tasty drop - 4/5

 

Hopfen Fahrt (Feral)

American IPA + new German hops = German IPA. Great colour, good balance, hints of pepper and a solid medium body. Not a bad drop at all - 3.75/5

 

Sculpin IPA (Ballast Point)

This was so worth the wait. Amazingly balanced for such a big IPA. Hoppy, great mouthfeel and beautiful finish. Absolute perfection - 5/5

[porschemad911]

Tonight I sampled James Squire Hop Thief #7 with Mosaic and Galaxy. I've read some terrible opinions so I wasn't expecting much. I have to say that while it doesn't taste like tons of real hops late in the boil, there is enough flavour there for a decent APA. Not too bad for the $10 a 6-pack I paid.

 

Having said that, I did have a stubby of Kelsey's red ale afterwards - it's much tastier.

[Brownsworthy]

Been lazy and have no beer on tap just cider

 

SWMBO came home with a carton of Six Strings Dark Red IPA

[porschemad911]

Enjoyed a few tasty beers from Plonk this weekend.

 

Achel 8 Blonde

Enjoyed this one - a very nice strong-ish Belgian blonde, very balanced and drinkable. Really nice with the pot of mussels my wife cooked for dinner!

 

Trappistes Rochefort 8

My favourite of the bunch. I haven't tried a dark Belgian strong before, but this was sensational. I need to re-read my Brewing Like a Monk book to find out more about how this is made.

 

Westmalle Tripel

Very nice, but I could taste the alcohol a bit too strongly to enjoy it as much as the other two Belgian's above.

 

Avery IPA

Actually this was one of the nicest American IPAs I've tried. It had some nice complexity to the hop character. Heaps of hop flavour but not overdone with pine / resin - some nice floral notes. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday lunch than sitting next to my little charcoal BBQ with some pork ribs, lamb chops, sausages etc sizzling and enjoying one of these. I am definitely going to try brewing the recipe here at some point: http://averybrewing.com/brewery/recipes-for-homebrewers/

 

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout

Very smooth, plenty of flavour but not too roasty. Zero burnt notes and very tasty! If my just-bottled oatmeal stout turns out anything like that I will be extremely happy.

[Leffe Nut]

Trappistes Rochefort 8

My favourite of the bunch. I haven't tried a dark Belgian strong before' date=' but this was sensational. I need to re-read my [i']Brewing Like a Monk[/i] book to find out more about how this is made.

 

I recently tried one of these (also from Plonk ) and decided I had to brew one. I am about to bottle the seemingly highly regarded clone recipe from here. It was my first ever all grain and the mash did not go as smoothly as I had hoped after a thermometer malfunction (despite spending well over $7 on a precision instrument to be shipped from China ). It is smelling pretty good in the fermentor at the moment so hopefully it will turn out alright.

 

PM911 - as we seem to share the same city as the Mad Abbott, if you decide to have a crack at the Rochefort 8 clone and would like some of the Rochefort yeast strain (WY 1762) let me know as I now have heaps. As an aside I have just taken possession of a packet of Wyeast 3726PC that Craftbrewer had remaining so I can have a go at your Marmalade Saison at some point.

 

Cheers, Craig.

[porschemad911]

PM911 - as we seem to share the same city as the Mad Abbott' date=' if you decide to have a crack at the Rochefort 8 clone and would like some of the Rochefort yeast strain (WY 1762) let me know as I now have heaps.[/quote']

Thanks very much for the recipe link and the offer - I might have to take you up on it in a couple of months if you still have some on hand. I've got Lusty's Amber Ale in a cube to ferment tonight after bottling my Old Ale, then ingredients ready to brew a Czech Pils and a Marzen over the dead of winter. Brewing a Belgian Blonde followed by a Dark Strong sounds like a great springtime plan! I reckon we've got a good climate here for brewing, with a bit of temp swing buffering there's styles that can be brewed just about year round at ambient temps.

 

BTW good on you for giving all-grain a go - I really enjoy the process and the results and find it very rewarding. My first one was a bit dodgy - somehow my 5 hour mash resulted in a wheat beer with very little head. It's taken me quite a few batches to get my process down smoothly, but once you do it's great to just be able to focus on building and executing the recipes, then learning from what they produce.

 

As an aside I have just taken possession of a packet of Wyeast 3726PC that Craftbrewer had remaining so I can have a go at your Marmalade Saison at some point.

Good luck! I am definitely going to try and get hold of some more of that for brewing this summer (seems like a long way away with the cold mornings at the moment though). I don't think I'll have any Motueka on hand so will try a simple pils / wheat / whatever British or European hops I have at the time. The long summer will give me a few goes at producing something tasty.

 

As an aside, seems like it's a great time for craft beer in our little city! I saw another place opened up in Belconnen last week, the Durham has an ever-changing lineup, Bent Spoke keeps coming out with more and more interesting brews ... I haven't even managed to visit Wig & Pen in their new location yet - that's booked in for the end of June. I tried to drop into Zierholz on Sunday but unfortunately it looks like they are cutting down their opening hours. Hard to get business out there I guess, but I've made up my mind to support them as much as I can. Would be a real shame if they ended up closing down.

 

Cheers,

 

John