Went along to the Flying Saucer to meet Johnny Max on Sat arvo, and have a crack at their wall of taps. We tried hard, but SWMBO (x2) were on hand to ensure some sensibility. They have several hundred beers available, with ~105 on tap, they recommend flights of beers where you have pony size glasses of 5 beers.
We perused the recommended flights UK/Ireland, Belgium, Texas, US, Germany but had tried a couple of the beers on each. So we made our own.
Flight#1
North Coast Scrimshaw Pils
Live Oak Hefeweizen
Live Oak Big Bark Amber (Vienna)
Real Ale Fireman #4
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
(Racer 5 was a last minute substitute for the La Chapeau Faro which had run out!)
Flight#2
Anchor Steam
Victory Golden Monkey (Tripel)
Spaten Optimator Dopplebock
St Arnold Oktoberfest
Lindemans Framboise
(sadly the Grotten Cave Aged Brown was also out!!!)
Flight#3
Breckenridge Avalanche (Amber)
Bear Republic Red Rocket (Scottish)
New Belgium 1554 Schwarzbier
Left Hand Milk Stout
Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout
Flight#4
Sam Adams Cherry Wheat
Youngs Double Chocolate Stout
Flying Dog Doggie Style IPA
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Great Divide Hercules Double IPA
Then we had an Arrogant *******, and shared a bottle of Liefmans Goudenband (Flemish Brown), which was bloody good.
Didnt take notes, just shot the shit with Johnny and waxed lyrical about all things beery. But highlights were the Racer 5 (wow HAD to be randalled hops in that), Left Hand Milk Stout, Great Divide Hercules (made the 90 Minute IPA taste malty!), the Goudenband, and my perennial fave the Lindemans Framboise.
Now Johnny top bloke, and super passionate about his beer! Known across the US for making a good beer, many an award/medal/best of show. But what I liked is his approach to brewing always questioning, always challenging.
Case in point the Dec 06 copy of BYO featured Johnny Max, who had been told you couldnt make an all grain beer bigger than 16%. Rather than accept this conventional wisdom, he went ahead and did it, making the 21% Cause of Death, possibly the biggest AG beer made. For the Perthites youre in for a treat, because he gave me one of his last remaining bottles, which I'll bring back home at Chrissy so we can taste it.
Good beers, good company, great (early) Fathers Day Out. As you can see, we were both feeling pretty merry. We stopped for a bit on the way home, where I proceeded to hit the white wine and frozen margaritas. Not the wisest thing I've ever done, or so said my head this morning.
We perused the recommended flights UK/Ireland, Belgium, Texas, US, Germany but had tried a couple of the beers on each. So we made our own.
Flight#1
North Coast Scrimshaw Pils
Live Oak Hefeweizen
Live Oak Big Bark Amber (Vienna)
Real Ale Fireman #4
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
(Racer 5 was a last minute substitute for the La Chapeau Faro which had run out!)
Flight#2
Anchor Steam
Victory Golden Monkey (Tripel)
Spaten Optimator Dopplebock
St Arnold Oktoberfest
Lindemans Framboise
(sadly the Grotten Cave Aged Brown was also out!!!)
Flight#3
Breckenridge Avalanche (Amber)
Bear Republic Red Rocket (Scottish)
New Belgium 1554 Schwarzbier
Left Hand Milk Stout
Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout
Flight#4
Sam Adams Cherry Wheat
Youngs Double Chocolate Stout
Flying Dog Doggie Style IPA
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Great Divide Hercules Double IPA
Then we had an Arrogant *******, and shared a bottle of Liefmans Goudenband (Flemish Brown), which was bloody good.
Didnt take notes, just shot the shit with Johnny and waxed lyrical about all things beery. But highlights were the Racer 5 (wow HAD to be randalled hops in that), Left Hand Milk Stout, Great Divide Hercules (made the 90 Minute IPA taste malty!), the Goudenband, and my perennial fave the Lindemans Framboise.
Now Johnny top bloke, and super passionate about his beer! Known across the US for making a good beer, many an award/medal/best of show. But what I liked is his approach to brewing always questioning, always challenging.
Case in point the Dec 06 copy of BYO featured Johnny Max, who had been told you couldnt make an all grain beer bigger than 16%. Rather than accept this conventional wisdom, he went ahead and did it, making the 21% Cause of Death, possibly the biggest AG beer made. For the Perthites youre in for a treat, because he gave me one of his last remaining bottles, which I'll bring back home at Chrissy so we can taste it.
Good beers, good company, great (early) Fathers Day Out. As you can see, we were both feeling pretty merry. We stopped for a bit on the way home, where I proceeded to hit the white wine and frozen margaritas. Not the wisest thing I've ever done, or so said my head this morning.
