TBHC 8 - Virgin Free for All- Entry #1 Review Thread

[coldcrash1]

Please post your reviews for beer #1 here.

Scoring should give consideration to how much you enjoy the beer, as well as the beer’s adherence to the declared style and the presence/ absence of any technical flaws. After all, this is a competition to showcase our brewing skill and ability, and adherence to prescribed parameters is a great way to showcase that. But what’s the point in brewing a technically perfect true to style beer if it’s not also enjoyable to drink?

Feel free to refer to the BJCP Scoresheet for guidance and descriptors.

And here’s a link to the BJCP style guidelines for anyone who wants to brush up on a given style.

For entries without any declared style, you can assume the brewer would like their beer to be judged 100% hedonistically.

50 total points

Aroma/12
Appearance/3
Flavor/20
Mouthfeel/5
Overall Impression/10

 

[liquiddegenerate]

Aroma - Not overpowering but really enjoyable sweet citrus aroma with faint Brett phenolic on the back end. 7/12
Appearance - Bright yellow hue with a slowly receeding white head. 2/3
Flavor - Juice! Very similar to the nose but amplified with sweet citrus leading the way. Very mild malt presence, a little graininess came through as it warmed and a slight but enjoyable Brett taste to round it out. 17/20
Mouthfeel - I would've expected this to come across dryer considering this was brett fermented. Good medium body. Would've liked a bit more carb. 3/5
Overall Impression - I really enjoyed this, would drink a bunch on a hot day. Crazy how mostly clean this came out 100% brett fermented. 8/10

Total - 37/50

 

[Mugatu]

Aroma - Very soft aroma with some slight citrus / grapefruit 6/12
Appearance - Perfect golden straw color for the style. Very bright. Thick cloudy white head dissipates quickly and leaves a slight rim around the glass 3/3
Flavor - Some ripe apricot, lemon rind, grapefruit, very citrusy like the aroma. I get some cantaloupe which adds a little thicker creaminess to the flavor along with a little spice from the hops 18/20
Mouthfeel - Light-medium body with lower carbonation. Probably would've been a very light bodied ale if the carbonation was higher. Noted the creaminess above (maybe grainy?) 4/5
Overall Impression - Like was mentioned by liquiddegenerate it could've been a little drier. But the fruit character and spiciness was near perfect. Surely a beer I would be happy to brew and could drink all day 9/10

Total - 40/50

 

[ShawDeuce221]

Aroma - Brett Brett more Brett, most of the beers I brew are Brett primary so this hits me where I like it. 10/12


Appearance - tough to get head retention with 100% brett+fresh hops, egg shell head came up quickly and reseeded quickly to a soda like carb. Pale color with a hazy non-transparent hue. 2/3


Flavor - great light bitterness with a tad of that brett bitterness coming through on the back end. Hop character is light but flavorful. More of a yeast forward profile than a malt or hop profile. 15/20


Mouthfeel - soda like carb, medium mouthfeel but cleanses the pallet for another sip. 3/5


Overall - as much as I like this beer it doesn’t really fit into a BJCP category, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of this entry. I’m a fan of late/dry hopped brett beers so this is directly in my lane. 8/10


38/50

 

[More Betterness]

Aroma: Musty and sweet pear with light grapefruit. Mellow clove phenolics and a hint of crackers malt as it warms.

10/12

Appearance: Clear (took care not to disturb the dregs) straw colored body with a fizzy one finger head that recedes quickly to just the rim of the glass.

2/3

Flavor: More pear and zesty citrus, followed by moderate hop character/bitterness. Slightest impression of sweet doughy malt. Very slight tartness lingers on the palate and keeps you constantly wanting another sip. Balanced and uniform.

16/20

Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium to low carb. Initially gives the impression of being less attenuated than I would imagine a Brett beer to be, but fades to dryness in between sips. Maybe Brett B a high glycerol producer?

4/5

Overall: Hope “Fail Ale” was a joke because I definitely enjoyed this. Great example of how “clean” 100% Brett beers can be compared to mixed ferments. Refreshing, and the slight tartness mentioned above triggers salivation and carries the light hop flavor. Nice work!

8/10

40/50

 

[Ziggy]

Aroma: brett right up front, very balanced and not overpowering, smells awesome. Lemon zest, little bit of grapefruit. 11/12

Appearance: cloudy yellow-orange. Fair amount of head that settled quickly. 2/3

Flavor: fruity citrus and mildly sour fruit dominate up front, not picking up much of that really great brett that was present in the aroma. Little bit of sourness/tartness. Pleasantly mild and very easy to drink for being a brett fermented ale. 16/20

Mouthfeel: medium body, light carb, slightly dry. 4/5

Overall: perfect for a hot summer day, too bad im enjoying this outside in freezing temperatures. The brett was not overpowering, and the fruitiness from the hops ties in well with it making a nice, clean and balanced brett ale. Good job. 8/10

41/50

 

[coldcrash1]

Overdue review:

Appearance: pours gold with a gorgeous crystal clarity that is not coming through in the pic. One finger Snow White head quickly retreats to a fine lace 3/3

Aroma: Yuge wave of pineapple and hay 10/12

Flavor: pineapple, tropical fruit, slightly phenolic w firm bitterness on the finish 16/20

Mouthfeel: medium bodied w a drying finish. Fine creamy carbonation 3/10

Overall: very enjoyable beer. Thanks for sharing! 8/10

Total: 40/50

 

[dimensionx]

I'm not sure if I took really bad notes or if they are actually on my other computer, I'll post the recipe if I find it.
This was my first fresh hop and my first 100% Brett beer.

IIRC
I used Wyeast Brett B and propped it up twice
I fermented warmer than I would have liked, but needed to get it done so that I could package and ship by the deadline. Seemed to work out, but might have been a little less phenolic a few degrees cooler.
My hops got a bit cooked by sun so they weren't as fresh as they could have been. Lesson learned, I should have taken a day off work and brewed when they were ready, rather than waiting until I had time. I wanted a much stronger hop component than I actually got. I covered my ass by dry hopping with a small amount of Citra (is this cheating?)

sfsea and I tried one of these the other day and it was a pretty mediocre gusher. Still had some OK Brett character, but there was basically no other discernible flavor after 9 months in the bottle. Blending with a peach beer from de Garde really helped it shine