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

[jt]

then Auckland doh!

Nah, you've got volcanoes instead !

[martin w]

i got a selection of different harringtons beers for fathers day, i'm currently drinking their east indies lager and its quite a pleasant drop, perfect for a warm summers afternoon is what i'm thinking, anybody have any recipe suggestions for something similar? but using ale yeast,prob so5 i'd imagine.

edit

what style would you say this is? i just checked the beer awards website and it was entered in-
OTHER, EG AMBER, BOCK, OKTOBERFEST,
MARZEN, VIENNA

[Ally Mcg]

All this 'boil water for 3 minutes before drinking' stuff has got me down on drinking water, so I'm enjoying lower abv beers instead.

Last night I enjoyed a Punkadiddle evening and tonight its the Townshend NZPA. Both excellent post-earthquake drinking in Christchurch if you're on the flat and need to boil water to ensure it's safety.

[Stu McKinlay]

Great to hear everyone is ok and no major reports of damage in the homebrew community.
Awesome effort for Pom's to be up and running on the afternoon of the quake - great team effort.


Kieran has a short report, based on what he has heard so far, here

Twisted Hop beers may be a little cloudy for a few days but get in there and drink 'em up so they can kee paying their bills.

[Nick T]

Stu, thanks for the HM at Poms, was nice and de-stressing to be able to relax with one this evening with some mates who came round (and had tried to get into my kegs in my absence!)

Had a Punkadiddle while there getting the HM, nice. Had a quick chat with Craig who was also there, he only lost one bottle to the quake!

Tried to get the the Hop at the end of the other day but it is inside the cordon still.

[Stu McKinlay]

Our pleasure Nick... the beer is fine but they are actually all bottles with some sort of labelling or capping defect... did you notice? Originally we had decided to keep some for personal consumption and donate the rest to Craig at BeerNZ to do whatever he wanted to do with them but the quake struck so we sent left them all "quakeside".

A special deal seemed perfect after what you guys have been through, so we worked something out ($0 from us to Craig and the counter price split between Poms and BeerNZ). Funnily enough, you guys get to buy them for a cheaper retail price than we even sell wholesale! And all the $ go to two great Christchurch businesses in Poms and BeerNZ. Our thoughts are with you all... we have a lot of great friends down there.


Fingers crossed for the hop. I've heard they've been able to get in to clean up but I know Martin's house and property has been hit quite hard too. Make sure you all buy plenty of beer and food when they reopen!

[Nick T]

The tide was out ever so slightly from the capping issue, but the carbonation was not affected, so was a beautiful drop!

Have not heard today about the cordon position with respect to the Hop. I am sure it does not affect them, but there are more damaged buildings appearing recently. The site of buildings being torn down has become so common now as to be almost unremarkable.

[Stu McKinlay]

there's a good account of the Poplar Lane area at this website (I discovered it after discovering that they sell PKB):

http://goodbyebluemonday.co.nz/

[Nick T]

Well the Hop is well and truly open, had a pint of Challenger and a steak there last night with a couple of the out of town EQC assessors, after first introducing them to Epic Pale Ale, Three Boys Oyster Stout and Pomerorys. Quite hard to access though, many of the Lanes' entrances/alleyways are blocked off with barriers where there is EQ damage - worth the trip to the other side of the block though to finally get there!

[Michael]

Been a while since I have been on since my brewing gear is still somewhere in the ocean. So, here are the brews I am having/have had over this weekend. This might sound like a Sierra Nevada commercial, but I get it for about $7 USD. I wish I could find it cheaper.

Sierra Nevada Tumblr - This is their seasonal autumn beer. Quite tasty.

Sierra Nevada Pale/Ale - Didn't taste bad, but was a little oxidised. it was much better in Las Vegas. I guess this is probably because it hasn't travelled across the country in the heat. (I am in Miami for a couple years.) Chico, CA is a lot closer to Las Vegas, and I assume they go through it a lot quicker there.

Sierra Nevada Kellervies - Not a bad drop. However, I am not the biggest wheat beer fan. This left me a bit bloated.

Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier - So, this is still a wheat beer, but the blackberry came out nicely. Much better than the Sam Adams I remember.

[jt]

Hey good to see you about Michael.
I thought you'd have bought plenty of shiney cheap new brewing bling - or is the bottled choice just too good for now ?

[Michael]

I wish that could honestly say yes. However, SWMBO would certainly had a fit if I bought more gear. My stuff should be here by the end of September, which is probably for the best. The heat is way to high. There is no way apart from building some gear with a pre-chiller that I would be able to get my beer temps low enough to pitch in any decent time.

I am looking at a mill now that it will not cost an arm & leg to ship it.

By the way, I will likely be in NZ for a week or two at the end of Nov/beginning Dec.

Cheers!