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.