What's wetting the whistle P.4

I had it too recently and didn't think it was very good, I just assumed it wasn't a very good beer but maybe freshness was an issue with it

 

I still have a BA Narwhal in the fridge from when it first came out like 3 years ago...probably oxidised by now as it wasn't stored very well for a while. My recollection of the original batch is that it had a lot of wood but not that much nice round bourbon flavour.

Also waiting to open a bottle of new Alexander, Flanders Reds are not a favourite of mine so it'll probably take me a while to get to it.

I heard Pumping Station wasn't great but I have not tried it myself (and I did not find the pinot aging particularly compelling)

 

Had an Alexander on Australia day and absolutely loved.

For me it is like Grand Cru's bigger and more elegant older sister. Plenty of cherry fruit and a restrained balsamic that balances it perfectly. Could drink so much of it if it weren't for the price.

 

Pirate Life - Stout. Oh boy have I been looking forward to a beers this ilk hitting the market. Sitting at 7.1% it is at the top end of foreign extra stout but it is super drinkable. Tons of all the great flavours you look for in a stout from chocolate to coffee to roasted dark sourdough. A finish of minty pine hop flavour gives the beer a clean finish without feeling out of place. This is a cracking beer.

 

Bitter Phew has a keg for this event:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1929317887347936

 

That's an impressive line up.

 

Anyone on here attend GABS? If so, anything interesting on the menu?

I moved back to NZ so am heading to the event here next month.

 

is this canned?

 

exceedingly sweet (maybe that was fourth edition), so sweet it caused me to break a glass in astonishment (maybe cause I was drunk)

 

Rauch Geek Breakfast- good stuff, smoke is subtle enough that it could pass for a standard porter (maybe along the lines of Alaskan Smoked). One of the better stouts (particularly non-BA) stouts I've had in a while.

 

Not sure, only times I've had it is from taps.

 

few recent ones:

De Molen Mooi & Meedogenloos Bourbon: very good, great combo of chocolate and dark fruits. Still don't think we have mastered the dark fruit style of dark beer locally. Can definitely get coffee, chocolate, roast out of barreled dark beers but the dark fruits are still eluding us.

Bent Spoke Pale: Canned, nice citrus and grain, quite drinkable but I don't like the open topped can designs (like Colonial) which just looks like they were too cheap to pay for proper cans.

Boatrocker Elderweisse: left for far too long. Brett had taken this one over and nose was initially that of an aged Orval but I don't think it had the depth to carry through. Basically drank like fruit juice but elderflower still noticeable. Certainly enjoyable but would have been crisper drunk fresh.

Canned Akasha Hopsmith: tasty stuff, good balance of sweetness with the typical IPA qualities. Could definitely drink a few.

Fixation The Fix: good solid DIPA, prefer it to Little Creature's similar efforts. Well integrated pine and sweetness and would not be out of place in a US bottleshop. Reckon this might be a Pliny clone based on the stats and profile and it's honestly not far off (but no-one cares about Pliny anymore ).

 

Just saw on Pirate Life's instagram they are canning the Mosaic IPA and Stout soon.

 

Appx 3-4 weeks away as of now.
Note: Stout is not foreign export style. Closer to US style stout. First time they did stout it was FE. Last year was a big hoppy stout.

 

you must be confusing PL with Stockade.

 

OK, OK, not opening The Mountie tonight.

Some recentish things:

Bentspoke Cluster 18: really enjoyable _for an 18% IPA_, but that's a rod they made for their own back. Liked the Cluster 8 though. The big stout Descent 16 was not so good.

The Boag's Epicurean beers are not terrible. Insulting yes, but not terrible. Boy, the Red is better than the Little Creatures Fire Falcon.

The Balter IPA is not for me - is it a bit staid, not can well, or am I not their market? Dunno. Pils was OK though.

4 Pines Seasonal IPA was good. Didn't try to be different, just fresh and lots of US hops.

Ballast Point Unfiltered Sculpin is tasty and swiggable. Its best before is marked as 3/18. Don't believe it.

De Ranke XXX Bitter is the best mainly hoppy beer I've ever had. Remarkable how much less bitter than XX Bitter it is.

Tiny Rebel Cwtch: really a bitter with American hops. Fabulous balance.

Blackman's Juicy Banger IPL: I didn't love this (and hated their canned Unfiltered Lager) but the signs that these folks might be _the_ lager people in this country are there.

Ola Dubh 12yo (Sherry Cask): One of the rare ones that's better than normal Old Engine Oil.

Supposedly hoppy sours: Mornington Brain Squeeze pretty good, Boatrocker Jungle IPA pretty ordinary: one has things then a finish, one is just a mixture of things.

Stouts: Lervig 3 Bean - good, but not as good as the BA one. 8 Wired iStout - assumed I'd like better this time. Maybe just a little, but this one is a never again now.

 

what's unfiltered sculpin? are they jumping on da NEIPA fun?

curious as to what beer tastes like aged in sherry barrels, would think a huge barleywine would be best for it but I wouldn't know

Drinking Bigfoot 2012, it is better than eva, would go 10+ years

Went to Wildflower opening earlier and first time trying their beers, very pleasant drinkable farmhouse beers and they have very smartly kept the acidity in check on these (unlike Almanac, they really need to work on that). I would recommend trying their stuff, nice labels also.

 

Hard to say, though I guess not - just more hops and not filtered rather than making haze a feature. It's https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/199/268349/ and it's at Dan's.

Fair guess though: I've had the
Naparbier Avant-Garde Series Barley Wine Aged 20 Months in Oloroso Barrel. It had a weird "half older than it is, half fresher" feel to it. Locally the 3 Raven Druid is aged in PX Sherry barrels.

The Ola Dubh is misleading: like all the variants, it's aged in Highland Park single malt whisky barrels, it's just that that this whisky barrel was a former sherry cask.

 

I can't say I expected to see the day when Dan Murphy's sold Lost Abbey Beers...

 

I seem to recall a date on the bottle when I bought Red Barn from Dan's in Early February. Seemed to have just arrived then. Least impressive of their beers I've tried so far (and I'm a sucker for Saisons). The other one they had is Devotion.

 

typical Belgian-style trash

it's the 21st century maaaan

 

hmmm - had Wildflower Gold tonight... not sure I agree with the hype - a little thin both in flavour and body and a tad underwhelming.. :-(

 

Firestone Walker Union Jack from Dan Murphy's bottled 4/4/17 tasting very good. My personal fav straight up IPA from those big American craft breweries. $30 for a sixpack is relatively good value too. As much as I hate Dan's i'm happy with this arrangement.

 

sweet, i liked that when I had it grey. Will have to grab some with the unfiltered sculpin

 

3 Ravens - Juicy IPA. Was not a massive fan the first night I had it, but it has grown on me. Great fruit from the hops, but there is an effervescent mintiness that I am not keen on. I suspect it is from the yeast. Carbonation islow, I suspect they're trying all the tools to boost mouthfeel. Despite the added oats/proteins and other tools, I did not perceive any extra mouthfeel compared to a regular IPA.

 

Just spent two weeks travelling across the Gibb. Started theJourney with a 2013 Mamouche which I have never had before. Seriously one of my favourite Cantillon experiences. Perfectly balanced funk and floral notes. Stunning.

Popped a Cantillon Kriek at Mitchell Falls to celebrate the halfway mark.

And then the latest Lam batch to finish. The Lam was slightly less carbonated than previous version but was still incredibly jammy and fresh. Loved it!

 

Looney Tunes! Man, I need to get some more Grand Cru Lam into me. That woody/grapeskin vibe is incredible.

 

3 Ravens Juicy - pretty good but like most of the Australian NEIPA examples I have tried, the palate excited up front but falls away very quickly leaving you hanging. It's what the the guys like Trillium and Tree House do so well. A explosion of flavour which evolves through a long and complex palate.

Modus Cascadian Howl - Biased toward the toastier end of the spectrum. Had a diminished IPA element which is what makes the style so attractive to me - roasty and resinous balance. In saying that, is was incredibly smashable. Just not as true to the style as I had hoped.

 

You would probably have been the first person at Mitchell Falls to drink any beer out of a 750 bottle ! - I recall a couple of cans of New (that was Before Craft in 2004) that I had trucked up from Sydney when I was there - hardly a celebration!

 

Had the Pirate Life Stout last night. A really nice balance of flavours upfront but left a lingering bitterness long after a sip which I didn't overly like.

 

I'm enjoying Finn Diesel