August competition - British Pales, Bitters & Milds

[strange-steve]

I'm very much a novice in that style

Me too so don't expect too much

 

[strange-steve]

Bottling went ahead as scheduled so a bottle of "Seann Airgead" will be winging its way to you early next week.

 

[brewhaha]

Bottling went ahead as scheduled so a bottle of "Seann Airgead" will be winging its way to you early next week.

All received cheers Steve.

That's 4 entries with 1 still due. Still time to get something posted in time for the 8th if you've got something suitable tucked away in your stockpiles somewhere.

Still on the hunt for prize beer #3. All will be revealed by the weekend hopefully.

 

[Jakeyboi]

@brewhaha hows it going?

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

Have we poisoned him with the brews

 

[brewhaha]

Have we poisoned him with the brews

Haha! I'm still here! Judging all done & I'll get results up tomorrow.

 

[strange-steve]

Take your time, I for one am in no hurry for my feedback

Have we poisoned him with the brews

Turns out you're not far wrong

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

He’s keeping us in suspenders

 

[dan125]

He’s keeping us in suspenders

Its a bit like the long pause to build up the suspense before they annouce the winner of x-factor/strictly/BGT :hat:

 

[ACBEV]

Probably stuck on the loo, without any paper...

 

[brewhaha]

Ok drum roll please...

Results are as follows:
1st place - @Dads_Ale
2nd - @dan125
3rd - @BREWERS DROOP
=4th - @strange-steve & @Jakeyboi

Congratulations to Dads_Ale. Your triple selection of Norfolk/Suffolk beers will be in the post at the weekend.

Thanks to all those that entered, I really enjoyed the judging experience. It was a shame that a couple of beers didn't turn out the way that they were intended (I've contacted them by PM if you're wondering if it's yours!) but it was genuinely useful trying to identify what was wrong.

I will post full feedback for each beer along with scores as soon as I can.

 

[dan125]

Ok drum roll please...

Results are as follows:
1st place - @Dads_Ale
2nd - @dan125
3rd - @BREWERS DROOP
=4th - @strange-steve & @Jakeyboi

Congratulations to Dads_Ale. Your triple selection of Norfolk/Suffolk beers will be in the post at the weekend.

Thanks to all those that entered, I really enjoyed the judging experience. It was a shame that a couple of beers didn't turn out the way that they were intended (I've contacted them by PM if you're wondering if it's yours!) but it was genuinely useful trying to identify what was wrong.

I will post full feedback for each beer along with scores as soon as I can.

Thanks brewhaha - I'm well pleased with a 2nd with that beer. I'd be really interested to hear what you thought.
Feel free to post on the thread.

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

Well done Dads Ale.

Think I will change my name to Third,Richard the third,I must try harder.
Looking forward to the feedback.

 

[dan125]

Yes, congrats @Dads_Ale :hat:
Can you let us know what you entered?

 

[Dads_Ale]

Well chuffed with coming first.
Congrats to the other competitors and thanks to brewhaha for judging and providing a prize :).

The beer was taken from the new CAMRA essential homebrew book and was the West Berkshire Brewery Dr Hexters Healer.
Initially it was a bit boring but over time it has matured into a much more flavourful bitter. In fact it also won a competition at the brewery run by Andy Parker (co author) just for Healer clones using the exact recipe in the book. Getting a signed copy of the book so looking forward to trying some of the other clone recipes.

 

[strange-steve]

And my dismal performance in these competitions continues

Well done @Dads_Ale and apologies to @brewhaha.

 

[ACBEV]

Dr Hexters Healer.

Dr Hexters is a lovely pint.

 

[brewhaha]

Right, feedback time. This is my first time judging a collection of beers like this so please be gentle and if you want anything clarified then drop me a PM and I'll do my best.

Up first is @Dads_Ale

Ordinary bitter
4.2%

Aroma - 8

A lovely toasty and nutty aroma. If I sniffed long enough I started to get some sweet chocolate as well.


Appearance - 2.5

Deep amber colour that looked the part for the style.

Nice head on the pour but it did dissipate before the end of the beer.


Flavour - 13

Malt forward with the toastyness coming through after an initial caramel sweetness.

The bitterness was well balanced to allow the malt to shine.


Mouthfeel - 4

Medium to heavy body and the carbonation suited the beer perfectly.


Overall - 7.5

This was my favourite and it hit the intended style the best as well. There were some nice layers to the malt flavour with caramel, toast and nutty flavours all there. Was the grist quite complex? I was missing some yeast character to really make the beer shine but I’m beginning to think that’s maybe just something I really enjoy in this style and isn’t necessarily a requirement.


35/50

 

[brewhaha]

Now @dan125

Ordinary bitter
ABV not stated - I reckon about 4%?

Aroma - 7

A nice bready malt aroma but not much else. I think this might have been a bit cold.


Appearance - 2

Hazy and seems very light for an ordinary bitter - light golden colour.

Head on pouring that settles down to a ring around the edge of the glass.


Flavour - 13

The bready malt comes through in the flavour as well.

It’s a nicely balanced beer with the bitterness nicely offsetting the sweet malt.

It tastes more like a continental lager thought (like a Czech pilsner) rather than an ordinary bitter.


Mouthfeel - 3

Medium body and carbonation is higher on the tongue than visually.


Overall - 7

This was a nice beer and I could imagine having it on a warm summer’s evening but I just didn’t think it hit the style you were aiming for. I’m intrigued by what your grist was and what yeast you were using as it’s a very clean beer and maybe a more English yeast would have pushed it more to style.


32/50

 

[brewhaha]

And @BREWERS DROOP


English Pale Ale
5.3%

Aroma - 5

Quite a strong alcohol aroma - it almost smells like a barleywine.

Slight fruitiness - maybe some tangerine?

Not really getting the hop / malt combo I would expect from a pale ale.


Appearance - 2

Quite hazy but a nice light caramel / amber appearance.

High carbonation but the head dissipates quite quickly.


Flavour - 7

Grainy flavour with the balance skewed towards malt over hops.

There is some citrus (again maybe tangerine?) in there which I think might be yeast driven rather than hops?

The bitterness seems high for the style and I can really taste the alcohol. It definitely tastes stronger than 5.3%.


Mouthfeel - 3

Warming from the alcohol that rises to a heat at the finish.

Medium body and highly carbonated. Perhaps too much for the style but that might just be personal preference.


Overall - 5

I like that there is some yeast character present but I’m afraid the high carbonation and alcohol heat seemed to have covered up the malt / hop flavours.


22/50