Beer Exchange (Finaly) Secret Santa / Secret Uncle Sam

[bri]

Thanks, I originally had my my BN name on the return address but UPS removed the wrapping around the box. I hope you enjoy them.

[BentwoodBlue]

How many people took part?
Will we see a who go who list?
I need stats man! Stats!

[Lars]

How many have received theirs? I sent mine out last week, but haven't recieved anything yet.

[hejl]

I received my shipment (from Lars) on Monday. I'm pretty happy to try this Pecan mead that they reviewed on the Brewcast this week.

I think that my shipment arrived (that's what UPS says anyway)

[George]

I sent mine Monday. Haven't gotten anything yet.

[linuxelf]

Got mine over the weekend. I got a West Coast Blonde ale and a Southern English Brown Ale. Unfortunately, it looks like the Blonde ale's cap wasn't quite sealed enough. There was a bit of leakage, but no broken glass, so I just put the beer in the fridge and let it cool down. I popped it about a minute ago. The cap popped off really easy, so yeah, looks like it just didn't get sealed all the way. Anyway, here are my impressions.

First, there was no hiss as the cap came off. This isn't suprising since the seal was weak. It pours a light amber color, a little cloudy. It's got a really nice hop aroma. Now for the first sip.

Hey, nice. Still has a bit of carbonation bite, which helps bring out the hops. It's a little thin, but has a nice sweet malt character, and is pretty well balanced. I didn't expect much from the beer given the rough conditions of the journey it took, but I like it. It's a nice clean, easy drinking beer. Well done. And... it's gone. Ok, let's try the brown!

Ok. the brown looks nice. It's definitely not as cloudy as the pale. It's much darker, but obviously clearer. It poured with about 1/4" of head, that dissipated pretty quickly. There's no noticable hop aroma. There's a slight malt aroma. Smells sort of roasty.

Much like the Pale, it's a little thin, but has a really nice flavor. It finishes very clean as well. I'd like to see a bit more flavor, but what flavor is there is very nice. Maybe add a little less top-off water. I think once you've gone all-grain, you will be able to watch your OG more closely. You're brewing really clean, there's no sign at all of anything bad in either of these beers, so you've got the hard part down. Nice job, and thanks for these beers!

[hejl]

Got mine over the weekend. I got a West Coast Blonde ale and a Southern English Brown Ale. Unfortunately, it looks like the Blonde ale's cap wasn't quite sealed enough.

That was mine. Sorry that the bottle didn't get quite sealed enough. Must hae just been the one that I sent you. Most of mine get a pretty good hiss out of them. Luckily it still drank okay.

Much like the Pale, it's a little thin, but has a really nice flavor. It finishes very clean as well. I'd like to see a bit more flavor, but what flavor is there is very nice. Maybe add a little less top-off water. I think once you've gone all-grain, you will be able to watch your OG more closely. You're brewing really clean, there's no sign at all of anything bad in either of these beers, so you've got the hard part down. Nice job, and thanks for these beers!

So it sounds like there wasn't quite enough body in these. I was going off of store recipes and pretty much hit the gravity readings right on (not that hard with extract). I think maybe the recipes just didn't have quite the body they needed. How else can an extract brewer get a little higher finishing gravity or a more full-bodied beer? Would more crystal malts give you that? Just want to make the best beer I can (just like Jamil would say)

Thanks Linuxelf for the input. This is really the first time I've had an experienced brewer taste anything I've made. I don't quite trust my friends opinions implicitly, even though they do have some pretty good taste in beer.

[linuxelf]

It could also be that I just like bigger beers. I'd say if you're hitting your gravities, then you probably have it right where the recipe author wanted you to be. They were both really nice. What I meant to say in the previous post is "once you've gone full 5-gallon boil." You mentioned that you were working towards that. I think that'll really improve these beers.