Secret Santa Review Thread 2021!

[Benfleet Brewery]

Sorry for the delay. My second secret Santa is an export stout coming in at 7%. Very slight hiss when opened so I wasn’t expecting too much of a head on it but I was proved completely wrong. A gentle pour produced a perfect head which lasted right until the end of the glass. This isn’t my usual choice of beer style and it tasted very bitter at first but that is probably true to the style of this beer and just not something I’m used to. That said, the more I had the nicer this became and to my surprise I ended up quite liking it. Thanks Santa.

 

[dave_77]

Export stout 7%
A little hiss on opening, but carbonation better than expected
Small head on pouring which unfortunately disappeared very quickly
A bit of a sour taste, and a slight yeast after taste
I tend to like my stouts with a bit more coffee taste, but that is just my preference.

This was a nice stout, thanks Santa.

Sorry for the delay. My second secret Santa is an export stout coming in at 7%. Very slight hiss when opened so I wasn’t expecting too much of a head on it but I was proved completely wrong. A gentle pour produced a perfect head which lasted right until the end of the glass. This isn’t my usual choice of beer style and it tasted very bitter at first but that is probably true to the style of this beer and just not something I’m used to. That said, the more I had the nicer this became and to my surprise I ended up quite liking it. Thanks Santa.

View attachment 60719

Thankyou both for the feedback. This beer was adjusted from a imperial Brown stout recipe but fermented with Kviek. The hops were added based on this beer being 9.5% but I had a bad day with stuck sparge which reduced the efficiency so probably is overly bitter for the Abv.

 

[Alastair70]

Evening all. We've just passed the 100th beer review mark! There are one or two reviews left to come in, so I'll give it a couple more days. The final list of swaps will be posted on Friday along with a round up of the beers that got sent out.

 

[UKSkydiver]

Here is my final review. Apologies to the Secret Santa. I've been struggling with food poisoning and being out and about.

Chocolate Espresso Stout 5.5%

Expected a pop from the flip top but more hsssst. Carbonation spot on regardless.

Not as much chocolate as I was expecting / hoping for.

Not at all sweet. A tad sour maybe (I struggle to explain tastes) but that does not detract. Some bitterness lingers, not from the hops... but from the coffee.

A good thin head remains after at least 5-10 mins.

Thanks for sharing and again sorry for they delay.

Cheers

 

[Alastair70]

We've had a couple of extra days drinking time as promised and now to wind up the thread for this year.
Thanks to all of you who took part. The diversity and quality of beers being swapped was very impressive, and the overwhelming majority were very well received by the recipients. A special thanks is due to the volunteer elves, @DocAnna and @Oneflewover whose services were not required and an extra special thank you to @Hazelwood Brewery who saved Christmas for one participant and posted a replacement beer. I'd also like to thank @Broken Toe for making good on my error and stepping up to from one to two swaps when I messed up.
All in all at total of 102 beers were swapped; 35 stouts, 29 ales of various sorts, 17 Belgian beers, and 19 assorted other styles. So have a happy new year one and all, and it's only 351 sleeps until the 2022 review thread opens.
Final swaps to follow.

 

[Alastair70]

			Sent beer to​		Received beer from​
1​	@Alastair70		@pmh	@sdt7618		@jceg316	@subtleduck
2​	@pilgrimhudd		@dave77	@Mrhandsome		@Clint	@Captn-Needa
3​	@brokentoe		@starseeker	@dave77		@NPi	@jceg316
4​	@benfleetbrewery		@moto748	@Nottsbeer		@DocAnna	@dave77
5​	@Libigage		@Scott Bebgie	@Tanglefoot		@andyb13	@Moe
6​	@Cwrw666		@hoody	@hazelwood		@UKSkydiver	@RichardM
7​	@dadsale		@Cowman	@moto748		@Mrhandsome	@chrisb8
8​	@Clint		@pilgrimhudd	@Scott Bebgie		@Theoriginalrich	@Oneflewover
9​	@Scott Bebgie		@chrisb8	@Captn-Needa		@Libigage	@Clint
10​	@TETB		@Stu's Brews	@hoody		@subtleduck	@UKSkydiver
11​	@Leon103		@Irishwizard	@mashmonster		@phildo79	@Theoriginalrich
12​	@Oneflewover		@jayk34	@Clint		@Mike_Burton	@mashmonster
13​	@starseeker		@Tanglefoot	@samale		@brokentoe	@justindean
14​	@chrisb8		@Mike_Burton	@dadsale		@Scott Bebgie	@Cowman
15​	@Moe		@brewhaha	@Libigage		@Griff097	@phildo79
16​	@brewhaha		@DocAnna	@Stu's Brews		@Moe	@DocAnna
17​	@Nottsbeer		@hazelwood	@jceg316		@Captn-Needa	@benfleetbrewery
18​	@samale		@Griff097	@NPi		@hazelwood	@starseeker
19​	@jayk34		@RichardM	@andyb13		@Oneflewover	@sdt7618
20​	@andyb13		@Libigage	@phildo79		@dave77	@jayk34
21​	@Stu's Brews		@subtleduck	@Theoriginalrich		@TETB	@brewhaha
22​	@sdt7618		@phildo79	@jayk34		@RichardM	@Alastair70
23​	@Griff097		@Moe	@pmh		@samale	@Mrhandsome
24​	@moto748		@MonkeyMick	@Mike_Burton		@benfleetbrewery	@dadsale
25​	@UKSkydiver		@Cwrw666	@TETB		@MonkeyMick	@hoody

 

[Alastair70]

26​	@RichardM		@sdt7618	@Cwrw666		@jayk34	@Tanglefoot
27​	@mashmonster		@jceg316	@Oneflewover		@pmh	@Leon103
28​	@dave77		@andyb13	@benfleetbrewery		@pilgrimhudd	@brokentoe
29​	@subtleduck		@TETB	@Alastair70		@Stu's Brews	@Mike_Burton
30​	@Tanglefoot		@Theoriginalrich	@RichardM		@starseeker	@Libigage
31​	@pmh		@mashmonster	@justindean		@Alastair70	@Griff097
32​	@hoody		@justindean	@UKSkydiver		@Cwrw666	@TETB
33​	@justindean		@Mrhandsome	@starseeker		@hoody	@pmh
34​	@hazelwood		@samale	@Cowman		@Nottsbeer	@Cwrw666
35​	@jceg316		@Alastair70	@brokentoe		@mashmonster	@Nottsbeer
36​	@Mrhandsome		@dadsale	@Griff097		@justindean	@pilgrimhudd
37​	@NPi		@brokentoe	@DocAnna		@Irishwizard	@samale
38​	@Captn-Needa		@Nottsbeer	@pilgrimhudd		@Cowman	@Scott Bebgie
39​	@Cowman		@Captn-Needa	@chrisb8		@dadsale	@hazelwood
40​	@Mike_Burton		@Oneflewover	@subtleduck		@chrisb8	@moto748
41​	@Theoriginalrich		@Clint	@Leon103		@Tanglefoot	@Stu's Brews
42​	@DocAnna		@benfleetbrewery	@brewhaha		@brewhaha	@NPi
43​	@phildo79		@Leon103	@Moe		@sdt7618	@andyb13
44​	@Irishwizard		@NPi			@Leon103
45​	@MonkeyMick		@UKSkydiver			@moto748

 

[Justin Dean]

View attachment 60261
These were my two SS swaps,i really enjoyed both of them ,i have never reviewed a beer before so here goes

Short & Shoddy Mild
Lightly carbonated to suit this style
A light head which was easily roused by swirling the beer
A dark chestnut in colour ,lovely malty first taste with a caramel finish ,
This was delicious and i would be interested in the recipe/brew schedule.

Thank you. It is a 30 min mash 30 min boil. Travelling but will post when I get home next week

 

[MikeB.]

@Alastair70 Thanks for the great organisation.

 

[chrisb8]

Thanks again @Alastair70 for stepping up and organising the swap, cheers and a happy new year to you and all who took part

 

[Justin Dean]

Yes most appreciated.

 

[Broken Toe]

Thank you again @Alastair70. You did an exceptional job!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Well done @Alastair70 , terrific job.

 

[moto748]

Absolutely. Thanks very much.