Fall Swap - Dale's Beers

[Dale]

They're going out tomorrow, tell me what you think. I can take it.

[Redweasel]

Beers showed up safe and sound today. I'll try to get to them after the holiday either Friday or Saturday.

[rooster445]

got the brew

[rooster445]

Blonde Rye #1

Came in a 12 oz. bottle
Poured into a pint glass.
Nice honey color with a 1" snow white head with tight little bubbles that dissipates quickly to a 1/2" head that remains the whole time.
Minimal lacing

Malty spicy sweet smell little to no hop aroma.
as it warms a little I get some honey toasty caramel aroma if that's possible.

Wow. Smooth very light on the hops well balanced. It has a malty sweet spicy taste with an alcohol bite at the back of the tongue. You must have used a very clean American yeast. As the ale warms I get a rose flavor .

Not sure what style to put this ale in but I would drink it by a BBQ grill all day.
good beer cant wait to try the rest

[Dale]

Far out, I'm glad you enjoyed the beer. I used US-05 dry yeast, I was more interested in seeing how the rye and Saaz played together than any real yeast character.

[Redweasel]

Grabbed a random one out of the ole fridge. Unmarked cap. Pumpkin beer I believe.

Pour-Big pop when cap was opened. Poured a hazy light amber color with a half inch head that dropped quickly.

Aroma-Sweet malt with lots of spice. Aroma of pumpkin pie lingers after the first sniff. Smells of cloves, allspice and cinnamon. Spice aroma really dominates. Smells like a fn pumpkin pie! Can't detect any hops. Aroma is frecking awesome!

Flavor-Not at all what I expected. Dry bitterness up front with quite a bit of astringency. I'm not getting near the spice that I expected from the aroma. Very bitter and a bit thin. I expected it to be chewy and spicy in flavor but it seems thin and bitter to me with the malt taking a huge back seat to the hops and spices. I can tell there is a big spice flavor but it seems to come out bitter and a bit harsh.

Overall-Aroma was absolutely amazing but the overall product seemed a bit thin and overdone. I've never brewed with spices like these so I can't really pinpoint what went wrong, but the final product lacked the body and spice flavor that the aroma promised. Astringency was a big issue here and seemed to detract from the overall impression of the beer.

Sorry for the crappy review Dale. It could be that i just can't get into spiced beers.

I'll move on to another one tonight after work.

[Dale]

Don't apologize, a crappy beer deserves a crappy review. I'm not sure what to make of this one, this batch seems terribly inconsistent from bottle to bottle. I had two last night, the first one poured with a nice firm head, tasted of sweet pumpkin and spice. It wasn't as malty as I would like, but was okay. I opened another bottle, and it poured with no head and tasted exactly as you describe. I was wondering if I was being overly critical and had lost objectivity, but your review indicates otherwise.

I'm wondering if the astringency is from the spices, I had never brewed with them before either. And if I try this one again, I'm definitely upping the malt.

Sorry for the dud. Here's hoping the other one's are better.

[Redweasel]

Blond Rye #1

Pour-Nice pop on opening. Pours a hazy amber color with a minimal head that dissipates to a decent ring of lacing.

Aroma-Getting a nice spiciness i assume if from a combination of Saaz and Rye that is very pleasant. Nice honey like maltiness also.

Flavor-Nice clean malt flavor. Mild caramel and mellow bitterness. Light/Medium in body. I like how the hops and Rye work together in the flavor, gives the beer a nice back end spiciness that I'm finding pretty refreshing.

Overall-A well done beer. Very clean but with a very nice complexity from the Rye and Saaz. I'm glad you sent 2 of these so I can compare the different versions side by side later.

[rooster445]

Pumpkin

Served from a 12 oz. bottle in a pint glass. Pours hazy amber with an 1" head that dissipates to a 1/2" head.

aroma - slight cinnamon aroma with a slight maltiness

taste - nice amount of pumpkin spice. Not much pumpkin flavor. Not much hop presence.

mouth feel - medium to light body good carbonation

overall impression - not a bad pumpkin beer allot better than the one I sent you

[Shenanigans]

On the rye ales....can you explain what you mean when you say they have a spice from the rye to them? I'm thinking about making a rye ale next, but haven't been able to find what exactly people are talking about when they say a rye has a spice to it.

[Dale]

To me it tastes a bit peppery and crisp, but it's subtle. Doubt that helps much, but it's all I have.

[rooster445]

i agree but I also get rose

[Redweasel]

I perceive it as almost a peppery "sharpness" if that makes any sense at all.

[Shenanigans]

Sounds yummy.....thx for the replies.

[Redweasel]

Pour-Pale straw color, pretty clear, it has a decent head that is going away pretty quickly.

Aroma-Sweet malt. Fruity and a bit of citrus in the aroma, fruityness is mellow.

Flavor-Dry, it has a nice malt up front then goes immediately peppery to citrus and hop bitterness follwed by some alcohol warmth. Very dry, pretty well carbonated. I like the peppery/citrus thing with the dryness and the carb.

Overall-Not sure what to think. It is a very dry beer with a good amount of bitterness. It's very refreshing but still has a bit of alcohol warmth to it which could be dangerous. I'm not sure what to call it as far as style. Good beer though. I could see myself getting pretty drunk on a few of these.

[rooster445]

what cap is marked R

[Dale]

The first blonde rye attempt

[rooster445]

Yep its still good