Recently I exchanged some homebrew with a South Carolina homebrewer/blogger, Brian @ Untamed Beer. I've been a fan of his blog for some time, I enjoy reading his reviews, his videos, and his ever changing beard (the picture to the left a fine example). Brian and I contacted each other about doing a possible exchange awhile back and I'm glad that we were able to finally get some beers to each other. Brian recently posted his reviews of the Bearded Brews I sent him, and I was happy that he enjoyed them and appreciated his feedback.Brain sent me three of his beers and all three were very good and very unique. I wish I had more of his excellent beer since these three selections all left me wanting to try some other Untamed offerings.
The first of his beers I opened was his Oatmeal Nut Brown Ale. Brian said that he was inspired by oatmeal cookies. He added toasted pecans to the mash and some vanilla in the finish. My thoughts:
It pours a nice cloudy light brown with some ruby red highlights and a thin white head. Wonderful aromas right away of brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, and pecans. The aroma is very enticing. What follows is a lot of sweetness, great brown sugar flavor going on, along with some nice nuttiness. The toasted pecans come out more in the aroma than in the flavor, but they really add to the experience, I think he could even add some more. A nice smooth, creamy mouthfeel. This beer was outstanding, quite sweet, almost like a desert brown ale? The beer tastes like a cookie, but the flavor combination of toasted oats, brown sugar, pecans and maltiness is really nice. I easily could have had another right away, its not overwhelmingly sweet, but is creative, well balanced and quite tasty!
Oak IPA- The second of the Untamed Beers I opened was his Oak IPA. Brian said he added steamed oak chips to the secondary for three days. This IPA pours a beautiful cloudy amber with a thick three finger off white head. Citrusy hop aromas along with some woody and caramel undertones. Right away there is some nice grapefruity, hoppy sweetness that gives way to a malty, caramelly body. The oak comes out nicely in the finish, it is definitely present in the end and adds some softness to the hops and a lingering woody flavor. There is an almost peppery bite of bitterness in the end as well. I have to admit that I have strived to achieve this wonderful balance of bitterness and citrusy sweetness in my own IPAs, without this much success. This is one of the better homebrewed IPAs I've had, the bitterness gives it a great backbone and along with the oak it has a great balance.
Saison- The third and final Untamed Brew I had was his saison. This saison pours a cloudy pale gold with a two finger foamy head. Nice complex aromas of citrus, malt, spices, and a slight funky yeastiness. Smooth and sweet at first with some nice peppery bite right away. Very easy drinking, smooth and sweet with not as much funkiness as some saisons. This is not to say it's simplistic, its quite refreshing and the peppery aftertaste makes it interesting. I think this beer is great on a hot day, and fits the bill as a hoppy, fruity farmhouse ale. Another solid Untamed Beer.
I really enjoyed the exchange and look forward to another one in the future. A great bit of creativity goes into his beers and they are all excellently crafted.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer
4 comments:
Thanks for the awesome compliments! It means a lot to hear a fellow homebrewer give a positive and heartfelt review of my beer. As you've said of your own work, you are your own worst critic, and I am often mine.
With the brown ale, I did use two pounds of brown sugar (10-gallon batch) which explains a lot of the sweetness and molasses in the aroma and flavor. I'm not a huge fan of overly sweet beer, so I agree that this one came out pretty balanced. Any more sweetness and I probably wouldn't have like it as much.
I went a little crazy with the hop additions in the IPA. For a long time, I could never achieve the hoppiness I wanted in a beer, so I threw all caution to the wind on this one.
It was a 10-gallon batch, so adjust the amounts to get an idea for what it would have been in a standard 5-gallon.
Here's the hop schedule I used:
- 5 oz. Galena at 60 minutes
- 2.5 oz. Centennial divided and added at 15, 10 & 5 minutes
- 3 oz. Horizon divided and added at 2, 1, and 0 minutes
- 2 oz. Cascade dry hops
Most recipes I found for "hoppy" IPAs or pales call for some combination of about 3 oz. of hops, but I never felt that was enough.
I went up to over 5 oz. per 5 gallons on this one, but I still feel like there's room for more, so long as you keep the balance with the malt.
Also, I never feel like I get enough hop aroma in my beers, so on my latest creation, which is in the fermenter now, I heavily backloaded the hop additions and dry hopped with 2 oz. of Centennial to try and get as much aroma and flavor as I could. We'll see how it turns out.
I really enjoyed the exchange and we'll definitely have to do it again in the fall!
The Saison sounds fantastic - any chance of the recipe?
Yeah, can you pot the recipe? Id like to give it a try down this neck of the woods. Thanks.
What is the homebrew recipe?
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