Reviews of Member's Homebrew

[WishboneBrewery]

Cheers for that mate... I'll have to send you some dodgy shit next time a brew something I'm not happy with.
I've got one, Hopped with a load of WGV, horrible hop, takes months to become drinkable!

I think the Blonde beer might have been my 'Kolsch Wit' which was very nice, going to brew it again.

[WishboneBrewery]

Graeme Coates 'Brown Ale'
A cracking beer, not what I expected, not traditional, and rather lovely.
Bitterness just a tad over the balanced mark, hopping is lovely.... not had dinner just yet, going straight to my head.

Good stuff.

[WishboneBrewery]

Another Graeme Coates beer, this time his Weizen.
This beer is everything it should be, clean and crisp, highly carbonated, refreshing, looks brilliant in my Schneider Weisse glass.

A very nice beer

[coatesg]

Graeme Coates 'Brown Ale'
A cracking beer, not what I expected, not traditional, and rather lovely.
Bitterness just a tad over the balanced mark, hopping is lovely.... not had dinner just yet, going straight to my head.

Cheers! Glad you enjoyed both beers. It's certainly a different beer, but then it's a whole style invented by US homebrewers! I put the recipe up here: Bad Choirboy.

It has mellowed somewhat in the last few months - it was *really* a massive centennial-in-your-face beer for a while. Now it's still really hop forward, but less bitter, and with some of the roast choc coming out to balance. It is deceptively easy drinking, which is worrying for a 6.6%ABV beer, and given the colour, the flavour is not at all what you'd expect...

[WishboneBrewery]

6.6% that will be why it was going straight to my head

[simple one]

Review of PDTNC's CNS Squared (don't know how to do the little 2!):

First thing that hit me was that this wasn't any old APA. This was an APA on steroids. The only thing I have had close to this was Brewdog Hardcore IPA. The first sip coated my tongue with hop oils. With further sips the taste then began to smooth out. The aroma was like alcoholic fruit juices!
Full of body, again probably due to the hops rather than the malt, which give the impression of a beer that is a lot stronger than it seems.
Beautifully clear, and perfectly carbonated.

When I read the Brewday a few months ago, I didn't think it would taste like this. Probably because I haven't pushed to the extremes. (I thought I had!)

A nice pint!

[simple one]

Review of PDTNC's Half Wit:

This was a beautifully balanced beer. Malt, Hops, Spices and even (the dreaded) Belgian Yeast in harmony. Light in colour, and light in body, but with enough going on to be interesting and refreshing. An aroma which seems to be neither hops nor spices is present. It has a light floral fragrant aroma.

I couldn't pick out any individual recipe flavours, which they say is a mark of a good wit.

Bloody nice pint, and even though I am not a Belgian yeast fan (at the moment!), I preferred it to the APA!

[WishboneBrewery]

Hey, thanks for those...
The APA is a good one, it massively flavoured and fruity.
The Wit was my first attempt, I too can't distinguish any particular flavour, the yeast was T-58 or something though for my next attempt I've got some proper Whitelabs Wit yeast and I'll halve the Coriander addition and add Flaked Oats & Camomile.

Is one of yours about ready this weekend or shall I wait a little longer?

[simple one]

Crack on with an early Reef Knot. If it is poor, it must be a conditioning issue! Sample the second a couple of weeks later (unless it's nice!). It's drinking fine and it's clear out of the keg (I don't use finings).
The North South divide will be good to go in a couple/few weeks.

Enjoy.

I think you only have to tinker with wit a bit, I really enjoyed it. Don't think it's a yeast issue at all. Maybe a little more spices or orange.

[WishboneBrewery]

'Reef Knot' by Simple One
A deep amber, almost red beer with a nice level of carbonation.
Has a familiar nose but I can't think what it is...
Tastes alright, I'd say its fairly lightly hopped but has a nice bitterness in the finish. I think I have been ruining my pallet on my own mega hoppy stuff!

[TheMumbler]

"Phlegm" by pdtnc
Chestnut coloured beer, nice fizz with good clarity. I'm getting a touch of bubblegum and a bit of belgian spice. Yeast profile isn't overdone and it drinks easily. I'd guess it was intended to be a dubbel and I'd be happy if I'd brewed it

[WishboneBrewery]

Thanks, it wasn't brewed to a style or anything... Just a yeast and Candy sugar experiment.

Did you spot your one I tried at the top of the page? viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8509&p=457258#p453955

[TheMumbler]

I thought it was nice, on the light end of dubbel flavour wise imo, but I'm not a particular expert on these things. It was encouraging as I have some wlp550 to play with. What sort of temperature did you ferment your phlegm at?

Thanks for the heads up on that review. The beer with the P on the cap was intended to by along the lines of a porter. There was 500g of rauchmalt in there under a good chunk of brown though, so good spot on the smokiness

I sometimes get them going a bit over fizzy and low on body once the cellar warms up over the summer. I guess the yeast can very slowly break down some of the remaining sugars. There is a distinct taste that they get if they are too warm for too long. I'm not totally sure what causes it but it doesn't tend to be a problem until the beer has been hanging around for a while. Maybe the crappy summer will work to my advantage I suppose I should look into it and double check everything for cleanliness really but it hasn't presented a big problem so far.

[WishboneBrewery]

Sadly I don't reacal what temp, I probably started fairly cool and just let it naturally warm up, then put it in a warmer place to let it finish off (I still need to rig a fridge up! tho' might have one coming soon, woo!)

btw, we'll be seeing you at the Lancaster meet so I'll be sure to bring you /Steve whatever I have ready at the time.

[simple one]

Pdtnc - Odds and ends stout.... drunk it, wrote notes but the missus threw them out! So from memory.
Rummy and full bodied, quite sweet. Dark.. lol. It's nice, but not as dry as I like a stout. That's all I remember. Sorry on behalf of the other half!

Pdtnc - Smoked imperial porter. Drinking this now, so I'll give you a better review.
This is probably my favourite, up there with the wit. Quite shocking to start, but every mouthful gets better and better... not looking forward to the glass being empty.
Aroma - smells lightly spicy/licorice. Taste - Now that taste is something I have never tasted before. Initially it just tastes of a high gravity porter, but doesn't have the body. Which is bang on style and tastes great. The after taste keeps you coming back for more.... I get the sort of taste and dryness you get from a stilton cheese! Is it the the smoked or is it the bitterness? Can't tell. The beer is too well balanced! Bitterness - Good.
Lovely, the only issue is it is too easy to drink with an ABV that is surely quite high.

So in order of favourites, top to bottom: Smoked imperial porter, Halfwit, CNS2, Odds and ends stout

Thanks for the beers!