Sunday 26 February 2012

Kooinda Black I.P.A.

No pop, just gently carbonated. A good start.



Nose is chocolate stout, but with nelson sauvin hops passionfruit edge.. a different but mouthwatering proposition. I get chocolate cherry sorts of notes also, bit like a black forest cake. Opaque black body, lovely tan coloured head that laces all over the shop but does dissipate a little.

This label's got a bit more on it than their pale ale. 70+ IBUs, using dehusked malt to produce the black beer along with a swathe of other malt types, plus late 7-day dry hopping. At 7% there's 1.8 drinks to the bottle. All of this sounds very good indeed.

On first taste it's almost more bitter than expected but a wonderfully complex development takes you through the initial burst of fruity bitter hops (slight nectarine again?) and through to a cocoa finish. Takes a few seconds to get through the stages to the end.

Another bloody brave effort from these guys - nothing held back here, it's big and bold in all ways and I like that a lot. Great stuff. 8.0

4 Pines Kolsch

Hm. Pop went the cap and the aroma reminded me more of the lamentable Sunner effort than its heroic siblings at Eagle Bay / Duckstein and other places.



In fact there was a bit of sediment high in the bottle for this one also - not sure what that represents - but probably not a good thing. Perhaps this beer wasn't in top condition when it reached me. The head too was pretty vicious but also collapsed in on itself in strange ways. Really not sure this was in optimal shape.

Taste wise .. carbonation strikes first (possibly a product of the above) but gives way to a pleasant enough drop. It's quite quenching, a summer beer for sure, and light to the point of transparency. Bit more character and citrus flavour as it gets warmer.

This grew on me a little as I kept drinking .. but not a great deal. Perhaps the bottle was a little off, but not overly impressed. 5.0

Wednesday 22 February 2012

4 Pines Stout

The first venture into 4 Pines, from whom I'd seen a bit but never tried.



This claims on the neck to be the world's first space beer - but as a marketing initiative it had pretty much the opposite effect on me at least. I almost didn't buy it due to this wankery - while I'm all for martian beer, what I want to buy myself personally is something that is bloody good down here on Urth.

Having said all that I'm very glad I did get this in the end - it's a dark chocolate based stout - sits heavy in the glass, sports a deep black hue, minor low head from the start, soon dissipates. Maybe the aeration & head are something to do with the space initiative? Wasn't a problem on our planet though, just made it easier to drink.

Burnt smoky flavour develops through the mouthful. Mostly cocoa flavours apart from that.

---

Edit: tried this once more and bumped it down a bit, perhaps a bit overenthused the first time around due to it coming after a swathe of shit other beers. It's good but sort of lacking roundness (doesn't really develop as such like a good stout, bit too carbonated / light in terms of mouthfeel, bit waxy in terms of taste? 7.0

Knappstein Enterprise Brewery Reserve Lager

Having destroyed Squires for its miserable plunder we needed to resort to bottled beer to wash the mouth out.


Knappstein's been around at least a couple years now and I've been impressed with it from day 1. On the flip side, I'm drinking far better quality beer more often now (ask my wallet) and so I wondered vaguely if this would continue to stack up.

Pleasingly, it does. The dominant flavours are spicy passionfruit hops, with a backing vanilla undertone. It's easy drinking and tasty, plus 5.6% to boot. What's not to love? Hopefully this winery-and-now-brewery are working on more projects now given the deserved success of this drop.

I'm still shocked this counts as a 'lager' - don't see how a lager is going to beat this in its field on current evidence? Can only wait expectantly and see. 8.0

James Squires 150 Lashes Pale Ale

At last. The day of reckoning.


I'd had this on tap in Sydney several months ago and oddly enjoyed it - then came back and bought a carton in Perth only to hate every stinking last drop of it. This then would be the decider in a very fair setting - the lair of the foul brewer himself.

What can I say - this is pretty bloody horrible. Is it really a pale ale even or some sort of unpleasant hybrid lager? Light, fizzy, fluffy, and with no real taste outside of an offputting sour (rather than bitter) edge.

Above and beyond not delivering on any of its claims to be a craft beer (or even a premium beer) [or even a beer actually come to think of it], this is actually really very unpleasant as well.

"Never Forsake Flavour" eh Squires? Don't make me laugh. 1.0

Mad Brewers' Hoppy Hefe

After looking down the row of taps at this place and asking in vain for a porter, I ended up with the hoppy hefe brewed by Squires basically under a different name.


Bar staff said "it's 7% .. is that ok?" .. I almost laughed.

Hefeweizen is typically an unfiltered wheatbear with an often banana dominated flavour. This came out quite dark though oddly. Very little aroma either.

There's just a hint of banana in this one too but it's buried under sour citrus and possibly the insane carbonation also. I'm not sure where the hops were supposed to be. Not a lot of character throughout in fact.. just a kind of oddly placed bitterness. Can't think this is what the brewers were aiming for? I feel ripped off more than anything.

I didn't really get on with this beer at all. Sounds harsh but I can't think when I'd choose it again. 2.5

James Squires Stow Away IPA

Lack of places doing craft beer in Perth took us to James Squires. Can't say I was enthused but determined to give it a fair go after mixed recent experience.


First up the IPA. Floral hop aromas are pleasant, and it's an invigorating opaque orange colour too with an attractive laced head. Take a glug and it's citrus first, IPA flavours sure but kind of dumbed down somehow, very little lingering flavour from any direction and flat malt. 

A balanced beer with no real issues - but nothing to recommend it either. 5.5

8 Wired The Big Smoke Smoked Porter


Salivating at the thought of another product from our new found 'zealand heroes, 8 wired.


Ignore Dave, it was his birthday. Which isn't as wrong as it sounds. Perhaps we should nickname him 'big smoke' from now on?

.. anyway,

Quite effervescent out of the bottle this - it's fizzy, which seems a little odd for a porter. I didn't find it too troubling in terms of mouthfeel though. Black as nero, develops from an initial smoky flavour through some hop characters to a dark chocolate finish. Pretty lovely on the whole.

I like the balance of this beer. It seems reasonably easy to make a beer that tastes like ham ham and more ham - and I suppose that's something in its own right too. But you generally tire of it pretty quickly too - this seems more drinkable in the long run but perhaps compromises itself to those wanting a straight line version of either a smoked beer, or a porter.

Good but not great. 8.0

Kooinda Pale Ale

It's an oddly dreary looking bottle this, with no real words about the beer save the brand, that it's a pale ale, and it's made with the standard set of ingredients.


Open it up though and it's a different story. This is no shrinking violet. Apparently this is a tiny little brewery but man, they've hit the mark with this one at least. Bold in aroma and taste it's a strong competitor to most IPAs sampled, let alone the generally less assertive pale ale crowd.


It's nice as it warms this one too - let it sit for a while and the grassier astringent flavours become more prominent. Delicious and complex throughout.

Very keen to try some more of their stuff (black ipa with nelson sauvin hops anyone?). 8.5

Mac's Hop Rocker Pilsener

Mac's from NZ, rockin' the hops.


To be fair this beer was probably at a bit of a disadvantage, tested as it was in the shadows of a fresh hop hog. But the hop flavours still come through after an initial malt burst. Nelson Sauvin apparently though it's not overly passionfruity. It's pleasant and refreshing with quite a fizzy body.



Kind of unsure what to rate this as. As a pilsener it's brilliant (ie it has some taste). But as a hop beer it's only middling probably.

If all pilsener was this then the world would be better. 7.0

Gage Roads Sleeping Giant IPA

Tried this one after the surprising pale ale offering from Gage.


Pours a dark amber, aerated but not heady at all. Very malty nose, and the body's similarly dominated. A bit too sweet with nut biscuit sort of flavours.. bitterness is there in isolation but it's only a back layer. I prefer IPAs to be a bit more aggressive - the hops should find me rather than me searching for them.

OK beer this but as with so many others, no real reason to buy it unless the shop has sold out of everything else that's even the least bit comparable. 5.0



Saturday 18 February 2012

Gage Roads Atomic Pale Ale

Ashamed to admit the main reason for choosing a carton of this was that it was on special at Woolies - who seem to have a stake in Gage Roads now and are likely looking to establish a fan base.


Expectations weren't very high. Well, until opening the first bottle - greeted with a lovely floral hoppy American Pale Ale nose to the tune of LC Pale Ale. Suddenly things were looking up. A little fizzy perhaps but nice and clear, bright white head.

And indeed the taste is faithful too - this is a real crowdpleaser, it's just like LC lite. At 4.7% and 1.2 drinks to the bottle it's a little lightweight - but that also means it's highly sessionable. Could put these away pretty much endlessly I believe, and they fare well out of the bottle too. I think this is pretty much the perfect beer for a summer BBQ.

At the price of $38 for the carton this was a steal. But even at full price this is a good drop for the money. Surprising - but recommended!7.5

Friday 17 February 2012

French Canadian tasting notes

More detail on each beer here but some thoughts below.

Les Trois Mousquetaires

Signature Series Kellerbier:   a very cloudy unfiltered pilsner. Ashen and bitter, grainy, asparagus in there somewhere, lingering powdery nature. I enjoyed this though many others didn't. 7.0

Signature Series Americaine:   pretty heavy, bit of sediment (late in the bottle?), opaque. Pale ale flavours, quite sweet on the whole. Caramel dominant .. hops are obscured. 4.0

Signature Series Maibock:   Light and transparent for a winter beer. Venomous aroma on the head. Can smell every bit of the 8% booze. Foreboding. But it's actually hidden really well in taste; sticky down the throat, quite impressive on the whole but I don't love it. Let down by head / nose. 6.0

Signature Series Sticke Ale:   Opaque as a heavy ale. Head frothy but dissipates. Aroma malts only. Nutty pepper on the taste, toast, sweet malt driver. Kind of a one-note beer, but at least it's a good note. 7.0

McAuslan Brewing

St-Ambroise Scotch Ale:   swirly vanilla head, ruby red body, malty sweet aroma. 7.5% alcohol is warming. Delicious full mouth. Earthy organic peat whiskey flavours. To be consumed in front of a northern wintertime yuletide hearth. But maybe not in Aus summer. Well crafted and disguised alcohol. 7.5

Vintage Ale:   9.8% - wow. Heavy in the glass, opaque as you'd expect. Sweet malt dominated aroma. It's a punch in the mouth from the flavour fairy, christmas fruits cake, caramel, alcohol, cherries. Bloody well hidden though nevertheless, an excellent beer, possibly even to cellar? 8.5

Oatmeal Stout:   Coffee headed, black body, nice lacing. Dark choc and alcohol head. Maybe it was just the first stout of the day but taste was superb. Oatmeal evident with coffee, dark choc developing. Smooth development through these flavours. 9.0

Brasserie Dieu du Ciel

Blanche du Paradis:   Hazy, solid, orange bodied wheat bear. Orange peel aroma. Too sweet, like a sugary orange cupcake. Rounded but heavy. Low aeration, quite flat even. 4.0

Derniere Volonte:   Frothy white head, solid body, inert. Floral and malty aroma. Someone called this 'rape' at the tasting to wider acclaim. I sort of vaguely see where he was coming from.. citrus dominant but it's wider trappist flavours .. that don't really mix. 2.5

Rescousse:   Nice transparent amber, white head, but still malt driven aroma. Light taste, a relief. Bitterish.. toast is present again. Good enough I guess? But no real redeeming qualities. 5.5

Route des epices:   Dark amber, inert, rye mash. Aroma in line with rye malts. Supposed to be peppery .. could taste traces there. Soft mouthfeel, light but full. Easy drinking. 7.0

Corne du Diable:   Amber bodied, low white head. A little hops on the nose. Peppery hop taste, sweeter than I'd like, but nicely lingering. 6.5

Charbonniere:   A rauchbier, this is dark amber with a nose of smoky bacon bits. Traditional ham flavour on it. Pretty drinkable actually in the end, not sure I'd drink more than 1 but this is fine. 7.0

Aphrodisiaque:   Dark colour, coffee mocha head, scent of dark cocoa and subtle vanilla. Heavy milk choc taste, slight coffee, bitter enough to be highly drinkable. 8.0

Peche Mortal:   Pitch black. No head. Solid and heavy. Chocolate, coffee, medium alcohol aromas. Chocolate dominated taste at first but this is surprisingly shortlived. Burns a little alongside the bitterness but then 9.5%'ll do that for you. Lovely developing coffee roasted flavours. 9.0

Kozel Premium


Kozel. But the goat this time cradles a lighter beer..



First mouthful I thought this was pretty alright. Then it just got worse, and worse, and looking back it's dropped from a very respectable score to an absolute belting in short time.

I could go into it but let's just say such is the fate of typical euro lager. 1.0

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

DogFish Head, ye of Deltron 3030 Event II fame.

Was excited for this one. Partly because of good things I've heard. Partly because of the deltron thing. Partly because it's an IPA.

It pours very light and aerated.. creamy head though, nicely laced. But it's pretty mellow on the whole.. didn't really find a lot in there? Slight pine bitterness. Slight malt balancing. Slight nuts. And only slight appeal because of it.

I kind of don't know what the aim was here.. better than a lot of things but in the IPA field there's some strong competition.


Disappointed. 6.5

Bridge Road / Nøgne Ø India Saison

Bridge Road again, but in collaboration with Nøgne Ø.


I hear this was brewed with the same ingredients in Aus and in Norway .. oddly (it may be psychosomatic but I don't believe so) you can taste the euro. In the same way you can in a euro lager .. and I'm not sure I like it. Thick body made it quite hard to drink.. an impressive 7.5% but overall unimpressed I'm afraid (/waits for flames). 6.5


Samuel Smith's The Famous Taddy Porter

Another pitch black porter - but in contrast to mr goat, very light in the mouth.

 
I got mostly caramel rather than stout / porter flavours. A little bit of coffee there.. but it's watery on the whole, very light. I suppose that makes it more drinkable to some but to me it tastes like more of an amber ale or something rather than a porter to be honest.

Nice enough - i'd drink it again no worries and there's really nothing offensive - but didn't really hit my porter craving at all. 6.0

Mountain Goat Rare Breed Surefoot Stout

The second of our rare goat discoveries.


Pours pitch black. If batman were a boozer he'd be on this. Head is light of coffee but fades pretty quickly.

Espresso flavour, with relatively sweet chocolate to back it up. Skilfully blended malts mean this tastes a lot rounder than its 4.9% would suggest. A round mouthed, mocha tonic. No engine oil but good nonetheless.

==
Edit after a couple more pints on tap around Melbourne - this is a solid brew without really hitting extreme heights. It demonstrates more bubble and hop first up on tap, but improves as it warms and needs some time off tap to really get its message across. Nice lingering dry cocoa flavours. Reasonable dessert stout.

8.0


Matilda Bay Alpha Pale Ale

Hoppy, fruity nose as soon as it's open spells good things to come.



Supposed to be 'american northwest style ale' - puts me in mind of IPA rather than an APA as such. Bitter, fruity, lovely! Malt is balanced too under all the bitterness, not too caramelised which is nice. Slight peppery finish means it's dry and drinkable.

Mouthfeel's full and satisfying. Again, bitter! Love it.

I'm less than impressed with some other Matilda Bay drops of late and also slightly miffed to have to put 'Vic' as the location for this one for what was once a homegrown WA brewer.

This has changed two opinions however.
1) I now like matilda bay again
2) I now want to go to the American northwest

Delicious.

8.5

Monday 13 February 2012

Things not to buy

Sunner Kolsch. And Fuller's ESB.

I thought I liked both Kolsches and ESBs.

Then these two versions from their own homelands prove me wrong.

Horrid. Like 'Australian Chinese' food we have imported the thing and then done it better. When you are at the bottle-o next and tempted by these 500ml bottles of wisdom, for gods sake buy something Australian instead.

That is all.

Mountain Goat Rare Breed Double Hightail

Mountain goat, purveyors of very respectable brews in steam and hightail format, and now we have a rare breed single batch effort in a 750ml bottle. Exciting.


Slight malt nose on this as it opens up. It's pretty dark but transparent. Laced white head. The taste is pretty gentle actually but lovely. Malt driven flavours, slight caramel. Had to slow down before I accidentally the whole bottle.

The alcohol at 7.2% becomes more pronounced with the caramel as this warms. I think it's a bit better at the higher temperature.

Feel like I need to retry the standard hightail ale now - a drop I remember very much enjoying - to see if this is worth the extra $. It's lovely this but does it justify the effort and dosh? 7.5 I think.

8 Wired Hopwired IPA

Heard some good things about NZ hoppage of late, there's some sort of revolution going on there.


And so to 8 Wired's Hopwired IPA. When we were at the bottle-o recently these things were flying out the door as they were a lovely fresh bottled batch. No strangers to peer pressure we grabbed one too and wow, good choice.

Pours quite dark with a creamy white head.. the rivery look of it kind of matched my initial impression of the nose also. Hoppy, sure, but kind of grassy agricultural also. Denmark river ?

Great mouthful of beer this, develops beautifully as you progress through. Little bit of fairy floss in there with the hops and grass. Bit of gooseberry or sweet grapefruit lingers. Satisfying 7.3% like a good power IPA should be.

What more to say. It's fucking lovely bru.

9.0 pending further investigation at the very first chance possible. I feel like this may well rise ..

edit 22 feb
Yeah.. after some further research on this one it's upped to a 9.5 .. and only because we as a committee want there to be something better.

Hard to think of much to improve on. Absolutely sensational. It's not cheap but buy it anyway (provided it's fresh and not an old bottle); worth every cent.

Sunday 12 February 2012

Bridge Road Summer Single Hop IPA

Another IPA for the collection, this time the summer drop from Bridge Road.



The aroma and taste of this hop brew sits somewhere between the brewdog, and the hopdog. ?

It's a little fizzy, highly drinkable. Hops not overpowered for an ipa by any stretch but satisfyingly present. Slight caramel malts here in the background. Body is quite dark and thick actually. A flat head but laces.

This reminds me oddly of the Bridge Road Stella but it has a bit more character with the sweetness up front providing a bit of a counterpoint. Not sensational but without doubt a quality beer. For the money though I'd buy something else. 7.0

Friday 10 February 2012

HopDog Horns Up

HopDog! And filled up nearly to the cap in a bizarre display of bottling prowess.


It's a pine herbal nose, darkish pour and powdery head. Rye ipa hops from nz and the US apparently. Light for an IPA at 5.6%.

First sip: Wow. Nothing then bang hello, something.. hops hops hops -bitter- end. 70ibu seems an understatement.
Second sip: .. is this nectarine? Or peach?
Subsequent sips: NECTARINE! NECTARINE!! NEC - TAR - RINE!!!

It's all a bit overwhelming really. 6.0

Brewdog Punk IPA

It's an IPA. And a good one.



And it comes in a can. Which is odd. But pretty cool.

Nothing special here perhaps but it's a fine emissary from the people we know and love. Like a diplomat from the land of cheese and pickles.

Clear body, enjoyable white head. Mouthfeel is light. Been drinking some impressive IPAs of late and this doesn't hit the same heights of valour as say Stone's efforts. But maybe it doesn't need to. I reckon I could put away a stack of these bad boys, crunching the aluminium housing as I go. 7.5

Feral Golden Ace

Back to Feral once more for their Golden Ace, which along with the excellent Hop Hog has become pretty widely available in the west of late.



This one's built with the Sorachi Ace hop, a Japanese effort known for its lemony flavours which are apparent off the bat.

It's a bubblegum sort of lemon nose that casts me way back to when Boags used to put out a little beer called St George. Used to be considered a premium drop for us lager swilling young idiots. Looking back it was pretty unrefined - and so is this.

Can't say it's too enjoyable, there's a lack of character past the citrus burst and it all feels a bit, well, cheap. Except it isn't. 5.5.

Sunday 5 February 2012

Hargreaves Hill Pale Ale


Cloudy, dark amber appearance and malty aroma. Completely uneventful upon tasting. Has the flavour of beer and nothing more. Really let down and regretting I have to drink 5 more of them.

Saturday 4 February 2012

Kosciuszko Pale Ale

Very light amber appearance. Fruity aromas. Has a certain fruity punch upon first taste that doesn't last long and mellows into not a whole lot. Not sure if my glass was dirty or something was altering the taste but I was glad it when it was over. A second beer later from the bottle went down a bit nicer and the fruity punch hung around for a lot longer. Worth a try once but don't buy a 6 pack.

Friday 3 February 2012

Little Creatures Pale Ale

The old classic, hardly the first time of meeting but more than worth revisiting in it's attractive pint bottle format.


Thick head quite creamy with good lacing and retention in a frosty glass.

I'm told they change the recipe from time to time for this one but it's still hoppy on the nose, floral, but impeccably balanced. There's enough bitterness alongside a solid mouthfeel.

It's a great round mouthful of a beer and to me - admittedly probably through upbringing as well as quality - remains the definition and yardstick of an american pale ale. Satisfying - an 8.5.


Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Porter

I'm a solid and evergrowing fan of dark beers and particularly stouts and porters, so when I first spotted this one at the local first choice for a pretty reasonable fee I felt I had to give it a go despite the somewhat worrying label.



No, not the guinness. More the fact that it calls itself 'Old Engine Oil', with a picture of a car, and then uses its precious first few descriptive words on 'Viscous', 'Bittersweet', and 'Dark'. Well well well. I've got a lot of respect for the advertising angle but was well prepared for it to be a terrible beer.

Out of the bottle this is slick, you feel you can see it nearly stick to the glass. There's a lovely iced coffee coloured head on a solid deep black cola coloured body, though happily the taste doesn't conform.

Indeed, dark roasted chocolate dominates nose and body, bittersweet and lingering throughout. There's an edge of toffee but it's not oversweet. Mouthfeel is heavy-ish but far from troublesomely so, and the light aeration also suits.

I dig this beer greatly. It's a beautifully balanced example of the porter style and warrants a 9.0 from me. A carton for $65? Yes please and my new standard fridge beer for that money.

Bridge Road Brewers Stella Single Hop IPA

Hm. An unexpected twist in the legacy of Bridge Road after their very agreeable opening with the single hop Galaxy.





This one's another one from the single hop collection based on the Stella hop. It's billed as an IPA at a low 4.8%, with max hops and mid malt according to the label.



It's got a big fruity aroma right off the bat - putting me in mind of LC's bright ale almost, but the taste behind it is far more spicy and the aftertaste puts me in mind of powder. It's like chalk and, well, flowers.


It's dry throughout, this - you go in expecting sweetness but it plays a straighter bat on that front than a stalwart heyday Jason Gillespie. There's standard opacity, a powdery ephemeral white head, and reasonable lacing. There's bitterness there alongside the astringent ash flavour if you hunt for it.. but a quite remarkable lack of anything else, especially given the nose.

I'm unsure what to rate this. On the one hand it's another interesting example of a single hop product. But then it doesn't fix my itch for an ipa, it's not particularly quenching due to the astounding dryness, and it's not complex enough to make up for the lack of satisfaction elsewhere. 5.5