2009 Brews

[MrC]

What beers did you brew during 2009?

I've just been looking back at the beers that I brewed last year and found it interesting to look at the different styles and how many I brewed. I brewed 18 beers in total, 6 of them being pale ales of some description, and arguably one lager fermented at 17c.

BEERS:
1 x Brown Ale
2 x Porter
6 x Pale Ale (APA & NZPA)
1 x Hefe Weizen
1 x Belgian Pale Ale
1 x Blonde Ale
1 x American Wheat
1 x Fruit Beer (Raspberry Wheat)
1 x Spice/Herb/Veg (Coconut Porter)
1 x IPA
1 x Schwarzbier
1 x Stout

BEST:
APA brewed for the WnBC. It was one of the last beers I brewed and I think my beers improved as the year progressed. One of the few beers that I've brewed that I would happily brew again without changing anything.

WORST:
Hefe Weizen using WB-06

[Mike Neilson]

Possibly but probably not!!

[Reviled]

Pffft, youve almost done half that amount since september ;oP lol

[Mike Neilson]

Yeah thats when I became a full on alcaholic though before that I was indenial, and didnt brew as much.

[Reviled]

bahahaha, admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery... or maybe not in this case ;o)

[Stu McKinlay]

1 x "Saison" (kit, to test the new conical fermenter)
1 x Porter
1 x Stout
1 x Imperial Red Ale
1 x English Brown Ale
1 x English Mild
1 x English Best Bitter
1 x Belgian Blond
1 x NZ IPA
1 x Belgian Dubbel
1 x Belgian Pale Ale
2 x NZ Pale Ale
3 x Ordinary Bitter

16 brews at an average of 35L. Didn't use weetbix in a single on of them.

The best... the first NZ Pale Ale, which bordered on an NZ Amber. Though the last bottle of the Belgian Pale ale was a great testament of what a little time can do to a beer.

The worst... The Saison was least drinkable (and it's still sitting in a keg, even though I brewed it in January) but the last Ordinary Bitter (Pacifica hopped) was the biggest disappointment... even more so once it got turned into an Eis-bitter.

This year... brew more often!! Some more play with Belgian and English yeasts. A few more strong ales for bottling.

Most memorable homebrewed beers:
Mike's Smoked Imperial Stout (Mike's the best homebrewer around at the moment [as far as I know] and, I reckon, will be NHC champ this year)
Mike's Imperial NZ Pale Ale (first one I tried with WLP007, it was balance beersonified)
Dale's Amen Strong Pale Ale (rough around the edges but that gave it charm and it was so superbly drinkable)
Dale's PKB Clone and Ally's Black Francis (very flattering that people liked the beer enough to create their own and they both nailed it!)
Jo's Naked Poppy IIPA (what more needs to be said... it's a shame she couldn't try it herslef one day)
Jo's Yakima Monster APA (great label, great simple beer)
Cherry's Torsion Coconut Porter (Best packaging of the year... and as good as Maui CoCoNuT, which I had about the same time)
Rev's MinIPA (best homebrew experiement, this could go far in 2010)
Denim's Weizen (best Weizen I've ever had)
Barry's CS2 Bitter (HMOB... His Majesty of Ordinary Bitters)
Soren's CocoWheat (best use of a Seinfeld and cocoa nibs!)

Sorry to anyone I left out - these one's just spring to mind as i type now... I've had some truly great homebrewed beers this year. I'm constantly surprised at just how good everyone out there is.

[Mike Neilson]

Gee's Stu big call!! Depends what the rules are!! like entering 30 beers to win come on that was a piss take surely?

[Dale Cooper]

Its not such big a call, every beer I have tried of yours has been pretty impressive! Plus looking at the recipes you post on here you are very prolific and diverse thats gotta add up.
You can't blame the chap who won the home brewer of the year though the rules might have worked in his favour but he still had to get lots of medals to get the prize. I guess this year they'll do it differently again.

[Mark Kessell]

i've only brewed 4 AG's so far.
i brewed 2 extracts last year also.

the extracts were:
- premium IPA (i did a 60min miniboil for this one as well)
- coffee stout (never again!)

AG's:
- NZPA
- APA (for WnBC)
- Dry Smoke Stout (for next WnBC)
- IIPA (meh - not holding my breath. didn't plan it as much as the others).

best beer is by far the stout. but i like both my PA's.

worst is the coffee stout. not touching that shit again.

[David Wood]

As I just started brewing in November last year, I've only got two beers on my list.
1 x American IIPA
1 x American Stout

Best:
Integration Dry² Stout. An excellent beer, recipe devised by Steven Driessen. I bought the ingredients and we brewed it together. Turned out beautifully - excellently roasty and prominently hoppy. Look out WBC!

Worst:
By default, Aroination IIPA. For my very first brew it turned out pretty well, but not as well as the stout.

[Martin Bridges]

OK, here's my list:

Grandad Joe's Gold Label (English Barleywine)
Electric Landlord (Best Bitter)
Anniversary Day Porter
Pride of West Yorkshire (Best Bitter)
TripleB (Best Bitter)
Donkey Oatie Stout (Oatmeal stout)
Urban Bohemian (Bohemian Pilsner)
Red Irish Lord (Irish Red)
Palliser Best (Best Bitter)
Martin's Marvellous Mild
Tasty APA
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (ESB, CS3)
Saison du Diable v2
Anniversary Day Porter v2
The Tonguesplitter (American IPA)
Pale Beauty v2 (NZPA)
Janet's Brown Ale (American brown)
Saxby's Ordinary Bitter
Barry's Ordinary Bitter
RyePA
PacificAle (NZ Blonde)
Oh to Be in England! (Ordinary Bitter)
Tasty APA v2
Martin's Marvellous Mild v2
Fin du Siecle (Saison)

which by my count is 25 batches or about half a hectolitre!

Best beer - close call between my Tasty APA and either of the Anniversary Day Porters.

Worst beer - Pale Beauty v2 was my first ever drainpour. Horrible burnt plastic flavour which I think came from underpitching an unhappy yeast.

Other than that I was pretty happy with my output last year. This year has started slowly due to having visitors, but I'll crank up the output next month.

[Dave]

Isn't that more like 5 hectolitres? Presuming 20L brews and not 4.

[Martin Bridges]

Iguess I should know these fancy European measurements, but I thought a hectolitre was a thousand litres. Ah well, a lot. A litre and a half per night :)