Ruination

Stone Brewing Company - Double IPA 7.7% ABV. 

Holy hell, I’m in heaven. 

Juxtaposition. Heaven and hell. Yeah, I went there. 

This is the hopheads dream. So good. Sentence length reducingly good. 

Straight to the beer!

Spoiler alert: Hops feature heavily in this beer. 

Your nose gets seduced by this heavily dry hopped ale and makes you want to drink it all. You almost know exactly what this beer will taste like purely from the aroma, but this only heightens the desire to take a sip. 

There it is. A fairly heavy malt bill, considering it’s up around the 7-8% ABV mark, but it’s still prepared to play support for the hops as they completely steal the show. The light pale mate/caramalt body give just enough sweetness while letting the hops run wild. It screams of Centennial hops, but I might be wrong. 

I can hardly imagine a better beer to go to when it’s a good fix of hops that you require. 

Obtaining this beer down in little Australia might be tough, but it’s oh so worth it. 

Red Rackham

Yeastie Boys - Belgian Red Ale 6.8% ABV

I know I haven’t shut up about the Red Rackham since I tried it, but I’ll get this out of the way and then be done with it.

Here we have one of the new offerings from our buddies from across the Tasman, and it’s a very interesting installation to the growing range of Yeastie Boys beers. 

Sharing it’s name with a treasure from everyones favourite ginger haired adventurer (I’m referring to Tin Tin, not... umm... well okay there aren’t many ginger adventurers) the Red Rackham is something that I’d be glad to dig up in a sunken pirates chest. 

So, why did pirates bury their treasure? I know they created maps with the intention of returning at some stage to collect it, but I would have just taken it with me when I disembarked. Who knows what state the loot would be in by the time they return? And what if the map fell into the hands of some young upstart adventurer?

And... never mind.

Beer review, yes, that’s what I was doing. Let’s get on to the beer itself, shall we?

Another style-bending seasonal release from these Kiwi lads and this one would probably be best described as a Belgian Red Ale, I guess? Correct me if I’m wrong.

Slightly more red then golden, this one really looks a picture and just begs to be sipped. But what does it smell like?

The nose gives you a little indication of the Belgian yeast and spiciness and demands that you take a sip. Not one to argue, I complied. 

The tongue is greeted with the loveliness of a beautifully balanced red ale, but with a little boozy kick. At 6.8% this could prove a tactically efficient Winter warmer (assuming there is any left by the time the cold weather arrives). A good hop profile, but armed with a slight banana funk from the Belgian yeast.

This is not like many amber ales/red ales that you would have had recently. 

I’ve enjoyed the Red Rackham immensely, and so much so that it received a one way ticket to Dave and Rian’s New Years Eve Extravaganza, or DARNYEE as I might call it. 

No we’ve already established it as FBTENYE, let’s stick with that.

Keep an eye on your Twitter feed on the big night to witness the harrassing we give to Untappd. 

It’ll be fun.

Torpedo

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. - American IPA 7.2% ABV

Oh my.

Let’s start with the name. You know I dig names that are apt for the beer. This is no exception. A torpedo is long and sleek,

spectacular and can cause great damage. A balanced 7.2% ABV Extra IPA with explosive hop character as a sessionable beer makes this extremely dangerous. Like a torpedo, if you didn’t already pick up on that...

Torpedos can sink ships as well, but I can’t draw any analogies to this beer for that point.

Firstly this pours quite thick for a pale beer and looks like a clear, ruby trophy that signifies an emphatic win in the choices of life leading up to this moment.

Then you smell it. Promises of big hop character greet you lovingly. So inviting. Just so... oh sorry I lost my train of thought whilst smelling it again. You’ll have to excuse me, I just have to have a sip.

How is a beer like this so balanced?

The sweet, caramel malt comes in simultaneously with this huge hop character that makes my heart warm with joy. Ahh, a hopheads delight. The taste develops into the gorgeous, high bitterness hop flavour that actually finishes on the highest bitterness which just invites you into another sip.

It’s a perpetually enjoyable IPA. I’m nearing the end of my glass and I’m already hatching various schemes to obtain some more. One method includes going and buying some more.

A fantastic IPA that really needs to be enjoyed by everyone. Or just me. I don’t care. Find your own beer actually, this beer won’t be readily available near me. I’ll need to stock up.

Bravo, Sierra Nevada. Bravo.

Beelzebub's Jewels

Holgate Brewhouse - Belgian Quadrupel 12% ABV

Where do you begin with a beer like this? Oh, I know. I'll be begin by promising that I will not make any jokes or any testicular reference to Lucifer.

This seasonal release is possibly the most anticipated of the year from Australian microbreweries, and was one of the only carrots that could have been dangled to get me to drive down Glenferrie Road at 6.30pm just to get to Slowbeer in time to snap up one of these beauties. (And maybe a growler fill. And maybe pick up a couple of extra treats...)

But how to enjoy such a beer? Candle lit dinner (which would probably mean sharing with someone who is entirely undeserving)? On it's own? Compared to some other Belgian Style Dubbels and Tripels? So many tough questions (though really just one question...).

In the end the decision was made that it would be the centerpiece of an evening of beer appreciation with the ever reliable beer appreciator, Rian.

What's that? But don't you guys always have beer appreciation nights? Well nobody asked you, so you should really watch your manners, son (or daughter).

Moving on!

The beer itself pours like a sticky dream (not that kind) and really pours lighter than you might expect, but then before your very eyes it seems to darken in the glass and settle in to a deep ruby red with very little opacity. It has the appearance of a semi precious stone. This may be a redundant comment as I already mentioned it was "ruby red". Forget it.

The Beelzebub's Jewels has been aged in pinot noir barrels and this is evident on the aroma. Straight away the pinot nose comes through as well as a little bit of smokiness.

The initial flavour also highlights the barrel aging with a strong strike of the pinot without ever leaving behind the lovely, sweet malt flavour. With such strong players in this game it's quite a feat to maintain such good balance.

The beastly 12% ABV gives this a hugely warming quality to it that I think everyone knew that it would. The kind of warming that a bearded mountaineer would hope to cling to on that last, hopeless night beside the burnt out camp fire.

I will have to get myself another and put it away for a very special occasion. Maybe a Tuesday.

Bridge Road Harvest

2011 Harvest Pale Ale - 4.6% ABV

I'm a big fan of Bridge Rd, their Beechworth Pale Ale is one of the most dangerously sessionable beers I've ever encountered, while the Bling IPA is a bruiser of a hop heavyweight, a curry just doesn't taste the same without being accompanied by one. So I expected great things when I ordered the 2011 Harvest. It did not disappoint...

Firstly, it has a lovely golden body, topped by a big creamy head, on looks alone this is a supermodel of a pale ale. The big aroma is all citrus hops, seriously it's like a well stocked fruit bowl; grapefruit, peach, apricot and passionfruit. A similar theme carries across onto the taste, citrus and stone fruit with a solid, rising bitterness which leaves a dry and clean mineral aftertaste.

This pale ale has a very fresh quality to it, fitting considering it is a harvest beer, made of fresh hops of an, as yet, unnamed experimental strain. Hopefully the brewers continue to experiment with it because the robust, fresh flavors of this beer leaves me wanting more.

Such is beer indeed...

8 Wired Hop Wired

India Pale Ale - 7.3% ABV

Hopheads of the craft beer world, take note. 

This beer is the hopheads dream. The dream, I tell you!

Okay, I know. The Brew Views has been pretty 8 Wired heavy lately, but can you really blame me? Blame 8 Wired if anyone! Stop making such lovely, hoppy beers! And blame Slowbeer for making them so accessible and affordable!

Forget it. 

The Hop Wired smells hoppy. Really hoppy. It’s not dissimilar to smelling bittering hop pellets like Chinooks before it even goes in to making a beer. Such a wonderful aroma!

The taste of the beer starts with big citrusy hop flavours that make you smile and appreciate why bittering hops are used in beer in the first place. Don’t discount the malt though, it definitely plays the supporting cast role, but in such an unassuming way that you might not even consider it for an Oscar nomination. It’s surprisingly balanced for such a strong, hoppy IPA.

This is one beer I will happily return to time and time again, as it’s just what an unashamed hophead such as myself is looking for. 

8 Wired have done it again. 

Epic/Thornbridge Stout

After sitting down with Master Dave and Master Rorz at Beer Deluxe on Showcase Wednesday, knocking back Thornbridge Brewery's latest international collaboration and being generally smitten by the black beauty contained before us, it was only a matter of time before I used all my Bear Grylls-style cunning and poise to hunt down their previous effort with New Zealand's Epic Brewery. Thankfully, before any of my own urine was consumed, I'd found exactly what I had been trying to track down, albeit at the first place I looked. (Slow Beer, if you must ask)

Spending $16 on a single bottle of beer does two things to me, it angers the tight-wallet student in me, the weedy geek who used to be able to justify drinking Hahn Ice because it was on special at $20 a cube (30 awful, awful cans). It also installs a need of occasion. To sit drink a beer of this cost by one's self, there needs to be an atmosphere, perhaps sitting on a leather couch in an evening robe, watching a roaring fire, some Bob Dylan on scratchy vinyl, singing about a man named Hurricane, perhaps even some star-gazing... Something to live up to the quality of the beer.

On this occasion, I chose the "lay on the unmade bed in my work clothes watching cat video's on youtube" option, mainly because I was too lazy to light a fire and wind up the gramophone. The beer though, as would have been expected, deserved much better. I love a beer that pours like velvet, filling the glass like melted chocolate from a fondue fountain. The aroma on the pour was quite a bitter burnt smell, but once it had settled, rich coffee and caramel remained as a teaser to the flavour. The first few sips were like that initial smell, almost a burnt toast taste (albeit, burnt toast made from the finest quality home-cooked bread) but as the beer warmed a little, I was met with a rich complexity of malty flavours, and a very subtle oak after-taste, like a good wine. Each successive sip opened up new doors of flavour until about halfway down the glass, then it seemed to just settle on bitter chocolate and coffee. It is definitely a beer for a better occasion than the one I had given it. Is it better than the Thorny Goat? tough to say, it certainly doesn't have the novelty, genius and flair of the Goat, but it feels like a much more solid and consistent competitor. Like a Luke Hodge to Thorny Goat's Buddy Franklin.

8 Wired Tall Poppy

India Red Ale - 7.0% ABV

So how come I’ve only properly discovered the great beers being produced in New Zealand in the last three or four months? It couldn’t possibly be my fault so I’m going to blame you, the collective unknown group of people that stumbled across this post by mistake. 

The Tall Poppy ale is just the next one in line from 8 Wired that has completely impressed me. Floored me actually, not literally as it was only early, but I was completely smitten by a beautiful, malty, hoppy strong ale which is everything I could hope for as an unashamed hop head. 

This shouldn’t really surprise me as the head brewer at 8 wired (Søren Eriksen) is also the head brewer at Renaissance, who seduced me prior to this with their wonderful selection of ales. 

On to the beer itself!

Just a beautiful red ale colour that is a little darker than I expected it might be. A really hoppy aroma greets you upon the first whiff with a little bit of citrus and this really does increase the enjoyment of this ale. 

This has all the desirable characteristics of a really good IPA but also has that depth in body the the red ale component provides. The initial taste is pure hop glory, but the balanced malt body makes this a highly drinkable beer. A quote from the label states: “Please don’t binge this beer. We have put in too much work for it to be wasted.” This is lovely, but I do feel that it is highly sessionable despite it’s high alcohol content and high hop bitterness. This might just be me though. 

Another note, this was like $12 for the bottle so I’d be mildly impressed for someone to binge on the 8 Wired selection. This isn’t the point though I’m sure. 

Too many digressions. 

If you haven’t tried any of the 8 Wired beers then stop what you are doing now and go and see my good friends at Slowbeer. They will make sure you get the appropriate choices. 

2 Brothers Grizz

Amber ale - 5.7% ABV

The Grizz is the new seasonal offering from the 2 Brothers lads and if they’re previous seasonals are anything to go by then there are some mighty bold shoes that are to be filled. 

This amber ale is a step back to normality. 

2 Brothers have got the ability to produce some really subtle and balanced flavours in their beers and this new seasonal is a shining example of that. 

In the past few seasonals such as the Voodoo, the James Brown and the Guvnor the subtlety was overshadowed by the sheer boldness that each of those beers presented. 

The Grizz returns to the delicate structure that makes the Growler such an enjoyable and sessionable beer. 

I had this beer on tap down at the 2 Brothers Beer Hall in Moorabbin and have since picked up a couple of bottles from Slowbeer and I find that this actually picks up some characteristics that it lacked on tap. I’ll be heading back down to the brewery to try it again and see if has settled down a bit. 

The Grizz starts off with a lovely, sweet malty mouthfeel and instantly shows some flashes of spice and toffee sweetness, but without being too much to process. 

This is a very solid amber ale that I would be happy to session, especially in the colder months. 

I would really like to see this beer become a regular beer in the repertoire of the 2 Brothers, but I really don’t have any influence in any industry let alone the craft beer industry. 

It’s just an idea.

8 Wired The Big Smoke

Smokey Porter - 6.2% ABV

The anticipation of this fella meant that it only survived in my cellar for about two weeks before getting the call up.

A lot of good porters have a smoky aroma to them, but unsurprisingly this has a particularly smoky nose and sincerely delivers on the promise it makes. 

This porter dives straight into the territory that so many great porters have chartered with an aniseed hit followed closely by a chocolate malt flavour. This sweetness provides the balance across the board. 

The Big Smoke finishes with a big bitterness, but this does recede with a little bit of temperature. 

The brewers form NZ are producing some lovely beers, and as I progress through the selection that is available from 8 Wired I am learning that this is becoming a brewery that must be monitored. 

Slowbeer shall seize some more of my money as I intend to sample some more of the offerings from 8 Wired. 

Murray's Punk Monk

Belgian styled Murray’s invention - 7.5% ABV

It’s unorthodox. 

That’s the claim that is made on the label. Is that apt, you ask? It certainly is. 

This ale starts with a lovely spicy, floral aroma and immediately draws you in to want to get down with this beer.

Straight off the bat the spice of the beer comes through, shortly before the lovely sweetness of the malt arrives on the scene. This carries the body of the flavour throughout the length of the beer. 

The 7.5% ABV is very well disguised and merely adds a comforting warmth to the palate, yet if care is not taken this could floor you in quick fashion. 

It’s light and heavy at the same time.

It looks light, but it packs the punch of a heavyweight, 

A wonderful Belgian style offering from my boys at Murray’s who continue to impress. 

Southern Tier 2XIPA

Imperial/Double IPA - 8.2%

You see that? 8.2%? 8.2 % !!! Something of that strength which is this drinkable should be illegal, or at the very least require a license to operate. Even my girlfriend enjoyed this and she usually drinks things with all the hop content of a Rekorderlig Cider.

Creamy amber in the glass with a decent bubbly white head the aroma is like a sweet siren song whispering promises of what is to come. This is like a roll call of all that is good about the genus American Pale Ale, grapefruit, lemon, pine needles, maybe some apricot with a touch of honey sweetness and a slight, almost white wine dryness.

An utter blitzkreig of citric bitterness assaults the palate but this is excellently balanced with sweet malt, like two fat kids on a see-saw. This is followed by one of the smoothest, sweetest and most satisfying finishes I have ever experienced. Very similar to Feral's Hop Hog only more so, if you enjoy that beer then you will want to give this a go. Easy enough to find, I've sighted Southern Tier beers at Slowbeer, Purvis and the Acland Cellars, also on bottle at Biero.

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

Fresh Hop Ale - 6.8%

Tis the season for the hop harvest ales. 

Right, so Sierra Nevada are from a different hemisphere and therefore would have a different hop season. So is this just a coincidence? Somewhat, I guess. But it’s relevant to the Australian ales at the moment as a good section of the breweries are releasing a fresh hop ale for the season. 

Topical. 

The Sierra Nevada Ale is a lovely version of a pale ale with freshly picked hops giving it a lovely, hoppy aroma out of the glass and a quite spicy and sweet flavour. It's simple, but that makes this a very sessionable beer for the hop season. 

My expectations for the Australian ales are higher for some reason.

Is this unfair? It might be.

The standard for fresh hop style beers for me is currently the Red Hill Hop Harvest which is just a magnificent harvest season ale. As a good deal of the Victorian breweries are undertaking an ale with freshly picked hop additions, I have very high hopes for the seasonals that are to be released soon. 

Good times be a comin’. 

I’ve only seen the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale once at Slowbeer. This kind of beer deserves to have a higher distribution over here as I believe we are ready for more harvest season ales. 

Just you wait and see.

Feral Hop Hog

American style IPA - 5.8%

Feral. Are they capable of making a poor beer? I’m not sure that they are. The Hop Hog might be the finest moment to date. Finest in the sense of complete balance and the complexity of a lovely, hoppy ale.

Straight away off the nose you get a lovely whiff of lemon myrtle. It sets up for a classic summer style beer. 

The palate of the Hop Hog starts in complete harmony. The citrus flavour of the IPA matches the level of malt perfectly with the balance ability of a tightrope walker. 

The 5.8% ABV for this beer makes this a solidly sessionable beer and will be strongly sought after at the Feral Tap Takeover that is going to be occurring at the Local Taphouse in the coming weeks. 

I just can’t wait. 

You Western Australians know what I mean. The rest of the country will be catching up very, very shortly. 

The Thorny Goat

Thornbridge Brewery / Mountain Goat Collaboration - Black IPA 6.8% ABV

This is such a highly anticipated beer for me that it would be basically impossible for this beer to live up to the expectations.

This lived up to all expectations. And then some. 

Immediately the look of the beer is pitch black. As black as any porter or stout you will see, yet the aroma and first taste will lead down a whole other path. 

It’s just as citrusy and hoppy as any classic IPA that you might have had and if you were to close your eyes you will find yourself in a familiar place.

So many hop flavours come through! A really refreshing flavour hit with very strong hop characters and nicely balanced malt. 

The malt won’t take centre stage and nor does it need to. That’s not what this beer is all about. 

A real beer lovers IPA that makes me wish that there were a lot more Black IPA’s to select from. I think we may be seeing a few more Black IPA’s made by Australian microbreweries in the near future. 

Good times be a comin’, friends. 

Murray's Wild Thing

Imperial Stout - 10% ABV.

You know my thoughts on the Murray’s brews. I’m biased. Murray’s bring the nice. 

I was standing in Slowbeer. I had to purchase twelve beers to capitalize on the 10% reduction offer. You all know how it is. 

After the first two beers I selected I saw the WIld Thing from Murray’s. Costing $15 I thought “No, I won’t. There are ten others I can get before I need to resort to this beast.” Three others were selected. I glanced back at the Wild thing. It called to me. Four more beers went into the basket and I picked up some treats for $4.50 each. Compared to $15 each of these were bargains. Two more beers were painstakingly chosen from the vast array of beers on offer from Slowbeer. Now I was to collect my last beer. Easy right? Not when the call from the dark side is so strong. The selection? Murray’s Wild Thing Imperial Stout. 

Okay, on to the beer:

Straight off the bat the Wild Thing pours like a thick, wondrous, pitch black bottle of velvet-like joy. It made me excited just to pour this from the bottle to the glass. 

It smells like a sweet, malty, beer that reminds you the reason that you like dark beer in the first place. (Unless you don’t, in which case forget it. This comment wasn’t meant for you. Don’t butt in. Please.)

This is one of the premier Imperial Stouts in Australia. So impressive and enjoyable. It’s one of the beers that comes along every now and then where every sip that you have is just as enjoyable as the last one. 

The colour of this beer is a wonderful, pitch black. I mean proper black. Hold it up to the Sun and you still can’t see through it. 

It tastes like the loveliest, sweetest, stout that you’ve had in a long time. This is even more true when considering only Australian beers. Absolutely fantastic, creamy, perfectly balanced stout that disguises the 10% ABV level like the best of them. Be careful, my friends.

Murray’s Wild Thing Imperial Stout will make any beer lover happy. Trust me. 

Hargreaves Hill ESB

Extra Special Bitter - ABV 5.2%

Well represented on the taps around Melbourne and it is easy to see why, I also recently found it in bottle form at Purvis Beer in Richmond. The noises I made as I spied the name written on the non-descript bottles stacked amongst some of Australia's finest caused the other people in the shop to hurriedly move away from me. God I'm lonely...

Anyhow, this nymph of a beer pours with a towering white head which never fully dissipates, atop a murky body of muddy brown. The nose is dominated by fruity hops, notes of ripe passionfruit backed by rock melon and a cleansing mineral quality.

Drinking this beer is like eating a bowl of passionfruit yogurt, it has a fantastically creamy mouth feel with medium levels of carbonation and a robust fruity flavor. The afore-mentioned passionfruit is to the fore, this is well balanced with the perfectly prickly bitterness which leaves the mouth feeling cleansed. Stone fruit flavors linger on the palate long after.

The ESB has translated well into the bottle, I can only hope to one day find it on hand pump. Can be found on tap at many good establishments of note, including The Sherlock Holmes in Collins St, Mrs Parmas in Little Bourke and the Great Northern in North Carlton. A word of warning though, quality seems to vary from keg to keg, I've had it a couple of times where it has seemed a completely different beer. When it's on the mark though it will turn your tastebuds into a church choir singing songs of praise. In my opinion this is Hargreaves Hill's magnum opus.

Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black

Black IPA - ABV 6.0%

I'll be honest, I bought this New Zealand brewed beer based on the novelty of both the brewery and beer name, but as Dave so brilliantly pointed out in his What's In a Name post, sometimes the name of a beer can give away more than it means to. I have only been introduced to the scary new world of black IPA's just recently (having only just sampled Feral Brewery's Karma Citra Black IPA at the recent Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular) and its a genre of brewing that I'm still a little uncertain, nay, unaccustomed to. I don't know what I'm looking for, I don't know what makes a good Black IPA.

However, Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black, judged on beer merit alone, is something to saviour. Pouring like a rich stout with a dark copper head that is quite happy to stick around, the initial aroma is a delightful burnt toffee, but just as you think you've got a hold of the scent, the burnt toffee tries to sneak his citrus mates into the party, presumable under the novelty sized copper foam overcoat he's wearing. To taste, it really does come across as a rich IPA, not unlike BrewDog's Punk IPA in terms of its bitter hoppiness, but its the incredibly subtle chocolate and malt flavours that give this beer true character and body. It's like a Terry's Chocolate Orange in beer form.

All in all, I was very pleased with the discovery, its a very easy drinking beer, and provides a pleasant change from drinking your regular run of the mill IPA's. I'm looking forward to sampling some more treats from across the Tasman, particularly from Invercargill's finest in the future... or as soon as Slowbeer stock some more.

Grand Ridge Brewery - Supershine

Extra Strong Scotch Ale / Barley Wine - ABV 11.0%

Lately I have revisited a number of beers that have been on the scene for a while, but I may have overlooked in an attempt to navigate some unchartered waters.

Upon finding a local bottleshop that had really upped it's selection of quality micro brewed beers in recent times I decided to pick up a few treats from the Grand Ridge Brewery. And I tell you, it was like visiting some old friends you haven't seen in a while.

The full stop (or exclamation point, I guess) of the night was the venerable Supershine.

The bigger (meaner) brother of the Moonshine, and is not messing around.

A super strong ale, something more of a barley wine that pours like a dream. A very silky dream indeed.

It smells like a big, beautiful, malty strong ale and it boasts one of the biggest mouthfeels around, certainly in Australian beer. An immediate, deep, malty flavour shortly followed by and intense hit of alcohol.

The aftertaste is a particular favourite of mine. Strong hints of chocolate and coconut which excites me as I can liken it to a lovely Bounty bar.

On a tangent, I have a strong belief that the Bounty bar is the most underrated chocolate bar around. For more on this please read my other blog: From Bounty to Eternity. 


(Please do not search that blog as it does not exist, and why would it? What a boring blog that would be.)


All in all a lovely strong ale and an excellent example of the joy of revisting some old favourites.