Let the tasting begin.....
Reviews of Member's Homebrew
Reviews of Member's Homebrew
OK, this sticky is a spin-off from the 'Beer Swap' thread and is intended to hold all the comments on fellow-members' brews.
Let the tasting begin.....
Let the tasting begin.....
-
Wez
Ever since Mr Posty arrived earlier this week with a bottle of Porter from Mysterio and I placed it in the beer fridge there has been a little voice saying "drink me, come on Wez drink me" everytime I opened the fridge door.....tonight I gave in and poured this:
I'll attempt a review, i am not a renowned reviewer of ale however so forgive, if it's tosh!
To say that this was bottled from keg upon opening the cap there was a pleasing 'Hish!' which meant that Mysty had done the business and it had travelled well and kept its carbonation, the bottle had been filled within a 1cm of the rim which I think helped. The immediate aroma was one of sweet coffee, when poured it had a nice head, much better than most commercial bottled beers, the picture above doesn't do it justice it had fallen by the time i'd fannied around with the camera. The beer is lovely and clear (when held to the light) very deep dark red/black. It was well carbonated, a little too much initially for my taste, but hey who am I! The flavours I got were a sweet coffee/liquorice a slightly dry aftertaste the flavour really lingers, I have a feeling i'm going to have this one in my throat in the morning. It tastes very 'clean' though and has a definate kick, but at 6.5% thats no surprise.
All in all, if this were a commercial bottled beer i'd buy it on a reasonably regular basis, it's a good old fireside pint this.
Hats off to you Mysterio, next time I'm visting the folks up there I'll pick up a crate of 24...ok?
I'll attempt a review, i am not a renowned reviewer of ale however so forgive, if it's tosh!
To say that this was bottled from keg upon opening the cap there was a pleasing 'Hish!' which meant that Mysty had done the business and it had travelled well and kept its carbonation, the bottle had been filled within a 1cm of the rim which I think helped. The immediate aroma was one of sweet coffee, when poured it had a nice head, much better than most commercial bottled beers, the picture above doesn't do it justice it had fallen by the time i'd fannied around with the camera. The beer is lovely and clear (when held to the light) very deep dark red/black. It was well carbonated, a little too much initially for my taste, but hey who am I! The flavours I got were a sweet coffee/liquorice a slightly dry aftertaste the flavour really lingers, I have a feeling i'm going to have this one in my throat in the morning. It tastes very 'clean' though and has a definate kick, but at 6.5% thats no surprise.
All in all, if this were a commercial bottled beer i'd buy it on a reasonably regular basis, it's a good old fireside pint this.
Hats off to you Mysterio, next time I'm visting the folks up there I'll pick up a crate of 24...ok?
Originally posted by Mysterio:
Glad you liked it Wez. Heres the precise recipe (modified slightly from here: http://www.beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil ... orter.html)
Robust Porter
Type: All Grain
Date: 9/21/2007
Batch Size: 12.00 gal
Brewer: Geoff
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.43 kg Pale Malt (Lower Colour MO) UK (3 EBC) Grain 72.97 %
1.36 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (78.8 EBC) Grain 9.52 %
1.36 kg Munich Malt - 10L (19.7 EBC) Grain 9.52 %
0.69 kg Chocolate Malt (689.5 EBC) Grain 4.83 %
0.45 kg Black (Patent) Malt (985.0 EBC) Grain 3.17 %
200.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.20 %] (60 min) Hops 36.2 IBU
50.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.20 %] (0 min) Hops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Measured Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.40 %
Bitterness: 36.2 IBU
Est Color: 71.2 EBC
Mash Profile
My Mash Step Time Name Description Step Temp
40 min Step Add 37.17 L of water at 73.1 C 66.6 C
Glad you liked it Wez. Heres the precise recipe (modified slightly from here: http://www.beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil ... orter.html)
Robust Porter
Type: All Grain
Date: 9/21/2007
Batch Size: 12.00 gal
Brewer: Geoff
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.43 kg Pale Malt (Lower Colour MO) UK (3 EBC) Grain 72.97 %
1.36 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (78.8 EBC) Grain 9.52 %
1.36 kg Munich Malt - 10L (19.7 EBC) Grain 9.52 %
0.69 kg Chocolate Malt (689.5 EBC) Grain 4.83 %
0.45 kg Black (Patent) Malt (985.0 EBC) Grain 3.17 %
200.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.20 %] (60 min) Hops 36.2 IBU
50.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.20 %] (0 min) Hops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Measured Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.40 %
Bitterness: 36.2 IBU
Est Color: 71.2 EBC
Mash Profile
My Mash Step Time Name Description Step Temp
40 min Step Add 37.17 L of water at 73.1 C 66.6 C
-
mysterio
Vossy's Oatmeal Stout
I've been looking forward to this one:
I left this for two days to settle in the fridge after transit, it had mostly settled but I did carry over some yeast in the pour; this didn't affect the flavour however.
Anyway, it poured with a nice tight off-tan head which lingered to the bottom of the glass. The colour was dark brown with some ruby highlights when held up to light, clear apart from a slight haze from the yeast which I carried over. Aroma was mainly of caramel, coffee and slight butterscotch. It's been a couple of months since I last had it, but the flavour was very similar to Sam Smiths Oatmeal Stout from what I can remember; the oat flavour doesn't leap out and is very much in the background contributing to the overall smoothness. Full mouthfeel, gentle carbonation, very smooth with caramel and cocoa flavours. Sweet initially and finishes with a very pleasing bitterness. Very drinkable and satisfying at the same time. Absolutely no off-flavours or rough edges in this one. Overall an excellent, well balanced beer Vossy that I wanted to keep drinking. Definately a recipe I'll try brewing.
I've been looking forward to this one:
I left this for two days to settle in the fridge after transit, it had mostly settled but I did carry over some yeast in the pour; this didn't affect the flavour however.
Anyway, it poured with a nice tight off-tan head which lingered to the bottom of the glass. The colour was dark brown with some ruby highlights when held up to light, clear apart from a slight haze from the yeast which I carried over. Aroma was mainly of caramel, coffee and slight butterscotch. It's been a couple of months since I last had it, but the flavour was very similar to Sam Smiths Oatmeal Stout from what I can remember; the oat flavour doesn't leap out and is very much in the background contributing to the overall smoothness. Full mouthfeel, gentle carbonation, very smooth with caramel and cocoa flavours. Sweet initially and finishes with a very pleasing bitterness. Very drinkable and satisfying at the same time. Absolutely no off-flavours or rough edges in this one. Overall an excellent, well balanced beer Vossy that I wanted to keep drinking. Definately a recipe I'll try brewing.
-
Vossy1
Right...my turn, Mysterios Robust Porter 
The bottle arrived 2 days ago and it was still cold with condensation running down the sides of the bottle. It's been sat in my kegerator at 15 deg c since.
I poured the bottle into the glass and a nice beaded head formed on the ale, which was a lovely light caramel in colour. The head did not cling to the side of the glass and it dissipated after a few minutes, though the surface of the ale was always covered.
The initial aroma on pouring, was one of freshly crushed coffee beans and cocao, not harsh in anyway, lovely and smooth. I didn't detect any specific hop aroma.
After the initial head had subsided, I swirled the glass and a much more tightly beaded head formed. The aroma was again filled with coffee, cocao, some liquorice, and to my nose a definite ‘crunchy bar’ smell/ slight caramel, which was in no way overpowering, but very nice and warming.
The taste pretty much reflected the aroma. The alcohol content was very apparent, there was a good bitter sweet balance in the beer, and a long dry bitter finish.
I was surprised how clean this beer was. I didn’t look at the recipe ti’ll after I wrote this review. I expected it to be heavy and lingering, being a porter, perhaps a misconception, but it was neither. I didn’t detect any heavy malty taste, which I was expecting.
Definitely not a quaffing beer, very much like Wez said, a fireside brew on a cold winters night.
Many thanks goes out to Mysterio for sending me a sample of his beer
I personally think that the £5 for sending, either way, was money well spent.
I got to sample a beer before brewing it, and if I’d have brewed it blind, and didn’t like the taste, it would have cost me a whole lot more than a fiver
(A quote shamelessly pinched from Wez but equally applicable to myself)I'll attempt a review, I am not a renowned reviewer of ale however, so forgive me if it's tosh!
The bottle arrived 2 days ago and it was still cold with condensation running down the sides of the bottle. It's been sat in my kegerator at 15 deg c since.
I poured the bottle into the glass and a nice beaded head formed on the ale, which was a lovely light caramel in colour. The head did not cling to the side of the glass and it dissipated after a few minutes, though the surface of the ale was always covered.
The initial aroma on pouring, was one of freshly crushed coffee beans and cocao, not harsh in anyway, lovely and smooth. I didn't detect any specific hop aroma.
After the initial head had subsided, I swirled the glass and a much more tightly beaded head formed. The aroma was again filled with coffee, cocao, some liquorice, and to my nose a definite ‘crunchy bar’ smell/ slight caramel, which was in no way overpowering, but very nice and warming.
The taste pretty much reflected the aroma. The alcohol content was very apparent, there was a good bitter sweet balance in the beer, and a long dry bitter finish.
I was surprised how clean this beer was. I didn’t look at the recipe ti’ll after I wrote this review. I expected it to be heavy and lingering, being a porter, perhaps a misconception, but it was neither. I didn’t detect any heavy malty taste, which I was expecting.
Definitely not a quaffing beer, very much like Wez said, a fireside brew on a cold winters night.
Many thanks goes out to Mysterio for sending me a sample of his beer
I personally think that the £5 for sending, either way, was money well spent.
I got to sample a beer before brewing it, and if I’d have brewed it blind, and didn’t like the taste, it would have cost me a whole lot more than a fiver
-
Wez
-
J_P
Ditto MateWez wrote:Oh & Cacking it!
: to add to the pressure it's the first time I've bottled direct from the keg so I'm unsure if the carbonation is right. Plus I can't write a review for toffee Anyhoo Mysterio got his bottle this morning and it'll only be a matter of time before I find out if my Porter ends up in room 101 or not!
-
Wez
-
J_P
Review - Mysterios Robust Porter 6.5%
This is my first real beer review so be gentle with me I've never been so nervous opening a bottle of beer before in my life Right here goes.....
First impressions - WOW this is a good pint, it has a very full mouthfeel with loads of roast flavours I can't seem to put my finger on. When you smell the brew there is a good solid roast stout type smell with hints of bournville chocolate and a slight sweetness that smells like bitter cherries, it's very pleasant. Taste wise there is a very slight sweetness that gives way those roast and chocolate flavours mentioned above augmented with rum, this leads to a bitter roast finish that leaves a big grin on your face.
If I'd been served this pint in a pub I'd order another it's definitely one I'd be happy with on a cold winter evening sat inside in the warm watching the snow fall. Cheers Mysterio, I've certainly got a lot to learn
On a side note I've done a side by side tasting with my own "Beer Swap" offering and despite being halfway down the corni this has got me smelling and tasting stuff I'd never tasted or smelled in it before. It may lack the body and the alcohol that Mysterios brew had (past tense - hic
) but I'm a bit happier with the offerings I've posted out to folk.
This is my first real beer review so be gentle with me
I've never been so nervous opening a bottle of beer before in my life Right here goes.....First impressions - WOW this is a good pint, it has a very full mouthfeel with loads of roast flavours I can't seem to put my finger on. When you smell the brew there is a good solid roast stout type smell with hints of bournville chocolate and a slight sweetness that smells like bitter cherries, it's very pleasant. Taste wise there is a very slight sweetness that gives way those roast and chocolate flavours mentioned above augmented with rum, this leads to a bitter roast finish that leaves a big grin on your face.
If I'd been served this pint in a pub I'd order another it's definitely one I'd be happy with on a cold winter evening sat inside in the warm watching the snow fall. Cheers Mysterio, I've certainly got a lot to learn
On a side note I've done a side by side tasting with my own "Beer Swap" offering and despite being halfway down the corni this has got me smelling and tasting stuff I'd never tasted or smelled in it before. It may lack the body and the alcohol that Mysterios brew had (past tense - hic
) but I'm a bit happier with the offerings I've posted out to folk.
Last edited by J_P on Mon Nov 12, 2007 10:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
Vossy1
It wasn't until half way down that I knew what you were sampling -
prodigal2
-
J_P
-
prodigal2
Price OUCHJ_P wrote: Cheers P2, any ideas what the cost is and what the law says about posting beer to Spain?
legality fine.
Though apart from this weekend I won't be at home till Jan at the earliest
I do have 1 bottle of my Stunner FWH that I hope to get to SW, as it is a marmite of a brew it is either love or hate.
If I can I will try and get a bottle or 2 of my THA to you, for appraisal, as I have really enjoyed what I have had the chance to taste(depending on SWMBO who has got the taste for it big style). But that will be in the next couple of weeks if it is possible.
I will PM you once I know what the feck my life has in tale for me as things are a bit in flux at the mo
