2nd case swap: Stu McKinlay "Digital IPA"

[Stu McKinlay]

Beer should be clearly identifiable with a white label on the bottle.

Recipe and the odd overnight brewing process is here. Criticism, jokes, praise and questions are all sought...

Additional info:
Brewed 13/14th March.
Fermented for 4 days, then left in primary to day 10.
1g Amarillo per litre dry hopped in primary at end of ferment.
1 week in the fridge - about 11 short of what I'd have liked ;-)

Tasted 6/4/2009. About 14c.
Burnished amber, hazy, dirty creamy head, strong lace. Low "cask-style" carbonation (I seriously contemplated sending a syringe - the poor man's beer engine - out with each bottle...), might struggle to form a head if served cold. Grass, herb, caramel and a little alcohol on the nose. Similar in the mouth where its youth throws an almost "green oak" character from the hops (warm and slightly asringent). I'll save the rest of the keg - I'll be interested to see how this ages in the next three months. I'll definitely send some to the NHC (but I'll probably do that with every beer I brew between now and then as it'll only be a few batches).

[denimglen]

Choice, second beer in the case swap. It's a good feeling when you pull out a bottle that has an IBU value on the bottle and it's over fifty. Decanting into jug and into 330mL glass.

Poured cold, oops, forgot the fridge was set low. I pour. I get violent. I get head. 50:50 foam:bubbles in the head. She's hazy. And red brown.

I can smell caramel/toffee, toast and resin. A light skim of butter on that toast maybe? Maybe a little roast and coffee as well. Fuck I wish I hadn't dialed the kegerator to 4C cause I know there's even more goodness in there waiting to come out.

Shit why did I sit here smelling for so long. It tastes good.

Stone fruit. Citrus. I think I just licked the skin of some orange coloured fruit. Cadbury Caramello. A resiny bitterness that lingers that straight wipes away any sweetness.

A bloody massacre of lace clings to the walls of the glass.

I could comment on palate but that's spot on.

Going to drink the rest now, kthxbai.

[Stu McKinlay]

Had to google that last "word". Nice one!

[MrC]

Third to last bottle in the case swap for me.

Poured a murky reddish.brown color with a small off white short lasting head. Very hazy.
Aroma of dark caramels, floral, very US-05, sweet stonefruit. Also smells green, not sure what though. Not grass, not pine needles, something else.
Carbonation is low, soft mouthfeel, bitter caramel taste with light alcohol warmth. Bitterness is high and lingers long into the aftertaste. No burps.
Second glass was warmer and poured with good head and that's when the great lace started.
Bitterness started to dominate the drinking experience for me and I struggled a bit with the second glass. I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to high bitterness. Not something I could drink a lot of.

This beer reminded me my first extract beer where I massively over hopped with Pacific Gem at 60, 30 & 10 min. Even had a similar haziness.

Overall I thought the bitterness was overpowering for me and detracted from the rest of the beer. I regularly force myself to drink something with a high bitterness in the hope that I will acquire a taste for it so with that in mind I'm glad to have tasted it. Again this is an example of a beer that I would not brew for myself and am therefore grateful that it turned up in the case swap.

Why was it so hazy? Can the hopping contribute to haziness, I've heard that dry hopping can but what about the other hops.

Cheers Stu

[Mike Neilson]

Wait to you try a Dry 100+Ibu beer it will make your mouth but more so your tongue wish it had this IPA to rehydrate it!!!!!! I admit it though a love for bitterness only comes from drinking alot of bitter beers!! and in my Opinion can make the lower bitter beers eg milds porter and the like more quaffable!! Get in to them!!!!!!!

[Reviled]

Pours a really dark copper colour with a small tightly packed white head which thinned quickly. Aroma is actually quite well balanced between malt overtones and tropical and stone fruit, with subtle hints of dark caramel. Has a really orange citrus taste to is which is backed up by toffee and caramel flavours, which quickly turns into a sharp bitterness which lingers.

Cheers Stu :o)

[Ally Mcg]

Pours a dark amber, such that i looked at it and started thinking of Jurassic Park.
Off white head that persists to oh at least halfway thru the pint glass (where i am now)
Nose, bit blocked up but detect orange and licorice and ginger bread (??)
Taste/mouthfeel full body, rich with alcohol and more orange and licorice and a dark malt kick.
Very nice beer all round - cheers

[HerrSchnapps]

As I opened the bottle I was immediately overcome with regret as I realised we should have left this to age for a few months..
But in our drink session we decided to drink the light ones for now.

Pours a light head with a strong caramel,stone fruit, esp peach, alcohol aroma. Stong peach and toffee tastes comes through immediately on the tongue. Good level of bitterness to match the malt. we'd definitely say it's a strong malt driven IPA (if there is such a thing).

Mick, Willie (and Jade)


Loving it as a Strong IPA/APA and looking forwad to maybe drinking at our local craft brew .
Definitely five digits up for this Digital IPA

[Doublehoppy]

Well I was expecting a lot from this, and I wasn't disappointed.

Poured at celler temperature (about 14c at the mo) into a chalise given its strength. Smallish white head, soft carbonation and nice lace.

Intense malt and hops, both fight to dominate, I think the hops just shade it. I picked up on the amarillo I think, but looking at the recipe afterwards I was surprised to see they were only used for dry hopping and NS was the bittering hop.

Could I drink this "day in, day out, day in, day out..". Sure, a 330mL bottle would be spot on.

Really impressed with this. Cheers

[Stu McKinlay]

Cheers Double... just popped the keg and its last few pints (I hope) into the fridge this evening. Going to try to pour off a couple of bottles for storage and then (hopefully) have a pint for the effort... Nice use of lyrics by the way.

[Mike Neilson]

2nd To last Case swap Beer!! I have tried this once before and agree it was to young to realy judge the beer but here I go!!

Sevring temp; Garage Ambient

Pours a muddy burnt brown and almost red in colour. lazy pour which forms light whispy head which packs down to form a tight collar.
Nice Cherry Stone fruity Marmalade nose with a hint of alc almost like the triffle your nanna used to give you, Taste is pretty much the same to tell you the honest truth, med to full body but its high IBUS have balanced and turned into this whicked dryness which my toungue needs to be rehydrated wait there....................toungue still dry.................. Ah thats better. Of a beer that caused you this much head ache it has aged into something which (2-4 months later would be better) is well drinkable!! Im just sniffing it again and it has this Barleywine charachter to it, almot like a light Barleywine, like a 7% barleywine a mate gave me after a drunkin trek around Nelson Marlbourgh. Good Stuff Stu, Well worth the Wait!! Fuck its dry!! Is there EKG in this?