Strange-steve's Homebrew Reviews

[strange-steve]

Firstly, apologies to @clarkeuk for taking so long to try this one, I wasn't too well last week so thought it better to leave it a few more days to give it a fairer review.

I'm excited about this one because it's my first taste of a beer made with a kveik yeast, this one brewed with magnum, amarillo and citra :drink:

Appearance
A nice golden amber colour with a bit of haze. Low carbonation so a thin soapy head like a cask ale. Looks lovely.

Aroma
A big hit of fruity hops, orange, mango, pineapple, passion fruit, absolutely delicious.

Flavour
Very citrusy, grapefruit and orange from the hops, a little malt sweetness initially but fades to a very long bitter finish, no unusual yeast flavours or obvious esters despite being fermented at 35°C!

Overall Impression
The first thing I noticed was the full bodied, creamy mouthfeel which is great, especially coupled with the low level of carbonation, it really reminds me of a cask ale which is difficult to achieve with a bottled beer.
The hop flavour and aroma is fantastic, this is a very good IPA. With that hop combo it was bound to be good.
The most surprising thing is the yeast flavour, or more accurately the lack of it. I'm not sure if it's hidden behind the other bold flavours, or if kveik yeasts are usually quite clean, or maybe it's just my crappy palate, but I was expecting something unusual. I think there is something a little different in the aroma, but I can't quite put my finger on it. And this isn't a criticism of the beer, because it's wonderful, just my expectations, but as it turns out it works perfectly in a hoppy beer like this. I know kveik yeasts are known for being very temperature tolerant, but I'm curious now what would happen if pushed up to around 40°C which isn't unusual afaik with traditional kveik brewers, to get more yeast character.
Thanks for sending this mate, it is another cracking beer and it went down a treat, and I've taken a mental note to reduce the priming level of my beers in future :hat:

 

[clarkeuk]

Cheers Steve
kind words again ,glad you enjoyed it
I had the beire de garde the other night and all though Belgium styles are not my goto style of beer I do enjoy a good one from time to time and this did not disappoint a cracking beer mate , I should maybe take a few notes when drinking and try to do a review of them to do them justice (not really a strong point of mine trying to review) I did take a photo of it but it will not upload it keeps saying ' the forum has disabled media sharing' .
looking forward to the westvleteren clone may save it for a Xmas treat but I think it's unlikely to make it another five weeks[emoji16]
thanks again Clarke

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[strange-steve]

Don't worry about a review mate, that you enjoyed it is good enough for me :thumb:

 

[strange-steve]

Tonight I'm drinking a beer kindly sent by @krispn which is an oktoberfest/helles type lager. I don't know a lot about the style, but I do know I like it so looking forward to this.

Appearance
A very pretty straw colour with a thin white head, slight haze probably due to my shoddy pouring. Light carbonation.

Aroma
Malt forward, a light caramel sweetness, grainy with a hint of fruitiness. Crisp and clean, no hops and no noticeable diacetyl.

Flavour
This is a tough one to describe, initially there is a faint fruitiness almost like a kolsch, but bigger. Then that quickly fades to a slight toasty/bready malt flavour and a lovely clean lager-like finish with just a hint of alcohol.

Overall Impression
This is a really great beer and a fantastic change from the sort of beers I usually drink! I had a couple of different oktoberfest beers at the Belfast continental market at the weekend and this blows them away easily. It has the right kind of clean finish that you expect from the style while having a bigger flavour initially. The malt flavours are complex and well balanced, perhaps a tad sweet in the finish as you acknowledged, but not enough to take away from the enjoyment. I believe WLP838 does generally attenuate a bit less than 830 which may account for that. It's very smooth and easy drinking despite being over 6%, I haven't drank a beer this quickly in a while! The alcohol is noticeable, but again it's smooth and not unpleasant. I think you've done a fantastic job with a difficult style of beer, and I would be more than pleased if I'd brewed this. I haven't really brewed many German styles and after drinking this, I'll have to change that soon. Thanks for a great and different beer, I only wish I had a few more :hat:

 

[krispn]

Steve
I'm genuinely gobsmacked by your kind words! This has been my first lager. It's heartening to have some other tastebuds try it out especially with such kind feedback. I'm back home to N. Ireland this weekend (gonna be visitng and staying in Carrick for a couple of nights) and I'm taking this and my recently brewed 'Winter Stout' with me for the buddies to try out. I prefer the stout but I think the lager has good body for a light coloured beer. Fingers crossed they like it too. I'll revisit this one in the new year and change the yeast, double check the numbers as I think if it were around the 5% mark it would be more enjoyeable and try and elinminate more of the sweetness.

I don't generally have a bunch of folk tasting my beer but I'm keen to start getting examples out to folk - mainly at work so far. I'm happy to be involved in bottle swaps but as I use the Kilner swing top bottles and I kinda need them returned which would end up being a pain - No need to return your bottle though as it was from an Uerige 'Alt' I'd bought specially - it was no chore to have to drink the Alt first - sorry about the small bottle size!

 

[strange-steve]

Tonight I'm drinking a single hop oat DIPA brewed with cluster hops and fermented with WLP644/conan hybrid yeast sent by @stigman which sounds rather intriguing.

Aroma
Very hop forward with a pleasant spicy, earthy, herbal aroma. A little hint of citrusy fruit, maybe pineapple.

Appearance
A very nice amber colour, a bit hazy due to yeast in suspension (took a few goes to pour because it was quite lively as I was warned). Good fluffy white head, high carbonation.

Flavour
Very full, huge flavours and surprisingly much more balanced in the flavour than the aroma would suggest with very solid and complex malt flavours. Lots of alcohol and a definite floral spiciness, presumably from the hops. Despite the big malt flavours, it has a well attenuated, dry, refreshing finish with an interesting estery flavour almost like overripe fruit lingering on the tongue.

Overall Impression
This is really interesting and quite perplexing actually, if I hadn't been told what style this was I would probably have thought it was a Belgian tripel. I know that sounds weird but it has the big alcohol kick, spiciness, dry finish, estery flavours that just make me think of a tripel. But anyway I think it's delicious! It's really easy drinking, even with the prominent alcohol flavour. It has that lovely balance between a smooth, full mouthfeel and a light, fresh finish which makes it really refreshing. I'd be more than happy to be served this in a bar and I'd easily drink a few of these. I'm curious what the ABV is on this :hmm: Anyway thanks for an unusual but very drinkable beer :hat:

 

[stigman]

Hi Steve I'm glad you enjoyed this one pal. Your description is spot on I think, I'll try one tonight whilst reading this again. I couldn't put my finger on the flavours I didn't know if it was the hybrid yeast, malted oats or the cluster hops wich I kindly got from homebrew club. My thoughts where more like a hoppy saison, quite pleased with it anyway. Abv was 8.4% by the way.
I had my first crack with cornies on my last beer a Citra dipa that's smelling amazing slowly carbonating now I'll send you one of these when it's ready.
Thanks again for your kind words.

 

[strange-steve]

I've just been looking back on some of the beers I reviewed throughout the year. Now I know none of you knew it was a competition (because I only decided it was 5 minutes ago), but I've chosen my favourite beer of the year and the winner will soon be receiving a shiny pack of citra hops in the post as a little "congratulations".

Firstly a couple of honourable mentions:
@IainM for his fantastic imperial stout
@Krispn for a delicious oktoberfest

And the winner:
@Clarkeuk for his Coconut shy PA. This was possibly inevitable because I love anything coconut, but it was very well made and beautifully balanced.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me a beer to taste, I love doing these reviews so please keep them coming. And if you do send me something I promise I'll try to send something worthy in return :hat:

 

[stigman]

Hey Steve I didn't know this was a comp either. My Citra mosaic DIPA should be with you soon, make sure it goes in next year's won't you.

 

[clarkeuk]

Cheers Steve
Really appreciate that as I'm sure you have been sent and tasted some cracking homebrews, the citra hops being one of my favourites will soon be put to good use
Cheers pal
Ps: I have re brewed the coconut shy PA using a different water profile and there's a bottle with your name on it

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[clarkeuk]

Hey Steve I didn't know this was a comp either. My Citra mosaic DIPA should be with you soon, make sure it goes in next year's won't you.

Now that sounds like a a cracking brew[emoji482]

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[strange-steve]

Hey Steve I didn't know this was a comp either. My Citra mosaic DIPA should be with you soon, make sure it goes in next year's won't you.

I hadn't actually planned on it being a competition. I was looking through the beers today and was going to mention some of the great ones but there was too many, so decided just to go with my 3 favourites. I'll certainly include yours in next year's runnings.

 

[dan125]

Oooo.. I was just looking at the coconut shyPA recipe vid on youtube earlier today. I thought it sounded good - so will defo have to make it now. Seems a liitle light on the hops for an IPA, but maybe this lets the coconut shine through???

 

[IainM]

Cheers Steve, I'm glad you liked it. Now I've bumped the coconut shyPA higher up on to-brew list.

 

[strange-steve]

Oooo.. I was just looking at the coconut shyPA recipe vid on youtube earlier today. I thought it sounded good - so will defo have to make it now. Seems a liitle light on the hops for an IPA, but maybe this lets the coconut shine through???

I suppose the key word in this (and possibly any great beer) is balance. There was a lovely fruity hop aroma but it wasn't too strong in the flavour which did indeed allow the coconut through.

 

[krispn]

Hey Steve
Thank you for the honorable mention! Again I'm really surprised and it's very gratifying to know that the beer has been enjoyed. Currently fermenting a Pale Ale and if it turns out a winner I'll be sure and send you some out. The last bottle of the Oktoberfest will be shared tonight with the good lady.

Keep me posted when you're next brewing and we'll get another bottle swap set up!

 

[strange-steve]

Hey Steve
Thank you for the honorable mention! Again I'm really surprised and it's very gratifying to know that the beer has been enjoyed. Currently fermenting a Pale Ale and if it turns out a winner I'll be sure and send you some out. The last bottle of the Oktoberfest will be shared tonight with the good lady.

Keep me posted when you're next brewing and we'll get another bottle swap set up!

It was a cracking beer, and because of it I have moved oktoberfest up to the number 3 spot on my brew list.

I'm brewing a rye saison at the minute if that's your cup of tea, or if you'd prefer a kolsch I'm gonna get that brewed over the holidays, they'll probably both be ready about the same time anyway.

 

[krispn]

Both those styles are enjoyed in this household and I know the good lady is partial to a rye beer (Beavertown's rye offereing is a regular). We'll get it arranged after the holidays :thumb:

 

[clarkeuk]

@strange-steve . hops arrived today mate many thanks
All the best for Xmas n new year

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[strange-steve]

@strange-steve . hops arrived today mate many thanks
All the best for Xmas n new year

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I'm sure you'll put them to good use, happy brewing :