4th Homebrewers meet

4th homebrewers meet took place on the first Friday of February. Possibly few participants couldn't join us due to late announcement of this event. Long time ago on the first brewers meet there was announced that for February everyone could make one stout, so we can compare them. Eventually on last Friday most of us brought stout or porter with them. Others, who hadn't prepared any dark beer, took something lighter.

Beginning of the meet. Still waiting for some more people

Firstly we opened one American Pale ale from Tanker brewery.
It was bottled on 17.11.2013 and during that conditioning period beer had settled very well. There were enough gases and head stayed for long. ABV for that beer was 6,5%.

For me aroma was quite intense and reminded citrusy, fresh and floral scent. Taste was firstly sweet-bitter-sour reminding me something like grass. Aftertaste was rather sour and bitter. Body was medium. To conclude it was decided that this beer isn't completely proper APA although amount of hops used were good. For starter, it was perfect.

Nextly we took my version of APA - 'John Smith'. It was also bottle conditioned and bottled quite recently on 07.01.2014. ABV was quite low, around 4%. When pouring it out to glass modest head formed and seemed like there were not enough gases. During one month conditioning period beer hadn't settled completely. Aroma was refreshing, citrusy (from Centennial dryhop) and generally good. Taste wasn't bitter enough for APA style. Also body was quite thin and needs improvement.

To conclude, beer was refreshing, not quite APA style, could be more bitter and could have stronger body. Beer aroma and taste were not balanced. For me this was very useful feedback to improve my next brews.

Now it was darker beers turn. We took Roman's ja Sergey's Brown ale - 'Angry Goblin'. Under low light it seemed dark but still lighter than pitchblack. Head was lightly brown, soft and stayed well. Aroma was mixture of coffee, sour and something sweet. First taste was sweet-sour followed by stronger sourness. End was bitter that remained to aftertaste. For me body seemed to be above medium.

Each bottle of this beer tasted littlebit differently and authors suspected infection. When comparing glasses of infected and healty beer side by side there was only small difference.

Next on line was 'Robust porter' from Tanker brewery again. Beer was bottled on 29.09.213 and left to condition meanwhile. When opening bottle it turned out to be slightly overcarbonated. Beer was foaming out of the bottle gently. Due to this glass was filled mainly with foam that was thick and brownish. Again, with low lighting conditions I can't describe precise colour of beer. All I can tell is that it was quite dark

Aroma reminded coffee, caramel and burnt scent. Taste was firstly sour-bitter followed by stronger sour wave with less bitterness. Aftertaste remained sour and dry. There were slight hint of alcohol althoug ABV was only 4,6%. Body seemed a bit thin.

Sergey's and Roman's Oatmeal stout-porter - 'Station porter' was next. ABV was 5,5% and FG about 1.018. It was bottled on 6.01.2014. Colour was again quite dark, head brownish and creamy. Carbonation felt a bit below average. 

Aroma was intense, woody and smokey. Taste was strongly bitter and reminded liquorice. Body was medium or slightly stronger. Aftertaste was again bitter, sour and somewhat alcoholic. It was not pure stout or porter rather something between...
 
 






Next was third beer from Tanker brewery  '13 Reede Coffee stout'. ABV was 5,7% and FG 1.022. It was bottled on 26.10.2013. When pouring beer out it formed stable, dark-brownish and creamy head. Aroma was caramelly, burnt and woody. When author mentioned that he added some tea to boil I thought I spotted some tea aromas also. From taste firstly comes quite strong bitterness with slight sourness and sweetness. Aftertaste is bitter and coffee-like. Body is strong and thickness above average.

'Õlleühisus Linda' representative Aivo had brought with him 'Coffee stout'. With no label on bottle how to distinguish different beers on shelf? ABV was around 6% and IBU somewhere near 44. Beer had lagered in barrel for 4 months.

When pouring beer out it forms yellowish-brownish soft head that stays well. Aroma reminds sourness, something fresh, a bit burnt, piney and woody scents. Taste is firstly bitter that retreats and sourness is coming to play. Aftertaste is bitter-sour. Mouthfeel is creamy and body medium.

Sergey's and Roman's third beer on table was Oatmeal stout - 'Frog Morton'. ABV 5,8%, IBU around 35 and FG 1.016. It was bottled on 01.12.2013. In glass beer forms bubbly light brown head that stays well. From aroma there are hints from freshness, coffee, smokey, roasty and a bit alcohol. Taste is coffe-like bitter, smokey and slightly sour. Aftertaste is similar but additionally slightly burnt. Mouthfeel is soft and body on stronger side.

Lastly we tasted Imperial stouts and first of them was made by Jaanis and named 'Chocolate-Mint Imperial Stout'. ABV was lower than other Imperials but still quite strong 8%. In glass beer was covered by fluffy, bubbly and brownish head. Aroma was spot on to its name. You could smell minty freshness and sweetness from chocolate. When beer got a bit warmer in glass there were some hints of alcohol in aroma. Firstly taste was sweet-sour-bitter with addition of mint. Followed by domination of sourness. Aftertaste was bitter and chocolate. Body was stronger than average and not to much alcoholic. To conclude this beer was different from other due to minty notes and freshness.

Next on line was Sergey's and Roman's fourth(!) beer Triple Disaster Imperial Stout - 'Midnight Titanic'. 'Triple disaster - mean that this stout as well as it brewers survived fire, flood and electric shock while brewing' (this is supposingly true story!). ABV was 9,1%, FG around 1.030 and IBU 51. There was a joke that some guys start fermenting where others finish their fermentation. This beer was aged 4 months in oak barrels or with oak chips (I didn't wrote down this fact, so I'm not sure).
Head of this beer was light brown and stayed well. Aroma was burnt, somewhat refreshing, woody and oaky. You could smell alcohol or even some notes of wine there. Taste was strongly bitter with some hints of sweetness, additionally something sour. Also alcoholic content of this beer was reminded in taste. Aftertaste was mainly sour and a bit bitter. Body was strong. To conclude taste was well balanced.

Finally it was time for last beer that was stongest of this evening. It was made by Vaat brewery and Russian Imperial Stout was named 'Jailhouse brew'. ABV was 9,5% and IBU around 60. Authors told that this beer is quite raw and need some more conditioning.

Browinish head was modest and didn't last very long. Aroma was quite stronly alcoholic, additionally smokey and reminding whiskey a bit. Firstly taste was bitter, followed by bitter-sour with some hints of sweetness. Aftertaste was alcoholic and coffee-bitter. Body was strong. To this beer was added some lime juice concentrate but nobody of us couldn't taste it. To conclude it was good beer and one glass would be enough. If to give some more time for conditioning it might taste different






Lastly Aivo took out a bottle he had crabbed from home and he wasn't sure what was in it. It turned out to be apple wine. It was refreshing after strong stouts and porters. But my knowledge about wines are very basic so I'm not going to describe it any further.

To have better comparison of beers some of us filled quite detailed beer scoresheets. I made short summary of ratings that can be seen below:

Bigger and more detailed table is here. As you can see lighter beers had no chance against stouts and porters. According to scores it turned out that Chocolate-Mint Imperial stout by Jaanis was the best. Congratulations!

In conclusion the meeting was successful. There could have been more participants but 11 beers (plus one wine) on table was enough. Additionally great company and lots of beer related discussion. Next time we try to get info regarding these meetings up earlier. Everybody who haven't participated in homebrewers meetings before are always welcome. See you next time!