Trents Back On Tour

[Trent]

gday blokes
I am back on the o/s trip again, and seeings as I just wanted to put up a few posts to keep in touch with the boys (and save me PM'ing everyone) I have decided to put a little thread up so anyone interested can keep track of my shenanigans. I put it under the HAG club forum, cause most of the boys that will read my drivel will be from Newy. Any mods can feel free to relocate it (or even delete it!) if necessary.
There will be tales, and the odd beer review, though almost certainly with less detail than my last few trips worth of threads. maybe the odd pic, but nothing really OTT.

So, for those of ya's that didnt know, I am back in Canada with the mrs, and will also be heading to Bosnia. My sister gets married in sarajevo, and lara's brother gets married in the Gulf Islands (BC) 2 weeks later. Her brother just informed me that he has organised 2 kegs from one of my favourite breweries in the world (Phillips) for his wedding, so he is entrusting me to make sure that nobody effs with em. legend.
Pretty much as soon as we arrived in Vancouver, I caught a bus to brewery creek beer store, and picked up a few beers - actually 11. For the grand price of $120.
A Petrus Speciale and a Petrus Aged pale.
Brooklyn Brewery's Local 1 (9% tripel) $15, Monster Ale (10.1% barleywine) $4 and Hopfen Weisse - a combo from Schneider and Brooklyn, in which they dry hopped a weizenbock. $20 for a 750mL of 8.5%! Real expensive for here.
R&B brewings Auld Nick (6.5% winter warmer) and Anniversary Ale (8.2% barleywine)
Unibroue's 17th anniversary whatever it is (ruby coloured like a dubbel) at 10%
3 monts ($9)
And a beer called Blackfriars scottish ale at 7%
Oh, and a champagne beer called DueS $25
I daren't even guess what it would cost with all the backwards tax laws in Oz....
T.
PS It was 26C here today. Just to rub it in.

 

[Trent]

I tried the Petrus Speciale first, with my brother in law, and was expecting big things, being a real fan of the delectable petrus Oud Bruin. Sadly, this beer was a massive let down, inoffensive and non-descript at best. For a slightly darker beer, there was very little flavour. Almost went down the sink, but I couldnt punish a beer just cause it was bland - yet.

Next up was the scottish beer - it was much more flavourful, but still not what I would expect from a wee heavy. Quite drinkable, but none of the moderate smokiness or malt complexity I was expecting. Should have started with the canuck offerings.....

Next beer up was R&B's Auld Nick. Nice dark beer, fairly malty and slightly sweet. its not winter here, but it was quite approachable and some nice character. not the best beer in the world, but well made, and holding up well, considering it is probably 8 or 9 months old. Definitely worth buying.
Trent

 

[Trent]

day 2 dawned, and I was keen to try some more beers, so after allowing Lara to drag me out shopping for a while, I came home to lunch of perogies (an eastern european potato pastry filled with cheese and served with sour cream), and cracked the bottle of petrus Aged Pale.
I recall reading in Wild Brews that it was a sour beer that is hard to find, so again, I was expecting big things. This time, Petrus did not let me down. It is a 7.2% pale ale that was aged in oak barrels for 20 months, picking up a few bugs along the way. Very complex and tart - probably best to call it sour - and slightly oaky, adding to the complexity. The further I got into the glass, the more pronounced the acidity became. I would have to suggest that it is more acidic than Rodenbach Grand Cru, and probably more so even than the delicious Cantillon Gueuze I drank the night before I left Oz.
I am not too sure if you can get your hands on this beer in oz, but if you can, it will be well worth a try - though probably marginally more expensive than the $4 I picked up this bottle for
Trent

 

[Trent]

That night, taz had organised a beer tasting at a bar called the Alibi Room - a bar that is highly regarded by the beer nerds, apparently. They have a really good selection of canadian micro's on tap, and a fairly extensive bottle selection.
I tried quite a few beers on tap, and was quite impressed by the Tin Whistle Peaches and Cream peach ale (a beer I had 2 years ago, and though was very ordinary - it's come a loooong way), and a few others that I will have to hunt out the name of - especially a Craig Street Brewing brown porter on tap - absolutely world class, and appraently it is the beer they have the most trouble selling. Ludicrous.
I tried quite a few IPA's, none of them mind boggling, but all quite well balanced. The Nelson Organic IPA had a funny flavour to it that I could only describe as smoked salmon - it wasnt offensive, but it was offputting a little. The cannery Brewing Co's IPA was a little sweet finishing and a touch watery, but still quite pleasant.
I also met the BC rep for CAMRA - we had a good old chat about beer, and he also shared some of a special beer he had - a Fat Cat Brewing barleywine that was sensational. I had an oaked b/w from these guys about 2 years ago, and wasnt impressed, but this little number really did it for me. malty, hoppy, well balanced, easy to drink. Yummo.
he suggested I head to a bar called Dix - not a gay bar, but a brew pub, for a stout on cask, and a 9% IIPA. the stout had a real lactic tartness to it, so much so that I thought it was infected. A few more sips and I came to the conclusion that this beer had been dosed with lactic acid, as it was such a clean lactic bite (though, IMO, way over the top). The bartender told me it was the same beer that is their stout on tap, and that is apparently the same as guiness. Guiness adds some lactic beer, so almost confiremed my assumptions.
Their IIPA was excellent - extremely well balanced, and hideously drinkable, despite the high hoppiness. All the canadian beers I tried tonight seemed a little less "WOW" than their american counterparts, and this beer kinda showed why. Almost every canadian beer - even the overly hoppy styles - is extremely well balanced. making them a little less mind boggling on a one off glass, but increasing the approachability and drinkability immensely. I really like the way the canucks make their beers...
T.
PS The food at the Alibi Room is excellent

 

[Trent]

Currently finishing my Hopfen Weisse - hence the degrading punctuation and spelling in the above posts.
Its a collaboration from Brooklyn brewing and Schneider - a weizenbock that is dry hopped. It was a bloody expensive beer as far as canada goes. Poured a nice orange hue, with a lovely weizen style head. You can smel the clove phenolics, not much banana, and alot of fruit salad aroma from the amarillo and palisade dry hop. I just wanted to try it, as I wont have another chance, but it is a very drinkable beer. It is kinda hoppy like an APA, reasonably bitter, and the cloves balance the beer fairly well, round out the complex flavour. It is definitely a weizenbock - quite malty and bready in flavour, and I am not too sure if it is something you could drink all the time, but for a commercially available beer to try something as unconventional as this is worth commending. Instead of spending the $50 odd it would cost in Oz (if you could even get it), brew yaself a hefe (or proabably better a wiezenbock - the extra sweetness offsets the hops a little) and dry hop the *******. Certainly worth an attempt. Its not the best beer I have ever had, but it is quite intriguing, and considering it is at least 3 months old, it seems to hold up well.
All the best, hope you boys hit it hard at the case swap.
Trent

 

[Trent]

just thought I would say another gday, and let ya know what a funny day was had the other day. Or not the whole day, but just some bits. lara's friends took us shopping (or lara shopping - I was just waiting!), and then we went to La Casa Gelato, with a manic 218 flavours - with such lovely offerings as roassted garlic, and pear gorgonzola with blue cheese. There were some pretty nasty sounding combo's, but ya could try anything before ya buy, so I tried some of the worst sounding ones. Funnily enough, they were all actually quite good - the only exception was the garlic one - but if ya liked garlic, you would LOVE this ice cream. Even the blue cheese one was pretty good. As was the balsamic vinegar ice cream, and the......
So, after we had all had our ice creams, lara's friend peter said he would take us on a drive through the "dodgy area" of vancouver, through East Hastings where all the junkies hang out. No sooner had we gotten out of the parking lot of the ice cream place than a green van slows down and pushes out the door a hooker naked from the waist down! She casually steadied herself against a tree and started putting her pants back on. sadly, it wasn't quite as erotic as it sounds :lol:
Then we went off to fill up with petrol ($1.38 a litre, BTW), and there were 2 homeless junkies yelling abuse at each other over money owed/not owed, and it was about to come to blows right next to our car! thankfully, peter hadnt started the petrol pump yet, so he jumped back in the car, and off we went to the next petrol station that had the requisite homeless people, but these ones were just drunk, and in the "I love you man - and I love YOU man" stage of their day.
So further along we went, right along E Hastings, and the homeless got thicker and thicker. There were junkies tweaking out (including a hooker that was tweaking so hard she looked like she was having a fit of some description), drunks, people passed out, and plenty just trying to get some money to eat, and basically passing the day by before the rougher night came along. And then we saw it - they were filming an episode of COPS! Gold.
So, we saw naked bums, violent bums, and a show being made for lazy bums. All in all, it was quite a successful trip into the dodgy side of vancouver. Though, to be fair, the homeless situation here is so big because it hass the mildest climate in mainland canada, and it is still fairly safe to walk along there - most people just leave you alone.
I quite like vancouver - its a pretty cool (and well set out) city.
Gotta go, I leave for the airport in 20 mins, and havent packed my bag yet! Sarajevo, here I come!! (and I hope you have some decent beer waiting for me)
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

Gday
Back in Canada after a week in Bosnia. Glad to be back in an english speaking country, but jeez, I really enjoyed Bosnia/Sarajevo. It is a really old city, heaps of character, and almost every single building there has bullet holes, or mortar holes from the Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996 - the longest siege in modern warfare). I knew sweet FA about it, so it was pretty interesting to learn all (or partly) about it. I will give you a bit of a rundown, just so you know what I know!
Basically, all the countries over there used to be states of Yugoslavia. Slobodan Milosevic (ever heard of him?) was a Serb that was a politician and kinda in charge of the army, and had delusions of granduer, and decided that anywhere Serbians lived should be decreed "Greater Serbia". Apparently invaded a few towns in Croatia in 1991 and 92 (including Dubrovnik) and then started on Bosnia.
Sarajevo is a nice little city tucked at the bottom of a heap of large hills, so it is all fairly well flat in the city itself (probably proving to be the biggest negative for them). When Slobodan decided to invade, he parked 260 tanks and 120 mortars on the hills surrounding the city, and declared war. It took almost a month of fighting, but eventually the whole city was surounded, and no-one could get out (unless you had money), so some families had left in that first month, others sent the women and kids out and stayed to fight, other families decided to ride it all out.
Then what happened while the city was under siege was apparently an average of 4,000 shells a day were lobbed into the city, and snipers were positioned on all the hills in order to shoot people in the streets trying to get food or water. The bosnians seem to have fought back fairly well in the sense that the city was never taken, but the damage is everywhere. Almost every footpath, road, building, etc... is pockmarked with bulletholes and mortar damage, and the city has dozens of graveyards around, which are very moving to walk through - 99% of all the headstones are from 92-96.
So, there ya go. Iwas pretty crazy to be in a city of such history, and some of it so recent, but it really was a great place to visit, not at all dangerous, and one of the easiest and friendliest cities I have been in. It's not my dream place, but if you ever get a chance to visit, I would probably take it - beer reviews to follow... Along with some pics.
Trent
EDIT - There were over 10,600 people killed during the siege, 1,601 of those were kids under 12. savage.

 

[Trent]

Well
I didnt really expect alot from the Bosnian beer scene, and while I wasnt blown away, it certainly exceeded my expectations. In the city of sarajevo, there is brewery called Sarajevsko that make 4 beers/pivo's, a dark lager (crna) a regular lager (sarajevsko pivo), an export that I thought I had tried, but it turns out I didnt, and a Premium. The dark lager was by far their best beer, plenty of flavour and character, it was basically a scwarzbier, it was only available on tap at a few places, sadly.
At our local lunch restaurant, we had the Sarajevsko Pivo for lunch every day. In this hemisphere, most bottled beer have a "made on" kinda date punched into the label. So, on the 29th of July, I was looking at my beer, and the label said 28th July. No wonder it tasted fresh - it was actually quite delicious for a mega lager style beer - much better than Vb or Tooheys. I went back for lunch on the 31st, and the beer had been bottled that morning! My sister's fiancee's (husbands) biggest criticism of the brewery is they "dont allow their beer enough time to mature". Dont get any better when there is no yeast in the bottom, so I say drink it fresh - it tasted pretty good to me!
The Premium is a bit more pricey, and quite drinkable. Alot better than hahn premium, or crown lager, but still not my drink of choice (I actually preferred the regular Pivo). The best part as a homebrewer was that each bottle had the alc/vol marked on it, and the starting gravity in plato! The Pivo was a 4.5% beer starting at 11.2 Plato (1.045) and the premium was 4.8% starting at 12 plato (1.048)
Gotta go, it is 32C out, and we are off to the lake for a swim - along with a bottle of brooklyn brewing tripel, and a 500mL ice cream container full of fresh picked raspberries that cost us a criminal $2.
Dont you hate me?
Trent

 

[Doc]

Mate sounds like you are having an awesome time.
*******
An I'm stuck here at work (although I have my Slingbox up and running now )

Doc

 

[Trent]

Yeah, Doc
I AM having a great time, and I AM a *******! I'm actually off to nelson, BC tomorrow, and I just noticed you are from Nelson, NZ. Is there a Nelson Brewing Co in NZ too? I will go to the canadian one and try all their beers anyway.
Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention that there are a few bars (and most shops) in Sarajevo that sell Erdinger Weisse and Dunkel. I had a Erdinger Dunkelweisse at Munich Airport on the way to Sarajevo. It was nice and fresh, toasty, melanoidiny, full bodied, and just bloody sensational. It was a little darker than I was expecting, but crikeys, it was a lovely beer. I also had a hefewiezen at the Munich airport brewpub Airbrau. It was good, but fairly similar to my homebrewed versions, hence not quite as sensational as the Erdinger. There was more clove than banana in it, and I found it lacked a little "something". In my opinion, I would spend any time at munich airport at the Erdinger cafe - where the water (and coke) is significantly more expensive than the beer. Or you can buy the bottles at the airport supermarket for the ridiculous price of 80 euro cents for a half litre bottle.
Anyway, I just went to the lake and had a swim, and drank my bottle of Brooklyn brewings "local 1" tripel (I assume it was anyway). It poured a fairly orange colour, and was quite sweet and spicey, almost lemon-esque. It was not a terrible beer, but I have to say that for the $15 I paid for it - almost double the cost of 3 monts - I was fairly disappointed in it. It kinda finished a bit too sweet for whatever it was trying to be, it was still nice, but I think that sometimes the American beers can be trying to be too mind boggling, rather than keeping things simple. It could have been the 9% alcohol in the sun reducing my appreciation, but I wouldnt be going out and buying another one. It kinda disappointed me in the way that Phillips Surly Blonde tripel did last year - I was expecting big things, but it wasnt quite as good as I hoped.
If you see this bottle available somewhere, I would encourage you to try it for yourself, but IMO, there are better beers out there for the money.
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

Morning gents
Thought I would post another update, save me PM'ing a few different people! Oh, and before I go any further, I think I may have neglected to mention that in Sarajevo, there is a ridiculous amount of mind bendingly hot women wandering around everywhere. Certainly provides a nice backdrop while drinking a beer in one of the many street cafe's Just had to get that off my chest :lol:
Nelson was quite enjoyable, but I have to say that the road there can put the wind up ya a couple of times here and there - I cannot believe that people actually drive it in the snow. Anyway, Nelson is kinda like Canada's answer to Byron Bay - heaps of hippies and stuff, plenty of unemployed people, and all into alternative lifestyles. Really picturesque, and plenty of good beer available though, so all is good.
Went to Nelson Brewing Co, which is set in a really old building, and hard to find. I didnt take any pics, cause its just another brewery (I seem to end up visiting lots of em!), but it was kinda bare, and looked quite old! All their beers are certified organic, and are quite good, but to be honest I found them all a little thin for the styles - even their oatmeal stout, which was more like a brown porter for mine (and was only dark brown in colour, rather than jet black). Their hefeweizen was very approachable, though again, a little thin. Their IPA wasn't quite as hoppy as I would have liked, but still respectable (and quite a few steps head of Squire's IPA).
The brewmaster was the one that took us on the brewery tour (they ONLY do a tour at 3.30pm fridays, and thats the only time you can try beer at the brewery). He was obviously quite knowledgable, but obviously (again) brewery tours tend to tell you that beer is made from grain and hops, and not too much else. I did ask him quietly about the use of brewing salts in organic beers, and he kinda sidestepped a little, but basically said that for an organic beer, every ingredient has to be listed, so they started listing gypsum as an ingredient, and it probably put a few people off, so he SAID they dont use it in any of their beers anymore (maybe explains the moderate thin-ness of their brews), but in the next breath said that you are allowed a certain percentage on non-organic compounds. Given that 500g of gypsum in a 1000L brew is about 0.05%, I can only assume that maybe they sneak it in there, but one can never tell....
T.

 

[Trent]

It appears that I cant go back and edit any of my posts to add pics or anything, so here are a few pics.
One of the beers I bought on day one, one of me tasting beers at The Alibi Room (they have all Rogue tasting glasses), and then a couple of me at the mrs at the ice cream place, where ya can see they have a bollock load of ice cream flavours.
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

When i was in Nelson, I caught up with an Aussie mate, and had some (many) beers on lara's aunties balcony.
We started out on what is probably my favourite beer on the planet - Unibroue's Don de Dieu. What a freaking sensational beer this one is, super easy to drink, really complex, spicy, just amazing. If I could brew like this, I would be an alcoholic.
Unibroue's La Fin du Monde - I know that this is an amazing beer, and a favourite of several people I know. Sadly, after drinking hte bottle of Don de Dieu, it tastes a bit average. Maybe I am spoiling my taste buds?
Spring Brewing Pale Ale - english style pale ale, it was a nice beer, but fairly non descript. I would happily drink it in Oz, but I found it to be a little low on character.
Tree Brewing's Cutthroat Pale - English pale, heaps of toffee and caramel flavours, firm enough bitterness, and some nice moderate hoppiness. Excellent example of the style, and something you could drink all day long. Excellent beer.
Spring Brewing Porter - brown porter that for mine, lacked something. It was a very drinkable beer, and my mates loved it. I would certainly drink it happily if someone bought it for me to a party or when I was out, but I felt it could have been a little "fuller".
Phillip's Longbaot - Chocolate flavoured porter (previously double chocolate porter). Last beer for the night, and what a cracker. Think of Youngs Double Chocolate Stout, but in a porter. Sensational. And I know you wont believe me, so I will bring back a cap or 2 from Phillips beers, but in (what I ASSUME to be) a pisstake on the Americans libellous (sp?) attitudes, on the top of the cap it says "please remove cap before drinking". Gold.
All the best
Trent
PS Heres a couple of pics from the balcony we were drinking on

 

[Trent]

Hmmm, just realised that I forgot to mention that on our way to Sarajevo, we got bumped off our flight, cause it was overbooked. I wasnt too fussed, as it gave Lara and I the chance to go and see an old friend of mine play a concert in Vancouver that night. She bloody well rocked, and then we hung out drinking afterwards till about 3am. Her name is Nicole Atkins, and she has an incredible voice - kind of like Amy Winehouse meets Roy Orbison. Or something. You can find her on youtube and stuff, well worth a look. Anyway, we headed back to our 5 star hotel room (sans Nicole, of course) that had been put on by the airline, called my sister in Sarajevo to tell her of the 24 hour delay (on a $20 phone card supplied by the airline) and counted our 600 Euro's cash that they gave each of us - 1200 in total - for the inconvenience of staying in a 5 star hotel with meals paid for, and watching our friend play a concert. Rough, eh? Worst part was they asked if we could the same deal the next day, but we had to turn it down in order to get to Bosnia in a reasonable time frame. The first 1200 Euro's almost covered what we had spent in Canada, so another 1200 would have pretty much negated everything else we were to spend between then and now. Hard to turn it down, but sadly had to.
Speaking of Bosnia, here are a couple of pics from there.
- Me having a hefe in the biergarten at Airbrau in munich airport
- Our group having pastries next to one of the many water fountains (free spring water) in sarajevo
- A little alleyway near our hostel
- The army building and its bullet holes
- Bullet holes on the paving in a cafe
- Bullet damage in what used to be an apartment building. This was hands down the most damaged building I saw, I have heaps of pics of around it - it was pretty humbling to wonder what it must have been like during the war. This was pretty much where the Bosnian side started, and all these bullet holes (or at least most of them) came from the Serbian side of the front.

 

[Trent]

Some more pics from Sarajevo
- the hotel we spent an arvo drinking erdinger at, warning us they are a little worried about our morals. Couldn't resist taking this pic of a translation gone slightly awry - it was in the pool, where you shouldn't leave your valuables untended.
- Mortar damage on an apartment block.
- Despite many bosnian men being over 6' tall (I am 6'4"), this restaurant was left wanting for height.
- View of Sarajevo from the restaurant where the wedding and reception was held. It really is typical old school Europe, and it is quite beautiful (and doesnt really feel like a capital city - more like a large-ish village)
- One of my luckiest photo's! From the wedding reception, I took an open shutter photo of the city and thunderstorm that was passing over, and managed to jag some lightning in the background.
- One of dozens of graveyards that are set up through the city. I think that they were just makeshift graveyards set up in vacant blocks and parks, that are now having all the white headstones being put on by the government or something. It is terribly moving, and humbling, to walk through these graveyards and it rams home the futility of war, especially for no real cause. An old bloke came into the cemetery while I was there, and put flowers on a grave and did some muslim praying. It sounds really sucky, but I felt really privelidged to witness such a personal moment. The guy he was praying for (probably his son?) died at 23.
Everyone in Sarajevo is quite friendly and happy, but it makes ya realise just how lucky we are in Oz.
All the best
Trent

 

[Trent]

Also done a little beer drinking lately! I cannot recall everything that has passed my lips, but I will give it a bash.
R+B Anniversary Ale - lovely ruby coloured barleywine that was quite drinkable. I think it was an english style, as it wasnt overly hoppy, but it was well balanced and quite enjoyable.
Okanagan Spring Honey lager - Quite a passable lager with a fair honey flavour. It was poured from a can, which is beginning to be the way that quite a few micro's are heading for their packaging. This beer is from a fairly big brewery, but was still enjoyable.
Karmeliet Tripel - This was a nice beer, but not as good as I was expecting. The more time I spend in Canada, the more I believe that the best belgian style beers in the world are being made by the Quebecois (at unibroue). BUT, I haven't been to belgium to taste their beers fresh.
Innis and Gunn Oak Aged Beer - 6.6% oak aged scottish ale, it was very nice indeed - a pretty decent scottish ale base, with a hint of oak in the flavour. I had been drinking a few different beers beforehand, so my palate wasnt in great shape, but I quite enjoyed it.
St Peter's Organic Bitter - from somewhere in England, and it was a very enjoyable english Best Bitter. Wasn't as thin as I was expecting for an organic ale, either. About $3.50 for a 500mL bottle.
Shaftebury Coastal Cream Ale - I used to love this beer before I knew about good beer, so I was a little dubious about how it would be. It poured a dark copper colour, clear, and very inviting looking. It has a fair bit of malt flavour, with a low roastiness that just adds a little dryness. Moderate bitterness and hop flavour make it a beer that has enough character to not be considered bland, and enough flavour to allow even beer snobs (like me) to make a session of it and be very happy with the flavour. Made here in Vernon by a mega brewery, but it is a very enjoyable beer.
Granville Island Limited Release IPA - I was hoping this would be a good beer, as I love a good IPA. At only 5.8% it wasn't a big beer, and I was very disappointed with it. I have no idea how old it was, but there was practically no hop aroma or flavour, and a very mild bitterness. It was almost like a big breweries Pale Ale. I was so disappointed, I had to open the next beer in a hurry.
Gotta go, we have errands to run,I will fill ya's in on my next beers soon.
Trent

 

[kabooby]

Hey Trent,

Looks like you are having a ball. I love doing these sort of holidays.

How were the Rogue beers? I have had the Rogue Mocha Porter courtesy of Little Squares and Linz and it was great.

Thanks for all the detailed updates. Makes me want to go on Holidays

kabooby

 

[Tim]

Hi Trent,
I have had the St Peters Organic Bitter before The Beer Diary and found it a little underwhelming. Where are the hops??
I have also had the Innus and Gunn - and will be posting about that soon.

 

[InCider]

I love your posts Trent

Thanks Mate,

InCider.

 

[Cocko]

This thread should called; "Don't you wish you were me right now!!"

Anyway, are you Trent from Punchy???


Warning: This link contains offensive stuff!!



Good work mate.