2011 Xmas Lotto

[Sonny]

Hey Earle,
On its way as of today!

Hey, that ryhmes. I'm a poet and I didn't know it.

[barls]

hey earle, in the post yesterday. hope you enjoy it.
sonny the trois pistole clone should be good to drink now if you havent.

[warra48]

It's been wrapped and packed in its container.
Bottle is labeled, and the recipe is rubber banded around it also.

However, I'm in no fit state to drive to the Post Office. Too many brewskies to risk my licence, and I also don't want to contribute to voluntary taxation.

So, it will be mailed on Wednesday, when all you slack and lazy workforce monkeys get back to work, ready to serve us retired oldies.

[warra48]

Earle,

Mailed this morning. Hope you enjoy.

Cheers and beers, Rob

[earle]

Arrived home yesterday from holidays to a dining table full of beers in boxes. Our neighbour who was looking after the dogs and cats works at the post office so had been collecting the packages for me and bringing them home. Packages from Big Dave, Dion, Sonny, Warra and Philsbrew. Will give feedback as they are consumed. Cheers

[emnpaul]

I freely admit to being a slack bastard. I will post my contribution in the next week, I promise.

Just want to offer you a choice of my Pilsener reffered to here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9783&start=680#p109842, or would you like to stick with the Vienna lager?

[earle]

Well allright, since its the best beer you've ever made I would be a fool to pass up the opportunity to sample it. Only if you can part with one of you 18 bottles though. Cheers

[emnpaul]

No worries Earl. You are about to become the proud recipient of the 17th last bottle of my best beer ever!

[emnpaul]

Pilsner posted. I forgot to include the recipe though.

Pilsner. 16L
3.140kg Wey. Pils
24.2g Northern Brewer (7.5%AA) 60 mins
8.5g Hallertau (4.5%AA)
8.5g Hallertau (4.5%AA)
Total IBU: 35.7
1/2 whirlfloc
1/2tsp yeast nutrient
Mash regime: 53*-35mins/64*-60/68*90/79* mashout
Boil 90 Mins
WLP 838 Southern German Lager @ 10*C for 3 weeks
Diacetl rest 3 days @17*C
Lager 2 weeks then;
CC 3 days gelatine
CC 6 days Polyclar
O.G: 1045
F.G: 1010

[earle]

Have put off trying the lotto beers since I've been home from holidays due to being sick. Had Sonny's black last night, very nice. High level of carbonation, poured with a thick white head so much so that it took three glasses for a longneck. Nice roast flavours, did you have both choc malt and roast barley? Quite light in body for a dark beer so very easy to drink. Variety is one of the things I love about beer - the only dark beer a lot of people would know is stout but black or schwarz is so different to that. I made a black a while ago but I think I like your's better, would you post the recipe?

[earle]

Morning Earle, the honey bitter is a Coopers English bitter with 200 gms of Bush Mallee honey and 200 gms of soft dark brown sugar. Sonny and is wife gave it a good rap in the Xmas in July win. A good "session" drink it certainly is. Primary ferm. 15 Days @ 20 degrees. Has the English bitter taste with a lovely honey after taste.
The "Brave Heart" ale is 2kg light dry malt, brown sugar, dextrose, crystal malt, cara malt, choc malt, golding hops boil and finishing, safale yeast. Bottled 2/8/11. I've found the the couple of beers tasted so far as delicious, sweet/ bitter hopped taste if you know what I mean. One for aging but great now.
Hope it all helps your choice, cheers BB

Sampled BB's honey bitter before christmas and have realised I posted no feedback yet. From memory it poured with a good head and was a was dark amber/brown in colour. As BB said it was a good session drink, easy to drink with a distinct honey after-taste. The only brew that I have made with honey is Wassa's honey porter but I think the honey I used was the wrong type as my brew was nearly undrinkable. Thanks to BB for showing me that honey can be used to make a delicious brew. Cheers

[earle]

No worries Earl. You are about to become the proud recipient of the 17th last bottle of my best beer ever!

Arrived safely today. Cheers

[Oliver]

Earle,

Mine will be sent, but it'll be a little while. My humblest apologies.

My first two BIABs are OK but I think there is lots of room for improvement (mainly related to aeration, wort cooling and fermentation temperature).

I won't have a chance to brew again until after I get back from the US at the end of February.

Given the delay I might have to add an interest penalty to the original one bottle.

Oliver

[earle]

No worries Oliver. I actually feel a bit slack having received quite a few bottles and only having sampled two. Guess I'll just have to buckle down and get to it.

[Sonny]

............ Had Sonny's black last night, very nice. High level of carbonation, poured with a thick white head so much so that it took three glasses for a longneck. Nice roast flavours, did you have both choc malt and roast barley? Quite light in body for a dark beer so very easy to drink. Variety is one of the things I love about beer - the only dark beer a lot of people would know is stout but black or schwarz is so different to that. I made a black a while ago but I think I like your's better, would you post the recipe?

Earle, that's great that you enjoyed my black and I am happy that the head is getting better. Body, or lack of it is true, yet it's light at 3.08%.
I love it, and so do many. But my sister for some reason was not so impressed. I know as long as I'm happy, but you all know that if it can be improved, we cannot help ourselves! This one was my second take so far.

The recipe is mash 250g Munich & 100g Crystal grain (4L water) for 60min/boil for 30+ min, then as Cooper states, one APA can & 750g Liquid dark malt for an OLD clone, I also steeped 12g perle hops for 30min in 2L.
Makes up 20L & I used the Wal's Lager Yeast which I had, so pick a descent lager yeast.
Fermented at 22deg, next time I'll go just 18deg with my new temp controller set up, thanks Bullfrog.

I don't think the Perle is strong enough but, so pick a favourite. I possibly used up to 170g Dex for bulk priming.
Maybe it needs a bit of maltadextrine? If you're game lactose? Maybe use some Galaxy or Chinook?

The Munich, APA can and 750g Dark Malt and a lager yeast are the bits that must not change, go nuts with the rest and do let me know how you go.
Prior to these ingredients my blacks just weren't that enjoyable.

Thanks mate.

[bullfrog]

The Munich, APA can and 750g Dark Malt and a lager yeast are the bits that must not change, go nuts with the rest and do let me know how you go.
Prior to these ingredients my blacks just weren't that enjoyable.
.

Could I suggest subbing the dark malt for light and adding 100g each of black/roasted and choc grain to your mash/steep to get the desired colour and flavour?

When I brewed extract, I only ever used dark malt once before I found what these grains could do then never looked back. You'll get a heck of a lot more flavour in there.

My dark ales now still use these grains. My stouts go as high as 200g black, 300g choc and 300g crystal. Bloody beautiful!

[earle]

Sonny, please don't take the light body comment as a criticism, I don't think every dark beer needs to be as thick as guiness. I think its great to have a dark beer that is flavoursome yet not heavy in body. As bullfrog suggests I would go with spec malts rather than maltodextrin.

Cheers

[Sonny]

Could I suggest ............

No, damn it!
Hehe.......Nah sounds like a good idea then.

Sonny, please don't take the light body comment as a criticism, ......

No mate, I took it as a critique. But my lil' sis actually mentioned 'water' to describe it! I wasn't impressed. But during her stay she has loved my different beers a lot, so I have taken it on board as something I'd like to improve if only a bit.

[earle]

All good.

Sometimes you need to translate the feedback you get from friends or family if they haven't really developed their beer palate.

EG - "That beer tastes strong"
Translation. - "I'm used to drinking TED. There's something in your beer that I'm not used to tasting"(Turns out to be malt and hops, beer was only about 4%)

so - "Your black beer tastes like water"
could mean - "The only dark beer I'm used to drinking is stout. This is not as heavy in body as stout and is much easier to drink" ???

[earle]

Anyway, in the fridge (randomly chosen) and waiting for 5 o'clock to rollaround so I can go home and start the weekend -
Doc's Imperial Rye Landlord
Warra's AIPA
emnpauls Pilsner