CS 7 Anything Goes

[Mike Neilson]

I decided to enter a few beers for you fellas I hope you all like NZ Hops, NZ Malt, UK Malt, UK Hops, US Hops, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae from 3 diffrent country origins and Brettanomyces Bruxellensis

 

1 Dot??? Have this only and you can drive

2 Dot??? Have this only and you can drive

3 Dot??? Dont Drive

4 Dot??? Dont Drive

 

And a Rogue No Dot, Dont Drive, tell us what you got and what you think, and at the end I will tell you what they were if I remember.

[Reviled]

Haha crack up!

[Richard Jack]

Brilliant, I like all of those things.

[Mike Neilson]

Oh yeah no Sanitation so drink ASAP!!

[Andrew]

I'd like to think I'd know if I got the Brett one, I hope.

[Mike Neilson]

Yeah you would hope!! Theres enough non sanitation with these beers to hopefully keep you intrested, hahahaha

[vdog]

I wasn't sure what to drink tonight, so figured I may as well drink something where I'd have no idea what it was anyway. I got the 2 dots.

 

Out of the bottle it pours a golden straw colour with a really slight haze to it and a 1cm loose white head that disappears pretty quickly. As it was reasonably cold I don't get a lot on the nose, other than a little bit of toffee/caramel and faint fruity hop. On the palate, this was a real surprise - smoke! Kind of like what you get using manuka sawdust to smoke fish, which reminded me a bit of Stu M's Brown Dog from the last swap, so I assume you've used some peated malt in this? Aside from smoke there's a nice light caramel malt going on, not much in the way of hop flavour (maybe some orange?) but enough bitterness for it to be refreshing rather than cloying. Good clean ferment with not much in the way of yeast character as far as I can tell.

 

Overall I thought this was well balanced, very drinkable, and a really interesting beer to try and review. I would happily drink more of this. Cheers Mike!

 

If I had to guess at ingredients I'd probably make a dick of myself, but not being one to care too much about that I'll say it's 90% pale ale (GP) and 5% each light crystal and peated. The hop I'm getting puts me in mind of Goldings, and I'd guess something neutral like US-05 for the ferment. Am I close?

[Andrew]

I had the 2 dot...and I might have got a completely different beer from Vdog. It poured really really clear. Same as Vdog the head dropped off pretty quickly and the beer was pretty flat by the end of the bottle but I think it was obviously bottled from keg so not much to be done about that.

    On the nose it was really weird, smelled like grapes, pears and apples. My good lady thought it smelled like Lindauer! I don't completely agree but I see where she was coming from. By the start of the 2nd glass it warmed a little and I figured where the apple, winey smell came from. It was pretty strong acetaldehyde. I think the carbonation and hops hid it a little at the beginning. I thought it was there but by the time it warmed up I was sure it was and from that point on I couldn't get past it.

   Obviously something in the fermentation there. Maybe over or underpitched or temp problems. Cheers for sharing mate.

 

[Stu McKinlay]

Is the "dot" a red star?

[Mike Neilson]

Nope, but enlighten me as I have the same question.

 

I cant really remember what I put on mine I think it was just dots in Gold pen?

 

I do remember what the beers are though

[vdog]

Red stars are mine...

[Haish]

I got one dot.

 

Crystal clear pale gold in the glass with a thin white head. Aroma is citrusy, orange and lemon with hints of tropical fruits, mango, passionfruit and pineapple. Soft bitterness is nicely balanced with the malt, citrus and tropical hop flavours are prominent into the crisp, dry finish. This beer smells and tastes like pale ale and finishes like a lager.

 

I reckon this is UK malt because there's not much crystal in there yet there is substantial malt backbone and US hops, some simcoe and something I've never tried before but citrus like that only comes from the US. The yeast must be a european lager yeast for that crisp dry finish.

 

Well brewed. Nice beer mate, thanks for sharing.

[Stu H]

Two dots:

 

Pours reasonably clear straw colour, decent sized head.

Aroma: Spicy yeasty

Flavour: Firm bitterness, nice and malty, and a bit spicy.

Mouthfeel: Nice and bubbly! 

 

I didn't think there were that many hops there, but the beer finishes hoppy, and lingers in the palate for awhile longer.

 

I think you've gone and used a belgium beer yeast, maybe some bugs too... There's a lot going on in this beer.. I think it's really well balanced between sweet, spicy, bitter, and bubbly. There's quite a lot going on in this beer, I like it! I'd love to know what went in it!