What are you drinking ?

[jt]

Ok, so What Are You Brewing was a hotty, as topics go.

Now I'm 15 pints into a keg I only filled on Tuesday and wondering if anyone else has a favourite at the moment ?

It's my second brown with US-Oh05 and it's better than the forst, maybe Ikept the temps down a bit during the scorcher we had in januray

[David Wood]

Keg going on at Hashigo soon ;-)

[Martin Bridges]

On Saturday I called in at Tahi bar in Warkworth on the way back from a visit to Matakana market. They now have the Leigh Sawmill Pale Ale on tap, and will be getting Galbraith's Munich soon. They also now have Epic and Hallertau beers in the fridge, so they've got pretty much all of the Auckland breweries covered!

The Leigh Pale was in good form, and the food was great as always. Ian, you have a lovely place there and I wish I could visit more often.

[James P]

Had a bottle of Tom Ashton's Confederate Ale, a hoppy ale, that I found when clearing space in the hot water cylinder. Awesome mix of hops and malt, mouthfeel was a little light, but it has been sitting in the cupboard for a while. Followed up with a bottle of hop rocker clone.... it's been in the cupboard for about six months and now tastes more like the real thing... a little skunked though.

[jt]

Drinking ?

My Easter treat - the Coopers lager !

Improved markedly in the last week ... but could do with another

[Steph]

Ithaca Beer Co Pale Ale - a bit old but quite tasty. Not well rated on rate beer but Jonny and I are enjoying it. Nice aroma, reasonable head and lacing on the glass, orange hops flavour with some malt sweetness. Prior to this a 3 Boys Golden after the gardening with some Meredith Dairy Chevere Goats cheese with Dill. I agree with Al's comments last night; 3 Boys has probably been my beer of the summer and it was exciting to taste the first of the oyster stout - delicious. Go 3 Boys. The cheese is absolutely delicious too. I think we will eat the whole packet of it.

[Kempicus]

Amager bryghus rated xx 2009...funny it tastes just like my crazy 88 ipa....didn't realise i could have charged 7.49 for it....that's pounds not dollars...crazy!

[Tony]

My Easter treat:

Emerson's Bookbinder
Peak brewery- ESB
Koenig Ludwig- Weissbier

[Steph]

Victory Saison last night, along with some Double Dead Guy with an awesome cheese platter. The saison poured with a thick head and has nice lacing on the glass. It was a pale coloured. Cloudy and chunky with yeast. Lightly spicy; less than I expected actually. But, I love a saison so enjoyed it anyway. Two of six US beers down.

[Stu McKinlay]

the last few days...

Mac's Sassy Red (Shed 22) - damn pissed of that the Brewjolais was all gone before I got there.
Emerson's Cellar Dog Keller (Hashigo) - not bad but could do with a month lagering. congrats Hashigo on the 100th beer!
Townshend's Westons ESB (Hashigo, handpump) - delicious, moreish, wish I'd had timoe for another.
Epic Pale Ale (bottle, mighty Mighty) - on form and a great match to a good gig.
Emerson's Bookbinder (tap, Malthouse) - tasting absolutely splendid at the temperature seemed warmer than usual for The Malthouse (which is great!!).
Firestone Walker Union Jack (bottle) - pretty old but tasting bloody awesome. His Majesty substitute for those with no His Majesty left.
Firestone Walker DBA (bottle) - meh... this is the third time I've had this beer and it appears that age doesn't do a lot for it.
North Coast Praqstar (bottle) - meh... not bad but it didn't get close to matching up to the:
La Trappe Isid'or (bottle) - good drop with a nice balance of floral characters and spice... sweet, until the long dry finish.
Eastie Boys' Fiesta Red (conditioning keg) - I'd love to have taken this to the Hashigo tasting next week but I'm not really sure it's worth it.

My lowlight of the week... Green Flash Double Stout: the first glass was awesome, probably my favourite beer this year, and then *someone* (not me) knocked over the second glass after 1 sip. Theoretically that was about $10 down the tubes but it felt like $1000.

[jt]

His Majesty substitute for those with no His Majesty left.
No subs here thanks ..

Of real and immediate concern though, what 's this
the Brewjolais was all gone before I got there
I was planning a bus trip to town tomorrow - can anyone confirm or deny, is it on or off ?

[Tony]

I had my Peak brewery- ESB last night. Wow, what a great beer. Poured with a nice, thick, creamy head. Smooth, bitter, caramel palate. It was one of those beers I kept looking in the glass to see if it had miraculously filled itself up, before I drank it.

Highly recommended

[Pilgrim]

Easter Beers:
Thursday - Brewjolais at the Northern Steamship, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Friday - staying with friends at Mangawhai Heads, went to the Club and the best I could get was Monteith's Original
Saturday - we all went to Whangarei and visited Brauhaus Frings. What a disapointment! Tried the Premium Lager and the Draught, both were sour and tasted like the lines hadn't been cleaned for weeks. Didn't bother to try any more. If this is the best they can produce then I wouldn't want to use their brewing consultancy services.
Sunday - we all went to Leigh Sawmill Brewery for lunch. Tried their Blade Pilsener, which was quite nice and their Leigh Pale Ale, which was OK, but nothing to write home about. We had to go and I wanted to try their Thornycroft Dark Ale and Crystal Wheat Beer, but they couldn't sell me any to take away as they don't have an off licence, how dumb is that. They told me that I could get it at the local General Store, but they were not selling any alcohol as it was Easter Sunday. Ah well, maybe next time.
Tonight - trying my first beer on the refurbished hand pump, an English Bitter :-)