Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel, Germany (5.3%)

Seeing the last beer i spoke about was a dunkel thought i would start with this as a comparison, and as i don't want to be typing this beers name after a few. When i first opened it, it poured with a bigger head than expected, and saw the colour was quite light for a dark beer (even if it is a wheat beer). Thought i sensed the dark malts in it on first taste, along with the slight bubblegum that comes with german wheat beers. This was also smelt in the beer, but thought maybe letting it warm might bring something more, but as i taste it again now, the bubblegum taste it only increasing, and can't help but make comparisons to Hoegaarden. Still, there may be a slight more smoothness to the beer that the darker malts may have helped contribute to the beer. Think i prefer the Erdinger, and even the previous Emerson dunkels over this offering.

-Beefy

Environmental Impact of Beer

Ok, I know i said previously i didn't want this to turn into a social commentary, but after seeing and purchasing Baraka, and every 6-12 months reading an ecology book, it got me interested to see what the environmental impact beer production and consumption has on the world. Doing a quick search on wikipedia I found the following:

Draught beer's environmental impact can be 68% lower than bottled beer due to packaging differences.^[139][140] Home brewing can reduce the environmental impact of beer via less packaging and transportation.^[141]

A life cycle study of one beer brand, including grain production, brewing, bottling, distribution and waste management, shows that the CO₂ emissions from a 6-pack of micro-brew beer is about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds).^[142] The loss of natural habitat potential from the 6-pack of micro-brew beer is estimated to be 2.5 square meters (26 square feet).^[143]

Downstream emissions from distribution, retail, storage and disposal of waste can be over 45% of a bottled micro-brew beer's CO₂ emissions.^[142]

Where legal, the use of a refillable jug, reusable bottle or other reusable containers to transport draught beer from a store or a bar, rather than buying pre-bottled beer, can reduce the environmental impact of beer consumption.^[144]

On one hand, by always looking for new beers to try, imported bottled beer would create alot of CO2 emissions. However, with the homebrewing I would hope that this is negated with the resuse of materials, and lack of packaging and transportation. I guess it is one of those things people don't think about. Where did this beer/wine/spirit come from, and what has had to happen to get it into my hand and down my gullet? we can look at many things in the world this way, and got me to try out a carbon calculation (www.climatefriendly.com). Between car, flights and electricity, I produce about 5 tonnes of CO2 a year, which I am happy to say is the global average for an individual, much less than the 28 tonnes supposedly used by each individual in developed nations. while it doesn't cater for everything i do, is a decent guide to get us thinking about how much we use. luckily i am able to ride my bike around alot and I also make greenpower contributions.

Anyway, just thought i would like to share that with whoever reads this, and myself when i come back to read this blog in the future.

As for my lack of communication on this blog in recent weeks, in the lead up to Australia Day, I have decided I will be tasting many beers that my friends gave to me for my birthday last month that I haven't had a chance to try yet, and putting them up here. the first one will be later today, probably while watching australia beat pakistan in the cricket.

Cheers to more beers,

Beefy

PS: Seeing this post has now had over 100 views and is the most viewed post on this blog, I have focused on this topic again to update my position on it in another post. I would appreciate your thoughts on this obviously interesting topic from those reading this.

January Update

Hi All,

Sorry it has been 2 weeks since i last got on here, but after the KB lager, there is not much that is noteworthy after it. still doesn't mean I haven't been having a brew or three. from mountain goat, coopers, leffe, monteith's, not to mention a few of our homebrews, I have been keeping the faith. hmmm sacrilege...

Anyway, just last night my brother and I hit lower Fitzroy to do a pub crawl around where he lives, and found some interesting pubs in the maze. good vibes in the Union Club Hotel on Gore, and a good beer selection at the Napier Hotel. A big parma went down well at the Standard, and a Ranga at the Rainbow Hotel went down well to start proceedings (creamy, caramelly sense from the red ale). another good pub in the area i haven't plugged yet is the Lambsgobar, with a great selection of beers to try out.

On Thursday i hit revolver (for a Twok's gig. better plug them, and the gig was well worth a plug) and found a Emerson's Dunkelweiss (6.3%). I do enjoy a dark wheat beer and must say i was impressed with this as well. quite smooth dark brown beer with a decent head. I must say NZ beers don't impress me too much apart from the odd Monteith's (summery beers), but like the range this brewery has, and that this one seemed to come off quite well. was a little miffed at the 'caramel chocolate bananas' on the label. banana is pretty standard with wheat, and choc from the malt can be covered as well. the only thing that came to me could be the use of brown sugar for the caramel on the bottle. must say the banana was easy to taste, the chocolate slightly harder and the caramel very difficult to find in it. I'm still not sure on the last one, but at the very least it took some warming to get more than a standard dark wheat beer taste from it. still, worth the effort, and saw revolver also had the London Porter that Emerson's also do. this will require another visit to this pub. Luckily Midnight Circus are playing there on the 29th Jan, so will have to try it then.

With Australia Day coming, I am happy to announce that our Little Creatures Bright Ale batch has come through quite well. I little over-hopped but the drinkability is stupidly high (which three longnecks can attest to from last Tuesday night). this will mean perfect conditions for drunkeness while camping for Australia Day.

One thing I am also looking forward to later in the year is the next batch of Moo Brew Barrel Aged Imperial Stout Vintage Release. having tried it for the first time 8-9 months ago, and keeping one spare to try out when the next batch comes out in a couple of months time, am looking forward to seeing if storing this beer for a year does anything to it. while there was an alcohol sting (at 8.5%) it was still quite smooth as i recall. luckily now we have this blog to record the next tasting.

in terms of the blog, I would like to send a shout out to my mate JR who is spreading the word of this blog, along with another mate, Jaimi Faulker. Jaimi has shown that beer and music are a great combination putting a link to this site from his muso page (Stass/Bill, require your assistance putting in a link here back to his). Big thanks to both these boys for; 1) finding this blog in some way interesting, and 2) sharing the love of beer with others. That is basically all Stass and I are doing with this, and like to see people are leaving comments upon visiting. If anyone has any beers they think we should try as well, let us know. as you know we are up from trying anything, and any feedback is appreciated.

Well, bring on Australia Day, and the aussies continuing to do well in the cricket (where is my KB?)

Beefy

Gulden Draak, Belgium (10.5%) & KB Lager (4.6%)

Happy New Year! As a treat, I have two beers to share that made an impact on me during my drinking over the holidays. while there were tooheys old, cascade premium lager, boag's st george (with banana), coopers pale ale, fat yak, little creatures bright ale and Feral White (this last one not being any good) that i can remember having, these two stood above the rest for their own reasons. The first was a bit of a surprise in many regards. firstly, i saw it in Nelson Bay, secondly, i had actually ordered a Piraat, an thirdly it was actually pretty good. of course it didn't have a head and trying to drink it quickly to make a movie made my head spin for 30 mins, but the texture was smooth, the malt was dark and rich (to the point of tasting like berries on the back of the tongue) and there was little harsh alcohol to ruin the aftertaste. still, even with this ease, it was still a sipping beer (port-like), and my tongue was tingling with each taste by the end as the alcohol took effect. still, a highly regarded high alcohol beer is the end result from this tasting.

Now, a change of pace. back in the 80's this beer was everywhere at the cricket and an aussie staple. in recent decades with brewery take overs, this beer has been relegated to near extinction status, but on a lucky endeavour into a bottlo in Shoal Bay, a case of this beer was found and bought for our new years celebrations. I am very proud to have been able to find and consume this as in my whole life i had only tasted it once before on a footy trip in country NSW. and my word did it go down a treat. No, it didn't taste great with the yeasty afterburn and watery taste, but as i have said previously, nostalgia can have such an impact on drinking, and why people go back to the same beer, over and over again. my stomach is still getting over this beer (or was it just i had 15 on NYE?). we found it was alright as the first beer, and when it was really cold or sort of warm. if you had just had a couple of beers before this one it was quite difficult to drink, and if it was cool it did not go down too well either. still, in comparison with other mainstream beers, we found this one not to be as bad.

Anyway, hope your end of 2009 had the good beer journeys i had, and looking forward to trying and recording more beers in 2010.

Beefy

Young's Christmas Pudding Ale (5.5%)

Well, it's been some time since I've written an entry, but I start again in the full swing of the festive season. I spotted this on special at a local bottle 'o and thought that I'd give it a try (given that I quite liked Young's Double Chocolate Stout, my expectations were high).

On the nose, there is a hint of dried fruit (such as raisons, currents and citrus rind) but their is a much stronger smell which at this point in time, I can only describe as 'sweet buttery smell'. Whether it is the smell of brown sugar and butter cooking (i.e. caramel smell) or something a little different, I can't tell at the moment. Never the less, I will proceed undeterred.

The aroma of the beer is quite a large smell, but the actual taste on the pallet is somewhat of a disappointment after such a bold aroma. Other than a smooth, buttery texture over the tongue and the overhangs of the aroma in the taste, you are left with a pretty standard taste.

I will re-visit with a fresh pallet but I was a little disappointed to be honest.

Stass

250th Anniversary - Guinness

Seeing today is my birthday and it is the 250th Anniversary of Guinness Brewery this year, I decided that my birthday beer is the Anniversary Stout Guinness produced earlier this year. While it has a similar smell and taste to a usual Guinness Stout, I do have to say that overall it did not impress me that much and resembled more of a brown ale that a Guinness. Of course there are troubles with bringing a full creamy taste to a beer imported from Ireland to Australia, but can't help but be a little disappointed. I can also understand that through this anniversary, Guinness are also looking to broaden their market, and a brown ale style beer would go down much better with the general populous than the usual stout. Still, as a enjoyer of Guinness, it does leave me a little flat over this offering. As one of the lucky people to have travelled to Ireland to have 'real' Guinness, this far pales in comparision, but I guess in terms of what we can get in Australia, it is not too bad, and again, a beer more accessible to people who may not have tried Guinness before, or didn't like what they have tried previously. Still, this beer will go down easy over the course of the day. Horray!

Also, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Guinness on their success over the past 250 years through the lease at St James Gate, Dublin (only 8750 years left on the lease now), the water issues Arthur had when he established the brewery, and the great work made to directing efforts to perfect their stout. I can definitely say it has inspired me into an interest in beers and brewing, and the making of my alter ego Guinness Man. To celebrate all this, I have put together a little movie over the past 8 months that I would like to share with my friends and everyone that comes onto this blog. Hopefully it gives you an insight into the beer drinker in general, and of me personally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdZ8p7oWejg

Well, enough of this fingers tapping a keyboard business, there are much better uses for my hands, like holding my Guinness. A Very Guinnessy Christmas to you all.

 - Beef/Guinness Man

Cascade Premium Lager (5%)

Okay, I am sure by now people are thinking that I am pretty snobby about beers. They would be right in thinking that way, apart from my rule of not refusing a free drink. Ok, so I received a case of this beer free, but I have to say, if I was to buy beer for a party where I didn't know what everyone drank, I think this beer would come to mind. I am sure my friends are wondering if I have gone a bit crazy, but I think as well as drinking the interesting and novel beers there are on offer, there are some standard, easy accessible beers that are satisfying as well. Sure, I have had my time when Toohey's New, Extra Dry, etc were my staples, and have moved on in some way, but I think it helps to bring the drinker back to some of these beers, to see how their taste is developing, and with that a different appreciation for the more standard beers. This beer has great heritage coming from the oldest brewer in Australia, and Tassie does pretty well with beers, so is a good start. As it is summer, we are all looking for easy drinking beers, and this one is definitely that (in fact, I am onto my second now). The hops bring a freshness to the taste, and don't linger as badly as many other aussie lagers. the body is light but smooth and the tongue tingles with the crispness of the beer. If it is a sessional beer you are looking for, this is a good one to get into, and who isn't with the hot, long days of summer here. Basically, you could do a lot worse. Still, I think water is needed when having a big one on these to fend off dehydration and to keep the taste fresh in your mouth between beers. Wow, I must be getting so old when I start giving advice like this. Luckily I am turning 29 on Sunday, and if Guinness is an old man's beer, I have been old for a while.

- Beef

Aecth Schlenkerla Rauchbier (Smokebeer), Germany (5.1%)

Ok, so went back to The Local yesterday with my brother and saw on the menu (food menu that is) a burger cooked in this beer, and was recommended to drink this beer with it. So decided to try it out...all I can start this review with are the words 'smoked ham'. in aftertaste and smell, this beer tastes just like that. it was quite different and quite intense, and if you did a blindfold test, you could be mistaken for thinking it was liquified smoked ham. it poured with quite a head on it, but this dissipated quite quickly. mind you, i was drinking it quite slowly because of the food but also the intensity. similar in the Haywards 5000 where instead of drinking the beer to cleanse the tongue of the food, you eat the food to cleanse the tongue of the beer. I was still tasting this beer 6 hours after drinking it. The other funny thing about this beer was that the body of the beer was quite light and while the beer was on the palate it tasted like a brown ale. it was only when it was mixed with oxygen that the smokiness would jump from it. I must say one of the most interesting beers i have tried, and got me researching a bit into it. No, I don't think i will try brewing it, but guess like burning green leaves on a fire, firing green malt would bring this smoke into the beer. Not a beer i will be going for very often, but then don't think i will forget the taste in it for a long time either. One of those interesting experiments in beer that bring profound change.

- Beef

Alhambra Negra (5.4%)

So I met up with my brother and his girlfriend at a tapas restaurant the other night, and while I did see a Chilean Stout that may have been interesting, I decided I would try this Spanish dark beer. what little head there was disappeared soon after it was poured. This immediately reminded me of Tooheys Old, and must say from here alot of the taste and feel of the beer also took me back to this beer. there was the roasted malt taste and the fairly waterly mouthfeel which made it easy to drink. there was also a slight hoppy aftertaste which discerned it from an Old, which I guess was there to freshen the palate after drinking, but didn't do much for me. It did go well with the black sausage we were eating, and can also say the slices of apple with the black sausage was a good combination.

Seeing it was similar but not better than a Tooheys Old it hasn't made that much of an impression on me. but is good to see that Spain can make decent dark beer. But then I guess a Spanish would say the same of Australia after having a Tooheys Old.

- Beef

PS: Happy Month Birthday of Beerdakari!

Red Hill Wheat Beer (5%)

So, just at the Royston with my brother, and as well as trying a 2 Brothers Taxi Pilsner (pretty standard) we saw Red Hill had a few beers at the pub. It seems with summer here (yay), there are a few aussie brewers giving the wheat beer a go, and many of them going for the European style. This is the case with this bottle conditioned beer, which found a decent balance between easy drinking and giving it enough taste to create some interest while drinking. To be honest it may just be on the side of tasty, which suits me quite well. There was no massive hit of hops but a lingering tingle over the tongue which could also be from the over-carbonation expressed on the bottle. the 'bubblegum' taste of many of this style of beer was not overbearing which helped in its drinkability. as my brother said, would be a good beer to have round the barbie. I have not tried all of Red Hill's range of beers, but hops does seem to be an aspect they wish to emphasize. while the writing on the bottle may make some of us presume there is a lot of hoppy flavour in the beer, this group seem to have done the work in blending it appropriately, even if i did feel it took away a little from their scotch ale. in these beers they have not been overbearing, or a shocking sting that some beers can be faulted on. it is neither intense or sharp, but blendingly lingered. Sorry, that was the only way i could express it, and don't think i can add anymore from it.

- Beef