Sack O' Beers from OhioScrewed-Us

[Evan!]

Kyle and his traveling girls basketball team stopped by my place not too long ago, and among other things (cough cough BRO RAPE cough cough), he gave me a bunch of his barley/hops/cock-flavored water. This is their story.

[Evan!]

Rauchbier

Pour/Aesthetic: Sounds good, looks good. Maybe a touch undercarbed, but nothing to be concerned about. Color is daaaark caramel, approaching a low-SRM doppelbock (think Troegenator). I let this sit in the fridge for awhile, so any residual from transit had settled, and it was very clear.

Aroma: Smoky, very clean, very bacon-ey. Almost like taking a whiff from my smoker...uhhh...beechwood? Not a whole lot else except for some latent caramel-ey stuff happening on the very back end. No perceived hop aroma. A little woodiness, but it's hard to discern from the smoke.

Mouthfeel/Palate: Mouthfeel is middle of the road. Not heavy, but not empty either. What I'm looking for in this style. Palate is a little quick and one-noted. I'm a huge fan of rauchbiers, but my fear has always been that it's really easy to overdo it and end up with a Schlenkerla Urbock...which is good, but the smoke really takes over (I prefer their maibock). This is odd because it's not as in-your-face smoky as the Schlenkerla Urbock, but the smoke has definitely taken over. I wish there was more Munich character present, more maltiness, more depth. I love the smoke component, but I feel like there's not a whole lot else going on.

Proximity to Style: Pretty close, I just would go with some more Munich next time, maybe even a higher-SRM Munich, just to give it more maltiness without losing the smoke intensity.

Overall Impression: I think I've said it all. Fermentation gets a 10/10 as far as I'm concerned...very clean and crisp, very to-the-point, and I could drink a whole sixer of these and then be the target of much "cock and balls on cheek" nonsense, but the one flaw is that the palate is almost all rauch malt and not much else.

Score: 32/50

[ohiobrewtus]

I agree with you. At 75% smoked malt, that's exactly what I was going for in this version.

I also agree with your assessment that the next version should have more Munich. I'd also like to put a touch of late hops in there to make is a bit less one dimensional.

As always, thanks for the review. I have most of yours done and I'll try to remember to email the forms to you this evening.

[ohiobrewtus]

PS - I hope you like the Schlongbier.

[blacklab]

Originally Posted by ohiobrewtus

PS - I hope you like the Schlongbier.

Yeah he posted on HBT that he dry-schlonged it for weeks.

[ohiobrewtus]

Actually it was a 1 week dry schlong followed by a 2 week teabag.

[Evan!]

Originally Posted by ohiobrewtus

Actually it was a 1 week dry schlong followed by a 2 week teabag.

I'm beginning to understand how you make your EF clone...

[ohiobrewtus]

Originally Posted by Evan!

I'm beginning to understand how you make your EF clone...

Ol' EF'er gets the dry frumunda addition.

[Evan!]

Ah, yes, the choco-dong.

[Evan!]

Baltic Porter

Pour/Aesthetic: Heavy hiss, tons of carbonation. Had to stop the pour halfway through because half the glass was foam...and this was a gentle pour. Color is very dark brown with ruby highlights, and is relatively clear.

Aroma: Dried fruit, toffee, savory notes, no hop aroma, very little roasty character. A little wisp of carbonic bite.

Mouthfeel/Palate: Mouthfeel is not quite as full-bodied as I would expect from this style. I'm thinking maybe it dried out a bit more in the bottle since it left the keg. There's a figgy taste, a little acidic or acrid, again savory, and a lot of fruity esters. There's also a metallic element from what I can only surmise is carbonic bite. The style can have medium-high carbonation, but I don't find this level entirely pleasant. Maybe if it had more residual dextrins, but the relatively thin body coupled with the high carb level just gives it an edge. As it warms up, the esters really take over and stick to the side of your tongue.

Proximity to Style: Not really roasty enough, and the body needs work. Carbo is a little high for my taste, but acceptable per style I guess.

Overall Impression: Not really flawed, but not your best effort either. I think the combination of the relatively light body, high carb level and ester production doesn't do much for it. I can drink it no problem, and I wouldn't kick it out of bed, but generally I just don't dig dark beers with high carb levels and lots of esters.

Score: 24/50