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Craft beer thread

Tex

John Thornett (49)
Do you Northerners get beer from the Holgate Brewhouse in NSW/QLD?

It's a beautiful brewery and pub in Woodend, about 90 mins out of Melbourne. They're great innovators and put out an excellent variety of beers with plenty of seasonal variation.

The Temptress is a winter delight. As is the bacon, duck and venison burger.

http://www.holgatebrewhouse.com/
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Yeah, Holgate brews are stocked by bottleos who keep a decent range of craft beers. They've had good distribution in Sydney for a coupla years now.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
Craft ale reaches maturity

By KATE TARALA

July 29, 2014, 9:30 p.m.​
r0_3_1200_678_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
TASTE READY: John Twohill with kegs of the Coopers Vintage Ale 2013, to be opened on Thursday. Picture: Simone De Peak

FIRST it was wine being cellared to improve the flavour and aroma, now craft beer is getting the same treatment at Merewether’s The Beach Hotel.
Hotelier John Twohill, who has been at the beachside hotel and eatery since 1984, has cellared Coopers yearly special release beer for the past five or so years. Last year, he put away three 50-litre kegs of the Coopers Vintage Ale 2013 and will crack open the kegs tomorrow after 1 years’ maturation in the hotel’s lower levels.
Though he hasn’t yet tasted the brew, Twohill has high expectations after the high quality of previous Cooper brews he has aged.
‘‘It is one of Australia’s best craft beers, it’s really rich and dark, a most magnificent beer. It is supposed to last up to five years, but I have just cellared it for 18months,’’ Twohill told GT.
‘‘I’ll crack it open on Thursday, it should last about a week but when it comes to craft beer, the word gets out quickly. It’s special because it is rationed, it makes it a bit mythical, a bit mysterious.’’
Get in quick for a pint of the cellared beer before it runs out. Twohill recommended matching the beer with a cold-weather dish such as a pie.
The Beach Hotel is on the corner of Frederick and Ridge streets, Merewether.
Call 49631574 or visit thebeachhotel.com.au.
 

p.Tah

John Thornett (49)
To celebrate Cheika's Lebanese roots, we headed to a Lebanese restaurant at Top Ryde before the game.

Had my first Lebanese beer, 961 Pale Ale. It's brewed with wild thyme, sumac, chamomile, sage, anise, and mint. Very fragrant and quite distinctive. I wouldn't drink it by itself but went really well with Lebanese food.

www.961australia.com.au
 

Tex

John Thornett (49)
I was waylaid on my last trip to the bottle shop. I entered intending on leaving only with a bottle of white to match the seafood pie bubbling away in the oven, but was mesmerised by a bunch of ‘exotic’ beers on the counter.

Behold!

Brew Cult’s Acid Freaks Balsamic Porter, Bellarine Brewing Co.’s Mussel Stout and Wells’ Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale.

The Acid Freaks wasn’t as bad as I feared (I mean, balsamic vinegar in a porter could be ‘orrible). A rich porter with a bit of tang on the tongue. The Sticky Toffee Pudding ale was a novelty – a bit too sweet and soft for my liking. Although it did suit the freezing weather on Saturday night.
 

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Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Beyond the pale: India Pale Ale evolves
Once upon a time, IPA was a very specific style. Now, whose line is it?
KNOW YOUR IPAS
English IPA - Marmalade bitterness married to plenty of biscuity, sweet malt character. Try: Meantime IPA (London, UK).
American IPA - Huge citrus-tropical fruit aroma and lots of bitterness balanced by a toffee sweetness. Try: Feral Hop Hog (Swan Valley, WA).
Black IPA - A touch of coffee roastiness laid over the classic American IPA character. Try: Kooinda Black IPA (Heidelberg, Vic).
White IPA - A marriage of citrussy IPA and spicy, moreish witbier. Try: Mornington Peninsula White IPA (Mornington, Vic).
Session IPA -A lower-strength IPA - what some might call a hoppy pale ale. Try: Founders All Day IPA (Michigan, US).

Full Article here:
http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-foo...le-india-pale-ale-evolves-20140802-3d0ai.html

Original Article by Will Hawkes.
 

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Baldric - no problems. The Picobrew is still being manufactured - in the USA. It won't be shipped until about July. The pre-order discount was apparently about $750 to $1000.

<snip>

@Gibbo, Has your present arrived yet?
 

Gibbo

Ron Walden (29)
Nope.. There was a delay in mid July. They have shipped over 100. I'm order # 456

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
 

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Waiting ... ... ... ... Waiting... ..... ..... Waiting ... ... ... :(

Must do a google to see what feedback, if any, there has been on the 100 or so that have already shipped.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
I've drank a couple of stubbies of "Thomas Cooper's Selection Artisan Reserve" tonight.

It's a pilsener-style beer.

Very nice.
 

Gibbo

Ron Walden (29)
Waiting . . . . Waiting. ... ... Waiting . . . :(


And another delay apparently....Their production partners are screwing them around....
When will your unit ship? We’d love to tell you exactly. All we can say now is that we are committed to getting everything 100% right. We could have continued to ship last week, and chances are high that the machines would have been just fine. But we aim for 100% here, not 90%. As mentioned, we have a backlog of ~50 units that we need to ship out now. Our entire tasting room, conference room and hallways are taken up with units now that just need to pass through QC (Quade Cooper). The actual production rate is up at our first assembly factory and we are qualifying a much larger second factory, so assuming we can get enough Step Filter plastics from our new plastic molding shop, we should be off to the races.
 

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
New Zealands top Craft Beers
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11312380

THE 15 WINNING BREWS (Judged in association with Beervana Festival)

• European lager: Emersons Brewery (Dunedin), Gladiator Bock
• International lager: DB Draught Brewery (Timaru), Monteith's Black
• British ale: Wigram Brewing Company (Christchurch), Tornado Strong Ale
• Other European ale: Emersons Brewery (Dunedin), JP 2014
• US ale: ParrotDog (Wellington), BloodyDingo
• International ale: Panhead Custom Ales (Upper Hutt), Boss Hog
• Stout and porter: Three Boys Brewery (Christchurch), Three Boys Oyster Stout
• Wheat and other grains: Renaissance Brewing (Marlborough), Black the RIPA
• Flavoured and aged: Wigram Brewing Company (Christchurch), Captain Cook Spruce Beer
• New Zealand-specific: Townshend Brewery (Nelson), Oldhams Tap Riwaka Pilsner
• Specialty, experimental, aged, barrel, wood-aged: Panhead Custom Ales (Upper Hutt), Black Sabbath
• Cider and perry: Zeffer Cider Co. (Auckland), Slack ma Girdle Cider
• Cask-conditioned: Moa Brewery (Marlborough), Moa Five Hop Handpull
• Packaging: Tuatara Brewing (Kapiti), Delicious Neck

• Festive Brew: Behemoth Brewing (Auckland), Brave Bikkie Brown Ale
 

Tex

John Thornett (49)
Came across a new (for me) craft brewery last week. La Sirene operate out of the Melbourne suburb of Alphington and make French and Belgian inspired beer.

The Belgian Praline was pretty bloody tasty and went a ways to softening the blow of the AB drubbing in Bledisloe 2.

http://www.lasirene.com.au/
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Thanks for bringing that to our attention, Big Bum. Looks like I'll have to write off that part of October, maybe taking rooms somewhere in Surry Hills could be the go.
 
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