NHC2014, Sons of Liberty II

This weekend, was really good, very nice and relaxed, all except for the National homebrew Competition 2014. Plenty of beers were entered, including 7 by me. Given the disappointment from last year, I didn't hold high hope, and decided to take the whole thing less seriously.

The day started ridiculously well, with a Bronze ale from the first of my beers tasted.
Heres a snapshot off twitter:

Yep thats right my English Brown Ale, a really tasty beer, nice esters cleanly fermented, and nice dark fruit and coffee flavours. The only issues they had were head retention, which I know all about.

they also suggested it was slightly more Porter like, given the higher roasty flavours present.

Problem is that's where it ended, lol.
Followed on its coat tails by a 9/50.... Isolation: El-dorado. i entered it in Golden ale (thats where the malt bill sits, but slightly too hoppy for style.) the issues they said were mainly fermentation issues, which is helpful, it never really cleared up, and TBH I'm not a massive fan ofthe beer in general.

3rd off the rank was my Porter, which for those who pay attention to this blog will know this is a recipe I really enjoy. Some nice hop flavour, with plenty of roast character.

so onto the rating..... 8/50.

Whoops, some issues there. they said too estery too bitter and not enough roasty flavour, this is partly my fault for not putting notes in to say it was an american version. they also said too sweet, which i know, but I'm still trying to figure out how to fix the attenuation issues. (maybe a yeast like WLP090 would help matters?)

then the rest were as follows:

100% Brett Saison (Plain version of Original Sin) 28/50 I placed this in Belgian Specialty, they said not belgian enough, given it's 100% Brettanomyces, I'm not surprised. 

Original sin - Dryhoppedwith Wai-iti: 25/50, in American Brett Beer category. Lacks Malt character (I do want to go at this again, with a better mix of Wai-iti and Motueka) the changes that needto be made is probably an addition of something like Aromatic to the same percentage of the cara-pils used.

Shadow Liberation - Bourbon porter: 26/50 - Barrel-Aged Dark Ale. Said too thin for style.

Red Barron Amber - 20/50: Barrel aged Pale to Amber ale - Possible Infection brewing, I'd suggest it's from  bugs getting in while barrel-aging.

so that all the entered beers, a big thanks to the organiser and the entrants, here in Chch, some of the more regular members ofthe group got together for a BBQ, and to try some of the beers entered. a nice day, some great beers, and very interesting to see the notes involved.

Here is the Sons of Liberty II Beers, a small amount of tasting notes below, considering 8/50 I'm nothopefuly in anyone actually brewing this apart from me. lol.

Aroma: Sweet malt and Chocolate, some fruity hops/grapefruit.
Appearance: Clear Dark colour, good head retention perfect Porter colour.
Flavour: Chocolate malts and grapefruit/citrus flavour, plenty of bitterness, which is about where I like it. too sweet for style, this finished at 1.020 which I'm tryingto sort.
Mouthfeel: good mouthfeel, the Maris Otter change from ale Malt has done wonders with this.
Overall: I really like this beer, as does the mrs. but needs to dry out by 2 more points, Citrus/grapefruit is slightly an issue, but thats more of a hops thing than anything else.

I'll have a taste test up of the two version of Original Sin up soon. I'll probably not bother with the Isolation El-dorado beer, although I will say this, I like what this particular hop offer, lemon/lime/citrus notes, not a huge hop aroma, quite subdued.

Primary1(Plastic): Back-Up Plan III (WLP500)
Primary2(Plastic): {Nothing}
Primary3(Bretts/Sours): {Nothing}

Small Batch Carboy: {Nothing}

Secondary1(Wide Mouth Glass): Guts & Glory Flanders Red
Barrel: Hail Caesar Oud Bruin Ale
Bottled: Original Sin 100% Brettanomyces with Wai-iti / 100% Brettanomyces Saison /100% Brett Wild West IPA / Shadow Liberation(SJPORR) Porter /Black Sheep Yorkshire Brown

Keg1: Sons of Liberty: Unfinished Business
Keg2: Isolation El-Dorado Golden Ale
Keg3: Promised Land NZ Pilsner
Next Beer to Brew: Dark Storm Black IPA II (Mosaic and Centennial)