Big Eye IPA

Style:American IPA
Alc %:6.8
Brewery:Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country:US
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 355ml
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost:$17 a 6 pack
Rating:8

Nice reddy orange copper colour, slightly off white head that sticks around.
Bit of pine and apricot on the nose.
Fruity and a little tangy, as it warms the malt becomes more noticeable, but the sweet juicy bitterness makes this a very enjoyable drop. Well balanced between the fruit, malt and hops- nothing overpowers or dominates.

Tower 10 IPA

Style:American IPA
Alc %:6.5
Brewery:Karl Strauss Brewing Co.
Country:US
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 355ml
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost:$17 a 6 pack
Rating:7

Pours an orange copper colour with a clean white head of 1cm that disappears to very little.
Sweet nose- pineapple and a hint of honey.
Starts off with a light fruity and sweet maltyness that becomes more intense - then the bitterness kicks in and lingers. Malt definitely plays a big role in this one, it's not a West Coast Hop Bomb but a sweet and easy drinking IPA IMHO.

James Squire Porter

Style:English Porter
Alc %:5
Brewery:Malt Shovel Brewery
Country:Austrlia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 355ml
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost:$16 a 6 pack
Rating:5.5

Light tan head that almost completely dissapears. Pours dark almost coca-cola like.
Smoky roasted malts on the nose.
Little bit of choc malt, a sminch of bitterness- any sweetness from the chocalate just drops of and leaves .... well, not alot.
Mostly pretty dissapointing, maybe it needed to be cooler 'cos nothing much came forward and shined with this one.

Murray's Black Knight Porter

see the reflection in the glass

Style:English Porter
Alc %:4.8
Brewery:Murray's Craft Brewing Co
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 330ml
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost: approx $5
Rating: 5.5

Pours dark with a big fluffy loose tan head.
Clove and or cinnamon on the nose. Nice.
Overall, the clove is prominent with out being intense, coffee notes round this out a little.
Slight creamy mouth feel.
This really had more in common with some (1&2) of the Xmas beers I've had recently-
I can't say I got much in the way of roasted malts or chocalate which leads me to conclude that this is not true to style in my opinion.

Brooklyn Lager

Style:American Amber
Alc %:5.2
Brewery:Brooklyn Brewery
Country:US
Tap/Bottle?:bottle 330ml
Where/When:Home July 2012
Cost:approx $20 for a 6 pack
Rating:7/10

Pours a nice orange gold colour with a nice head that dissapears and laces the glass.
Sweet fruity nose.
Clean and fresh up front, with biscuit notes and lemon and finishes with a full and unique malt backbone. It's sweet, bitter and a little spicy- mild bitterness.
Sometimes I've had this and found the malt hit quite full on for a brew that is very common place in New York and I imagine it's slowly making it's way into mainstream America.
I don't love this beer but I do like it and am pleased that it's become a lot more available in Sydney in the last 6 months.
Again it has to be said how bold it was back in the 1980's for this brewery to put out such a full flavoured flagship beer.
I've decided to give it 7/10.

Christmas in July Part 2

Underlig Jul

Style:Herbed/ Spice Beer
Alc %:6.5
Brewery:Nogne O
Country:Norway
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 500ml
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost: approx $15
Rating:6.5

Pours dark with a big tan head that dissapears.
Sweet bit of nutmeg on the nose.
I let this get to close to room tempature. Nice bit of Ginger and spice (cinnamon) yet still has a sensation
of Xmas cake without a noticeable hit of raisens or currents.  It's mellow and warming, complex and full flavoured. It has warmed me up and I was quite cold!
The chocolate malts do come thru but not in a big way- not a bad drop at all.

Vale IPA

Style:American IPA
Alc %:5.5
Brewery:McLaren Vale Beer Company
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 330ml
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost:approx $14 for 4
Rating:7

As the label says, a lovely scent of passionfruit on the nose.
Orange, light copper body with a white head that decreases.
I get a nice passionfruit and mango taste followed by a spicey hit and finishing with a fairly mild bitterness and a reappearance of the passionfruit.
I do like this fruity drop and also appreciate that it's widely available (in bottle stores rather than bars) - I wish my local pub would have it on tap but in many ways that says more about how poor the selection is at my local than how much I like this beer- and I do like it- i'd just prefer it to be my fall back choice rather than the best of a bad bunch at any given pub in Sydney.
If I had this next to a Feral Hop Hog it would lose out but next to a James Squire IPA it would come out on top.
It could be suggested this has more in common with a decent fruity APA rather than a overtly hoppy IPA.

Thomas Cooper's Selection Celerbration Ale

Style:American Pale Ale
Alc %:5.2
Brewery:Coopers Brewery
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 355ml
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost:approx $4
Rating:6

Pours a warm copper colour, with a white head that dissapears- forgot to roll the bottle so the brown sediment come out last- I let that settle into the glass.
Dusty grainy nose.

Haven't had James Squire's Amber Ale for a while but this reminds me of that- this is more of an amber or red ale than an American Pale Ale.

Balmain Original Pale Ale

Style:American Pale Ale
Alc %:4.9
Brewery:Balmain Brewing Company
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 330ml
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost:approx $4-$5
Rating:5.5

A fairly pale and clear light gold pour with a little white head that recedes.
A bit of lemon peel which comes on thru the taste up front- little soapy to aswell, not 100% sure if that's my glass or not. It's got a sharp bite upfront and then the sweetness kicks in. Kind of thin and not particuarly appealing. I had it on tap and it was truer to style than this.

My Top 3 Beers of 2012, So Far.....

It's June already! So I thought I'd list my 3 fav beers that I've tried (so far) this year that I haven't had previously.
In no particular order they are:
Timothy Taylor Landlord - still amazed at how good this is and can't wait to try it again!
Schneider Hopfen-Weisse Tap 5- Hoppy sweet and deceptively high in abv.
Hitochino Nest White Ale - some much better than I anticipated.

That's two wheat beers and a English Pale Ale- not an IPA in sight, although the Hopfen Weisse Tap 5 is of course quite hoppy. I had the Stone 15th Anniversary Ale this year too, but it wasn't for the first time so it didn't make the list.

Xmas in July Part I

Happy Lovin Christmas

Style:Imperial IPA
Alc %:7.8
Brewery:Mikkeller
Country:Denmark
Tap/Bottle?:330 ml bottle
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost:$9
Rating:6.5

Fab white bubbly head, fairly light off gold body.
Nice bit of (fading) apricot on the nose.
Nothing outstanding or remarkable tho it's fairly well balanced- Lemon and ginger up front with a nice bit of spice that heats things up a little without one thinking "oh yeah, it's a Xmas beer". It's a ale for any occasion if you like! As the brew warms the ginger becomes more pronounced and lingers.
Interesting. Temperture plays a big part with this one.

Moylan's Hopsickle Imperial IPA

Style:Imperial IPA
Alc %:9.2
Brewery: Moylan's Brewery
Country:US
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 650ml?
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost:$20
Rating:8.5

Simply put- Incredible!
It's been a while since I've had a Imperial IPA and this was no let down.
The nose was kinda mild compared to the taste.
The taste is bold and big, like a full on brown spirit. The Alstrom Brothers (Beer Advocate) suggest Herbal and Tobacco flavours which I can kinda agree with. It almost heads to burnt orange territory but just holds back.
It's not one of those piney IPA's which kinda makes it different.
It is creamy and the alcohol is fairly well hidden.
It's a great drop, would love to have access to this at every bottle shop I walk into but it's just not going to happen. Shame.

Budweiser Budvar

Style:Czech Pilsner
Alc %:5
Brewery:Brewery Budweiser Budvar 
Country:Czech Republic
Tap/Bottle?:500ml bottle
Where/When:Home, July 2012
Cost:$4-5
Rating:6.5

Pours a pale gold colour with a small white frothy head that completely dissapears.
Nose is a little grassy with decent hint of malts.
There is a hint of spice as well upon tasting this, with a bit of grain and lemon.
It's clean and more flavourful than I expected it to be but all the same it's nothing great but I wouldn't complain if I was drinking it for a session. A decent summer drop.