Secret Santa Reviews 2024

[tondy79]

Second and final SS2024.

Israelite Hazelnut Brown Ale 6.2%

Well....

Screw capped and small hiss on opening. No foaming from the bottle. Sneaky sniff revealed something akin to the sorts of beers I enjoy drinking.

Poured from a height, again, my preference. This might be a little under carbed for me. Suspect bottled from keg?

Lovely dark brown pour. Looks nice and clear. Decent tan head with that reverse Guinness cascade thing. Fantastic.

Lovely coffee aroma, but I may be confusing the nutty flavour. Either way, very nice indeed.

Lacing remains 5-10 mins as I type this out.

This is exactly the type of beer I buy and drink on a regular basis; dark, malty brews with a strong, aroma and flavour.

I would personally maybe have a bit more carbonation, but thats just my preference.

Very nice brew indeed. This is as good if not better than commercial beers that I've had.

Thank you for sharing this amazing beer. I will be looking for the recipe...

View attachment 107628

This sounds great, would be interested in the recipe for this one if possible (@ whoever the Santa is!)

 

[Nucbrewer]

Secret Santa bonus bottle, a pale ale made with homegrown cascade hops.
Cask conditioned so no yeast.
The bottle opened with a small hiss, a lovely pale colour pouring with a fluffy white head which quickly dissipated.
A really refreshing pale ale, of particular interest to me as I also grow hops on my allotment. I thought the later hop additions could have been bigger as I prefer a more hop forward beer. Brewing with home grown hops is a challenge I have not yet faced, it’s definitely on my to do list for 3025 once I have brewed the 3 I got for Christmas.
Huge thanks to both of my Secret Santas have a great 3025.

 

[Nucbrewer]

View attachment 107631
My final SS review. Ding Dong Bells, a 6.8% American IPA. Good hiss on opening. Small head on pouring, did disappear quite quickly, but not an issue. Nice aroma from the cascade and centennial hops. It was slightly cloudy but it may have been me that got a little sediment into the beer. Good carbonation during the whole pint, and the hop taste lasted nicely. Could pick up the warmth from the alcohol, I certainly felt the beer was very nicely balanced between hops and malt. A very nice beer, would have liked another one, even the wife liked it and was convinced it was one of mine. Would quite like the recipe. Many thanks for the beer Santa.

Glad you enjoyed it, it’s my first all grain brew. The recipe is Bells two hearted from the Worcester hop shop. Came out much darker than I expected.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

it’s definitely on my to do list for 3025 once I have brewed the 3 I got for Christmas.
Huge thanks to both of my Secret Santas have a great 3025.

Wow that's what you call forward planning


Sorry couldn't resist.

 

[Nucbrewer]

I only asked for one and got bought 3.

 

[dave_77]

Having my last secret Santa beer.
Belgian blonde is the style....
Carbonation was a little low on pouring and looked a little dark for the style I would say based on blondes I have had.
That's the negative points out the way. Tastes and smells good, nice smooth easy drinking for 6.5%. fairly dry and not sweet even with the low carbonation( leffe to sweet for me). Yeast character is fairly mellow which suits me. Thanks for sending, enjoyed drinking that one.

 

[Leon103]

Got 1 left to review, will get on it tomorrow

 

[Twostage]

Still enjoying the reviews.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Last one of mine for the year.

Lovely pint out of the bottle. Nice big head that lasted for ages. Hardly any sentiment at all.
Big punch of tropical fruits like pineapple both on the nose (you could almost smell it across the room) and then a gentle "beer" flavour that followed. I have said before that I'm not a fan of hazy/NEIPA as they tend to be all hop and then leave me hunting around the glass looking for a taste of beer like Vincent Vega wandering around Mia Wallace's front room. But this didn't disappoint - a nice lingering pale ale flavour with a mid-level of bitterness. As it warmed up towards the end, there was a slight oily/sickness that materialised, but apart from that this was a cracker to finish on.

Thank you very much! Thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

[pmh]

@Benfleet Brewery @phildo79 the Helles and Stout were mine thank you for reviewing them, the Helles turned out better than i was expecting given it was my 2nd attempt of that style, interested to see how the Helles would have stood against the competition you were judging @phildo79 .
I wasn't too fussed with the stout but thought I'd send it to see what others thought. @Benfleet Brewery I hope your on the mend as been some horrible illnesses around.
I'd again like to thank @Alastair70 for his organisation and look forward to this year's SS (beer not Germans).
Happy new year to you all

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Is anyone else still waiting on reviews?

One more of mine.

 

[stubrewworx]

I think all mine have been consumed?

@Moe @Agentgonzo thanks for the reviews.

The best didn’t come out where I wanted, but yeah it was an easy drinkable beer. I agree it looked dark, should have been around 20 ebc. I started to think my (glass) bottles were oxidised?

The Porter I’ve learnt that some of my glass bottles must be carrying something sinister!

Many are gushers and what remains doesn’t taste good.

Those that are ok, are smooth and quite complex. It’s just pale, brown and black and a little torrefied wheat.

It’s the 2nd version and I plan to develop it further.

Thanks again to @Alastair70 for organising and to those that sent me beers.

 

[fury_tea]

Last one of mine for the year.

View attachment 107673

Lovely pint out of the bottle. Nice big head that lasted for ages. Hardly any sentiment at all.
Big punch of tropical fruits like pineapple both on the nose (you could almost smell it across the room) and then a gentle "beer" flavour that followed. I have said before that I'm not a fan of hazy/NEIPA as they tend to be all hop and then leave me hunting around the glass looking for a taste of beer like Vincent Vega wandering around Mia Wallace's front room. But this didn't disappoint - a nice lingering pale ale flavour with a mid-level of bitterness. As it warmed up towards the end, there was a slight oily/sickness that materialised, but apart from that this was a cracker to finish on.

Thank you very much! Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Haha nice pulp fiction reference

This was mine, another kveik brew that's on my brewday thread. First time using Riwaka hops in a hazy and I liked them. There's a bit of Munich in the recipe which I find gives a nice malty flavour to IPAs.

Not sure what the oily thing was. Haven't noticed that myself, wonder what could have caused that?

Enjoyed the swap again, and thanks again for arranging, @Alastair70

 

[Agentgonzo]

Haha nice pulp fiction reference

This was mine, another kveik brew that's on my brewday thread. First time using Riwaka hops in a hazy and I liked them. There's a bit of Munich in the recipe which I find gives a nice malty flavour to IPAs.

Not sure what the oily thing was. Haven't noticed that myself, wonder what could have caused that?

Enjoyed the swap again, and thanks again for arranging, @Alastair70

Not really sure to be honest. It was only at the very end of the glass, and only just noticeable.

I haven't used Riwaka before... I might take a look at them this year . I think the munich malt helped - too many hazy IPAs just use very pale malt with little/no flavour. A nice touch.

 

[Alastair70]

We’re pretty much at the end of the reviews, I’ll post the usual round up of who sent who over the weekend.
Thanks to all for taking part, this years swap went off glitch free

 

[Agentgonzo]

Thank you @Alastair70 for another smoothly organised and fun swapsies

 

[Begbie]

I await one more review, but @Alastair70 go ahead and publish the 'who sent who'.

... and thanks again for organising - all my beers were excellent and I look forward to the recipes, if the brewers don't mind sharing.

 

[Stu]

Sorry, I'm holding you all up!
My 4th beer (thanks Santa!) was this rich and dark American Brown Ale.

I don't think I've ever had one of these this side of the pond, but it was very good. Despite being dark, it didn't have that strong taste of say a porter or even old peculier. Definitely had the chocolatey taste I expect but perhaps not quite as caramel. But that didn't detract.

A very tasty beer. Easy to drink. Thank you!

 

[starseeker]

I have a Biere Du Garde to review tomorrow evening , (i am out this evening ) sorry if i am holding things up ,

 

[phildo79]

Second and final SS2024.

Israelite Hazelnut Brown Ale 6.2%

Well....

Screw capped and small hiss on opening. No foaming from the bottle. Sneaky sniff revealed something akin to the sorts of beers I enjoy drinking.

Poured from a height, again, my preference. This might be a little under carbed for me. Suspect bottled from keg?

Lovely dark brown pour. Looks nice and clear. Decent tan head with that reverse Guinness cascade thing. Fantastic.

Lovely coffee aroma, but I may be confusing the nutty flavour. Either way, very nice indeed.

Lacing remains 5-10 mins as I type this out.

This is exactly the type of beer I buy and drink on a regular basis; dark, malty brews with a strong, aroma and flavour.

I would personally maybe have a bit more carbonation, but thats just my preference.

Very nice brew indeed. This is as good if not better than commercial beers that I've had.

Thank you for sharing this amazing beer. I will be looking for the recipe...

View attachment 107628

That's one of mine. Thank you for the kind words. It may have lost a little fizz when bottling from the keg. Was done under pressure but it does degrade over time. The recipe can be found on brewer's friend; rogue Hazelnut brown nectar by The Brown Owl.