Mclaren Vale Ale

[homekegger1]

Stopped off at a bottle shop on the way home tomight to see a new beer in stock. Well one I have not seen before anyway. "McLaren Vale Ale" Thought I might give it a try. Kind of expected something along the lines of the Pepperjack Ale from the Barossa. However reading the label it said "A bottle conditioned PREMIUM ALE - hailing from one of the worlds greatest wine regions."

Perhaps they should stick to wine. This is by far one of the worst micro beers I have ever tasted. First impression was as follows:

Smell - Cheap kit beer smell. Reminded me of some of my earlier brews.
Mouthfeel - Extremely over carbonated. Light in mouthfeel and very bubbly.
Taste - Again like a kit beer, like a Coopers Pale mixed with a brew enhancer 2 and then bottled.

Unfortunately the guy in the bottle shop sucked me in by telling me it was a great beer. At $5 a bottle I thought it might be nice. He spoke it up so much I grabbed a second bottle. Silly me. I will not make that mistake again.

Have I been really unlucky getting a couple of dodgy bottles, and in reality this is a good beer or have others had the same experience?

Cheers

HK

 

[schooey]

I've never tried this beer, but it seems a growing trend for wineries to branch out into beers. First we had Knappstein, then the Pepperjack beer and now this one. woner how long before a winery up here in the hunter branches out into a micro too?

McGuigans Pale Ale?

 

[Frank]

Have not tried this yet.
But have heard that it is brewed under contract in Sydney. www.valeale.com
I think the SA address is c/- Pennys Hill, Willunga.

What does the fine print of contact details and manufacturing say on the bottle?

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Really don't have a problem with the wine industry branching out provided it is done right. Nothing worse than a winery trying to ramp up its name because maybe just maybe their wine fails the test. Pepperjack Ale IMHO was a little overated <_< , Knappstein is something quite unique if you like the Nelson Sauvin B) , then there is that horrid example of a wheat beer, Neagles Rock Dog House wheat beer :icon_vomit: . Then there is the exceptional beer that Morilla Estate in Tasmania makes "Moo Brew" :super:

BYB

 

[homekegger1]

Have not tried this yet.
But have heard that it is brewed under contract in Sydney. www.valeale.com
I think the SA address is c/- Pennys Hill, Willunga.

What does the fine print of contact details and manufacturing say on the bottle?

"McLaren Vale Brewing Co.
PO Box 270, McLaren Vale 5171
South Aust"

Will have to checkout that site.

Cheers

HK

 

[Aaron]

McLaren Vale Ale is only marginally less rubbish then the Lovely Valley beers. It's a bad kit beer.

 

[pablo_h]

Stopped off at a bottle shop on the way home tomight to see a new beer in stock. Well one I have not seen before anyway. "McLaren Vale Ale" Thought I might give it a try. Kind of expected something along the lines of the Pepperjack Ale from the Barossa. However reading the label it said "A bottle conditioned PREMIUM ALE - hailing from one of the worlds greatest wine regions."

Perhaps they should stick to wine. This is by far one of the worst micro beers I have ever tasted. First impression was as follows:

Smell - Cheap kit beer smell. Reminded me of some of my earlier brews.
Mouthfeel - Extremely over carbonated. Light in mouthfeel and very bubbly.
Taste - Again like a kit beer, like a Coopers Pale mixed with a brew enhancer 2 and then bottled.

Unfortunately the guy in the bottle shop sucked me in by telling me it was a great beer. At $5 a bottle I thought it might be nice. He spoke it up so much I grabbed a second bottle. Silly me. I will not make that mistake again.

Have I been really unlucky getting a couple of dodgy bottles, and in reality this is a good beer or have others had the same experience?

Cheers

HK

I take offence
Heaps of breweries in WA have started out in the wine regions. There's the relativley big names like bootleg in margaret river, or feral in perths swan valley. But there's also Duckstien and Ironbark which are very good, but not big enough to be bottled much yet.
Plus there's wineries offering good beer llike the oakover winery in the swan valley which hasn't got much notice.
But the main reason I take offence is that some of them taste worse than homebrew with BE#2. Us home brewers at least are working to achieve our craft, what excuse do these guys have when they think it's good enough to sell? Elma's, which is down the road from feral, oakoverand duckstein was shocking, very yeasty homebrew taste. In fact Feral has slipped big time (anything except their lighter beer are very sub par) and now Mash Brewery rates better.
Last time I went into the margaret river wine region, I visited every brewery, some of them I'd be ashamed to give to my mate, yet these guys were asking money for it. Thats puts the overall experience lower than dodgy homebrew, they had the better equipment, they supposedly had trained staff, why put it on tap for people to pay money for if it wasn't that good?
None of the good home brews I have from other people who are experienced, are anywhere near as bad as what some of these touristy areas sell as beer, and they weren't even charging me money for them!

 

[ohitsbrad]

In fact Feral has slipped big time (anything except their lighter beer are very sub par)

I urge you to go back!

and now Mash Brewery rates better.

<_<

Last time I went into the margaret river wine region, I visited every brewery, some of them I'd be ashamed to give to my mate, yet these guys were asking money for it.

What about Colonial?

 

[beersom]

I urge you to go back!


<_<


What about Colonial?

Yeah, I rate feral very highly .....VERy highly. Brendan is a fantastic brewer with a great knowledge of beer and is throwing some very interesting beers into his line-up.
...and Colonial .... what more needs to be said that hasn't been said already.

 

[drsmurto]

McLaren Vale Ale is only marginally less rubbish then the Lovely Valley beers. It's a bad kit beer.

Glad i'm not the only one who thought Lovely Valley was shite and their beers even worse.

Pepperjack Ale was crap so not entirely surprised this one is overrated. I quite like Knappstein. The Neagles Rock Wheat beer was rubbish.

 

[Wasabi]

I heard that they had some problems with their earlier batches, so maybe check the best before date.

Aaron: I'm not sure what you mean by "Kit Beer", but Vale Ale is definitely an AG mashed product.

 

[Tokyo1]

I think we should let the experts decide http://www.benjaminchristie.com/review/val...en-vale-brewing

 

[Interloper]

I think we should let the experts decide http://www.benjaminchristie.com/review/val...en-vale-brewing

Experts? That's a bit of a stretch.

 

[Trent]

I have never actually tasted the beer, and it could be very good for all I know - but if we are going to rely on celebrity chefs for expert opinions, couldnt we ship a few bottles to Gordon Ramsay? I think everybody knows he wouldn't pull any punches with his descriptions, and could probably be believed :lol:
Maybe that could be his next show? Celebrity beer reviewer. "Would you pay for this? Go on, then - taste it. TASTE IT!! Horrible shite - get it out of here." (cue beer glass being splashed in brewers face). We could call it Hells Brewery
All the best
Trent

 

[sinkas]

Is that chef a self proclaimed celebrity? he should do ads for mykegonlegs

IN the current UK series of Gordon Ramsay's "The F-word" he actually makeas a beer at a small UK brewery and tastes a afew other beers, then subsequently bottles the beer,

 

[Interloper]

Is that chef a self proclaimed celebrity? he should do ads for mykegonlegs

Exactly. The whole thing looks like a paid ad rather than a review. That product shot of the bottles and the fact that this guy is no Nick Stock or Max Allen (I know, they're wine reviewers not beer reviwers but I'd be more likely to take their word on a brew than this guy)

 

[amiddler]

Guys, has anyone actually answered HK on his original question?

Yes we all have different opinions, but this thread started with "Has anyone else tried the McLaren Vale Ale", NOT, "What does everyone think of winery's making beer!"

So should I try and find the McLaren Vale Ale or not. According to HK I shouldn't (Thanks for the tip off HK) but how do others rate this stuff?

Drew

 

[sinkas]

I would far rather trust the reveiws on ratebeer, rather than the egoist grunts made in this forum about new beers,

Its pretty unlikley to turn up in Geraldton any time soon,
Drew, are you starting a brewery up there?

 

[amiddler]

Drew, are you starting a brewery up there?

I wish. :icon_cheers:

A few of my work crew have said when we win lotto we are going into the micro brewing business. Until then trying to get my own AG setup happening is as close as I will get to owning a brewery.

Drew

 

[Frank]

Guys, has anyone actually answered HK on his original question?

Yes we all have different opinions, but this thread started with "Has anyone else tried the McLaren Vale Ale", NOT, "What does everyone think of winery's making beer!"

So should I try and find the McLaren Vale Ale or not. According to HK I shouldn't (Thanks for the tip off HK) but how do others rate this stuff?

Drew

I tried this a couple of weeks ago.
Lacked in flavour and was over carbed.
This beer is not produced by a winery, and not even produced in Mclaren Vale (locals inform me it is from Sydney).
Going by a recent write up they hope to build a brewery in Mclaren Vale by the end of 2009.