Sydney Beer Weekend 2

18 months ago I made a trip up to Sydney to see a mate and check out the beer scene up there (here is the link to that post). This time I saw my brother and his wife, a different friend, and also an improving beer scene.

While it was sad to see Coogee After Dark is no longer trading, it was nice to see some other small bars picking up where they left off, even if they still may not be appreciated by the locals as much as they should. Case in point is Yulli's, a fairly small bar in Surry Hills, that was my first beer target for the trip. Walking in to be greeted by Carl with a casual vibe and a big bushy beard made me feel at ease this wasn't going to be a wanky Sydney bar, then this sense was upgraded to excitment to see Thirsty Crow on all 4 of their taps, and the Vanilla Milk Stout was one of them. Carl said as soon as he saw my reaction to the taps, he knew I wasn't from Sydney, as the beer snobs they tend to get only seem to comment "It that all you have?". Anyway, with that disappointing fact made, it was time to enjoy my first beers, and my first chance to taste some of the other beers Thirsty Crow come out with.

The 26-Fifty Summer Ale was quite refreshing to start with after doing a bit of a walk through the Surry Hills market for lunch. Felt a bit lighter on the palate compared to say a Goat Steam, but close to the Skipping Girl Summer Ale. The clean citrusy hop flavour was also quite enjoyable and had me thinking it is in between the Goat Steam and Stone and Wood Pacific, and very little bitterness to finish on. Very easy drinking as to be expected for the style, but that punch of citrus hop really keeps it flavourful as well.

Next was the American Pale, which was only slightly bolder in malt and hop character than the previous, which was a bit suprising for the style. The bitterness was not as much as I was expecting to get, but the balance seemed quite good, so a good starter for anyone looking to get introduced to this style before going into IPA's. I am not sure whether I was just quenching my thirst or just wanting to get to the Vanilla Milk Stout quicker, but it was not long til I was giving Carl the nod to bring the next beer to the table.

After my first taste of this beer nearly a year ago, there of course was a high anticipation coming into it. On this occasion I was first drawn to the slightly roasted/dusty character coming from the malt I did not think I had tasted in it previously, but then remembered to let it warm up, and then all of what I had enjoyed with it previously came back. I suppose the other thing I remembered was that I have just come off the back of brewing my own Milk Stout with vanilla in it, and probably boosted the sweetness for my own taste (and it seems, most other people that have tried it and enjoyed it), so was maybe expected that to be more in this as well. Speaking of other people, getting a glass of this for Hannah to try was funny as with a face that looked like she had just swallowed a lemon she said she had liked it, but I am still not sure.

From here it was a big step up to the Road 2 Ruin Imperial Stout, which I really noted the dark fruit character from the midpalate which helped mask a bit of the 10.2% alcohol going on in it. Still, like many of the beers on show, there is still a cleanness coming from the flavour so it doesn't become too overbearing on the palate, and a smooth but light texture to let it slide down the gullet nicely.

Moving onto the Taphouse, which was showing a fair bit more patronage through the Sydney Craft Beer Week going on up there, we met up with my brother to keep the beer journey going. Of course getting a paddle for myself, finally was able to show Hannah a Bridge Road India Saison, while Mick started on a Budvar.
I started with the Coffee and Fig from Epic, which I have to say was fairly dominated by coffee, and like our own homebrew Coffee Nut, was not able to get much else from it. Their Portamarillo was much more my style with the light bodied brown malt with a nice soft smokiness the held well across the palate but did not leave you with a dry mouth in aftertaste, and definitely not the smoked ham character the Bamberg, or my own Hickory Stickory Bock, came out with.
This was closely followed with the Prickly Moses Tailpipe Imperial Brown that for me came off as a Nut Brown, but with a bit more sweet malt aroma, that had me holding onto this one til the end as my last sip from the paddle.
The 4 Pines Mexican Adobo Rudy was neither here nor there for me, as apart from the slight chilli heat, was not getting much else that was interesting me. Unfortunately I have to say I was also a bit disappointed in the Marin White Knuckle Double IPA. But that could be explained by the lack from freshness seeing it had travelled from the US. Sticking around for one more, I had to make up for the DIPA and go a Murray's Icon2IPA which fit the bill of a DIPA much better, especially seeing it is a more local beer.

After that Mick took over proceedings with dinner at his place, and with a pregnant wife, took the opportunity to crack open a few wines while he had people to drink with. Still, they did indulge my beeriness by bringing back a bottle of an Italian Stout (fermenting in a wine bottle just so he could keep some wine aspect to it) from their recent trip to Europe.

Seeing I was there for one night only, and had drunk a fair bit of alcohol on that night, wasn't til lunchtime before I was ready to re-engage with beer. After experiencing a small bar, and and old favourite, it was time to hit a Sydney pub and see if this was being affected by the influence of better beer coming into Sydney. I am happy to say, the response is in the affirmative. Ok, the Empire Hotel may have just been refurbished, so is a good time to make some changes to the drinks available, but on tap and in the bottle, there was enough there to keep me interested and find beers I thought might engage the taste of Hannah and her friends. Seeing Coopers have some dominance, not just with the Green, but also one of the Thomas Cooper's Selection beers on tap was a surprise, but then also seeing Two Birds Sunset, Balmain Pale, Murray's Whale was also a good sign of the changing scene for beer in Sydney. Ok, the Balmain didn't do a whole of a lot for me, but is still much better that the standard brews I was only expecting to see (I didn't trust Hannah when she said there were 'fancy beers' at this pub), and then happy again to see a different selection of beers in the bottle, including the Two Birds Golden and Hopworks Horns Up IPA (the former having some butterscotch character that I don't think is intended, and the latter being a bit over carbonated).

Anyway, thanks to Mick and Nic for hanging out for dinner and brekkie, and Hannah for willingly hanging out for all of my beer journey, and giving me some beer shampoo. I now have somewhat more anticipation as to a continued improvement on the beer scene in Sydney after this trip...still, nothing on Melbourne!

Cheers,


Beef

The Wheaty Goat Party: When Two Beer Worlds Collide

Firstly, Happy 15th Birthday Mountain Goat Brewery! After the first party at the GB a couple of weeks back, the tour for Cam and Dave finishes this Friday at Goat HQ. Still, when the opportunity came up last week to go to my favourite pub in Australia for the South Australian leg of the tour, I definitely took it.

It has been a great privilege to become one of the regular Goat herd over the last 15th of it's existence, and was nice to surprise the boys with my presence at the Wheaty when they arrived to start the party. Still, finding myself at the Wheaty while in Adelaide is not very surprising, as I seem to make my way  to the pub any day I am in that part of OZ. Still, it was nice to also surprise Jade to see me in there for this event. I suppose it was also a surprise for my sister to get a call from me the night before saying I was coming over for it, and good she was free to catch up over a few beers on the night, drive me around, and let me stay at her place (Thanks Cat!!!!)

So in my Wheaty shirt and Goat jacket, an hour after I arrived in Adelaide I stepped into the pub, and as always, found myself intrigued with the beers on tap. Getting a Doctors Orders Prescription Belgian Black IPA and trying my sis out on a smoke porter, we sat down and caught up over them before the Goat beers were unveiled and the Goat boys arrived to get the party started. I found the Prescription to be quite balanced even with all that was going on in it, and was happy to see my sis enjoyed her first taste of a smoke beer.

With the 7 Goat taps pouring, I was straight in for the Triple Hightail, and the Abbey Collabey Imperial Stout on the handpump (I personally had spent a day degassing the keg so it could be poured this way, so only seems appropriate I was there to 'ensure it's quality'). Just like I had a few months before at the Royston, the handpump Abbey was amazing, with the texture and temperature really opening up and melding the dark malt and slight candied sugar flavours on the front palate of the beer, while the mild sting of alcohol is reduced, creating a full but mellow profile overall that was a joy to sip on (compared to the Abbey Collabey that was also available through a normal tap). Letting the Triple Hightail warm up while tasting the Abbey, I also gave it regular bumps/swirls to knock out the cold and carbonation to try and replicate the handpump process on it. Of course, it is hard to remove such a sweet amber candied sugar flavour from it, but warming it seemed to turn the sweetness more into body than flavour, thickening the texture instead of stinging the tastebuds too heavily. I don't want to get caught up in styles, but it almost changes from an imperial amber to a barleywine (maybe I am thinking mulled barleywine?). The Fancy Pants (basically a Hightail with extra wheat and different hop profile) goes down really well, not just for me, but for the rest of the patrons, and was the first keg to blow (luckily the Wheaty have two kegs of this). The Black IPA also seemed popular and is a good beer to transfer from Winter to Summer with, but definitely not a slammer at 7.4%. The standard IPA was there for the less adventurous (and for the few that maybe wanted to drive home at the end of the night...I guess it was a school night after all), and finally the Hightail through the glasshopper (peach, apricot, cardamon and coconut). I didn't try the Hightail on the night, but after an extra day of steeping, the apricot and coconut was coming through strong for me when I tried it the next day.

Now, trying to get through these and the other set of taps is always a hard task, especially seeing half the Goat beers are 7.4% or above, and the Prescription was 7.6% in itself. The one criticism I have for the Wheaty is their lack of a kitchen, and unfortunately this remains. Cat and I ended up going across the road for a pizza (including an hour long wait...though this was helped with a Moo Brew Dark Ale). By the time we got back to the Wheaty, everyone was in high spirits and couldn't help by feel I had been left behind, so after taking a photo of the Wheaty Goats, took the opportunity to finish up for the night.

At least by doing this it meant I was feeling good for a bike ride around Adelaide to see the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval, visit Melbourne Street Cellars (one of the best beer selections in Adelaide I reckon) and East End Cellars, enjoy a Top Deck Iced Chocolate and Baileys Embrace from Cocolat, picked up more chocolates from Haighs (including the new Creme Brulee Truffle [reckon it would be better with milk choc than dark])...and then it was back to the Wheaty!!! Along with trying the Hightail, was happy to see the Triple Hightail and the Handpump Abbey Collabey was still available to keep enjoying. Knowing it was Friday, I knew the taps would be changing over soon, so tomorrow would be a good day to come back! Still, after my journeying through the day, meant I could try a local Woolshed Pale Ale (having a rep of using solar power, rain harvesting and being generally eco friendly does not make a beer any better. Somehow it even had a chemical sort of taste to it, reminding me of a Carlton Draught...bleh!) and an Oregon-based Bridgeport Kingpin (pretty cool red ale that has that classic west coast hop profile but with good balance with the caramel malt character) while making a potato bake.

The next day started with a Dark Force Wheat Imperial Stout before heading back to the Wheaty. What a joy to finally find the Steam Exchange Truffles available, along with a Brewfist Fear Milk Chocolate Stout, and both on tap. The Fear was ok, but found it a bit cocoa powdery than chocolate, while the Truffles had an amazingly earthy sweetness that was well balanced in itself. This latter beer has been worth trying to find for the past few years in coming to the Wheaty, and fortunate to have finally been able to have it for the first time. I happily went back to it after sharing a Bamberg Mazen Rauchbier with Cat, which was a good step up in her newly found appreciation of smoke beers, and once more having a Triple Hightail and handpump Abbey Collabey. With that it was time to head to the airport.

The next day I headed out to Stass's to put on an Irish Red Ale that funnily enough will be used to help launch an album some friends have just finished. Seeing I was once challenged to write a review of them as I would a beer, am happy to see we have almost got what I described them as in the beer we made. I also have the Sydney Beer Week festival to go to this weekend to look forward to, the Microbrewery Showcase is happening again this week at Fed Square, and along with the final Goat party on Friday, going to open one of the few bottles of Creme Brulee I managed to wrangle from our first all grain brew to share with the Goaters...I may have to spread it pretty thin.

Cheers to the Wheaty Goats and my sis!!!!

Beef

Muso Retreat - The Stage is Set for the Creme Brulee Clone

I am very fortunate to have mates that are pretty good at making music, and hanging out with them while they show their 'art' has helped me find my own in the world of beer. Over the weekend I was able to give back a little when the boys invited me to come on a little retreat as they jammed and recorded some new songs they are working on.

Recently, Stass and I did our first ever all grain brew with our new bit if kit (which continually astounds us in its simplicity and ability) and went big by having to do a double mash to try and clone the Southern Tier Creme Brulee. Having tried to take time to mature the beer and carbonate it slowly, we took 16 litres of if with us, and set up one of the fridges as designated for the Creme and a Coffee Nut Ale that Stass also made for the weekend.

The boys set up the living room with the tools of their trade as the beer cooled, and once they were settled, we pulled off our first glasses of the Creme Brulee clone. Watching it settle reminded me of seeing a Guinness or Kilkenny being poured. The aroma showed the vanilla extract we added to the keg had melded well with the caramel malt. In smell or taste, I found it very hard to register the 8.2% alcohol we had managed to get from this first batch, and it didn't even thin out the lovely creamy(custardy?) texture of the beer. The bitterness I had tasted in it when we kegged it has settled out a little, but not enough for my own personal taste, but happy to say it did not take away from the beer much overall, and helped not too leave too much residual sweetness at the back. For our first all grain brew, I have to say it was an amazing success, and the rest of the boys agreed. I'm not ashamed to say a little tear formed in my eye on my first taste. It was a great moment, and glad to share it with Stass and the rest of the musos mates.

The first morning a few of us decided to instead of having a coffee with breakfast, we had a coffee beer. I have to say, not being a coffee drinker, the coffee flavour was way too strong and overpowered anything the nut brown base was trying to bring to the beer. However, by how strong some of the boys had their normal coffee, was not surprised when some of them said that it should have twice the amount of coffee in it. Still, even though the Coffee Nut was made especially for the retreat, it was pretty easy to see the Creme won as the more popular brew. This popularity was also helped by bringing along some cupcakes and hedgehog slice to try it with (the richness of the hedgehog probably comparing well with the beer).

Personally, I'd like to say how honoured I was to be able to hang out with those guys over the weekend,  and help supply them with some beers they could enjoy when they weren't busy creating music with each other. It was great to get out of the city and hang out by the beach in a lovely house (thanks to Stass's family for the awesome digs), reading a book, playing cards, walking on the beach and 'trying to cruze' as much as humanly possible.

So, with very little Creme Brulee clone left after the weekend, I hope there is still some when my shipment of the real Creme Brulee comes from the States to see how close we actually got to it. I guess it also means we will need to brew another batch and see if we can get it any better...

Thanks for the feedback on the beers boys, and good luck with the new tunes.

Cheers,

Beefy

PS: Speaking of beer and musos, I should plug a good mate of mine that put himself through hell so I could enjoy my beer journey of Europe. I recently sent a video of myself for Jaimi to possibly use in his latest music clip 'Turn Me Around', and funnily enough he actually used some of it. So check it out and look for the Yeti looking bloke sitting on a toilet with a message written on a piece of toilet paper...yep, I'm all class.
PPS: Speaking of getting some coverage, I have just this minute seen a message from Stass that he took some of the Coffee Nut Ale to the cafe he got the coffee he used in the brew, and heard they liked it. It may not have been the winning beer on the weekend, but these guys dig it. So here is a pic of Stass with one of the guys from St Ali with a bottle of the Coffee Nut. Nice work buddy.

2 Years On...

Long term readers of this blog (probably only me) will know that in 2010, just before I turned 30, I took a trip to Europe to explore Belgium and Germany (with quick jaunts into Czech Rep. and Netherlands) and the beer culture these countries are well known for.

Apart from my appreciation of Jaimi for his suffering throughout my beer journey, a chance meeting with a local from Brugge for an hour at a beer festival became a point of inspiration for me to keep this blog going (even if only for myself) and help me see a potential future for myself in the beer industry.

Therefore, on the second anniversary of our chance meeting, I again pull out the beer they recommended I try, to give it another go, and maybe see if my ability to taste it is getting any better.

Like I would a Faro, I made sure the Liefmans Cuvee Brut was chilled (finding about 6-8 degrees Celsius to be good to start on) to allow the beer to warm and change over the tongue. With a 'Cheers' to Willy, the cherry and dark fruit sweet aroma filled my nostrils and enticed my palate to enjoy the same up front. Letting the beer warm on my tongue, a similar but reduced spritziness than a Faro filled the midpalate and the fruit sweetness turned towards a slight sourness on the side of the tongue and rising at the back, but finishing quite cleanly to leave just some sour dryness at the back to make you want to go back for more...well, maybe that is just me.
To be honest, that I am even able to pick up on this profile just shows how clean and vibrant this beer is, so can truly appreciate the work Willy's son put into this beer.

Of course, nostalgia is going to play a large part in me enjoying this beer, so instead of subjecting whoever reads this, just going to allow myself to go with that nostalgia and sip away on this beer with my memories.

Hope you all have beer(s), or really, anything in life that allows you to do something similar.

Cheers,

Beef

Imperial Stout Tasting 2012

So, a bunch of guys get together to drink beer. No, the beer is not there to support the pursuit of yelling at the TV over a footy match, or even the burning of meat on a bbq. This time, the beer is the focal point, and is drunk out of very small glasses. But I guess quantity is not so important when the beers you are tasting are up to 18%. Instead of yelling, the comparing of notes on the beers we are tasting, and discussions on such topics as the difference between nerds and geeks. Instead of non-descript 'meat' thrown on a barbie, some smoked meat and aged cheddar, with chips, potato bake, and cupcakes the closest to gut fillers to help us through. Help we would have needed more if we had gone through all the beers available.

But with most people driving, we only made it half way, which means I already have enough beers to do another imperial stout tasting...

Anyway, onto the beers for this years tasting. Trying to make sure there were beers different to what we had last year, am happy to say there was the chance to taste 2 we had last year thanks to Miro bringing these with him, and was surprised at the difference we found from them.

Still, from the beginning, this was a good opportunity to have a vertical tasting of the Moo Brew Barrel Aged Vintage Imperial Stout that my brother and I have been collecting over the past few years. Not having any of the 2008 that was the first (and nostalgically, the best) we ever tried, bottle number 1025 of the '09, '10 and new '11 vintages were drunk against each other.
As I remembered, the '09 was quite overcarbonated, not letting the texture and flavours of the beers to really get good surface contact on the tongue and giving a bit of a limestone/mineral flavour that I get from overcarbonated beers. Still, Stass picked up on some butterscotch which may be a sign of diacetyl. I could get a little caramel, but was mainly getting a sort of vinegar or balsamic sort of flavour, maybe showing this vintage had reached it's age limit.
The '10 was a much better example of this style with some dark fruit aromas and taste, showing a bit of the pinot noir barrels it had been aged in, but a bit of syrup in malt taste and texture to really let the flavour of the beer coat your tongue at a lower carbonation. There is also quite a bit of driness at the back. Unusually, was getting a little bit of a coconut aroma along with the fairly normal spirit smell that can come from these type of beers.
Even though it is the youngest of the beers, the '11 is the most mellow, and the thing I pick up on first. Being texture based in my personal taste, I really enjoy the creaminess that comes across the midpalate, before the driness of the '10 returns at the back, and really ramps up the heat of the alcohol in aftertaste. With some age, I could see this bitter driness mellowing out to improve the profile overall and work better with the front half of the beer. I look forward to trying this beer again over the next few years to see if my thoughts run true. Still,  think there was agreement from everyone that the '11 was the best of the vintages.

Having done the vertical tasting, it was time to go back to the beginning, presumably the closest to the original Russian Imperial Stout, with Courage's example. With differing appraisals on this beer before tasting it myself I was a little apprehensive. Still, happy to say it has a pleasant profile, with some caramel overtones in aroma, being quite smooth on the tongue, but also prominent in alcohol heat and back with some roastedness. A pretty good example, and impressive if this is close to the original recipe for the first of the style.

The St Ambroise we found had similar malt character to our own homebrew Imperial Stout, Very sweet with a viscous/tar look as it was poured. This one is burning my tongue a bit, even though the beer is only 9.2%. There is also a bitterness at the back which may not help me with this burning sensation.

De Molen's Rasputin is one of the beers we had last year, and was surprised that upon tasting it, could think of the differences between. This year's Rasputin happens to have been aged for 3 years, and have to say it has done it well if that is the only difference. Last year was a 250ml bottle, compared with the 750ml of this year. Maybe from this I definitely pick up on some carbonation differences, with this one being much smoother in texture than I recall from last year. This allows me to pick up a lot more from the beer, include caramel aroma, and with the unusual taste of a combination of medicinal and herbal notes that create a sort of fennel licorice for me. There is a rise in warmth from the midpalate from the alcohol that is very smooth and not spikey at all. There appears to be very little carbonation, but this does not need it, as the flavours and textures work really well and complex enough without heavy carbonation hiding it. While it is written on the bottle that it can be stored for up to 25 years, I am not sure how much better it would get after the 3 years it had been aged for.

Speaking of aged beers, finally, I was able to crack my 2008 Rogue XS Imperial Stout that I have been holding onto for so long, even though the ceramic bottle makes it one of the best looking packages I have ever seen for a beer. At 11% and 88 IBU, it certainly could have used the 4 years it has been in the bottle for. I personally liked the chocolate in aroma and up front flavour, along with some caramel leading the warming alcohol, with the bitterness helping to clean up the palate afterwards. This bitterness would be a bit too strong for me if the beer was younger, but at this age, it just gave me a great typical imperial stout, which was great to contracts against the unusual flavours I was getting from the Rasputin. Having these two together, along with just being able to taste a number of imperial stouts together, just showed that something that can be quite a simple style, can still have nuances and quirks to set them apart and get something different from each example.

With many of us starting to fatigue a bit, we decided to finish on the other beer Miro brought around (he also brought the Rasputin), and one we had last year, a Peche Mortel. The coffee infusion gives it an espresso driness, but with a good malt background to help fill out the palate so it doesn't overpower. The funny thing on this one was that early on, with the flavours so full, I could hardly taste any alcohol, but this changed as it warmed up.

Getting onto the cupcakes, I saw I had some leftover Rogue, and the comparison between the two was great. I have been able to continue enjoying this combo a couple more times since the weekend.

So another great tasting with the boys. Thanks to all that turned up to help be try out all those stouts. Looking forward to the next one, where I might be able to finally taste all the imperial stouts I have. At least they keep aging...

Cheers,

Beef



PS: speaking of imperial stouts, Stass and I put our first all grain brew on the day after the tasting, and happy to hear today she is fermenting along nicely.

Stepping Out and Up

A novel thing happened to me on Friday. For the first time I visited a brewery (that wasn't Goat) and it was for work.

The Goat crew got together for the train ride out to Woodend, where we arrived at Holgate brewery just in time to see their bottling system in action, and for us to help out. Was happy to see their Temptress chocolate porter was being bottled this day. Of course there we a few low fills from it so we could sample the product while we did a brewery tour with Paul. Like Goat they are starting to run out of room in their brewery, and are using the space as efficiently as possible, including the bottling area. Was great to see their system going and hope we can take something from it to improve our own bottling process at Goat.

I guess after finishing the bottling before lunch, it became a long afternoon of 'tasting' the vast array of beers they have available at the pub that is connected to the brewery. Seeing it had been November since my last visit to Holgate, there were many to try, including a gruit that I think had a good level of citrus and spice. The few gruits I have tried tend to be too big on the spice, but this one had a good balance. There was also the ESB and Temptress to taste from the handpump (the best way to have these beers), the latter I had with the pork belly I had for lunch (the sauce itself was amazing). Like the last visit there was a very special beer for us to try, but fortunately my taste buds were a little worn by the time it came around. The Dunkelweiss is a good change up for the brewery, with the yeast/wheat character coming across quite well, and the dark malt character working nicely as the days of winter retreat.

Ok, from here it gets a little hazy, and to say the least, it was an interesting train trip back to Melbourne. Still, big thanks to Paul and Nick from Holgate, and the staff from Hart's pub.

Having stepped out of Goat to visit and learn from another brewery, I guess it is appropriate that Stass and I have also stepped up in our own brewing, to learn and hopefully produce better beer.  So now instead of taking over the stovetop at the Stass residence to do our brewing, we can now do it all from our new Braumeister, to get us starting on all grain brewing. It's only taken about 5 years and me actually working in a brewery now to do it, but hopefully it means we are doing it the right way, and it can start making me better technically and open a new world for us in the beers we can brew. Still, it doesn't mean we will be losing our experimental edge, especially with the first all grain brew we do. Attempting a clone of Southern Tier's Creme Brulee Imperial Stout means we will need to do a double mash for the first full mash we ever do. Unfortunately, we are still having trouble just trying to get a bottle of the original to taste off, or in the case of Stass, to actually taste for the first time. So yeah, a big call to start on this type of beer, but then it is us, so to be expected. At least Stass won't know when I stuff it up. Luckily we are also going to start using some brewing software as well to help us along.

So here is to understanding beer better.

Cheers,


Beef

Beers in the Burbs

With the chill off Winter beginning to lift, got on the bike for the first time to enjoy a bit of sunshine and head out to Stass' for some beers and homebrew chat.

Apart from learning I need to do more cardio work (ok, I had figured that out before this), I took a Nogne O Sunturnbrew to see what we could learn from it.

Before this 11% beer we needed to 'warm up', and luckily our latest homebrew was ready for drinking. Just a partial mash of chocolate malt over a standard dark ale extract, but happy to say the malt really filled out the extract well with sweet and roasted characters and give a fuller body to the beer overall. A tasty, easy drinking brew perfect for the change of season. I think keeping the mash temp a bit lower really helped to give the malt a cleaner flavour, as some other mashes have caused some tannins to tain the beer. Still, Stass added a shot of coffee to my beer, which taste wise I didn't appreciate (unlike many others), but the way the heat from the coffee blew out the carbonation from the beer, but then it also seemed to capture that carbonation to make a really nice creamy head and good texture overall was interesting.

Still feeling like we needed an 'inbetween' beer, Stass pulled out a Moylan's dry Irish stout, where much of the smell and taste reminded me of the Goat Surefoot stout, but with a slighty drier finish, and not quite as much hop character as I get from Goat. Still found it a good blend of sweet malt up front and cleansing dryiness (rather than being too roasty) at the back, and a bit more going on texturally to help meld the two flavours on the midpalate, and bring some balance overall.

Alright, the Sunturnbrew. As expected it needed some time to breath for the smoke character to come out and the sherry/sweet dark fruit characters to come out in aroma and taste, but the biggest thing I was getting from this smoked barleywine was alcohol heat. I basically burnt the front of my tongue everytime I took a sip. Mind you, I made the mistake of getting a fair bit of sediment in mine, while Stass had a much better balanced example of the beer to slowly sip on. Still, this is a beer that needs 4-5 people to share anyway. The sherry port front led to a smokey middle and alcohol ramps up on the sides of the midpalate, and the heat holds through the back with just some return of the smoke to try and clean up the back and keep something in aftertaste. Still, the brain haze from the alcohol made for an almost trying end to the beer, and the smokey bbq chips we were trying to compare and contrast it with were not even getting a look in. Had to wait a little while before getting on the bike to make the trip back home. Still, a good set up for the Imperial Stout tasting I will be having in a couple of weeks.

On Saturday I also had a couple of beers at The Termi in Clifton Hill while watching the disappointing second Bledilsoe game. I had the Bridge Road B2 Bomber, and the last bottle of Sierra Nervada Porter. I can never remember if I personally prefer the Porter over the Stout, but with the game on, unfortunately I was not focusing on the beer. Still I have to say, for them to retain the balance they do on a beer I would classify as a very american style, just shows the quality these brewers do with all their beers. Light (texturally) but full (flavoured), sweet and bitter, just so technically proficient, they are a hard brewery to go past in any of their beers. Maybe that is why I can never remember if I like the Porter of Stout best. At least something came out of the trip to the Termi, and glad to have a found a pub showing the rugby that only have 5 kiwi supporters and a good selection of beers. Maybe I just need that seeing the rugby itself seems to be getting worse for the Wallabies.

Having tried the Porter Baltique from Les Trois Mousquetaires was interested to try more of the range on Friday at Purvis. While I was intrigued with them, I do have to say I was not overly impressed. I don't really remember what the Kellerbier was like, the Sticke Alt the meaty malt and a bit of Gose saltiness to make it taste a bit like mussels, the Maibock had a medicinal quality to go with the citrus and slight caramel malt I would expect from this style, and the Doppelbock was quite understated for what I normally enough from the style. I could not find any use by date or packaging date on the bottles, so not sure if maybe some of them had turned bad, as not sure if they were intended to taste the way they did. Maybe the Porter Baltique is their one good beer, even though I have found the latest batch to be not as good as the 2010 I really liked. Hmm, bit undecided about this brewer after that.

All for now.

Beef

Ode to 'The Maz', w/ Ola Dubh 16 (8%)

Tis a sad but appreciative day...

About 16 years ago, I brought my first car, with my sister, so we could learn to drive and get ourselves to school in our senior high years. It was an '85 Mazda 323 that had only one previous owner and was in good nick. We shared that car til my sis moved, where it came solely into my 'care'. A manual choke, it became a car you had to know to just get it started, and an idling issue made it not good in city traffic. Still, if you trusted it and didn't push it too hard, the engine would just keep going and going (with thanks to my dad's regular servicing).

I remember it once carrying 6 people in it's hatchback body while I was at uni, and while it struggled a bit, it got us from A to B. It also got me and my sis to our first job in our late teens as egg collectors on a farm near our own family's farm. It barely survived a flood that went through where I was living while trying to do postgrad and teaching work, the water coming within an inch or two of the air intake.

Moving from Newcastle to Melbourne, I put faith in the then 20 year old Maz to get me down here, and can remember the shudder of disappointment it seemed to give when I turned it off after that journey. I tried not to do short trips in it, kept the oil and tyre pressure levels right, and when leaded petrol ceased to be available, had to get a additive to keep it going. It took me to camping trips and the long trips to the get to 'real' beaches that are far from Melbourne, these trips reminding me of the drives I use to do from Newy to the farm. In fact, it was on one trip to Wilson's Prom where I had my first accident in it, rear ending a ute because of dodgy drivers, some-what dodgy brakes and a rain soaked road. Thinking that was the end of the Maz there and then, I was surprised to see that apart from a broken headlight, there was only some warping to the radiator housing and it was running fine. It got us there and back, apart from some fuel problems (the fuel gauge had broken years before and had not judged the level of petrol correctly).

While I turned to riding a bike and public transport more in Melbourne, I still used it to transport my bbq to parties and weekends away, and get me to work during my years of causal labouring after leaving project management. Along with the smell of the chicken sheds permeating through the car as a teen, the other aroma I most remember is that of stale burnt meat from the used bbq being in it. However, when I started working regularly at Mountain Goat a year ago (a 5 minute walk away from home), my need for it steadily declined, and with less use, the Maz also declined. While I have previously asked friends to help me push the Maz to the mechanic for repairs, I feel now it has given me more than enough, and so today I say 'Farewell Maz'.

With one final push to get it to the tow truck, I went to the wreckers, where I hope it can be used to salvage other Maz's still going around, much as it had parts put into it to keep it going. Coming back from canceling the rego, I walked into Slowbeer to see Harviestoun's Ola Dubh 16 on the shelf. A beer with the translated name of 'black oil', that has been aged in 16 year old scotch whiskey casks, it seemed all too appropriate I try my first Ola Dubh today.

Ok, with the sentiment out of the way, let's get to the beer.

It does pour a bit 'oily' in the glass with very little head. It was hard to get much at all when it was first opened, so have let it breath quite a bit, which brings out more of the dark fruit and smokey whiskey aroma. There is some nice dark malt sweetness on the front (I assume from the base beer) before the smokey whiskey come through, followed by some slight heat of alcohol before the smokiness returns at the back and in aftertaste.

It doesn't taste like 8% to begin with but after a few sips, that warming alcohol sense does come back up from the belly, into the lungs and slight haze on the brain. The aging has really mellowed the alcohol quite well. If I had already had a few beers before trying this, I would probably have drunk it faster as it is that easy to drink.

I definitely was not enjoying this beer as much when I started tasting it soon after opening, so allowing it to breath is really beneficial. While it may have a fairly simple profile, with time it shows its depth and heartiness behind this smooth and easy drinking beer.

I'm not going to become sentimental again, so will leave it to what I have written to see any connections I may find between this beer and my old car. But here it to 'The Maz'.

Cheers,

Beef

Dolphin Brewery Penguin Porter (5%)

Cold Wintery Day? Perfect for trying out a new chocolate porter!

Pouring out my first Dolphin Brewery beer, was surprised at how little carbonation was in it. I do enjoy these styles of beer to have quite a low level of carbonation, but to pour it from such a height just to get this little bit of head in the photo showed this was super low, and this comes across in texture. The beer sits a bit dead on the tongue. It is so close to flat that even I am a little concerned.

Smelling it though, this is a nice dark cocoa aroma once it is allowed to breath for a bit.  It comes off a bit essency to begin with in flavour, but then this separates to bring just a touch of licorice towards the back. With the cocoa, this licorice combines to bring a slight vanilla to it in aroma. It does come off a bit dusty and bitter in aftertaste which is not pleasant, and with the lackluster carbonation it does fill out the palate that well, but does have the flavour to be a decent chocolate porter. Still, looking at the description on the bottle, the bitter aftertaste is what the brewer is looking for, so maybe I just think it lingers a little too much and is a bit too dry for my personal taste.

The longer I let it breath, the more than licorice comes out, so I am actually a bit surprised the head is not better on the beer, but at least happy to see the beer fill out a bit flavour wise, so not as concerned now on the flat carbonation.

Well, have been nicely intrigued by my first Dolphin Brewery beer, so looking forward to trying out the remainder of their range.

Impromptu Monday Slowbeer Tasting

So, what should have been just one or two on a Monday, ended up being quite a few more, but you get that when a few brewers in a room together the is choc full of hundreds of different beers (as is the case with Slowbeer).

Thinking it was only going to be one or two, I went out hard early to try the new Murrays Farmhouse Imperial Stout. Having had their Heart is Darkness on tap at the Royston, the solid imperial stout  malt and alcohol character is similar, along with some of that belgian yeast character. Still, this beer just shows how a change in yeast (and probably not a big difference in the yeast) really does change a beer. The farmhouse yeast really drives a darker fruit aroma and flavour from the beer to step it up from the Heart of Darkness on the front and mid palate.

Keeping with the 'big' beer mode, decided to try the second attempt at Moon Dog's Black Lung. I actually liked the sweetness that came from the bourbon barrel aging the first one went through the help mellow and balance out the smokey character of the base beer. However, the peaty character the smoke attains from being aged in whiskey barrels this time is probably a beer I prefer, and know Stass will want to try this one with his dad

Craig pulled out an Sierra Nervada Bigfoot, which has a good basis with the coppery red malt and alcohol, but is really boosted with floral hop character in smell and taste. I probably found it dominated a bit too much personally, but I guess it is to be expected from an American brewer, even though Sierra are well know for holding balance in their beers. He also shared a Italian Dubbel which again had a good basis for a Belgian abbey beer, but found the spice in it dominated a bit more than I would like. Damn my traditionalism!

Mike started on a Midnight Sun Porter, where I found the smoke and spice in it came off a little strange for me and detracted from the beer a bit. He also tried an Amager Pop, that had a really good port character on the midpalate and had a bit of a barelywine feel to it, but there was some other smells and taste that did not interact well with it. It was like the beer was a bit old and with the cork, maybe it had oxidised as well seeing it was not laid down to keep the cork wet and protect the beer.

Seeing it was going down the path of just having big beers, thought I would step back a little and try a Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Ale, seeing Mike is looking to have another crack at this style. I was surprised at a slight sock smell, and the hazelnut came off a bit essencey, but does fell out the beer quite well, along with some added sweetness.

The boys also pulled out a Nogne O Imperial Stout which is almost subtle for the style, but think it is just so well rounded, almost like it has been aged for a quite a while. To end the night then It was a Coffee Stout which looked terrible with no head at all, and a very dusty body to it. We worked out it was out of date, which made sense for this, and that while the coffee character was ok, you could tell it had died.

Anyway, that was more than enough for a Monday night. Am very excited though as my allocation of Moo Brew's Barrel Aged Vintage Imperial Stout has just arrived from the brewery, and met up with the brewer of Dolphin Brewery at Dalesford to pick up a mixed case of beers from this Victorian brewery I had never heard of before a couple of months ago. Seems he just has a 100lt set up and just sells his beers at the local markets up that way. Still he has a decent range, so look out for tastings of those and the Moo Brew very soon...that reminds me, I have a Imperial Stout tasting to organise!!!

Cheers,

Beef