Strange-steve's Homebrew Reviews

[IainM]

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:

Yeah it is suppose to be like the milds of old, more flavourful and higher abv than contemporary version. The yeast gave it a nice flavor, but high attenuation, so it ended up being stronger than intended. Funny you say it reminds you of a old ale, because the traditional ones are not too far off old ales in terms of recipes. The brews were split, some sold immediately as mild, which meant young, while the rest was left to mature and was the stale or old ale, which was suppose to be the superior. I might stash some away for a year or two to see how it develops.

 

[Manxnorton]

Nice one pal...
Bri

 

[strange-steve]

Yeah it is suppose to be like the milds of old, more flavourful and higher abv than contemporary version. The yeast gave it a nice flavor, but high attenuation, so it ended up being stronger than intended. Funny you say it reminds you of a old ale, because the traditional ones are not too far off old ales in terms of recipes. The brews were split, some sold immediately as mild, which meant young, while the rest was left to mature and was the stale or old ale, which was suppose to be the superior. I might stash some away for a year or two to see how it develops.

I reckon this would age beautifully!

 

[strange-steve]

This evening's beer is a raspberry smoothie IPA sent by @stigman

Appearance
It looks fantastic, hazy red colour which really lives up to the name. Thin white head.

Aroma
Really fruity hop aroma, tropical, passion fruit and mango. Delicious.

Flavour
Wow, again lives up to the name! Loads of fruitiness up front, with a fantastic acidic/bitter combo which gives it a grapefruit juice sort of flavour. A fairly robust hop bitterness in the finish.

Overall Impression
I picked the perfect night to try this, it's definitely a summer beer. The spritzy carbonation gives this a light, easy drinking feel, I would never have guessed this was 8%+, the alcohol is well hidden. It's hard to pick out the raspberry because there are so many big flavours, but it all combines into a delicious fruit salad punch. It's a very different beer and one of the most interesting I've tasted in quite a while. The bitterness is a little high for me but that's just personal taste, and I love the sharpness from the raspberries. You mentioned in your note that you felt it was a little lacking in mouthfeel. I think it works well as it is but a fuller mouthfeel would make this really special. That's a very tough thing to pull off with a fruit beer though, the sugars in the fruit tend to thin out the body. I wouldn't be too bothered though because this is a great beer, thanks for sharing mate :hat:

 

[Slid]

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:

I would definitely recommend having a go at doing the clone recipe from the GW book. After only a single bottle (it was only pitched on 29 May) it is a very good example of what a dark beer should be.

 

[Badseed1974]

This evening's beer is a raspberry smoothie sent by @stigman

Appearance
It looks fantastic, hazy red colour which really lives up to the name. Thin white head.

Aroma
Really fruity hop aroma, tropical, passion fruit and mango. Delicious.

Flavour
Wow, again lives up to the name! Loads of fruitiness up front, with a fantastic acidic/bitter combo which gives it a grapefruit juice sort of flavour. A fairly robust hop bitterness in the finish.

Overall Impression
I picked the perfect night to try this, it's definitely a summer beer. The spritzy carbonation gives this a light, easy drinking feel, I would never have guessed this was 8%+, the alcohol is well hidden. It's hard to pick out the raspberry because there are so many big flavours, but it all combines into a delicious fruit salad punch. It's a very different beer and one of the most interesting I've tasted in quite a while. The bitterness is a little high for me but that's just personal taste, and I love the sharpness from the raspberries. You mentioned in your note that you felt it was a little lacking in mouthfeel. I think it works well as it is but a fuller mouthfeel would make this really special. That's a very tough thing to pull off with a fruit beer though, the sugars in the fruit tend to thin out the body. I wouldn't be too bothered though because this is a great beer, thanks for sharing mate :hat:

I love that glass!

 

[Clint]

The little orange fish is on his holidays in the bath. ......

 

[strange-steve]

Tonight I'll be mostly drinking a NEIPA courtesy of @Ajhutch

Aroma
A burst of delicious, sweet tropical fruits on opening. Very nice indeed.

Appearance
Spot on for the style, murky orange/brown, cracking head as you can see.

Flavour
Full bodied and really quite silky smooth even with the high carbonation. It's quite sweet initially, with plenty of malt flavours coming through then a big bold, hoppy finish.

Overall Impression
The hop flavours are really good but I'm amazed at how much bitterness there is in the finish considering there were no additions until 5 mins! I'm curious if you did any water treatment?
This is a great beer, I love the body and citrusy hop flavours, but the finish is a little dry for the style I think. It's sort of a meeting point between a west coast and east coast IPA. I can't really give any constructive feedback though, because looking at your recipe and notes, I don't really know what else you could have done. I'm thinking that it's maybe due to sulphate in the water accentuating the dryness in the finish but I'm not really sure.
This seems like a rather elusive style, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is still a damn good brew that I'd be really happy to drink more of. Thanks for sending this, I'll be sure to send you one of my attempts soon :hat:

 

[Ajhutch]

Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

As well as your point about the sulphate I wonder if the dry finish owes something to the sheer amount of hop mass the beer has seen, it's had the best part of 200g of dry hops in a 20 litre batch. The finishing gravity was quite high and like you said there's malt sweetness up front but it does seem to dry out. There's a lot going on in these beers!

As for the bitterness, I guess it's just a case of again a lot of hops plus the fact they were all high alpha, new packets and hadn't been in my freezer for long.

I've tried this beer a couple of times and it changed within a few days, I think it could be almost past its best by next weekend when we are having a bunch of friends round and I'm planning to serve it up. Will try to keep my hands off until then!



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[strange-steve]

Tonight I'm having the second of the beers sent by @Ajhutch which is a rather beautiful weissbier.

Appearance
Perfect appearance for the style, hazy pale orange with a thick moussy head, looks great. Head retention was pretty good, kept it the whole way down.

Aroma
Lots of spicy phenols, light fruitiness and a little hint of alcohol. Grainy malt aroma too.

Flavour
Again spicy, grainy, fairly dry finish with a bready flavour lingering.

Overall Impression
This is definitely a yeast driven beer, lots of phenolic flavours especially which is expected. Personally I prefer a little more fruitiness, but that's just my taste, most people do prefer a weissbier to be balanced towards the spicy. You mention in the note that you thought it was a little thin but I think it's spot on, I think these should be light and refreshing. It maybe could do with a slightly higher carbonation just to make it spritzy on the tongue, but it's not too far away. This is a very enjoyable beer, especially on a warm day like today, and I think it is very well balanced. I'm of the opinion that for yeast driven styles like this, it's worth the extra cost and effort to use a liquid yeast and I really think you would see a difference using something like WLP300 in this beer. This is a great beer but I reckon swapping the yeast would make it even better. Another thing I'd recommend is maybe using soft water, Ashbeck or something similar, with a little calcium chloride and a small acid malt addition, it would clean up the flavours and I think this would be a cracker.
Btw I haven't forgotten that I owe you a beer, just been a busy couple of weeks but I'll get it posted soon!

 

[Soton]

Steve's reviews are always interesting, I don't know about tasting Ajhutch's brews but it looks a stunning beer in the photo

 

[Ajhutch]

It sounds ridiculous but it is important, and Steve a) is much better at pouring beer than I am and b) has better glassware suited to the styles. Definitely matters for how the beer looks.

Thanks Steve for the reviews. Your comments on water and yeast choice make a lot of sense and would probably be what could push that beer higher. As it worked pretty well anyway and has a couple of fairly quick win improvements I should definitely brew it again. Unfortunately I have a 'planned' list of eight brews already which is nearly a years worth for me! Only solution - brew more frequently.


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[Oneflewover]

Steve's reviews are always interesting, I don't know about tasting Ajhutch's brews but it looks a stunning beer in the photo

Yeah, I really enjoy reading these reviews.

 

[strange-steve]

Drinking an imperial stout always seems like an occasion, so I didn't want to rush tonight's beer which is an RIS sent by @IainM so apologies for the delay in reviewing this. It was well worth the wait...

Aroma
Deliciously dark and roasty, with coffee, chocolate and a hint of alcohol.

Appearance
Pours like crude oil, as black as night with a thin tan head. Looks wonderful.

Flavour
Incredibly thick and chewy mouthfeel, massive flavours of rich coffee and roasted malts, a slight sweetness initially, almost fruity like plum or raisin then a big alcohol kick and a very long dry finish.

Overall Impression
This is a fantastic brew. Hits all the right notes for an imperial stout with huge smack you in the face flavours, but nothing is over the top. While this style isn't known for subtlety, there is a delicate balance required between the sweetness and the hop/roasty bitterness, which is what makes these beers quite difficult to get right. The balance in this is spot on, the initial sweetness lingers for a few seconds before the black coffee dryness takes over. The alcohol flavour is noticeable, but it's not harsh or unpleasant, again just right. Another thing which I like is that the yeast flavours are quite minimal, a fairly clean yeast is preferable in this style in my opinion, there is some fruitiness but I would guess that's more from the malts, maybe a dark crystal, rather than from yeast esters and it's just right. It's easy to make an RIS too strong, too harsh, too roasty, too sweet and there is a skill in getting it right like this, so well done mate. I was trying to be captious while drinking this, but the only thing I could come up with is that I'd personally prefer the carbonation to be a tad higher, but that is only nitpicking and entirely subjective. An absolute belter of a beer, thanks for letting me try it :hat:

 

[IainM]

Drinking an imperial stout always seems like an occasion, so I didn't want to rush tonight's beer which is an RIS sent by @IainM so apologies for the delay in reviewing this. It was well worth the wait...

Aroma
Deliciously dark and roasty, with coffee, chocolate and a hint of alcohol.

Appearance
Pours like crude oil, as black as night with a thin tan head. Looks wonderful.

Flavour
Incredibly thick and chewy mouthfeel, massive flavours of rich coffee and roasted malts, a slight sweetness initially, almost fruity like plum or raisin then a big alcohol kick and a very long dry finish.

Overall Impression
This is a fantastic brew. Hits all the right notes for an imperial stout with huge smack you in the face flavours, but nothing is over the top. While this style isn't known for subtlety, there is a delicate balance required between the sweetness and the hop/roasty bitterness, which is what makes these beers quite difficult to get right. The balance in this is spot on, the initial sweetness lingers for a few seconds before the black coffee dryness takes over. The alcohol flavour is noticeable, but it's not harsh or unpleasant, again just right. Another thing which I like is that the yeast flavours are quite minimal, a fairly clean yeast is preferable in this style in my opinion, there is some fruitiness but I would guess that's more from the malts, maybe a dark crystal, rather than from yeast esters and it's just right. It's easy to make an RIS too strong, too harsh, too roasty, too sweet and there is a skill in getting it right like this, so well done mate. I was trying to be captious while drinking this, but the only thing I could come up with is that I'd personally prefer the carbonation to be a tad higher, but that is only nitpicking and entirely subjective. An absolute belter of a beer, thanks for letting me try it :hat:

Cheers Steve,
I knew when I tasted the trial jar after 5 days in the fv, when it had already reached FG (1.022 from 1.102), that it was going to be a belter. I'd had a couple of previous high gravity beers tainted by higher alcohols due to unhappy yeast so I went overboard and massively overpitched on purpose, using the whole yeast cake from a 25L batch of mild (US-05) to do the 12L batch of this RIS. I certainly succeeded in getting the yeast character to step aside and let the intensity from the malt bill shine through. I only had 9L bottled due to the massive sediment left in the fv, so I'm trying to restrain myself and keep as many as possible aside for ageing.

 

[strange-steve]

Cheers Steve,
I knew when I tasted the trial jar after 5 days in the fv, when it had already reached FG (1.022 from 1.102), that it was going to be a belter. I'd had a couple of previous high gravity beers tainted by higher alcohols due to unhappy yeast so I went overboard and massively overpitched on purpose, using the whole yeast cake from a 25L batch of mild (US-05) to do the 12L batch of this RIS. I certainly succeeded in getting the yeast character to step aside and let the intensity from the malt bill shine through. I only had 9L bottled due to the massive sediment left in the fv, so I'm trying to restrain myself and keep as many as possible aside for ageing.

Good call with the yeast, though it's a shame you only got 9L, cos I reckon it'll age beautifully.

 

[private4587]

Iain if you don't mind me asking when did you bottle this as I have one now conditioning and was wondering how long I need to leave it before opening one

 

[IainM]

Iain if you don't mind me asking when did you bottle this as I have one now conditioning and was wondering how long I need to leave it before opening one

I bottled it on the 11th April. :thumb:

 

[strange-steve]

I bottled it on the 11th April. :thumb:

That's interesting, it is surprisingly smooth considering it's only 4 months old. Mine took considerably longer so smooth the rough edges off.

 

[strange-steve]

I received a package today, in a To Ol bottle with N on the cap, is that yours @stigman ?