Lucky Beer

As frequently mentioned on this blog, appearance is important to good beer.

The bottle of this beer is pretty cool. The beer itself however looks insipid. A bottle such as this could signify dedication, fine attention to detail and a sense of humour - or just a desire to draw attention away from what's inside it. Given the appearance, I'm leaning toward the latter.

Lucky is quite clear like a pale lager, no real head to speak of, nose of spice / asian rice lager / slight bitterness. Taste wise is where this really falls down, delivering a too-sweet, too-flat experience indolent with metals and skunky dead lager notes that make you wonder what's actually in it. It certainly doesn't taste like water, malts, hops, or yeast.

Aeration could be improved here to make it a bit more refreshing - as it is, it's maybe a little undercarbed, which in this case forces an unnatural focus on the flavours or lack thereof.

Not much fun sadly, and some distance behind the other common Chinese challenger Tsingtao. Lucky I only had one. 1.0

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

Wigram Russian Imperial Stout

Nice packaging! And the bottle itself is a bomber of sorts after all.

Presentation top notch out of the bottle too - looks great, lovely lasting creamy iced coffee coloured head, perfect RIS performance. The nose has a slight bitter edge with a little less fruit sweetness than you might expect from this style - although it could well be in keeping with the relatively restrained 8.5%.

On swigging you can expect a pleasant flat mouthfeel, creamy notes, and coffee the main characteristic here from start to finish and indeed beyond. Slight soy notes mingle with the roasty toasty bitterness. It's got good presence for the abv and while not the most complex in this class, delivers a very smooth and easy drinking experience.

The only hard work in this beer is not drinking it too fast as it telepathically calls you back for another sip seemingly as soon as you've put it down. You're only drinking 20ml at a time of course, but when you pick up the glass 35 times a minute...

Great stuff, would drink again. 8.5

Eagle Bay Pale Ale

This one's finally getting a full review courtesy of it finally turning up on tap (and more to the point, growler) in the city.

Happy days indeed, for this is a very solid entrant in the crowded APA field. Nice dark amber pour, perhaps erring on the side of dim but nevertheless putting out a good strong nose of juicy pineapple, slight spice, and underlying biscuity malts.

It's those slightly roasty barley tea malts that drive the flavour profile here too, giving it a sort of bready character that lends itself to long term and session enjoyment. Mouthfeel is perhaps just a tad spiky but not disruptive by any stretch. Taste perhaps not as fruity as expected, leaning ever so slightly toward Bitter territory in places.

It's not a confrontational beer by any stretch but delivers enough flavour to be consistently enjoyable throughout. Following on from the Brown Ale it's another highly drinkable / sessionable drop, and a worthy addition to WA's pale ale forces. 7.5

Kooinda Red Ale

Exciting times: a new Kooinda to try!

Interesting pour this, a fair bit darker than expected particularly given the conciliatory abv. Nose is of nuts but also some sticky sugary notes, slight sour citrus to balance. Not quite what I was expecting all round, but not bad nonetheless.

Taste-wise there's a nice nutty presence but also a little bit of sourness and almost metallic sort of character that limits full enjoyment.. it's fine beer in itself but you're left longing for a softer palate to avoid any jarring notes. You're looking, in short, for Rogue.

It's a short review but it feels to be honest like a 'shorter' beer than most everything else from Kooinda. Far from bad - but in a context of frequent brilliance from this stable, just a little off the pace. 7.0

Nøgne Ø India Pale Ale

Kjetil and crew brew a number of different IPA variants - this one is the simplest and most straightforward.

Happily, simplicity is not the same as boredom here - a lovely nose of strong citrus, lemon, and grain sweetness heralds one of those beers that is just a pleasure to drink. The malt backbone is the star, delivered via a velvety smooth mouthfeel that seems to have immigrated across the border by dead of night from some of their excellent darker beers.

It's not a hops explosion by any means but there's enough fruit and spice there for balance - and balance is what this beer has in spades, a delicious all-rounder effort that should be entry level textbook reading for brewers looking to enter this field. 7.5% abv is spot on, and it's attractive to look at to boot.

At the (Australian) price point this beer has a lot of competition - but at least you know you're buying a beer that is rock solid reliable and guaranteed to please. 8.5

Uncommon Brewers Siamese Twin Ale

Okie doke, the next in the can series from Uncommon Brewers.

This one sticks to the tried and true ingredients of coriander, kaffir lime, and lemongrass. Tried and true for thai curries that is .. unsure how these piquant building blocks of Thai flavour will perform here, especially when coupled with the belgian yeast which I have to say was an odd choice in the circumstances.

Pours darker than expected, certainly an unusual aroma alright, though it was sort of expected given the recipe. Alcohol present, along with orange crystallised fruit notes.

The main taste elements I got here were grape-like notes, followed by the belgian yeast and a sweet malt finish, not a lot of sign of the spicier / herbal elements that were promised outside of that peppery coriander witbier backing number. The beer overall is quite sweet and sticky, and I found that a bit trying progressing through the can.

Certainly not a session beer, but not that great of a one-off experience either. I'd like to try a peeled back version at possibly a bit lower abv and using a different yeast bill to provide an environment in which the thai additions could really shine. As is, it's more like a spicy funky dubbel than anything else. Unique? 5.5

Beer Here Hopfix

Have to say first up, what a great label. He's just saying what we're all thinking..

Aaaaaaaah..

Where were we? Ah yes, hops. Our gentle lords and saviours. This beer delivers them in a format that speaks immediately of rye additions alongside the inevitable US hop aromas. Quite noticeable sediment, though it is not intrusive.

Taste-wise this fits in with the 'pleasant' rather than 'destructive' school of hop-bombing, easing 6.5% of Sunday morning come down juices into you without ever getting all up in your face about it. It's a pretty chilled dude, very green, more about the herbs than the abrasive bitterness y'know, why can't we all just get along?

Which could all get a bit boring if it were underspecced, but I feel the rye just gives it enough character to be that bit more than alleyway hop water. Well thought out and yet cruisy at the same time. 7.5

Haandbryggeriet Sundland Kreosot

These guys are building up a pretty strong portfolio so far, but this is the first Black IPA trialed from their burgeoning range.

It's one of those 'home-made-jam--printed-on-my-laserjet-printer' style labels as is traditional for Haand, but the beer itself comes out pretty proudly, displaying good opacity and a sticky miniscus of dark tan coffee head. Aroma is inviting too, delivering that dichotomous porter / hoppy IPA combination that makes you stop and think for a while before drinking, just to ponder and identify the different notes in there.

Surprisingly I didn't pick up a great deal of smokiness, which turns out to be opening the batting for this beer in the flavour league cup. Almost bacony levels of roast characterise the opening salvos, but it's all backed up with sufficient hopping and a roasty toasty choc porter standard bearer. It's probably the first really smoky attempt at a Black IPA I have trialled, but it all comes together very nicely really. The smokiness ties the two sometimes disparate brew types together with a common thread.

Good beer, not lifechanging but interesting, flavoursome and refreshing stuff. 8.0

Red Hill Imperial Stout

An imperial stout, pouring a carapace as solid and black as a roll of strategically placed gaffer tape.

So - that's one tick. There's a disappointing lack of head from this one though, only a slight patina of red mocha visible for a split second at the start. A little low for an Imperial at just 8.1%.

Initial thoughts on the aroma take me to the lands of the chocolate vanilla porter, but there's a bit of backing body there too. The problem with this body is it's lurking in the shadows holding a blunt rusty knife made of acetone and other stray tendrils. Hmm. Feeling a bit ill at ease now but all you can do is continue down that alley..

The flavour profile of this beer starts off quite nice, coffee notes evident up front, along with a muted parade of raisiny imperial notes. They too seem a little subdued in the context of that serial killer Acetone and his quiet but strangely insidious intimations of unripe fruit and off notes.

I think it's the hop profile in this beer that creates this odd edge rather than anything untoward in the beer's creation, but I couldn't help wishing they'd just left it alone and let the deeper choc / coffee notes do their job unharrassed. 4.0 3.0

Mornington ESB

ESB is a nice sort of beer for the winter time I find.

And these days (for Australian brewers at least) it seems to often turns up as a sort of hybrid pale ale, ensuring it's got those hop highlights to complement the essential comforting malts.

Nice pour here, generates a fluffy head that's quite enticing but the aroma is a little different to some. There's a strange but not unpleasant note of fruitiness here a bit juicier than the norm. Possibly grape .. or melon, I'm thinking? Regardless, it turns out a nice quaffable drop, again quite hoppy for the style strictly speaking but with sufficient malt backbone to back it all up.

It occurs to me that ESB purists and beer competition judges probably find these hoppy notes out of place within the confines of the listed class. In the case of ESBs though at least I am starting to appreciate this outlandish new world approach. I'd make a crack likening this development to us Aussies taking cricket from our imperial overlords and improving it, if there was any chance we'd pick up an Ashes anytime soon.

Sigh. 7.5

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

Birra del Borgo & Dogfish Head My Antonia

Another team effort here - so, successful collaboration? Or disjointed aberration?

Let us first take a look at the label, shall we? Un'emozione luppolata continuamente per 60 minuti. Which, to my expert Italian mind, means basically it's a Dogfish Head beer given their ongoing fascination with continuous hopping over n minutes. Only it's not an IPA - it's an imperial lager.

This effort smells like fresh cooked biscuits, with a bit of a maple syrupy edge to boot. It's 7.5% abv, and pours a good if cloudy honey coloured body with a nice thin finger of lasting head. Good beer this - starts out with a refreshing bitter presence which ushers in the inevitable biscuity malts to follow. Happily, there's a balancing kick of spice at the end to ensure you don't start craving a glass of milk with it half way through. Well balanced, smacks of quality brewing throughout, very well done.

Would drink again for sure - appears eminently sessionable (ie not too sweet) and a well balanced example of a punchy, flavoursome style. 8.0

Haandbryggeriet Dubbel Dose (Dubbel Dram)

One of those beers that sticks in the memory, in this case enough to buy once more to reconfirm before reviewing.

Second bottle frothed a fair bit but the first was sedate. In both cases you get a sense of the beer philosophy here as you pour - quite different to your (nowadays) typical big-US-hops IPA, this instead delivers a more deep european scape of being. Lots of sediment in the bottle in line with a big 9% abv. Brewed Oct 10 and in this case best around now I feel, though it would be interesting to try a fresh one and see how much the hops stand out when they are in their prime.

The star of this beer at this age as you will have guessed is not the juicy wet hops. Though the muskiness of the hops is a part of this story and help define it as an IPA, this is more about those roasty raisin, coffee and booze notes you get on the nose. Beautiful sticky mouthfeel to this beer puts me in mind of those euro dark beers that deliver such a heavy smooth experience that lingers and stays with you even from the smallest sip.

There's a fair bit of booze here but I feel it's part of the experience in this case, rather than a clumsily delivered hit of accidental alcoholism. Along with the sticky wave of lacy head it all stays with you as you progress through the bottle.. a real comforting experience to savour over an hour or more. Make sure you give this some time out of the fridge before serving as it excels at the 10-12C mark.

I really enjoyed this beer on both occasions - it's a very different experience to what has become the typical 'IPA' and may come as a surprise for that reason, but once you meet this fine gentleman you're certain to find you share some things in common. 9.0

Amager Sundby Stout

A solid 6.2% stout here, marketing itself as both a traditional brew and one that challenges convention by dry hopping with floral US hops.

As with all of these beers it’s possible, nay likely this has spent some time in travel and storage so it may not be the freshest, but I did not find the hops all that evident on the nose. This should have given it some time to think about life however and it’s often not bad to let a stout ponder a while before consumption.

The pour is a little lighter than expected, several EBC down on the norm I feel. It’s by no means unattractive though and carries a cappuccino bonce with some aplomb. Flavour is very much ‘extra stout’, dark choc, liquorice and coffee notes evident up front, bit of carbonation present in the midsection before a nice lingering coffee finish.

Rather pleasant overall, but drinking through the bottle I couldn’t shake the image of it being in a way just like Coopers Extra Stout in a suit. No bad thing. 7.5

Weihenstephaner Kristal Weissbier

Back to that oldest of old breweries Weihenstephaner for another of their wheat beers.

This one is a little different however as it counts as a Kristalweizen - essentially a filtered clear Hefeweizen variant. It certainly pours - literally, there's no other word I can think of - crystal clear up front, with a pretty enthusiastic head. Careful you don't just dump it in there, or you might end up drowning. Or looking like Santa Claus.

I got lemon more than banana from this on both aroma and taste, along with the standard wheat beer mouthfeel and fizzy refreshing delivery. It's tasty enough in its way and a genuine contender, but I just found it a bit boring compared to something with a bit more presence and flavour.

Maybe a style thing more than anything, but just a bit uninspiring overall. 6.5

Rogue Double Mocha Porter

A special bottle, this one, presented in inimitable Rogue-like fashion. So, what does the blue potion do?

Well, it pours a svelte, attractive looking opaque black body with a sticky tan head for a start. Looks fantastic, and gives off a nose that tends more toward imperial raisins, dark fruits and heavy malts than coffee as such at first, despite the mocha badging.

For a porter at 8.2% this delivers a relatively light mouthfeel, but is nevertheless full of lipsmacking levels of flavour. Dark chocolate is definitely a component here as is coffee, which lingers beautifully after you swallow. Very nice stuff. It's relatively simple compared to a lot of big 'imperial' dark beers, but does what it's trying to do well.

Looking at the bottle you can see they've used their own micro hops and malts in this, along with 'pacman' yeast.. all of which sounds very pleasing. "Free range coastal water" on the other hand .. well, while I have to say I'm relieved the water wasn't forcibly bound in a cage without room to scratch, feed or dustbathe, this could be interpreted as, let us say, total wank.

Regardless - fine, highly enjoyable beer likely to appeal to all sorts of people. 8.5

Brewfist & Beer Here Caterpillar Pale Ale

BREW FIST! Oh, and Beer Here. And they've made a beer, together as it turns out.

It's a slightly lackluster pour out of the bottle, but settled with a good light hue and quite a delicious complex smell despite the lack of head. It's certainly an APA from the nose, but one with a bit of added fairy floss and spice notes going on there also. Things are looking good.

Things remain pretty pleasing when you have a sip too - this is up there with the best APAs on record as it is both true to style, and compelling throughout. Malt, hops and spice are working here in concert to produce a lovely rounded mouthful that smacks of depth and complexity in a class where sometimes it can be a bit lacking. 5.8% is a good mark for a beer like this too. It's a beer that wants to be your friend and make you happy.

This smacks of being an excellent sessionable yet interesting beer, and that in itself leads me to my only regret - a carton of this stuff would set you back far too much in this country to be practicable. Perhaps Italy is nice this time of year? 8.0

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).