Secret Santa 2013 Brew Review

[lindseywinstead]

My Secret Santa (2013) was yankfan9. I must have been a very good boy this year, because Santa was very generous to me. I shall attempt to pace myself in tasting all of my goodies, but I thought it might be fun (and good practice) to post some reviews of the beers which were in my beermail.

First pour: Mad Hatter India Pale Ale from New Holland Brewing (Holland, Michigan)

Info from the Brewer's website (http://newhollandbrew.com/beer/mainstay ... -pale-ale/): Availability: Year Round ABV: 5.8% Degrees Plato: 14 IBUs: 55 Original Release Date: 1998 Suggested Food Pairings: spicy dishes, greens and aged cheese. Tasting notes: Dry-hopped for a distinctive, floral hop aroma; subtly balanced with delicious malt notes.

Overall Impressions: I have sampled and enjoyed several from the New Holland line-up. This was my first taste of the India Pale Ale. This is a very good American IPA. Dry hopped with Centennial and the aroma is prevalent. A good balance of caramel. Good bitterness and citrus hints, piney resin. Pours a nice amber colour, with a thin initial head and lots of lacing. Head stays for a while as well. This is a crisp and refreshing beer. One of my favorites from New Holland and highly recommended.

[yankfan9]

I agree, it is one of my favorite from New Holland as well. Glad you like it!

[John Sand]

Well, I'm not that good at reviewing. But I drank Ellicottville E'vil winter ale, provided by BerryMan, and it was exceptional. If you see it, buy it.

[jimjohson]

My secret santa was dbrowning. He sent 2 commercial beers from Alabama and 4 of his. ok first up was from Blue Pants Brewery called Workingman. a Alabama Common modeled on a California Common. it's hoppier than an anchor that's for sure. the second was from Back Forty Beer Co. called "Truck Stop Honey". it's a honey brown ale, very nice. Of his I've tried his Pale Ale wasn't shy with the hops but didn't over power the malt came thru. got about a 2" head when i poured it settled back to around a 1/4" pretty quick then stayed for the rest beer, laced nicely. good nose could sure smell the cascade and a great finish tasting that beer and wishing i had another for several minutes. In my opinion, a good example of the style and a really good beer. The last I've had so far is his American Pilsner. Never had the American version before, but drank a ton of German Pilsners this beer was as good as any of the ones I tried in Germany. you make good beer db.

[D34THSPAWN]

John sand sent me two homebrews and two craft beers, the two craft brews were good, a stout and a coffee porter, both were go some unique flavors and beer that i will probably never have again! Exciting!

His homebrews were both labeled as pale ales, different abvs and different dates, up first was the one that came in at 6.2% definitely a good hop flavor and aroma, not much bitterness, just the way I like them, might want the recipe for the future.

Second was the 5.8(or9) brew, not as much hop flavor or aroma, still a very good beer but I definitelyliked the hoppy one better.

Side note, these were both frozen and thawed before drinking and one leaked a bit so they could have been compromised so who knows!

Overall great secret Santa!

[John Sand]

Thanks D34th. The two homebrews were a modified version of Bee Cave Haus Pale. Both were from the same wort, the "N" was fermented with Nottingham, the "S5" with US-05. It fermented a bit lower, and left more hop flavor. I'm sorry that they froze, they were chilled before shipping, that might make the difference. I have notes if you want the details. I am glad that you enjoyed them, like all of us I am trying to improve my brewing.

[D34THSPAWN]

That is a big difference that the two yeasts made, like I said the one that used US-05 was much better imo and very solid, the Nottingham seemed to devour the hop flavor strangely. I would welcome the recipe if you are willing to share!

[John Sand]

I found the same. I think it is partly because the US-05 attenuated further, leaving less malt. But I have read that some yeasts will decrease hop flavor too. The original recipe is a long thread on HomeBrewTalk. I modified it for the ingredients and equipment I had:
5 gallons Partial Mash
8.5lbs two row
.5lbs Caramel20
2lbs LME a 2/1 ratio of Munich and Pilsner, late addition. (I had this in the fridge. No need to duplicate it exactly.)
1.5oz Fuggles @60
.5oz Amarillo @30
.25oz Amarillo @15
.25oz Amarillo @5
BIAB mash at 152 in 3.5 gallons for 60 minutes. Topped off after the boil, OG 1.058.
This brew is heavier and darker than the original recipe, which uses only Cascade, and only 1 oz for bittering. He used 1.5lbs munich malt, and crystal 10 in place of the 20. Bee Cave Haus Pale is on Popular Mechanics list of the 10 best homebrew recipes. This variation is one of the best I've made.

[JimH]

My Secret Santa was D34THSPAWN and he sent me a sixer mixer of New Glarus Brewing Co. from Wisconsin. I tried the Moon Man Pale Ale a couple nights ago because D34TH said it was one of his favorites. It did not disappoint. Very good color and malt character. Well balanced with the hop bitterness for a pale ale, and it featured 5 different hops. I really like that, I prefer a beer with hop complexity. Nothing wrong with a SMaSH or almost SMaSH, but to me there is just something good that comes out when you mix varieties of hops. I wish I could find New Glarus here, because Moon Man might be one of my favorite pale ales I have had in a while! Thank you again, D34TH!

I took a picture but have not put it on the computer yet, so I will try to edit this post and put in the picture when I have the time.

[D34THSPAWN]

Hey no problem! its a newly discovered favorite of mine as well, i usually don't like lighter beers but this has great hop flavor.

[swenocha]

My secret santa was dbrowning. He sent 2 commercial beers from Alabama and 4 of his. ok first up was from Blue Pants Brewery called Workingman. a Alabama Common modeled on a California Common. it's hoppier than an anchor that's for sure. the second was from Back Forty Beer Co. called "Truck Stop Honey". it's a honey brown ale, very nice.

I like both breweries an awful lot, and it's great that Alabama has so many quality breweries now. I poured for Straight to Ale at the ENBF and love what they are doing as well.

One question for dbrowning. Have you noticed a lot of overcarbs from Blue Pants? I've had two different instances I've gotten a Knickerbocker that was crazy carbed (and the taste seemed a bit off, so maybe something else was going on). Last night while working at Science of Beer they and Terrapin were our two breweries we were pouring for. Darn near every bottle of Tuxedo was hugely overcarbed as well. Seems like an unfortunate pattern from them, as they make otherwise good beer.

[lindseywinstead]

First pour: Chocolate Stout from Borg Member Yankfan9 (Louisville, Kentucky)

Info from the Brewer: Aged: 4 months in bottle. Suggested Serving Temperature: 55* Fahrenheit. Serving Notes: Very aggressive pour recommended.

Overall Impressions: Followed brewer's recommended serving temperature and pour. Pours black with a massive tan head that settles to a thick film on top and leaves some nice lacing. Smell is primarily dark cocoa and faint vanilla. Taste is dark chocolate, black coffee, creamy vanilla with slight hoppy bitterness. Mouthfeel is fairly heavy with medium carbonation. A delicious stout! Very well done yankfan9! I would love to have your recipe.

[yankfan9]

Thanks for the review! Glad you liked it! Here is the recipe with all the info on how the brew day and following days went. ( viewtopic.php?f=14&t=183 )

[BlackDuck]

Just finished JimH's "Murican Wheat. This poured with a huge head that dissipated fairly quickly. But, it kept a nice thin layer of foam through out the entire glass. The color was a perfect hazy gold, just right for a wheat beer. The Falconers Flight really work well with the wheat malt. And the amount used was just right, there was plenty of hop flavor with a slight citrusy aroma. And it didn't cover up the flavor of the wheat malt either. This is a very good American wheat beer. Well done Jim!!

[JimH]

Thanks Chris! Glad you liked it, and thank you for your kind words! That one is my favorite I have done so far.