James Squire 150 Lashes

Style:English Pale Ale
Alc %:4.2
Brewery:Malt Shovel Brewery
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 345ml
Where/When:Home, August 2012
Cost: approx $17 a 6 pack
Rating:6

Small head that dissapears- looks alright.
Served cold.
Some type of grain and a hint of apple on the nose.
A little bit watery straight off, then a mix of malt & honey with a slight bite at the end.
I wasn't expecting to like this but it wasn't as bad as I expected- in fact it had more going on than I anticipated, in that it was fairly true to style IMHO.
I would have it again.

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.

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.

Vale/Dark

Style:Euro Dark Lager
Alc %:4.9
Brewery:McLaren Vale Beer Company
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle
Where/When:Home, 2012
Cost:approx $5
Rating:6.5


I smell roasted malts mostly.
Nowhere near as smooth as I remember it- i think it was out of the fridge for a little bit that time.
The malts show up with a touch of caramel and a little sting of spice. Once it warms up a little the flavour fleshes out just a little- the malt and caramel become more pronounced and the spice sting softens.
Nothing mind blowing but fairly pleasant all the same.

Mountain Goat Steam Ale

Style:California Common/Steam Beer
Alc %:4.5
Brewery:Mountain Goat Brewery
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 330ml
Where/When:Home, March 2012
Cost:??
Rating:6

May of poured too quickly as the white head frothed up to an inch and then dissapeared to a soft 1/4 inch or so. Body is a light pale yellow and cloudy.
Nose is yeasty/bready with a slight touch of lemon. Not overly appealing.
There's a slight peppery/spice to it up front which make me thinks it would go well with Thai/Asian food and easily quaffable.
What else is going on here?
It's got a grainy wheat beer mouth feel to it- flavours of yeast and breaddyness seem to dominate mid palate with a finish of more spiciness.
This is a reasonable drop that's pretty easy to drink- inoffensive but not ground breaking.
6/10

Feral Hop Hog

Style:American IPA
Alc %:5.8
Brewery:Feral Brewing Co
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle
Where/When:Home, March 2012
Cost:$10
Rating:7/10

Pours a lovely orange colour with soft bubbly white foam (approx 1cm)
Real nice fruity nose too:pineapple/fruit salad.
Soft on first sip, then a bit of passionfruit. The malt and orange flavours come thru and the hops pretty balanced, certainly not over the top.
This coats the mouth nicely- carbonation is mild- the bitterness hangs around for a bit but doesn't outstay it's welcome.
This is the first time I've had this from the bottle- from memory the tap version, which I totally loved! is more cloying and boisterous in it's flavours and hoppiness, so in many ways this is kinda dissapointing yet a fine drop all the same.
7/10

Little Creatures The Big Dipper

Style:Imperial IPA
Alc %:7.8
Brewery:Little Creatures Brewing Co
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle/Pint/568ml
Where/When:Home, Mar 2012
Cost: 4 pints for $20??
Rating:6.5

Copper orange in colour, nice off white 1cm head.Nice.
Nose is a little floral and a tiny bit funky. Nothing alluring.
Bit of orange, passionfruit with a subtle malt backbone.
Look, this is quite drinkable and i'd love to have one in the fridge at my disposal, but, unless I you read the label you wouldn't know you were drinking a 2xIPA.
So it's a decent drop but not depicting the intensity of 2xIPA's styles.
6.5/10

Beer Videos/ Beer Spiel

I haven't watched this (above) vid for a while, but apart from it being just a little bit American for my tastes, what I like about it is: rather than being anti-corporate it's instead being pro community. Simple. Smart. Relevant & Positive.

However, the below trailer for Beer Wars gives the impression that being pro community isn't quite enuf- as if it would be- and the big boys will do what they can to maintain and preserve their market share- of course they ain't gonna walk away, eva.

The impression I get from the trailer is if craft breweries can't get their brews on the shelves in the supermarkets etc then they will become extinct!

(As a side note, I was told by a reliable source that Brew Masters, the beer doco shown on Discovery Channel hosted by Sam Calagione was cancelled because the 2nd series was to profile (for lack of a better term) a range of US craft breweries to create an awareness of the breadth of American Craft Breweries. Anheuser-Busch got wind of this and threatened to pull advertising. If anyone can add details to this theory I would welcome them.)

I've been to Los Angeles and New York and in my experience NYC (esp Manhattan) was far superior for getting ones hands on some juicy beverages- LA being so spread out doesn't help at all. I went into a fairly average supermarket in LA and found the range of US craft beers fairly limited and once I found a decent bottle shop I found I couldn't buy singles of smaller (355ml size) bottles!

No idea what it's like in the middle states of the US but I imagine ordering via mailorder would be your main option.

Which brings me to AUS & NZ.

I can only vouch for Sydney, specifically the inner west; the good news is that the chain booze shops are stocking certain craft brews and a couple of indie liquor stores are doing a good job.

If all else fails, I order from Melbourne which it's pretty safe to say is ahead of the rest of the country. Slowbeer has 1 rotating tap for Growlers (Flagons in NZ) and an impressive list of worldwide brews.

Now to NZ. I can vouch for New Plymouth and Auckland.

In NP (and NZ) you have the option of both supermarkets and bottleshops which will help you get your hands on a decent array of NZ craft beers, tho it has to be said o/s (particuarly US) brews are hard to find.

So when I go home and I'm not passing thru Liquor Land in Newmarket I will order something over the net. I recommend Regional Wines.

So, what does this all mean? There is no doubting that craft brewing in Australia & New Zealand is healthy and advancing, both in quality and infiltration. I have no specific stats to verify this but the evidence is out there: quality breweries selling quality beers, liquor chain stores having varied brews, bars and stores like Slowbeer, Local Taphouse & Red Oak etc.

Also journals such as Beer and Brewer and the success of beers festivals (Good Beer Week & Beervana in NZ).

It's all good!

What brought all this on you ask? Today I went to a bar in Balmain, The Riverview Hotel, and they had four taps of McLaren Vale Beers, a Stone & Wood Pacific Pale Ale and also Little Creatures. All in this little albeit classy out of the way suburban pub. The food was above average too.

I had the MV IPA. It was fantastic. No Hop Monster but showing real class and lovely fruity flavours.

That simple.

Mad Brewers Noir Stout

Style:Russian Imperial Stout
Alc %:7.4
Brewery:Malt Shovel Brewery
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?: bottle
Where/When:Home, 2011
Cost:$10+
Rating: 7/10

Pours dark coke colour with a creamy looking lightly tan head.

Little bit of hops, cocoa and a little bit of funkyness.

Now the liquorice added to this which piqued my interest to purchase this in the first place isn't that dominate in my opinion. So what do I taste: after letting this warm up a bit i get,

nicely rounded roasted malts and barley that make for a sweet drop. The 7% alcohol is reasonably well hidden which makes it easily drinkable.

I'm giving this a 7/10, a little short on fullness of body but overall a worthy decent stout.
Tho, in retrospect not really an Imperial.

Moo Brew Dark Ale

Style:American Brown Ale
Alc %:5.0
Brewery: Moorilla Estate
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle
Where/When: Home, 2011
Cost: $3 appox
Rating: 6

Very little head and pours dark cola like.

Taste: roasted coffee like notes.

Vale/Dry

Style:American Pale Ale
Alc %:4.5
Brewery:McLaren Vale Beer Company
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle
Where/When:Home, June 2011
Cost:$20 for 4 approx
Rating:5/10

Big white fluffy head. Pale gold and a little cloudy.

Nose: straw like and a little earthy.

Alot of spice which makes it bitey and not so friendly- softens off with a bit of pear but not alot else going on here.

It's not that bad but it's not that great either. Not a flash follow up to their first beer, which showed just a but more depth and class.

5/10

Alpha Pale Ale

Style:American Pale Ale
Alc %:5.2
Brewery: Matilda Bay
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle
Where/When:Home, May 2011
Cost:$2-$3
Rating:6.5/10

Slightly dark copper, with an off white head that dissapears.

A little pine on the nose, mild all the same.

This is in the direction of a solid APA- the fruit and hops are there but tale off and ends up quite watery and letting me down intensity wise- it's 50-60% of the way there. It wants to deliver up front but fails in the end. Ends up green when it should be packing punch.

It's in the ball park- I swish it about my mouth and keep on thinking it's just short 10+% on the intensity and sharpness of flavour that would make it stand out.

With food the hops come out.

That said, I will be trying this on tap next chance I have.

6.5/10

Fat Yak Pale Ale

Style:American Pale Ale
Alc %:4.7
Brewery:Matilda Bay
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 345ml
Where/When:Home, May 2011
Cost:$2 or $3
Rating:6/10

Been drinking this on tap at my local for a while and quite enjoy it.

Nice head that disappears, light copper colour.

Little honey and apricot on the nose- nice.

Piney and citrus, not huge by any accounts- sweet caramel, not like the apricot that appears on the nose. The hoppy bitterness doesn't linger- solid carbonation.

Comes up short to me compared to draught- keep thinking this tastes like a twist on a lager.

Kiwi Craft Beer Spectapular

The Local Taphouse, Darlinghurst

Sat. May 21st

20 Kiwi Beers on tap!!!!

I got there about 3:30 after work and got a paddle straight away.

First sample: Twisted Hop Sauvin Pils:nice light summery Pils- i gave it 7/10.

2nd sample:Emerson Bird Dog (Pale Ale): malty lookin. Nose- light but intense sweet passionfruit- gorgeous. T- different, sweet with spice.

3rd sample: Cock and Bull Monks Habit (US Red Ale/APA):a little funky for my tastes.

4th sample:Moa Five Hop (ESB/Strong Ale):more honey like than hoppy

5th sample:Croucher Patriot (American Black Ale): nice nose, bit like a red ale.

310ml of Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude (Peat-smoked Strong Golden Ale): wow!! Never had anything like it before- if you don't like the smell then you will struggle to get past it- i thought it was like a smoked ham hock- very unique sipper.

575ml 8 Wired Hopwired (New World Kiwi IPA):Had this before and I love it, great grapefruit flavour and aroma- classy, fruity and morish.

310ml Epic Hop Zombie (2IPA):fantastic sweet fruit nose, well rounded sipper that wasn't as bitter on the hop front as i thought it might be.

Finished off with another 8 Wired Hopwired!!

Some high alcohol brews- very enjoyable.

William's Organic Pale Ale

Style:Pale Ale
Alc %:4.5
Brewery:William Bull Brewery
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle
Where/When:Home, May 2011
Cost:$15 a six packh
Rating:6/10

Nice white head, pale light gold colour.

A bit of straw comes thru along with a touch of fruit (apple & a hint of lemon) and finishes with a bit of spice at the end/tip of the tongue.

Clean and fairly smooth, easy enuf to drink- not too offensive but nothing particularly outstanding all the same- fairly high carbonation.

Coopers Strong Ale

Style:English Strong Ale
Alc %:7.5
Brewery:Coopers Brewery
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle
Where/When:Home, May 2011
Cost:$5 for a 375ml bottle
Rating:7

Slightly off white head that dissapears.
Sweet caramel toffee on the nose
Sweet toffee like alcohol warm ness
It is a little sherry like which makes it a bit of a sipper.

Vale Ale

Style:American Pale Ale
Alc %:4.5
Brewery:McLaren Vale Beer Company
Country:Australia
Tap/Bottle?:bottle, 330ml
Where/When:Home, April 2011
Cost:approx $20 a four pack
Rating:6.5

Nicely presented bottle I must say- you can't see in this photo but the label is kinda embossed and nicely designed- makes sense since this is brewed in South Australia.
A little white head with a light gold/straw colour body.
Nose is faintly herby and grape like. Subtle but pleasant enuf.
There's a grainy melon like sweetness, clean and well balanced- nothing really stands out tho it is a little spritzy or high on carbonation that gives it a little sting on the tip of the tongue.
Look, I confess to not liking this when I first tried it.
It had won the punters choice top 100 beers in Oz, so I went out and bought a 4 pack and tried one straight away. I had hopes it would be up there with the Knappstein Reserve Lager but it just didn't impress me at all and I wasn't pleased that it had received such regard by the average punter out in beer drinking land.
However, this tasting i'm not being as hard on it and I can see why it's so popular and worthy of it's regard by those who voted for it.
It is fair to say that for an American APA it doesn't at all fit the mold. Which really makes it an Australian APA!
That said it's still not my cupa tea, so 6.5/10.