2

mad elf:
i can smell the cherries, and wow can i taste the cherries. i wouldnt have known the other taste was honey if i hadnt had scotts meade. this tastes very similar to one of scotts brews, though i dont think any of those were cherries (hopefully he corrects me if im wrong).

adding more as i go

Was your bottle this year or last year mad elf?

I have a few bottles I been saving to get more cherry out of it since it was mostly honey when I had it before...

i dont see a date

and honest i think its the honey that overpowers everything. its still good, just singular.

this years, the place i got it at is notorious for high turn around and clearly letting stuff sit on the shelf more than 2-4 months

clearly use of clearly is clearly pissing me off

any non moron clearly knows the difference between clearly and clearly

clearly

WAt joe I can comment later

#2

looks like dark tea, but less yellow.
the smell struck me as stronger than i imagined, yet the flavor was less so than i imagined after the smell. this has a hint of the sweetness that the mad elf had (clearly comparing the flavors, just the sweetness). maybe there is more alcohol in this beer than i think, first one down and i feel like ive had 2.

i like this beer, its good. i have no idea what it is.

Without even looking at my paper that has them listed I can tell by your description that it's my weizen

The yeast I used in that beer is notorious for producing aromas and flavors very similar to Belgian style ales (the yeast used in mad elf is Belgian)
many described that particular homebrew as fruity and full of cloves and spice. That is the beer that got me 3rd place in my first competition

the recipe is about as basic as you can get: 65% wheat 35% barley, low alpha hops, water and yeast
it clocks in at 6.7% alcohol

BuMp for

was #2 clear ?

couldnt tell, it was rather dark. it really looked like a dark tea. but if i had to guess i would say it was fairly clean.
what in that beer would have made it as sweet at it seemed to me?

Well now I'm confused... have you been pouring these into glasses?
The weizen would have looked a clear golden color

The sweetness could come from a number of places... Residual sugar the yeast didn't ferment or unfermentable sugars from too high of a mashing temperature. Or in the case of my weizen a bunch of sweetness comes from the yeast that produces clove and fruity esters during fermentation.

However one of the beers in the mix is a little sweet just from the malt...

does clearly believe in glasses

begin your facepalms gentlemen

Oh Joe, tell me it isn't so

#2 was far from golden, it was the color of a dark tea, it was a dark copper. clearly a black though, just like a very burnt red.
and no, i dont pour them in glasses
they go into a wax paper bowl to which i lap the beer up

hef



#2 was very close to that in color, and had a smell very similar to mad elf (only in the sweetness, clearly the fruit (i have no other comparison for it besides scotts meade)

the head was also very similar to the pic above. little to no head, even when pooring. no residue on glass. just slight carbonation around the outside.

Wax paper bowl made me lol

I'll have to check out the paper where I wrote the styles down for each number. It sounds like this round of bottling was clearly as good as previous batches...unless the cross country commute had something to do with it....hmmmmm

Brewing to-dos for tonight.

Brew up a starter for bryan's cream stout that he wants to brew on Saturday.
Also, either wake up the hefe yeast I cultured from the last batch or make a starter with the new yeast to pitch into the 10 gallon batch.

Check how many unoccupied 6.5 gallon carboys are in the cellar.
Count number of free airlocks and bungs are in inventory.

Find out about availability of high heat resistant tubing for MLT and for drainage into boil kettle

see if current tubing will work as a blowoff for carboys if I don't have enough airlocks

This post has been edited by xstakemx on Thu - Mar 25 2010 - 14:40:05

#2 is a scotch ale which is why what you were saying made no sense at all with me thinking weizen

and the "sweetness" was malt

#3

more of a blond (infact, this reminds me of the blond The Ram makes)
i know you said this should remind me of mad elf, but i actually like this better than the mad elf. the mad elf seemed to me that it lacked something to offset the pure sweetness, while this beer seems to have something to offset that). i can see why you would equate this beer with that though.

update: my burnt tongue and stuffy nose has torched my taste. i have zero lingering flavors, though i can tell this beer is p good. going to save the second one for this weekend for a better taste.

this does have a very fruity taste though, but its seemingly balanced p good

currently drinking:



more of a bleach blond, (infact, this reminds me of marilyn monroe's hair)

this reminds me of crystal light's blend but its got a little more of a sour taste to it than that. crystal light lacks that little bite, while this mix seems to hit that note perfectly. i can see why you would equate the too though.

spencers review:

"it was good"

N1

i made a joe joke to the waiter. when he was pouring it in the glass for me i said, no its ok ill drink it out of the bottle

overrated, i know, but my local shithole market with good beer randomly had 3 bottles of doghead 60 min ipa, bought all 3
picked up a ninkasi spring reign also, and a dogzilla black ipa, and another black butte xii (i know have 1 for myself and one for pie)
also going to buy couple of bottles of full sail boardhead barleywine. just another $10+ beer to save for later!


future notes: local shithole market still hase countless abyss/mirror mirror/black butte xii, impressed they finally got the full sail barley wine, no other unique beers atm from west coast brewers atm

ninkasi spring reign is p good
that is all

what are teh chances you can get on vent joe and discuss future package arrangements

or make said "list"

ok

#4 was awesome


also, per text message. i said clearly until monday thinking today was friday. as the last day of the month it felt like a friday
fml for it only being wednesday lol

ill get you 2? bottles out friday if thats capice

unless you want to save on shipping and send more? i generically said 2 bottles of abyss because in the event said shipment is "confiscated" or broken i would hate to lose them all

we just need to come to an agreement on how much more i owe you fella (outside of yuengling assortment ofc)

ill add it up ofc, and ill send you whatever whenever
now what exactly do you want adam?
afk session dark

Full sail envy
we can discuss tomorrow ofc

#1 fav Ipa/DIpa of all time

this is what every beer of similar style should be A+++

clearly sold on honey in beer tbh

I noticed 0 honey character at all, it is just a huge wallop of hops that cannot be compared and at 10 or 11% it packs a huge punch.

I've noticed a difference clearly just year to year but from one bottle to another and even more different on tap. When I had it on tap there was no indication of honey at all. It seemed like it was just a sugar addition to boost te alcohol. If anything te honey might have made it have a slightly dryer finish.

The bottles can range though. I've had some with residual honey sweetness and others that were just hop bombs where you couldn't taste anything but the majesty of hops

Side item...

My book of reviews has hit the last page

Now I have to start a new book and look like a newb with no reviews, no battle scars and stickers showcasing places traveled an beverages consumed

Might as well