What are you drinking ?

[jt]

Ok, so What Are You Brewing was a hotty, as topics go.

Now I'm 15 pints into a keg I only filled on Tuesday and wondering if anyone else has a favourite at the moment ?

It's my second brown with US-Oh05 and it's better than the forst, maybe Ikept the temps down a bit during the scorcher we had in januray

[Mike Neilson]

It ferments with 32% Head Space

[jt]

How about 4 Mash Steps, 3 Days of fermentation clean up, 2 Water Salts and 1 fucken dirty brewery every morning I walk in there after that bad boys been fermenting!!

Nah, thanks for the offer, but not really, I'd rather have the APA.

[jt]

Late Hopped Pale, the 1035 version, 10 or 12% crystal, 28 IBU, the hopping schedule, scaled from the late hopped brown Joe suggested months ago - good hopping, recipe to work on

Hydrometer sample Pot Kettle Mild.
First impression it's malty, mild malty.
Lasting impression, ouch. Or maybe I copped a bit of hop, trub or yeast

[Stu McKinlay]

maybe there was some orange peel in there?

[jt]

maybe there was some orange peel in there

That's in the marmalade - no fruity beers here Stu

It's bitter, that's what it is.
It's bitter and it lingers, lip numbingly lingers

But I'm making this one count, I dry hopped with 1.5gm/litre also

If it doesn't work out, I've got a keg that lasts a long time or a lot of beef & ale to cook or a lot of beer batter seafood !

[Sparky]

Tonight had an Emerson JP 2010 308A. Full blessings to the Father for this drop as it reminds me of how I was smacked into the delights of real beer. Oh to have the Father serving again in this parish!

[jt]

Mr O !

Good to see you out & about, trust that the cold is long one, no call out this weekend and you can enjoy a beer or three ?

How's last weekend's brew looking, sneaky sniff or sample yet ?


Toms potted and in the coldframe !

[Sparky]

Hi JT

Sneaky sampling started Wed night and again tonight. The Oatmeal Stout from the fermenter has nothing to worry about, so there shall be no repeat of last Friday's tipping of the Premium Bitter into the drain.

This weekend it's a Robust Porter and then planning a few quaffers for the BBQ season.

No Toms here yet, however the hop vine has started sprouting spikes about 300mm long, so will have to get a frame up & suss out the strongest runners.

[jt]

I was talking to Chris today and he was saying his hops had taken off too.

Had a sample of our lagers, Chris's with the liquid yeast was a bit better but we wondered if a bit of cold conditioning might have improved them.

both had a bit of caramalt in them, which was the result of looking at the hop rocker clones mentioned here, and felt it was a bit out of place

[David Wood]

Had a great night last night at Llew's sampling a few Canadian beers he kindly brought back from his recent trip there.
First we had Mill St Lemon Tea Ale. I thought it'd be weird, but it was more interesting. The lemon and tea were obvious, but not overpowering. Combined with it's light body this was very refreshing, leaving me wanting more (might have to try and brew it...
We moved on to Black Oak Summer Saison, which was dry and funky like a saison but only 4.1%. Huge flavour for such a small beer.
I forget what came next, but we had Unibroue Éphémère Apple. An odd but not unpleasant apple aroma, which came off more like bubblegum in the flavour. Quite cool.
The biggest standout of the night for me was St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout . I now see why it's so highly rated. Big dark coffee and chocolate flavour, silky body, lingering finish. A perfect demonstration of balance. Lucky for me we're getting this in at Hashigo soon...
There was also a US wheat ale, massively hopped with Amarillo. The light body let every last IBU through, one of the most bitter beers I've had in a while. Loved it.
We finished with a very nice cinnamon spiced porter, which I forget the name of. There are a couple of others which I have forgotten, I'm sure Llew will remember.

Also, we tried Llew's Sorachi Ace wheat ale which demonstrates the unique flavours of that odd hop incredibly well. Nom.

[Reviled]

"unique flavours of that odd hop"

And these unique flavours were?? .........

[Llew Bardecki]

I'd describe Sorachi Ace as very lemon-y, with a lot of spice as well.
They were developed in Japan by Sapporo as a bittering hop (typically 13-16%AA.) They're now grown in the US as well, and sounded interesting enough that I had my parents bring me some when they were visiting from Canada. There's certainly no noble hop subtlety in them, and I find they can be a bit harsh, but definitely unique.

It really is an odd hop. I've never tasted anything else like it. I reckon it works great in wheat beers, and might do well in a pale ale. Dave seems dead set on trying it in a porter or stout, though I'm not convinced...

And while I'm here:
The spiced porter Dave forgot the name of was Black Oak Nutcracker porter. It went fabulously with the ginger loaf that Dylan brought along :)

And the beers Dave forgot to mention entirely were:
Creemore Springs Kellerbier: An unfiltered Vienna Lager. It puts paid to the idea that only lousy beer comes in cans. Has lots of spicy German hops, and actually has yeast in the can!

Dave's own Beetroot Mk3: Whenever I try this stuff I it takes a while to get over the colour. The monstrous aroma of hops (Simcoe in Mk3) and the big bitterness just don't seem to fit with a bright pink beverage. At least they're fruity hops. I reckon I can smell and taste a bit of that earthy beetroot flavour in the beer, but not everyone was convinced. Either way, it's tasty and a very fun beer.