Xmas Swap Review Thread

strange-steve said:

Ha yeah there was a little confusion, there were 2 beers called Saison's Greetings, but this one was yours!

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Dads_Ale said:

Here we go.

I received a swing top bottle labeled West Coast IPA, 8.1%.

I have been looking at it for a couple of weeks now while it has been sat in the cool. I am well impressed that I managed to resist the urge to open it until the official tasting window :lol:

8.1% wow this could be a monster and it was quite a large bottle :whistle:, bodes well for later :drunk:

The bottle looked more than a pint so it gave me the opportunity to use one of my extended glass collection (apologies for it being a Greene King one :whistle:)

Anyway on with the tasting:
The beer had cleared well following the shake up during delivery. Opening gave a satisfying hiss and it poured a treat with a nice, tight head.
Initial aroma gave a good fruity hoppy note, really drawing you in to try a taster.
There was no getting away from this being a high strength beer but this is beautifully balanced by the intense, but not overpowering, hop hit.

I am still sipping this while typing and it is getting even better :)

If I got this in a Craft Beer pub (or any other pub come to that) I would be well happy.

For me it is 10/10 and :hat: to the brewer.

The only criticism.. I need the recipe:lol:

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Ajhutch said:

View attachment 11539

Santa brought me a 6% American IPA. A very pleasant golden colour and you can see it threw an impressive foam which lasted the whole way down. The picture doesn't do justice to a very good clarity for a beer that I suspect has had a heavy dry hop.

Aroma is of tons of fruity hop aroma. It's ever so slightly grassy (again I imagine a big dry hop) but that is very much in the background and it's a very inviting aroma. The taste backs this up completely with very similar hop flavours. I'm thinking grapefruit and a bit of tropical, so putting myself out on a limb I'm going to guess a heavy presence of Cascade. There is just enough bitterness but it isn't overwhelming at all. The mouthfeel is spot on too, good carbonation and a supportive malt finish providing body.

This is a really very good beer, not that this is a high bar but it's way better than any IPA I've ever made. I had two pints of craft brewery IPA at £4.95 each in my local two days ago and this was certainly better than one and the equal of the other (which happened to be one of my favourite UK breweries). So very high marks from me. Thanks for sharing Santa!

And many thanks to Steve for the efforts in putting this scheme together.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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IainM said:

Right, I'm currently quaffing a bottle of Citra Crusade, a 5.5% grapefruit infused IPA. With a name like that all I want is a big fruity, pithy grapefruit hit, and I knew I'd get it as soon as opened the bottle and gave it a sniff. Appearance is hazy gold, with a thin white head that dissipates quickly, wafting up a mouth-watering fresh hoppy aroma, plenty of grapefruit. In the mouth there is moderate carbonation, more grapefruit with tropical fruit in the background, accompanied by a sharp but not overpowering bitterness, and a hint of sweet maltiness which comes through at the end, balancing it out perfectly. 10/10 for this beer. If I'd ordered this at a bar, not only would I be happy to drink it, I don't think I'd be drinking anything else. Honestly, if grapefruit was the goal, then this is a great success. It's better than Elvis Juice, and leagues better than Belhaven Twister Grapefruit or the M&S Grapefruit IPA. I'd like to see the recipe! :hat:

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pvt_ak said:

I’ve been rumbled as secret Santa on this one - I’m sure you’re being overly kind in those comments.

Glad you liked it ! Just need to work on that clarity and head retention now ! I’ll send you the recipe .

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BeerCat said:

4.3% raspberry citra smoothie pale ale.
Immediate fruity smell when i opened the bottle. Berries mixed with a bowl of fruit. I served this well chilled and was slightly hazy and had a pleasant red colour. Carbonation was spot on with plenty of bubbles left in suspension. A very crisp and refreshing beer, slightly on the tart side but nicely balanced overall. The berry taste was quite pronounced in this beer which i liked. A lingering pleasant bitterness with a raspberry aftertaste. Was not long before this was gone.
Enjoyed this beer and its got me thinking about trying to add some raspberries to some of my recipes again. Thanks for the beer and good work, thumbs up!

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kohoutec said:

Santa very kindly sent me an 8.9% Chocolate stout 'Light Oil'
The bottle opened with the reassuring little burst you always hope for.
Pours really dark, no light getting through this one! Nice tan head.
Aroma is all you want in a stout, dark malts with a hint of chocolate.
Taste; bitterness from those dark malts shines through but not overpowering by any means. A nice chocolatey sweetness definitely there in the background. Hides the strength brilliantly, this stuff could be dangerous [emoji3]
Great thick mouthfeel, don't know if oats were involved but would love to see the recipe either way.
I must admit I was a little apprehensive about this one, 8.9% is a bit outside my comfort zone, especially with a 500ml bottle... But, I genuinely really enjoyed this, a lovely beer and one I would be more than happy to pay for.
I've only brewed one Chocolate stout and it wasn't a patch on this, but I'm planning on a rebrew this week before going back to work, if I can get close to this I'll be happy
Hats off to the brewer, difficult to get something at this strength to taste so good!View attachment 11572

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jceg316 said:

Really pleased you liked it! And thanks for the kind words. The recipe is here: http://brew.grainfather.com/recipes/16664 this batch had slightly low efficiency so actually came out weaker than my target. I kept it in secondary for ~3 months and has been in the bottle for 3-4 weeks.

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dan125 said:

I enjoyed my bottle of Diabolo Belgian Golden ale today ::
It had an inviting fruity, raisiny sweet aroma, with a milder fruity flavour - all from the yeast I suspect.
There was a good maltiness amd the carbonation was medium-high which balanced the fuller body and sweetish finish nicely
It seemed to have a moderate bitterness (compared to the IPAa I've been mainly drinking today) and it was very smooth for its strength, without any alcohol heat :hat:
Apologies for the less thE approriate glass - I coudlne;t wait for the dishwasher any longer!

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MmmBeer said:

Santa kindly sent me a lovely box containing two 330ml bottles, Stouty McStoutface and Fruity McFruitface.

Stouty McStoutface 9%ish ABV

A beer that 'does what it says on the tin'. Deep black with a creamy head which lasted. Tastes of treacle, vanilla and a hint of liquorice on the aftertaste. Lovely beer and deceptively drinkable for a 9% abv.

Fruity McFruitface 7%ish ABV

Was curious to find out what style this beer was. Straw coloured, hints of grapefruit and lemon and a sour note. I'm no expert, but I suspect that this a Belgian style lambic or similar. Would be interested to find out exactly what it was.

Of the two I definitely preferred the stout, but thank you Santa.

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Oneflewover said:

Spooky!

Glad you enjoyed it, although I suspect that you are being generous. You clearly know your stuff, I'm impressed. I used coriander seed, and 800g of wheat malt. Given that I used a Belgian yeast (mj44), I'm perhaps using artistic licence to call it a Saison.

If you could see your way clear to giving some constructive criticism / suggestions for improvement I'd really appreciate it.

Cheers

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chub1 said:

First Gold.
As arranged through Steve with the sender,this was sampled by my son and not myself.Having attended hospital on the 23rd with much prodding,poking,blood and urine tests and rummaging around unspeakable areas i was allowed home along with strong painkillers and a urologist appointment on 9th jan. No alcohol until at least that date:twisted:.
OK, a nice hiss upon opening, lovely ,lovely aroma and a nice clear beer with a decent head that lasted well down the glass.. Slightly bitter aftertaste but the lot went down the hatch:lol:,so well done the brewer.:thumb:

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