Whats In The Glass (commercial)

[jiesu]

Very Nice reviews + Photos hefevice.

Just had to brag... finally the Boss is buying half way decent beer for the working man...

Monteiths black beer
Thats exactly what I am drinking at the moment Chap. It is a dark ale, very tasty without going over the top on malt charachteristics. It has quite subtle coffee, caramal flavours that avoid
the unpleasent (depending on pallete) burnt taste that tends to come through in alot of the commercial darker beers. Brilliant for sucking down on cool evenings. The Nu Zelend ers have made a great
beer here worthy of drinking half a dozen of.

 

[bconnery]

La Trappe Dubbel. Like most of theirs not bad but not quite at the level of some of the greats to me.

Unibroue Chambley de Noir. Like most of theirs, beautiful. Not as intense flavours as some dark belgians but nicely balanced and with plenty to keep you going through the glass.

 

[bum]

Just got back from a trip to visit SWMBO's family in the States. My aim was to try a bunch of APAs and AIPAs (both of which are generally my favourite styles). I dutifully took pictures and tasting notes for every beer I'd never had before (and some repeats if on tap) with the intention of making a full report here. As I got towards the end of the trip I realised that was never going to happen. I've got photos and notes for 71 beers - BUGGER THAT! I will post a full list at the end and if there's anything anyone particularly wants comment on just ask.

Some impressions of varying specificity:
Anyone who says Australian breweries are adequately replicating APAs and AIPAs has their head firmly up their arse.
SNPA and Torpedo are not the reference beers I previously imagined them - but I'd still be very happy to get them here for $9 and $11 respectively for a sixer (at 7-Eleven no less!).
You almost need to go out of your way to find somewhere that only sells shit beer.
Absolute highlights: Pliny the Elder, Hop Henge IPA, Old Rasputin, SN Fritz and Ken's Ale.
Favourite breweries discovered: Bear Republic and Russian River.
Only got to three breweries. One was awesome (Russian River) and the other two (Beach Chalet Brewery and Pacific Coast Brewing Co.) sucked balls.
Got a little bit of APA/AIPA fatigue at certain points so you'll see what I switched to on those occasions.
Almost all of the bottled beers in the list below were purchased from a place called "Mega 8 Liquor" or a single branch of a chain supermarket.

Acme Pale Ale (tap)
Anchor Porter (bottle)
Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ IPA (bottle)
Beach Chalet Brewery Lake Merritt IPA (tap)
Beach Chalet Brewery Smoked Ale (tap)
Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye Specialty Ale (bottle)
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA (tap and bottle)
Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale (tap)
Bear Republic XP Pale Ale (bottle)
Brewdog Tokyo* (tap)
Brouwerij Van Steenberge Gulden Draak (tap)
Deschutes Hop Henge Experimental IPA (bottle)
Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale (tap)
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (tap)
Dogfish Head Aprihop IPA (bottle)
Dogfish Head Barton Baton Oak Aged Imperial IPA (bottle)
Dogfish Head Midas Touch Handcrafted Ancient Ale (bottle)
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron (bottle)
Drake’s Denogginizer IPA (tap)
Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA (tap)
Green Flash Brewing Co. Barleywine Style Ale (bottle)
Green Flash Brewing Co. Le Freak (tap)
Green Flash Brewing Co. Trippel
Green Flash Brewing Co. West Coast IPA (bottle)
Hatachino Nest Red Rice Ale (bottle)
Indian Wells Brewing Co. Whole Hog Smoked Porter (bottle)
Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball (tap and bottle)
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale
Lagunitas IPA (tap)
Lagunitas Maximus IPA (bottle)
Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot (bottle)
Mad River Brewing Co. Steelhead DIPA (bottle)
New Belgium Fat Tire (bottle)
New Belgum Ranger IPA (bottle)
Ninkasi Brewing Company Total Domination IPA (bottle)
Ninkasi Tricerahops Double IPA (bottle)
Nonge 0, Jolly Pumpkin Jumper, Stone Brewing Special Holiday Ale (bottle)
North Coast Brewing Co. Old Rasputin RIS (tap)
Pacific Coast Brewing Co. Blue Whale IPA (taster)
Pacific Coast Brewing Co. Cask Emerald Ale Irish Red (taster)
Pacific Coast Brewing Co. Code Blue Barleywine (taster)
Pacific Coast Brewing Co. Columbus IPA (taster)
Pacific Coast Brewing Co. Emerald Ale Irish Red (taster)
Pacific Coast Brewing Co. Gray Whale Ale (taster)
Pacific Coast Brewing Co. Leviathan Imperial Stout (taster)
Pacific Coast Brewing Co. Luck o’ the Irish Stout (taster)
Port Brewing Mongo IPA (tap)
Russian River Aud Blonde (taster)
Russian River Blind Pig IPA (taster)
Russian River Consecration (taster)
Russian River Damnation (taster)
Russian River Gaffer Bitter (taster)
Russian River IPA (tap and taster)
Russian River Little White Lie (taster)
Russian River Nobel Experiment (taster)
Russian River OVL Stout (taster)
Russian River Parking Violation Pale Ale (taster)
Russian River Perdition (taster)
Russian River Pliny the Elder (tap and taster)
Russian River Porter (taster)
Russian River Salvation (taster)
Russian River Supplication (taster)
Russian River Temptation (taster)
Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale (bottle)
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale (bottle)
Sierra Nevada Sierra 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken’s Ale Stout (bottle)
Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest Fresh Hop Ale (bottle)
Speakeasy Double Daddy IPA (tap)
Stone Imperial Russian Stout (bottle)
Stone Old Guardian Barleywine (bottle)
Stone Ruination IPA (bottle)
Victory Hop Devil IPA (bottle)

 

[flattop]

Bum, after drinking all that i wouldn't be able to find my plane ticket to get back!

Shame there is too much to write up, perhaps a highlights only?

Or do it again with sponsorship and we could enjoy "bums beer tour of the southern states" on SBS2 or something...
Or perhaps "bum's Yankees in a bottle".....
or
"3 bums to the wind in San Franscico"

perhaps that's a bit too cheeky...

Spoilt for choice on that list!

 

[bum]

Sorted out some pics from the trip. Here's a couple of my favourites and some incidental pics. Most pics taken with borrowed cameras in poor light conditions.

Bear Republic Racer 5

Went to a bar that I heard had Pliny the Elder on tap. Keg was blown and they had this on instead so I grabbed one having never heard of it. First mind blowing beer of the trip. First rampantly C-hopped beer I've ever understood. Huge but far from over the top. Nice balance. Lovely beer.

Deschutes Hop Henge Experimental IPA

Shown here with cheese stuffed, deep fried jalapenos - t'was a great night indeed. Huge hop aroma. Big bitterness upfront gives way to full hop flavour with nice malt support. Bitterness returns for a long mild linger. Amazing beer. Wish I'd been able to bring one home.

North Coast Brewing Co. Old Rasputin Russian Impirial Stout

About halway into the trip I fell into a big APA/AIPA hole. Wanted to try something really different to pull me out but needed to still be big enough to be noticable. Hence this beer. Blackest beer I have ever had. This beer has a gravity from which no light escapes. Nice bittersweet chocolate and restrained coffee aroma. Delicious beer. Ended up trying it bottled too and while it was still very good it just wasn't as nice as this.

Russian River Pliny the Elder

This was the beer I'd most wanted to try on this trip. It was not what I expected in the slightest. I was expecting a vicious, grassy hop monster that would ruin all future beers simply through LTS. Turns out that while the fruity hop aroma was massive the beer itself is remarkably balanced - almost to the point of being delicate (even though it is still very bitter and hoppy). An amazing beer. I guess I was right about one thing - it has ruined all other beers for me to a certain extent.

Sierra Nevada Sierra 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken's Ale Stout

Yes, the name is a mouthful. So is the beer. Beautiful, complex big stouty goodness. Almost brought one home but decided to stick with beers I want to attempt to clone. Nice as this beer is I'd never get through 30 bottles of it.

Bear Republic XP Pale Ale

Very nice APA. Nothing earth shattering here just a really nice session APA. Hoping to replicate as a house beer.

Beer board at Russian River.

Uh, don't ask for the tasting paddle at Russian River unless you've got some time on your hands. 16 beers! Also, don't take tasting notes about ever single one of them if you wish to keep dining partners on side. Oops.

 

[Mearesy]

All I can say is...... dammnnnn

 

[bconnery]

Right up until that last picture I was enjoying the descriptions and details of your trip.

I now hate you, you lucky lucky *******.

 

[Phoney]

Well I went to China (Shanghai) last week.

Tsingtao - Chinese beer is pretty well horrible. Although Tsingtao Dark is similar to Tooheys old which is marginally drinkable
Kirin and Asahi - Japanese beer is bareable and very cheap, available everywhere.
So is Heineken
Tiger (from Singapore) is actually pretty tasty - for a megaswill lager.
Leffe, Erdinger, Hoegaarden and Duvel is slightly cheaper than it is here, at around $5 a bottle, and available from most restaurants and middle class bars - which made up for the crappy Asian beers.

So yes, go to China for food and cheap electronic goods, but NOT for the beer! Nor for the spirits. They drink this fermented rice wine over there, that tastes like a combination of nail polish remover and turps. It's not like Sake it's just erghh! Other than that they all seem to love Cognac and other brown spirits like Whiskey.

 

[bum]

I'm (supposed to be) heading to China next month and was not expecting to be sporting a beer-boner like I was through the US trip. The imports do surprise me, however. Shame I've got no time for those ones. I'm heading to Hainam Island which they're pushing as a big resort place so I'm hoping I may be able to find something a little more exotic. Maybe. Going for a wedding banquet so I'll be obliged to be drinking the above mentioned Congac (VSOP, naturally) - shame the stuff is hideous.

 

[hefevice]

Sorted out some pics from the trip.

AWESOME!!! Totally jealous...

 

[Bribie G]

Berri Goon Fruity Gordo :beerbang: :beerbang:

A couple of weeks ago I was diagnosed (after pain under the ribs and an ultrasound) with two massive stones in the left kidney - too big to pass thank Christ but need to be disintegrated with blasts of ultrasound whatever. Doc checked my uric acid levels and on the scale they use, I should be under 4 but my level is actually 7.3. Nasty. They are most likely uric acid stones.

So doc put me on Allipurinol on Monday. This medication dissolves uric acid concentrations in various part of the body where it parks itself, and releases it into the bloodstream for elimination by the kidneys. But during the early stage of treatment the uric acid can migrate to the feet and legs and recrystallise giving rise to sudden gout attacks. Anyway last night I noticed my ankles and feet swelling, felt unwell and went to bed at 9, then woke at 1pm with my left foot feeling like it was in the grip of a Medieval torture press. Aaarrgghhh worst pain I have felt for years. I couldn't walk and literally crawled to the kitchen for 4 ibuprofens and 3 panadeines. Still sore this afternoon but have been advised to give beer a rest for a while till the treatment progresses, then I can get back to a moderate amount of beer. Beer is a good source of Purines which end up as uric acid. Goon's not bad at three bucks a litre

Also be aware that this will not stop me brewing for the forthcoming comps. Ha

 

[jlm]

View attachment 38154

Berri Goon Fruity Gordo :beerbang: :beerbang:

A couple of weeks ago I was diagnosed (after pain under the ribs and an ultrasound) with two massive stones in the left kidney - too big to pass thank Christ but need to be disintegrated with blasts of ultrasound whatever. Doc checked my uric acid levels and on the scale they use, I should be under 4 but my level is actually 7.3. Nasty. They are most likely uric acid stones.

So doc put me on Allipurinol on Monday. This medication dissolves uric acid concentrations in various part of the body where it parks itself, and releases it into the bloodstream for elimination by the kidneys. But during the early stage of treatment the uric acid can migrate to the feet and legs and recrystallise giving rise to sudden gout attacks. Anyway last night I noticed my ankles and feet swelling, felt unwell and went to bed at 9, then woke at 1pm with my left foot feeling like it was in the grip of a Medieval torture press. Aaarrgghhh worst pain I have felt for years. I couldn't walk and literally crawled to the kitchen for 4 ibuprofens and 3 panadeines. Still sore this afternoon but have been advised to give beer a rest for a while till the treatment progresses, then I can get back to a moderate amount of beer. Beer is a good source of Purines which end up as uric acid. Goon's not bad at three bucks a litre

Also be aware that this will not stop me brewing for the forthcoming comps. Ha

Bribie, maybe not a good time for the heads up considering the above but I was in Spiro's at Paddington today and noticed they had cans of Brains SA. You have a fondness for this beer? Commercial thread seems as good a place to point this out as any.

 

[Bribie G]

Bribie, maybe not a good time for the heads up considering the above but I was in Spiro's at Paddington today and noticed they had cans of Brains SA. You have a fondness for this beer? Commercial thread seems as good a place to point this out as any.

BribieG sobs uncontrollably





Where's Spiros ?????

 

[winkle]

Bribie, maybe not a good time for the heads up considering the above but I was in Spiro's at Paddington today and noticed they had cans of Brains SA. You have a fondness for this beer? Commercial thread seems as good a place to point this out as any.

You are a cruel man, jlm. B)

 

[jlm]

BribieG sobs uncontrollably





Where's Spiros ?????

Paddington Central shopping center on, err I think its Latrobe Tce? Bardon end of Paddington.

http://www.spirosbottleshops.com.au/locations.html

Seems there's a couple in the city too. Might be worth a call to see who's got what in stock.
They also had Brains Bitter or something on those lines. I was tempted to get one but I was short on cash.

 

[Peter Wadey]

Awwww bum, I am green with envy.
I would dearly love to be able to visit places like that and sample the beers you have.

Thanks for the post.
Peter

 

[bum]

No problem (my withdrawals aside).

Feel better, Bribie.

 

[sinkas]

Why are you drinking goon?

 

[Bribie G]

Why are you drinking goon?

as explained above

Edit: to elaborate, goon doesn't raise the uric acid levels. I hope.

 

[jyo]

View attachment 38154

Berri Goon Fruity Gordo :beerbang: :beerbang:

A couple of weeks ago I was diagnosed (after pain under the ribs and an ultrasound) with two massive stones in the left kidney - too big to pass thank Christ but need to be disintegrated with blasts of ultrasound whatever. Doc checked my uric acid levels and on the scale they use, I should be under 4 but my level is actually 7.3. Nasty. They are most likely uric acid stones.

So doc put me on Allipurinol on Monday. This medication dissolves uric acid concentrations in various part of the body where it parks itself, and releases it into the bloodstream for elimination by the kidneys. But during the early stage of treatment the uric acid can migrate to the feet and legs and recrystallise giving rise to sudden gout attacks. Anyway last night I noticed my ankles and feet swelling, felt unwell and went to bed at 9, then woke at 1pm with my left foot feeling like it was in the grip of a Medieval torture press. Aaarrgghhh worst pain I have felt for years. I couldn't walk and literally crawled to the kitchen for 4 ibuprofens and 3 panadeines. Still sore this afternoon but have been advised to give beer a rest for a while till the treatment progresses, then I can get back to a moderate amount of beer. Beer is a good source of Purines which end up as uric acid. Goon's not bad at three bucks a litre

Also be aware that this will not stop me brewing for the forthcoming comps. Ha

Spectacular clarity, Bribie. Head retention issues?? :lol: