Ok, I have to own up. As it happens logistically we weren't able to handle more than 2 bottles per entry in the competition. Some beers were entered in 3 x 330ml bottles. So the third bottle in this case ended up in my fridge. Tonight I've have entry number 225 which is a really excellent IIPA. I would suspect it has been dry hopped with Cascade, but it is very very hoppy. Last night I had 348 which was very good, followed by a blond ale in a Heineken bottle, which tasted just like Heineken. Powers of association!?
I'm fortunate in that I'm getting to sample so much home brew and the standard of it is really good.
Keep it up folks!
Well for some!
I'm having a Whitewater Copperhead, Galway Hooker followed by my own pale ale & nut brown ale!
Having just consumed about 7 pints of G. watching a S***e game of Welsh rugby followed by a MUCH better/entertaining game of Irish Rugby its time for a glass of red wine with me pizza!!
Well a bottle of my 5 and a half year old Westvleteren 12 looks mighty tempting, however it'll probably be pints of Guinness unfortunately
@ tube, your lucky! Enjoy the selection.
I'm having my own black smoked saison which I really like!
I'm having my first ever bottle of La Chouffe. Wow. Just wow.
Ive just cracked a bottle of andrewl46's brew!
Get this:
Dark ale 10.5%
Brewed with candi sugar, fennel seeds, pink peppercorns and dried figs soaked in bourbon added to secondary with french oak.
It foopin delicious!!! ;D
I feel im out of my depth after tasting this! :(
Fair play andrew
Yeah, not bad at all!
I think I had the same brew from dec a day few days or so ago.
Dead right, a crackin drop.
Was it the SNPA clone? dont really remember any grassiness as such to it. but yeah plenty of cascade.
(that sounds a bit odd! its just ive tasted stale hops in beer)
@Damo- you like!
Andrew and I brewed that one together. Called it El CAMINO.
I'm glad you like it. It took a while to get a recipe that was a little bit different
Dodge
you guy's should take a bow ! ;)
I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was a joint effort.
my only experience with a bourbon fused brew was with a brew at the rds last year. I felt it was too much of a kick!
Your's on the other hand was just right. in fact, I thought it was perfectly balanced. :)
Was it an entry in the comp?
Edit:
I might need another sample to be sure ;)
Damo I'm glad you liked it. Since you mentioned it I grabbed a bottle!
Your right! I had the Kentucky bourbon ale at the beer fest and felt it had too much bourbon.
When I decided to brew this with Andrew, we just soaked the figs in bourbon and add it to the beer during secondary for a few days, just to simulate if it would be stored in a barrel.
I have a few bottles left and if we meet up at a club meeting( just let me know where you meet up) I'll drop you a couple of bottles
Cheers ;D
QuoteIve just cracked a bottle of andrewl46's brew!
Get this:
Dark ale 10.5%
Brewed with candi sugar, fennel seeds, pink peppercorns and dried figs soaked in bourbon added to secondary with french oak.
It foopin delicious!!! ;D
I feel im out of my depth after tasting this! :(
Fair play andrew
This sounds delish. If there's a recipe on here please point me to it. As I read this I'm supping my own extract SNPA clone from partridge's recipe. ;). This has turned out to be one of my favourites so far.
This was preceeded by a Mixed Berry Cider brewed from a kit, which in turn was preceeded by a pint of Smithwicks :-?. I hadn't had one of these in a long, long time & was hoping it would have more to offer. (not much available locally on the Craft Beer front :( ). Suffice to say, things have improved as the night developed :) :) :)
right now - my own 33 point stout ( sorry but dead chuffed about that ! ) - watchin New York Rock at the bbc on beeb 4 - go on sonic youth !!!
Hi Tube,
Beer was dry hopped with cascade. I thought that if there was grassy flavour that the hops might have been old but I just checked the order from the home brew shop and it was "Cascade 100g Vacuum packed Alpha Acid 7.5% 2012 Harvest" so I don't think the hops were stale. Would be interested to know what else could give it this flavour?
Shanna
QuoteOpened one of Declan O Shanahan's TOG kit brews. This is really really good and there's no way I'd know it was a kit. I would say it has been dry hopped with Cascade as there is a slight grassiness to it, but otherwise it's top notch. Crystal clear, and holding its head nicely.
I'm not a huge fun of dry hopping as i find it results in a bit of a grassy flavour that needs to be aged out.
HI Rukkus
How long would you expect this aging process to take in a bottle stored around 7C?
Shanna
Shanna, not sure. Most likely a few months. I've found my beer is drinkable much faster when i use late additions rather than dry hopping.
Hi Tube
If your going to be coming to the night in the Dark Horse on the 20th would you mind bringing some of the 5 month old SNPA that you referred to. I would interested to see whether I can taste the grassyness you mentioned as I wonder whether I will be able to pick up on it.
Shanna
QuoteI have discovered over the last couple of years that I'm very sensitive to two flavours: the slightest hint of phenols, and grassiness from dry hopping. Having said that I generally can't taste a lot of other stuff! :-[
I'm not sure how long it would take the grassiness to fade as I have an SNPA clone that was brewed 5 months ago today and it still has it!
I bottled this (http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/hbc-extract-irish-red-ale-23-litres-p-1731.html) Irish Red from HBC last week & thought I'd try a sneaky taste tonight. Well 3 weeks ahead of what I'd normally leave it to carbonate/mature, this one tastes effin loverly.
I've been loving my hoppy beers of late so was a bit sceptical of trying this one but there's a real biscuity taste coming through. This one might be a keeper!!