Secret Santa Reviews 2023

[RichardM]

My third secret Santa beer, one Santa was kind enough to send two
This is a seasonal novelty sour. It is well carbonated with a white head that lasts. It has a slight pinkish tinge to it and the clarity is good.
I don't usually choose sours and have actively disliked many but this is delicious.
My wife and daughter both liked it as well. Our collective guess at the special ingredient is cranberries.
Thank you Santa, an excellent beer.

 

[Alastair70]

Beer No. 2, I’m wishing I’d poured both at the same time now. A Dark Ruby Mild weighing in at 6.5% ABV.
Another lovely pour; darker amber, good clarity and a long lived fluffy head.
More toasty roasted malt aroma this time and the flavour follows. Coffee roast this time and darker caramel malts come through, it’s very rich and complex. Great body and the flavour just keeps going and going. There’s a residual sweetness that’s gentle and nicely balanced with a moderate bitterness. It’s another great beer, well made and hides the ABV really well. Thank-you Santa No.2.

 

[Stu's Brews]

As all of my beers have now been consumed I can unmask myself.

@YeastFace and @allotment_fox received my Golden Ale paired with a Belgian Dubbel and Imperial Stout respectively.

Thank you both for the very kind words in your reviews.

I hoped to give you a taste of a typical Stu's Brews' Christmas. A sessionable beer followed up with something a bit bigger and bolder.

The Golden Ale has become a bit of a Christmas staple although the recipe tends to get tweaked each year. This time it was hopped with Ernest and Harlequin, which has given it a really fruity, citrus character.

Recipes for both the Belgian Dubbel and Imperial Stout are here if you want to take a look: Autumn Forum Brew ‘n’ Swap Reviews

 

[samale]

View attachment 93953

Time for beer number 2 and it's a big one! 9.8% Triple Bock.

Dark brown to black in colour with a tight tan head.

Aroma of caramel, dried fruit and plums but it's on tasting that things really get going. Big fruity notes of plum, fig and raisin, toffee sweetness and a background biscuit maltiness.

There's a touch of alcohol warmth to let you know it's a high ABV beer but it's well balanced by the full bodied sweetness.

Hats off to whoever brewed this. It's an exceptional beer that I am going to thoroughly enjoy sipping on steadily whilst the room slowly goes fuzzy

That looks a great beer and something I would love to brew myself

 

[samale]

Beer No. 2, I’m wishing I’d poured both at the same time now. A Dark Ruby Mild weighing in at 6.5% ABV.
Another lovely pour; darker amber, good clarity and a long lived fluffy head.
More toasty roasted malt aroma this time and the flavour follows. Coffee roast this time and darker caramel malts come through, it’s very rich and complex. Great body and the flavour just keeps going and going. There’s a residual sweetness that’s gentle and nicely balanced with a moderate bitterness. It’s another great beer, well made and hides the ABV really well. Thank-you Santa No.2.

View attachment 93955

I had that as well. Really nice beer

 

[Stu's Brews]

That looks a great beer and something I would love to brew myself

You and me both! It's incredibly well balanced, which is hard to pull off on such a big beer.

 

[RichardM]

I had that as well. Really nice beer

Glad you both liked it. It has proved popular with friends and family.
I've never had it for real, so can't compare it to the original. However, another member of the homebrew club that I am in brewed it for the club's Christmas swap. His malt bill was different to mine, I think it had Munich malt but I don't remember what else, his hop bill was different as well. In fact, apart from the name and the ABV, they were quite different Mine was from Graham Wheeler's book.
I like mine more! His didn't have as much mouthfeel and was less complex

 

[samale]

Glad you both liked it. It has proved popular with friends and family.
I've never had it for real, so can't compare it to the original. However, another member of the homebrew club that I am in brewed it for the club's Christmas swap. His malt bill was different to mine, I think it had Munich malt but I don't remember what else, his hop bill was different as well. In fact, apart from the name and the ABV, they were quite different Mine was from Graham Wheeler's book.
I like mine more! His didn't have as much mouthfeel and was less complex

Really nice beer, it's on my brew list. I did look at Sarah Hughes recipe online

 

[Leon103]

Like @Alastair70 I also just poured a 5.5% ESB, and agree with his comments. A lovely bitter, I guess made with Donegal water

 

[Begbie]

Second bottle, this time it's the Doppelbock at 7.2%.

Small hiss on opening and poured a dark, deep red/orange colour. The head was decent but dissapated quickly.

Aroma is citrusy with rich raisins. Taste is toffee, roasted malt, a little hint of citrus. It drinks quite dry too, enticing you to have another gulp.

I think this is the first doppelbock I've had, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It would be great to get the recipe to give this a try. Great beer, well done to the Santa.

 

[brewhaha]

Beer #1 from Santa #1 was a Brucie Bonus Bitter.

As you can see, crystal clear & a nice clinging head. A fairly muted aroma but lovely malt forward flavour with a balanced bitterness. I quaffed this quite happily so thanks Santa #1!

 

[brewhaha]

Beer #2 from Santa #1 was an APA.

Bottled from keg but retained a perfect carbonation (something I perpetually struggle with) that showed off an enticing fruit salad aroma.

Strata's dank, almost savoury / herbal vibes were on full show in the flavour. Nice caramel undertones with a balancing strong bitterness reminded me of West Coast & that is definitely my bag. Great beer Santa #1!

 

[brewhaha]

Beer #1 from Santa #2 was a bock.

Great carbonation for a lager & a deeper red / brown hue. Lots of dark fruits & caramel in the flavour although finished a little on the sweet side for me. I do like a darker lager style though so thanks for sending Santa #2.

 

[brewhaha]

And to finish was beer #2 from Santa #2, a 9.5% Impy.

Perfect carbonation for the style left a tight tan head on a jet black beer. Kudos! Aroma was quite fruity but flavour was all coffee & chocolate. Hid its strength well & was a smooth sipper. Thanks for both beers Santa #2!

 

[Nicks90]

i was very naughty and forgot to take pictures of the beers post pouring.....
but i do have the picture of the beer when i got it, so that will have to do.

Winter Warmer
Rich, hearty with a good raisin flavour underneath. Its quite bitter, but it matches the heavy malt forward style of the beer.
No idea what hops were used - possibly Challenger?
Did have some residual sweetness, which was very pleasant.

Overall found this to be right up my street. Would have happily drank several of these and really suited a cold and dreary evening in front of the fire!

American Brown
I've never had an american brown ale before, so not sure what its supposed to taste like. First impressions were its very dark. But smelt exactly like my last citra/centennial IPA. Confused my brain somewhat.
Very hoppy, just like a decent IPA should be, but then you get a slight hint of dark toasted aftertaste. Again it confused my brain.
Overall, very easy to drink and if you werent looking at it, you would think this was a good example of a straight up citrusy / fruity IPA with an unusual aftertaste. Possibly citra/centennial hops? Either way, thoroughly enjoyed it, even if i am not sure what to make of it in terms of style. I have to admit when i saw the label american brown ale, I was expecting a very malty newcastle brown type ale, but with a hint of american hops, but it was more like a full on IPA that looked like a newkie brown.
still enjoyed it though

 

[Justin Dean]

I find my counter pressure bottling can be inconsistent as well so was wondering if that could have been a factor too.

Yes.

 

[Justin Dean]

Second bottle, this time it's the Doppelbock at 7.2%.

Small hiss on opening and poured a dark, deep red/orange colour. The head was decent but dissapated quickly.

Aroma is citrusy with rich raisins. Taste is toffee, roasted malt, a little hint of citrus. It drinks quite dry too, enticing you to have another gulp.

I think this is the first doppelbock I've had, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It would be great to get the recipe to give this a try. Great beer, well done to the Santa.

View attachment 93964

Glad you liked it. Thx for the review.
https://share.brewfather.app/TH5gZmF0he3Xuy

 

[SMP Brewery]

My final beer was a Winter Warmer, so this beer was sent by someone I’ve previously sent a beer to, as it was one of my Pet Bottle lids

This opened with a slight hiss and very little head, I thought it would be ok at garage temperature but it was a bit too cold so had to let it warm up a bit.

I thought there was a hint of spice and chocolate but after reading the above review I’m not sure now I think for me to go with the maltyness I’d have liked it to have had more of an alcohol warmth. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed it and it went down nicely, just my preference.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[dave_77]

First of my beers - Belgian pale 4.8%

Very lucky to get this one as Belgian Pale is one of my favourite styles to brew .
Looked good after pouring into the glass, light amber, crystal clear and a nice head . Light toasty malty aroma with mild yeast character. Mouthfeel was crisp and easy drinking . Malty character was light toast with a very light Belgian yeast character fruity/pear but subtle. Very mild smokey note. Lovely beer and I think with a little more malt character from some Munich maybe and some extra spice and floral hop character and would be perfect. I'm surprised Barbie was up for it

 

[UKSkydiver]

.
Not read through the thread yet.

Love Secret Santa. Excited to read everyone's posts.

First one of three from this generous Santa. Thank you.

Chinook SMASH 5.6%

I don't think I've knowingly had a smash up to yet.

Nice white frothy head.

Hazy

Smells a bit hoppy, but not massively

No off aromas

Nice creamy mouth feel. Little bit of lemon-y taste maybe?

Seems pretty smooth and balanced

I'm not a hoppy ale expert as i tend to go for darker / malty brews, but nothing wrong with this.

Lovely brew. Thank you so much for sharing.