8 Wired Saison Sauvin

So, a big Saison loaded up with Nelson Sauvin hops? Sign me up.

Lovely powdery steep head as you can see atop a nice amber body. Sour slightly winelike notes on the nose, plus belgian saison yeast, I don't get a lot of Nelson Sauvin from the aroma at this stage.

Taste wise is where the hops shine - the mouthful starts with that sour note but then mellows through that soothing vanilla quality these hops produce, before a sweet yeasty finish. I love when beers have such a nice range of development as you drink them, this stays interesting and engaging every sip you have. Delicious.

My thought is this could be another wine-drinker-converter sort of a beer. All I know is I enjoyed it immensely and find myself thinking about it constantly since. Pretty high mark here so requires further testing. For validation purposes only of course.

I can't wait. 9.0

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 2011-12 edition

Not often you see a 'chocolate' stout coming in at 10% abv!

Also it's becoming clear upon looking at this bottle where Bootleg got their name. Huh.

Anyway, this is a big beer off the bat, nice pour delivers an oily glass presence with a low but attractive mocha head. The nose certainly starts off on choc but then meanders through a variety of raisiny imperial sort of notes consistent with an imperial stout. There is no real booze present to blast off your nose hairs for you.

Drinking this it is clear it's not the mellow, choc milk sort of experience you get from most beers with 'chocolate' in the name. Instead, this is a beer story where the chocolate malt takes a bit of a back seat. It's there, sure, but only as a soft foil to the imperial army of 6 different malts doing their respective jobs. There's a nice burnt custard sort of effect it generates that just covers the alcohol and leaves this smooth and refreshing.

So, not a very 'chocolate' sort of beer in the end, but this shouldn't be taken as too bad of a thing. It's an interesting approach to this style and one I found intriguing and flavoursome if not quite as indulgent as various other options. 7.5

Red Hill Diamond Jubilee British IPA

Another beer from history, this one attempting to commemorate 60 years of the Queen by recreating an old recipe for the original India Pale Ale.

As such it's going to be an English hop based product - which as we've seen can go one of two ways. In this case, it's a sloppy pour out of the bottle with a loose head that's gone within moments. Aroma is, well, British.. but not a great deal of character coming through even then. Pretty nondescript to be honest, a bit disappointing.

The palate brings bitterness above and beyond any real sense of 'hops', which I suppose makes sense if they're following the auld recipes. It does somewhat limit the flavour progression of the beer however with a pretty flat character throughout. Bit metallic, only one real punch of malty fruits about half way through the mouthful.

In short then an OK sort of a beer, but I'm unsure it commemorates anything more than misplaced nostalgia. Nice bottle though. 5.0

Wigram Ginger Jerry

Interesting idea here, combining a ginger beer and a witbier, but for what result?

Pour immediately comes off as nearly clear, no real head to speak of, and unexpectedly flat. My experiences with ginger beer both homebrewed and commercial had conditioned me to expect a bit of fizz here but it's really rather mellow, and pushes out just 4% abv. Nose is of dry ginger ale, with an edge of something a bit sweeter - maybe the yeast?

Mouthfeel is again quite flat but light. I'd actually prefer a little more carbonation here to make it slightly more refreshing. It's not a very beery beer on the whole, but there is a slight edge of possibly psychosomatic wit if you're investigative.

I found this a little too sweet and a little too flat to really have fun drinking it. Ice cold and with a little more fizz? I'd be there for beach drinking all day. 5.5

Dogfish Head Midas Touch

Interesting drop this, supposedly built on our limited knowledge of what old King Midas may have been gargling back in the day.

To that end Dogfish Head have thrown in white Muscat grapes, honey, and saffron to produce an ancient ale of sorts at a redoubtable 9.0% abv. Pour is slightly cloudy, low but resilient head, lowish aeration, reasonably attractive.

There's a lot going on here with all the different flavours but the grape element is certainly evident in both nose and taste, and there is a certain mead-like quality present too. I found the booze a little too assertive on the palate throughout the glass from cold through to when it warmed and that made things a bit tough going at times. Spicelike qualities and sweet malt pretty dominant throughout.

Apart from that, another interesting experiment in beer, if clearly not for everyone. Perhaps they should have added gold? 7.0

Epic Mash Up NZ Collaboration Ale

Not sure quite what to make of this beer.

It's a collaboration of sorts, or mash up (get it? hurr) between pretty much every brewer in NZ according to the label. How exactly this came together, I'm not sure. The second odd thing is it's listed pretty much only as an 'ale' at 6.0%. What sort, you ask? You have to open it to find out.

At least the aroma holds some clues, delivering a blast of fresh wet NZ hoppage from the first bounce. It pours very light and crystal clear into the glass but doesn't generate much of a cap unfortunately. Still, that would potentially cover that nose of hops and they are clearly the stars of this beer.

While not outstandingly bitter as such, I felt this hops could have done with a slightly bigger malt backbone just to help support their pungent presence. Still - another fine, if confusing, testament to the power of these herbal kiwi battlers and their excellent properties in aroma and flavour when fresh. 7.0

Thoughts on Feral

Finally made it out to Feral Brewing and I have to say I was pretty pumped.

We'd booked for my birthday for one thing, and they have done good things in beer of late.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for their restaurant. Frankly ridiculous service levels totally soured what should have been a great day and left us with a pretty poor impression all round. I'm going to leave the details for elsewhere (ie, urban spoon and others), but for now let's just say don't go to Feral for the food or the restaurant.

If they actually have some of their range of beers on tap, it may still be worth your while of course. In our case there was not a great deal we hadn't had before. Couple of quick notes regardless:

983 Lager: Pretty plain sort of a lager, character revolves around late-boil Sorachi Ace so there's lemon and spice to give it something. Still not a beer I particularly enjoyed.

The Runt: Apparently this is an underhopped version of the stalwart mainstay Hop Hog. Which sounds good to me - so why was this so hard going? I found it just OK, mate of mine hated it completely. An answer to a problem that just doesn't exist.

Feral White: I've heard conflicting reports around this - either that Mr Varis is forced to brew this due to a signed contract, or that he is currently brewing it under contract at another brewery to fill orders but wants to take it back in-house when possible. In either case I've had this on a number of occasions and have to hope if it does come back in-house it will also raise in quality. It's a pretty sparse example of a white and outclassed by all sorts of others in the class.

Rust: Well all of us enjoyed this one but having said that the common consensus was it was a nice APA.. turns out it's supposed to be an Abbey Dubbel? Very puzzling but nice enough.

Smoked Porter: A little bit of smoke on the nose but taste wise the chocolate malts are dominant with the smoke certainly not the overwhelming characteristic. It's smooth and easy drinking but again you get the sense there's a bit of a haphazard approach here and it results in a certain level of confusion and/or disappointment when beers arrive under somewhat of a false identity.

Watermelon Warhead: Wow, now this is different. Great naming - tastes like a watermelon warhead alright. Great beer, nice execution, at 2.9% has a variety of uses. I'd love some on hand as a spritz / palate cleanser for a big night on the larger beers, it would likely do an excellent job.

Karma Citra: Feral's Black IPA. A reasonably good effort at the style, the Citra gives it a bit of a kick not found in others in this style. Has two distinct stages of flavour which is interesting. Good beer.

Things that weren't on tap: Boris, Razorback, Rye IPA, etc etc, pretty much everything we went there for (though this is far more forgiveable than their abysmal service performance).

Feral clearly has massive potential but in order to take advantage they can start at the bottom. Fix the terrible website. Put a proper sign to your restaurant. Pull your finger out with the insulting / embarrassing service quality. For "Australia's best brewer" by several measures in the last year it's frankly embarrassing for it to be literally, and by a large distance, the worst "on-site" experience to date at any brewery I've visited in Australia (and for reference I've been to 15 odd in the last year alone).

Victoria Bitter (VB)

So.. a premium lager known that brings to mind images of bogans more than beer afficionados. How would it stack up these days?

We all know these macro produced premium lagers are not going to stack up to the more refined nuances of craft beer. But, well, sometimes needs must, and there must therefore be a craft drinker's premium lager.. the best of a bad lot, if we're being crude.

Which brings us to VB. I approached this with a grin and little expectation I'd manage to finish the glass but to be honest it's palatable enough for what it is, and ahead of a couple of other examples I'd been force fed recently. The pour is highly aerated and an insiped clear amber colour with a fleeting bubbly head. Aroma is Ringwood, metallic notes, dead malt. Not impressive. But taste.. well it does at least have some sort of character to it, ie it has a number of stages that it progresses through from a burst of bitter nondescript ground hops first up, to a malty flat denouement.

There's not a lot of complexity to the flavour but hey - I managed to finish 3/4 of the glass before tipping it out and actually enjoyed (to a point) most of it. Early frontrunner in the macro lager cup? 2.5

Mountain Goat Seedy Goat Coffee IPA

I have to admit, I positively salivated at the sight of this one up on the specials board.

I mean, coffee.. and IPA? Brilliant plan, can't wait to try it. And indeed it turns up looking quite attractive with a pillowy cloud of frothy head (crema?).

Time to bury the sniffer in for a blast of the good stuff then right? But from the outset the coffee is not incredibly evident, with the nose delivering mostly the standard pine / fruit / light sweetness bill. Drinking it is a similar experience in a way - the coffee is only really there is you go searching for it and while it does add a nice rounded note to the mid carbonation and otherwise fine flavours, it's really not the star of the show, and that is somewhat disappointing.

I'm not sure what to say about this. My initial thought is to raise the frankly baffling suggestion to dial back the hops to let the coffee shine. But .. dial back the hops? In an IPA? Defies the point, really. I'd like to see the talented crew here keep having a crack at this idea in any case as there's the kernel of a truly delicious and innovative brew starting here - just short of the mark at present. 7.0

Mountain Goat Red Saison

So, another first in a supposedly 'red' saison.

Phone based photos in low light conditions do a better job of pizza than beer, but this shot has certainly captured the depth of dark colour in this beer. It's beyond red really, pushing a dark molasses sort of colour.

Interesting beer to experience here - I don't think I'd have picked it as a saison in a blind tasting. The yeast character is certainly there and it's funky on the nose, but the ongoing spice and orange rind character to me puts it as more of a witbier. I'm not sure how this beer was crafted but I get strong lingering aniseed going on here which is interesting .. but not perhaps the best compliment to the standard wit or saison experience.

I like experiments like this and want to encourage further pushing of boundaries in the future - this beer as it stands though was not bad, but a bit of a struggle. 5.0

Mountain Goat Hip Hip Hooray IPA

Pretty pumped to visit the crew at Mountain Goat finally at their brewery in Richmond.

It's a pretty industrial sort of space where you're more or less in one half of the brewery shed. The beer's fresh, the pizzas are good and it's a nice space to enjoy a few beers after work. I can't be the only one thinking this either as it's packed even on a Wednesday night. They're currently only open on the Wednesday and Friday I believe but it seems they'd do well to open it further, permits permitting.

To the beer - and first up a single batch IPA produced for someone's birthday if I'm not mistaken. It weighs in at a solid 7.4% and could perhaps be considered a double or imperial at that rate.

I found this to be a serviceable IPA in the 'big n strong' mould, with a great creamy sticky head and a slight barley tea sort of flavour on the finish. Eminently drinkable and accomplished, but not overly special to my palate. 7.5

Brew Dog IPA is Dead 2012

Four rather cool looking bottles lined up for a back to back tasting.

First some notes about the core of the beer itself - this is a well crafted beer, no real surprise from the accomplished crew at 'Dog. Tending slightly on the sweet side of things perhaps but not unbalanced by any stretch, it's a good drop to showcase the hop - and that, after all, is what IPAs should be about. Good colour, good head retention, in short a good shell casing with which to deliver our promised hop bullets.

Motueka - green grassy herbaceous sort of smell, puts me in mind of marijuana from time to time. Clearly a good hop for aroma, but also for taste as it delivers as promised upon that lovely lush spectrum of NZ hop notes. Very good hop, very good beer, certainly one of the best of the bunch.

HBC - hadn't (knowingly) tried this one before but from the first aroma you know you're in for a USA hop experience, with all of the piney bitterness attached to it. Spiky compared to the rounder NZ effort first up but in no way a bad thing.

Challenger - least appealing nose of the set tending to earthy, even slightly metallic edges as expected from this UK staple. Taste wise however this is still pretty delicious, a lovely surprise after first impressions. Would happily drink more of this regularly.

Galaxy - the Aussie hop shares most in common with its NZ cousin from across the way, delivering a good balance of aroma and flavour. Slightly fruitier and spicier than the Motueka but again well suited to this purpose. Quality beer.

Overall a great set to pick up if you're a beer enthusiast, beginner or advanced, and a lovely way to mull over a couple of hours with a friend or loved one. 8.0

Southern Bay Metal Head Robust Porter

Yet another local microbrewery in Victoria, this time located near Geelong I'm told.

First up, their robust porting clocking in at 6%. It's a good solid body for the relatively modest abv, but the head is a little evasive. Aroma is of roast and coffee notes primarily, pretty mild I found across the spectrum.

Taste - well my first thought was of Guiness Foreign Extra Stout style burnt toffee notes, but mixed in with a more traditional roast dark choc / coffee flavour. There's a bitter edge here that seems a little dominant compared to the malt backing. It's not bad - but hard to really like.

So, a midtable debut. Certainly safe from relegation, but not challenging for silverware just yet. 5.0

8 Wired Rewired Brown Ale

First consumed with the staff of the St Kilda Local Taphouse at around 2am in the morning, after a night on many fine premium craft beers, but for some reason I just don't have a great recollection of the properties of this drop from that time. Weird.

The bottle goes on about brown ales being a style that's been both neglected, and used by "the mass brewing companies .. for their most unattractive products". The first point I agree with, the second .. well a quick search of my memory banks at least yields only UK macro producers even attempting this style at all. Brown ales to Aus producers at least are as untouched as barley wines.. perhaps there's a good reason for that.
Lovely pour this - initially gives the impression the head might be a bit fleeting but instead it hangs around nicely, lacing stickily to the side of the glass. It's the colour of dark mahogany, with a tan top.

Yum. This beer's just 5.7% but it's a good strong mouthful of flavour. It's bitter up front for a brown, but this wash of bitterness is soon overtaken by smooth nuttiness from the midsection. Bit of toffee here too before it washes away with a little lingering bitterness.

What's not to love? Really well balanced, interesting, and above all compelling beer that should be appealing to all, brown ale fan or not. Delicious. 8.5

Birra del Borgo Enkir

Back, with some trepidation, to the oft-hyped but hitherto flaky Birra del Borgo.

This one is a saison and came with the promise of interesting farmhouse characters.It arrived with a pretty solid but oddly orange body, and a minimal but not absent head.

Aroma-wise there's not a lot going on here. I gave this a good long whiff on a couple of occasions only to reveal nothing but a lingering feeling I looked odd to the people sitting next to me.

To be honest I felt the same about the taste. It's not particularly sour, not particularly powerful, not much citrus, and minimal spice or yeast. All this, plus a a side note of boiled vegetables I'm not sure I like. I matched this one with some Italian Arancini hoping for the flavour equivalent of Mario and Luigi and in theory, all went well. It's just that this Mario doesn't really go on adventures as such, and is content instead to relinquish Peach to the inevitable nightly ravishes of that ribbed dark lord Bowser.

There are definitely better things I could have chosen. 3.0

Bridge Road B2 Bomber Black Belgian IPA

Where better to spend your time in Melbourne CBD than at Beer DeLuxe?

Hard to argue with that line of logic based on this one as sat alongside some peking duck, this was a real treat and thoroughly enjoyed throughout.

There may be a certain element of cloudy nostalgia based on the last time I was at this venue, but this one does actually share a fair bit of similarity with the excellent Mikkeller Dark Harvest collaboration recently on the taps. Beautiful roasty character is dominant here again but with a few tweaks from that drop also.

Solid black with just a tint of brown, it glowers heavyset in the glass. A nice bone mocha head serves up roasty hop and malt character but little else - Belgium is not dominant on the nose, but does come through about midway through the mouthful with an interesting punch of yeasty flavour before a crisp, clean finish that leaves you wanting more.

Dry, roasty, earthy, hoppy. Delicious and highly recommended if you see it on tap. 8.5

2 Brothers Growler American Brown Ale

Inspired by their recent collabeeration with Feral, we were quite looking forward to this one.

And for once our confidence was not misplaced as 2 Brothers have delivered a very pleasing brown ale here with a lot of character and complexity. Looking forward to trying the rest of their range given a chance now.. could be yet another strong Victorian producer to add to the crowd.

Shame about the confusing choice of title though - whoever heard of drinking a growler from a squealer, or from a bottle for that matter?

Dark body and tan head good to look at, dead brown dry but floral nose. It's pretty expressive from early on and doesn't let up. The big biscuit and buttery malt flavours that give this one a nice sense of presence and permanence for its 4.7%. Enjoyed this beer and would drink again in a flash. 7.5

Mash Tank 8 Belgian Ale

Via growler, courtesy of good mate Dave.

Look at him cradle that thing like a child. That's commitment.

Pretty cloudy sort of body on this one, though not out of keeping with the style. Very shy head, and nose more or less archetypal for these beers. Slightly on the sour side, saison-ish notes present.

It's slightly sour for a wit in terms of taste too - or perhaps just short of sweet for a belgian ale - but this isn't really a problem so much as a characteristic.

Not a lot more to say here - competent execution of a style I'm not 100% sold on, but respect nonetheless. 6.0

Eagle Bay Single Batch American Brown Ale

Woohoo, finally Eagle Bay beer to take home and enjoy (without the drive to Dunsborough).

Everybody's happy. And why wouldn't you be with 2L of highly drinkable, if not earth-shattering, American Brown Ale?

This beer is Eagle Bay's most recent in an ongoing line of single batches, and is probably up there with their best so far (save for the stout.. man, that stout was awesome).

It looks good in the glass, nice hue on the body and head, and emanates a pretty simple smell of dry coffee, slight hops, and dry caramel. Taste delivers a similar palate of flavours, along with lingering biscuit, all of which comes across quite light and with restrained sweetness.

Again, this was not a beer for those hoping to spend an evening with one glass, an interrogation spotlight, and a chair by the fire. As a quaffer though along with some food and good friends? Wonderful. 7.5

Nøgne Ø Havrestout

Are you waiting for someone?

Why not drink a stout in the park? At night? By yourself? From the bottle?

.. what do you mean, alcoholic?

I'll have you know I selected this specifically for its low alcohol (4.5%) and to see if those prodigies from Nøgne Ø could succeed in a quest I must admit I found unlikely: to make a full flavoured, easy drinking stout for the masses at a low ABV.

The nose is pleasant but introverted here and to be honest, the beer itself is more of the same. Light coffee, sultana, it's none of it unpleasant but a little fizzy in the mouth. I feel Nøgne have succeeded in producing a stout here that avoids some of that 'empty', watery character that plagues a lot of lighter efforts. In doing so however they've hit up against the reality of the limitations of such a lightweight body and produced a beer that arguably, fails to deliver some of the real pleasures of darker beers.

This beer may be an OK gateway introduction to those unaccustomed to the world of stout, but personally I think it's more the stigma attached to dark beers, rather than their alcohol content that really puts people off. 6.5

Moa Imperial Stout

Despite the lovely cork on the bottle, I was a little surprised to see this one pushing 10.2%.

Something about the labeling from these guys suggests to me they're a bit lightweight - which if this beer is anything to go on, couldn't be further from the truth.

Instead, this pours lovely and consistent with a heavy body and leaves a lovely sticky beige finger of head. It's got one of those imperial stout aromas true to form, with molasses and sultanas the standout. Booze is pleasantly unobtrusive in the nose, remaining hidden unless you really hunt for it like some nasal version of Kirby.

This beer is aged in pinot noir bottles, and it does feel apparent with the red wine rum and raisin flavours really suiting this imperial stout. There's some dark fruit present before a pleasingly dry coffee aftertaste takes you to a full and reassuring conclusion.

I have to say I wasn't expecting much here but I enjoyed every drop. Recommended. 8.0

Haandbryggeriet Hesjeøl Norwegian Harvest Ale

Apparently Norwegian farmers were in the past legally bound to brew beer each year, and punished if they failed to do so - this is a recreation of said traditional harvest beers.

I'm torn between jealousy and a very real sense of relief we don't have 55,000 different types of farmland VB traditionally brewed at every outpost across Australia. While beers do not generally exhibit terroir as such it's equally true that a beer of this nature would not likely have arisen in Australia even given access to the materials. It's less a summertime quaffer, and more a thoughtful drinking experience coloured by different palatial notes from all sorts of areas.


But first thing's first - lovely pour on this, dark amber and inviting, sticky, fluffy cloud of head. If you've been expecting a 'the hops are fresh' style harvest ale, you'll be a bit confused by the nose at first, for it's less a celebration of the green and more spice based aromas at first look.


Taste-wise there is a whole bunch of flavours going on here, pineapple, pepper, malt, winter spices like cinnamon, rhubarb, etc. Deep and complex, but refreshing to boot.

Good stuff - spicy but characterful to boot, harvest but not as we know it. 7.5

Holgate Hopinator

A warm welcome to what is the most blog evasive beer on the record so far if you don't count the dark age lager days. This beer's actually been tried and tested a number of times previously, but somehow managed to elude photography each time.

Makes sense then that this seems highly unphotogenic when finally caught on camera - you'll have to take my word that the above seems quite distorted from the usually much more pleasant looking reality.

This beer usually generates quite a lovely head, and appears a light amber in colour. It's sedate and settled in the glass, looks comfortable in aeration. It sits on the transparent side of the spectrum, consistent with the relatively low for a DIPA 7.0% payload.

Head gives off quite fruity, juicy hops, and floral notes. Mouth .. bitter up front, eases into a distinctly sweet middle range body, then a lingering low background bitterness.

For a DIPA this is definitely on the light side, but nevertheless delivers good bitterness up front tempered with that earthy, almost marijuana-like hop character, green and grassy, pretty pleasant. Good drinking. 7.5

Hargreaves Hill ESB

On wandering into the rather excellent Sherlock Holmes on Collins St I must aver I felt a strong compunction to order something English.

Lucky then I was presented with this very good looking dark amber example of an easy drinking, suited-to-pub-rather-than-bottle ale. Paired with the Salad Nicoise this American Pale Ale did the trick nicely.

Wait, what?

But indeed, try as it might this never quite develops into a true ESB, remaining bitter in none bar the most literal sense of the word. A mystery to be sure.

The first clue appears in the nose of English or perhaps Australian hops, which exhibit unusual bitterness, walk with a slight limp, and may have been carrying a concealed malt. Perhaps in order to evade suspicion, the first taste was in line with the smell. Convenient.

Too convenient.

A rational mind would expect the suspect to warm and develop some character under interrogation but while a hint of biscuit starts to come through as it acclimatizes, it remains held in check by the hop bitterness.

All of which gives you the impression you've turned up at the local butcher's shop only to find him wearing a wrestling mask and serving strawberry shortcakes. The cakes are delicious, sure - but it's not really the prime rib you were after. 7.0

Holgate Mt Macedon Ale

Sometimes you have the beer for an occasion and not the food, or vice versa.

Happily, matched tentatively with home cooked yakiniku complete with the spicy miso and lettuce leaves, this proved a very good fit and alas evaporated quickly when shared with the wife.

The initial pour here is almost oily, quite heavy and inert for the style, producing a low head and deep amber colour. Not bad, but at this stage not really building any high expectations.

The aroma is where that starts to happen - nice APA strains, fruity, on the sweet side but bitterness also foretold and proclaimed. Yum.

It's immediately clear upon tasting that inspiration here has been hung drawn and quartered from the Little Creatures Pale Ale school of beering, but it's another thing entirely to execute, and this beer delivers an impressively balanced and massively drinkable drop that ticks all the right boxes for this style. Deep lasting malt with nuts and caramel support a spicy, bitter bite of lasting hops, very refreshing stuff. My immediate thoughts are a strong lament I can't buy this by the carton. Top stuff. 8.0

Holgate Gruit Expectations

Well well, another first for the blog with this a gruitbier made with a combination of spices and no, ie zero, hops. Not to mention a lovely terrible pun-led name.

For those that are still with us and haven't raged out immediately at the mere mention of a seemingly hopless crusade, we can see that appearance wise at least all seems to be in order. Indeed it produces a big furling crazy head that is enthusiastic beyond expectations above quite a clear body.

Cinnamon, and other spices with a bit of a peppery edge are evident from a distance once you have this lined up and it is of course these spices that dominate the flavours as well, producing an experience kind of like a highly spiced winter ale but without the roasty caramel malt background these commonly boast in reserve.

It's more barklike and mosslike and put me in mind of other dank words like coven, and cauldron. Interesting and drinkable if not as refreshing or rewarding as a bracing brace of hops. 6.0

Youngs Bitter (bottle conditioned)

This is the bottle conditioned version, weighing in at a still paltry 4.5% compared to the normal 3.7%.

And, well, it pours and looks like a big English mug of English bitter. A closer look reveals this is distinctly orange rather than amber in colour, lighter than expected, transparent, and the head dissipates as if embarrassed to be around. Nose of bitter, macro lager notes, not much caramel, with the slightest hint of nut on the denouement. I'm glad the dog above is interested because I'm not, this is not enticing.

At this point I actually started wondering if its actually going to be bitter, or some sort of horrid hybrid lager ale instead. But indeed after a pretty pilsner sort of start it does mellow with a little talk of caramel. Taste wise it is pretty nondescript but never unpleasant per se. I just found it eminently boring throughout and far from compelling. A beer that takes effort to drink and still makes me yawn is not going to be purchased again. 3.0

Kooinda Belgian Witbier

So - a Belgian Witbier. You know, as opposed to the other kind.

Still, its rare for a brewery to perform really well across their whole range of beers, no matter how ambitious, and Kooinda have done excellently to date with a couple of real standouts and a strong performance across the stable.

Pours with a frothy head I initially feared might dissipate, but instead it remained with a meniscus of snowlike froth throughout the glass. Good yellow orange colour but visible aeration in the tall glass. Aroma of citrus peel, sweet, slight coriander, and yes checking the label reveals orange peel and coriander in line with traditional trends.

Mouthfeel here is a little too fizzy, kind of floaty and soft effervescent in character, not the worst but could be improved. Spices particularly pepper come through pretty strong on the palate along with ongoing orange fruit sweetness. There is an edge of booze present in this too which is a bit of a shame at just 5.5%. Where does this leave us? Kooinda have again demonstrated solid skills and a commitment to quality brewing. No complaints. But certainly no standout either in the shadow of their stronger beers. 5.0

Renaissance Craftsman Chocolate Porter

Another porter from the NZ crew at Renaissance - after surprising with their first one, could they deliver another cocoa winner?

This time around the brew is explicitly a chocolate oatmeal porter and so starts life with some quite clearly defined targets at which to aim. But while it hits the mark with the basic chocolate vanilla roast characteristics of the aroma and flavour, there's a disappointing lack of real smooth velvet body that keeps it from hitting greatness. I also felt it was perhaps a little green in the middle .. but upon checking it was approaching the end of its 'best before', not the start (and yes, it was a best before rather than a best after).

So, a recommendation? To me it depends on price. If you see this for cheap, it will not let you down. But if you've access to Mildura Brewery's Choc Hops for example you'll save some dosh and procure a better beer in the process. 7.0

Holgate ESB

Onward to another performance from the horned ones at Holgate - this time the Extra Special Bitter.

This one arrives with little aplomb, failing to generate any head enthusiasm at all. These are never frothy gushers, but slightly disappointing nevertheless.

Aroma-wise there is a bit of roast, and actually a fair kick of hops going on on the nose, slightly unusually for the style. First impressions on drinking are that it feels a bit light in the mouth really for an ESB, perhaps not quite deep enough. But in saying that theres a pleasant amount of real taste going here, caramel, fruity hops, pineapple etc all present.

Progressing through the glass was quite pleasant, but I couldn't shake the feeling this beer is a little lost between two styles of a traditional bitter, and something almost akin to an IPA in some ways (without the berserk) due to the volume of english hops they have clearly stacked into this one. It's not a bad approach by any means but for mine but the beer needs more sweet burnt caramel to be a truly itch-scratchingly delicious bitter. 6.0

Holgate Pilsner

Sometimes, a light refreshing pilsner is just what you want - but so often the experience can be derailed by stray off notes that can counterintuitively make drinking this supposedly easy drinking style a bit of mission.

This example from Holgate stays with the tried and true Saaz Czech hops and pilsner malting with no evident additives. It pours beautifully and immediate impressions are it is a very light and crystal clear attempt with a snowy white cap that develops and persists atop string but not intrusive aeration.

Taste wise these beers are never going to write a novel, and while it seems odd to judge a beer on what it doesn't do, the fact this drop is so completely unoffensive is probably its single greatest asset.

It's a highly drinkable, faithful recreation of the style and to my palate, a far cleaner effort than many others on the market. CoughawardwinningTrumerPilscough. 6.5

Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest 2012

First thing's first - appearance is important and this is a bloody ripper pour with great colour and head. Mouthwatering.

The nose is grassy, no real bitter pine or anything and the body is in line with these expectations, Motuena comes to mind as probably the predominant partner in this brew. As expected this is nowhere near as sharp as the northern twin, instead delivering a more rounded deep and flavoursome experience.

All of which is nice, but personally as a harvest beer I like the cutting edge bitter Northern Hemisphere edition for the simple reason that I feel it conveys the real value of harvest more effectively than this.

Perhaps it is a product of living where I do but I felt this beer, while good, was just an example of a good hoppy NZ ale rather than a life-changing, go-and-join-a-cult-to-pay-homage-to-the-harvest blast of fresh green loveliness. 7.0

Moon Dog Black Lung Porter

Time for a big smoked porter from the generally insane crew at Moon Dog.

The pour is black true to form, but generated next to no head at all regardless of how much it was encouraged to do so. I'd read reports of overcarbonation from this line elsewhere, perhaps it is a bottle problem as if anything it was slightly the opposite here.

The nose on this really took me back to xeRRex, although the peat character did mellow somewhat by the second day. There's a little choc roast note that strengthens over time in return.

Taste-wise, the peat is there alright but it's nowhere near the pungency or oiliness of that previous entrant. In this formation it combines with the roast, the tobacco throat curl, and the chocolate nature to deliver a more balanced experience. I can't say the palate was too impressive though, it was kind of heavy going throughout and never a really compelling brew. Not much bourbon evident either despite the barrelling technique employed.

An experience beer, of a sort - but I think there are better efforts in both the sane and insane smoked porter brackets. 5.0

Dundee India Pale Ale

I have to say I was pretty suspicious about this new arrival nestled amongst the budding craft beer stocks at my local Woolworths.

It's an IPA, and from America to boot so ostensibly there should be good potential. From the start however there are doubts creeping in with the off-orange fanta-like colour and wobbly, obsequious head.


The nose too is of maybe pilsner malt, with a slight edge of american pale ale. A concurrent lack of hop herbals or bitterness means that any wild thoughts of enthusiasm you may have been cradling are now surely dwindling.

The wake continues mournfully as you take a sip, odd notes of maybe grape or sweet orange abound within the wishy washy mouth presence and there's really no bitterness to speak of. Odd dead metallic malting completes the dread procession.

Yeah. So vaguely unpleasant and in a sense, vaguely angering. I wasn't expecting brilliance here but I get the distinct impression that someone somewhere is taking the piss. If you want a good IPA, there are far better domestic options right next to it in the fridge. And hell even if you're gearing up for the fourth of July and want an American drop, you can easily pick up something from Sierra Nevada even at chain bottleshops. Avoid. 3.0

Yeastie Boys Her Majesty 2011

Part one of a frankly awesome birthday four-pack kindly provided by the erstwhile Mr Taggrip.

And a special beer to boot - this is a limited edition saison brew from 2011 measured at the now-standard abv for modern varieties of this beer, 8%. It's a solid attractive bottle and good pour to put you in fine thirsty spirits from the outset. Lacing is also top drawer, this clings and grasps the whole way down. Beautiful.

The nose presents clear saison yeast notes but is also sour enough to make you have a good look at the bottle to find out what's going on and sure enough, there's some ageing going on here in pinot barrels. Combined with an interesting choice of hops (nelson sauvin and pacifica of all things) it all adds up to a pretty complex and interesting experience.

Sometimes these words are a case of damning with faint praise but in this case it's important to note that the beer itself is also quite delicious. You can pick out the sour grapelike red wine characters, the nelson sauvin softness in the middle, and the bitey saison throughout.

A beer to be enjoyed thoughtfully over a period of time, but also one that will grab your attention as you do it - probably one of the better wine-drinker-converter style drops on the record. 8.5

Little Creatures Day of the Long Shadow

Hooray, another single batch effort from Mitsubishi err hang on Kirin oops I mean Lion Nathan ahm Little Creatures.

Another bush shack logo adorns another single batch - but this one promises to be quite different again as a spiced winter ale weighing in at a more than respectable 8.9%.


This pours a lovely scorched amber, becoming lighter in direct light, one of the few beers to elucidate words of approval from my normally reticent (when it comes to beer visuals at least) wife. Aeration seems spot on right away, it's flat with just enough oomph to power a thick and defined head, but doesn't need to be left alone to settle before you plow right in.


An aroma of initially earthy UK hops, and a burst of cinnamon and fivespice assails the nostrils pre the first bite. The taste initially shows slight bitterness and a ripe fruity yeast, which is soon overtaken by a sneaking suspicion the 8.9% alc is going to burst in and ruin everything but - rejoice - spices arrive on cue to save the day. Indeed, cinnamon and friends ensure this is pretty mellow through the midsection and onwards. It feels like you're just relaxing in that fivespice armchair waiting for the crash that never comes.

Finish is quite nutty, bit of biscuit and dry caramel, well suited to style, quick to depart save a warming but unobtrusive throat alc note.. truly a winter fireside warmer. Sweetness is restrained throughout and to me, this is key to maintaining drinkability here. Fine work.

Overall this is perhaps not quite as complex as one may have expected but smooth and comforting nevertheless. Quite the swansong, if indeed that's what it is. 


Let's hope not. 8.0