Summer Brew Review Thread - Golden Ale

[SMP Brewery]

You have both from @Jim Brewster

 

[Alastair70]

My last beer I have to review and it’s by @Alastair70

I’ll start with the colour. As you can see it’s a pleasing golden orange colour. Tried to capture the colour as best I could in my dingy kitchen.

On the aroma I get wheat (I think?). Please correct me if I’ve got that wrong. If not wheat then it’s something I can’t quite put my finger on.

My palate tells me that this has balanced malt and hops - neither one is too forward in my opinion.

I am getting a medium body from this one with light carbonation and a nice head. The bitterness is just right and adds to the full flavour.

Enjoyable beer, thanks for sending A!

View attachment 74059

Cheers Tess.
Your right, there’s a decent charge of wheat to lighten the malt bill and give a bit of head retention. I think I was a bit heavy handed with the First Gold on this brew, I’ll be trying one of the other hop schedules next time round.

Recipe to follow when I’m back at the laptop.

 

[samale]

You have both from @Jim Brewster

He kindly sent two different brews

 

[SMP Brewery]

He kindly sent two different brews

That would be why then

 

[Alastair70]

@samale - double Brewster brew, result!

Recipe for my brew attached. I've split the 60m bittering addition into 60m and 30m on recent recipes and it's worked well, filling out and rounding off hop character nicely. I went all in at 30 minutes on this brew and it's a bit too much. Wrong hop and wrong style for that sort of carrying on I think.

 

[Mash Monster]

View attachment 74027
Now moving on to 'Hobson's Choice' by @Mash Monster.

Another perfectly clear beer, this time a touch darker in colour but with a similarly nice white head. Some fruity aromas which follow through into the taste, along with some subtle spice. Seems very hop forward as I'm not getting too much in the way of malt character, although there is a slight sweetness. Bitterness is well balanced and body is soft and light.

Another cracking beer that I'm thoroughly enjoying!

Many thanks glad you enjoyed this user upper

 

[Alastair70]

I’m having the last two Golden Ales this evening. First up @samale.

Quite a lively pour! But the head settled quickly, lasted the whole pint and laced the glass the whole way down.
The aroma is of citrus hops. The flavour is incredibly well balanced, with bready malt and predominately citrus hop flavours complementing each other. Bitterness is moderate but gentle and the finish is dry meaning I just wanted to dive back in for another swig.

I really enjoyed this one and it was gone far to quickly. Thank-you for sharing it!

 

[samale]

I’m having the last two Golden Ales this evening. First up @samale.

Quite a lively pour! But the head settled quickly, lasted the whole pint and laced the glass the whole way down.
The aroma is of citrus hops. The flavour is incredibly well balanced, with bready malt and predominately citrus hop flavours complementing each other. Bitterness is moderate but gentle and the finish is dry meaning I just wanted to dive back in for another swig.

I really enjoyed this one and it was gone far to quickly. Thank-you for sharing it!


View attachment 74134

I eye balled the sugar for each bottle, not the best practice. I bottle conditioned 4 for the swap. My clarity is absolutely rubbish as usual. I used harlequin hops only, first time using them

 

[Alastair70]

My last beer, this one is from @Jim Brewster. Its quite different from the first beer.
It opened with a more subdued hiss, but carbonation levels are very good. The clarity is excellent.
The aroma is hop forward, citrus predominates again. Malt flavours are more cracker like with a bit of grain. Bitterness level is higher, but neutral and clean, perfectly suited for the style.
Fermentation is with no off flavours. It’s another very well executed brew, and a great contrast to the first one of the evening. Cheers Jim, thank-you for sharing it.

 

[Alastair70]

I eye balled the sugar for each bottle, not the best practice. I bottle conditioned 4 for the swap. My clarity is absolutely rubbish as usual. I used harlequin hops only, first time using them

I couldn't put my finger in the hop, that explains it! The higher carbonation worked well, especially with great the head retention.
The clarity on my last few brews has been poor, I‘m going back to adding gelatine for the next few and not relying totally on the cold crash.

 

[Mash Monster]

My next arrival is from @SMP Brewery
After fighting to get the cap off ( Did you weld this one on ? ) It opened with a slight hiss and poured a slightly hazy dark golden colour with a thin white cap.
The aroma was of heady tropical stone fruit with slight malty notes.
Initial tastes was again of tropical fruit but with something else in the background which may have been elderflower or something similar. It had a pleasing medium mouthfeel which just slid down . I was sorry I only had the one bottle.
Thanks for sending this it was a lovely well balanced brew

 

[SMP Brewery]

My next arrival is from @SMP Brewery
After fighting to get the cap off ( Did you weld this one on ? ) It opened with a slight hiss and poured a slightly hazy dark golden colour with a thin white cap.
The aroma was of heady tropical stone fruit with slight malty notes.
Initial tastes was again of tropical fruit but with something else in the background which may have been elderflower or something similar. It had a pleasing medium mouthfeel which just slid down . I was sorry I only had the one bottle.
Thanks for sending this it was a lovely well balanced brew

I've no idea where my bottle capper came from, I don't remember buying it.. However it only does about a 1/3 at a time properly so I have to rotate it round a few times to make sure it's capped.. Perhaps I was a bit too enthusiastic this time.

It might be elderflower!

Cheers for the comments.

 

[Nottsbeer]

First beer of the swap. Hobson's Choice by @Mash Monster. This was perfectly carbonated....small hiss on opening and pouring nicely. Good head and nice color. Whilst pouring the floral aroma was quite strong. I'm guessing this is from the Mosaic hops as I've used Challenger before but never had that effect. This was a nice refreshing pint which was dominated by the hops (hop forward?). It was easy to drink and left me curious about Mosaic hops. Thanks for sharing, a lovely brew perfect for the end of summer sunshine.

 

[Mash Monster]

First beer of the swap. Hobson's Choice by @Mash Monster. This was perfectly carbonated....small hiss on opening and pouring nicely. Good head and nice color. Whilst pouring the floral aroma was quite strong. I'm guessing this is from the Mosaic hops as I've used Challenger before but never had that effect. This was a nice refreshing pint which was dominated by the hops (hop forward?). It was easy to drink and left me curious about Mosaic hops. Thanks for sharing, a lovely brew perfect for the end of summer sunshine.

Glad you liked it

 

[Nottsbeer]

Tonight I opened the golden ale kindly sent by @SMP Brewery. This opened with a slight hiss but then poured a bit foamy. It has a slightly higher carbonation than expected, and it was a little hazy, tho that was probably due to me trying to get another glass and therefore shaking the bottle a bit. Aroma was subtle, as was the taste. I couldn't put my finger on what the taste was, but it was nice (I'm curious which hops you used). I'm also curious as to what your IBU was. I'd take a guess in the 20s? I typically brew higher, and for my golden Ales I went to the top end of the scale!!

Having split this over two glasses, I felt a bit spoilt by having too different beers!! The one with the large foamy head had lost most of the carbonation which made a lovely smooth drink (which was also tastier). The other one was slightly more carbonated which I think hid some of the taste, however it was also very enjoyable. This is definitely a pint I could drink in a beer garden enjoying the sun. Thanks for sharing, and if you are happy to share your recipe I'd be interested to see what went into this one

 

[Stu's Brews]

Final beer of the swap for me is @Nottsbeer's Landlord Crossover.

Pours a lovely dark golden colour with a light white head. It is perfectly clear and nicely carbonated. Aromas are malt forward but with some honey and floral notes that I'd guess are from the Styrian Goldings. Flavour is honey, floral and spice with a slightly sweet malt background but with just about enough bitterness to cut through it.

I think if I'd be tempted to up the bitterness slightly but that may just be my personal taste. Otherwise it's another superb beer that has been brewed very well. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Nottsbeer]

Final beer of the swap for me is @Nottsbeer's Landlord Crossover.

Pours a lovely dark golden colour with a light white head. It is perfectly clear and nicely carbonated. Aromas are malt forward but with some honey and floral notes that I'd guess are from the Styrian Goldings. Flavour is honey, floral and spice with a slightly sweet malt background but with just about enough bitterness to cut through it.

I think if I'd be tempted to up the bitterness slightly but that may just be my personal taste. Otherwise it's another superb beer that has been brewed very well. Thanks for sharing!

View attachment 74422

Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the review. Interesting about the IBUs...I think I toned this brew down to fit into the style guidelines I saw somewhere (max 44IBU). Like you I enjoy a more bitter pint, my other Golden Ale was at 60 . Just made another yesterday for some Dutch relatives and had to dial it down again...was tough but managed to go to 40IBUs. Was very difficult not to add a few extra hops at each addition

 

[SMP Brewery]

This opened with a slight hiss but then poured a bit foamy. It has a slightly higher carbonation than expected, and it was a little hazy, tho that was probably due to me trying to get another glass and therefore shaking the bottle a bit. Aroma was subtle, as was the taste. I couldn't put my finger on what the taste was, but it was nice (I'm curious which hops you used). I'm also curious as to what your IBU was. I'd take a guess in the 20s? I typically brew higher, and for my golden Ales I went to the top end of the scale!!

That is odd because it's only carbed at about 9/10 psi surprised it gushed as it was bottled from the keg unless there was something in the bottle. The IBU's are about 27 I think so yes towards the lower end of the range.. I will definitely change the hops for next time as I wasn't totally happy with them, I used Archer having never had them before decided to give them a try.

The other thing I would change is after drying the elderflowers.. I also put the pollen in that was left after removing the heads.. I think this was a mistake as it left a certain taste for quite a while and is only just mellowed out.

Thanks for the feedback

Recipe attached.

Edit forgot to say yes it is a bit cloudy.

 

[Nottsbeer]

That is odd because it's only carbed at about 9/10 psi surprised it gushed as it was bottled from the keg unless there was something in the bottle. The IBU's are about 27 I think so yes towards the lower end of the range.. I will definitely change the hops for next time as I wasn't totally happy with them, I used Archer having never had them before decided to give them a try.

The other thing I would change is after drying the elderflowers.. I also put the pollen in that was left after removing the heads.. I think this was a mistake as it left a certain taste for quite a while and is only just mellowed out.

Thanks for the feedback

Recipe attached.

Edit forgot to say yes it is a bit cloudy.

Cool, interesting recipe and use of elderflowers . The bottle didn't gush, just formed a very foamy head when poured. There is always the chance that the glass wasn't properly clean thus a reaction when pouring . A very enjoyable drink regardless. I may investigate using elderflowers next year.

 

[foxy]

Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the review. Interesting about the IBUs...I think I toned this brew down to fit into the style guidelines I saw somewhere (max 44IBU). Like you I enjoy a more bitter pint, my other Golden Ale was at 60 . Just made another yesterday for some Dutch relatives and had to dial it down again...was tough but managed to go to 40IBUs. Was very difficult not to add a few extra hops at each addition

Try the SMPH scale for hop additions, makes a world of difference and you have nothing to lose.