Red Duck (&Kissmeyer) Tasting Paddle

So, more by accident than design, we'd ended up with a veritable platter of beers from Red Duck. Enter the man-size tasting paddle!

I think I'd mistaken these guys for a sensible brewery in the past given their relatively restrained labelling. From this selection though you know you're in business with a serious brewer. Four beers first up that are all both ambitious and - it turns out - bloody excellent to boot.

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First up, Gnaume, which a golden lambic. Yes, a golden.. lambic. So sweet and sour notes interact here - saison-esque, maybe witbier sort of notes are initially evident but soon washed over by a wave of good lambic funk. Taste-wise it's actually pretty grain-like, the sour notes are pretty restrained on the whole, producing a remarkably drinkable beer with not too many off notes at a 6.2% abv.

Spicy more than sour overall, much less extreme than expected but it all comes together pretty well, tastes like a meshed effort between styles and pretty much in line with the description. Dry finish belies the lambic character but makes it pretty drinkable. Very interesting but unsure how to rate. My only real issue is it smells more like a sour beer than it is.. funky yes, sour no. Not necessarily a bad thing but not quite compelling either. 7.5

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Jesus.. to be honest I'd been kind of dreading this one. 11.3% alcohol 'bread beer' made with no hops, but lots of raisins and sultanas. I don't know but that sounds like something pretty damn intimidating.

Ra here is flat as a tack, deliberate of course but I must stress it is completely without fizz. It also has a massive sediment presence, and a big nose that's initially pretty hard to handle, nail polish alcohol notes, bad Year 12 drinking memories, reminds me of agave tequila in particular. So - let's not mix any words - this is a fucked beer with regards the look and nose. It makes me pray for the Swan Lager drinker that, after countless cartons of slop decides one day that 'you know what.. I'm going to try this craft beer thing' - that he doesn't choose this. My god it's .. intimidating.. colour and aroma.

Then you summon up the courage to drink it and - what? - oh this is lambic? And not half-way sour like the previous one. This gives your jowls that sort of locked-up quality they get with sucking a lemon.. delicious. Not sure if this was how the Egyptians had their beer but wow this is good shit.

It's probably not for the unadventurous, but this is a full on sour effort that ticks all the boxes. Ignore the label's claims of sultanas and raisins, there's no real sweetness or character there, maybe just a faint edge of sugar. It's just their 'sour dough yeast' efforts and expert process doing the job here. I love the taste of this, absolute brilliance, so impressed particularly given the appearance and aroma being so frightening. Great. Love it, highly recommended. 9.0

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No, this doesn't smell like a pony - unless it's perhaps been smothered in mead first. For this is a braggot - a mix of mead and beer - and has a pretty beguiling nose really of amber notes, caramel and honey. No real alcohol aroma despite the 13.7% elephant (horse?) in the room.

This is evidently flat as a tack again, no aeration whatsoever, they've used buckwheat honey for the mead here hence less grain presence probably than normal. It's a clean entry, grainy floury notes, then it takes on that meady character before rounding out a spicy, slightly sour, then heavy honey finish.

Not as sort of enjoyable as Ra above if you're into sours, but then if you're a mead and/or braggot freak you'll be full into this. My only real issue is less ale character comes through than expected, which is fine, but I'm not convinced this is a beer at all to be honest, more a modified version of that honeyed alcohol. So nice drinking, but not the the quality of the previous.  7.5

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Can we drink a beer with, you know, air in it next? Coz these really.. don't.

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Well.. no. No we can't. For this is a dark lambic - sounds exciting, doesn't it. Looks are a bit less flattering sadly, brown, slight red tinge but overall... maybe not the best looking beer. Just as well then that the nose is so intriguing, a genuine mix of porter, shoe leather and funky sourness.

Tasting - bang! Wow, I was expecting a porter-like opening with the sour taking over from there but it's a pretty immediate explosion of acidity and the most citrus bitter of the three, followed by a chocolately sort of note that goes on and lingers with you as you recover. It sounds strange, but it's actually a really nice combination. Yum.

It's worth stressing that this is another lipsmacker and is balls out sour, so it coats your tongue with unrelenting bitterness - but as you're feverishly smacking away trying to disperse it there's just a hint of choc to calm you and eventually soothe you back. Wow. Excellent stuff, well thought out, well executed, love it to bits, top work, beer that's just really compelling and brings you back, not just inventive for the sake of it but damn tasty also. 9.0

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"It's a sour, chuck it out into nature and consume it."

Apt.

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Finally we had this little number in the fridge, another collaboration between Red Duck and Kissmeyer and a big Imperial IPA at 9.8% and using 25 different hops.

It's a swingtop bottle with wax, nice presentation and as homebrewers, happy to receive it into the flock. Big solid body evident here, little head.. a serious beer from the outset. Appears heavy and sullen.

I get mostly pineapple and malted mute on the nose, pretty quiet for what's in it. But then bannnnng, wow right off the bat this is heavy and full mouthed, oily, but distinctly IIPA. I was a bit sceptical about the method of the 25 hop additions, but the hop bill comes through as beautifully rounded and delivers a pleasant lasting bitterness. Delicious and another success to be proud of. 8.5

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What a set! What a surprise, hahaha. What a top night. Great work to the brewer and accomplice. All in all a very impressive effort from the Duck showing commitment to beer, a real passion for the art, and the skills to pull it off. Much respect and hoping to visit soon.

Stone & Wood Stone Beer 2012

Behold! A beer arriving atop a veritable palanquin of reputation in industry.

Yea verily, this is well respected and sells out nearly immediately each year, but I still managed to be surprised by the  appearance first up - it's actually really dark even for the 7.2%, and near impervious to light.

Big malt and nuts are apparent on the nose. Drinking wise it's like a big malty version of a session ale, kind of similar to the Hitachino XH but without any of the strange notes imparted by the barrel aging and the like that goes through. This is more conventional in a way despite its method of making and clearly accomplished nature, a good strong malt driven big ale played to the music sheet. The finish is reasonably quick and it's balanced to boot although the sweetness does drag it down over time.

Nice beer, maybe not up to expectations, but then maybe the expectations and hype have in fact done it in in a sense. Pleasant and would happily drink again - but not sure it's revolutionary. 7.5

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

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

Southern Tier Old Man Winter Ale

So, what is a 'winter ale'? Searching about I see it's a variety of an old ale. So, what is an 'old ale'?

Who knows. But this is a reasonably heavy, thick, hard going sort of a beer, probably well suited to its job as winter warmer. It's dark in the glass, malty, with lashings of caramel and a bit of a peppery spicy finish. Perhaps my bottle had aged slightly but I didn't get too much hops going on.

All of which is fair enough, but it's just a bit unremarkable to me. I'm prepared to admit that if sampled in a wood cottage in the snow, this would likely score higher. But for now I'm fine with other alternatives. 6.5