Secret Santa Reviews 2023

[starseeker]

My last Secret Santa , a Belgium Blonde , Wow, this is fantastic , slightly spicy ,bubblegum flavours (this is the first time i have tasted these ) with a slightly dry ,fruity finish ,delicious ! I would love to see the recipe for this especially the yeast that was used , Thank you

 

[tondy79]

My last Secret Santa , a Belgium Blonde , Wow, this is fantastic , slightly spicy ,bubblegum flavours (this is the first time i have tasted these ) with a slightly dry ,fruity finish ,delicious ! I would love to see the recipe for this especially the yeast that was used , Thank you

Glad you liked it @starseeker this used Safale T-58 yeast. It is Malt Miller's Leffe Blonde clone recipe, which is really similar to the "old" Leffe Blonde rather than the 6% version on shelves in the UK these days which is not a patch on the original (at least in my opinion). It uses the T-58 yeast and 500g of clear belgian candi sugar, though I have used the same grain bill with Mangrove Jacks Belgian Abbey M47 yeast and 500g of Golden Syrup which works out slightly cheaper and is still great beer. The T58 has the edge for me, though. Happy to share the recipe and the water profile I used, and/or you can buy the ingredients in packaged form at the Malt Miller. Cheers!

My other beers were the "See through the Haze" which I was pleased to see that you and your partner enjoyed, and my Citra which went to @CookieMonster
Thanks very much for organizing this @Alastair70, it's my first time sharing brews and I've really enjoyed this friendly introduction to the experience!

I have one more beer to taste as it arrived unconditioned but it's chilling away right now and I will review tomorrow evening.

Happy New Year to all!

 

[Agentgonzo]

Sorry for the delay. We went away and like a baffoon, I left the beer behind.

Up first is secret Santa number 1. Oatmeal stout

Opened with a slight hiss, tan coloured head that stayed forever. Dark treacle colour,, almost black. The head was like Guinness

At this point I'll say that I've never been a stout fan. I don't like the burnt bitterness you tend to get with them, so I was afraid of this one.

However, my fears were unfounded! A gentle maltiness presented itself at the start of the drink which gradually rose towards a mid level bitterness that lingered for a long time. The body was both light and velvety smooth at the same time. It finished fairly dryly with that long lingering middle bitterness that kept enticing you back for another sip.

Low level hop flavours and bitterness, which is what I would want left this as a very well balanced beer.

You've not converted me, but as someone who doesn't like stout, I enjoyed this one, which is exceedingly high praise!

A very well crafted beer

 

[Alastair70]

I reckon we’re past the 60 mark for reviews, and there are only a few left to come in. I’ll post the final round up on Sunday.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I'll try and get my homework done by Sunday then!

 

[Alastair70]

I'll try and get my homework done by Sunday then!

No hurry, you just run the risk of known who sent you the beers before drinking. There’s always one or two reviews drug in after the round up.

 

[starseeker]

Glad you liked it @starseeker this used Safale T-58 yeast. It is Malt Miller's Leffe Blonde clone recipe, which is really similar to the "old" Leffe Blonde rather than the 6% version on shelves in the UK these days which is not a patch on the original (at least in my opinion). It uses the T-58 yeast and 500g of clear belgian candi sugar, though I have used the same grain bill with Mangrove Jacks Belgian Abbey M47 yeast and 500g of Golden Syrup which works out slightly cheaper and is still great beer. The T58 has the edge for me, though. Happy to share the recipe and the water profile I used, and/or you can buy the ingredients in packaged form at the Malt Miller. Cheers!

My other beers were the "See through the Haze" which I was pleased to see that you and your partner enjoyed, and my Citra which went to @CookieMonster
Thanks very much for organizing this @Alastair70, it's my first time sharing brews and I've really enjoyed this friendly introduction to the experience!

I have one more beer to taste as it arrived unconditioned but it's chilling away right now and I will review tomorrow evening.

Happy New Year to all!

I will take a look at the Malt Millar recipe and have a look at the malts used ,

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

@tondy79 and @Agentgonzo I can reveal that was my Oatmeal Stout - very many thanks indeed for your generous comments: they really are appreciated

Recipe and a few brew-day pics here: TETB’s Brewdays

 

[Agentgonzo]

Following up, I have an ESB.

Opened with a slight hiss. Silght haze to it, lovely light brown colour. Good head.

Mid level maltiness with rich flavours like weetabix and pecan. Bitterness came through at the very start to ward off any sweetness and pushed its way through the beer to achieve a good balance for an ESB. A good level of bitterness for an ESB, a mid-level of body and a slightly sweet finish that balanced the bitterness well. I can feel a bit of body from the alcohol as well.

Very nice and left me nice and full after the stout. A good finish to the evening. Definitely couldn't manage many of these, but I wouldn't expect so. A decent pint. Well done

 

[Justin Dean]

There are a few to come as always

 

[GuyG]

Hi all,

Apologies to my Secret Santas for the delay in reviewing... mega busy Christmas seeing various chapters of the family... followed by being rather ill since 30th December!!

On top of this, I have just discovered my notes were binned in the Christmas madness so I will have to do my best by memory (although I haven't made it through all of them yet as I kindly received a total of 5 brews). I am also terrible at writing beer reviews

Chinook Smash - pale, hazy brew with nice carbonation and a big frothy white head. not too much on the aroma but very fruity lemony citrus flavour. easy drinking, well balanced with a smooth mouthfeel. Real enjoyed this thank you! I look forward to the Tribute clone and Stout.

American Brown - Now this is one that I could really have done with my notes as I have never tried this style before and when I had this Xmas day evening I was already a bottle of fizz and 4 bottles of wine deep with the in-laws!! From what I remember dark brown, really enjoyed the complexity of the malt flavour and hops, great body and mouthfeel.

Belgian Pale - Crystal clear golden colour, with nice head that dissipated quickly, nice aroma and flavour from the yeast, delicate well balanced flavours and went down very quickly

Thank you to both of my secret santas and apologies for my disappointing write ups... what I will say though is I really enjoyed these well made brews and it's a shame I lost my notes!!!

@Begbie and @pmh - The Omni-Denali APA was mine. Thank you for the great reviews, proper chuffed as I only started brewing in June '23. The single hop is Sultana (formerly Denali - hence the name) and it was fermented with Kveik Voss @32C, it did come out a bit more bitter than I expected but glad you enjoyed them. (I will make notes on my phone next time!)

 

[Justin Dean]

Doh!

 

[dave_77]

@GuyG and @Nicks90 the American Brown and Belgian pale were my beers. Glad you both enjoyed, sorry about the breakage on the Belgian pale @Nicks90.

Hope you both have a fun year of brewing in 2024

 

[Griff097]

@GuyG and @UK skydiver

You both tried the Chinook smash first, hope you enjoy the other two.

That one was dry hopped, usually it's as clear as glass, it's my go to pint, same as the stout I sent.
The tribute overattenuated in fermentation and isn't what I was aiming for, it's OK but has hints of fusil alcohol which shouldn't be there, still not sure why it did that.

 

[tondy79]

My final review, a lovely golden coloured Summer Ale, very refreshing, bright and clear ale quite light in aroma but with a nice medium bitterness and those grapefruity cascade notes. A little under carbonated from what I would prefer for this type of ale, but that could well be my fault as it needed conditioning once it arrived to me.

All in all, a very nice beer, went down quickly whilst watching the rugby, and I could easily have sunk another!

Thanks Santa!

 

[Nicks90]

Time to fess up that the house saison was my beer @andyb13 and @samale
I'm using your picture as it's way better (and more festive) than mine.

Glad you both liked it, it's a recipe I've done quite a few times now and is one of 2 that I brewed to experiment with the difference between first gold and EKG. My thinking was the yeast would murder out any flavour difference, but I was quite surprised that it didn't completely kill off the aromas
As it happens the difference was quite marked.
but I can let on you both got the first gold version.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I had this triple last night in front of the fire.

Slightly cloudy, moderate head which is pretty good for a 9.5 beer. Decent carbonation.

First sip has a light level of malt of lightly toasted bread. This quickly gave way to a decent bitterness that grew quickly. There was a high level of minerality and grape/wine flavours akin to a sancerre which I'm not sure I was that keen on in a beer if I'm brutally honest (made me wonder if it had nelson sauvin in it).

There was a light tartness that came through at the end - very slight cideryness rather than the rich spiciness I'd be hoping for from a high alcohol triple. Decent warmth from the alcohol at the end with a very dry finish.

If you hadn't labelled this a tripel I would have said it was more of a strong blonde than a tripel because it lacked that rich spiciness.

That said, a decent and tasty brew.

 

[Alastair70]

It's wrap up time, and thank-you to everyone who took part this year. @CookieMonster has an Elf consignment on it's way and a couple of other final reviews are pending.
A total of 80 beers have been reviewed so far: 23 Belgian or strong European beers, 19 British Ale styles, 11 American Pales, 14 Stouts, 2 Sours and 1 Cider.
The who sent to who list is as follows.

Secret Santa		Sent To
@Alastair70		@Justin Dean	@nidge
@The-Engineer-That-Brews		@Agentgonzo	@tondy79
@pilgrimhudd		@brewhaha	@Benfleet Brewery
@dave_77		@GuyG	@Nicks90
@YeastFace		@Stu's Brews	@The-Engineer-That-Brews
@Stu's Brews		@YeastFace	@allotment_fox
@samale		@Leon103	@Agentgonzo
@starseeker		@SMP Brewery	@Kentish Mike
@brewhaha		@allotment_fox	@Stu's Brews
@Benfleet Brewery		@dave_77	@RichardM
@Begbie		@nidge	@dave_77
@Clint		@CookieMonster	@pilgrimhudd
@CookieMonster		@andyb13	@Justin Dean
@Leon103		@Clint	@MashBag
@Twostage		@Kentish Mike	@Alastair70
@RichardM		@Alastair70	@samale
@SMP Brewery		@Griff097	@MickDundee
@Justin Dean		@Benfleet Brewery	@Begbie
@MickDundee		@RichardM	@Leon103
@tondy79		@starseeker	@CookieMonster
@andyb13		@MashBag	@YeastFace
@nidge		@pilgrimhudd	@Clint
@Agentgonzo		@Nicks90	@SMP Brewery
@pmh		@The-Engineer-That-Brews	@starseeker
@allotment_fox		@Twostage	@brewhaha
@Griff097		@UKSkydiver	@GuyG
@UKSkydiver		@MickDundee	@Griff097
@Nicks90		@samale	@andyb13
@MashBag		@tondy79	@UKSkydiver
@GuyG		@Begbie	@pmh
@Kentish Mike		@pmh	@Twostage

 

[Alastair70]

And the who sent to you list:-

		Received From
@Alastair70		@RichardM	@Twostage
@The-Engineer-That-Brews		@pmh	@YeastFace
@pilgrimhudd		@nidge	@Clint
@dave_77		@Benfleet Brewery	@Begbie
@YeastFace		@Stu's Brews	@andyb13
@Stu's Brews		@YeastFace	@brewhaha
@samale		@Nicks90	@RichardM
@starseeker		@tondy79	@pmh
@brewhaha		@pilgrimhudd	@allotment_fox
@Benfleet Brewery		@Justin Dean	@pilgrimhudd
@Begbie		@GuyG	@Justin Dean
@Clint		@Leon103	@nidge
@CookieMonster		@Clint	@tondy79
@Leon103		@samale	@MickDundee
@Twostage		@allotment_fox	@Kentish Mike
@RichardM		@MickDundee	@Benfleet Brewery
@SMP Brewery		@starseeker	@Agentgonzo
@Justin Dean		@Alastair70	@CookieMonster
@MickDundee		@UKSkydiver	@SMP Brewery
@tondy79		@MashBag	@The-Engineer-That-Brews
@andyb13		@CookieMonster	@Nicks90
@nidge		@Begbie	@Alastair70
@Agentgonzo		@The-Engineer-That-Brews	@samale
@pmh		@Kentish Mike	@GuyG
@allotment_fox		@brewhaha	@Stu's Brews
@Griff097		@SMP Brewery	@UKSkydiver
@UKSkydiver		@Griff097	@MashBag
@Nicks90		@Agentgonzo	@dave_77
@MashBag		@andyb13	@Leon103
@GuyG		@dave_77	@Griff097
@Kentish Mike		@Twostage	@starseeker

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Ha, had a feeling the SAISON I had was from @Clint, thats two years in a row I think?