Auld Bulgin' Boysterous Bicep
Murray's Craft Brewing Co.

Hard to believe this is a ten percenter. Smooth and chocolaty. Head fades fast. Very mild and subdued, but subtle flavors accumulate and linger. This a nice one to savor.

 

 

Pours a very dark brown hue with an almost flat half finger head and a rim of boozy lacing, the smell is mussels, sea breeze, smoke and dark malts quite inviting compared to what I was expecting, the mouthfeel is full bodied with moderate carbonation and has tastes of milk chocolate, sea salt, the slightest touch of oyster sauce and finished with a smokey roasty bitter sweetness and overall I wasnt expecting too much but in fact im left impressed by how well balanced and tasty it is and prob Murray's best brew and something you gotta try once at least once cheers.

A - Flat and not good.
S/T - smoke, dry, salt, meh.
M - needs more carbonation.
O - nice try, nice experiment, not for me.

Another fun beer from BobbyHeenan. Cheers!

From a bottle into a snifter
A smoked Belgio mussel and oyster stout
Best Before 6 June 2014

APPEARANCE: Transparent black pour yields a one finger, medium-thicker looking, creamy, tan head with good retention. Black body with a bit of carbonation evident. Head fades to a full wisp and clings to the sides of the glass. Good looking head. A slight ring remains and leaves some falling dots down the glass. Pretty nice.

SMELL: Smoked notes for sure, some chocolate and lightly roasted aromas. Smoked meat from the malt bill.

TASTE: Smoked malts, smoked meats too, light caramel and a touch of roast up front, then a bold and lingering finish of dark chocolate, more smoked qualities, light chocolate and coffee bitterness and a bit of spice from the yeast. A light burnt touch plays a roll too. Quite good.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. A bit prickly on the palate, goes down okay and finishes a touch drier than expected.

OVERALL: This is quite enjoyable for sure. Never had a chance to have it fresh, but drinking it basically right on the best by date seems to be a good idea as it is. Well balanced smoked malts with the flavorful base stout. A good look too. This one would need a creamier and smoother palate to be as good as it could be, but it's still a fine beer as it is. Thanks again Bobby. Recommended.

Opaque pitch black. Small tan head.

Big toasty aroma. Nice light earthiness. Roast. Good stuff.

Sweet and roasty. Earthy. Roast. Nice. Mild alcohol.

Medium-full body with moderate carbonation. Nice and creamy.

A solid beer. Excellent. The flavour works well.

Brewed in collaboration with (and I believe at the instigation of) Crafty Pint and his minions, originally as part of the media competition at Beervana in Wellington. I tried it (finally) on-tap at the Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst.

Pours deep and dark, but still with a fair amount of clarity to the body, giving a reddish tinge through the liquid at the edges. Firm, filmy and fine head of beaige that leaves solid lacing. No tilting carbonation visible. Body looks a lot lighter than expected for 10% ABV.

Nose is dark and indeed slightly salty from the seafood additions. Mostly dark though, trending towards a hint of true roast, some vinous notes and perhaps a hint of cherry. Pretty nice.

Taste is clean and solid: nowhere near 10% ABV. Dark and roasty though, with just a hint of clinging booze. More of those vinous notes come through with a lingering round sweetness on the back, again reminiscent a bit of dark fruits like cherries. It's pretty tasty stuff.

Feel is a bit thin. Could certainly stand to have a bit more weight for 10%. I think it's doing a disservice to the complexities of the palate.

Overall though, this is a pretty tasty brew. It could add a few more dimensions, or else restrain the complexities that are there into a more coherent whole, but I was pretty impressed with it.

A very attractive beer, looks just like an espresso. Black...quite viscous, nice creamy tanned head on top.

Smell is band-aidy peat (but not too strong), fruits, yoghurt, coffee. Crème caramel.

Taste starts off with a fruity peat and progresses to a nice roast with bitterness and fruitiness in the backend. After the swallow there's more peat and satisfyingly strong and bitter roast.

Superb mouthfeel: thick and creamy. Too much carb though, which is irritating.

Has some awesome elements (appearance, body, roast) but I don't like the overriding fruit and peat and the carbonation. Bit disappointing as it's close to being really good. Will try aging.