Strange-steve's Homebrew Reviews

[strange-steve]

Hi Steve. I have to admit i am not sure what the above beer is. It should be golden and clear so embarrassingly i think i must of sent the wrong beer or it was labelled incorrectly. Stupid thing is i even forgot to write down what i sent so cant check that either. Apologies will get another one of to you once its ready.

I did think there was a good chance this was the wrong beer, and if I was to guess at a style it was rather like an English style IPA?? Btw don't worry about sending another out I already owe you a couple of beers! I have a saison packed up for you, I just need to get it down the post office.

 

[strange-steve]

Tonight I'm drinking the second beer sent by @BeerCat which I know nothing about! Edit to add, I checked the PM and it's an experimental beer brewed with spelt...

Aroma
Intensely fruity, tropical notes of passion fruit, pineapple and grapefruit.

Appearance
A light copper colour, slight haze (probably badly poured) with a nice white head and fantastic lacing.

Flavour
Hop forward with a solid bitterness and loads of fruity hop flavours. The bready malt background props it up nicely and adds a nice complexity, and finishes with a lingering hop bitterness.

Overall Impression
There's an interesting note in the malt flavours which I couldn't quite place until I remembered you said this was brewed with spelt. I would never have picked that out but it definitely adds something a little unusual and it works very well. The mouthfeel is great, a fluffy quality which blends well with the moderately high carbonation which keeps it from feeling heavy. In your PM you mentioned a slight sour edge, which I only noticed towards the end, as the beer warmed, but it doesn't taste like a fault, it actually adds a rather refreshing quality to the finish. This is a really good beer, well balanced, great hop flavours and very well brewed. I'm not sure, but the flavours and mouthfeel suggest to me this is a NEIPA style beer? Thanks for sending this, it went done very easily :hat:

 

[BeerCat]

Yes it was a NEIPA style. Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately i cant find the recipe at the moment but i remember some of the hops were el dorado, mosaic and citra. Also used the same water treatment as your V1 NEIPA. Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

 

[strange-steve]

Tonight I'm having a French blond (if only) sent by @serum. I always love getting beers from him, he's the Yoda of French and Belgian beers, so looking forward to this one…

Aroma
Bready malt with a light candi sweetness.

Appearance
Golden with very good clarity, poured with a moussy head, good lacing.

Flavour
Bready, slightly toasty pilsner malt flavours with a light fruitiness and a refreshing, crisp finish.

Overall Impression
This is really good. The malt flavours are complex, and nicely layered but it's still very drinkable. The yeast esters are restrained, giving a nice clean easy-drinking beer, which I'd happily drink all night. Another belter mate, thanks for this and I'm looking forward to the saison next. :hat:

 

[serum]

Wow thank you Steve, I think this is better than the saison and will probably show the improvements I've made more than anything else. It certainly won't be in as good as the one you sent me!

We'll do another swap once I've got this next brew bottled and ready.

 

[strange-steve]

I think you're on the right track with the malt flavours, I'd be interested to see your recipe and method for this.

Another swap sounds good, my hopes are high for my oktoberfest if you don't mind waiting a few weeks?

 

[serum]

My next one will be at least another 3-4 weeks before it's ready to drink so we have time

 

[krispn]

Strange Steve
The good lady and I really enjoyed the Rye-son you sent out ages ago. Couldn't really pick out heaps of rye in it but it was a tasty brew and has turned me on to looking at expanding my limited pool of brewing styles.
I think the yeast possibly masked the rye flavours a little but not in a negative way, just perhaps the yeast forward nature of the style. It was a while back but that was the lasting impression I got.

We're gonna make a go of the Altbier possibly next week so after the appropriate 8 odd weeks of conditioning and lagering I'll get some out to you. Your insights and reviews are a valuable tool for us all. We would have done it sooner but a holiday and them the weather delaying our hop order...then work... has got in the way! I'll keep you posted. The Irish stout I made is tasting great however and I've about 6 bottles going out to work mates and my band to give me their feedback. Exciting!

 

[strange-steve]

My next one will be at least another 3-4 weeks before it's ready to drink so we have time

Cool, I'll give you a shout in a month or so :thumb:

 

[strange-steve]

@krispn thanks mate, you're right the rye isn't too obvious, but I think that's part of the reason I like this recipe so much, the rye blends well with the yeast flavours while keeping the drinkability.

Look forward to the altbier, I have one of those on my to-brew list but could be a while before I get round to it. I did finally get the oktoberfest brewed though, so I'll get one of those out to you when it's done.

 

[strange-steve]

Tonight's beer is courtesy of @stigman and it's called “lemon meringue pie” at a rather hefty 8% ABV, sounds intriguing…

Aroma
Well the lemon is unmistakable, really punchy and there's an interesting rose like aroma there too. Smells fantastic.

Appearance
Very appealing copper hue, with good head retention despite the low carbonation. Nice lacing on the glass.

Flavour
Surprisingly tart initially then very floral and lots of citrus fruits and again that unusual rose flavour coming through, along with a hint of sweetness. Very little hop bitterness, but it slowly builds in the finish giving a good balance. The alcohol is very well hidden, just a very slight hint at the end.

Overall Impression
This is one of the most interesting and unusual beers I've tasted in a long time. I'd imagine this is very much a love it or hate it beer, but personally I think it's great! I see where the name comes from, the lemon flavour is really powerful, how did you add that? Also the sourness works well giving a nice mouthwatering quality, is that just from the lemon or is this lacto soured? One slight criticism is that I think the carbonation is a bit on the low side, if this was a tad livelier it would give a lovely light, refreshing quality I reckon, just a little thing though and other than that I love it. I'm really interested to see the recipe for this. It's certainly a challenging beer, probably not for everyone, but I'd happily drink a few of these. Great job with another great beer!
Ps. Sorry for the crappy picture.

Pps. I haven't forgotten I owe you an eisbock, I'll get it posted out soon mate, promise!

 

[stigman]

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/stigmans-lemony-brewday.75346/

Here's a link to my brew day. I know exactly were your coming from with the love hate thing mate my missus absolutely loved this she usually just says "yeah that's nice" I was well impressed from the keg this is a totally different beer much more lemon rind comes through with more carbonation and Cristal clear too.

 

[strange-steve]

That's a really interesting recipe! Now I've seen that there's 3 packs of digestive biscuits in there, I can taste it a little in the finish, though I'd never have picked that out
That's a lot of lemon, no wonder the flavour is so strong, and the tartness from them is really nice, almost like a mild Berliner weisse.

 

[krispn]

Do the digestive add sweet or biscuit? no joke intended :)

 

[stigman]

Do the digestive add sweet or biscuit? no joke intended :)

To be honest I didn't get much biscuit at all and the sugars all get munched up by the yeasties. Probably just a few gravity points but a bit more graingwouldghave been cheaper.

 

[strange-steve]

Tonight I'm drinking a kolsch kindly sent by @Oneflewover. This is a style I'm rather partial to, and my last attempt was rather disappointing so looking forward to this one...

Aroma
A light caramely, bready pils malt aroma with a very faint fruitiness, but clean and very appetising.

Appearance
Unfortunately this gushed on
opening which stirred up the sediment, but a nice golden colour with good head retention.

Flavour
Nice clean flavours, initially quite sweet and lightly fruity (maybe a touch of apple) with a crisp finish helped by the clean hop bittering and just a hint of alcohol. A little spice, maybe from the hops or possibly the alcohol.

Overall Impression
A pleasant, easy drinking beer, well balanced with a refreshing, dry lagery finish. Hits all the right notes for the style. Not sure what the cause was of the gushing, but it doesn't seem to have affected it. A very nice beer which went down easily, thanks for sending it mate :thumb:

 

[strange-steve]

Tonight's beer, courtesy of @clarkeuk is a kviek NEIPA which sounds great. I've had a couple of kviek beers before but I'm far from an aficionado so let's see…

Aroma

Sweet and fruity and delicious. Citrus and tropical fruits are really powerful.

Appearance

A murky dark orange colour as expected, poured with a thick head which faded to leave some lacing. Low carbonation. The crappy picture below doesn't really do it justice, it's much lighter than it appears there.

Flavour

Massively fruity flavours of grapefruit, orange and mango dominate with some initial sweetness, then fading to a soft, smooth bitterness in the finish. The flavours really linger on the palate and the mouthfeel is great.

Overall Impression

I know it's a little cliche but “juicy” is the perfect descriptor for this. You've really managed to capture that fruit juice quality from the hops while avoiding excessive bitterness which I've found to be a rather difficult thing to do. This is full, rich and luscious while maintaining a good balance of flavours. The hop combo works really well and the lactose is a nice touch, I'll definitely be adding that to my next NEIPA recipe. The low carbonation adds to the smooth, full body, and definitely suits this style imo. Tbh I would never have known this was a kviek yeast if you'd not told me, but it seems to work perfectly in this style. Beercat has sent me a vial of kviek yeast to play about with, so might go for something similar. This is a great beer and a very good example of the style, I'd be thrilled if I'd brewed it! :hat:

 

[clarkeuk]

Tonight's beer, courtesy of @clarkeuk is a kviek NEIPA which sounds great. I've had a couple of kviek beers before but I'm far from an aficionado so let's see…

Aroma

Sweet and fruity and delicious. Citrus and tropical fruits are really powerful.

Appearance

A murky dark orange colour as expected, poured with a thick head which faded to leave some lacing. Low carbonation. The crappy picture below doesn't really do it justice, it's much lighter than it appears there.

Flavour

Massively fruity flavours of grapefruit, orange and mango dominate with some initial sweetness, then fading to a soft, smooth bitterness in the finish. The flavours really linger on the palate and the mouthfeel is great.

Overall Impression

I know it's a little cliche but “juicy” is the perfect descriptor for this. You've really managed to capture that fruit juice quality from the hops while avoiding excessive bitterness which I've found to be a rather difficult thing to do. This is full, rich and luscious while maintaining a good balance of flavours. The hop combo works really well and the lactose is a nice touch, I'll definitely be adding that to my next NEIPA recipe. The low carbonation adds to the smooth, full body, and definitely suits this style imo. Tbh I would never have known this was a kviek yeast if you'd not told me, but it seems to work perfectly in this style. Beercat has sent me a vial of kviek yeast to play about with, so might go for something similar. This is a great beer and a very good example of the style, I'd be thrilled if I'd brewed it! :hat:

Cheers steve
Kind words again
Glad you enjoyed it this is for a competition in May I'm going to 're brew it and split the batch , ferment one the same and the other half with new england yeast, is there anything you would change ?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[strange-steve]

Last night I had @serum's "rustic saison" (although you mentioned that it may have been mislabeled?) and very good it was...

Aroma
Light malty caramel with some mild spicy phenols, but very clean aromas.

Appearance
Beautiful copper colour with a reddish hue, decent head retention, lightly hazy (possible chill haze as it was served straight from the fridge).

Flavour
Light and easy drinking, clean flavours with a nice layered, complex malt profile of caramel and bread crust. Very subtle yeast derived flavours, light fruitiness. Dry finish with a fairly solid hop bitterness.

Overall Impression
This is another very nice brew and would make a great summer beer. The yeast flavours were much cleaner than a typical saison putting me in mind somewhat of a French blonde or biere de garde. Perhaps a tad bitter in the finish for my taste, but otherwise great. A very well brewed beer, and your adventures into step-mashing are obviously paying off regarding the malt flavours. Thanks for sending this mate

 

[strange-steve]

Today I'm drinking a Chevallier bitter kindly sent by @dan125 which is right up my street. I love a good bitter but I'm yet to brew one that I'm happy with, so looking forward to this...

Aroma
Lovely rich malt aromas, caramel, fruity, biscuity, a little alcohol.

Appearance
Deep amber, slight red tint, not much head due to low carbonation.

Flavour
Loads of biscuity, toasty malt with hints of toffee, fruity esters, subtle earthy hop flavour but well balanced bitterness. Maybe some very slight diacetyl but appropriate for the style. A touch of alcohol in the finish.

Overall Impression
This is a really good bitter. It's a tough style to brew and I think you've done a great job, if I was served this on cask I would be very happy. You've captured the balance and drinkability that's crucial for a bitter, and the flavours are nice and clean. You mentioned that you thought it was under carbed, but I think it's perfect for the style. My only slight criticism would be that the alcohol flavour is a little prominent, I'm curious what the ABV is. But that's only a minor point and otherwise this is very good, certainly better than any of my attempts at a bitter. Thanks for sending this mate