Redoak

[Samwise Gamgee]

So I tried the Grand Reserve on friday night.

There was a lot of hype surrounding it and I thought it would be a tastebud orgasm..................but IMO it was "meh" :mellow:

I could appreciate the complexity of it but I could only taste a little oak type flavours, most of it was sherry cross with promite. All three of us said the same thing.

When I tried it on opening night I was told there was very little left of the original triple oak fermented batch, so maybe you go some newer one that wasn't the same gear? just the sam recipe....maybe

on another note I got to try the oatmeal stout finally from there and was very impressed. Ditto with the IPA - v.nice!

Sam

Hey Sammus,

I assumed it was from the original batch, as we were told the whole speil again of triple fermentation, oak aging etc etc. I wouldn't have thought they would've made too many batches though. Wasn't it suppose to have been in the oak for a year or two?

edit: just checked redoak website. It states that it is aged in various oak for over 2 years.

 

[shotduck]

Little guy? If people buy everything he brews at the prices he charges, even with the premium city rent, he won't be little for long............

Good! More power to him. If he can make a squillion from brewing beer then what in gods name is wrong with that - so long as he maintains the level of quality and ingredients instead of selling out to bulk simple sugars as a certain other "boutique" brewery has in recent years.

Quack,
TSD

 

[KoNG]

Jeez, makes the Baltic Porter look like a bargain at $15 a 330ml subby. People pay this for local beer? Stupid people.

Such negativity...! :blink:
i think you are missing the point and maybe need to take a step back (be careful not to fall off your high horse though).
Redoak gives the consumer opportunity and choice... something most beer lovers have been begging for, for quite some time. Not everyone homebrews and can brew such heavenly delights as yourself (oureselves?). Why can LOCAL beer not be expensive... why does the IMPORTED beer instantly get a better wrap.. just because its imported.
There are plenty of people in this big expensive city, to which $15 is nothing to enjoy the experience it may bring... if David and Redoak are giving people the "choice" and opportunity to do this, then great.
I hardly think calling people 'Stupid' for wanting to sample something handcrafted by a LOCAL brewer, while out with friends socialising & enjoying themselves in a nice atmosphere is fair...
Hell people pay a whole lot more for a glass of wine.

 

[PostModern]

Such negativity...! :blink:
i think you are missing the point and maybe need to take a step back (be careful not to fall off your high horse though).
Redoak gives the consumer opportunity and choice... something most beer lovers have been begging for, for quite some time. Not everyone homebrews and can brew such heavenly delights as yourself (oureselves?). Why can LOCAL beer not be expensive... why does the IMPORTED beer instantly get a better wrap.. just because its imported.
There are plenty of people in this big expensive city, to which $15 is nothing to enjoy the experience it may bring... if David and Redoak are giving people the "choice" and opportunity to do this, then great.
I hardly think calling people 'Stupid' for wanting to sample something handcrafted by a LOCAL brewer, while out with friends socialising & enjoying themselves in a nice atmosphere is fair...
Hell people pay a whole lot more for a glass of wine.

I admit I was a bit jaded at the time I made my last posts and apologise. My "stupid" comment was out of place, I agree.

I'm all for consumer choice, but when it comes to beer, I'm all for accessibilty. Pricing beer in the stratosphere doesn't do that. It turns good beer into something you only occassionally drink and something that the average bloke doesn't ever try. Good luck to Dave and to Redoak, he's taken the risk and made the investment, so his market is his market. All power to him.

 

[KoNG]

fair enough we all have our bad days.
the only thing i will add to that is, even though somewhere like redoak is more expensive than you average waterhole... your standard beer in the city centre isnt too much cheaper.

Perspective:

Pint of Govenor King @ JSB = $8
Pint of Pale Ale @ Redoak = $9.5 (Pint of special Strong ale = $11)
Schmiddie of Carlton draft @ Slip inn/CBD = ~$6
so if you take that schmidie of VB/Carlton Draft and make it a Pint = ~$9

so as you said.... his market is his market.... which is "The City" and unfortunately thats the prices.!

 

[DJR]

Schmiddie of Carlton draft @ Slip inn/CBD = ~$6

The guy who invented the schmiddy (probably a sydney bar owner!) should have all the money he is raking in taken back from him and donated to something worthwhile - like lobbying to have the excise tax removed for microbreweries just like the wine industry gets!

</rant>

 

[PostModern]

Perspective:

Pint of Govenor King @ JSB = $8
Pint of Pale Ale @ Redoak = $9.5 (Pint of special Strong ale = $11)
Schmiddie of Carlton draft @ Slip inn/CBD = ~$6
so if you take that schmidie of VB/Carlton Draft and make it a Pint = ~$9

so as you said.... his market is his market.... which is "The City" and unfortunately thats the prices.!

All absolute bargains compared to the price I went off about. I drink in town all the time (work here) so I know what to expect to pay for a pint. We don't go to the Redoak all that often.

Redoak reserve was $15 for a 50ml serve !!!!

That's the equivalent to $120 a schooner. I know, end of a limited edition. I know, great complex beer that took ages to make... I know, local craft brewer, I know, City prices...

 

[Samwise Gamgee]

Redoak reserve was $15 for a 50ml serve !!!!

That's the equivalent to $120 a schooner. I know, end of a limited edition. I know, great complex beer that took ages to make... I know, local craft brewer, I know, City prices...

The GR is definately not worth the $15 even with the city prices and brewed by a local h34r:

 

[jimmy01]

I've tried the Redoak beers via a sample pack I ordered. Hefe Weizen and Pilsener are very nice. Bock and Vienna Lager Ok.

However, I have to agree that the prices are a bit over the top. Without freight the Hefe works out something like $4 a 330ml if you but a carton I can buy Maisels, Schneider or Weistephaner for less than $4 per 500ml.
Add the freight to get it to Brissie and its hard to see how the price is justified.


Cheers

 

[KoNG]

That's the equivalent to $120 a schooner. I know, end of a limited edition. I know, great complex beer that took ages to make... I know, local craft brewer, I know, City prices...

haha that is alot...! but again i'm glad the choice is there.

The GR is definately not worth the $15 even with the city prices and brewed by a local h34r:

again i disagree.... (well i kind of agree.. that yes its not "worth" $15... but what the hell is "worth" what you pay for it these days... a cab fare.? a big mac..? a surfboard.?)

you can go into a restuarant in sydney (and the rest of the world of course) and pay $100 for a glass of red and you may not enjoy it.... so its not worth it.!? but to someone else it is "magic" and worth every cent.

each to their own.... but my opinion is that places like Redoak are still doing great things for the thing "we" love.

i should note at this point i have nothing to do with Redoak or any other brewery etc.

 

[Sammus]

keep in mind the GR is a barleywine, so think of it more like wine than beer, $15 50ml = $45 150ml, a standard wine glass, im sure there are thousands of wines that get sold for more than that on a regular basis, not many of which have won an international award titled anything like 'grand champion'

 

[Blackfish]

as I sit here drinking the beer I made for 50c I cant help but think we are missing the point here. Of course, you and I can make whatever style we like, usually at equal or better quality that Joe Anyone will get at his local.

Maybe what is important about places like Redoak is that it educates the public on what beer can be. Incidentally, the two times I have been in there it has been packed, I mean we had a hard time finding a chair! and packed with people who will never brew their own.

So, again, full marks to a guy who is converting his passion for beer into $$. I'llbe back there, just as soon as I can save up!

FHG

 

[///]

as I sit here drinking the beer I made for 50c I cant help but think we are missing the point here. Of course, you and I can make whatever style we like, usually at equal or better quality that Joe Anyone will get at his local.

Is commercial brewing about reproducibility year after year or being like a homebrewer and having the public pay for your tinkering??

I think i am missing the same point to....

 

[neonmeate]

paddy's for instance makes very nice beer brewed in nice sparkly brewtanks with lots of awards but only charges $3.30 or so per schooner.
but then you do have to drink it in what amounts to a truckstop.

i just wonder why redoak has to charge like easily twice as much as any other micro brewing similar stuff. and it's not like they're that amazing. sure they do a couple of special beers but the regular hefe, pils, pale ale etc don't cost much to make and aren't that staggeringly good (always tastes to me like the lagers could do with more lagering, especially for the price they charge).
could it be that they get more business with really high prices cause people treat it with more respect? are we that shallow?

 

[Chatty]

After reading this entire thread with a couple of Guest Lurkers brews under my belt i can't remeber what actually started it. So, I don't feel so bad changing the subject slightly.

Was Redoak one of the breweries that had a stand at the Good Food & Wine show in Sydney? I remember a delicious Xmas stout with a real black currant flavour to it. Also remember the dude on the stall on about the fact they brew 42 different beers?! :blink:

As an aside, I haven't been to any of these micros in Sydney but ambience, unfortunately, makes a big difference to the beer drinking 'experience' which ultimately will be reflected in price. Whether price confers/implies quality is another argument...

Chatty

 

[Malnourished]

i just wonder why redoak has to charge like easily twice as much as any other micro brewing similar stuff.

I can't believe I'm going to defend Redoak, but... at my favourite Melbourne bottle shop it costs me more to buy a stubbie of Moo Brew, Bootleg, Red Hill or Bright's beers than it does Redoak's regular lines (Hefe/Pils/Vienna/etc.) Of course I'd rather drink the other beers too, but that's beside the point.

So the cost of producing the beers can't be all that much higher than other breweries.

Like neonmeate says, perhaps they're trying to be the Louis Vuitton of beer... it seems to be working.

Somewhat off-topic, for those who've had the Special Reserve, is it kegged or bottled? If you pay your $15 is there a chance you're getting beer from a bottle that's been open for days?

 

[shotduck]

Is commercial brewing about reproducibility year after year or being like a homebrewer and having the public pay for your tinkering??

It depends on your perspective, and the perspective of your potential customer. I would much rather attend a micro where I know the beers are going to differ slightly from batch to batch - whether it is from intentional tinkering or from the inherent vagaries of "hand-crafting" anything - than sit in a pub and drink the same old stuff, mass-produced by chemists. Each to their own, but I'm damn sure that most here would agree.

Cheers,
TSD

 

[mikem108]

When it comes to spending money on beer or related items budget is not a consideration if it brings me some happiness.
One of the joys of a place like Redoak for me is to try beer styles that I have only ever read about in books and recipes, I'm not usually going there to "get on the piss" so a couple of glasses at $9 a shot is bearable-QUality not quantity is the motto!

 

[JCG]

Today I got excited I saw Redoak beers being sold in the Domestic Airport in Sydney, pricy but not much more than Carlton Cold??? $8 vs $7. Is there any where in Brisbane where this drop can be purchased?

Cheers JCG

 

[jimmy01]

Hi JCG

I have asked Redoak and apparently there are no Brissie Bottlos which stock it yet. Theree are a few bars that either have it on tap or sell stubbies across the bar.

See http://www.redoak.com.au/downloads/RedoakStockists.htm

This list is growing slowly


Cheers