SANTA EXCHANGE REVIEW THREAD

[JB-Brewer]

Review any exchange beers you've recieved here. Include everyones info so we can make fun of them. I just got mine in the mail and will have a review up tonight.

Bub I say you start the bashin.

[bub]

Ok so we all know Polski sent me beer... since I really have nothing bad to say I'm just gonna post my review.

2 styles were sent with 2 of each (thanks... yummi)

Kolsch (I've only had one so far)
nice color
good head dosen't last particularly long but with kolsch it may not
slightly cloudy (transport ?)
no hop nose... slightly yeasty perhaps a bit of malt

slightly bitter aftertaste not bad just there
minimal flavor (as per style)... nicely balanced nothing stands out...
very nice beer overall

Spare Tire Ale... (1 bottle was contaminated but I'm sure it was a bottle issue not an overall beer issue)
Dark ale
medium head
I didn't write a detailed review of this... I just drank it... it was smooth and I didn't detect anything wrong... It was like Justin and went down easy.

If either one of these were on a shelf at a store I would buy them... good shiznit maynard. Both were fresh and had no off flavors.
BUB

[JB-Brewer]

Downed the 2 homebrews that I got from Rich during a brewing session yesterday. He sent along a Robust Coffee Porter and a Not so Pale IPA.

The porter was his last extract batch. I was very impressed with how crisp and tastey it was for extract. There was only one slight twang during the middle of the gulp, but compared to my beer, this shit was awesome. Good mild coffee flavor that wasn't over or under powering. Overall, I would sit in Rich's basement and drink this all afternoon.

The IPA was his first AG batch. This was a damn good first AG batch. Comparing to what I've tasted for a first time AG, it was way better than I expected. Very nice hop aroma and good bitterness. I can't remember exactly the flavs and aromas.... as I was well into my 6th beer with tequila shots. I can tell you that my bud and I enjoyed it a lot.

Well keep it up man, and send me more beer. O yea, if you guys pack your beer like rich did... holy shit it could survive through WW1.

I'll be sending mine out once I make my ghetto CPF made this week.

[polski]

Bub, thanks for the review. Since most of the people who i've shared my homebrew with couldn't tell the difference between toilet water and bud light (is there any?), it was a little intimidating sending it along.

Thanks again for organizing the whole beer exchange, it was a great idea...now i just need to get my package in the mail.

[Alcoheroe]

im about 95% sure I got linuxelf's beer, but Im guessing cuz this is his sig:

Kegged: EMPTY
Serving: APA
Primary: Vanilla Coffee Porter

and guess what 2 brews I was sent....

anyway, Im new to this, and can't give any real criticism, but I thought the brews were terrific. The APA was exactly as expected, and the coffee porter was awesome. VERY mocha flavored, but not so much to make it undrinkable. I could definetly drink alot more of that one.
I just hope the person who got mine was at least half as happy with mine as I was with these.

[DannyW]

I received 2 beers from Flobey - a Koelsch and a Texas Brown. The Koelsch went down my gullet yesterday and here is what I found.

Very clean 12oz brown bottle filled perfectly to halfway up the longneck. No sediment visible, so probably filled from a keg.

The cap came off very easily, but there was still a psst of carbonation. I served it at 42F in a 20oz stout "tulip" like you often see Guinness served. I wish now I had grabbed the proper stange (Koelsch glass) off the shelf, but the idea was to leave enough headspace in the glass to enjoy the aroma.

Carbonation level looked OK during the pour, but the head fizzed and hissed at me and collapsed with remarkable speed as if I had just poured a sodapop instead of a beer. Head did not rise up very far before collapsing and left a very lightly carbonated beer.

Clarity is very clear but just short of brilliant. Color is pale gold, a little darker than straw.

Aroma is slightly fruity with pear and apricot/peach. Very nice.

Mouthfeel is kind of full and soft - maybe in part due to the low carb level. Finish is not sweet, but neither is it crisp and dry - more rounded.

Flavor balance is toward malt. Hops are low enough to be unidentifiable (to me anyway) in type, but just about enough to balance well with the malt sweetness.

Very clean fermentation, very nice overall. The soft round finish almost reminds me of a wheat beer. It definitely passes the ultimate test of beer quality (IMHO) which is "do I want another one?" Oh, yeah, send me a case, or better yet, a keg of this! I'd love to try one straight from the tap to see how it fares with higher carbonation.

Later on I looked up the BJCP description of a koelsch and this one is just about spot on. I'm not suprised it won a ribbon as the name "Jimmy's 1st Place Koelsch" implies!

Thanks for the excellent beer, Flobey. By the way, if Flobey's Secret Santa is reading this - send the man some beer! He's got to be thirsty down there in the hot Texas sun!

[Speyedr]

OK, so I popped... wait...

So I tried Mrs. Henning's beer this evening. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I truly thought that even with Mr. Henning helping out, a chick would mess up the beer. Not so. Not even CLOSE to being so. In fact, most of you bitches (read GUYS) should HOPE to brew a beer this good some day.

In all honesty though it is really good. It is VERY balanced and the Cherry is almost unnoticeable except when you sniff the HUGE head as it is falling back into the beer, and at the tail end of a mouthfull. It is nicely carbonated (I am watching the bubbles rise in the glass as I write this and I poured it at least 5 minutes ago.) The yeast is very muted in this one as well. I don't know if that was the goal, but it adds to the balance and it makes for a nice easy drinking wheat. You may want to ferment a little warmer to get more of this yeast profile in the beer, but this is good as is.

I am no expert and no Beer Judge. That said there are only TWO things I would recommend:
1 - bottles - we all re-use commercial bottles, and I LOVE that you sent a New Belgium Brewery Bottle! I lived in CO for a year and I miss those guys so much. However, more for sanitation reasons than aesthetics, you want to get the labels off of the bottles. Even if you're not going to send them anywhere. You can infect your brew, and no one wants that. I soak my commercial bottles in amonia and then use a scrubby to get off the labels and glue. SInce it's glass the stink doesn't linger if you rinse 'em good.
2 - Cherry (or any other fruit) Extract - I used this once before (Raspberry too) and they leave a noticeable taste at the end of the sip. You should try this with REAL cherries, or the Puree that they sell. It'll make a huge difference.

Thanks so much for sending this to me Mrs. Henning! It's nice to see that you finally brought honor to the Henning Family Brewery! Now, help Mr. Henning get his shit together and maybe he can brew like you! Smile

Rob

[DannyW]

I tore into Flobey's Imperial Texas Doo-doo Brown tonight, and wow!

The cap was secure on this one, and the carbonation level showed it. Big creamy moussy head that rose up above the rim of the glass and followed me all the way to the bottom of the glass leaving lace all the way.

Clarity is brilliant, and no sediment. Color is deep red in the light but looks almost black on the table.

The aroma is....complex. There is so much delightful aroma that my untrained nose cannot pick out the components very well. It's a big beer and the alcohol is evident, but not overwhelming. All in all, it just smells great!

The alcohol is evident in the flavor too, but only as a aspect, not a dominant quality. The dark malts are bright yet melded -- a neat trick. Aftertaste is very much like rich, dark, bitter chocolate and most certainly invites another sip.

Congratulations, Flobey, I'm sure this has won a medal or three somewhere. It has got to be in the top 5 homebrews I've ever had.

Now I feel sorry for Lufah because what I sent him is nowhere near as good as what I received!