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

[Chris Banks]

Lucky for me jt had to get up this morning so this afternoon I got a good sample of this also!

Agree with other comments Piney with a citrus chaser - very clear - what abv was it?

Not to be subtracting from the subject but it really reminded me of a north welly colaboration beer we brewed
Adhock Maximus Remix (basically maximus with different hops) but that maybe my crazy tastebuds?

[jt]

It's the "A Team" beers tonight - though how you guys keep track of batches without numbers is beyond me

First up Chris's AP - Aotearoa Pilsner
I was interested as we'd both brewed similar beers at about the same time. This was way better than mine, mine lacked a good 60 minute bittering additon but this had it - and really good hop from start to finish.
Both our bottled versions both lacked clarity though, we missed the conditioning time ?
really looking forward to trying it again if we have a go in October

Matthews AA .. the one he's been rationing .. thought I might get a taste at the next North Welly gathering but this one turned up early. from what you'd said I'd expected maltier. Though not as bitter as the previous sample this still ha the hop flavour, not the aroma though and really good to sip in the kitchen cooking stroganoff, if just kept coming through

Ok, followed by "A" beer of mine. "A" lager, nowhere near as tasty as the beers before it, bad choice. Also lacking clarity, nice & pale, but after we stood & looked at the clairity of Joe's Yakima Warrior last night, feel like I'm looking through a murky pond ...

Might have "A" nother beer later ...

Tomorrow's tasting will be from a different letter !

cheers, jt

[JoKing]

ABV? Dont really measure that these days... I taste it and it feels like 1.010 in the finish, and the start was 1.065 so I guess it's around the 7% mark. Dont worry about the clarity - it was one of those mistakes you make from time to time. In my defense - it was the 1st brew with that size gear - so I didn't quite think out the carageenan measurements, resulting in an overdose. There was a WHOLE PILE of trub in the kettle and suprise suprise a whole pile of clear beer. Anyone can sacrifice volume for clarity... but no one should sacrifice clarity for flavour. This beer should have had that little bit of haze on it - which really does bring out some delicious flavours... be it body or whatever. Too much fining definately takes the life out of an ale.

[jt]

I'm over it, clarity ain't gonna happen here in a hurry

But I must admit - it was a good beer :-)

[JoKing]

It was the trial brew that I did in Sorens brewery: Yakima Warrior. I still have 2 and a half kegs of the stuff! I'm pleased with it... not so pleased I don't have that brewery any more - it sure makes good beer!

[jt]

not so pleased I don't have that brewery any more

You need to build another one, do a spec job and look for a buyer while you test drive it

[Matthew]

A few jealous tears were shed over the clarity too. Crystal clear.

[Martin Bridges]

Last night I was going to a gig at Galatos in Newton (Hollie Smith, thus destroying what vestiges of musical credibility I have with Mr McKinlay). I was driving so couldn't get stewed on crappy lager at the gig. Couldn't have much, so decided I needed to make it quality. Remembered that someone had said the Wine Cellar in St Kevins Arcade on K Road had Croucher, so decided to give it a go.

This place defines the term 'dingy'. I'm so not cool enough to hang out there regularly! However, they had Croucher's "NZ Ale" on tap. Turns out it's the boys' Golden Ale, and very nice it was too. Got most of the fruitiness of the Pale Ale but a little drier. Very nice. They also have 2 Mike's beers on tap and the IPA in bottle, plus a few Coopers bottles. A hidden gem, or maybe diamond in the rough.

Gig was awesome by the way. Well worth venturing out through The Storm of Doom.

[Stu McKinlay]

Live music = credibility Mr Bridges. I don't care who it is, a good live gig is a good live gig. And no recording will ever come close.

Add good beer to the mix and you had yourself a perfect night!

[Glynn Foster]

Managed to find myself on a craft beer tasting at the Artisan Wine Depot (www.artisanwinedepot.com) this evening, with their 'Twenty Top 100 Craft Beers from Around the World' - pretty good line up all things considered....

Rogue "Morimoto Soba", Specialty Grain Ale 4.8 ABV
Van Steenberge "Piraat", Belgain Strong Ale 5.5 ABV
Petrus (Bavik) Blond Ale, 6.6 ABV
Petrus (Bavik) Aged Pale Ale, 7.3 ABV
Drakes "1500", Pale Ale 5.2 ABV
Bear Republic "Racer 5", IPA 7.0 ABV
Bear Republic "XP", Pale Ale 5.4 ABV
Rubicon, IPA 6.5 ABV
Monk's Cafe (Van Steenberge), Flemish Sour Ale 5.5 ABV
Poperings (Van Eecke), Hommel Ale 7.5 ABV
Mad River "Steelhead", Double IPA 8.6 ABV
Drake's "Denogginizer" Double IPA 10.0 ABV
Bear Republic "Red Rocket", Amber Ale 6.8 ABV
Bear Republic "Hop Rod" Rye IPA 8.0 ABV
La Trappe, Trappist Triple 8.0 ABV
Van Steenberge "Gulden Draak", Belgian Triple Ale 10.5 ABV
Speakeasy "Payback" Porter 7.5 ABV
Mad River "Steelhead" Scotch Porter 6.5 ABV
Rogue, Mocha Porter 5.1 ABV
Bison, Organic Stout 6.1 ABV

Predictably enough there was a fair amount of hoppy beers - some a lot more balanced than others. Favourites for me were Rogue "Morimoto Soba", Bear Republic "Hop Rod" Rye IPA and Speakeasy "Payback" Porter. Fortunately most of the samples were fairly small otherwise I would now be on my ear. Fun time though. Tomorrow, Toronado beckons for lunchtime, and a meal at Monks Kettle in the evening. Oh SFO!

[Glynn Foster]

Didn't quite make it to Toronado but did make it to Monks Kettle - was every bit as good as I expected it to be, if a little long in the wait time (it's a small, small place). Here was the beer lineup (some shared with my friends) -

Russian River, Blind Pig IPA
Porterhouse (Dublin), Oyster Stout
Port Brewing Company, Older Viscosity
Brouwerij Verhaeghe, Duchesse de Borgogne
Petrus, Oud Bruin

Petrus was moderately disappointing especially after last night. Porterhouse was hugely surprising to see on the beer list and had to try it just by being virtue of it coming from Ireland - wasn't quite as good in the bottle as on tap with an Irish music session in the background. Duchesse de Borgogne was the standout beer for me tonight.

[Dave]

I love the duchess