8 Wired Super Conductor Double IPA

Oho, what have we here.. a DIPA based on the excellent Hopwired? Count me in.

It's certainly a seductive nose, with the hopwired heritage very much evident. I've said before I don't think NZ hops alone can generally carry a good IPA / DIPA, so it's mouthwatering to pick out the green lushness of NZ here mixed in with the sharper citric notes of their USA cousins. It's the perfect combination as far as I'm concerned.

Taste-wise this is just as bitter as you'd hope, but it's rounded thanks to the above and evolves through the mouthful to stay exciting and delicious throughout. Malts are just right - not lacking in any way, but not too obtrusive either, just a backing canvas to slash hop juice all over.

This one's obviously that bit bigger than its IPA counterpart, but still exudes that brilliant balance key to the style. Looks great, smells great, tastes great. Truly excellent - just need to try it side by side with Hopwired to see which one is better. Buy it. 9.0

Cantillon Gueze 100% Lambic Bio

A latecomer to the record as such - I've had this several times now and loved it on each occasion.

This is a bit of a classic in the world of lambic Gueze and with good reason. It's a beer-like pour alright, grainy light amber delivery with a snow white top. Still, you won't be in any doubt as to what's coming if you have any sort of olfactory capacity whatsoever: the sour nose really fills the room, sharp and vinous.

Make no mistake, this beer is sour, above and beyond the usual Flemish tartness. It is more crisp than others in this field, more sharp, less grainy and more extreme. All of this is delivered via a slightly fizzy carbonation, but that again works well with the beer itself.

The clean sour notes are maybe closer to vinegar than white wine and drive through any and all things that came before as the ultimate palate cleanser. Beyond that though I find it a compelling beer in its own right, hitting a crisp clear note of sourness that becomes a real obsession. "The Champagne of Belgium" indeed.

A delicious and eye-opening drinking experience. Highly recommended to all who can finance the crippling addiction drinking it will surely bring. 9.5

To Øl Goliat Imperial Coffee Stout

Back for another gunning run on the To Øl coffee cache, fresh from a pretty successful campaign debut.

It's a good looking pour again, and at a solid 10.1% these guys are serious. Big coffee again delivers beguilingly on the nose - draws you in for a taste. The body and palate both back it up beautifully but it's important to note it is not just about the coffee .. it's a beautifully rounded, heavy, satisfying cudgel of a stout this with all the creamy complexity this style deserves.

I love it when these sorts of beers have a development of flavours, and it's no wonder these guys learned the dark magics of Mister Mikkeller in sampling this one. If I had to nitpick I'd say maybe just ever so slightly too sweet - but that's really drawing flaws in what is another excellent beer. 8.5

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.

Hitachino XH Extra High

Extra Strong 8% the most prominent thing on the label.. yet it's actually 8.5%.. you wouldn't get away with that in Aus. Even on ratebeer it's at 8.0% but .. haha.. read the Japanese bit. Unless they're measuring alcohol on a non-abv scale, this is more likely to put you over than it initially appears. Whoops.

The label suggests this one is brewed using more malts and hops than usual (yep), and matured for six months - well, this bottle's been there a bit longer so maybe even more so. It's maybe not in its prime this one to be honest and that, plus a mixed sort of experience with beers that market themselves only as high alcohol in the past, makes me a bit apprehensive here. Still, it's a tight fluffy head, and a pleasing strong ale dark colour.

After pouring, there's a bit of sourness here on the nose along with alcohol notes and malt, and the sourness makes me wonder about its age once again until I notice that this one has also been matured in both sake and shochu casks. This really does give it a pronounced funky character that I really dig alongside the nutty strong ale vibes. It's deep and complex and while I don't get a lot of the belgian yeast quality, it's all come across nicely as a package. Spicy caramel finish rounds out what is a complex and compelling beer, quite contrary to expectations.

Very, very interesting stuff.. can't wait to try more, and will visit next time in Japan. 8.0

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ale

I came into this one with no real preconceptions but one whiff of the bottle and you're in no doubt as to what you're getting yourself in for.

Nuts. Hazelnuts. HAZELNUTS. Slightly disappointed with the lack of head but it could be the squealer.

Taste is pretty incredible - like some sort of hazelnut smoothy made from what is only beer if you are paying attention. Through the mouthfeel I kept expecting an edge of sort of metallic ground hops to come through and crash the smooth experience, but it's kept beautifully restrained with nuts and slight vanilla. This comes across as massively drinkable and would be a treat with any number of dessert foods too.

Sure enough it does have hazelnut extract added, it would seem impossible to achieve this traditionally even with the battallion of malts and crystal malts they've put in this one.

I'm torn as to how much of a gimmick this is and how much staying power it would have if you had easy access to it over time. Still, I'm not against it in the slightest. Purists be damned, this is unarguably bloody tasty beer and one of the best 'converting people to craft beer' weapons encountered to date. 8.5

Yeastie Boys Gunnamatta

First beer I had at the Brewers & Chewers dinner at The Local Taphouse in St Kilda.. and about the only beer I feel qualified to review from what turned out to be a massive and really enjoyable night. Genuinely top quality event this, really impressed and can't wait for next year.. or for something similar to come to Perth..

(Bonus pic of the brewer from Yeastie Boys being interviewed by the egregious Professor Pilsner. Yep. Figures.)

This is ostensibly an IPA, but the Boys, never ones to do things the easy way, have thrown in a bunch of Earl Grey tea leaves among other things to produce a beer that's a really different experience once again.

The best thing about it? It's new and an experience, yes, but also absolutely delicious. Lovely butterscotch malt character, grassy but refined tea flavours, clean refreshing flavours, and monstrously drinkable.

Genuinely progressive and delicious beer that I'm pleased to see was rewarded with the peoples' choice beer of the year at GABS 2012. Personally, I can't wait to get some more. 8.5

Sierra Nevada Hoptimum

You know you're on to something when the bar staff refuse to pour anything larger than a middy of the beer you order.

In this case, that something is one of Sierra Nevada's flagship draughts: the mighty Hoptimum DIPA / IIPA. There's a dank green nose on this right off the bat: if you're a hophead this will fire you up from the very beginning. It's bordering on illicit green herbs country and in combination with the creamy white head leaves the mouth watering.

Then you drink it.. gee. Doesn't really hit like the 10.4% abv it represents.. not quite as dark as many in this range either. That's not to cast aspersions though - make no mistake this is a big, big beer, and will likely flat out kill anyone who's not been practicing in advance. It would be a great practical joke down the pub to cunningly swap it with someone's Carlton Mid if it weren't such a travesty to give this beer away.

It's pleasingly dead on 100 IBU and tastes every inch the centurion, but beneath that explosion there's some layered detail in the caramel malt and grassy green herbals.

Some people love big hopped DIPA / IIPAs and some don't. Personally I love them, and this is a legitimate yardstick for the style. 9.0

Yeastie Boys xeRRex

Urgh not this again.

And this time it's 10%. So it's a similar story, bog nose as expected, oily texture, remarkably agreeable smoky bacon earthen character..

Wait, what?

Not entirely sure if it's me getting used to it or just the imperial version that's so much better, but I .. would buy this again? It's almost reminiscent of a rauchbier.. but like the pig got off the leash and plowed through a field of mud, flailing and squealing, overwrought with mad rage and confusion.

And as a result I will gladly drink everyone else's leftovers too thank you very much. 7.5

Moon Dog Henry Ford's Girthsome Fjord

This beer is bloody fizzy.. odd as the bottle was sedate. Nice dark solid brown colour though.

Wow. You can tell from the aroma you're in for something definite here. It might be good, it might be terrible, but it will leave you in no doubt about what it's trying to say. According to the bottle there's six types of malt, six types of hops, and three types of yeast in this and they positively clamour for attention here.

Burnt oolong, earthy hops, chocolate roast .. sort of a really hoppy, really roasty, really burnt, porter brown ale. Worth trying for any beer nut but maybe not easy drinking as such. Oh and did I mention (notice?) it's 8.1% ABV? Mental as anything. I like it. 7.5 8.0

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale 2012 edition

This is one of those 'celebrity' beers, which are immediately tweeted about by their beer purveyors on entering stock, and then sell out almost instantly. The bandwagon was mounted, and the wallet emptied.

It's also the first barleywine on record.. 9.6% and daarrrrkk pour out of the bottle. Looks like a heavy rye or something at first glance. There's slight carbonation but not intrusive, and a nice lingering fluffy head.

Wow, this is a riot of flavours. There's orange there, stringent bitterness throughout, and heavy malt disguising the alcohol, which really doesn't manage to make its presence felt in aroma or taste. Heaps going on throughout the mouthful including pine and slight honey (?) but it's not hard to drink at all.. certainly not compared to most other things at this sort of range. Even appreciate the oily sort of mouthfeel, it's just right. Really enjoyed this a lot and recommend to anyone coming into winter time, if only to give you a break from all those excellent stouts and porters.

Not sure specifically if it's this beer, or the style that I'm digging but regardless this is a very pleasant way to imbibe nearly 3 standard drinks to the bottle. Looking forward to cellaring a couple and charting the improvement (or otherwise) also. If they last that long. 8.5

Holgate Temptress Porter

People had recommended this one - and the one previous encounter (though fleeting) with a Holgate DIPA had turned out positively too.

Still: wow. Looks attractive. Smells attractive. And my word does it taste attractive.

This is brewed with cocoa and vanilla beans and it shows - very sweet milk chocolate flavours, vanilla edge in clear sight throughout and no real bitterness at all, but above and beyond that the beer has a lovely milky flavour and mouthfeel too that really improves it beyond the norm. It's funny that people find black beers so bewildering because this has to be the best beer for kids I have yet encountered.

If I had to find a downside it's that there's not too much character beyond these sweet notes - but then, there doesn't need to be. If you're in the mood for a coffee / roasty / hoppy / imperial porter, drink one of those. If you just want a sweet chocolate variety, you could go a lot worse than this fine effort.

The only puzzling thing is it suggesting it be enjoyed with either choc desserts (fully agree) or .. meat pies. Huh? 9.0

Kaimai Porter's Rye Ale

Brace yourselves, for this is a momentous day.

A momentous day, I say, and it's NZ that have finally done it.

When I rate beers, I generally consider a score of 1.0 to represent widely available macro lager (insert VB or whatever your local rubbish may be here). This is far and away worse. This makes me pine for a Tooheys Extra Dry like a gently frying prisoner pines for the sweet release of death.

I'm not sure which of 'Porter' 'Rye' or indeed 'Ale' this beer even is but it's a horrid sour metallic effort with no redeeming benefit. It's hard to imagine how this even came into being? But it's clearly not a dud / skunked bottle either .. what were they thinking?

The only value I can see for this beer is taking it to parties, to either a) drink a sip and fire yourself up to take advantage (?) of freely available crap lagers, or b) share with others to "demonstrate that weird beer you always drink" and in so doing make sure no bastard ever touches your weird beers in the esky.

As such it receives the very first 0.0. Congratulations.

Sierra Nevada Wet Hop Harvest 2011 (Northern Hemisphere)

Back for more Sierra Nevada, this time in an attractive rumlike bottle.

Wow, the nose on this certainly makes your mouth water. Then the taste winds up and punches you right in it. There are hops in this beer. It's almost abrasively bitter, quite cloudy and sediment laden throughout, leafy floral pine herbal notes all over the place.

Apparently they release two of these each year to coincide with the harvest season in each hemisphere. Clever.

This is balls to the wall bitter, massive bold hops, with just enough malt so your face doesn't fall off, and I love it. Further testing required but for now, 9.0

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.

Stone Ruination IPA

Well now, this one comes with a reputation. Some of it is self-proclaimed (ie, it calls itself a liquid poem to the glory of the hop, and threatens to destroy your sense for beer if you so much as look at it askance). But this has been backed up by critics across the board also. We approached this one with a giddy trepidation.

Pours a deep colour with a lovely strong white head. You can smell the hops from a distance, it's floral.

The taste? Well, it certainly does have hops in it. And a lingering bitterness that just might kill you if you're not a beery sort of person. But it's not the most floral beer I've had - Feral's Hop Hog for example tastes a bit like you're gargling the contents of a herb garden - this is more .. balanced in a way, despite the absurdity of the content.

I did not notice this was 7.7% alcohol until I'd finished the bottle. I'm not sure how many one could drink, but it certainly seems possible to get hooked on them. I'm pining for another right now.

In a word, impressive - and impressive not just as a sideshow joke piece for a laugh, but as a great example of a bold, brave, and balanced specimen showcasing some brilliant flavours and dare I say it, pushing the craft beer community forward. Any beer fan should try it. 9.0