Secret Santa Review Thread 2021!

[Tanglefoot]

Merry Christmas brewers.

SS bottle#1 was a Simcoe and Cascade APA. This hit the spot nicely, lovely aroma, from first sip to last drop this satisfied me immensely. I can’t wait to try this myself thanks to the brew sheet being sent along. I just need to convert from BIAB to my Brewzilla.
Thanks Santa.

My second Secret Santa, a Simcoe/Cascade American Pale Ale.
View attachment 60224
There was a satisfying hiss when I opened the bottle and the beer poured with a good head, although it dissipated failry quickly, but didn't go completely.
As you can see in the photo there was a lot of sediment, which I disturbed when pouring, so the beer was a little hazy in the glass.
There has a good hop aroma as soon as the bottle was opened and little or no malt aromas coming through.
The colour is light amber, spot on for an APA.
The flavour is dominated by the hops and is quite dry desipte there being 360g of Cara Malt in an 18 litre batch. At 49 IBU it is towards the top end of the range for an APA.
It has a light, clean mouthfeel and is not as carbonated as hightly as I expected, the brew sheet says, 2.4 volumes, but I'm not complaining, it's how I like it.
Overall, this is a very good beer. There are only 80g of hops (inc 30g of dry hops) but they are well chosen varieties that do their job, coming through over any malt aromas or flavours.
I'll be adding this to my "to brew" list. Thank you Santa, for the beer and the brew sheet.

Glad you both enjoyed my pale ale !
Your comments were spot on, I appreciate the feedback. I'm still finding my way with this all grain malarkey !

 

[Leon103]

Just drank my second swap.

I am really starting to get into these American Brown beers, but only ever had commercial ones.

This was really good and went down quickly. The only thing I would suggest would be to look at mash temp, seemed a tad thin, plus try upping the hops

Ps - I tried a hard pour, head and carbonation was spot on

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Just drank my second swap.

I am really starting to get into these American Brown beers, but only ever had commercial ones.

This was really good and went down quickly. The only thing I would suggest would be to look at mash temp, seemed a tad thin, plus try upping the hops

Ps - I tried a hard pour, head and carbonation was spot on

Piccy?

 

[Leon103]

Piccy?

Edited

 

[moto748]

My first SS!



Vanguard lager 4.5%
I am not a lager drinker either, but I can only concur with Nottsbeer's comments on the same beer upthread. I have tried and failed to brew lagers in the past (and since decided not to bother with them), and the clarlty and colour is enviable. Carbonation is spot-on; I suspect this not the first attempt at this brew. Not very hoppy, but a bright-easy-drinking beer. Thanks, Santa!

 

[moto748]

I've seen one of mine so far. I'm waiting for the other before I respond to the reviews

Likewise.

 

[phildo79]

Just drank my second swap.

I am really starting to get into these American Brown beers, but only ever had commercial ones.

This was really good and went down quickly. The only thing I would suggest would be to look at mash temp, seemed a tad thin, plus try upping the hops

Ps - I tried a hard pour, head and carbonation was spot on

I tried my second secret Santa beer last night.
Thanks to the sender, I really enjoyed drinking this.

Was called “Elysian Punkiccino” and is an American brown ale.

The only brown ale I have ever had was Newky Brown, so was unsure what to expect.

Was a light brown colour, with a nice aroma. The taste was really good, it was exceptionally smooth and drinkable. It hid the 5.5% very well.

Carbonation doesn’t look great in the photo but that was down to my pour, and the glass isn’t nucleated. It tasted spot on.

There was a hint of sweet malt flavour complemented well with the bitterness and hop aroma. This was a really nice balanced and sessionable drink.

Thanks again, I really enjoyed it, and happy Christmas

Thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked them. The mash temp and hop bill were as per the recipe, which I believe was divulged by the head brewer at Elysian. It contained coffee, pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon so maybe the low IBU'S were to allow the other flavours to shine. From memory the only hops used were northern brewer. Not exactly the punchiest of hops.

 

[samale]

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

 

[moto748]

Meanwhile, a very generous Santa takes me further off the beaten track with this:



Floodscross Orange Gose 5.1%, it says!

I'm afraid I knows nothing about the gose. But, of course, I Googled...

Well, the sourness is there, but it's still very recognisably a wheat beer. The 'orange' had give me cause for concern; it's such a strong flavour, would it drown everything else out? Well, certainly not. The orange is there, but subtly. And it doesn't really smell of oranges at all (an observation, not a criticism), but rather the sourness, and a vague piney-ness?

Bottom line, it's a style of beer I know nothing about, that I've never tried before! But I'll say this for what it's worth: I am liking it a lot more than I expected to! The flavour are balanced with the orange not being allowed to dominate, carbonation is fine, and it remains a nice refreshing pint. I must admit, I do tend to think of wheat beers in general as summer drinks, they seem to speak of sunshine and fresh air.

Ah. Reading the detailed notes I received from my Stakhanovite Santa, it seems the orange flavour was achieved with late addition peel. Well I think it's spot-on. An interesting and tasty pint, well-brewed; many thanks, Santa!

 

[DocAnna]

Smoked Porter 7.2%
Oh my goodness… this is gorgeous straight from the fridge

Carbonation opened with a light fizz and just enough to zing at the edges of my tongue, works very well with the style.
Colour: inky black brown with a light creamy viscosity, coffee coloured head that sadly only lasted a few seconds
Aroma: charred caramel and fresh red apple - bit bonkers really
Taste:
This is a really interesting example of a beer that changed with temperature. From the fridge creamy balanced sweet, tart and smoke, background of flamed Christmas pud, as it warmed all the flavours became more intense first the sweetness, so at about 10 deg it was an intense but well balanced flavour experience. By near room temperature the smokiness was almost overwhelming and was just a bit much for me.
Overall, wow an impressive power pack of a beer. Definitely one for small portions and tasted cool - this is one for Santa’s North Pole bars I suspect

 

[Clint]

Smoked Porter 7.2%
Oh my goodness… this is gorgeous straight from the fridge
View attachment 60249

Carbonation opened with a light fizz and just enough to zing at the edges of my tongue, works very well with the style.
Colour: inky black brown with a light creamy viscosity, coffee coloured head that sadly only lasted a few seconds
Aroma: charred caramel and fresh red apple - bit bonkers really
Taste:
This is a really interesting example of a beer that changed with temperature. From the fridge creamy balanced sweet, tart and smoke, background of flamed Christmas pud, as it warmed all the flavours became more intense first the sweetness, so at about 10 deg it was an intense but well balanced flavour experience. By near room temperature the smokiness was almost overwhelming and was just a bit much for me.
Overall, wow an impressive power pack of a beer. Definitely one for small portions and tasted cool - this is one for Santa’s North Pole bars I suspect

Poetic...

 

[Alastair70]

Secret Santa No2, an 11% Russian Imperial Stout. Black crown cap, proper order! Any other colour would just be wrong. Opens with a good hiss and pours with a tan head. Carbonation is low to medium and perfect for a big stout. The aroma is of dark fruits. The mouthfeel is full, rich and super smooth. Flavours of dark fruits and chocolate predominate, with no astringency. The finish has a residual sweetness and lingering dark cherry, plum and dark chocolate flavours.
Great brew Santa, this is an absolutely fabulous beer. Thank you for sharing it

 

[Leon103]

Thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked them. The mash temp and hop bill were as per the recipe, which I believe was divulged by the head brewer at Elysian. It contained coffee, pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon so maybe the low IBU'S were to allow the other flavours to shine. From memory the only hops used were northern brewer. Not exactly the punchiest of hops.

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.

 

[phildo79]

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.

I felt the coffee addition kind of stood out the most. The spices came through a bit but I felt the pumpkin was pretty much lost. And that was with using 2.7kg of it.

 

[Mash Monster]

My second secret Santa beer, a Belgian blonde ale. Lovely and clear, nice and fizzy, quite a clean fermentation for a Belgian beer, well attenuated. Very enjoyable and refreshing drink, thank you Santa

View attachment 60172

Many thanks this one was mine glad you could drink it

 

[Mash Monster]

View attachment 60213

A nice beer, some sweetness balanced with a smooth bitterness with subtle yeast esters. Thanks for sending this, I shared it with my dad who also enjoyed it.

Many thanks that one was mine glad you managed to drink it

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

This was my second SS beer. After the first I was apprehensive if I’m honest.
Thankfully this one’s not bad at all. A Good carb in the beer from bottle conditioning. Thankfully it was a big bottle so dumping the last bit in the bottom of the bottle to dregs was fine and I was still left with a full glass which was a win.

Loads of malt backbone to it, maybe more than I personally would expect from a Vienna lager. And once it had warmed a bit the Vienna lager was a bit sweet on the finish. some thought into yeast attenuation, bittering hop additions, water profile and mash profile to dry the beer out to where it should be I would be recommended get the beer more in balance. But a pretty good attempt.

However it was clean and it didn’t have any off flavours or bad aromas. So all in all not a bad beer overall and pleasant to drink after my Boxing Day run.

Thanks Santa.
View attachment 60233

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.

 

[jceg316]

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.

 

[Cptn_Needa]

That's both my beers in and consumed.

American IPA, lovely aroma, can pick out the simcoe and amarillo. Medium bodied, nicely carbonated, lovely and clear, nice head which has lasted most of the glass. This is a lovely beer, dangerously drinkable at 7%, it hides it well, I could get into trouble with this one!

View attachment 60122

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.

My second SS - an Oatmeal Stout (5.8%). Santa put the ingredients on the label..thx as this helped me try and identify the flavour. The bottle was nicely carbonated and poured with a nice head. This is an easily drunk stout, with maybe a hint of blackberry. Sorry I can't give more info about the flavour, apart from saying it's lovely. I'll like to know how many blackberries went into this. The magnum and RKG hops work well together. Lovely smooth drink, perfect for a winter's eve....many thanks

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.

 

[Justin Dean]

I did enjoy the smoked porter. In the scale of rauchbiers for me could do with more smoke but that is personal taste. I do wonder what smoke it was, beech or oak. Personally I like maple or orange as it is softer. Thank you for my first porter rauchbier. It is an excellent brew. Well done