VF# 18

VF# 17

VF# 16

VF# 15

VF# 14

VF# 13

VF# 12

VF# 11

I you like big pale ales with the hop content to kill a small horse - then you would've loved this brew!! As you could understand it did not last long! Being 6% alc cont. it needed all those hops to balance out the big malt! We nailed it on this one - so be cautious it can scare people from hops for ever. You do need to ease them into big ones like this.....
Giles

VF# 10

The 'Rivalry Bitter' will be a signature brew of the VF. But for the initial flight of the Rivalry it fell flat on its face. Suffering through lack of attention to Malt and Hops and Yeast, simplicity in our ingredients did not mean clean and bold flavour. The end result was very drinkable thanks to a solid base malt content - but the brew suffered from a lack of bitterness and the big sugar content meant that the cloying nature of all that two row barley keep this juggernaut from ever taking flight. We will try again and it will impress, but for the time being it is a return to the drawing board.

Giles

VF# 9

I cannot remember this brew. It does not leave any lasting scars on my mind..... So does this mean it was well brewed using VF#7 as a guide we knocked out a session hightail copy? Probably - I would love to think at this point in our brewing career we could do such a thing. I have a fuzzy memory of sharing in a keg of this at a mates buck show and thinking it was pretty good! So it is confirmed that VF# 9 was a success. Interesting point - look at the amount of malt used = 30.5kg and only getting 1.056 from 116L of fresh wort. This is pretty inefficient - so hopefully you will see the figures improve with future brewing.

Giles

VF# 8

The experience of VF#8 should not have been forgotten, but sadly I think it was.... Fresh Hops from the hop garden in the South East of South Australia and a great big mess!! Blocked hoses - blocked pump - a heap of grain and a big learning curve!
Current hop production at that time restricted us to barely one brew, having tested the hops quality by self administering tea - and nearly defecating myself! Note to self: do not swallow the hop tea!! So we put all our eggs in this basket - hoping for a bitter ale, see the title IPA on the picture above it ended up more of an English ale with beautiful malt character, and the fresh hops aided in the clean finish. This was all luck - having no idea of the actual bittering quality of our fresh hops except for the digestive quality it eventuated in a very good ale. Wonderfully balanced and with lovely toffee quality - obviously gained from the Munich and Amber malts. Oh well lets not stuff up the next hop harvest ale!?! Read VF#11 for the debacle.

Giles