Fed Square Micro Brew Showcase

[bum]

bum, you might have had a bad keg, lines were fouled, who knows? It's not far-fetched to think someone from Tooborac hit this thread late last night and swapped kegs for tonight's tasting. Like brewing, multiple-variables are at play and what you tasted last night (or the bottle before me as we stand in line at the next stall over) could be a totally different experience. And then you get into interpretation of flavours, sensitivity, experience, etc. but anyway, I'll stand on record as emphatically stating their beer was not infected@ approx. 7:15PM 18.03

Very well, I unreservedly withdraw my claims of infection and apologise to all (especially the brewery). But I would like to go on record saying that the impression I got was much worse than the flaws you've described. I will go on further to say that I'm not sure the impression I got from the glass served can entirely be blamed on preference or lack of experience/knowledge. I'm coming to understand very clearly the difference between what I dislike and what is bad (it's kinda like the old "I don't know much about art but I know what I like" but in reverse. I could see nothing positive in this beer. It does seem as though I bashed a great many beers above but at the time I pointed out everything positive and negative I could about each beer to SWMBO (much to her chagrin). I really do feel that my impression of this one goes beyond just not being a fan.

And sorry folks, the Arctic Fox APA suxors.

Thank Christ for that. I was beginning to feel like I was taking crazy pills.

[EDIT: Didn't mean to suggest that there aren't broad gaps in my experience and knowledge - there are. Thanks very much for taking the time to address this, reVox. It all helps me learn more.]

 

[manticle]

Highlights: Holgate hopinator and porter (temptress). Nut brown was reasonably palatable though enjoyed much, much later in the night. Temptress was chocolate and more chocolate.

Chevalier saison - late in the night with much on the palate going on but seemed in my limited experience to be tangy, wheaty and fresh tasting. Had a couple.

Prickly moses stout: just nice and smooth, quite light in body

3 ravens oatmeal stout - usually enjoy 3 ravens. Reasonably consistent, this stout was smooth and tasty.


OK

Red duck porter
Red duck belgian (although the fact that it's not actually belgian is a personal gripe)
Coldstream - something dark and probably a porter. Enjoyed about half way through the night while trying to talk about non-beer nerd stuff to non beer nerd but beer loving friends of mine and beer nerd stuff to beer nerd peoples I know and not actually look like a nerd to any of them. I think I failed on all counts.
True south dark ale - from memory, reasonable but not oustanding.
Trues south kolsch was ok. Quite sweet. Supposedly a mix btween wheat and kolsch. Never had a traditional kolsch, wasn't much like a wheat but still an ok beer.

Undrinkable:

Mountain Goat Rapunzel. Hard to say as I've enjoyed every other mountain goat I've ever tried. The others available I'd sampled previously and the rapunzel was on tap. To complete the picture, it was actually the first beer I tried and I had to tip it out. The lady serving (possibly a brewer) made a weak suggestion that she liked it but that she enjoyed belgian blondes. I tried not to be a beer wanker and just agreed that I also like belgian blondes but that that was just way too yeasty. She said the information/criticism was useful. Seriously like a big glass of yeast but I would happily recommend mountain goat beers in the main. I will be going to the brewery for beer and pizza soon and I will drink every other beer they have except this one.

Arctic Fox English pale. Tried their lager last year. Possibly because my expectations were low (marketting looked like microbrewed megaswill) I was pleasantly surprised with the lager. Marketting or not, I could finish the glass and not grimace. English pale this year was less successful. Tipped

Bright brewery porter. Some great porters at the showcase. Not this one. Tipped.

Not tried (deliberately)
Buckleys (tried once and horrible, never heard a good thing).
Matilda Bay (tried most, some bad, some ok but just don't rock my world thankyou Fosters). Why do fosters have a representation in a micro showcase anyway?
Grand ridge (tried most of them previously, mostly with good results)

Not tried (not deliberate):

Hawthorn
Toobarac
Mildura
Southern Bay
Sweetwater


Some nice beers out there and some pretty bad ones. We have a long way to go but we are also having a crack. I just wish some of the brewers would taste the beers before serving and not pretend that yeasty, buttercotch and vegemite revoltingness is a necessary part of the profile.

Would have liked to see kooinda and white rabbit there as I've enjoyed their beers each time i've tried them.


Nice to meet siborg, nice to see 4* again.

 

[bum]

I think I failed on all counts.

Don't feel bad. I couldn't even read the previous sentence. Glad to see I'm not on my own about Rapunzel.

 

[HoppingMad]

Geez. There you go. Different strokes for different folks in the tastebud stakes.
I thought the Arctic Fox APA was good, but did try it first, it was stinkin' hot and I was craving a bevvie. (what does calcium taste like? :blink: ) For now I still reckon it's a step up for these guys.

Didn't think the Toobooracs were infected either. Tried them both. Drinkable but not mind blowing. But good to try a beer from a brewery not at the showcase before, and saved me a long drive out Heathcote way to give them a go.

Have to agree with Mants on the Mountain Goat Rapunzel. Sorry, but this beer is definately not true to a golden strong ale style. As far from a beer like Duvel as you can get, despite them saying it was in the style of a 'Duvel' at the stand. Colour was bright orange and could have sworn I could taste Orange rind and corriander which would be consistent with a witbier. Whatever they've created here is a zany fusion of Wit & Strong.

Interesting to get some extra reports through on impressions tomorrow when the sore heads settle. Regardless it's a great event and a great way to sample the craftbrewing goodies from all over. I do admire these guys putting their beers side by side like this - must be pretty confronting.

Incidentally - anyone who asked for the special brew from the Holgate stand got a real treat too. Forgot to mention.

Hopper.

 

[manticle]

I was talking about the arctic english pale ale, not the american. Maybe that's where some of the confusion is coming from. They had both available - I only tried one.

 

[bum]

Have to agree with Mants on the Mountain Goat Rapunzel. Sorry, but this beer is definately not true to a golden strong ale style.

Ah. For some reason I thought this was supposed to be a Saison. Dunno why. I take back any damage control I may have placed on my opinion of this one. It is a dud.

I do admire these guys putting their beers side by side like this - must be pretty confronting.

Yeah. Hadn't thought about this. Kudos to all - even (especially?) Tooborac.

Incidentally - anyone who asked for the special brew from the Holgate stand got a real treat too. Forgot to mention.

Shit. What was this?

 

[HoppingMad]

I was talking about the arctic english pale ale, not the american. Maybe that's where some of the confusion is coming from. They had both available - I only tried one.

Noted that Mants, was referring to a post above yours from Revox talking about the APA.

Didn't try the English myself, just the APA. Had tried their lager previously and it tasted like Carlton Cold.

 

[haysie]

Have to agree with Manticle re. the Bright Porter :blink: Alcoholic Sarsparilla.
Of note for me was the Coldstream Porter, a year ago I tipped the same out whilst lunching at their micro, it was over burnt no body no head full on slickness in the mouth. Perhaps I copped dirty lines etc etc? This year it was great, roasty with choc shining thru not overly sharp with the dark malts, real good level of biterness that let the malt stand out up front. Mouthfeel had a medium body to it and the head/appearance was all there.
Otways Organic Lager was great, not sure what made it organic? being so busy I didnt get a chance to chew the fat at the stand. I found myself going back for seconds.
The place was packed when I got there, not the ideal scene for the better half elbowing and bumping between beer stands, so the decision was made early to bail out and head for the Belgian beer cafe. I hope the guys I gave my beer tickets to made good use of them.
The chilli mussel pot and leffe blonde followed up with bellevue kriek was absolute magnificent!

 

[haysie]

Have to agree with Manticle re. the Bright Porter :blink: Alcoholic Sarsparilla.
Of note for me was the Coldstream Porter, a year ago I tipped the same out whilst lunching at their micro, it was over burnt no body no head full on slickness in the mouth. Perhaps I copped dirty lines etc etc? This year it was great, roasty with choc shining thru not overly sharp with the dark malts, real good level of biterness that let the malt stand out up front. Mouthfeel had a medium body to it and the head/appearance was all there.
Otways Organic Lager was great, not sure what made it organic? being so busy I didnt get a chance to chew the fat at the stand. I found myself going back for seconds.
The place was packed when I got there, not the ideal scene for the better half elbowing and bumping between beer stands, so the decision was made early to bail out and head for the Belgian beer cafe. I hope the guys I gave my beer tickets to made good use of them.
The chilli mussel pot and leffe blonde followed up with bellevue kriek was absolute magnificent!

 

[reVoxAHB]

Geez. There you go. Different strokes for different folks in the tastebud stakes.
I thought the Arctic Fox APA was good, but did try it first, it was stinkin' hot and I was craving a bevvie. (what does calcium taste like? :blink: )

Calcium (salts) at low level, probably have very little taste (and from what I've read the perception at low-levels is akin to something being savoury) but the Arctic, at least for me, clearly went overboard probably with calc chloride or combination of CaCl2 and straight up sodium chloride. I am sensitive to salt mind you, especially in beer.

Have to agree with Mants on the Mountain Goat Rapunzel.

+1. and the girl pouring last night was not Jayne (the brewer), incidentally.

Thank Christ for that. I was beginning to feel like I was taking crazy pills.

[EDIT: Didn't mean to suggest that there aren't broad gaps in my experience and knowledge - there are. Thanks very much for taking the time to address this, reVox. It all helps me learn more.]

Ah no worries. Really, what sparked my interest was (as others have inferred) breweries/brewers presenting beers which are clearly flawed, with flaws being part of the flavour profile (or intended).

Take Emerald Hill's wheat a few years ago. First go around (at Showcase) the beer took taster's choice award for overall showcase favourite. And it was damn good. Next go around, the beer was rife with acetaldehyde, and I mean rife! It was also a little hot. When chatting to the brewers, they flat out denied there was anything wrong with the beer, that no change had been made to recipe or process.. that it was their best batch yet, etc. Even the folks around who had NO experience in tasting were saying, "Wow.. this wheat beer tastes like green apples." Jesus.

Hard to speculate where EH went wrong, but I'd put money on overstressed yeast (probably gen'd it too many times) and unjacketed ferms. I ran the numbers and the showcase winner wheat was brewed in the winter months (confirmed by brewers, too), and flawed wheat in summer (brewers told me, "Yeah, we had a few 40 degree days in there [ferm cycle]") Shit, those guys were working out of a garage, no A/C afaik, no jacketing.

I thought it might be another Emerald Hill moment.

reVox

 

[Leigh]

At one of the stands near the front on the right as you walk in, they had tasting notes...for their darker ale that had been fermented for 6 months? it had "...strong vegemite taste..." LOL

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Didn't go to the showcase this time (I was at a Champagne tasting yesterday afternoon instead... do I have to hand in my Beer Geek membership card?) - but just on the Rapunzel by Goat.

I agree - its not a Belgian Strong Golden left one.... but it wasn't last time either. The last batch of this stuff improved dramatically with age - when forst released ot was all over the place, out of style, out of balance etc etc... but a month or s later.. back on track. It never turned into what I would call a great Belgian Strong Golden... but if you think of it more as just a Belgian Blonde ale - it becomes more acceptable, and if it holds true to the last batch, age will do wonders for it. So give it another try in a month or two.

Not that I think it should be being presented in its current state - If its no damn good for another month or two, don't sell it till it is.

 

[Fourstar]

Interested to hear your take fourstar.
Cheers
reVox

Well im still shaking the cobwebs away after last nights effort. :icon_vomit:

Highlight of the night for me was Murrays India Black Ale (Black IPA) at beer deluxe! Everything ive been planning on trying to recreate with the Black IPA concept except im always getting too much roast. sweet maltiness, complex Hoppiness and a neuance of cocoa. One thing i did notice its colour was somwhat like guinness. On the Looowwwww end of the black/borderline brown scale and a deep ruby when held to light. Really good.

From the ACUTAL showcase my fav was the True South New World Pilsner. Big nose of nelson sauvin, light pepperiness/spicy hops in the background, perfectly balanced and Really tasty. Just what i was after yesterday. It has spurred me to knock out a CAP with NZ hops again sometime soon. Their dark ale is definitely one for the punters, a gateway to dark beers. Personally, i think thats what it needs to be. No use brewing a stout or a porter once a quarter(if that) when you can sell something like this and get equal tap rotation with almost all of your beers. One thing that was great about it is the big late hop aroma. Motueka! :beerbang:

Bum - The True South Kolsch was fine. (infact none of their range showcased any undesireables) Somewhat dusty from the yeast in suspension but this also helped boost the fruity vinuous complexity you get from a kolsh style beer. I spoke with sam about it and she thinks it tastes better this way. I'll take her word for it.

As for Tooborac, the amber ale was overcarbed, both where served way too cold (infact that was an issue for almost every stall.) Let the amber warm up and you have got a really tasty english bitter on your hands. The pale ale was ok but unbalanced and needed more hops. Apparantly there was cascade in it, 1st time ive never found cascade. That was my only gripe with it.

The ranga amber ale was also tasty done by southern bay. I also enjoyed the Weizen done by Sweetwater. light clove and nice banana.

Holgate as always are knocking out winners with their 'extreme range'. Ive had them all before but had to go have a taste again. Temptress.. :icon_drool2:

Finally, I decided i would waste a couple of tickets on buckleys to see what funk they where serving this time. Wish i didnt.

End communication.

 

[Fourstar]

The place was packed when I got there, not the ideal scene for the better half elbowing and bumping between beer stands, so the decision was made early to bail out and head for the Belgian beer cafe. I hope the guys I gave my beer tickets to made good use of them.
The chilli mussel pot and leffe blonde followed up with bellevue kriek was absolute magnificent!

They sure where haysie! Glad the munch at the Belgian was worth the $$ and the hike down to eureka!

anyone who asked for the special brew from the Holgate stand got a real treat too. Forgot to mention.

Shit. What was this?

Yes, what was it?! I hope it wasnt the Roadtrip IPA as i quizzed them about it not being there!

 

[HoppingMad]

Hard to speculate where EH went wrong, but I'd put money on overstressed yeast (probably gen'd it too many times)
reVox

Interesting thing on the Emerald Hill ReVox. In addition to no jacketing, word on the street was that these guys 'custom built' a fair bit of their own gear - a fundamental flaw being that their 400L tanks were flat bottomed, not conical. A bit of a boo-boo.

People I spoke to who used to go to their brewery when it opened on Fri nights said they would take a 19L cornie keg or two at the most of beer out at a time from the tank - which was fine when the beer was fresh, but they were draining such small amounts with no way to properly remove the yeast from the flat tank bottom due to the incorrect design :blink: And the low turnover of beer meant the stuff would sit there for some time - on the yeast. :icon_vomit:

In otherwords - Emerald Hill beers became renowned for Autolysis on quite a few occasions. Fine if you got the fresh beer before it set in, but bad news if you got the two month old stuff.

Sad to see breweries like EH disappear from the landscape (they're closed now, gear sold off) - but I guess when you're setting up a brewery it's important to get the design right if you want to make the good stuff.

Hopper.

 

[BrenosBrews]

Yes, what was it?! I hope it wasnt the Roadtrip IPA as i quizzed them about it not being there!

If it was, don't worry, your not missing much.

 

[Fourstar]

If it was, don't worry, your not missing much.

:huh: Well ive had the Roadside IPA, it's worth having. A really great beer. Do you even know what beer it was? what style?

 

[reVoxAHB]

:huh: Well ive had the Roadside IPA, it's worth having. A really great beer. Do you even know what beer it was? what style?

I agree Fourstar. I think it's one of the best, if not the best AIPA being brewed in Australia atm. When did you have it Brenos and what didn't you like about it?

 

[Siborg]

Had an awesome night trying new beer styles and breweries (ok, I'm still learning!)

I didn't really try a bad beer, though I was getting recommendations from fourstar and manticle. Tried a former favourite of mine, the grand ridge gold, that I haven't had for years, and could definitely taste the buttery-scotchness.

My favourite was the holgate temptress chocolate and the true south red truck lager.

The sweetwater weissbier was pretty good too.

 

[HoppingMad]

Rapunzel... Mountain goat...
I agree - its not a Belgian Strong Golden left one.... but it wasn't last time either. The last batch of this stuff improved dramatically with age - when forst released ot was all over the place, out of style, out of balance etc etc... but a month or s later.. back on track. It never turned into what I would call a great Belgian Strong Golden... but if you think of it more as just a Belgian Blonde ale - it becomes more acceptable, and if it holds true to the last batch, age will do wonders for it. So give it another try in a month or two.

Not that I think it should be being presented in its current state - If its no damn good for another month or two, don't sell it till it is.

Yeah, agree it's more in the Blonde category. Had the same harsh yeast and strong orange zest flavours that I've recently found with Feral Brewing's White Beer (if anyone's tried that you might get what I mean). Maybe I just don't like this style of beer, but could well have been at the showcase a tad too young as you say TB. Something I might try again on a Mountain Goat Brewery visit at a later date to see if it smoothes out. Plenty of flavours fighting around in the glass on the showcase version!

Hopper.