Spring Swap: Ó Flannagáin's Beers

[Ó Flannagáin]

OK, beers are packaged, I'll try to get out this week if I remember to take with me on Sunday, otherwise will be the end of the week. Boxes include:

2 - Cap Marked Red "X" - IPA
2 - Blank Caps - Oatmeal Stout
1 - Blue or Black "E" - English IPA/Bitter

Please leave critiques in this thread.

Thanks!!

[Ó Flannagáin]

Beers are out. mdd134, I through in a little something extra to make up for when you got screwed over in the last swap ;)

[Ó Flannagáin]

Oh, and please be brutally honest guys

[Ó Flannagáin]

I must make a correction, the beer marked with red X may actually be my soured & oaked cherry saison

[flyangler18]

Category 14- Stout
Subcategory A - Dry Stout

Aroma: Prominent coffee and bittersweet chocolate tones. Light fruitiness emerges as the glass warms, followed by a mild and earthy hop nose. 10/12

Appearance: Poured into bar-ready glass. Tan colored head dropped quickly with no lacing, and I noticed that carbonation was too high. This beer was effervescing beyond what I expect from a stout - at this point, I'm expecting the flavor and mouthfeel to suffer as a result of excessive carbonation. Color was black, opaque. Slight ruby highlights when held up to the light, but minimal. 2/3

Flavor: Flavors follow the tone set by the aroma - roastiness dominates with some harsh, slightly acidic tones that I attribute to carbonic bite from excessive carbonation. Bitterness comes from both the roasted grains and hops; earthy hop flavor detectable despite the heavy roast character. Dry finish appropriate to style. 14/20

Mouthfeel: Carbonation issues make the body seem thin early in the pint; as excessive carbonation dissapated, the body became fuller and more substantial- the creaminess becomes more apparent that was absent in the first several sips. I'm particularly sensitive to carbonic acid, so I immediately noticed the prickliness and sharpness. As I approached the end of the pint, things came back into balance. 3/5

Overall Impression: A well-constructed dry stout that suffered from unfortunate and impactful carbonation issues. I assume this was bottled from the keg and I suspect that you blast-carbed this. Proof positive that excessive carbonation negatively affect flavor and body in styles that call for lower carb levels. Head formation and retention suffered, and the roastiness was initially harsh and unpleasant from the carbonic bite. 7/10

36/50

[Ó Flannagáin]

Thanks for the review dude! Sorry about the carbonation issues.

[mdd134]

Oatmeal Stout


Aroma: Roast with coffee and a light aroma of alcohol

Appearance: Black with a tan head that fell fast, no lacing

Flavor: Nice balance of roast and coffee. It has a semi sweet malt taste at the first then just the right amount of hop, and roast bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium almost Full body. Nice creamy mouthfeel with good carbonation.

Overall Impression: Great Stout, I shared this with a few friends and we all really enjoyed it. The light aroma of alcohol makes me think it is at least 6% alcohol. Is this a Dry Stout? 42/50

Please post this recipe I want to make it

[Ó Flannagáin]

It was about over 6%... probably around 6.3 or so. It was carbed off the keg, so I'm sure carb levels varied depending on foaming and such. I just use a tube stuck up the faucet. I'll find the recipe and post it

[mdd134]

Ó Flannagáin's ESB



Aroma: Malt with a faint amount of hops that have a little earth like smell to them.

Appearance: Crystal clear with a small white head that lasted the full glass.

Flavor: Good amount of maltiness. Hop flavor is grassy and earthy. Bitterness is fine, but the residual sweetness is very high. Kind of unpleasant because of a lingering sweetness. What was the FG on this.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, lots of sweetness. This bottle was over carbed for the style.

Overall Impression: No off flavors, good English hop tones, and bitterness. I could pick up some malt going on from the crystal with a little biscuit from the base malt, but it just didn't finish dry enough for me. Seems to have a lot of sweetness left over after the hop bite.

[mdd134]

Ó Flannagáin's soured & oaked cherry saison
Let me start by saying I was hoping for an IPA :( and I am terrible at reviews, I also have no idea about sours.

Aroma: sour and acid like aroma with lots and lots of oak.

Appearance: clear light brown in color, head fell fast.

Flavor: Nice sour flavor, not too sour, but sour enough. The only down fall to this beer is that it has way too much oak flavor. Like you said it was one of your first beers to hit the new oak barrel.

Mouthfeel: light and acidic

Overall Impression: I would have loved to try this been with only a few day to a week of oak on it.

Overall I have enjoyed your beers, but I loved the Oatmeal Stout. Thanks for sending me the awesome brews.

[Ó Flannagáin]

Thanks for the reviews! I really don't remember the statistics on the ESB.