8 in the big house

November 2011
With a full quota and then some we are off again. First up its the Wigram ginger Jerry, a ginger infused Wit Bier. Its good, apparently appropriate for after mowing the grass.... the girl gets a 9, nice melons. Straight from ChCh its the Cassel's and sons Pilsner, can taste the bitterness. Not bad but an average one. Nice bottle. A Moa has popped up, they seem to have a lot of hype surrounding them but we haven't tended to try a lot of them. This time its the original, its a lager, its good, fine and would probably work after cutting the grass. Up next its the Renaissance MPA Imperial IPA. As expected its big and hoppy not much else said really, it is what it is. Two lables make it a bonus (infiltrating the US of A)We've had plenty of beer snacks over the meetings but Mike is planning on whale on a stick being the next big thing! With the brains trust assembled we always try to answer the hard questions in life. This time, Why can we spell neutrino when we can't even prove they exist? And now for another new one, the Wigram Morning Glory golden ale, following up on the success of moa breakfast beer. Its good! well balanced and Good! Best beer of the night. This was followed up with the Brewmoon amberley Ale, alright but a tough call after the morning glory. And now another of the growing list from Stoke, the stoke bomber KPA (Kiwi Pale Ale). Doesn't come across as a pale ale. Its pleasant, a red/amber Ale and a whole lot of bollocks on the label. To finish, the renaissance Elemental Porter. Its a Porter, chocolatey! Its good. After a big night there are 3 standouts, the ginger jerry, morning glory and the MPA. (167 down)

October tastings

So I know the idea of a blog is to post regularly. As you may have worked out, I haven't managed to do it. But since our last discussion, we have knocked back about 15 new beers. To start with we continued on with the Boudary Road Brewery "Chosen One". Written up as rather ho-hum we could only agree. Based on first impressions, it couldn't have been made by speights (a compliment to speights). The Chosen One will not be chosen again. Should be called "Chosen Once". With a little more investigation, Brewery Road is not craft beer...it Independent Liquor. Moving on, the Reefton Phoenix Golden Ale from the Racecourse Brewery, Brewed by Wigram. Well we ticked that off the list (not memorable)! Up next the Townsend Sutton Hoo (which is some historically significant place in Suffolk!), Its a Hoppy, Amber coloured Ale, Well balanced...did I say hoppy? And now, Mac's Sassy Red. I do have a soft spot for Mac's. This is reliable fizz, mostly harmless and a good cleanser for the meaty ones we usually jump into. Its Good! The latest brewer'a reserve from Emerson's is the Brownville Brown Ale. Its Chocolatey but can't taste the fruit or the melon. A good drop for a brown ale.

Now its time for more history with Wigram's spruce beer. It has more mouth than nose and a big mouth at that. Smells like ginger beer. With one of us missing out on the Rex Attitude last time we we had a spare bottle, now termed the durian of beers! Thanks Stu for the email and I'm looking forward to the xeRRex. We finished that off with the Tuatara Porter, unfortunately weak and disappointing.

Wigram
Townshend Brewery
Emersons
Tuatara

This is not a problem!

This "represents" 150!... and most are off getting filled

Sausage Rolls

And the next beer is #150! Thats right 150 different beers in NZ and still charging along. No need to look outside Dunnas to buy them yet. A new one on the market, its the Boundary Rd Brewery Bouncing Czech Pilsner Lager. Not bad at all but can't quite see the explosions of citrus that is "expected". Closely followed by the Flying Fortress Pale Ale. A better brew, nice flavour and hoppy. Ok so we're still waiting...where are the sausage rolls?! Just for the record Kangaroo's heads DO move when they hop! Up next the Townsend JCIPA... not sure what the JC stands for....First taste is mouldy...dank....but drinkable. Then its the Emerson's JP 2011...is good..is strong at 9%. Then we're into the box og Tuatara Pale Ale. Can't remember whether we have had this but these guys do well. Hang on ...all is not as it seems, the box is filled with yeastie boys Rex attitude....No comment but drinkin it. Smells worse than it is. Could be refined a little I reckon, not quite our choice. Charging on to 200!

boundary road brewery
Townshend Brewery
 Emersons
Tuatara

Gettin fruity and smokin

Heading into the depths of winter we start with a fruit beer. The Mata Feijoa. Not bad, pleasant, lagery...can't really taste the feijoa but what would I know...comes in at the end. Not liked by all. Try it in summer. Up next. Monteith's "Radler bier"...I tried to stay true to the cause but the mission is to try them all, so I had one. General consensus: too fizzy, stupid name. Not really good in winter. Then its the Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude made with 100% whiskey malt. Ok its malty! Smoky! Just very phenolic... a bit like a depth charge. It has 1 redeeming feature... its 7%. Helps you get thru the coal tar. 3/4 down ....its not bad now. Just need to remind everyone of the Beltane Maiden. Its the Bogan chick beer! Moving on, Emerson's 1812, bottled, familiar and good! (technically we aint had the bottled one). To finish its the Emerson's Brewer's reserve Dubbel. A few have not recovered from the rex....Over the past month I've had enough of this to say its dam good.... doesn't take many to put you on your back. And the one with two mother's in law is now on probation. Until next time...


Mata
Yeastie Boys
Emersons

Dropping like flies

The numbers are down. Recruiting is not good. But the show must go on!  Yeastie boys Hud a wa! Its a hoppy amber ale that continues to be good. A bit gassy....or maybe we're getting to used to draft and the hand pump! Brewmoon Hophead IPA. Uh Oh...its organic! quite good/tasty! Just in case you weren't sure; stinky feet = hexanoic acid = parmesan cheese. Up next the Tall Poppy India Red Ale from the 8 wired crew. very drinkable...maybe a bit burnt. And of course anything is better if its louder! To finish of the "dessert" beer. The Renaissance Craftsman Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Looks like a mouthful just writing it. A bit like the James Hardy...pleasant...interesting...chocolatey. And thats another round done.... 143 by my counting...how many more to go? Heaps I hope!

yeastie boys
brewmoon 
8 wired
renaissance brewing

Goin' out to the plains

The truck comes around to pick us all up...good on ya mate... and we're off over the hill. Stupidly we fail to bring extras for travellers. We get there and we're into it. We start with Greenman Lager .... wait for it .... Its quite drinkable. As a greenman its credible, easily the best GM ... STOP its gone flat! Need we say more! Next the Sauvin Pilsner from the twisted hop. At this point we note that none of the beers we have have questions. This beer... not bad! A beer to sit around and talk bull sh!t to. Pity the brewpub is stuck in the redzone. Then there was the Mashup. Its a collaborative thing with lots of NZ breweries. Its even got their own internet tv. Anyway back to the beer... well its a very hoppy golden looking ale. Pretty damn good. But you expect that from the boys from epic. Next up the Brewmoon Broomfield brown ale. Malty...but turns out to be a dilute stout. And the brains trust has come up with teh ingenious idea of a beer & sausage saturday, trying to get the invites to the Tui girls. Finally we get to the Arrow brewery Wee heavy. Its sweet and malty...not too bad. Maybe that why I drank so much "heavy" in Edinburgh. Somehow we need to get these brewers to Dunedin. Might skip on the fermented mare's milk.

greenmanbrewery
the twisted hop
nzcraftbeer.tv
Brewmoon
arrowbrewing

Cyclists should be banned - April 2011

A ring in joins the crowd tonight... not sure what to make of us but soons warms up. Up first the latest Brewer's reserve from Emersons, the Bird Dog Pale Ale. All agree this is very good - a modern classic from Dunedin. Up next after the devastation that two of the boys brought Greenman "cyclist" we jumped in.... to the "water with a hint of flavour", no wait its beer with L&P actually forget it, just buy L&P. Distinct taste of citric acid and only 2.5%. The other 4 are being sent back. And now for a beer with flavour, the Croucher Hef a cloudy wheat. "Its marmalade in a jar" Post - maiden bathing" Not too bad but may not hurry back. Pink Elephant Golden Tusk Special. BIG, strong and tasty... we get "ghanayan beans". And to finish off its some Epic PA and Lager.

And that makes it 134 different brews!

Emerson's
Greenman 
Croucher
Pink Elephant
Epic

Getting Moa'd - March

Off again and we started with the Mussel Inn Golden Goose Lager. Quite tasty, brewed by the boys in Invercargill. NZ grown malt & hops...keeping it "local". Up next...the dreaded Scotts Gluten free Amber Ale. Its definitely not sex in a canoe....comes across as a dilute beltane, its wrongly sour. "This is no ordinary beer" OK so that out of the way its onto Stoke Amber...Arrggghh thats better, not too bad, malty. Now its another Matson's, Classic draught, not bad ...stoke was better. and of course time for a random comment out of context..."Gingers do it from behind" no doubt its some dodgy politician! To finish of we thought we'd get Moa'd with the Methode Moa premium lager in the biggest beer bottle ever! or at least we've seen. Ok its only 1.5 ltrs... By this stage it was tasty! Trust me if it was bad we'd say!

Mussel Inn
Invercargill Brewery
Scotts brewing
Stoke
Matson's
Moa

February The Trek

The rain was falling and we were persistent on walking. It turns out that Doug's is a little further than we imagined. At least it made us thirsty. Its time for a jar... no seriously, we each grabbed our Agee jar and we were off. Invers B.man Pilsner... Beer man? not a bad pilsner pity about the "compliment" obviously haven't found the stubbie spell checker. And so thats Invers ticked off (at least for their standards). Then the three boys from chch.... smells! ok smells of lime and citurs (thats on the label) and ...coriander (thats on the label too)! A little disappointing really. Thats 3 boys ticked off too! Hamish is soapy and apparently Stephen Fry is f...  tall! And now its Matsons Irish mild in an usually pink box. its a bit cjewy but alright. Why do I find the word "sockburn" odd? (thats where its brewed)...and doug has gladwrap on the windows. Cheaper than double glazing. By the way, we're looking an ad for ad block plus. ok I digress The Mata Black Bru dark ale. It lives up to its name...its dark... and made with "organic artesian water". Thank god its organic. Its a good black beer...pity about Hamish. Oh and have you ever noticed...you can't google it because coke is it! And to top off a damn good nite, Epic porter marillo. The what? The bottle says its got smoked tamarillo in it! This is a remarkable beer! (smells like burnt popcorn... no wait that is burnt oopcorn) A collaboration with the US. The best beer of the night...quite smooth. At this stage we all agreed that for a marionette, Lady Penelope was quite hot. We might be canging the night... macrame commitments... and J from the belleknowes crew may make a comeback. Night all.

Invercargill brewery
3boys brewery
Matson's
Mata
Epic Beer

January 2011

I'm liking the new format. Might even make me keep up to date! And on to the beer. One of the new guys noy knowing our love/hate relationship with Green Man brought the Premium Pilsner. Ok so we will try them all!... Its creamy...unexpected...almost pilsner like... Its Alright (they say with surprise!). Emerson's latest brewer's reserve.. Tally-Ho a Summer Ale. It was hoppy and good. (I ducked down for a flagon the next day!) Next up one og Harrington's thousand beers  - The East Indies Lager. Not too bad, a bit of flavour for a lager. Next up The Townsend Brewery Cathcarts NTA. Not sure what NTA stands for... No wait.. "Nelson Terrible Ale" and it gets worse! However simon likes it. Strange boy. One for the fathers... "What ever you do to my daughter tonight boy, I do it to you tomorrow night!" Then the townsend brewey Old House ESB (extra special bitter) after the last one, not so sure ... but its not too bad! Then the Stoke Dark... from the guys of Mac's fame... well its dark and malty.. not much else. All in all a good night, pity the beer ran out!

Currently

Ok so now I'm uptodate! Well almost. need to post last months session and a few photos but apart from that we're good!

Beltane...worst beer ever

Beer Coat

 

And now December's meeting in January! Just adding to the Xmas beer coat. Another new bloke and someone fotgot to explain what to bring. First up is the hosts' Mata Brown Boy Amber Ale.... Its not the remarkables...based on the fact that two sets of Cardrona Gold have shown up. And THAT is VERY pleaseant (note to blog: ...had one in Wanaka on draught...could become a regular!). What should rear its ugly head again is the Beltane maiden. "Its different" but the best call...dissolved a pickled onion in a steinlager! The Invercargill WASP ... "We've had that!" No we haven't ... yes we have...its not on the list.... its actually quite good. SOme good things do come out of Southland. Then there was a homebrew which tasted like...homebrew. Then the MOa corked flashy things. the wheat beer and the Noir. Respectable but not sure what the fuss is about. To finish off the CRoucher Pilsner. My notes are getting bad! Will aim to have more in the January January meeting! BEER

I'm confused

[25 January 2011]

 

So now it gets confusing...November in December. A new bloke and off the mark with a new beer stoke gold, first thing "Its metallic" but its drinkable. With the numbers down, there are a couple of American ring-ins. Stone Imperial IPA San Diego... not that pleasnt an aftertaste! Ale Smith IPA...mmmmm noice! Back local ...with yeastie boys Pot kettle Black, a hoppy porter and then to finish off its Harrington's winter brew the cloevy wintertide. not bad but just one of thjose seasonal brews!

October

[21 November 2010] 

 

October... Mata blonde belgian wit... Nice...lacks the trappist kick but would give it another go. Then the kaimai brewing co. Golden Rye Ale.... Not bad....not all agreed but we will get back to this! Harrington's Pig & Whistle. Too much pig and not enough whistle! Cogar ash. I didn't mind it...ex smoker an all! And f...or the second piggy brew was Harrington's Razor back, premium bitter. malty and not too bad. To finsih off the foursome was Emerson's Old 95, ever reliable. ANd this weeks award for the Iron bladder is W. The winner iron the night was Kaimai brewing co.

Raising the Bat

[21 November 2010]

 

September... Invers Dubbel Happy, Well its a black one. Sophisticated for the deep south. Up next was Mike's "Premium" organic ale was... at the time... weird & unpleasant as on the bottom of the shoe! A bit gutless & a bit nothing. Two weeks later 6 others tasty nutty and delicious! Sitting on 99, wait Hamish brings ...out his crumbed fried cheese sandwiches. This man tries to excel himself with his canapes! There it is thats 100, The 8 wired brewing Co. The big smoke, Smoked Porter. It grows on you. And now for the next 100. Up next is Scott's Gluten free Pale Ale. There's a reason why you keep the gluten. This had the flavour of a toilet lolly. HAd a ring in, the atom splitter from cambridge....Hmmmm.

July 2010

[29 September]

 

wait...the filing system works! Beer bottles, not yet catalogued and of course the notes. it was at mine ...its coming back to me. This is July! First up, Wanaka brewski followed by the tall black. not bad...not too much body. Then the three boys oyster stout. Richer and tasty. The croucher pale ale...Smells pretty good for rotorua. Good colour, flavour...Nice! (not Simon's fault!). Then the Harvard honey ale....divided.we finished off with monteith's winter ale and harrington's rogue hop..... the winner on the night was croucher!

Getting Hazy - August 2010

[29 September 2010]

Ok so I can't remember the time before last...got June sorted... what happened in July? I know we postponed one but can't remember ...was it at mine? Aaanyway Juno's man cave! With the warriors! Up first was the Emerson's Billy T wit. A belgian wit style beer base with piko piko, kawakawa and kumara. Pretty dam good! C...losely followed by the last of the mohicans the third in the red IPA set. Following on closely was the JP for 2010 another IPA in the belgian tripel style. Big flavour, big beer. The order is fading... but the 3 boys porter.... chocolatey....pretty good (from memory) uh oh ...feckin hiccups. And the talking point for the night ws the beltane maiden, " a drink for lesbians...with lemon! possibly the worst we have had. Juno turned lesbian...It might taste better tomorrow! But its not really beer...would prefer todrink the flood water and risk the cholera! "something wrong with this beer!" Until next time

June Favourites

[24 July 2010]

I'm a bit crap at keeping up but this is last months (just before this months). Tonight we are at Warren's stable. Before we drink we have to earn it by moving the "dog house"! The idea was to bring our favourite.... even if we hadn't tried it..all beer, all good. Up first, Twisted Hop IPA. Have tased it on tap in hous...e and nice to see we can now get it here. Not too shbby in the bottle. Epic Pale Ale, (my fav) always good and hoppy. All of a sudden we're getting innovative! Using sheep to stop the oil leak. Another great NZ export Its unfortunate that BP (thats British Pelican!) can't fix the problem. Mike's IPA, an expensive drop in a flash bootle, everyone but me lauds the taste as great! It has a passionfruit syrup hint...possibly a little sweet.

...Harrington's Classy red, "an american pale ale"...nothing bad. Epic Mayhem.....Delicious!...Founder's Fair Maiden Ale....A perfectly reasonable beer but renamed "slapper Ale"..she is after all nailed to a ship. And the ming commander throws himself on the grenade! But wait we forgot..Meenan's Lager (than...ks steve)....very average!!!!!

 

May 2010

[12 July 2010]

 

Its been a while.... May at Simon's. Started with the Emerson's brewer's reserve, Cellar Dog Keller Bier...well...its not my favourite, has flavour but a bit watery. One of the few Emerson's we didn't like. Next up, 8 wired brewery - rewired brown ale. "Really good"...but...I wasn't a fan...everyone else liked it. Next... the "Jesus its fizzy" Croucher pilsner. It was "luscious" in a fat slags kinda way. Up next was the Wigram Dunkel. Simon announces "thats nice" having not yet actually tasted it! He's been faking it! To finish off Emerson's porter Simon says: "shits allover Wigram" having actually tasted it! Its like an old sweater!

 

Field Trip!

[22 May 2010]

April...Field trip to Craft bar..time for monteiths! Sampled Golden lager, Pils, Celtic (old favourite), The original, Black and the Autumn Ale...very pleaseant. Quite odd for an old bloke to be out and about. Didn't get around to the cyclist but we all know that its just a shandy conspiracy. until next time

March Wipeout

[22 May 2010]

 

The March wipeout  what a premonition that was! So to start the evening, we introoduced our ringin. We started with the Dux Ginger beer, spicey not too bad. And I must all so pass on the tasting of Kirsty's sensational sausauge rolls. Whilst we don't generally present food, this was special. Up next was Meenan's x...tra strong ale. There is probably a good reason that its $8.40 for 2L. A bit like milo for big people. Up next Dux Lager. Hoppy...surprising...pleasant but possibly a little too hoppy...? Next Tuatara Pilsner drier...nicer...these guys do good beer! Back down to ChCh.

3 boys golden ale...Hmmm nothing in the notes...memory not ggod. At this stage its beer #5 normally we limit to 6 but there is another 4 to go! Then, a surprise. The Hawkes Bay Independent Brewery - Black Duck Superior Dark Ale.... Niiice! Thganks Arlene! We revisit Greenman Krystal Weiss.... Not... too bad really. Oh and Jesus drank Riesling. Up next The Nor'wester Pale Ale from Dux. "Too much" was the call from Juno.Thanks also to David Michaelologist.... Thats what a lot of beers do to one!. Last but not least Taieri George....unfortunately we didn't do it justice....no idea what it tasted like after all those beers. have ticked it on the list but will revisit! Next month an outing!

 

[28 March 2010]

And soooo here's february's report...a little late but here's the tasting notes! Epic lager...not bad! And then, after a month in the cellar of H's bag at my house was the Galbraiths somthing or other german type beer.... reminiscent of...band aids or mouldy oranges! Harringtoms Indian Lager. Nothing written, nothing r...ecalled. (must do this when btrain is closer to remembering time!)
Emerson's Pilsner ! As usual aromatic and dam good. todays smell was basil.
Next. Harrington's wobbly boot, the porter ale. We have an unexpected winner! Last but by no means least was Epic Mayhem, A split decision but big & tasty and I thnk the aye's have it...we approve..next report is the March wipeout

Field Trip!

[12 March 2010]

The plan for next year

http://brewersguild.org.nz/beervana

 

Bonus Tonic

[29 Jan 2010]

 

ok so the fog has cleared after the bonus round at Tonic. Firstly well
done to the guys at tonic. its an awesome little bar and its all about
beer..... craft beer!

So we started with an epic pale ale...always good. Then we had a crack
...at the brewmoon IPA....interesting. toffee and caramel flavours and an
unusual IPA. Was this the vegetarian one? Then it was wanaka brewery
Brewski, a czech style pilsner...hmm so so. As it was a bonus round I
took the liberty of getting a ring in: Little creatures.... A little
different this time. Just goes to show that all different beers in a
sitting changes the flavour of them compared to several of the same!

Then we tried the Guest beer on tap: Golden bear Helles Lager. Disappointing but the night was humming. We were on the second round and as we are all gentlemen we had to be stayers. Err becoming hazy but thankfully...Emersosn came through...Booky, IPA.... and I can't remember...no must ahve been pilsner as the young bloke had just tapped the keg. Until next time

 

http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/TopBeersByCountry.asp?CountryID=148

We Had a big one

[13 Jan 2010]

 

January - BBQ - Rain - 8 beers! So inorder to start the ball rolling we got stuck in to that classic NZ brew "Casa" el something or other....brewed in Auckland!!!! not bad...not that good. Next was the realisation that most of the samples were strong ones. Thankfully we started early and I was already at home! Pink El...ephant Mammoth was up next! A strong ale of about 7%. Big flavours - a wee bit of a contrast after casa del box. Hamish was nice enough to bring two brews (more on that later!): an emersons Brewer's reserve - Maris Gold, a tasty goldan ale.

Then we went back to the green man! After several "average" tastings,
this one is a surprise. Its the Strong which is "aged" in oak whisky
barrels. You can taste the flavour and its got some of its own. it is
sweet with no bitter or bad after taste. I liked it and I think the
others did too. Well done Juno! After a fast s...tart and limited food we
look to the solace of the 4% Fringes from Whangarei....And so the
chortles start mostly as I can't spell..."smells like vegemite!", "not
my favourite" and we all agreed that it was close to flat coke. And old
favourite renaissance Pale Ale...goes down a treat.

And new recruit
Simon Comes up with the Ngahere Gold, a blast from the past or a kick
in the shins as its another strong one! Not too bad. ANd he's
officially in after completing 19 1/2 push ups after Juno stes the mark
of 19 clap push ups (we didn't tell him he was a personal trainer!) At
...this stage we would happily tell it like it is! And to finish off (
well not quite) Juno trumps in with the Green man whisky Bock. A double
bock mature in the oak cask and...10%. To be honest...it was too late
in the day! After a few more beers it all became a blur. Bonus round is
Tonic bar!

 

 

Thanks James

Sooo the last Meet of the year was a visit to the Speights Brewery. Unfortunately H hd some other booze up but thats life. So we went up and down the stairs, hung out in the grain silo and...finally...got to the tasting room! We got the "fresh" unpasteurised goild medal!, old dark, apricot wheat beer, distinction, and ...the two othe commercial sherbets (Thanks Dave and John for the tour). Then it was next door for a couple of handles.
Then it was porter and pilsner. Unfortunately no more pale ale! A good night had by all.

 

Ahhh McDuffs...its all organic!

[10 Nov 2009]

So we invited the better halfs to watch our shenanigans for better or worse. And then there was the beer!
Edinburgh draught - Steve can smell his armpit - although his dose is blocked!
There is honey yes! Not bad not great. DO MIA.
...Wheat Lager nose of manuka..that was Steve again. best lager top for a while. Could steinlager be a competitor? Original Ale smoky malt (nothing different there!). Not worth stealing. Think carefully if offered one for free! Its a kinda nothing. Next Black diamond...better...malty but "not going to become our house beer" H...hops? surely not
Dark Ale - no colour change...is that legal? The subtlety is amazing!
The stout....the best label! obviously saving the best till last...more malt...but...ok does anyone have any real beer? Next time its the speights brewery!

Nth Island

[10 November 2009]

 

The North Island Episode...only 4 but thats a quorum!
All good ...except for 1.

Tuatara Pilsner....hoppy!
Mata artesian style (lager...ish) brewed using certified organic artesian water....lucky theres no inorganics!
...Epic Pale Ale....Mmm tasty
Epic Armageddon IPA....even more flavour...but was it too much. I think the consensus was the Pale ale!
Actually I almost forgot. We ticked off Steinlager (1 bottle between 4 was still too much!)

One Day in September

16th October 2009

Its been almost a month since my last confession... ok so its all a bit vague to be honest.... Below the 45th was the theme.... well that was the idea! Started with the invercargill stout.....not bad at all, and after D's reference to Mr Clinton, it looked like we were in for a good one. Not sure of the order.... we tr...ied the Invercargill smokin Bishop.... best kept in the bottle.... a tasty bock mixed with tasty smoke and too much flavour destroyed this. The next installment in the Emerson's arsenal was the new weizenbock.... different again as a wheat beer with bits of spice. Then there were some imports from up north. The dux brewery got a few guernseys! If my memory serves me well they were not bad but not fantastic. The dark lager didn't seem to do much. The stout was good. and the strong ale....no idea...And then there's the mystery bottle. We got some very local brews from some random (forgotten the connection!) punters Homebrew that hamish ran into in between meetings!

 

So I just realise that there is a character limit...anyway on the last beer....wasn't bad but as D has said elsewhere...still tasted like a home brew.

Managed a few sneaky's in between....tried the emerson's bewitched.... (another wheat beer!). Back to the home land.... fat yak, little creatures, a moo brew at the trans...port bar with a budvar (thanks Sam and meg!) Back with the boys on GF day.... tallies of coopers pale, CUB invalid stout (delicious!) and I can't get away from the little creatures PA.....

better get back to the "bewildered" emersons summer weisebeer on draught!

Next week is Nth island

 

More Beer

 [1 Sep 2009]

Ok so what are we up to no 5?

6 of us was a good start and the theme...Harringtons!

They have heaps of beers and we'll be back because they were good! Ok not all were Harrington's, W provided us with summer weiss beer, always good from Mr E. Speaking of which we shared teh rare clam stout... a little (subtly) salty lite stout - the slappers southern stout!

The Harrington's - Dopplebock - nice, rich

Finest lager - I'm not normally a huge fan of largers but very drinkable.

Classy Red (american pale ale) drunk it!

and Big John....chocolaty and pleasant.

All in all beer was the victor!

Beer IV

[3 Aug 2009]

I like beer Beer is good I like beer Beer is good.

First up - Epic pale ale shipped in via J's "special contact"...believe the hype...its good, no lingering aftertaste.

Now for Green man no. 2: the IPA with a psychedelic label. Maybe its design to distract you. As an IPA its not a bad banana flavoured wheat beer!....The Green Man...You don't know whats in there! This one we think was mislabeled...or simply odd as an IPA!

And now on to the Weka brewed by EPIC...no wait thats a MOA! Big honey flavour...unfortunately not much else....would be worth trying again on a hot day!

No 4. Renaissance American Pale Ale. Mr D was musing that if only renaissance berwery could move to Dunedin we would be twice as happy.... (two excellent breweries in Dunnas). Another fine ale. Good!!!

Last but not least....The Manuka beer! the mussel inn Captain Cooker. AS the story goes, Captain cook ...herbal.... anyway its brewed with Manuka. No other beer has created soooo much discussion. Yes its unusual and the flavour definitely grows on you but is it actually beer? The initial "nose" is...well.. furniture polish! (wood furniture of course). Its like drinking beer with granny with Great Aunty Mabel's hanky drawer open on the sideboard. Next thing you know we are talking crap on stuff from 200 years ago. A VERY unusual drop. Parfait Amour We must have liked it, there was nothing left!

So next time is bonus beer. H will be wetting the new baby's head! Off to the Speights Brewery to tick those flavours off the list.

Beer III

[14 July 2009]

Bizarrely this is only the third official sitting...belgian style beers. Early change of venue saw us hitting Hamish's place (still no news!)  So right from the start the comoon factor with belgian styl beers is that the lowest alcohol level is 6.5%!

I had picked up 2 bottles of Invercargill brewery's Boysenberry and, since I was down there anyway got the remaining two (ok so my brother-in-law got them). I wasn't sure what to expect and assumed (wrongly) that it would be bizaar and too sweet. Very wrong and pleasantly surpised. Obviously it was pinkish red in colour and you could taste the fruit but it was good...pretty damn good. We ended up with two different batches 2008 and 2009. You could tell the difference. The earlier 'vintage' had less of an acidic flavour where the fruit had mellowed....niiiice!

Let me say again...Belgain beers are strong...so I think it was the tuatara ardennes next. Definetly nice...Ok so I refer to Dave's twitters (?) Much richer than normal beer!

Emersons JP (the second one)... we couldn't wait any longer. The label says it comes with a hint of aniseed! If you like aniseed this beer is great, pity we didn't ... it was drinkable but somewhat overpowering. Still amazed that this beer cam with so much flavour.

Moa 9.5 % St Joseph's tripel... a lot of beer in this one! Chewy ( I think). Its things like these we will need to revisit ( I hear no opposition)

S had the pace of mind to hold back on the big alcohol and Renaissance Paradox Blonde... from memory...it was good! Need to revisit this again!

Surprisingly J was awfully quiet by the end of the night... and those cheesymite chips are goood!

Next time its random selections...and fishing...and our first field trip too

the obsession continues

dunkelweiss...so I managed to experience the privilege of an emerson's brewery tour (all in the of science of course NZIC official outing) Got the full spiel from the master brewer himself Richard Emerson. After a little "quality control" and discussing the nectar of the gods with the man himself, I'm back on the couch haviong devoured 2 pints of dunkelweiss. Absolutely delicious. banana, chocolately and ....delicious!

And another thing

its too long between beer nights! particularlywhen it becomes an obsession

Not so sneaky beer - safety in numbers

[12 June 2009]

so it was getting late on Friday afternoon and in my defense someone else mentioned a bar that has 360 beers.... which reminded me of a bar in Dunedin. So i looked it up and I found they had a good number of "local" beers which looks like a good place to visit! They also have the Bestival of Feers! Anyway I digress. They have a link to soba "society of beer advocates" and a newsletter. So basically I have discovered more and more of the subculture of beer in this fine place. ...and it is huge.

Back to the "local". Soba have a newsletter with reams of information on ...beer and an add for Emrson's, JP 2009 comes out Monday! and after reading the tonic bar's webpage and their Emerson's brewer's choice on tap, here I am sitting on a Friday night with my flagon of very dark ale which is absolutely delicious (Chocolaty, a bit of caramel slightly burnt but big and smooth) ! I popped down to the brewery (gotta love a "small city") bought myself a flagon (filled up of course). It put beer in perspective. A choice of 5 craft beers to fill the bottle with and a constant stream of...well to be honest...men after their weeks beer. Enjoying the craft. And me a "young fella" taking on the whole lot. All in good time!

Also managed a knapstein pale lager from the Enterprise brewery in a swanky Collins st eatery. Company was great (nice ring Joc), beer was damn good (champagne exceptional!). Could lose the cone of silence in the taxis but I see the problems!

So beer has become an obsession. I don't think I ever brewed anything as good as this myself The flagon) but i made something similar I'm sure. Its sad that I find (commercial) beer from the homeland bland and boring but thats what it is. I enjoy a beer and I like the huge variation available. Bring it on. (pardon - thats the beer talking)

Beer II

[3 June 2009]

Mmmm wheat beer. So its round two, M was missing in action and H on incoming duty leaving just 5 of us. The initial plan was out on the deck to enjoy the freezing conditions but someone caved. First up tuatara hefe. pleasant, wheaty (duh!) a few of us a little surprised mainly due to the last one he brought!

Wigram Hefe, a little more body and well partially better (given its beer number two we hope it gets better!)

Emersons weiss beer. Nuf said, big wheaty, spice, nice

Macs "great white" cloudy wheat beer - a definite wheat beer not as big as the others, possibly a little more accessible maybe? still pretty damn good.

Emersons dunkelweiss - completely different! We were getting to the stage that the difference between wheat beers is pretyy subtle and we like wheat beer. This one is not a standard wheat beer. A very tasty dark beer that happens to be made with wheat.

So that was some of the wheat beers. Speights make one, and we decided that our first field trip will be the brewery.

Next time its belgian style and pilsners.....Mmm beer

NZ Beer

[24 May 2009]

 

And so its almost time for the second session and I haven't even posted the first session notes. Lets start with the simple caveat that this is simply a few blokes having a beer and its just our opinion. We do want to try every beer produced in NZ thats not licensed to a multi nataional. Night No. 1 is Ale nigh...t or " A few good ales"

So we start at the southern most NZ Brewery - Invercargill brewery and their "Stanley Green Pale Ale". All seems fine but just seemed to lack some body. Not bad but not great. Will reserve judgement on IB for another time.

Next...H brings out the flagon of cellar door emerson's IPA. Big hoppy flavour and up there as a damn good beer. One day I;ll be able to link that spare brain cell to the fact that IPA is a Hop flavour! Check out the website. It is all good right from the start. Congrats to the "Deaf Bastard"...thats what the guys have convinced me that Mr R Emerson calls himself...so Cheers Richard.
Renaissance Pale Ale. So with 2 beers under our belt we started to sort out who was having the next nite and what we're going to do.... Along these lines the R Pale Ale went down a treat and whilst it didn't have that special flavour of something it was basically delicious and a definite stand out.

3 Boys Pale Ale. I was lagging behind a little by this stage and talking too much (and too loudly apparently). Somebody mentioned sweaty armpit, someone else agreed and by the time I got to it, it was unanimous! The initial flavour was indeed just like sweaty armpit but that soon left and most of it was consumed. Someone mentioned lychees and we agreed that it wasn't made from the creel out the back with a dead body floating in it. Intriguing. I don't want to know why it eminds someone of an ex.

W's 4.... a bit of a misunderstanding and W brought 4 different ones. In hindsight it was possibly a better option given the results. emerson's bookbinder.   Niiice
Harrington's Big John.... a bit chewy and couldn't taste the bourbon
Greens Man Celt .... don't go there!!!!
Harrington's Belgium Tempest

Macs low carb. Low on the carbs, Low on the flavour. nuff said.
By this stage we were abot to solve some major human issues and have organised a fund for a field trip and the insistance that we will try all of the beers available and not the ones you can just get down the local shop.


Now to finish off the Emerson's IPA....and the peanuts and the pretzels. Wheat beer next! Pick of the nite for me was Renaissance PA followed by Emerson's. The question needs to be asked, Has Mr Emerson ruined it for everyone else? Oh and what was that about American beer being some of the best in the world?

The beginning

Ok so Beer club has been going for a while and I've a "bit!" slack in getting the right web format. What follows is the ongoing "notes" which started in April 2009 up to now! Yep we are already 100 beers in and still loving it!