Whats In The Glass (commercial)

[glennheinzel]

Brasserie Ellezelloise Hercule Stout (~9%ABV). Strong fizz as I opened the flip top lid, although the beer itself didn't seem overcarbed. Whitish head (as opposed to the darker colours of the Yeti which I tried a couple of days earlier). Aroma was on the sweetish side and fairly mild. You could taste some sort of barrel aging. The beer itself was thin with no real hop or grain character. I guess that it was well made and what one might expect of a Belgian take on a big stout, however Great Divide's Yet (Imperial Stout) was on my mind when I got stuck into this beer so overall I was disappointed.

 

[petesbrew]

Good to see you're still on the job, Rukh!

 

[glennheinzel]

Good to see you're still on the job, Rukh!

And here is a couple of the upcoming beers, although I'm thinking of cellaring Harvey's Imperial Stout and De Dolle's Stille Nacht back at home.

De Dolle's Stille Nacht, Harvey's Imperial Stout, Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron and Dogfish Head Midas Touch.


Double IPA's from Steamworks and Coronado a well as Terrapin's Rye Pale Ale.


Belgian IPA's from Chouffe, Taras Boulba and Brigand. Also IPA's from Sierra Nevada and Victory.

 

[bum]

You totally ruin my day every time you post in here, Rukh.

 

[devo]

SWMBO told me she had a surprise for me and pointed towards the fridge.



4 bottles of various brews with the Firestone Union Jack IPA taking my fancy....delicious :beerbang:

 

[Bribie G]

When Poms go Bad

Gotta stay away from 1ST Choice. :blink:

 

[Tony]

I forked out some cash for some nice beers this arvo.

Found a couple bottles of this: http://www.brewdog.com/paradox.php

2 different types..... will put a pic up tonight.

cheers

 

[zoidbergmerc]

When Poms go Bad

Pic

Gotta stay away from 1ST Choice. :blink:

What's the Syringe for! h34r:

 

[Bribie G]

What's the Syringe for! h34r:

Pocket beer engine for laying a dense creamy layer of foam on UK beers, like their handpumped ales.

 

[glennheinzel]

Bribie - My father-in-law has Carlsberg Special Brew in his fridge. He doesn't have to worry about anyone else touching it.

You totally ruin my day every time you post in here, Rukh.

Bum - Hopefully this post hasn't ruined your day.

 

[Tony]

Ok... brag photos. Not as good as some i have seen but got some beer i have tried and loved and some to have not yet

I drank my bottle of Terrible... so i got another, i have had the 8 before and one is never enough The Vitus is a favorite and the rest are untried.

now these im really REALLY excited about. Im a big fan of Single malt's and have quite a colection. I saw these in the shop and just got them without looking at the price. Not chaep but who cares!

Paradox Isle of Arran
Description on the bottle needs to be put up
The rich Vanilla Sweetness, hints of cinnamon and ballancing aromatic fruit and ginger flavours of the Arran malt are all deeply infused into the texture of our smooth robust imperial stout. Profound new depths emerge with each pass and sip. The pallat is a pollished and classic as a Robbie Burns masterpiece. This is scotland in a glass.

And this one im really excited about. I just love a peated single malt.

and the back of the label:

I drank the Fullers 1845. It was nice but i was a touch disapointed. Fantasticly made beer but it had a more dry buiskety malt character (bottle says amber malt) which was nice but didnt really excite me. The hops were nice, well ballanced. Great beer but for me.... not my favorite from the fullers stable. Way better than the honey bee fake lager monstrosity they have on the market though! Id Buy an ESB over this in future!

 

[glennheinzel]

Bexley Beer Festival is on at the nearby sports club with 65 beers detailed here.

The barrels are marked with the brewers name, the beers name, what number the beer is on the guide and how much it costs for a pint, half pint and 1/3 pint.


I was intrigued by the concept of English style wheat beers so I started by working my way through three different English/Scottish wheat ales. Subsequent research has shown that a couple of them claim to be German style wheat beers (not sure if this relates to yeast/proportion of wheat/etc) so it was interesting trying them at cellar temp and without much carbonation. I didn't get much in the way of bananas/cloves so perhaps the reference to german style was more in terms of hops and wheat composition of grist. I am tempted to email each of the relevant breweries to ask for their thoughts on an English wheat ale.
* Springhead Brewery's Willys WheatBeer. Was described as "Initial fruity flavour leads to a long dry biscuity finish". Touch of sulphur in the aroma, but otherwise I can see what they are saying in the description.
* Tsa Scotch Mist Wheat Beer. Tasted almost like first runnings. Some vanilla (NZ Styrian Goldings?). Forgettable for me, but might be good for someone who doesn't like beer.
* Wolf Straw Dogs. The best of English wheat beers. Noticeable hop bitterness and a nice tart finish.

Next stop was the single hop ales - Westerham's WGV and then their Bramling Cross. The Bramling Cross single hop ale was the first beer of the night that I thought was really great. Whereas the WGV was a bit rough around the edges, the Bramling Cross had a lovely smooth profile.


I had a couple of other beers (including a Cascade single hop IPA and Westerhams 900th brew IPA), but nothing worth writing home about.

Besides the onsite beers, you can also get take-away in (clean) milk containers. I'm meeting up with some Irish friends tomorrow so I grabbed some (Russian Imperial) Stout...


I should also mention the tombola. I managed to pick up a couple of glasses, a Harveys calendar and some bar mats.

 

[bconnery]

I should also mention the tombola. I managed to pick up a couple of glasses, a Harveys calendar and some bar mats.

We used to love the tombola. I scored heaps of stuff. Glasses, framed prints. I have a set of framed Guinness prints because my wife, well basically because my wife was there drinking beer.
An australian, a female, and under 30 (then anyway) at a real ale festival? We used to have to take an extra bag with us for the stuff we got

 

[winkle]

When Poms go Bad

Gotta stay away from 1ST Choice. :blink:

Knowing where you work, I understand the **** and the syringe but what's with the foreign imported stuff - goon too good for you now?

 

[hefevice]

Jeez, Rukh's a hard act to follow at the moment...

On another Italian trip, so here's the first of them...Birrificio Montegioco Demon Hunter...

Great packaging; all of their beers are wrapped in paper like this (with a labelled bottle inside the paper). Nice compact mousse like head too. I think this is meant to be a Belgian Style Golden Strong, judging by the appearance and the 8.5% ABV strength. Unfortunately I have misplaced my tasting notes, however from memory I think the main impression on the aroma was of honey, some very slight hop grassiness and a bit of yeasty funk. Main flavour impression was that it was quite muted compared to the aroma, dry finish, with very firm bitterness (a little unbalanced).

I think the syringe in BribieG's photo was his cheap arsed "beer engine".

 

[hefevice]

[snip]

Orkney Brewery's Dragonhead Stout. :icon_drool2: Roastiness and some malt and fruit. A really good sessionable (4%ABV) stout.
View attachment 36902

Isn't the Dragonhead Stout amazing for a 4% beer? Nice thing about that beer is that it should be readily available in Australia (I know that First Choice carry it, and would be surprised if Dan's didn't).

 

[jbowers]

Isn't the Dragonhead Stout amazing for a 4% beer? Nice thing about that beer is that it should be readily available in Australia (I know that First Choice carry it, and would be surprised if Dan's didn't).

Dans do not. Chances are if it's a good beer and it's imported - Dans wont stock it. They are good like that. They have an amazing selection of mediocre imported beers (ie. WHERE DID THE FULLERS GO!?).

 

[hefevice]

Birrificio Toccalmatto Grand Cru

Slight banana ester on the nose, other than that difficult to pick out individual components. Dangerously drinkable at 9% ABV, very subtle, no harsh alcohol flavours, and superbly balanced. So good, I needed to finish the yeast dregs! YUM!!

 

[hefevice]

Birrificio Toccalmatto Surfing Hop

Billed as an Imperial IPA weighing in at 8.5% ABV. Got it cheap because it was close to Use By date. Any concerns I might have had about loss of hop character disappeared as soon as the bottle was opened. Big, dank (in a good way) citrus aroma (seemed like Centennial, although website says Willamette and Amarillo?), with perfume esters, and a toffee malt background. If anything it may have lost some hop flavour over time, but it is nicely balanced with very subtle hints of chocolate and raisins and a slight warming at the finish from the high ABV. Another dangerously drinkable big beer from Toccalmatto.

 

[chappo1970]

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