Just a Quiet night in

Hi Everyone,

Decided for once I would stop being so high and mighty with the beers I put up here, and show a day-to-day event to show people I can also keep it real with beer (a bit).

So decided on a beer, pizza and Monty Python night with Shanti and a newly engaged couple, Cassie and Cary (I guess they come in three's after Jess and Stass, and My cousin Anna and her boy Pete). Like a similar thing I did with Jess a few weeks back (before she got engaged to Stass) with pilsners, Shanti and I hit a bottlo and we mixed and matched a few beers for her to try. As a self-confessed beer noob, we managed to get a Jamieson Raspberry Ale, a Coopers Stout (one at least she knew she liked), a Monteith's Winter Ale and a Grand Ridge Moonshine. Then Cassie and Cary also brought the Tap 6 and 7 from Schneider Weisse, to round things off.

I found the Tap 7 to be quite nice with a good wheat taste, citrus and some mild spicing, even had some aspect of a belgian triple to it which was interesting (almost like an aged quality that may come from the open fermentation and bottle conditioning). The 6 had a darker malt flavour to it, but overall, fairly similar to the 7.

The Jamieson is already a beer I like and with Framboise have steered me into these styles of beer quite a bit. Seeing Shanti picked me up on not having reviewed this beer before on the blog, decided I should now. Has a nice light browny-red body and good mix of sweet and sour raspberry in the smell and taste. Shanti picked up on a sort of medicinal smell from it. A really easy drinking beer, but with enough flavour to contemplate a bit over. The Coopers was a bit of a step into bitterness after the raspberry, with big roasted coffee flavour and some smokeyness. Still, a bit watery, but with the dark flavour, black as tar. I probably should have done the Winter Ale before it, but the step up in body that it has was a good transition for me, even if the caramel malt flavour was a step back in taste with this beer. None of these beers really went with the 'Gringo' pizza we got but contrasted it a bit. We didn't get onto the Moonshine, but with much more python still in my library, am sure it will be drunk soon.

So congrats to Cassie and Cary, and hopefully Shanti has dispelled some myths she may have had about beer (caramel?), and even found some areas she will want to explore further in beer.

Cheers,

Beefy

PS: Com'on, attack me with that raspberry, be as vicious as you like...