Xmas Swap 2018 Review Thread

[MickDundee]

I did guess as the address under the christmas card said Mick from Dundee
Yes not really come out as a Dubbel but a nice strong beer nonetheless

I tried to be as discreet as possible with my senders address details. I just went with first initial, surname and postcode. I never thought about the address that was already on the re-used package

 

[Ciaran12s]

Just got in from driving back from southampton up to Leeds and definitely needed a beer. I’ve just opened the oatmeal stout I received sat by the fire. Poored brown with a slight reddish tint, carbonation was spot on. Taste is steady away malt, not bitter like I expected, a bit like old peculiar as opposed to a stout but very nice none the less.

Hi Tim

That was mine. Glad you enjoyed it. I cold steeped the dark malts this time. I've done a very similar recipe previously with the dark grains in the mash. I would say this gives it a smoothness but has maybe resulted in less colour pick up from the dark grains. A bit more bitterness wouldn't hurt. If I was to do it again I don't if I'd bother with the cold steep.

 

[Zephyr259]

Just drinking the second beer, black bourbon stout - 7.5%. Not overly carbonated but actually that adds to the smoothness. Very rich, sweet edge but just right, bitterness is just perfect and the bourbon, which I couldn’t taste initially turns up at the end. No alcoholic bite but from the mouth feel and how rich it is you know it’s a strong one. Fantastic beer!

Hi Tim, that was my beer. The secret is that it was brewed with Voss Kveik at 35c back in March. Glad you enjoyed it, it turned out pretty well.

 

[braziliain]

Well I have finally shifted the sinusitis I managed to pick up at Christmas and opened my second Secret Santa, a Caribbean Christmas Stout! It was labelled as being 8.5% and having chocolate, rum and coconut, which sounded delicious.

This was my first beer on Friday night after a long day at work and I was gasping for it!

Only the tiniest hiss when opened and it poured jet black with a slim tan head that stuck around as I drank it.

The aroma was sweet milk chocolate with a little malt in background. At 8.5% I was expecting a big alcohol rum hit, but I didn't get that.

The taste for me was silky smooth milk chocolate. A chocolate bomb! Maybe a touch of coffee but chocolate is dominant. Very low carbonation and a silky mouth feel make this very quoffable. It totally belies its strength and I could drink it like milkshake! The bitterness is low and appropriate to style. I get a little raisin/dried fruit, which could be the rum coming through. The merest hint of coconut in the finish, but to be honest if it wasn't written on the bottle, I might not have come up with that. As it warmed up, I convinced myself the coconut was coming through more.

Overall I really enjoyed this beer. Many thanks to Santa for sharing it with me. If I was to brew it, I might try to up the coconut as I love Brew York's Tonkoko Coconut Stout which packs a really coconut punch. I'd be interested to know how the coconut was added.

Sorry for taking so long to getting it drunk. I couldn't smell or taste anything and really didn't want to waste it.

I followed it with the Northern Monk Triple IPA from their 2018 Trilogy release at 9.5%. After the pair of these before eating my tea I was battered!!

 

[Oneflewover]

Glad you enjoyed it. It's probably a bit 'marmite', although I'm not entirely sure about it one way or the other. The coconut was added at the end of boil and to the fermenter towards the end of fermentation. The carbonation was kept deliberately low. Raw cacao nibs soaked in rum gave the chocolate flavour. :hat:

 

[Zephyr259]

Glad you enjoyed it. It's probably a bit 'marmite', although I'm not entirely sure about it one way or the other. The coconut was added at the end of boil and to the fermenter towards the end of fermentation. The carbonation was kept deliberately low. Raw cacao nibs soaked in rum gave the chocolate flavour. :hat:

Any chance of a full recipe? Sounds great.

 

[big yogi]

I would also like the recipe
What method did you use for the coconut?
How long did you soak the nibs for?

 

[Oneflewover]

Any chance of a full recipe? Sounds great.

Do you want to try before you buy, so to speak? Happy to send a bottle.

Alternatively the recipe is on my brewday thread (I 'stole' it from someone who made it and shared a bottle with strange-steve, recipe also on his review thread).

 

[Oneflewover]

I would also like the recipe
What method did you use for the coconut?
How long did you soak the nibs for?

Ditto ^^^

 

[Zephyr259]

Do you want to try before you buy, so to speak? Happy to send a bottle.

Alternatively the recipe is on my brewday thread (I 'stole' it from someone who made it and shared a bottle with strange-steve, recipe also on his review thread).

Sounds like a plan, I'll drop you a PM.

 

[Oneflewover]

Sounds like a plan, I'll drop you a PM.

Just checked my brewday thread. Recipe on there is not quite what I did:

4.7kg pale malt
130g choc malt
250g oats
230g roasted barley
200g dark crystal
200g carafa 3
200g special B
Mashed at 67deg C for 75mins

25g magnum (11%aa) at 90
200g toasted flaked coconut at 0
20g cascade at 0

200g toasted flaked coconut dry hop 5 days
200g raw cacao nibs soaked in 400ml 50% proof rum added to fermenter for 5 days
200g lactose added to fermenter (boiled in a little water then cooled).

OG was 1.072, FG 1.010. Gives just over 8% ABV. Guess with the rum and priming sugar looking at 8.5%. Added a bit more lactose than the original recipe specified as fg went lower than expected. I got 26l, aiming for 23l, got great efficiency (for once).

 

[Ghillie]

So arrived home from work yesterday and was warmly received by a second secret santa beer. All the way from the North Pole, sent by a very apologetic Santa who has no reason to be so!

An IPA, 5.2% with a lovely yellow glow to it. Lightly carbonated with a tight head that is still very much there and I'm half way through. Tide lines marking the glass which is always a good sign.

Yeast, I'm guessing Nottingham but I may well be wrong. Likely wrong... I'm getting that typical Notty aftertaste and astringency which I must admit I'm quite fond of. Almost peppery on the tongue, a little like a saison actually.

Hops - I'm unable to tell what hops are in this brew. But if I were to guess, I'd reckon cascade and citra. Lightly hopped mind you, subtle which makes for a fine change.

A nice beer, and a decent beer. My only criticism would be to reassess the bottling procedure. By looking at this beer, I think it was bottled from primary without the use of a bottling bucket. If not that, the trub layer was somewhat disturbed prior to racking to a bottling bucket. This is slightly noticeable in the beer, but doesn't take away from the fact that I am enjoying it.

Although this thread was not meant to pick holes and faults, I thought it might be beneficial to Santa from an objective perspective

Thanks very much and apologies for the late review, work gets in the way a lot!

Ghillie

 

[big yogi]

That would be mine

So arrived home from work yesterday and was warmly received by a second secret santa beer. All the way from the North Pole, sent by a very apologetic Santa who has no reason to be so!

An IPA, 5.2% with a lovely yellow glow to it. Lightly carbonated with a tight head that is still very much there and I'm half way through. Tide lines marking the glass which is always a good sign.

Yeast, I'm guessing Nottingham but I may well be wrong. Likely wrong... I'm getting that typical Notty aftertaste and astringency which I must admit I'm quite fond of. Almost peppery on the tongue, a little like a saison actually.

Hops - I'm unable to tell what hops are in this brew. But if I were to guess, I'd reckon cascade and citra. Lightly hopped mind you, subtle which makes for a fine change.

A nice beer, and a decent beer. My only criticism would be to reassess the bottling procedure. By looking at this beer, I think it was bottled from primary without the use of a bottling bucket. If not that, the trub layer was somewhat disturbed prior to racking to a bottling bucket. This is slightly noticeable in the beer, but doesn't take away from the fact that I am enjoying it.

Although this thread was not meant to pick holes and faults, I thought it might be beneficial to Santa from an objective perspective

Thanks very much and apologies for the late review, work gets in the way a lot!

GhillieView attachment 17384

That's mine
I'm just glad your alive, I thought I had poisoned you, ha hah.
The yeast was Safale S-04 and the grains were MO and caramalt , hops were Chinook, Ahtanum ,Simcoe and pacific jade.
also dry hopped with cascade and amarillo.
I will take your comments about bottling on board as my next batch will be bottled.
I'm just glad it was drinkable and you enjoyed it.
Did you get 2 bottles from me ?