Prickly Moses Tasting @ Young and Jackson

I only found out yesterday this tasting was on, but managed to get myself and Joel in their for a tasting. While Joel had a parma, I saw that they had the Hunter Chocolate Porter on tap, which I tried nearly exactly a year ago in the bottle. Again I wasn't highly impressed by it, but there was some decent sweetness, and maybe they have tweeked the recipe a bit. The texture still isn't there as much as I would expect from this style of beer, but again, inoffensive, and is tasting better than the alkaline that came out of the bottle version. Therfore, it could have been simply a carbonation problem previously.

Getting to the tasting, I saw the chocolate beer they were suppose to be showing was not on tap yet, so after having ordered a Session Ale and a Blueberry Hefewiezen, I then also added a Stout after hearing from one the brewers the chocolate beer would only be put on tap once the stout was finished. The Session Ale wasn't easily drunk, especially with a hop characteristic which didn't seem to blend well with the malt, and left me with an aftertaste that didn't sit with me very well. The up front taste profile was a bit disjointed too, so found it hard to pinpoint this beer. The Blueberry was much simpler and therefore I found it easier to enjoy with sweet fruit aroma which translated into flavour. The usual banana yeast character of this style of beer wasn't present, but the wheat body carried it well enough to make it a nice, refreshing beer, even as the sweetness did increase as it warmed, and even seemed to separate from the fruit a bit. The Stout again was pretty simple with a good roasted malt flavour but managed to steer clear of bitterness or dryness that sometimes comes with this. Like the Red Hill Imperial Stout I spoke with fellow blogger James about at this event, this stout is an easy drinking beer for the style.

Finally, the Grounded Pleasures Chocolate Ale was available, so grabbed a glass and got tasting. While cold I was a little uncertain as was getting both sweetness and an alkaline aroma from it. Joel was getting an iced coffee smell from it himself, so both of us were a little confused. On taste, there was some choc sweetness when went into an orange and/or light malt sweetness before a strange aftertaste came over at the end and seemed to linger for quite a while. The beer has a cloudy translucent browny body and quickly diminishing head. To not make a chocolate stout or porter is an interesting approach by the brewer, and have to say this intrigued me greatly to go and try this beer yesterday. The aspect that the sales of this beer will go towards Uganda (where the chocolate is sourced from) is also an interesting slant. I would recommend everyone try this beer out for themselves, especially those that have tried chocolate in beer before. With such a different approach, I can understand why I may not have enjoyed it that much (my experience with chocolate beers maybe being a disadvantage to me). probably the closest chocolate beer I can relate this beer to is the Magnus Czekoladowy, with a lot of upfront sweetness but not much body to it.

Well, I am still waiting patiently for my Moo Brew Vintage Imperial Stout to arrive, and realising my brother get back on the 6th August, we will be getting together to try this while watching the first Bledisloe rugby union test. Still, I am sure I will be back on here before then with a few more adventures in beer to share.

Cheers,

Beef