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

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

Brew Dog Dogma

In picking this up I had a mental image of it turning up kind of like the bottle - orangey amber sort of colour and sweet due to the heather honey used. Boy was I wrong.

Yep, 10 types of malt and wow it's black. Nice head too, and even from a distance there's a rich, malty smell that greets you comfortingly. You just know it's going to be a round embrace of a beer from day one.

And indeed it is a really convivial sort of drop but really surprising, quite different to any idea I had. The sort of beer you drink and smile as you place the glass down for another look. You just sort of have to say 'wow' and have a think about it for a bit. Lugubrious and sticky this carries a lasting burnt treacle character through the journey with delicious roasty flavours and honey smothered toast throughout. The burnt nature helps cover off on the sweetness, making it really quite approachable to boot.

Wow. This is a beer that's at once quite different to anything I have had previously, and quite delicious to boot. A really tasty mouthful, the sort of beer that's just overflowing with flavour and leaves you smacking your lips because of it.

In short, a real pleasure and still another example of Brew Dog brilliance. Much respect. 8.5

He'Brew Hop Manna IPA

A bottle with presence, and the by-now almost common promise of hops - but just 6.8% and 65IBU.

I like the label design / presentation from these guys - it's strong, and distinct. Pleasingly, the beer itself delivers on that front too in terms of appearance and presentation - great nose, likely the product of a strong dry hopping regime consisting of centennial, cascade and citra as prominently displayed on label space A1.

From the first sip this is genuinely tasty stuff - not the overwhelming IPA that's become almost the norm in America, but a more balanced suite of flavours including a number of peppery spicy notes in the middle. When you're at this midstage it's almost leaning one almost toward hoppy APA territory, but then a lovely late wash of hops push it pleasingly into IPA territory.

Yum.. this is a truly well balanced brew, really compelling stuff all around. It's not berserk by any means but well judged clearly to style.. shows a great understanding of beer and brewing ability. There's a plethora of hop additions here and a really nicely tipped malt platform that leaves me thinking 'nah this doesn't actually need to be bigger' while still providing a solid body that doesn't overwhelm the starring hops.

For what it's trying to do - ie not just "MOAR OF EVERYTHING" - this is a purposeful, deliberate beer that is just a massive success, and there's not a lot I'd improve. Very impressive indeed. 9.0

Epic Epicurean Coffee & Fig 2011

A special bottle this and had been incubating for some time in the fridge as a result. Finally cracked it open with good company one recent evening and immediately felt thankful for the decision.

The coffee on this is really quite extraordinary - it comes through stronger and more appetizing on the nose than any other beer I have tried, sharp espresso notes rather than the more general ground coffee elsewhere. It's got an enticing presence all round, and for good reason.

Alongside the massive smooth coffee presence this beer has also been racked over roasted figs, and coconut and both provide excellently balanced counterpoints to the main action. This was a beer brewed from a concept born from collaboration with a food critic by reports and it's both a highly successful dalliance and an example of beer as art.

I generally check ratebeer after completing each review, just to get a sense of where things sit in the wider community and the broader public sentiment. In this case this beer has been marked pretty harshly and I can only conclude it's the lack of really 'imperial' flavours going on. Whatever the reason it's a travesty - do yourself a favour and go grab a bottle while it's still around. Then thank me. 9.5

8 Wired Fresh Hopwired

Given the success of the normal hopwired I was mad keen to hook into some of this, the fresh hop variant.

Good dark amber pour, visible aeration, low sudsy head. Nose is dominated by sweet malt and earthy NZ hops. Not quite as punchy as I would have expected but nice and lush regardless. Not sure it has the same swampy (in a good way) character as the original.

Mouthfeel is good, beer itself is really deep dank and earthy with a punch of muted bitterness coming along for the ride. It´s a pretty powerful beer this in its way but sticks to the low and middle notes with nothing really rising above that chorus. Feels a bit less balanced than the other and as a result slightly hard work as opposed to the massively moreish character of the superb normal drop. Slight bit of booze on both the nose and the flavour.

It turns out this beer was made in two batches as it were, to catch the fresh hop characters of the Motueka and Nelson Sauvin strains which must be harvested at different times. The beers were then mixed together to form this final product. I am not sure how much this mixing would influence the beer but this progeny seems really quite markedly different to its predecessor.

This is a good beer and in isolation would rate very well indeed. In this context though I actually like the original better, and by a distance too. It's just that saying that feels kind of like the sporting upset of the season.. 8.0

Rogue Dead Guy Ale

A beer. A craft beer. And it's from Rogue. And it's their flagship brew. Surely you can't go wrong with this one?

Well, turns out maybe you can, for I totally failed to get on with this brew at all, contrary to expectations. It's a 6.6% Bock style ale that pushes out a very clear amber hue and a nose with elements of dry ground lager, slight metal, and nuts.

This pattern continues with the taste, some quite nice nut notes but the ongoing metallic nature of the beer and slightly high aeration let this down. Slight alcohol presence on the ending a little disappointing also. Perhaps I got a bad bottle but despite approaching this with the best of expectations I found it to be pretty forgettable stuff.

Unconvincing at best. 3.5

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

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