Hop Federation Beer Tasting

I was going to start this post with some information surrounding a special experimental beer I brewed yesterday, this was in addition to the IPA I brewed up for Xmas. But more on that in another post. It is a slightly longer term brew, so rather than make you wait until a taste test, I’ll write up some information on the process I used, and how it was done.

But for this post I want to talk about a prize I won recently, and some tasting notes on that.

The prize was a 4-pack of 500ml beers, and a t-shirt, from a Brewery in Riwaka called Hop Federation.

While the brewery itself has been around for sometime under the name of Monkey Wizard, it is only recently that the business was sold, and taken over by Simon Nicholas, the former brewer at Hallertau in Auckland. He made the move from Auckland to Nelson, and I personally think it’s a good move. I mean who wouldn’t want to live in one of the sunniest places in this country. Not only that, but they live very close to the hop growing region. (I personally picked the prizes up from the brewery, and got to drive past them.) This give away was for their first Birthday.

And what a prize, some brief tasting notes are below for you to read, and if you haven’t tried any of their beers, you should definitely get in there, they’re brewing some good stuff.

So first up was the Golden Ale.

Very nice, and won bronze? At the National beer awards here in NZ. Nice light colour, good clarity, light malt and light hop flavour, very much like a pilsner, but less crisp, due to the ale yeast I assume. A good introduction to craft beer for anyone new. Good on a nice warm day.

NZ Pale Ale: Green Label

Nice Light orange copper colour, good carbonation and head. Nice malt base, typical for a Pale Ale. Hop bitterness is good, the only real comment I’ll say is it lacks some hop flavour. It could do with more hop punch from the NZ Hops. But another fine effort.

Red IPA – Red Label

My personal favourite. Pours a beautiful red/amber colour, plenty of head. Malt base is perfect, caramel sweet ness and maltyness, with a smack of hops, plenty of hop flavour, some slight astringency, bitterness is around where it should be, it could probably handle more bitterness, but it certainly doesn’t need it.

Brown Ale – Brown Label

This one is slightly different, supposedly an American Brown Ale, but built more like a dark lager. (Breweries words, not  mine) Lovely brown colour, some ruby highlights. Lacks hop character, quite crisp, this is where I think they mention the lager style, which makes a bit more sense now.

In my mind, this fits much better with an English Brown Ale style. (A greatly under-appreciated style) Malt wise, very good, hints of chocolate and caramel, underlying with the nice crispness I mentioned before.

So, all in all, some very nice beers, this is just their core range of brews. They have seasonals, and other beers available, Check them out here: http://www.hopfederation.co.nz/

A big thanks for the prize. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and Happy birthday of course.

On a separate note, I have an update on two things: 1- New Pot has arrived, for a system upgrade (I am possibly looking at a 3-vessel system, and this pot will be my mashtun, I will also be able to run BIAB with it if I feel so inclined.) and 2- My Pilsner has been returned to the Keg Fridge, and after a small taste test, the Diacetyl is still apparent, however after almost a week of D-Rest in the Ferm ?Fridge, beside my Black IPA, this has greatly improved. I'm still wondering about Hopping in the keg, and have a bag of hops at the ready, I will test again next saturday to confirm how it tastes, prior to deciding.

Primary1(Plastic): War Pigs IPA (Blind Pig Clone)
Primary2(Plastic): {Nothing}
Primary3(Bretts/Sours): {Nothing}

Small Batch Carboy: Braggot/Honey Ale

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 / Black Sheep Yorkshire Brown

Keg1: Backup Plan III Belgian Pale Ale
Keg2: Dark Storm Black IPA II
Keg3: Promised Land NZ Pilsner 
Next Beer to Brew: The Clown Prince of Crime Belgian Blond (Brugse Zot Inspired)

100% Brettanomyces - Side by Side

As promised, I've posted some notes below of my two 100% Brettanomyces Saison, to compare the differences between a plain version, and dry-hopped version.

Before I do, a little bit about the special yeast/culture that is Brettanomyces.  i've got a couple of links below to get people started.

All About Brettanomyces - Mad Fermentationist
What is 100% Brett Beer? - Bear-Flavoured Ales
Some really good insight into Brettanomyces and how it all works.

So, for my recipe formulation I wanted to remove most of the hops and have the yeast really shine. I found that with the Wild West IPA, now that the hops have faded, the yeast is shining, and i wanted that from the start, and as it ages, I'm hoping (through mostly cold conditioning) that I'll end up with a nice Orval type/Rayon Vert style beer. I added some rye, to give the beer a touch of spice, and NZ Hops, such as Motueka, are perfect for almost any style of beer. From Pilsners to IPA's. the recipe for those interested is here: Original Sin 100% Brettanomyces Saison

Firstly the Standard Non-Dryhopped version: (Left)
Aroma: Typical Bretty Aroma, Funky earthy, Slight Hay/Horsey funk. Very Nice. I've had a few comments from friends who've tried the beer. I think I've even inspired some less experienced brewers.
Appearance: Light and bright Golden Colour, some haze, from the brettanomyces. I have found that brettanomyces beers never really clear up completely, they hold some form of haze, howeverthis is considerably clearer than Wild West.theres 2 reasons for this. 1 is the Longer Primary Fermentation, I ran a 7-8 week primary, and the other is kettle finings.
Flavour: Light malt flavour, a touch of spice, very very minimal though. No hops to speak of. The dominating part of the flavour is the yeast, plenty of funk. Nice dry finish
Mouthfeel: Light, not thin in anyway, nice dry finish, carbonation is good. I expect as time goes on, that the carbonation will increase.
Overall: Very nice beer, the dry finish and lightness of the beer works really well. I was told more malt backbone is required, and I kind of agree to a certain extent, pinch of aromatic would work well, and a possible increase in the rye malt, might be in order.

Onto review number 2: (Right)
Original Sin - 100% Brettanomyces Saison Dry-hopped version.
As these are essentially the same beer, I'll just note the differences between the two.
Aroma: Considerably more aromatic, theres two reasons again for this. (this is my observation, so not necessarily the case) A hit of Citrus from the Wai-iti hops i dry-hopped with, as this was only 25g in 10 litres of beer, I wasn't expect it to punch me in the face, nice and subtle. the yeast aromatics are increased as well from the hops, it seems the yeast and hops work really well, and as per the articles posted above, the yeast converts those aromatics to another enzyme and just adds to it.
Appearance: More haze from the hops, which gives a shade difference, but I would call them the same colour. Carb is good.
Flavour: Citrus and yeast. the hops have again added nicely to this. I like what Wai-iti hops offer, similar with less smack in the face than riwaka.
Mouthfeel: Light body, nice carbonation, almost heavier in body then the other one. I'll put this down to the hops.
Overall: Dry finish, nice hop character, subtle hop character, but its there. I do get some oxidation, which in Brett's case assists in the flavour.

If i had to choose which one I prefer, as they're pretty much the same beer. i would choose the standard plain, the reason is just because its plain, it lets the yeast shine, and keep things nice and clean. less phenols.
For anyone thinking about using Brettanomyces in their beers, I highly recommend it.

On a separate note, i have diacetyl. The Promised Land NZ Pilsner have some minor Diacetyl issues. I've put the keg into the fermentation fridge at 21 degrees, to try and clean some of it up. I don't have high hopes for this beer, but I won't give up on it.....yet.
Next up, Dark Storm II. which started 4-5 points higher than previous 1.066-67

Primary1(Plastic): Dark Storm Black IPA II (Mosaic/Simcoe)
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: Backup Plan III Belgian Pale Ale
Keg2: {Nothing}
Keg3: Promised Land NZ Pilsner
Next Beer to Brew:  Not sure, Something has to go down next week, Most likely an IPA. I'm also toying with a California Common, or Smoked Scottish Export 80/-

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)

Brewing the Perfect IPA

Right so, I was writing this on the homebrewtalk.com forum, and figured a nice post on hops and making a good IPA is in order. I'll post some references as well to back up my so called theories.
Right so, as brewers (I assume all of you who read this are brewing to some extent) enjoy a good hop-bomb every now and then, some more than others. I'm certainly no expert when it comes to big Hoppy beers, hell I've had some pretty dire ones (Dragon IPA was one of them, not so much a hop issues though).
First some reference guides to what I have been looking through for awhile:

The Mad Fermentationist - 11 tips for Making Better Hoppy Beer

Homebrew Talk Forum - Top 10 Tips for Making a Super Hoppy IPA

Mr Malty - The Secret to big Hop Aroma and Flavour

byo.com - the C Hops

Fresher Hops - Here in NZ we have an abundance of fresh citrussy zesty hops. Fresh Vacuum sealed hops are key. Seal them, and put them in the freezer if you don't seal properly, frozen hops will last longer.

Experiment - Sure they might not all work out, but there are so many unique varieties outthere, especially in this country, so why not have a go, at least you'll knowwhat character it brings to the table. I haven't really done any SMaSH beers, but a few single hop beers here and there have given me an idea of what each of these hops bring to the table.

Late Hopping - Go big or go Home, no recipe is un-flawed as its all personal tastes, so the way I am beginning to brew hoppier beers is with big late additions, not necessarily for flavour additions, but big flameouts. for example Dark Storm 10min - 30g, Flameout - 60g. this is twice the amount of the Flavour addition. you'll get some bitterness from it, but it is minimal compared to the 60min bittering addition.

Dry-Hopping - My Thoughts on Dry-hopping, in particular for IPA's is go big or go home. Dark Storm had 80grams of Mosaic in there. It'll suck up some of your precious beer, but your flavour contribution and aroma will be better off for it. Aroma of something is one of the foremost component of tasting anything, so the how it smells is very important.

Keep it Simple - Keep your Malt bill simple, lots of small additions of thing will only make your beer muddled, and it won't mesh as well as it could do.

Caramel/Crystal Flavours - This is an interesting one, theres not really a correct way to do it, due to personal preference, but if you want a Dry IPA with plenty of hop punch, keep your Crystals Low (This is inline with style generally), if you like it Maltier and slightly sweeter, yo can add a little more, or add in another colouring of crystal.

So going back slightly, I was looking at some of the Stone Clone Recipes online, namely the Ruination IPA, it is suggested this is very close to the real thing, some even calling it cloned. But a beer being "Cloned" is all subjective, you look at a recipe that says it tastes like ruination, it has the same ingredients as ruination, but are the hop timings correct? Is the malt bill too dry? too Sweet? there's no real right answer here, as its all personal preference and individual taste.

But here is what I noted about this recipe in particular:
The bittering is high which makes sense, but the lack of big additions at flameout makes me wonder, and theres no mention of people making larger additions at flameout.
My thoughts are as follows, and this falls in line with stuff I've read suggesting, big late hop additions for aroma/flavour at flameout, which should in theory be increased from those additions made around the 10 min mark. I saw this recipe and it seems to fit with my flameout addition theories. http://beerandwinejournal.com/stone-...hop-ruination/
Now theres a 1.5oz centennial at flamout with an additional 0.5oz of chinook. 

The second part of this, is that another increase in hops should be used for dryhopping, to get the other flavours to pop and the aroma to jump out of the glass at you. so my suggestions if going 100% Centennial would be 3-3.5oz of Dryhop.
Again this is just personal taste/preference, but going forward I think it's time I look further i nto the schedules of these types of beers.

Primary1(Plastic): Promised Land NZ Pilsner (to be Kegged for Lagering Fri/Saturday)
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 W/ 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: {Nothing}
Next Beer to Brew: Back-up Plan III (WLP500)

Black Sheep Brown ale - Recipe and Tasting

Review and tasting time, (It's morning so, I'm not drinking one now.)

The Recipe is based off this: Riggwelter Brown Ale
Here is my recipe: Black Sheep Yorkshire Brown ale

I bottle conditioned the beer, as I didn't have Keg room. I threw the beer into a recent Case swap, and I find in particular the WY1469 yeast so important to the flavour and ester profile.

Appearance: Very Dark Brown Good clarity, The head retention is an issue on this beer despite the Torrified wheat used duringthe mash.

Aroma: Yeast esters and plenty of chocolate, small amount of roasty-ness, which is a nice touch. i did get a couple of over-carbed bottles, due to some remnants of previous yeasts. Same reports from case-swappers

Flavour: Pretty similar to the aroma, Plenty of Chocolatey sweetness, and Yeast esters. the yeast is so important in this beer, as it drives the esters while remaining very clean along the way. Carbonation is fine, bar a few bottles/gushers from bottle infections.

Mouthfeel: Good mouthfeel, medium body, plenty of maltbackground keeping the nice and juicy, i don't find the beer thin at all. Head retention as I said above is an issue, I'm not really sure why its such a problem.

Overall: Very nice beer, Sessionable at 4.9%abv good mouthfeel, need to fix head retention issues, this is the first beer for awhile, where I've had this problem, no lacing, and the head just drops. I'm assuming theres a protein somewhere that is causing it. when I make this again, I'll probably lighten it up slightly, the gladfields chocolate malt is quite dark, Just back off on the choc malt, and possibly add a touch of Dark Crystal, or Shepherds delight, mainly for some caramel sweetness.
I'll keep the torrified wheatat this stage, it seems to add some mouthfeel, and a nice nuttiness to the beer, which adds complexity and nice flavour.

Primary1(Plastic): Promised Land NZ Pilsner
Primary2(Plastic): {Nothing}
Primary3(Bretts/Sours):  10lt of Original sin 100% Brettanomyces Saison( dryhopped with Wai-iti)
Secondary1(Wide Mouth Glass): Guts & Glory Flanders Red
Barrel: Hail Caesar Oud Bruin Ale
Bottled: Original Sin 100% Brettanomyces Saison /100% Brett Wild West IPA / Shadow Liberation(SJPORR) Porter /Black Sheep Yorkshire Brown
Keg1: Sons of Liberty Porter
Keg2: El-dorado Empire of gold Pale Ale
Keg3: {Nothing}
Next Beer to Brew: Back-up Plan III (WLP500)

SJPORR & re-Brewing NHC Beers.

Well, the SJPORR challenge NZ Leg is over, and we have the rating for every beer entered.

1. 38.06 - DA044NZ, Dan Filihiahekava
2. 37.08 - NA038NZ, Nathan Mckenzie
3. 36.76 - GR032NZ, Grant R Baker
4. 36.00 - PA100NZ, Paul Finney
5. 35.31 - PA911NZ, Paul Wicksteed
6. 34.97 - SA198NZ, Sam Ryan
7. 34.86 - ST083NZ, Steven Bellward
8. 34.64 - AD093NZ, Adrian Woodhouse
9. 34.55 - SC167NZ, Scott Bennison
10. 34.31 - RO028NZ, Robert Hough
11. 34.00 - KE057NZ, Kerry Gray
12. 33.94 - DA097NZ, Damon Taylor
13. 33.88 - OL159NZ, Oliver Drake
14. 33.83 - EU199NZ, Eugene Black
15. 33.73 - DA189NZ, Darryn Oakly
16. 33.72 - IA110NZ, Ian Watson
17. 33.42 - VE158NZ, Veronica Hale
18. 32.92 - MI190NZ, Mike Allan
19. 32.25 - ZI163NZ, Zimba Mckenna
20. 31.47 - AL041NZ, Allan Sheblom
21. 31.11 - ZA031NZ, Zane Lawrence Maxwell
22. 31.07 - JO142NZ, Jonathan Saunders & Shayne Forrest
23. 30.75 - CA187NZ, Cam Ellis
24. 30.36 - TY056NZ, Tyron Johnson
25. 29.59 - MA040NZ, Matt Downer
26. 29.22 - BR096NZ, Brayden Rawlinson
27. 28.82 - BR176NZ, Brent Sarten
28. 28.11 - JA208NZ, Jason Franssen
29. 27.81 - KA107NZ, Karl Hayes
30. 27.31 - MA197NZ, Matthew Mckay
31. 27.01 - DE084NZ, Dean Coleborn
32. 25.72 - PA126NZ, Paul Low
33. 25.28 - SP191NZ, Springer Browne
    
    Congratulations to the top 3, Nathan, Grant, and Dan. all worthy winners.
    As you'll see a respectable 10th Place for me, I'm pretty happy with that. heres a picture (albeit blurry).
    
    so as you know the recipe was a robust Porter, with Bourbon soaked Oak chip, I could onlky get light toast chips. but the amount of comments on the oak flavour was quite surprising. I believed this to be the bourbon flavour (from the original oaky bourbon flavour). But anyways, i like it, and the mrs. likes it also.
    
    Some Stats from the challenge.
    Average Score: 34.31
    top score: 43
    Lowest Score: 20
    Best Comment: "A well balanced beer with the bourbon flavour taking  second place to the beer which is how it should be, leaves a nice bitter aftertaste"
    Worst comment: "Very Thin..."
    My Personal Favourite: "Not a robust Porter" (I like this comment solely because it actually doesn't make sense)
    
    So a short Review by myself:
    Aroma: Slight chocolate malt, and Plenty of Bourbon, not hot smelling, just a nice honey bourbon Aroma.
    Appearance: Nice Dark colour, and  leavesa nice lacing. clarity is as good as can be.
    Flavour: nice oaky bourbon, coupled with Nice slight roast flavour, plenty of chocolate malt. Carbonation is good. to me theres a slight sweetness there, which lingers.
    Mouthfeel: Good to me, slight thin-ness, but nothing major.
    Overall: Lovethis beer, plenty of Oak, Bourbon, and roasty chocolate. good carbonation, no faults from what I can taste. clean fermentation.
    
    NOW, onto my top 3 Beers
    3rd: GR032NZ - Baltic Porter - Grant Baker, lovely Baltic porter Good Carbonation, and plenty of malty Flavour.
    
    2nd: this was a tie, between two beers for me. A Belgian Tripel DA097NZ, and an oaked Imperial IPA SC167NZ.The reason forthe tie, is mainly because two different beers, gave me two different perceptions. both were well made, and flavourful. the IIPA with oak reacted well with the hops. the hops were well over the top as expected, and the oak seemed to compliment it. Where as the Belgian Tripel, just epitomised what the style is, Big, sweet, and Crisp all at the same time, just very well made.
    
    1st: this beer won for me By a Long Long way, DA044NZ, hidden Agenda Imperial Stout. this beer, was Big bold roasty, Chocolatey, Smooth, There was little to no alcohol flavour and Aroma. Well made well fermented, clean and just lovely.
    
    so while i didn't make the finals, i learned alot and If it happens again, I'm really keen to take part.
    Also as per my Previous post, a big thanks to the organisers of the event, and long may it continue.
    
    On a side note, I'll post a review of my Brown Ale very soon, and I just pulled myself a pint of the New Sons of Liberty Porter, at 10 days in the keg, its very nice, although too sweet given the 1.020 finish, i get a feeling it won't be the winner I've been hoping for.
    
    this weekend also marks teh brew-date for my first ever Pilsner. this will be for my 30th birthday party coming up. I'll be kegging my blonde ale as well, I brewed empire of gold again, but hopped it up. so I'll post a review up soon.
    
    Primary1(Plastic): Empire of Gold: El-Dorado Session Pale Ale
    Primary2(Plastic): {Nothing}
    Primary3(Bretts/Sours): Original Sin 100% Brett Saison (WLP644)
    Secondary1(Wide Mouth Glass): Guts & Glory Flanders Red
    Barrel: Hail Caesar Oud Bruin Ale
    Bottled: 100% Brett Wild West IPA / Shadow Liberation(SJPORR) Porter /Black Sheep Yorkshire Brown
    Keg1: Sons of Liberty Porter
    Keg2: {Nothing}
    Keg3: {Nothing}
    Next Beer to Brew: Plainsmen NZ Pilsner

#2014 SJPORR Challenge - New Zealand Leg

Its is Time,.... It is Time!

The SJPORR Challenge is Upon us here in NZ, I've received my Beers, and I've actually reviewed a few. Some lovely beers, with Plenty of thought going into alot of them.
From Pales, Through Oak aged IPA's, All the Way to 13% Russian Imperial Stouts. the variance is huge.

So, for those of you who aren't aware of the challenge (There won't be many of you), a random selection of 20 beer is to be reviewed by each entrant and marks out of 50, based on the BJCP style guidelines. the general Idea is this:
Aroma out of 12
Appearance out of 3
Flavour out of 20
Mouhfeel out of 5
and Overall impression out of 10.
Rated and judged by your Home-Brewing Peers.
Here is the recipe I brewed again for it: https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/shadow-liberation-bourbon-porter

A special thanks goes out to the organisers of the very first worldwide Homebrew competition, namely all the Hub organisers.
Along with a couple of special mentions for the following people:
SJPORR The man himself, he came up with the idea, and ran with it a few years ago, and its taken off. you can check his youtube channel out HERE.
The other is Paul Wicksteed, the NZ hub. during Beervana Weekend, he spent a significant amount of time packaging entries and general organisation, he even managed to get to Beervana and have a great time. His Channel is HERE.
I'll be sending a small care package with a couple of beers in for Paul soon.

So cheers guys for the great Challenge/competition, and long may it continue.
What I will do when the NZ Leg is over is post up pictures of my top 3 beers, along with some of my thoughts/notes on each one. (No Scores though sorry).

On a side note I've had to adjust my brew Schedule , so no American Stout unfortunately. It's Straight to my Porter for the NHC2014, I've made a couple of Adjustments to it, so the recipe will be posted for that soon.

The Entries I received, all looking good with Labels.

 

Primary1(Plastic): {Nothing}
Primary2(Plastic): {Nothing}
Primary3(Bretts/Sours): Original Sin 100% Brett Saison (WLP644)
Secondary1(Wide Mouth Glass): Guts & Glory Flanders Red
Barrel: Hail Caesar Oud Bruin Ale
Bottled: US05 Wild West IPA /100% Brett Wild West IPA / Shadow Liberation(SJPORR) Porter /Black Sheep Yorkshire Brown
Keg1: Marching on Together Yorkshire Bitter
Keg2: Red Barron Barrel Aged Ale
Keg3: {Nothing}
Next Beer to Brew:  Sons of Liberty American Porter II