Strange-steve's Homebrew Reviews

[strange-steve]

Thanks for the kind feedback. It has taken a few brews to get the process right, but this was the first IPA and first big beer that I've been very happy with, which I put down to proper oxygenation (with a paint stirrer and drill), water chemistry, pitching rate, constant fermentation temperature and making sure the wort wasn't scorched. In fact, the 'New England' part was mostly because I didn't want to do more than a 30 min boil to avoid scorching. Hop bursting and double dry hopping certainly helped reproduce that heady flavour and aroma profile that makes a good DIPA. I was amazed by it and had to get a second opinion to check if it was just me being biased. It finished at 8.5% after priming, so I was surprised that it was drinkable after 4 days in the bottle. You really didn't have to send a bottle in return, but I admit I'm rather looking forward to trying your award winning Biere de Garde at the weekend.

The hop bursting definitely worked, the hoppy aroma was great. And it was very smooth at 8.5% which is amazing considering how young it was! Great job :hat:

 

[IainM]

Just drinking the Bière de Garde right now. Pours golden amber with a decent head, slightly hazy. A beautifuly balanced beer, with yeast character up front as it fizzes on the tongue, giving way to sweet maltiness and finishing with corny lightly kilned grain lingering on the palate. Nothing jars or dominates, and it slips down easily. Very refreshing and I could imagine this being just the ticket after a hot summers day, which given it is 8.3% is an impressive achievement. I wish I had another! I'm not particularly familiar with the style, but if if this is representative then I like it. Cheers Steve, I take my hat off to you. I'll send you some more beers if this is what I get in return :lol:.

 

[JFB]

@IainM very kindly sent me a bottle of his New England DIPA so that is tonight's beer.

Appearance
Hazy orange/brown colour. Poured with a big head which lasted well with good lacing.

Aroma
Fantastic aroma of sweet malts and a big burst of mango, orange and passion fruit.

Flavour
Lots going on with this. Plenty of hop flavour, well balanced with a good malty backbone. Tons of bitterness in the finish which gives it a grapefruit juice sort of impression.

Overall Impression
A very well made beer, deliciously drinkable, and as far as DIPAs go this is bang on the money, a fantastic example of the style. It has the look, aroma and soft, full body expected from a NEIPA, but flavour wise it's dominated by the hop bitterness like a more traditional DIPA. I had the same issue with mine (actually this is very similar to my RIPa) I think it's a difficult task to reconcile the soft, juicy, fruitiness of a NEIPA with the dry, bitter finish of a DIPA.
That's not a criticism of the beer though, it's a really great DIPA that I'd be more than happy to drink a few pints of. I'm curious what the ABV is because the alcohol is well hidden. A cracking beer mate, the fruity aroma is wonderful especially, thanks for letting me try it :hat:

What a great looking beer. The two dipa's ive brewed have tasted nice but ive struggled to get a good looking beer. Always been a few bit floating round

 

[strange-steve]

Just drinking the Bière de Garde right now. Pours golden amber with a decent head, slightly hazy. A beautifuly balanced beer, with yeast character up front as it fizzes on the tongue, giving way to sweet maltiness and finishing with corny lightly kilned grain lingering on the palate. Nothing jars or dominates, and it slips down easily. Very refreshing and I could imagine this being just the ticket after a hot summers day, which given it is 8.3% is an impressive achievement. I wish I had another! I'm not particularly familiar with the style, but if if this is representative then I like it. Cheers Steve, I take my hat off to you. I'll send you some more beers if this is what I get in return :lol:.

I'm glad you liked it mate and thanks for the kind review :hat:

 

[JFB]

Had the pleasure of trying Steves Biere de Garde last night. Its the first time ive drank a beer with pen and paper to record notes. It was good fun and i'll do it more often.

Poured fantastic, nice and lively with a great head that stayed throughout.
I'm not going to comment on the colour to much as I'm proper colour blind but id say a golden redish brown with great clarity.
On the nose I got floral, honey and faint hints of orange blossom. Surprisingly I didn't find them in the taste.
Taste wise a dry sweet malty flavour with a lovely alcohol warmth. A long after taste of oaty plumy prunes(reminded me of grandmas breakfast of prunes and porridge that she used to love).
Lovely beer for sipping and big mouth fulls that if I hadn't seen the recipe would of sworn blind had honey in it.
You mentioned it was marked down on the sweetness, every description ive read states this is the desired finish?? And its a balanced nicely with the dry finish.
I did get a very slight metallic taste on the roof of the mouth if I really looked for it.
A really good beer, enjoyed very much thankyou:thumb:

 

[Manxnorton]

Had the pleasure of trying Steves Biere de Garde last night. Its the first time ive drank a beer with pen and paper to record notes. It was good fun and i'll do it more often.

Poured fantastic, nice and lively with a great head that stayed throughout.
I'm not going to comment on the colour to much as I'm proper colour blind but id say a golden redish brown with great clarity.
On the nose I got floral, honey and faint hints of orange blossom. Surprisingly I didn't find them in the taste.
Taste wise a dry sweet malty flavour with a lovely alcohol warmth. A long after taste of oaty plumy prunes(reminded me of grandmas breakfast of prunes and porridge that she used to love).
Lovely beer for sipping and big mouth fulls that if I hadn't seen the recipe would of sworn blind had honey in it.
You mentioned it was marked down on the sweetness, every description ive read states this is the desired finish?? And its a balanced nicely with the dry finish.
I did get a very slight metallic taste on the roof of the mouth if I really looked for it.
A really good beer, enjoyed very much thankyou:thumb:

Wow! Wish I could review like the pro's..but my words don't come easy for me..lol
Sorry for butting in...but have to tell yous that it's an inspiration (can't get the words out!) for reading and learning from u all.
A lot to learn still and gets me movivated no end!
Thx all..
Bri

 

[strange-steve]

Thanks @JFB for the review, much appreciated :hat:

 

[strange-steve]

Wow! Wish I could review like the pro's..but my words don't come easy for me..lol
Sorry for butting in...but have to tell yous that it's an inspiration (can't get the words out!) for reading and learning from u all.
A lot to learn still and gets me movivated no end!
Thx all..
Bri

Just do as I do, throw in a few fancy sounding words, whether you know what they mean or not, such as "phenolic, estery, acetaldehyde, diacetyl, methanethiol" and you'll be reviewing like a pro in no time

 

[JFB]

Wow! Wish I could review like the pro's..but my words don't come easy for me..lol
Sorry for butting in...but have to tell yous that it's an inspiration (can't get the words out!) for reading and learning from u all.
A lot to learn still and gets me movivated no end!
Thx all..
Bri

The only thing I'm a pro at is bull ****ting mate:lol:
And don't be so hard on yourself, your brew fridge thread inspired me to make one:thumb: Ive also seen you put a stirplate together, ive got all the bits in a draw but not had the balls so far to try and put it together:electric:

 

[Manxnorton]

The only thing I'm a pro at is bull ****ting mate:lol:
And don't be so hard on yourself, your brew fridge thread inspired me to make one:thumb: Ive also seen you put a stirplate together, ive got all the bits in a draw but not had the balls so far to try and put it together:electric:

Haha!! Nice one..
Being hard on myself is how I get through years of crap in the army, relationships, illness and now getting by...and humour lol
Good days and bad days come together laugh at both!!
Thx pal
Bri

 

[Manxnorton]

Just do as I do, throw in a few fancy sounding words, whether you know what they mean or not, such as "phenolic, estery, acetaldehyde, diacetyl, methanethiol" and you'll be reviewing like a pro in no time

Steve...just wet my pant!! Hahaha!!
Crack me up!
Diacetyl was looking on the other day!! Couldn't say it!!
Remember the specialist had a test for me when I was in hospital...saying the medication....lol I ended up with "f off your taking the P!" Now 2.5 years later I ring up the Drs for my prescription and say "the fat tablets for what's it's chops!" Etc..
Imagine the other day in a cafe..wanted 'CUT CHIPS!' What I said turned me, the lass at the counter and our lass red!
A laugh a minute...
Bri

 

[strange-steve]

Many thanks to @IainM for coming to my rescue when I lost most of my stash due to a dodgy shelf, he very kindly sent me 3 beers and this is the first of them. First of all an apology, you told me to leave the BIPA for a couple of weeks which I fully intended to do. I meant to drink the mild tonight but stupidly opened the wrong bottle, so this is the BIPA review

Appearance
Very dark, reddish brown around the edges when held to the light. Beautiful fluffy head which lasted the whole glass.

Aroma
Earthy and citrusy with a slight fruity tartness, very nice.

Flavour
Loads of hop flavour and bitterness. Definitely very hop forward with a ton of citrusy, grapefruit flavour. A very dry finish which lingers on the tongue.

Overall Impression
This tastes a lot more than the estimated 46 IBUs from your brewday thread, which is possibly from the late hop additions? One thing that surprised me is that it doesn't have the tropical, passion fruit and mango flavours I expect from the hops you used. I actually found the same thing with my BIPA, I wonder does the slight dryness from the roasted malts cause those flavours to come across more like grapefruit. That's not a criticism btw, just an observation and if drinking this blind I would have guessed this to be a big, massively hopped West Coast DIPA. It's a little over bitter for my taste, but that is of course just personal preference, I think the same of most IPAs tbh. If I had left it for another couple of weeks as you'd asked, the bitterness could well have mellowed a bit so apologies again. I think this is a successful brew and a good example of the style. I haven't had a lot of BIPAs but this is certainly up there with the best of them :hat:

 

[IainM]

Many thanks to @IainM for coming to my rescue when I lost most of my stash due to a dodgy shelf, he very kindly sent me 3 beers and this is the first of them. First of all an apology, you told me to leave the BIPA for a couple of weeks which I fully intended to do. I meant to drink the mild tonight but stupidly opened the wrong bottle, so this is the BIPA review

Appearance
Very dark, reddish brown around the edges when held to the light. Beautiful fluffy head which lasted the whole glass.

Aroma
Earthy and citrusy with a slight fruity tartness, very nice.

Flavour
Loads of hop flavour and bitterness. Definitely very hop forward with a ton of citrusy, grapefruit flavour. A very dry finish which lingers on the tongue.

Overall Impression
This tastes a lot more than the estimated 46 IBUs from your brewday thread, which is possibly from the late hop additions? One thing that surprised me is that it doesn't have the tropical, passion fruit and mango flavours I expect from the hops you used. I actually found the same thing with my BIPA, I wonder does the slight dryness from the roasted malts cause those flavours to come across more like grapefruit. That's not a criticism btw, just an observation and if drinking this blind I would have guessed this to be a big, massively hopped West Coast DIPA. It's a little over bitter for my taste, but that is of course just personal preference, I think the same of most IPAs tbh. If I had left it for another couple of weeks as you'd asked, the bitterness could well have mellowed a bit so apologies again. I think this is a successful brew and a good example of the style. I haven't had a lot of BIPAs but this is certainly up there with the best of them :hat:

Cheers Steve,
I hadn't tried the BIPA v3 myself, so I just cracked one open with lunch and I'm halfway though it right now. I agree with what you are saying. It is hop forward and good to drink, but not what I was aiming for. More bitter than expected and, as you say, not as much zing or tropical fruit as I intended to get from the tonne of mosaic, galaxy and amarillo in there.

Funnily enough, I wanted to do a partial mash for a kit on the same day, and seeing as a small mash takes as much time as a big one I decided to make extra wort and do a couple of extra brews on the hob with random hops from LHBS, one with 007:Golden Hop and the other with experimental grapefruit. Both of those were very simple, pale malt with a touch of cara, and both with a smaller proportion of hops. Both ended up exhibiting the hops much better and, despite being an afterthought, ended up being the best of the four beers I brewed that evening. These two, however, were brewed in demijohns so I could cold crash in the fridge. The BIPA was full volume and the pellets never fully sank, so I think it could be that much of the galaxy and amarillo stayed floating on the brew and either oxidised or didn't extract into the brew efficiently. When I did v2 of the BIPA I got loads of tropical zing despite using the same amounts of roasted grain; I also used demis then to do four different dry hop regimes, so perhaps this is the key and not the influence of the dark grain. Plus, there are several commercial examples which sing too, like Arcade Nation, Black Hammer and my favourite example of the style, Zoji. Anyway, the lack of tropical fruit is disappointing, as I wanted it to be a bit more like Zoji, but it ended up tasting more like Rogue's Dad's Little Helper. Still a nice drop though so I shouldn't complain! Try the RIS and the Mild, both of those ended up closer to what I was expecting.

 

[Covrich]

Nice looking BIPA there Iain! :thumb: and I like that glass too Steve

 

[Clint]

...cracked one open with lunch! An early start?

 

[sdt7618]

or a late finish!!

 

[strange-steve]

@IainM that's certainly a possibility and sounds more likely than my explanation. I find certain results from brewing to be rather inexplicable sometimes, I guess that's why it's as much an art as a science, and I do (usually) enjoy the unpredictable nature of it. Looking forward to the mild next!

 

[IainM]

I'm just drinking the RIS. This is a very tasty brew. Pours thick, completely opaque and jet black with a dense, dark brown head that slowly collapses under the density of the brew. Aroma is a load of roasted grain, dried fruit, raisin, date and plum, though SWMBO says there is some Marmite in there. The beer is silky smooth, and coats the mouth with the carbonation just tickling the tongue. Very deep, rich and flavourful with raisin, dark chocolate and liquorish lingering on the palate and eventually giving way to warming alcohol, coffee notes and sweetness balanced with slight bitterness. This beer doesn't hold back, even by RIS standards. No harshness at all, and surprisingly easy to drink considering how strongly flavoured this is. I'd take this over a bottle of Thornbridge Eldon any day!

 

[strange-steve]

I'm just drinking the RIS.

Thanks for the review mate, glad it went down ok. The marmite comment is interesting, maybe a touch of autolysis after sitting in the yeast sediment for a couple of years?

 

[strange-steve]

This is the second of the beers very kindly sent by @IainM a Gales Festival Mild Clone this time. I do enjoy a mild so really looking forward to this one.

Appearance
Beautiful ruby colour with a creamy white head which lasted the whole glasd. Looks very appealing.

Aroma
Roasted malt with some dark fruitiness. Smells great.

Flavour
Delicious. Lots of fruity esters, flavours of fruit cake, a pleasant malty sweetness initially with a roasty finish.

Overall Impression
Very big flavours, rather like a "mild plus" which was really enjoyable. This is definitely my kind of beer, it's almost like a cross between an old ale and a dark Belgian ale. It perhaps doesn't have the easy drinkability I'd expect from a mild, but the bold flavours are really great and I'd happily drink a few of these. Good job, I might have to have a go at this one soon, thanks again for sending this :hat: