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.