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

[Ally Mcg]

I'm drinking your cider too - the MC U one - hope that's not 7.1% - trying to dry out after last night

[Soren]

jeeez, really? felt like 4-5% max! very drinkable! You press your own fruit right? What yeast do you use?

[Christian]

New World had some Budweiser in their cheap, single beers trolley - so I had to try one. Well, now I know what beer without hops tastes like.

[jt]

rare event, bought beer

A Tuatara APA - I got very excited when I saw it at pak & Save, but it wasn't a patch on the tap version a few months ago. Flat and lacklustre in comparison, all malt, little hops

Steinlager on tap at lunch, I didn't see the hoprocker tap unfortunately
It's a better lager than I make - but I wasn't impressed, maybe my memory is playing tricks on me

back to reality and the garage, kegged the 1.033 pale. I should have dry hopped this.

Not the best of beer days .. until an email from Matthew. Time to organise the North Welly Golden Ale Festival tasting. Now that IS something to look forward to

[Stu McKinlay]

A few beers of note in the last week...


Mussel Inn Golden Goose - old stock that a friend picked up from a BeerNZ sale but man this tasted great. The fact that I was in a cold pool after cycling 160km in 30c heat may well have added to the enjoyment factor.

Yeastie Boys Punkadiddle - saved the last bag of this for the handpump after riding around the lake... we were all so knackered that we couldn't get through it, leaving 5 or 6 litres. I put a little in bottles for Sam and a couple of friends and then took the rest home. Had 5 or 6 pints on Sunday night and boy am I going to miss this beer...

Townshend Sutton's Hoo - a little over the top in the NZ hop aromatics for me, I prefer martin's work when everything is closer to equilibrium, but I expect the hop heads will love it. Certainly one of the fruitier, and less grassy/savoury NZ hopped beers I've had in the last couple of months.

Wanaka Brewski - my first one in a couple of years... pretty nice, but the nose was a bit off-putting lollyish malt and sweet hops... lacks the malt depth and a little bit of the bitterness that it used to have but it is certainly tasting a lot cleaner than the last few times I tried it.

Tuatara Hefe - My bro grabbed a rigger from Regionals. Wow, it's been a long time between good hefeweizens for me but this was on top form. Loads of banana but nicely balanced with a bit of spice and a crisp finish.

Mikeller Black Tie - superb imperial stout... ticked all the boxes and was a real pleasure to share it with my bro after our 9th lap of Lake Taupo.

Eastie Boys Rex Attitude mkII - Didn't nail this brew day like the first one and as such the beer is a bit of a hazy mess... tasting good but looks like a hefeweizen! Just into CC this week, so hopefully it'll be a bit cleaner and clearer by Christmas. Still... tasting it has me very excited about getting this into 330ml bottles early next year.

8 Wired Tall Poppy - tasted damn good, a bit "rougher round the edges" than I was expecting, but I'll need another look later... it clashed with the delicious Smoked Porter and Chipotle sauce that was accompanying my deep fried haggis on a stick!!

[Reviled]

Epic Lager down at long bay, bottle lasted maybe 2 minutes it was so delicious!! Perfect weather for it in Auckland lately, makes me wish I brewed a lager 3 months ago, almost :oP lol

[Bambule]

Its been a busy month or so of beer drinking, kicking off with my trip up to Hamilton. This coincided with some awesome weather as I headed to House on Hood and stood in front of their generous selection of beer. The weather demanded a wheat beer and the Croucher Hef was perfect, along with an Epic while I ate a smoked food platter out on the terrace.

The following evening I caught up with Greig Mcgill and his wife and we raced off to the Ruakura Campus Club. What a cool place. You could be in any club house in New Zealand....but with the very important distinction of having kick arse beer on tap. Even a hand pump. We tucked into a Red ale by Valley Brewery in Gealdine which was intriguing at first but great by the end of the pint. Another Epic later and we headed back into town for dinner and a Tuatara APA. Hamilton may not be rated by many, but they have good beer, and that counts. It makes Masterton look like a sad forlorn place. Thanks for the hospitality Greig.

Off to Rotorua with my parents on our way to go tramping around Waikaremoana. We went to the Belgian Beer bar. This place was great. A non franchise belgian bar, run by a belgian. I refused to let my parents leave till we'd drunk a few Maredsous blondes and the wickedly american hopped Croucher patriot. The next day to carb load before tramping we tucked into some more Croucher, the pale ale and pilsner, both of which were fresh and at their best.

After all this drinking it was good to have some days off tramping around the lake in the rain. Even in the rain it was beautiful. Emerging from the bush four days later a lukewarm Tsing tao from the boot of the car tasted good! At least the first few sips did.

Back home and I promptly set my parents to task baby sitting as my wife and I headed to Wellington to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Much great beer was drunk but the high point was kicking back in a bath tub drinking Sierra Nevada 30th anniversary Black Barley Wine. Velvety, intensely aromatic and perfect for the occasion.

And one of my proudest homebrewing moments. My work xmas party on Friday. Tired of the usual slop served up I got selfish and brewed my own chinook/centennial pale ale. Served using a PIN and hand pump from Peak, it was drained within 2 hours. Easy to do, but this was in a room full of mainly Tui drinkers! A triumph!

[Bambule]

I'm drinking one of Jokings IPAs.

Receiving a beer swap from Jo is a bit of a happy/sad experience.

The beer is always wonderfully presented, clear, clean, no problems. The down side is, it makes my homebrew taste rank.

This IPA is no different. I break the seal, and a gush of hops wafts into the room. The beer is brilliant in the glass, do you filter it Jo? The hops are quite pungent at first but settle down and the empty bottle left me wanting much, much more.

On the upside I still have another of his beers in the fridge. maybe tomorrow night.

[JoKing]

Cheers mate. Sounds a bit slack - but I still haven't had either of your ones yet, but you don't need to talk them down! I did my first ever mail swap with you, and I can still remember the taste of your Belgian Blonde. It was probably the best made BB I have tasted. AND it knocked my socks off! Your stouts have been great too!

I'll let you know when I get into your beers... but this time of the year is difficult for me to crack into anything other than my test batches... no one comes over to help me finish the kegs off, so if I don't drink it all myself (a keg will last up to a month) it has to go down the drain: otherwise I can't brew!

I think I might release the IPA to the poor unsuspecting public soon. It's something I've been working on for a while, and hits all the right buttons as far as the style goes I believe. I am super excited that you like it, and no: it's not filtered.

Cheers bud - I look forward to another exchange, but most of all - I look forward to trying yours!

[Reviled]

"I think I might release the IPA to the poor unsuspecting public soon"

FUCK YES!!! Do it!

[Stu McKinlay]

what a nice week for craft beer... [probably a little over budget but I guess, because I'm self employed, that's my "Christmas party"]

Pink Elephant Golden Tusk - lovely strong pale ale
Pink Elephant Mammoth - amazing complexity, a really wonderful recipe
Golden Ticket Black Emperor - delicious summer ale for people who love black beers
Tuatara Barrel-aged Porter - GREEN! This went down a little too easy.
Sierra Nevada Tumbler Brown - much better than I expected, a lovely little hoppy brown ale
Tuatara X - one of my favourite NZ beers so far this year, without a doubt
Emerson's Old 95 - if there was a slightly more characterful yeast in this beer it might be the best beer in the country!
8 Wired Tall Poppy - delicious, more aggressive than I expected (and great to try it without Soren's fantastic peat-smoke chipotle hot sauce getting in the way)
Twisted Hop Nokabollokov - very nice, smooth strong dark ale... sings "imperial porter" more than "imperial stout" but a beer by any other name would, you know...

All pretty damn good really... especially the Pink Elephant beers, which I've not tried for a while.

Now... what to have at Malthouse for lunch?

[Reviled]

Tuatara X??? WTF is that?