Bottle Aged Farmhouse Rye

I am learning to take competitions with smiles and giggles. The smiles represent the ability to brew good beer while the laughter is to soothe the jagged pill of crushed confidence. I am reviewing a multitude of scoresheets. The beers I entered scored low or suffered from low carbonation. I had simply rushed some and held others beyond their grace. At the time I was in a phase of farmhouse ales & sours. Needing to produce beers for competition my better brews were likewise edgy. The NTHBA my local home brewing club and I were fighting to bring home the Bluebonnet Cup award. Our club took home the medal; however, with no help from my arsenal.

I entered a Farmhouse Rye which had developed an interesting profile. The ale was fermented with a homebrewed culture then aged in the bottle. I found the result to be horsey with a leading edge not quite lactic. The early notes were grassy sour with some sulfuric and bumble gum esters. Time had pinched the bumble gum leaving a crusted earth aroma with no sulfur. Surprisingly the competition judges found it hard to describe. I've thought this would be the case given the culture's unique history.

Aroma: 9/12
medium general farmhouse aroma horse blanket. no hops or malt.

Appearance: 3/3
Big head. good retention. good color
lacey head

Flavor: 14/20
no malt. some hop. Farmhouse flavors. hard to describe.

Mouthfeel: 5/5
medium body. good carb. no warmth.
no astringency.

Overall: 7/10
An ok beer. not sure what to think. not a bad beer but not a good Belgian Pale Ale

Aroma: 9/12
Wonderful farmhouse aroma, malt, hops, and cheese. Odd esters & Phenols

Appearance: 3/3
Excellent head, rocky white, w/great lace.

Flavor: 14/20
hoppy flavor with unusual finish. Has grassy notes, and lemony taste

Mouthfeel: 4/5
good body & great carbonation

Overall: 7/10
this is a true specialty beer the flavors are unusual, but pleasant I would enjoy this with Thai food

Farmhouse Rye

As a way to beat the summer heat I've been brewing session beers. The brews should allow full insight on malts and recipe formulation. This beer is a 5% rye beer brewed with two row malt and wheat extract. The yeast was collected from SSF Trappist Weisse bottle dregs. The Trappist yeast is over the top complex. I'm getting earthy tarts accentuated with banana and bubble gum esters. Fermented cool the Farmhouse Rye finished as a balanced beer with some yeasty character. It's best served without rousing the settlement. The rye is showcased in flavor and aroma with medium body. There is no hop aroma but there is lingering bubble gum spice character supporting the sour rye. I'm also getting some light sulfur funk which should be avoided. The flavor is grassy from the rye with a balanced sour tartness. The beer finishes like a sweet-tart but there are some things to clean up next brew. I'll start by kicking out the wheat extract and brewing with all grains.