Monteith's Summer Ale?

[reviled]

The Lamb Marketing Board had a promotion over the past few years promoting the eating of lamb chops on Australia Day that has been so successful, everyone seems to think we've been doing it for years. Yesterday's news had the story NZ will export 48 million fat lambs to the world's markets next year - I guess that means there's probably none left for domestic consumption !

I'm like you, if its meat, bbq'd and you put sauce on it, it must be good ! And I hope the beer is better than you guys have made it out to be ... for my sake ! :icon_cheers:

Mate, NZ running out of Sheep will never happen, so dont you guys worry about that

Hilarious tho, how marketing can sucessfully convince an entire country of what theyve been doing for years :lol: Even if they havnt.. I wondered why id never heard about it before.. lol

I propose, you drink the beer, starting with the Pilsner, move onto the summer ale, and have the golden lager last, hopefully by then the GL will taste ok? h34r:

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Mate, NZ running out of Sheep will never happen, so dont you guys worry about that

Hilarious tho, how marketing can sucessfully convince an entire country of what theyve been doing for years :lol: Even if they havnt.. I wondered why id never heard about it before.. lol

I propose, you drink the beer, starting with the Pilsner, move onto the summer ale, and have the golden lager last, hopefully by then the GL will taste ok? h34r:

Won't comment on the only sheep you export to Australia - two legged ones B)

Lamb/mutton was the dominant meat eaten in Australia until 1980s, when chicken took over. Ol' Col. Sanders has a lot to answer for. That's why the Aussie Day thing was a big deal- to restore national pride ? Nah, sell more red meat !!

Back to beer, drunk the beers before I found this post. The Summer Ale - very inoffensive, very ordinary. Copped some ginger aromas, no honey - tasted more like a lemonade shandy. Drink it when you are hot and thirsty, its just okay, but it aint what we would call a beer. For the $4.50 it cost me, not worth wasting your money. Then came the Pilsner. Again, inoffensive. I reckon if I'd brewed this, I would be thinking - no real hop profile, needs more Saaz etc. I call this a "just good enough" beer - any worse you won't drink it, any better, no one would offer it to you - just good enough. Again, don't waste your money on it.

The Golden Lager is still in the fridge - two Monteiths was enough for one session !

 

[Frank]

Worst beer?, you must never have tried the Monteith Radler :icon_vomit:
cheers
Grant

I wish I read this this morning. Ordered one across the bar at lunchtime today, without reading the description etc. It tasted like someone gave me a shandy made with Lemon, Lime and Bitters. Afer I read the label it stated fresh lemon in the brew, but it just tasted like the fake lemon essence you can buy at the Supermarket.
This will deffenately go down as one of the worst.

 

[Yorg]

Well, I had one of these on the weekend. Ginger was over the top, but it also had a subltle honey flavour like manuka honey, and an again subtle crystal note. Malt flavour was moderate, certainly a beer rather than shandy. Can't see where 4 malts went, but could buy 2. Couldn't really notice the hop over the ginger.
I think everone's being a bit harsh, based on the example I had.

 

[Frank]

Well, I had one of these on the weekend. Ginger was over the top, but it also had a subltle honey flavour like manuka honey, and an again subtle crystal note. Malt flavour was moderate, certainly a beer rather than shandy. Can't see where 4 malts went, but could buy 2. Couldn't really notice the hop over the ginger.
I think everone's being a bit harsh, based on the example I had.

By your description, you actually tried the Summer Ale. We had got OT and started talking about the Radler.

 

[GMK]

Try the Dopplebock that is nice.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Well, I had one of these on the weekend. Ginger was over the top, but it also had a subltle honey flavour like manuka honey, and an again subtle crystal note. Malt flavour was moderate, certainly a beer rather than shandy. Can't see where 4 malts went, but could buy 2. Couldn't really notice the hop over the ginger.
I think everone's being a bit harsh, based on the example I had.

I'm imagining the possibility that your bottle was fresher than mine and better stored before serving. However I'll stick by my original assessment and add that this is a brew for those who like this type of brew. It's not a bad drink - it's just not a great one. And when I pay a premium price for a 330ml bottle of imported beer, I'm expecting value for money. I didn't get it with this brew and based on the other Monteiths I tried, I may be harsh but I frankly won't buy another one !

Try the Dopplebock that is nice

... if nothing else jumps out and inspires me.

 

[reviled]

$4.50 a stubbie :blink: Christ allmighty thats expensive!!!

$9.99 a 6 pack here on special (which is common) and I wont even pay that, ill have one for free..... maybe

 

[Fatgodzilla]

$4.50 a stubbie :blink: Christ allmighty thats expensive!!!

with the current exchange rate, AUS $4.50 is like NZ $12,879 so, yes, it was poor value. :icon_chickcheers:

 

[troublebrewing]

I had a Summer Ale today and really enjoyed it, found this thread searching for a recipe! It was very inoffensive, but I think it'd make a great session beer. Nice unusual flavour though, but I've never had ginger ale, so... Sounds like I won't have any luck finding a recipe here though, AHB has spoken and decreed that it is bad!

Totally agree on the Radler though. That thing's a crime against beer.

The original is quite nice. The black is amazing!

 

[Jakechan]

Yeah, the black and the red are both top drops.

 

[Blazo]

Yeah, the Radler is a shocker, but I still think the Summer Ale isnt all that bad on a Summers day.

Over the weekend I was at a bar in Sydney which must see a few of us Kiwi's.
Well they had Tooheys New, VB, I think Becks or something just as boring , on Tap. They also had Summer Ale.

Well I would rather a Summer Ale on a hot muggy day over any of that other swill any day of the week.

Also , as with other aromatic beers, served ice cold in a bottle, you get absolutly Nada out of it. Needs to be served in a proper beer glass, so you can let it breath a little bit ( kinda like a good wine....)

If only they started to concentrate on bringing out a bit more of a beer profile and reduce the residual sweetnesss, it would be a Cracker over Summer.

 

[phinnsfotos]

Worst "beer" I"ve ever had. If I ever felt like what they're trying to do with this I'll get some Cooper's Pale Ale and Stones Green Ginger wine.

 

[Nick JD]

Sorry to drag this old thread up, but yes ... SWMBO has decreed that Monteiths Summer Ale is a drop she likes. IMO, breaking into a market that consists of "the other half of the population" is probably worth offending a few hairy blokes with their cast iron tongues.

But - I'm going to "improve" on it whilst throwing modesty into the wind.

What about...

12.5L batch.

2kg Ale Malt
1kg Wheat Malt
15g Pacific Jade for 60 minutes
10g Riwaka for 20 minutes
10g Cascade 0 minutes
250g Honey
15g Ginger root (with dry hop)
1tsp Nutmeg
1tsp Corriander
1tsp Black pepper
US05 @ 20C

 

[aaronpetersen]

Sorry to drag this old thread up, but yes ... SWMBO has decreed that Monteiths Summer Ale is a drop she likes. IMO, breaking into a market that consists of "the other half of the population" is probably worth offending a few hairy blokes with their cast iron tongues.

But - I'm going to "improve" on it whilst throwing modesty into the wind.

What about...

12.5L batch.

2kg Ale Malt
1kg Wheat Malt
15g Pacific Jade for 60 minutes
10g Riwaka for 20 minutes
10g Cascade 0 minutes
250g Honey
15g Ginger root (with dry hop)
1tsp Nutmeg
1tsp Corriander
1tsp Black pepper
US05 @ 20C

How did this turn out? Like you, my other half also likes the Summer Ale. I don't do AG so I was hoping you could tell me how much malt extract I would need to replace the grains you have listed. Also, did everything go in the boil or did you do something else with the spices and ginger?

 

[Nick JD]

How did this turn out? Like you, my other half also likes the Summer Ale. I don't do AG so I was hoping you could tell me how much malt extract I would need to replace the grains you have listed. Also, did everything go in the boil or did you do something else with the spices and ginger?

Check the reply in "recipes and ingredients". I reckon 600g of LDME = 1kg of AG base malt. Other's may chime in with a more accurate number.

The ginger and nutmeg were in the boil. :icon_cheers:

 

[bear09]

I had it last night. Worst beer I've had in a loooong while. No hops, no malt, no honey. Just watery ginger. If you want to replicate it just mix some powdered malt with vodka and ginger ale and that should get you pretty close.

What the heck is wrong with you people? Cant you just take a beer for what it is and what it proclaims to be?

I read the label and then had a mouthful only to be very pleasantly surprised. I certainly noticed the ginger but all of the other mentioned flavours were there though very subtle which is what I thought was the point of those beers.

Dont get me wrong Im not having a serious dig at anyone here everyone is entitled to their opinion even if its wrong .

I just dont know how this could be classified as a bad beer. I think it is incredibly well made and true to its description.

Ah well different strokes for different folks.

Cheers all.