Master Games Require Master Beers

Woohoo, a day off work!

Thinking I should make the most of it, thought a visit to the latest exhibit in ACMI at Fed Square would be good (wearing my 'classically trained' NES shirt). Unfortunately I forgot it is school holidays, so the place the teeming with kids running around Games Masters. Still, seeing those kids trying to play old school arcade games and learning all the other games available reminded me of my childhood playing games like 1942 at the Boatie corner store during summer and learning to play the NES and N64 (both of which I still have and play when the mood gets me). It was funny to be drawn to Sega Rally to try it for the first time, along with an ipad car game where you touched the screen to control the car. Had a go at my first 3D game (Child of Eden), and the Bond-esque Splinter Cell, along with the original Zelda. While there was no 1942/1943, I did find an equivalent that a kid was struggling to play. Leaving me his last life I managed to put on 2000 points (yep, still got it) before I gave it over to some other kids.

Once it got to midday and the next wave of kids came into the exhibit, I knew it was time to get out, and now ok to have my first beer of the day. Luckily Beer Deluxe is just next door. Having had a small sip of the Sierra Nervada Hoptimum from the bottle a couple of weeks back at work, I knew I wanted to try it on tap here. The body on it of course it a bit better and the malt character seems a little stronger to keep some balance to the bitterness. However, the added creaminess just makes it stick to your tongue a bit more, leaving more of a bitter aftertaste to linger for a while. I guess one drawback to this beer is the hop profile seems to spike and drop a few times over the palate, which I guess just shows how hard they have gone with the hops on this one. Still, the hop character is piney and resinous in flavour, so it isn't just straight bitterness like a Mikkeller 1000 IBU.

While I had probably had enough alcohol just in that one beer, I knew I would be hanging around for another when I spied the Brew Dog Tokyo on tap. Seeing it had been cellared for a year, I wanted to see how/if it mellowed a bit over that time. To reset my tastebuds, I had a taste of the Hargraves Stout (a bit too roasted for my personal taste, but a decent dry stout style beer) before getting onto the Tokyo. I have to say, I was getting a lot of sherry notes from it. I was feeling quite drunk after each sip, so I was sitting there for a while on it, just to make sure I could get up and walk away without falling over once I was done. The alcohol does not warm/burn as much with age, and when left to sit for a while between sips, I get a sort of fishy/mussel smell from it, but which disappears when you swirl it around a bit to pick up the malt again. I do remember after one sip taking a deep breath to see what aftertaste I could get off it, but the alcohol burn just made me cough. The texture is still as good as I recall from having it previously, and has definitely mellowed to bring out more of the sherry flavour. Not having had lunch though, it was actually a bit difficult getting up and getting a tram home.

Unfortunately, I stopped at Slowbeer and Purvis Beer on the way to get some more masterly beers in the collaboration brews India Saison (Bridge Road and Nogne O) and Unifikator (Temple and Weihenstephan). Don't worry, I didn't drink them then. In fact, I didn't have another drink all day, even though I caught up for dinner for my cousin's birthday. So, keep an eye out for those beers up here soon.

Cheers,


Beef