Rogue Brutal IPA

BRUTAL IPA! From a well-known, hop-connected, US brewery!! Are your nerves jangling for their hit of lupulus goodness yet?

Sorry to disappoint you then for this is no more brutal than a swat from a dehydrated kitten in the world of IPAs. It's a good looking pour with a nose that like a 5am crack fiend initially babbles all manner of fevered claims about grapefruit and lush grasslands, but soon subsides into a coma. With just 68 IBU on the tally, perhaps most of the hops here are added late?

The beer to taste is like a reasonably flat sort of basic IPA. There is a bit of bitterness but it's all high-end front of the mouth stuff with no backing juiciness to back it up. It reminds me distinctly of our very first homebrew using proper hops and the brew-in-a-bag method. That beer was good enough to make us start a brewery, yes.. but I wouldn't sell it, least of all under the moniker "Brutal" in the modern USA marketplace.

Speaking of which, it's true this beer has been around some time by the looks - but that isn't to say it hasn't been updated. Indeed, it used to be called Brutal Bitter, which makes significantly more sense given the UK-centric grain bill and overall lack of balls. So what's the reason to change the name? If I was a cynic, I'd -- oh wait, I am a cynic. They've changed the name because IPAs are far more popular.

This is not brutal, is borderline IPA, but isn't a bitter either. Buy something else. 5.5

Hitachino Sunday Cup Festival (range review)

Having previously enjoyed the XH and the Espresso Stout, it was time for a range review on some of the other beers currently purchasable locally from Hitachino in Japan.

First up the white ale, whose label confirms the traditional approach with additions of coriander, orange peel and nutmeg. It's a nice pour, though the beer itself is quite yellow. It's bright and not out of style, just different to some others. Nose is of candied orange, not as pithy as orange peel, bit sweeter and fresher but less bitey. As such the whole thing calls to mind a chewy orange lolly.

Taste-wise happily it manages to stay quite light with medium-high carbonation to back it up. The taste profile is pretty light and delicate but all the right flavours are there, before a burst of that sweet orange before the end. Strikes me as pretty sessionable stuff here on a hot day, with nothing really objectionable in the slightest. The perfect soft-spoken Japanese gent. 7.0

Wasn't quite sure what to expect from this "Real Ginger Ale" - was it a beer with ginger, or a ginger beer? Turns out to be the former, marked as happoushu because of the additions. This beer is marked at 7.0% on one label, and 7.5% on the other .. just like XH, this is something you wouldn't get away with in Australia.

It's a dark pour with a fair amount of particulate sediment and rye-like hue. The nose is curiously reticent, delivering not much above and beyond a suggestion of malt sweetness, but the taste doesn't hold back. Bang - dat ginger. It's a good soft mouthfeel here and kind of evokes Olde Stoney ginger beer meeting a spiced heavy ale of some description. All of which is nice, but it becomes harder and harder to deal with over time. Maybe better in the snow? 5.5

"Japanese Classic Ale" seemed somewhat of a misnomer first up given the nature of the beer scene in modern times. A closer look at the label however shows it's a replica of Edo period ales, matured in cedar as per old style English IPAs. Nice pour again with a good looking creamy head. I get peppery notes on the nose here along with a bit of warming alcohol.

That spicy character carries through into the ale itself - perhaps it's the barrel? - but it's a nice combination. The hops are evident if not dominant and it all comes together quite nicely at a professed 7.5%. I drank this happily the whole way through and found it interesting, well-made and compelling. 7.0

Continuing the theme with another solid seven percenter is the red rice ale. This one's a bit more reticent with the ingredients list which is a shame, as to me at least it feels a lot like it's had berries, cherries, or something similar added here which dominate everything else. The rice isn't very evident, but it is at least quite red, I guess.

I'm not really sure about this one - it didn't really do what you'd think it would and felt a bit out of place the whole time. I didn't dislike it, but neither would I seek it out again. 5.5

Onward then to the commemorative new year celebration ale, at 8% (at least, knowing these guys). This is the 2011 edition and understandably speaks of forgetting the troubles of the year past. It's spiced with coriander and cinnamon among other things - one could expect it to be a big heavy in line with the Japanese (winter) new year.

This drop is sour up front then quite spicy and complex. Not as malty as expected, but thought provoking nonetheless. I wonder if the sour edge is from age, or if they have again used their access to sake barrels and the like to give it a bit of something special - whichever it is, it lifts this beer a little and makes it quite compelling to drink. Slight nectarine / apricot nectar notes. Interesting if not delicious. 6.5

Finally to the sweet stout. I'd been recommended away from this one by a stout-drinking of some repute, but  after drinking this one I was quite happy with it. It's just 4% and clearly designed along the lines of the typical dry / sweet stout. Good colour in the pour, lovely nose of raw choc malt also. It's sweet in that it has definitely had lactose introduced, but not overly sweet in terms of flavour balance. Instead there's a nice roasty character for the main combined with an edge of coffee.

It's light beer yes but I'd argue not watery (ie, not unintentional). Lasting roasty aftertaste is pleasant. Good beer. 7.0

All in all an interesting selection and enough to confirm my wish to visit when next in Nippon.

Rogue Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red Ale

Not too amber in the darkness but in the flesh it's definitively red - good to see.

It's an 'amber ale' this by most accounts, and that's a style with which we've struggled a bit in the past. There's a tendency for these to come through tasting a bit like sweet wort with not a lot else on the table. Dry hopping is a good plan to help counter the cloying nature of the style though - at least in theory?

Drinking this beer you feel comfortable for the express reason that you know what's coming. It's a red ale. And it's dry hopped. There's no surprises, and no disappointment. Your expectations have been managed. And on top of that, it turns out to be a lovely sessionable drop at a paltry 5.2%.

There's not a lot here that's complicated - sweet golden / amber start meanders toward a mid-bitter end - but it's refreshing and makes you wonder how much of it you could drink, in a gulp or over the course of an evening. Solid, reliable beer. 7.5

Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Cadbury-esque colours here on what is a pretty easy to find double chocolate stout.

It's a pretty standard sort of setup here - fluffy head, light black colour, nose of dry cocoa, taste pretty much likewise. It's maybe a bit watery, perhaps a bit less lush than you might expect from the moniker 'double'. Indeed there's only really one chocolate I taste in it.

Overall this is kind of like a watered down Choc Hops - or more to the point I suppose Choc Hops is like a geared up, better quality version of this. Still, could be a lot worse. 6.5

To Øl Reparationsbajer

Newly crowned favourite brewers To Øl back with an interesting concept: a hangover beer.

Yes indeed, we've all been there and this beer is specifically engineered to help you out of your self-inflicted predicament. I can read a couple of words from the Danish label: 'burger' makes sense, 'pizza' yes indeed, and 'rottebazooka' just seems to sum up the situation beautifully.

The beer itself is an APA and delivers itself with poise. It's a balanced, soft complex malted nose that I'm surprised to see tips only 5.7% - though this still may be more than you are after in the circumstances I guess.  The mouthfeel on the other hand is light fruity and lovely. It's balanced and while flavoursome in both malt and hops, doesn't get all up in your face about it. This makes it comforting and compelling at the same time, and while it's billed as the hair of the dog I would happily drink it to get drunk.

I haven't yet tried this with a hangover but while it's no oily-french-toast-and-iced-coffee wonder cure breakfast in itself, I would endorse it to do the job beautifully. A true friend in times of need. 8.5

Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

Another Rogue, another delivery of their patented Pacman yeast strain.

This one needed to be sampled again on tap as the original photo was lost, however according to the bottle pictographs I had determined this one goes with "cows' heads" and/or "pies and wine". The container also informs us this is the 'world stout champion', though I'm not sure when or in which competition.

It's a really deep reddish brown pour, not quite on solid black, good for a six percenter. Aroma here is predominately chocolates .. wonder if it's chocolate malts driven, or some sort of addition? In any case it's pretty much the driving force here for both the aroma and flavour profile.

The beer itself definitely sits squarely in the chocolate stout camp but has a lovely round body to it that belies the comparatively low percent. Full flavoured through stages of chocolate, hops, and a burnt dry roastiness that keeps you coming back for more.

This is not a groundbreaking sort of a beer, but at the same time it's hard to complain when you can't think of much they could have done better. Excellent. 8.5

Brewfist Burocracy IPA

Have to admit looking back on this I was convinced it was "brewrocracy", such is my pun loving nature.

I'll make a good dad.

Regardless this is an IPA from those finest-named of Italian brewers, they of the Brewfist. The photo's not far off the truth here - it comes through pretty damn dark for its 6%. Indeed if you poured it unknown, you'd be forgiven for calling it a DIPA or perhaps a brown based on looks alone. Nose is squarely in hoppy territory however, orange pretty dominant with a bit of spice and pine backing it up.

That spicy sort of character extends to the mouthfeel leaving it quite nice and dry despite the malt & fruit combo. It makes a big difference to drinkability in the end and lets you settle down to punch into what is an easy drinking but flavoursome IPA.

I'm not sure if they were aiming for such depth of colour - the extra malt does give it an almost bitter sort of edge - but not a bad drop if you can find it. 7.5

He'Brew Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale

Got to say, it's a good name right off the bat - you know just what you're in for with this one.

And who doesn't like a dry hopped session ale? The racking does wonders for a lot of beers, producing that hop character we all love without the potential of alienating newcomers with monstrous IBUs.

This delivers a nice amber body with a sedate but nonconfronting aroma. It's good looking and would easily fit in atop a hardwood counter outside on a summer's day.

Taste is what matters in the end though so it's pleasing to confirm this one hits the mark there too. It's quite malty for a hopforward beer, delivering a bit of biscuity caramel in there in line with the hue it's got going on. The effect is kind of like a hoppy Australian ESB or similar and it's certainly a combination that works to produce a beer that's interesting and non-fatiguing: in other words, exactly what they seem to have been going for.

Nothing revolutionary here but a solid concept well executed. Good stuff. 7.5

Moon Dog Billy Ray Citrus

Woo, first impression is pretty sour aroma wise off the back of a light clear pour.

Sure enough there's Bavarian wheat yeast & lactobacillus doing the hard yards here, supported by some  citrus peel dry conditioning. I had wondered if it'd be a Japanese Sorachi Ace base off the nose, but it's the American all-rounder Simcoe.

My wife was part of the esteemed tasting panel for this one and immediately pronounced it to taste of, well, sausages - oddly enough after brief bemusement I can sort of see where she's coming from.

It's weird beer this (in a good way of course) .. not really as expected. I feel it smells like the beer it should be, but the taste is maybe only halfway there. Kind of doesn't quite know what it's doing - citrus peel is there yes but also wit / bready notes that hide the citric uniqueness this aims for. Can't say it's very tasty, refreshing or illuminating.. but it is interesting.

I'm not too down on this despite the score - love to try these experiments - just this one's not their best. 4.5

Lobethal Bierhaus Red Truck Porter

Fresh (well, May 2012) bottle of the local SA porter. Well, the non-Coopers one.

This is a dark amber pour rather than black when you look at it in the light, reasonable head hangs on though a little loose. Nose is of chocolate first, fair bit of hops, little bit of metallics there too.

The mouthfeel is a bit too fizzy here, always a shame with a porter, ends in buzzing metalic alcohol but up until then, has a pretty decent choc porter character. It's not bad overall, just a bit nondescript - I've had far better porters, but far worse too. 6.0

Epic Zythos

Another in the seeming storm of IPAs gathering over Auckland.

This one's different as it uses a new strain of hops named Zythos strangely enough. Apparently, that's a Greek version of an Egyptian word for beer. And you can put this Gregyptian 'beer' in with some other stuff, grains and what-not, to make beer. Makes sense, right?

This one presents pretty well, good looking and enticing, nice aroma of - to me at least - NZ and US hops. Perhaps it's a blend? There's a bit of a US twist on the taste too, but you'd have no trouble picking the origin I feel, it's grassy rather than bitter, bit of sort of bready grainy aftertaste too.

The hop combination and backbone here comes together nicely for mine and - again in contrast to ratebeer seemingly - I think this is therefore a better beer than some of their others. Very pleasant indeed. 7.5

McLaren Vale IPA

A rare IPA from South Australia, bright bottle looks good.

It's got good strong US / maybe Australian citrusy hops smell out of the bottle too. Once it's in the glass, malt is more apparent. It's a reasonable looking pour, decent head to boot. Nice work so far.

Taste-wise, this is a beer thattriestotalkabouteverythingallatonce and it's a bit confronting. Rather than having stages, it's like there's a burst of all different fruits, passionfruit and stonefruit in particular just jump in the door three stooges style and the balance kind of suffers as a result. I think it could stand to be a little maltier too, comes across as a little on the watery side which promotes a sweet fruit, almost berry vibe at times.

Not a bad beer - but not memorable or comforting either. 6.0

Haandbrygerriet Bavarian Weizen

Unfortunate dark photo. These beers cost money y'know so it's the power that has to go.

This beer is Haand's effort at producing a Bavarian Weissbier with a wheat yeast, yielding in their words less banana, and more tartness than usual. Sounds like a nice approach to me with the potential to combine the strengths, and assuage the weaknesses of a couple of promising styles.

This bottle while in code was not the freshest, but the pour performed nicely with an opaque body and lemon / citrus / coriander head. It may be the age but I found a really pleasant malty quality to this beer, slightly unexpected from a weizen. The wheat yeast does its job too to keep it crisp and clean but still characterful.

Carbonation got in the way a little bit here, too strong front of mouth before the comparatively heavy body arrives, but again could be a symptom of the less than fresh bottle. Regardless, this is not your typical sort of Weizen perhaps but I find I kind of like it. 7.5

Furstenburg Premium Lager

Fizzy yellow beer is for wussies, the crew from Stone proclaim.

This sadly is probably an example of what they're on about - though it's not in truth that fizzy overall. Instead it sits moping in the glass, a yellow testament to the emasculation of beer. The nose reminds me of being a student who didn't know, and couldn't afford, any better, and it tastes just like that too. There's a beer in there somewhere amongst that weird sweet effect you get with premium lagers. An interesting revisit then to days past then, but I can't say I'm too nostalgic.

At least this one's truly from Germany, and it doesn't have that metallic crack these too often do. Slightly maltier than usual for these too which is nice, though it does also carry through a saccharine sweetness that's a bit offputting.

Not too bad a choice if you really must have a 'premium lager'? 2.0

Brooklyn Brown Ale

Pleasing sort of mahogany brown hue both bottle and glass. Clear but nice. Not the muddy sort. Unapologetically brown. I like.

Thin white meniscus of head only, but lovely aroma of big malts means it actually smells like a big alc beer just due to the depth of thick tendrils of smell. It's almost barleywine-ish in complexity and I'm surprised it's just at the 5.6% abv.

Yumm.. yep this doesn't disappoint, it's nice and full, great lasting ground coffee characteristics intertwined with caramel notes, what a delicious experience of a beer. Roasty and flavoursome, lasting, massive taste and staying power in spades.

Perhaps not a session brown as such - although it's certainly not obtrusive. But what a great introduction to the unknown beauty of browns for the uninitiated. Could easily be upped a bit on the alcohol front for a different experience again (is there an imperial version? If not, there should be). 8.0

Mornington Porter

This one pretty much rounds out the set from Mornington (I think?) who have performed really well across all disciplines. On results so far, if there was a decathlon of Aussie brewers, they would be right up there contesting for the podium.

Big nose here is better than expected, chocolate and oaty grainy smell, porridge. Nice.

It's interesting then that the taste immediately calls to mind ashen flavours, nearly to the point of tobacco style notes. That ashen note is a bit different to most but actually works well to make this both balanced, and compelling. Once you have a pull of this you end with a sort of sour  taste almost, but it makes you want more.

The smoky full development gives this a great complexity above and beyond the chocolate backdrop. There's all sorts going on here, not sure I get the liquorice as such but it's luscious and a pleasure to drink at an on-target 6.0% abv.

Much respect, very good work indeed. 8.0

3 Fonteinen Oude Gueze

Back on the gueze wagon.

The nose on this one actually has a bit of depth in it - sure it's sour town, but also something grainy like wheat husks in there too, I get the sense of discarded grind-off from a mill or something.

Looking at the label, there are a couple of clues. First, it's a mix of 1, 2 and 3 year old lambics here and maybe that explains the enhanced complexity. It's also actually 40% wheat, which probably explains the graininess. Finally, it's matured a year minimum after mixing and refermented in the bottle which explains the big champagney head.

Taste-wise this is a big sour alright, sour green apple peel, but also almost malty sorts of flavours, probably the most 'beer-like' gueze in my admittedly shallow experience to date. Yum.

Hard to rate this - it's far more drinkable than some other razor-edge lambics in that it's the sort of thing you could put away all night. But it's also less sharply sour than the others too. More beer like certainly; less sour.. hmm, makes it a bit hard to rate. To my personal taste I'd prefer something with a bit more bite.

7.0

Moon Dog Macguava

Smells like a sour out of the bottle, nice fruity notes, just what the doctor ordered.

Side note - I took the opportunity to weigh my shared pour on a handy nearby scale, 328g each in identical glasses - now that's pouring. Fluffy head too, good stuff. Fair bit of sediment here - doesn't worry me, but may put off some.

Taste wise this is good stuff - more or less as intended, witbier + guava, but this time it's an inspired combination and actually combines beautifully to take the sometimes challengingly sweet edge off the wit combo and mask it with some lovely exuberant juicy notes.

Top work! Far better than Melon Gibson, anti-semitist or not. I'm glad - don't want to slate these guys again cos their philosophy and their beers kick ass. 7.5

Lobethal Bierhaus India Pale Al

Believe it or not it's Top Gear in the background.. missed the Stig by about 1 frame.

I'd been keen to try these guys if only because they seem to be one of about 2 (McLaren the other) breweries actually still operating in SA (if you don't count wineries) .. even Beard n Brau has now relocated to QLD by the sounds.

So.. traditional 'bierhaus' name, beer called 'India Pale Al' of all things, label that looks more like a Christmas spiced seasonal than a refreshing ale, described as "hoppy british ale". Very clear pour but a bit sort of dull, small head. The malts are more pronounced than the hops on the nose in fact but ol' lupulus comes back in the taste. It's not apparent front of mouth early in the tasting but does appear from the midpoint as an indistinct burst of bitterness, somewhat muffled by the predominant barley flavours. Bottled Dec 2011 so while not fresh, not dead either.

If you quaff this, there's an instant where you feel some fruits but it is gone in a flash. I'm well aware these English variants aren't the hop wagon that American style efforts often are, but it's nevertheless a little indistinct and underdone for mine. That's not to say it's bad beer - it's just really not hit the spot for a beer marketed as IPA - UK or otherwise. And I'm still unsure why it's called Al. Hi Al! 5.5

The Monk Bounty Coconut Stout

Aha, another twisted stout from this Fremantle crew.

And.. to be honest it looks a lot like the last one (better head though). So to avoid boredom have a go at the awesome paella they were putting on instead:

Nice work. To the beer though - this one generates a bit of lace and feels better carbonated from the beginning. The nose is enormous coconut, and for once the naming does the job beautifully when it comes to describing this beer: it really is a lot like drinking a liquid bounty bar. There's coconut milk, juice and flesh elements there and it's all pretty good stuff.

Not sure how portery this is on the whole - it really is a coconut festival - but it's good stuff, for one glass at least. I feel like there must be coconut fiends out there who would just camp on this stuff, putting it on their cereal and bathing with it .. for me, it's just good fun. Nice! 7.0