IPA Brewshare @ The Local Taphouse

Last Tuesday night saw the latest quarterly Brewshare event at The Localtaphouse in Darlinghurst. The set style for the night was Indian Pale Ales (IPA) with 21 entries and 5 more in the nights ‘open class’.

Sydney water had a bit of mishap with a water main bursting down the road in Moore Park leaving the pub without water. This caused all in attendance to turn to beer for their hydration but with so many fantastic brews on offer this was hardly a punishment. The beauty of the event is it brings a such a wide variety of homebrewers together with a wide range of skillsets and experience to together to talk shop and enjoy each others work.

Some of the Beers brought by brewers to share included:

The IPA Class

Beer Name: N/A
Brewer: Kelly Eyres
Style: IPA

Vital Stats:

• 7.1% Alcohol
• Around 70 IBU
• 11 SRM

Ingredients:
Maris Otter
Vienna
Munich
Crystal
Special B
Jade Hops
Amarillo Hops
Simcoe Hops
Centennial Hops
Motueka Hops
White Labs California Ale Yeast
Notes:
I didn’t get a chance to try Kelly’s IPA before she ran out although it won the IPA class for the night so it must have been a very tasty drop.

Beer Name: Master Williams Celebratory Ale
Brewer: Michael Hodge
Style: IPA

Vital Stats:

• 5.5% Alcohol
• 44.6 IBU
• 10.2 SRM

Ingredients:
Pale Liquid Extract
Wheat Liquid Extract
Amber liquid Extract
Crystal Malt
Amarillo
Coopers Ale Yeast

Notes:
Very nice and easy drinking, brewed to celebrate his son’s first birthday.

Beer Name: Wignall IPA
Brewer: Glenn Wignall
Style: IPA
Vital Stats:

• 7.75% Alcohol
• 64 IBU
• 25 EBC

Ingredients:
Pale malt
Wheat
Caramalt
Chinook Hops
Amarillo Hops

Open Class

Beer Name: Little Creatures
Brewer: David Irving
Style: Light Amber Ale

Ingredients:
Coopers Pale Ale Tin
Pale Malt
Cascade Hops

Notes:
This is what brewshare is all about, this beer was only David’s second attempt at brewing and tasted fantastic.

Beer Name: The Cornish & The Irish Red Rabbit
Brewer: Stephen Cornish
Style: Irish Red Ale
Vital Stats:

• 4.4% Alcohol
• 23.2 IBU
• 32.6 EBC

Ingredients:
Marris Otter
Munich
Caramalt
Crystal
Roasted Fuggles
EK Goldings
White Labs WLP-004 Irish Ale Yeast

Notes:
The yeast seemed to give this beer a quite interesting twang toward the back of the palate that after a few sips kept driving you to have a another mouthful.

Beer Name: Beer 37
Brewer: Paul Evans
Style: English Bitter

Vital Stats:

• 4.2% Alcohol

Ingredients:
Coopers English Bitter Tin
Amber Malt
Grain Enhancer
Fuggles Hops
East Kent Goldings Hops

Notes:
Strong banana aroma on the nose, very well balanced on the palate all in all a nice beer.

Beer Name: Nutjob Farmer Brown
Brewer: Anthony Mills
Style: Northern English Brown Ale

Vital Stats:

• 4.95% Alcohol
• 25.5 IBU
• 28 EBC

Ingredients:
Golden Promise
Brown Malt
Golden Naked Oats
Amber Malt
Light DME
Challenger Hops
E.K Goldings Hops
Safale S04 Yeast
Chestnuts
Hazelnuts
Hazelnut Essence

Notes:

I had originally brewed for the IPA category but the hop load wasn’t what I was expecting and the Galaxy hops gave the beer a overly fruity off balanced sort of taste.

So I knocked up this brew for the night in its place, which up until a week ago the hazelnut was still coming over too strong for my liking. Everyone who tasted it seemed to enjoy though and it ended up being voted the winner of the open class for the night so it redeemed itself in the long run.

The theme for the next Brewshare is Wheat Beers with the date set for the 23^th November 2010, tickets are $10 per person and are already on sale here.

Related: Stout / Porter Brewshare @ The Local Taphouse

Tags: brewing, brewshare, homebrew, The Local Taphouse