July 2024 - Belgians

[Stu]

Sadly, I'm out. Everything that could have gone wrong with this beer did and it's virtually undrinkable at the moment.
I'll leave it a couple of months and return to it.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Sadly, I'm out. Everything that could have gone wrong with this beer did and it's virtually undrinkable at the moment.
I'll leave it a couple of months and return to it.

That's a shame. Hope you can get a better one on a few months!

 

[Agentgonzo]

Thank you everyone for sending in the beers, and apologies for it taking this long into the month until I could start judging.

I even did a palate calibration test with my brother on the way home ...

There are 9 entrants, and given they are all high ABV the judging will take me 2 evenings... Otherwise I'll be on the floor!

 

[Agentgonzo]

Sight update.
I've had trouble reading my own writing and my wife has sensibly suggested that (as I have to Go to work tomorrow morning and give a divisional presentation) that it might my time to put the beers down and go to bed.

Day 3 of judging (final 2 bottles) will be tomorrow. So far, the standard is exceptional with almost all being "really quite excellent".

Boy, is judging hard!

 

[Agentgonzo]

Results are in. After a wonderful 3 evenings of drinking beers between 6 and 8.3%, I've managed to decipher my own hand writing enough to get the results.

5 brewers, 10 beers. Not a bad or even average beer among them. They varied from "pretty nice" to "I would be very happy to have been served that in a Belgian monastery".

So without further pontificating, in 3rd place is @SMP Brewery with a saison. 6% and pre -warned to open it over the sink, it was actually fine! Plenty of carbonation and a good head the lingered for a long time. A hint of lime commented a decent amount of malt and biscuit flavour and a ever so slightly tart/dry finish that my wife said would be ideal for people who liked tangfastics. It vanished very quickly, inviting you back for the next sip as soon as you put the glass down.

 

[Agentgonzo]

In second place, and very very close was @xozzx with an 8.3% leffe. Crystal clear, deep straw and a light fluffy head that never went away.

Incredible intensity of flavour. Deep rich aroma of straw and a freshly harvested field with flavours of digestive biscuits and buttered croissants. The maltiness gave way to a subtle bitterness that was perfectly balanced against the hops and a creamy mouthful that left a lingering sensation of velvet. Truly fantastic beer. Well done!

 

[Agentgonzo]

Which leaves first place
@Twostage with his 6.04% amber beer called Louie.
This was just amazing. Gentle aroma of dark caramel and a deep, clear amber colour.
The flavour was just out of this world. Started with caramel and dark toffee that gave way to rain raisins and a hint of plum. The flavour didn't really vanish once you'd taken a sip. It just lingered forever and gently faded out to give way to a light and perfectly balanced level of bitterness that was complemented with the "Belgian flavours" that I find easy to recognise but hard to enunciate - mild phenols with that characteristic spicyness. But not too much - just that perfect amount that gave it a fully rounded flavour without being over the top. Soft and gentle mouthful with just the right level of carbonation that it exploded into tiny bubbles on your tongue, but wasn't too fizzy.

A truly remarkable beer, and one I would go back for again and again and again!

Absolutely well done, probably one of the best beers I've had all year!

Congratulations... And please post the recipe!

 

[Agentgonzo]

Once again, thank you to all who sent in the beers. That was a wonderful experience tasting them all. I'll type up the notes tomorrow and send them all out!

 

[SMP Brewery]

Well done to @Twostage and @xozzx and thanks to @Agentgonzo for having to spend 3 days getting drunk tasting them. I’m well chuffed for 3rd place.

 

[Twostage]

Which leaves first place
@Twostage with his 6.04% amber beer called Louie.
This was just amazing. Gentle aroma of dark caramel and a deep, clear amber colour.
The flavour was just out of this world. Started with caramel and dark toffee that gave way to rain raisins and a hint of plum. The flavour didn't really vanish once you'd taken a sip. It just lingered forever and gently faded out to give way to a light and perfectly balanced level of bitterness that was complemented with the "Belgian flavours" that I find easy to recognise but hard to enunciate - mild phenols with that characteristic spicyness. But not too much - just that perfect amount that gave it a fully rounded flavour without being over the top. Soft and gentle mouthful with just the right level of carbonation that it exploded into tiny bubbles on your tongue, but wasn't too fizzy.

A truly remarkable beer, and one I would go back for again and again and again!

Absolutely well done, probably one of the best beers I've had all year!

Congratulations... And please post the recipe!

Thanks a lot for the comments, really appreciate it. And well done to second and third (@xozzx and @SMP Brewery ).

I'll sort out the recipe which will be a head scratcher as I made a blonde, amber and brown at the same time. The blonde being the main mash and the amber and brown had their own additional mashes and then combined with the blonde mash. I'll see what I can do .

 

[Twostage]

Managed to figure out what I did on the day.

I made a 13 litre base batch which is the SmallDonald PDF. This ended up as 1.042 as I didn't add the sugar. The recipe shows Saaz as the hops but the printed out version in my note book has the Saaz crossed out and replaced with 32g of Celicia which was put in at the start of a 60 minute boil.

To make Louie (the TinyLouie PDF) I did an hour mash (and mash hopped with more Celicia) and just mashed out to get the temperature high enough to ensure it was bug free. Ended up with just under a litre at 1.113. To this I added about 3 litres of the base after it had cooled making the OG 1.058.

Fermented at 14c with 34/70.

Obviously this could be done simpler by combining the recipes into a single batch (which I might just do).

 

[Twostage]

Quick attempt at combining the two recipes into a single batch...

 

[xozzx]

Well done @Twostage and thanks @Agentgonzo for judging and the great feedback, v happy with second place.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Quick attempt at combining the two recipes into a single batch...

I'm brewing a helles this weekend, but am also going to get the mini-batch setup out and give this a try in my 5L stovetop setup. I'll try to remember to let you know how it gets on