Little_Squares
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- Joined
- 9/11/05
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Linz and I went to the Good Food Show today - crowds were huge and everyone was elbows out, 3-5 deep at each stand holding those darn granny shopping trolley things. We worked our way around the cheese, dukkah and olive oil stands and finally found the beer!!!!
There was:
Murrays
Little Creatures
James Squires
Fosters (Leffe, Asahi etc)
Hunter Brewing
Red Oak (good sorbet)
Snowy Mountain Brewing
Lowenbrau
Schwartz Brewing (Macquarie Hotel)
Steel River
Barons (yuck)
Byron Bay (the ale was wayyyy hot)
and some other minors I can't recall
First stop was Murrays, where Shauwn treated us to his new Double IPA - a nice, bitter article. Shame it was the second thing I drank and couldn't taste much for the following 1/2 hour!
Second was Hunter Brewing where Luke poured me a series of nice beers, his bock especially nice on a cold rainy day. He's good at keeping the beer flowing and the patrons drinking - thanks Luke!
Next was the AIB stand where Snowy Mountain, Steel River and the Macquarie Hotel were displaying. The Crackenback was a little disappointing, as the tap froze, so we had to sample from the bottled items, which weren't as hoppy as I've had from them. Their Razorback Red (name purportedly appropriated from Linz) was mediocre and bland - but their Heffeweizen was lovely - mainly because it wasn't brewed at AIB.
The Platts Folly was nice, but pales in comparison with the seriously hoppy offerings on tap and unfortunately the Steel River (which I've enjoyed in bottle form) was also frozen.
However, the real joy of the day was provided by the Macquarie's Schwartz Brewery, who brought along their pale ale and dark bier (schwartz). The pale was milder than Murrays to appeal to a wider audience but the schwartz was fabulous. A little roasty, smoky and dry - very easy drinking.
Then there was the kicker. We heard through the brewers grapevine that there was something special doing the rounds behind the bar and were told to go back and see the Macquarie for a taste.......
What we didn't expect was that several other insider brewers all raced over, tongues out, for a taste of what is known only as 'Shazzam'. It was a brewers guild concoction coming out at a grand 9.75%ABV with over 120IBU's.....apparently it went off for testing three times as the lab didn't believe it could be that bitter.
The most surprising thing about this imaginative beer is that it was neither hot or unbalanced. Think 'barley wine run through a randle over and over again. I couldn't taste anything else for hours after I had two small serves and I didn't care (thanks to the alcohol) - sorry Murray's, the Shazzam was tongue numbing!
Generally a good day overall - if it weren't for the crowds. Ainsley Harriot was hilarious and I'm thinking of trying a cheese souffle tomorrow.....now if only I had some Shazzam to accompany it.....
There was:
Murrays
Little Creatures
James Squires
Fosters (Leffe, Asahi etc)
Hunter Brewing
Red Oak (good sorbet)
Snowy Mountain Brewing
Lowenbrau
Schwartz Brewing (Macquarie Hotel)
Steel River
Barons (yuck)
Byron Bay (the ale was wayyyy hot)
and some other minors I can't recall
First stop was Murrays, where Shauwn treated us to his new Double IPA - a nice, bitter article. Shame it was the second thing I drank and couldn't taste much for the following 1/2 hour!
Second was Hunter Brewing where Luke poured me a series of nice beers, his bock especially nice on a cold rainy day. He's good at keeping the beer flowing and the patrons drinking - thanks Luke!
Next was the AIB stand where Snowy Mountain, Steel River and the Macquarie Hotel were displaying. The Crackenback was a little disappointing, as the tap froze, so we had to sample from the bottled items, which weren't as hoppy as I've had from them. Their Razorback Red (name purportedly appropriated from Linz) was mediocre and bland - but their Heffeweizen was lovely - mainly because it wasn't brewed at AIB.
The Platts Folly was nice, but pales in comparison with the seriously hoppy offerings on tap and unfortunately the Steel River (which I've enjoyed in bottle form) was also frozen.
However, the real joy of the day was provided by the Macquarie's Schwartz Brewery, who brought along their pale ale and dark bier (schwartz). The pale was milder than Murrays to appeal to a wider audience but the schwartz was fabulous. A little roasty, smoky and dry - very easy drinking.
Then there was the kicker. We heard through the brewers grapevine that there was something special doing the rounds behind the bar and were told to go back and see the Macquarie for a taste.......
What we didn't expect was that several other insider brewers all raced over, tongues out, for a taste of what is known only as 'Shazzam'. It was a brewers guild concoction coming out at a grand 9.75%ABV with over 120IBU's.....apparently it went off for testing three times as the lab didn't believe it could be that bitter.
The most surprising thing about this imaginative beer is that it was neither hot or unbalanced. Think 'barley wine run through a randle over and over again. I couldn't taste anything else for hours after I had two small serves and I didn't care (thanks to the alcohol) - sorry Murray's, the Shazzam was tongue numbing!
Generally a good day overall - if it weren't for the crowds. Ainsley Harriot was hilarious and I'm thinking of trying a cheese souffle tomorrow.....now if only I had some Shazzam to accompany it.....
.
