Strange-steve's Homebrew Reviews

[strange-steve]

I post all my recipes on my brewday post when I brew them, this one was listed in post #483.

Is that the same beer, the bottle says Nottingham yeast?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Is that the same beer, the bottle says Nottingham yeast?

Ah! Yes, I used Nottingham.

I had previously used SO-4 and decided to try Nottingham. I actually explained this in the next post #484 (and forgot, sorry).

 

[user 18729]

Today I'm finally getting the chance to try what has become a bit of a forum legend, @Hazelwood Brewery's Summer Breeze IPA. I've been reading about this for a while now so pleased to get the chance to try it...

Aroma
On opening I was immediately hit with a noseful of ripe mango which was lovely, also with notes of passionfruit, lemon, and grapefruit. Tropical and delicious as I'd expect from the hop bill. Also just a faint sweet, biscuity aroma.

Appearance
Deep golden colour with a bit of haze (probably my fault for being impatient and not letting it settle), a great fluffy white head which stuck around the whole way down. (Note it's nowhere near as dull as it appears in the pic below!)

Flavour
As expected lots of citrus fruitiness up front which, along with the sturdy (but not overpowering) bitterness, gives a lemon pith and grapefruit impression. A light and crisp finish, very clean indeed, with just a hint of nutty, biscuity malts coming through which gives an interesting counterpoint to the fresh hoppiness. The malts came through more prominently as the beer warmed.

Overall Impression
In short I would say this is simply a well made West Coast style IPA. It has everything you want from the style, from the punchy, fruity, citrusy hops, to the clean, refreshing bitterness, and dry finish that leaves you wanting more. What I really like about this though is that you haven't ignored the malt bill as often we do with this type of beer. You’ve used Vienna malt (have you used Vienna for all the base malt or just a portion?) which gives a bit more depth of flavour, kind of like you might get in an English IPA. Personally I really don't like one-dimensional IPAs that are all hops and nothing else (session IPA as a style can go fornicate itself as far as I'm concerned). I suspect also that, although this has a lovely hoppiness, you haven't gone too mad with the hops. It is balanced nicely without feeling like you're drinking hop juice, and not being the biggest hop head myself, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only issue I had with it was that it was a bit overcarbed. It has that mouth-filling carbonation you get in a Belgian pale or the like, which I have a feeling lightened the body a bit more than you'd want. That being said, I think you probably normal serve this from a PB which I reckon would suit it beautifully, so ignore this comment! Anyway thanks for sending this mate, I'm glad to finally have tried it and I wasn't disappointed. Look forward to the next :hat:

I enjoyed Mr H’s Summer Breeze as well. A lovely beer

 

[strange-steve]

Ah! Yes, I used Nottingham.

I had previously used SO-4 and decided to try Nottingham. I actually explained this in the next post #484 (and forgot, sorry).

Less crystal than I expected, but very dark which explains the fruitiness.

 

[strange-steve]

First up this evening is @dave_77's American Amber. It's not a style I've had loads of in the past, but definitely one I enjoy so looking forward to this...

Aroma
Deliciously fruity with ripe mango, pineapple, orange, and lemon, as well as a little nutty malt coming through and just a hint of alcohol. Really inviting.

Appearance
Unsurprisingly amber, with a little hop haze. Really good head retention, stuck around all the way down.

Flavour
Really soft, almost sweet fruitiness, bursting with a mango and orange juiciness, a little lemon zest also which fades into the dry, but again very soft finish, along with some subtle biscuity and nutty malts. Leaves a very pleasant lemon cookie effect on the palate.

Overall Impression
This is an interesting one, initially it has many of the characteristics of a NEIPA, with the full flavoured fruitiness and the really soft bitterness that just nicely balances the sweetness without lingering. The maltiness definitely plays a supporting role here with mostly a base malt nuttiness, and maybe for the style a little more caramel or toffee flavour might be expected, but it really doesn't need it. To me, these darker IPAs are so much more interesting than a typical IPA because there's more going on in the background. It's not just a one trick pony, the malt bill adds something extra, which for a non-hop head like myself is a good thing. It also means that when the hops fade with age there's still something interesting left. I really liked the body and mouthfeel you got in this, and it went down very smoothly. The hint of alcohol I got on the nose doesn't come through in the flavour, and it was extremely drinkable. Great job mate, I really enjoyed this and I appreciate you sending this one and I look forward to the next :hat:

 

[user 18729]

First up this evening is @dave_77's American Amber. It's not a style I've had loads of in the past, but definitely one I enjoy so looking forward to this...

Aroma
Deliciously fruity with ripe mango, pineapple, orange, and lemon, as well as a little nutty malt coming through and just a hint of alcohol. Really inviting.

Appearance
Unsurprisingly amber, with a little hop haze. Really good head retention, stuck around all the way down.

Flavour
Really soft, almost sweet fruitiness, bursting with a mango and orange juiciness, a little lemon zest also which fades into the dry, but again very soft finish, along with some subtle biscuity and nutty malts. Leaves a very pleasant lemon cookie effect on the palate.

Overall Impression
This is an interesting one, initially it has many of the characteristics of a NEIPA, with the full flavoured fruitiness and the really soft bitterness that just nicely balances the sweetness without lingering. The maltiness definitely plays a supporting role here with mostly a base malt nuttiness, and maybe for the style a little more caramel or toffee flavour might be expected, but it really doesn't need it. To me, these darker IPAs are so much more interesting than a typical IPA because there's more going on in the background. It's not just a one trick pony, the malt bill adds something extra, which for a non-hop head like myself is a good thing. It also means that when the hops fade with age there's still something interesting left. I really liked the body and mouthfeel you got in this, and it went down very smoothly. The hint of alcohol I got on the nose doesn't come through in the flavour, and it was extremely drinkable. Great job mate, I really enjoyed this and I appreciate you sending this one and I look forward to the next :hat:

That sounds right up my street

 

[strange-steve]

That sounds right up my street

It was really good, wish I had another

 

[dave_77]

First up this evening is @dave_77's American Amber. It's not a style I've had loads of in the past, but definitely one I enjoy so looking forward to this...

Aroma
Deliciously fruity with ripe mango, pineapple, orange, and lemon, as well as a little nutty malt coming through and just a hint of alcohol. Really inviting.

Appearance
Unsurprisingly amber, with a little hop haze. Really good head retention, stuck around all the way down.

Flavour
Really soft, almost sweet fruitiness, bursting with a mango and orange juiciness, a little lemon zest also which fades into the dry, but again very soft finish, along with some subtle biscuity and nutty malts. Leaves a very pleasant lemon cookie effect on the palate.

Overall Impression
This is an interesting one, initially it has many of the characteristics of a NEIPA, with the full flavoured fruitiness and the really soft bitterness that just nicely balances the sweetness without lingering. The maltiness definitely plays a supporting role here with mostly a base malt nuttiness, and maybe for the style a little more caramel or toffee flavour might be expected, but it really doesn't need it. To me, these darker IPAs are so much more interesting than a typical IPA because there's more going on in the background. It's not just a one trick pony, the malt bill adds something extra, which for a non-hop head like myself is a good thing. It also means that when the hops fade with age there's still something interesting left. I really liked the body and mouthfeel you got in this, and it went down very smoothly. The hint of alcohol I got on the nose doesn't come through in the flavour, and it was extremely drinkable. Great job mate, I really enjoyed this and I appreciate you sending this one and I look forward to the next :hat:

Thanks for the feedback, glad you enjoyed it. It's a style a brew fairly regularly currently brewing version 7 as we speak.
That version had Columbus, Citra and a little Amarillo, tonight's version has got Chinook with a Mosiac and centennial dry hop with the same grain bill as the one you had.

 

[strange-steve]

Thanks for the feedback, glad you enjoyed it. It's a style a brew fairly regularly currently brewing version 7 as we speak.
That version had Columbus, Citra and a little Amarillo, tonight's version has got Chinook with a Mosiac and centennial dry hop with the same grain bill as the one you had.

Do you have a recipe posted somewhere I could see?

 

[dave_77]

Do you have a recipe posted somewhere I could see?

Below is a link to the recipe, it finished at 1.012 on that batch
https://share.brewfather.app/VD4CQv1zsxnYoQ

 

[samale]

Below is a link to the recipe, it finished at 1.012 on that batch
https://share.brewfather.app/VD4CQv1zsxnYoQ

I must try this in the next swap, sounds delicious

 

[dave_77]

When this next batch is done I'll send some bottles out, the last batch has all gone now. I giving this new version and a Trappist single a go in the Scottish comp in the new year.

 

[strange-steve]

Below is a link to the recipe, it finished at 1.012 on that batch
https://share.brewfather.app/VD4CQv1zsxnYoQ

That's interesting, in contrast to Hazelwood's beer yesterday, your recipe has a lot more crystal than expected. Demonstrates how much the hops disguise the grainbill. Lovely beer though, thanks again. I'll get a couple sent in return after the holidays

 

[strange-steve]

Tonight's beer is a Belgian Golden Strong Ale very kindly sent by @SteveH. A delicious style but not easy to get right, so let's go...

Aroma
A deep, overripe fruitiness, with banana and pear, slightly earthy, with a rich, warming spiciness from both the yeast and the alcohol.

Appearance
Nice reddish copper colour with great clarity, head lingered well with a thin foam. Darker than the style suggests, but I was warned about that.

Flavour
Lovely toasty notes and fruity raisiny flavours up front, soft, warm spices with hints of almond follow along with a nice kick of alcohol. Very smooth finish with a drying bitterness, leaving a pleasant spicy/floral (hop?) flavour.

Overall Impression
When it comes to beer I'm an easy man to please. Give me a beer with Belgian flavours and a hefty dose of alcohol and that's enough to put a smile on my face, and this beer definitely delivers both of those things. However that does this beer a disservice, because regardless of my personal taste this is quite simply a wonderful beer. One of the difficult things to get right with these strong Belgian beers is to control the alcohol flavours while keeping a good balance of yeast character. It's relatively easy to ferment cool to reduce fusels, but this can lead to the beer being a little too clean. You've manged to get a fantastic flavour from the yeast here (but once again I admit a little bias, wlp550 is one of my favourite strains), and although there's no doubt this packs a punch, it's very smooth and easy to drink. Even with this 500ml bottle I had it finished in no time and was disappointed to see the bottom of the glass. I think the use of Munich malt and the healthy fermentation are the keys to why this is so good, it's a beautiful partnership of a great recipe well executed. I'm bottling a tripel tomorrow and if it's half as good as this I'll be happy. Thanks for sending this one mate :hat:

 

[Leon103]

Will need to send you a bottle of my latest pils when it's ready. Send over your address.

 

[strange-steve]

Will need to send you a bottle of my latest pils when it's ready. Send over your address.

Definitely, I also have a pils to send in return.

 

[Brewnaldo]

@SteveH have you posted a recipe for the Belgian above?

 

[SteveH]

@SteveH have you posted a recipe for the Belgian above?

I haven't posted it anywhere yet, but happy to share!

5kg Pilsner malt (I used UK Warminster lager malt as it was what I had on hand, so not completely to style)
500g Munich malt (I thought it was light, but may have been dark judging by the resulting colour)
150g Dextrose

It was a 16l batch, my OG was 1.080, FG ended up at 1.011

I used a combination of 50/50 pre-boiled tap water and Ashbeck (we live in a hard water area), added 3.5g calcium chloride, 2g gypsum.

Mashed 66c for an hour

60 minute boil, hops calculated for 27IBU total:
50g Styrian Goldings (Celia) 60mins
25g Saaz (15min)
20g Hallertauer Mittlefruh (15min)
25g Saaz (1min)

Yeast was WLP550 - I made a 2l starter, then kept temperatures at 19-20c for the first 5 days, then ramped up to 22c

It did take a while to get down the last few points, so I ended up doing over 3 weeks in primary.

Thanks to @strange-steve for the review and kind words above! :hat:

 

[strange-steve]

Today's beer is a NEIPA sent by @Pennine. I really should have had this review done sooner, but I've been taking a bit of an alcohol break after overindulging during the holidays. Apologies for that, but I wanted to recover a little to give this a fair review. Anyway, here goes...

Aroma
Bursting with intense tropical fruits, mango and passionfruit especially, hints of orange, lemon, and summer berries. Deliciously juicy.

Appearance
It certainly looks the part, like a glass of mango juice. Hazy orange with a thin white head and a beautiful shine when held to the light.

Flavour
Much like the aroma, tropical fruit juice, ripe mango, perhaps more citrus fruit, but soft and slightly sweet upfront with just a touch of fruity acidity which is lovely, along with an interesting herbal note. Hop bitterness comes through in the finish, lingering with a grapefruity flavour. A hint of grainy malt in there too which adds to the complexity.

Overall Impression
If you've ever had a fruit tea then you may feel as I do that often they smell fabulous but tend to be disappointing when you drink them as the flavour doesn't quite live up to the aroma. I've found that is also often the case with NEIPAs, the aroma promises so much but it doesn't deliver on the flavour. The eruption of fruitiness in the aroma when this was poured was delightful and I was very pleased that this carried through on the palate too being beautifully fruity and flavourful. I would say that the bitterness is perhaps a little too prominent for the style, with a drying quality in the finish that cuts through the sweet juiciness more than I'd expect, but to be honest this actually adds to the drinkability even if not perfectly "to style". And it really was superbly easy to drink, having a lovely smooth dryness in the finish leaving me wanting more. Carbonation was moderate/low which was perfect for me, I find high carbonation lightens the mouthfeel too much in this style, detracting from the juiciness. Overall I was really happy with this beer and it was a pleasure to drink so many thanks for sending this :hat:

 

[Pennine]

Cheers I am going to enjoy one myself from the keg. Yes the bitterness is intentionally higher, it's similar to the one I was trying to clone. Nice you picked up on it, it's kind of a mesh of the two styles west coast and New England. There is something special about the aromatics of Citra and Mosaic. Guess that's why they are known as cheater hops as it's hard to go wrong with them. Thanks for the great review, oh by the way would you be surprised if I said I used metabisufite in the keg? It seems to have helped the oxidation in your bottle. Anything stick out when you were tasting?