Whats In The Glass (commercial)

[glennheinzel]

Emerson's Brewers Special Release Hoppy Porter (or something like that). Nice firm bitterness and hop aroma. I haven't liked hoppy porters in the past, but this one nailed it. Great beer. BTW - This was a "rigger" from Regional Wines in Wellington. ie. You fill a plastic bottle from a keg.

Renaissance Porter. Another very well made beer from Renaissance.

Hallertau Porter Noir. Porter aged in Pinot Noir barrels. Great beer, dry finish. Complex flavours.

Thomas Hardy's Ale (Barley Wine). Picked up from a supermarket in Nelson. I wasn't ready for this beer. It really is the "port" of the beer world as it is flat, sweet and has a lot of flavours. I've got one in the fridge at home which I will now try to age for a good few more years, especially since Doc mentioned that the brewery has stopped making these beers.

 

[glennheinzel]

three boys Oyster Stout. Hints of brine. This was quite a drinkable oyster stout, especially compared to the "oyster sauce" I had at Porterhouse earlier in the year.

Renaissance Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Very smooth and easy drinking stout.

three boys IPA. Fairly good IPA.

Peak Brewery IPA. Not much bitterness, flavour or aroma. Couldn't locate a Best Before date so it could be past its prime.

Mike's Mild Ale. Even sitting on its Best Before date, this is still a great beer due to choc and malty presence.

Founders Long Black. Very smooth and easy drinking Schwarzbier made in Nelson. I went to the brewery, but shouldn't have bothered because you have to pay Z$7 to get into the Heritage Park and then Z$7 for the tasting panel + brewery tour. It turned out that the brewers weren't in so I only caught a glimpse of their setup so it's a good thing that they undercharged us for the tasting panel + brewery tour.

Tuatara Hefe. This brewer was a real find. I'd seen their bottles in a couple of supermarkets, but the label wasn't flashy enough to get me to buy their beers. It wasn't until I reluctantly let my wife do a beer run for me that these beers ended up in my fridge. Turns out that they are associated with a great beer cafe in Wellington and have won a few awards. The hefe had all the classic flavours/aromas for this beer style.

Tuatara English IPA. Another great beer, which surprised me given that it wasn't bottle conditioned.

 

[reVoxAHB]

Hard to follow you Rukh with so many great offerings.

Finally stumbled on a bottle of White Rabbit's Dark Ale:


Delicious and smooth. Sessionable came right to mind. Very sexy malt body.. didn't find it too bitter, as some have picked up. Really clean and fresh.. will definitely pick this up again.. looking forward to seeing it on tap at the Royston, etc... it probably already is, afaik .

Cheers,
reVox

 

[tcraig20]

Duvel :icon_drool2:

 

[reviled]

Looks like you had fun Rukh, gotta love the beerstore.co.nz

I just ordered the following, man, cant wait :icon_drool2:

Dogfish Head 90 min IPA .
Dogfish Head 60 min IPA
New belgium Fat Tire
Stone Ruination IPA
Green Flash West Coast IPA
Green Flash Hop Head Red
Firestone Union Jack IPA
Stone India Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA
Anderson Valley Hop Ottin IPA

Again - :icon_drool2:

 

[bum]

Oh man. Please don't post those in here when you get them.

Does anyone know of an Aussie site that sells Dogfish Head?

 

[reviled]

Oh man. Please don't post those in here when you get them.

Does anyone know of an Aussie site that sells Dogfish Head?

Have you tried that slowbeer site?? Or also ive heard things about some places in Melbourne maybe which have a wide range of US beers??

 

[MaestroMatt]

Is there anything that Vegemite WON'T go with??

 

[jimmybee]

US beers are very hard to get here, rogue and flying dog is about it really.

that website is so tempting. was annoyed they don't post to AUST, but i guess that has something to do with licensing and so forth. i was told by one of the staff at Purvis the USA blokes don't like sending beers to the southern hemi because of freshness issues and they also place alot of conditons on shipping requirements.

very jealous of that beer list

jimmy

 

[reVoxAHB]

US beers are very hard to get here, rogue and flying dog is about it really.

that website is so tempting. was annoyed they don't post to AUST, but i guess that has something to do with licensing and so forth. i was told by one of the staff at Purvis the USA blokes don't like sending beers to the southern hemi because of freshness issues and they also place alot of conditons on shipping requirements.

very jealous of that beer list

jimmy

Speaking of US beer, and pardon the OT... I was chatting with the manager of the alcohol dept. at CostCo, Docklands who said they're working very hard to bring in US beers, "Beers which you won't find at bottle shops, here."

Now, I'm thinking Coors and Bud and Busch but that doesn't rule out *fingers crossed* a New Belgium mixer, or likely slabs of flat tire. Maybe mixed Mexican slabs? Dude couldn't comment on anything for certain, other than to tell me they are working very hard at it.

CostCo in Colorado sell New Belgium, and generally offer an additional craft slab or mixed craft slabs (among the towering walls of biggies, bud, etc.)

reVox

 

[reviled]

Up until about a year ago we couldnt get any US beers in NZ at all apart from Budweiser and Miller, I couldnt even find Coors anywhere, not that id want to...

Daniel Parker at the beer store has worked damn hard I believe to get a range in, the first shipment was a risk cos they charge horrendous postage prices and he wasnt sure wether people would go for it, and now he has numerous shipments and a wider range of stock!

If he can do it, I dont see why someone in Aus cant do it tho?

 

[Ross]

A lot of the USA beers going into NZ (& into Aus for that matter) are grey imports going in through Europe. Take a close look at the best before dates, as a lot of these parcels get offered up cheap for this very reason & then spend a month or 2 in unrefridgerated containers getting transported. As far as I'm aware, Flying Dog, Rogue & Dogfish Head do not export direct to NZ at this stage. I know of several breweries who have already taken steps to stop this movement of their beers, as it comprimises the quality of their product & hence their name.

Cheers Ross

 

[Effect]

A lot of the USA beers going into NZ (& into Aus for that matter) are grey imports going in through Europe. Take a close look at the best before dates, as a lot of these parcels get offered up cheap for this very reason & then spend a month or 2 in unrefridgerated containers getting transported. As far as I'm aware, Flying Dog, Rogue & Dogfish Head do not export direct to NZ at this stage. I know of several breweries who have already taken steps to stop this movement of their beers, as it comprimises the quality of their product & hence their name.

Cheers Ross

I was thinking of gettign the flying dog beer range from the international beer shop as well as some rogue beers...are you saying that they are probably the 'dregs' of the stock shipped to europe?

Cheers
Phil

 

[glennheinzel]

A lot of the USA beers going into NZ (& into Aus for that matter) are grey imports going in through Europe. Take a close look at the best before dates, as a lot of these parcels get offered up cheap for this very reason & then spend a month or 2 in unrefridgerated containers getting transported. As far as I'm aware, Flying Dog, Rogue & Dogfish Head do not export direct to NZ at this stage. I know of several breweries who have already taken steps to stop this movement of their beers, as it comprimises the quality of their product & hence their name.

Cheers Ross

According to the beerstore.co.nz site - "The Beer Store is a wholly owned subsidiary of Totally Mac Limited, a well respected Apple Authorised Dealer, trading since 1997. The Beer Store is 100% NZ owned".

Just guessing, but they are probably a couple of beer/computer geeks (said in the nicest possible way) who decided that they could get beer shipped across with all the computer gear that they import.

Edit: I've just read Reviled's post so perhaps it wasn't as simple as getting the beer thrown in with their computer gear.

 

[reVoxAHB]

I know of several breweries who have already taken steps to stop this movement of their beers, as it comprimises the quality of their product & hence their name.

Cheers Ross

Sierra Nevada certainly played a big part in this. We enquired to receive a mixed slab for BJCP a couple of years ago. First, they flat out told us they do not export for reasons outlined above. Then, they agreed to ship if we packed the slab on ice with insulation, and had it couriered with a guaranteed delivery of 72 hours (or similar). It came to something like $280, before excise.

Not sure how it's coming in now, given their stringent stance a few years ago.

Cheers,
reVox

 

[bum]

As Ross describes - through Europe. If I recall correctly, I read our supply of SNPA comes in from Belgium?

This does, however, beg the question: Why are Sierra Nevada, et al, happy to sail beer off to Europe but not down here? Sure, Europe is somewhat closer, I suppose, but it is definitely not within the 72 hour turn around mentioned above (nor would any retail position in the US for that matter). Sounds like bullshit to me - we're just not big enough a market.

 

[reviled]

A lot of the USA beers going into NZ (& into Aus for that matter) are grey imports going in through Europe. Take a close look at the best before dates, as a lot of these parcels get offered up cheap for this very reason & then spend a month or 2 in unrefridgerated containers getting transported. As far as I'm aware, Flying Dog, Rogue & Dogfish Head do not export direct to NZ at this stage. I know of several breweries who have already taken steps to stop this movement of their beers, as it comprimises the quality of their product & hence their name.

Cheers Ross

It was a parcel that I made up myself by selecting all the beers myself, and it by no means was 'going cheap'

I will check the expiry dates tho and let you guys know how fresh or not they all are...

 

[dgilks]

As Ross describes - through Europe. If I recall correctly, I read our supply of SNPA comes in from Belgium?

This does, however, beg the question: Why are Sierra Nevada, et al, happy to sail beer off to Europe but not down here? Sure, Europe is somewhat closer, I suppose, but it is definitely not within the 72 hour turn around mentioned above (nor would any retail position in the US for that matter). Sounds like bullshit to me - we're just not big enough a market.

In the US they use refrigerated shipping to move the beer around. This gets around the 72 hour problem.

 

[Ross]

Flying Dog, Rogue, Mikeller, Nogne-o, & Meantime are some that are officially imported into Australia via the East Coast here.
Without naming names, there are still some people grey importing, even those that are selling the "approved" bottles along side.
The reason that Europe has a lot of the brands not available here, is that (like SN) they will only export in refridgerated containers.
The market in Australia is unfortunately not large enough to make bringing in all brands refridgerated viable.
The good news is that fresh Dogfish Head may not be too far away

Cheers Ross

 

[bum]

In reply to dgilks (Ross got in while I was typing)
If that is the case then I retract that statement and apologise. I still stand by the last bit.

All of my beers stay out of refrigeration for longer than 72 hours. No wonder they are so disappointing. Here I was blaming the kits!

[EDIT: that's some exciting news there, Ross!]