Secret Santa Review Thread 2021!

[Leon103]

Glad you managed to force it down despite it being too sweet, too malty, under-attenuated, and generally having no thought put into it.
Recipe was straight from the bible; hochkurz mash, water profile from the Vienna Water Company. And it was not bottle conditioned.

Nothing like constructive feedback to kick things off.

 

[Nottsbeer]

That's both my beers in and consumed.

Thanks Pilgrimhudd. It's quite a deceptive one this eh? It nearly floored me the first time I tried it as it was just too easy to drink. It was actually a Hazy Jane recipe from DIY dog which got clearer and clear as I got through the keg. This was almost the last of it so it ended up very clear.
Glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you Nottsbeer. The blackberry flavour was pretty much fermented away unfortunately. The merest hint of flavour at the very end but not really noticeable unless you are told about it.
The recipe was from the James Morton book but I cold steeped the chocolate malts for 24 hours using a Gordon Strong method to try and get a smoother finish. I added this to the boil for the last 10 minutes.
1.3kg of blackberries used in a 20l batch and added them lot the FV for 7 days. I'd double that next time (if I can pick 2.5kg of them!).
Glad you enjoyed it.

You can borrow my kids next year, they picked a few kilos for me this year ...just getting to the end of the blackberry jam, plus should get the blackberry wine bottled. May give this a go next autumn as it was very drinkable. Thx for sharing a bottle.

 

[Nottsbeer]

View attachment 60260

My second beer: another Belgian style which is by no means a bad thing . Dark, lightly carbonated, good clarity, but most importantly good flavour. Nutty, caramel, estery and quite dry. I enjoyed drinking this and it also got the thumbs up from my dad who I shared it with. Thanks for sending.

Glad you and your Dad enjoyed it. Thx for the feedback.

 

[Nottsbeer]

Time for a Secret Santa. The bottle tells me this is a 7% “monk beer”. The colour, aroma, and flavour tell me this is a Dubbel.

View attachment 60214

The beer is fairly softly carbonated (but carbonated enough for me), deep copper colour and crystal clear. Aroma is malty with chocolate and dark fruit, hints of clove and warming alcohol. The flavour is dark caramel malt with raisin fruit, toward the end mild Belgian spice and hints of chocolate. Bitterness is just enough for balance. Maltiness lingers. Despite a malty sweet impression the beer finishes dry and with just a little warmth from the alcohol - smooth.

This was a lovely well made beer, it was very drinkable and one to enjoy sitting in front of an open fire.

Thank you Secret Santa! :hat:

Thx for your feedback, very detailed and much appreciated. I may PM you if that's ok as I would like to make some changes to this but I'm not too sure where to start...still quite a novice. Glad you enjoyed it

 

[starseeker]

I am just trying my second SS beer. It's an oatmeal and vanilla stout 4%

Carbonation is light with very little head retention. Getting vanilla in the taste but not in the aroma. Not sure on this one, it's very thin for the style.

Hope you don't mind the honest feedback. No faults or off flavours. I just wanted more mouth feel and flavor
Thank you for sending
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Thank you for the honest feedback ,i have never had a oatmeal stout to try ,so was not sure on what it should be like . I put 2.5 vanilla beans in a 23 L brew as not wanting to over power it ,but next year i will try
three of them. Maybe you could advise on improving the mouthfeel for this style of beer :)
Cheers

 

[starseeker]

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.

Lightning Pale Ale
Very lightly carbonated
Beautifully clear when poured
Citrus notes on the nose, with a very easy drinking ,citrus/melon flavour
A cracking pint

Thank you Secret Santa's .

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Thx for your feedback, very detailed and much appreciated. I may PM you if that's ok as I would like to make some changes to this but I'm not too sure where to start...still quite a novice. Glad you enjoyed it

You’re welcome. You’re also welcome to PM me but honestly I don’t think I’d be suggesting any changes, maybe just a touch more carbonation - not a lot. Your next step could be to enter this beer in a national competition and get feedback from a qualified beer judge. I think the next opportunity will be the London Open in May with registration for that competition in about a weeks time.

 

[samale]

Thank you for the honest feedback ,i have never had a oatmeal stout to try ,so was not sure on what it should be like . I put 2.5 vanilla beans in a 23 L brew as not wanting to over power it ,but next year i will try
three of them. Maybe you could advise on improving the mouthfeel for this style of beer :)
Cheers

Do you mind sharing the recipe, with the original and final gravity. I don't think I have ever made an oatmeal stout. I was expecting it to have a fuller mouth feel. What's your thoughts on it, don't get me wrong it's perfectly drinkable

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

SS #2 - wow this is a belter!
Velvety smooth, perfect carbonation and intense dark fruit loveliness. There's no harshness to it, and only the faintest 'zing' to give away the nearly 12% abv.
Top quality beer making :hat: hats off to the brewer.
Absolutely love the label too: really adds to the whole impression.

 

[samale]

SS #2 - wow this is a belter!
Velvety smooth, perfect carbonation and intense dark fruit loveliness. There's no harshness to it, and only the faintest 'zing' to give away the nearly 12% abv.
Top quality beer making :hat: hats off to the brewer


View attachment 60265

I wouldn't mind seeing the recipe on this one

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I wouldn't mind seeing the recipe on this one

It really is a terrific beer for a special occasion - but I'm having to drink it veeeery carefully...
Maybe a quarter of the way thru it and my tongue is going numb...

 

[moto748]

What does not kill us makes us stronger!

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

What does not kill us makes us stronger!

... I'll get back to you on that

 

[Mash Monster]

SS#2 Waye Aye it’s Broon (8%abv)
The bottle opened with a resounding comforting hiss and poured well with a cream coloured head which sadly disappeared very quickly. A great deep nut brown colour with just a hint of aroma the initial taste was a very nice malty yet slightly sweet flavour which at first hid the alcohol very well however after several sips bang you realise you are drinking a big boy ! Not one to drink quickly but ideal as a sipper in front of the fire. Well done although not really my thing I appreciated the complexity.

 

[starseeker]

Do you mind sharing the recipe, with the original and final gravity. I don't think I have ever made an oatmeal stout. I was expecting it to have a fuller mouth feel. What's your thoughts on it, don't get me wrong it's perfectly drinkable

More than happy to ,where should i post it ?

 

[samale]

More than happy to ,where should i post it ?

I think @Alastair70 has created a separate thread for people to post recipe. Is it your first attempt at an oatmeal stout. I have been reading up on the style

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I have never heard of it but will seek out the recipe. I never picked out any of those flavours, agree, you wouldn't want a load of hops mixing with those.

Elysian in Seattle are one of the "classic" PNW breweries, they started in the mid-90s. Their yeast is their own derivative of the Chico family, which is supposedly the origin of Imperial A30 Corporate (see this HBT thread), but BRY-97 is probably as close as anything.

The blackberry flavour was pretty much fermented away unfortunately. The merest hint of flavour at the very end but not really noticeable unless you are told about it....1.3kg of blackberries used in a 20l batch and added them lot the FV for 7 days. I'd double that next time (if I can pick 2.5kg of them!).

In general 100g/litre is a minimum to really be considered a "fruit" beer, but it depends on the fruit - 200g/litre is not uncommon and some commercial krieks go up to 400g/l (although they use a particular variety of cherry which is mostly pip and not much flesh). Freezing can help release the juice.

Alastair has started a dedicated recipe thread here :
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/secret-santa-recipes-2021.97336/

 

[starseeker]

I think @Alastair70 has created a separate thread for people to post recipe. Is it your first attempt at an oatmeal stout. I have been reading up on the style

I have only being brewing AG for 12 months ,so this is the first attempt at a oatmeal stout . Apart from adding the vanilla ,i followed the recipe in Greg Hughes home brew book ,OG was 1048 and FG was 1020 ,the yeast used was Lalbrew Windsor,I was hoping for a lower FG but even after three weeks in the FV there was no change .And after doing a bit of research online it seems that this yeast is well known for this.

 

[Mash Monster]

SS# Bonus Beer Export Indian porter 6.1% abv
Porter is probably my least favourite beer style, that said I enjoyed this one which poured very well with a thick tan creamy head which unfortunately disappeared very quickly, that said the beer was really well carbonated with a slight chocolate coffee aroma which on tasting just exploded into a very complex flavour with heavy coffee and chocolate notes not really one for me but I do appreciate the brewing of this one and would to like to thank you for sending this bonus present to me well done !

 

[UKSkydiver]

RIGHT - I can wait no longer... here goes

This is marked "Lager Bock (SS-2021)" Vienna/Munich/Caramalt/Aromatic + Celeia/NB/Saaz; yeast 34/70. My mouth is quite literally watering.

View attachment 60026
Bangin! Great beer - whoever brewed this: you know what you're doing :hat:

My first SS was a `Lager Boch'. As a reviewer of this I'm a bit hopeless as I've never actually had a `Boch' before either commercial or homemade.

I liked it a lot.

View attachment 60182

This was me!

I'm really very flattered by both of your comments - thank you.

Recipe for the Phoni Gran Replica is here which was supposed to be a Peroni Gran Riserva.

It didnt turn out as I wanted, but ok regarless. @The-Engineer-That-Brews You're right on the bitterness. It's much higher than I expected, not sure why; boil off, boil time, poor measuring, higher AA%. I'd say that the result was more luck than particularly knowing what I was doing, but thank you nevertheless.