Beer – #50 – Kaimai Golden Rye Ale

 

Brewed by Kaimai Brewing in the style of a Specialty Grain, and comes from the lovely Mt Maunganui, New Zealand. So I learnt that you can have a beer style of "Speciality grain"  This 330ml bottle of 5.5% ABV golden beer has been on or near my radar for a while.

"Rye in beer is technically more difficult than traditional barley - this beer comprises 40% rye! Brewer Andrew Larsen is introducing NZ palates to the delicacies of rye textures and flavours in this and his Porter Rye Ale. Golden Rye Ale is tinged with flavours of passionfruit and citrus. It is refreshingly smooth and silky and the rye produces a unique aroma and texture"

As a special beer then I'm sort of expecting special things. It's unusually delivered small, which is possibly why I've avoided it before - being a bulk over substance kind of guy, But what better way to get to a 50?

Ok so it's dark like Rimu colour brown, which isn't so much "golden" as rich brown. You can catch the aroma of yeast. Nothing leaps out and announces itself.

I get a taste of grass, which I'm sure you all know is a favourite snack of mine.  It's big on flavour through and leaves you an interesting mouthfeel. Of course it poured headless. What else would happen?

The twang and the spice are quite pleasing, but I'm bereft of ideas of how this beer is significant enough to have it's own category of speciality. It's a good beer. It's not a stand alone in a class of beer beer.

The grass taste - well it might be the Rye of course, just thought of that.

Pdubyah-o-meter time, and this isn't what I thought I might get,  I say that a bit with beers, sometimes they're good words sometimes they're bad. This is like the disappointment you get when you have a lotto ticket and you know the jackpot hasn't been won. So for that this is 5 from 10 arbitrary numbers from an equally arbitrary number. This beer is just not special enough to be a class on it's own, and a bit ordinary to be confused as leading the way with something, a bit ordinary and I probably could confuse it with something more commercial and a lot cheaper.

Related articles

• Best Craft Beers (foxnews.com)

 

Beer – #49 – Renaissance - Craftsman Chocolate Stout

Renaissance - Craftsman Chocolate Stout, Brewed by Renaissance Brewing in the style of a Stout, in Blenheim, New Zealand

Expecting dark, Expecting Chocolate, and hoping that it pours with head.

500Ml of a 4.9% ABV  beer in a bottle that says pint, and there I was thinking I was making it up, and that 568ml is a pint. Brewers privilege.

It pours like a thick liquid, definitely dark pitch black, and I was kidding myself if I expected a head. I really have to figure this out.

There is no aroma that I can resolve, but the taste is all there. A complete range of chocolate, coffee, a little burnt stuff, lots of bubbles.  Quite subtle, and full of intrigue. There isn't a long taste to this though, it's all on the palate and then it's all gone. Mind you each mouthful is it's own reward and I've got no problem with that.

Arbitrarily though this is about 8 from 10 arbitrary things from an equally arbitrary number. It's ok, it's very ok, but it's sort of muddled in the taste but I'm not going to turn this away it you're buying. Of it's kind it's a winner, if only I could pour it with a head I could have arbitrarily given it higher marks.

Sporting your life vicariously – the last Tournament

Next week my daughter will be playing for her College team at the 2012 Federation Cup Secondary School Tournament in Carterton. It will be for her, and many others, the final schools tournament they get to play in. Of course there is always faint hope of age grade representative teams, and other honours, but this one is a final hurrah before she embarks into the real world!

Rangitoto College are this year seeded #6 based on the 2011 tournament results. The Federation Cup is for the top schools Hockey teams, and is pretty mercenary, the bottom 4 teams drop out of the tournament the following year, and the top four teams from the  Marie Fry Trophy Secondary School Tournament are added, this year: St Hilda's Collegiate , Craighead Diocesan, Christchurch Girls High, and Gisborne Girls High. The Schools that now play in the tournament below -The Marie Fry Trophy Secondary School Tournament -  are : Westlake Girls High, Hillcrest High School, Tauranga Girls College,  and Nelson College for Girls, and they go in as the top 4 seeds for that.

The Federation Cup  is played in a tournament format of 16 Team 4 teams per pool, and then Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Finals.

In recent years, since they qualified after the 2007 Marie Fry Trophy Tournament,  Rangitoto College have finished 8th (2008), 4th (2009), 2nd (2010), and 6th (2011).

This year then the seeding and pools look like this

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
Wairarapa College	Diocesan School	St Cuthbert's College	St Matthew's Collegiate
Whangarei Girls' High	St Margarets' College	Rangitoto College	Rangi Ruru Girls
Epsom Girls Grammar	Kristin School	Villa Maria College	Palmerston North Girls
Gisborne Girls High	Christchurch Girls High	Craighead Diocesan	St Hilda's Collegiate

And seedings

Team	Division Seeding
Wairarapa College	1
Diocesan School	2
St Cuthbert's College	3
St Matthew's Collegiate	4
Rangi Ruru Girls	5
Rangitoto College	6
St Margaret's College	7
Whangarei Girls' High	8
Epsom Girls Grammar	9
Kristin School	10
Villa Maria College	11
Palmerston North Girls	12
St Hilda's Collegiate	13
Craighead Diocesan	14
Christchurch Girls High	15
Gisborne Girls High	16

And for me? A Few days in Carterton where there is plenty of Wine to drink ! oh and I'm urged to consider these activities whilst there, inbetween games:

• Paua World, a terrific paua factory and store


• The Parkvale Mushroom Factory


• Vineyards at Gladstone


• Stonehenge Aotearoa


• Country gardens - like Daysh Country Garden at Clareville and Assisi Gardens high in the Gladstone hills


• and as a bonus


• For an outdoor adventure hike in the Tararua Forest Park and the Waiohine Gorge, which has an brilliant swing bridge.

All of which could happen.

Beer – #48 – Epic - Message in a Bottle

Epic - Message in a Bottle. a 7.5% ABV beer in a 500ml bottle. Brewed at Steam Brewing Company In the style of an India Pale Ale (IPA), in Auckland.

When Kiwis first started brewing their own beer in the late 19th century, it was modelled on the IPAs imported from the Motherland by ship. This is what we used to drink before industrialisation, prohibition-pleasing law reform and rationalisation turned beer into a one-dimensional mass-produced commodity. At the dawn of the 21st century a brave new age of brewing is bringing back flavour and rediscovering the popular beers that time forgot. Whatls old is new again. Enjoy it like it was your first time.

Two things, My pictures are getting worse, not a pretty man this one looks like I've developed a badger stipe! Anyway Right then, an IPA, so expecting a bit hoppy, bit coppery, and it's all that, a burnt caramel, bittery nice and roasty.

Nice one EPIC, Lovely colour, lovely aroma. top stuff, except for the feeling of over-carbonation.

The pdubyah-o-meter cranks upto an 8 on this, out of 10 arbitrary things. It's pleasant, flavourful, colourful but in the end not character-full enough to be great.

Related articles

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Happy Families - the one with the recap #2

Anyways we crack on ....  There are many more things to tell

If you remember we had an aunt Peggy  - it turns out that she was not a relation at all. This came to light when Peggy needed proof of identity for her pension rights. Seems our nan took her in. Mum only said she was very upset and angry.

but a footnote clears it up somewhat:  Peggy is a relation, that's your Mum's "sister" on her birth cert. The father is named as your granddad ( Eva's dad ), but the mother isn't Harriet (grandmother), but is in fact your Grandads sister.  We presume that whilst married - the mother who's name evades us at present - and with her husband is  at war (or dead) she's become pregnant. Our Grandparents have taken Peggy as their own, hence Grandads name on the birth certificate, so Peggy was your Mums cousin and her "parents" we're her Aunt & Uncle.

In other stories

The bishop of Fulham is a relative! He came to visit us once.

Granddad had a  brother who lived just yards away they never spoke.

Took mum to see Albert SCRIVEN  -  he being a cousin -  his brother was a boxer and actually spared with the late Sir Henry Cooper, we have a letter from him telling us that.

Granddads father fell of the back of a horse and cart and died. He was born in Crewkerne  - that's Somerset.

granddad  served in WW I -  according to mum he was a stretcher bearer.  Had a finger knuckle shot off Clive may remember that twisted finger.

Uncle George who lived at the same house got shrapnel wounds in the back we have a photo of him in uniform with a military motorbike. Sadly he jumped in front of a train at Hither Green. There was a short story in the newspaper at the time. I talked to the head of British Railways about this but they don't keep records.

Then there is Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim took everything,  but he died a pauper at Bury St Edmunds.  The council cremated him, and put his ashes on nans grave.

The only relation alive is by marriage, and  is Uncle George's wife.  Mums brother, George was in the SAS.

Our older cousins are passing away,  cousin Tarn died , Cousin Sam (Clive will remember him he has cancer) is living in  somewhere like Thailand  -  sold his house to provide for himself as money goes further.

We have a relation there who as done much ancestry work,  I met him on the family tree. There is a soldier with the surname "Hicks" -  a war memorial statue, more than one, who posed for the sculpture  - we have a photo,  It's also the memorial statue near us, anyway we're sure there are more.

Our family tree goes back to 1604 I think but only on mums side.

We have relations in South NZ - Waimate. Might as well put this a relative played for the all blacks. a long time ago.

and Finally....

Uncle Syd was a  boxer -  using the name "Pat Crowley" in Ireland.  Not a good idea to be an Englishman with "the troubles" then. A record of 99 fights undefeated. The information came from a boxing historian who was very excited when we told him who Pat Crowley was. Also spoke to the owner of boxing magazine about George SCRIVEN, grandads son, he was an Olympic hopeful but liked women and a beer he's the one who sparred with Henry Cooper.

Happy Families - the one with the recap

I mentioned yesterday how strangely a family that doesn't really communicate that well suddenly gets a burst of enthusiasm for each other. Today I have the recollections of  the #2 Child, my older brother (there are 3 sisters in between us though). Let us begin....

Lots of photo are missing the oldest ones were taken when dad was a misplaced person after the war.

The reason, for his being a misplaced person, is, I believe, dad,  along with many others were rounded up after the Warsaw uprising.

He probably knew Pope John Paul  - who evaded capture.  That could explain why we got Christmas cards and holy bread, and that we also a photo of the pope on the wall. (signed by the pope himself I remember)

This is important  - dad was a slave worker for the nazis , I think he must have been liberated by the Canadian forces so ending up in Canada, where his listed occupation was a barber.

After release dad joined the Royal Engineers.

Mum saw him visiting a friend in London (near her home address in Beacon Road and said "I will marry him" -  and she did  - at Lockerbie in Scotland.

Dad like many other war veterans did not talk about the past.

Dad first went back to Poland in 1964 in an Austin A40 car a red one.  He took to Poland things that were rare like coffee, plasters , chocolate, warm clothes  - including socks and underwear. When he came back home all he was wearing was a top and trousers and a pair of sandals he had given everything away.

The photo you are referring to is at a place called krakow  (possibly Zakopane),  you have been there along with Lesley ,Andy, Stewart also Shirley.  You all went in a Austin 1100.

That was 1966.

I remember going to Poland, indeed in a red Morris 1100 there were 4 asleep on the back seat, top to tail, and mum and dad in the front. It would have been an overnight drive. I don't recall Stewart being there, since he was born in 1967 it would be unlikely :-)  OS just myself, my older sisters Shirley and Lesley and my younger brother Andrew.  There are a few vivid memories - I was after all only 5) Sitting on mum's lap as we drove through the night - having a night watchman looking after the car - a bit of a rarity in Poland at the time - a private car - the Trams and the Ice Creams. 

Happy Families, the one with the lost photographs

Among the many best things about re-uniting with family post the stress of the death of the mother is that there is more acceptance and sharing of things.

This time the photographs. None of which contain me (in this batch) but worth sharing for the sharing.

[gallery link="file" order="DESC" orderby="rand"]

Beer - #47 - The Moa Methode

The time has come the walrus said.... to get into this 1.5Litre bottle of Moa Methode. It's 5.5%ABV and that makes the whole mission about 6 standard drinks and a stagger.

This then is as brewed by the Moa Brewing Company, in the style of a Pilsener, and hails from Blenheim, New Zealand

A German Pilsner - expecting Citrus and Hops. Might have bitten off more than I can chew, but who can resist a bottle that is bigger than you arm!

And frankly this has been in the fridge for far too long and I could make a million reasons I haven't drunk it year and all that but today is the day

And I poured myself an ice-cream! a Half and half. So I found a beer that I can pour with a head. At least it settles down with a fine lacing.

I'm sure If I could hold the bottle and glass I could pour a beer with a more acceptable head, as the bottle gets lighter I might get better, however the trade off might be that I get less steady of the hand.

So did I get the citrus hops? Yes I did. I also got a hazy golden pour of beer, with is pleasing to my little eye.

The taste is somewhat coloured by the hops, it has that rasp that you'd expect at a low end of the scale, some people might be put off by it, and I do get an earthy aroma, mostly from the fluffy white head which is still there despite my efforts to drink through it.

I had this with some of  the "Over the Moon - Triple Cream Brie" (which I just notices has a per Kg price of $76.00, I'm in the wrong industry), and I'm pretty much enjoying myself. I should write about the cheese, which is about as close to perfect. I'd sway towards a Camembert normally but challenged myself to a Brie. And you know what, pay a little more for the cheese and enjoy it a lot more.

The pdubyah-o-meter is needed to provide the usual arbitrariness of things, and on the scale this is about 8.5 from 10 arbitrary things. This isn't an offensive beer, it's not a front runner beer, it's a very fine pilsner beer. It carries itself well and it's consistent in it's taste. Of all their fine beers If you can find it I recommend the Moa St Josephs, which surprise to no-one is a Belgium style Tripel

I've not a lot to compare this too, from my very unreliable memory there are more pale ale and wheat beer types of beer than pilsner beers in the list so far, which is not to say that I've never had reason to talk about them, just not here.

Related articles

• Best Craft Beers (foxnews.com)


• Brewery Tour at Toronto's Beer Academy (onaquasirelatednote.wordpress.com)


• Brewery tours (gorentals.co.nz)


• Summer's Here and The Time is Right for Drinking in The Streets: Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils and Victory Prima Pils (tiltingsuds.wordpress.com)

Occasionally an email arrives - this one titled Homework

And it made me laugh.

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Beer - #46 - when calamity strikes - the Warsteiner 5ltr Keg

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"] Warsteiner Beer and Brewery (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

Today watching the Rugby League match - NZ Warriors v Penrith Panthers  was designated the Warsteiner 5Ltd Keg day.

5Litres = 19 standard drinks, someone can work that out. It's about 15 bottles of beer, and so  using finger maths that is about 4 and a shave's worth of % ABV to be 4%?

Highlights: Gave me stomach ache. Saved some pixels in the camera from looking at such nonsense  - didn't take a picture. That is all.

It would be a waste of the pdubyah-o-meter to rate this at 1 from 10. There is no redeeming feature in this, it's difficult to pour, with typical germanic over engineered and over-wrought instructions on the can/mini-keg - all nonsense

Tasted oily, delivered nothing, and wasn't even pretty to look at.

In it's favour poured with a head. In it's prosecution we discarded about a litre of it into the recycle bin. Honestly if you're into bulk over substance this isn't even the beer for you.

Beer - #45 - Chimay Grande Réserve (Blue)

 

Pushing the boat out a little tonight then. Chimay Grande Réserve (Blue)

Which is an impressive 750ml of a 9% ABV Belgium beer in a bottle that has a cork and wire trap. It's a bit festival.

Chimay, brewed at the Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey, is one of the 6 Belgian beers that can carry the logo, "Authentic Trappist Product",

That means that it is brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery under the control and responsibility of the community of monks, and whose revenue is devoted to social service. When they say within they mean close walking distance. and I also found out that there is an International Trappist Association.

This is a dark beer, and as a  top fermented Trappist beer, is re-fermented in the bottle, and is not pasteurised.

So then, the big question it really will it pour with a head, and I'm picking yes, I've not been let down on that front with a  Belgium beer before. The cork is excited to be free for a start, a pleasant pop. And you can hear the carbonation and see how fizzy it is in the glass. It's a noisy beer. You can smell yeast too.

That's a dark deep taste, quite sweet, deep, and I was surprised how the deep chestnut colour matched a taste I was expecting. I don't know if that made sense though. It's like there are raisins in it, which Isn't unpleasant and this does have a nice length to it too, Licking my lips, trying to remember that this one comes with a well hidden 9% behind it.

I'm a fan of Belgium beer, and for that reason the arbitrary pdubyah-o-meter will score a high 9 from 10 arbitrary things for this. It's fantastic, I've been looking forward to it and I'm pleased that I'm drinking it. Nothing bad to say except I was expecting some lacing on my glass which I didn't get. The monks however did good with this one, and I'd suggest they keep their day jobs.

 

Related articles

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Beer – #44 – Black Sheep Ale

 

 

The Black Sheep Brewery is based in Masham, North Yorkshire, and it's a Bitter. By 'ek as like.



I've found myself abandoned by friends to a night at home, a Friday, can you believe it! But that's okay because I was looking forward to this, and as a starter for whatever comes next this might work a treat.

In a 500ml bottle (Pint as near as not) of 4.4% ABV beer, Black Sheep Bitter smells yeasty like, is well carbonated, but again headless, I might make a career out of headless beer, but tastes a charm.

It's decently fizzy and is bitter enough to taste, to linger but not to hang around like an unwanted guest. But like an unwanted guest it then doesn't bring much else to the game.

I'm not mad about this, but I'm not mad that I brought it. Inoffensive, and enough of a companion to keep you in chat at a pub if it was this or something more commercial. at 4.4% it's brewed then as a session beer, it's not a special or a champion.

Arbitrarily then I'd be thinking 6 from 10 for this on the equally as arbitrary pdubuyah-o-meter. I don't think I'd get this in if friends were coming round. It's nice and coppery, looks like it could be better than it is, but ultimately it's not that and a bag of crisps.

He said.

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The Fleece Machine - Spiritual medium to meet with Pike River families

This made me a bit angry today  - " Spiritual medium to meet with Pike River families " via Spiritual medium to meet with Pike River families - National - NZ Herald News.

So to be clear as to where I stand on this - There are no spirits, ghosts, afterlife, angels, sky-god, demons, it's all made up bullshit nonsense to part you & your cash.

You can't talk to dead people, they do not talk to you.

Prayer does not work, the Bible is not the true word of anyone other than then person who wrote it.

There is no plan for your existence, there is no reward in some imaginary afterlife, you will not be rewarded in this life by some imaginary sky-being who watches over you, and there is no after-life.

If psychics were real then the stock market would use them, and lotto would be won at will - don't be taken in with the claims that "it does not work that way" - tell me in what way does it work.

Why are all these spirits hanging about to tell you they are ok, and that you should be ok, and they watch over you. Which is all they do. Is that, in fact, all you do for ever and ever and ever, just hang about watching. Can these "spirits" only tell of the past, of things that you knowingly or unknowingly communicate with your "medium"

What happens when all your immediate family die, and you're a spirit, joined by all your relatives, good and bad? Do you start watching over strange people just for the crack?

Do the dead outnumber the living ?

• Number of people who have ever been born: 107,602,707,791


• World population in mid-2011 : 6,987,000,000

That's an awfully big ratio.

Finally let me confess to tell you, I did once get a freebie to watch one Kelvin Cruickshank  at work in Takapuna, and was amazed at his skill and the way he dealt with the audience. I was impressed and confused as to how he did what he did, but let me state again - he wasn't talking to dead people, spirits, ghosts, angels, demons or anything other than his own thoughts, and his interpretations of the feedback from the audience.

I'm prepared to be made to look a fool and have someone tell me something that they can't know about me but that a "spirit" told them, both my Mother and Father are dead, and all my GrandParents, so you should be able to get something recent, unless they've disowned me.

Do it for free to prove you can do it, if you have a gift why do you need to monetize it?

Related articles some of them Comedic Value only and not an endorsement

• Medium bare: Psychic 'told women to strip naked to increase their spiritual powers' (mirror.co.uk)


• Mediumship is defined (figsandgrapes.wordpress.com)


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• Wales News: Psychic Karl Lang found guilty of conning young women into stripping (walesonline.co.uk)


• Christian Spiritualists to offer readings in Erie (goerie.com)

Comedy Gold - Quackery knocked down - Advertiser hits back at complaint

This today from the New Zealand Herald News Advertiser hits back at complaint - National - NZ Herald News.

"An advertiser who claimed its Mineral Mud Treatment would prevent hip and knee joint replacement surgery hit back at a complaint that it was misleading, saying it did not need to prove the efficiency of its treatment.

A complaint was laid with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) by a physiologist which said "I can assure you the efficacy of this treatment can be due only to the placebo effect".

Which if that isn't funny enough they then resolve to pull another non-science based treatment into the fray as "proof" that two wrongs make a right

"In response to the complaint Mineral Mud Treatment's legal counsel said: "It is my understanding that acupuncture is quite regularly advertised throughout New Zealand yet there is no scientific proof one way or another for the efficiency of acupuncture yet practices do allow it."

The response went on to state that it was not Mineral Mud Treatment's position to have to prove its efficiency, rather it was the complainants duty to prove the remedy was not effective."

And then showing total disrespect to the complainant, a physiologist, which is a bit science based.....

"Therefore until this is done there is nothing really to respond to except to say that the complainant has no knowledge of what he is talking about."

Lucky then that for all the bluster and bravado the ASA ruled for the complainant and upheld the complaint

"The advertiser declined to provide any further response to substantiate its claims, and the ASA ruled that the advertisement was likely to mislead and deceive consumers and exploit their lack of knowledge. The ASA ruled to uphold the complaint."

Related articles

• Advertiser hits back at complaint (nzherald.co.nz)

OCD me and the Olympics

The 2012 Olympics has come and gone.

Being a bit OCD I did some google work, cut and paste a few things, and tried to make some sense of the information that's available, I wanted to know, and found out;

• Numbers of Competitors - 10,720


• Number of Countries that won medals - 84


• Countries Competing - 205

For New Zealand it's reported we sent 184 Athletes, with 123 officials to this olympics, which isn't so bad, it means that 1 in 14 athletes came home with a medal of some kind  or a better than 7% return Athletes to Medals. The USA managed a 1 in 5 return (of course this number is a bit off because of multiple medal winners such as Phelps for instance).

I was mot intrigued by the numbers of officials to competitors, things like the equestrian team need a high ratio of grooms and preparation staff, the football - who knows, it's very technical these days, and the numbers soon mount out.

And Funding:

Since 2009, New Zealand's elite men's and women's hockey programmes have been given $7,144,571 in public money. Funding in 2012 went up $1.52 million from the previous year. For instance. IT's easy to equate the 1.5 million a year over two teams to be the money players get, I would think that after the various fees for gym and facility use, travel and accommodation, professional coaches and sundry doughnutters get their slice there isn't a whole lot let over for extravagance, although you'd wonder about weekend retreats in the country for team-building and conditioning. #justsaying

New Zealand rowing, for instance got $19.2 million over four years

In an astonishing statement of self aggrandisement Sarah Harris, the high-performance director for Equestrian Sport New Zealand, said her organisation had asked for an extra $1 million a year on top of its current $1.2 million. She would not hesitate to accept if the freeze meant the extra money came from another sport, saying some sports were underperforming.

Which I found a bit distasteful and mocking of other athletes, she doesn't name them of course, but inflates the value of an elitist sports event.

Also somewhat astonishing are the six sports Sport NZ currently target;   rowing, cycling, triathlon, sailing, swimming and track and field, and the relative success of each of those this time up.

All is not woe for the athletes though

"Our gold medal-winning rowers will pick up $60,000 each before tax, and silver and bronze winners get  $55,000 each. The payouts go down to $20,000 for a 16th place, with Nick Willis to receive $25,000 for his 9th place yesterday.

Athletes in team events - deemed to be more than eight members - will get from $20,000 each for eighth place to $35,000 each for winning gold.

The Kiwis' performance pay is among the highest in the world - two to three times more than that offered to Australian and American athletes.

The Performance Enhancement Grants (PEGs) are taxpayer-funded, handed out by High Performance Sport New Zealand - a branch of Sport New Zealand, the agency tasked with generating international sporting success.

The individual amounts are: Gold: $60,000 / Silver or bronze: $55,000 / 4th-6th: $47,500 / 7th-8th: $40,000 / 9th-12th: $25,000 / 13th-16th: $20,000""

So the tables are as follows;

	Athletes	Officials
Athletics	8	6
Boxing	2	1
Canoe/Kayak -Flatwater	6	4
Canoe/Kayak - Slalom	2	3
Cycling- BMX	3	2
Cycling - MTB	2	0
Cycling - Road	3	2
Cycling - Track	15	14
Equestrian - Dressage	1	2
Equestrian - Eventing	5	10
Football	36	16
Hockey	32	15
Judo	1	1
Rowing	26	16
Sailing	15	14
Shooting	1	1
Swimming	16	8
Taekwondo	3	1
Tennis	1	1
Triathlon	6	5
Weightlifting	1	1
	185	123

And for every country there are results, or lack of

Country	Code	Athletes	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE	Total	% medals to competitors
Afghanistan	AFG	6	0	0	1	1	17%
Albania	ALB	12	0	0	0	0	0%
Algeria	ALG	42	1	0	0	1	2%
American Samoa	ASA	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Andorra	AND	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Angola	ANG	34	0	0	0	0	0%
Antigua and Barbuda	ANT	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Argentina	ARG	137	1	1	2	4	3%
Armenia	ARM	25	0	1	2	3	12%
Aruba	ARU	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Australia	AUS	410	7	16	12	35	9%
Austria	AUT	70	0	0	0	0	0%
Azerbaijan	AZE	53	2	2	6	10	19%
Bahamas	BAH	24	1	0	0	1	4%
Bahrain	BRN	12	0	0	1	1	8%
Bangladesh	BAN	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Barbados	BAR	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Belarus	BLR	165	2	5	5	12	7%
Belgium	BEL	115	0	1	2	3	3%
Belize	BIZ	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Benin	BEN	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Bermuda	BER	8	0	0	0	0	0%
Bhutan	BHU	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Bolivia	BOL	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	BIH	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Botswana	BOT	4	0	1	0	1	25%
Brazil	BRA	258	3	5	9	17	7%
British Virgin Islands	IVB	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Brunei	BRU	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Bulgaria	BUL	63	0	1	1	2	3%
Burkina Faso	BUR	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Burundi	BDI	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Cambodia	CAM	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Cameroon	CMR	33	0	0	0	0	0%
Canada	CAN	277	1	5	12	18	6%
Cape Verde	CPV	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Cayman Islands	CAY	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Central African Republic	CAF	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Chad	CHA	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Chile	CHI	35	0	0	0	0	0%
China	CHN	380	38	27	23	88	23%
Chinese Taipei	TPE	44	0	1	1	2	5%
Colombia	COL	104	1	3	4	8	8%
Comoros	COM	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Congo	CGO	7	0	0	0	0	0%
Cook Islands	COK	8	0	0	0	0	0%
Costa Rica	CRC	11	0	0	0	0	0%
Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	10	0	0	0	0	0%
Croatia	CRO	108	3	1	2	6	6%
Cuba	CUB	110	5	3	6	14	13%
Cyprus	CYP	13	0	1	0	1	8%
Czech Republic	CZE	133	4	3	3	10	8%
Denmark	DEN	113	2	4	3	9	8%
Djibouti	DJI	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Dominica	DMA	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Dominican Republic	DOM	35	1	1	0	2	6%
DR Congo	COD	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Ecuador	ECU	36	0	0	0	0	0%
Egypt	EGY	113	0	2	0	2	2%
El Salvador	ESA	10	0	0	0	0	0%
Equatorial Guinea	GEQ	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Eritrea	ERI	12	0	0	0	0	0%
Estonia	EST	33	0	1	1	2	6%
Ethiopia	ETH	35	3	1	3	7	20%
Fiji	FIJ	9	0	0	0	0	0%
Finland	FIN	55	0	1	2	3	5%
France	FRA	330	11	11	12	34	10%
Gabon	GAB	24	0	1	0	1	4%
Gambia	GAM	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Georgia	GEO	35	1	3	3	7	20%
Germany	GER	392	11	19	14	44	11%
Ghana	GHA	9	0	0	0	0	0%
Great Britain	GBR	541	29	17	19	65	12%
Greece	GRE	104	0	0	2	2	2%
Grenada	GRN	10	1	0	0	1	10%
Guam	GUM	8	0	0	0	0	0%
Guatemala	GUA	19	0	1	0	1	5%
Guinea	GUI	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Guinea-Bissau	GBS	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Guyana	GUY	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Haiti	HAI	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Honduras	HON	27	0	0	0	0	0%
Hong Kong	HKG	42	0	0	1	1	2%
Hungary	HUN	157	8	4	5	17	11%
Iceland	ISL	27	0	0	0	0	0%
Independent Olympic Athletes	IOA	4	0	0	0	0	0%
India	IND	83	0	2	4	6	7%
Indonesia	INA	22	0	1	1	2	9%
Iran	IRI	53	4	5	3	12	23%
Iraq	IRQ	8	0	0	0	0	0%
Ireland	IRL	66	1	1	3	5	8%
Israel	ISR	37	0	0	0	0	0%
Italy	ITA	284	8	9	11	28	10%
Jamaica	JAM	50	4	4	4	12	24%
Japan	JPN	293	7	14	17	38	13%
Jordan	JOR	9	0	0	0	0	0%
Kazakhstan	KAZ	114	7	1	5	13	11%
Kenya	KEN	47	2	4	5	11	23%
Kiribati	KIR	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Kuwait	KUW	11	0	0	1	1	9%
Kyrgyzstan	KGZ	14	0	0	0	0	0%
Laos	LAO	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Latvia	LAT	46	1	0	1	2	4%
Lebanon	LIB	10	0	0	0	0	0%
Lesotho	LES	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Liberia	LBR	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Libya	LBA	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Liechtenstein	LIE	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Lithuania	LTU	62	2	1	2	5	8%
Luxembourg	LUX	9	0	0	0	0	0%
Macedonia	MKD	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Madagascar	MAD	7	0	0	0	0	0%
Malawi	MAW	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Malaysia	MAS	30	0	1	1	2	7%
Maldives	MDV	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Mali	MLI	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Malta	MLT	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Marshall Islands	MHL	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Mauritania	MTN	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Mauritius	MRI	11	0	0	0	0	0%
Mexico	MEX	102	1	3	3	7	7%
Micronesia	FSM	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Moldova	MDA	22	0	0	2	2	9%
Monaco	MON	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Mongolia	MGL	29	0	2	3	5	17%
Montenegro	MNE	33	0	1	0	1	3%
Morocco	MAR	67	0	0	1	1	1%
Mozambique	MOZ	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Myanmar	MYA	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Namibia	NAM	9	0	0	0	0	0%
Nauru	NRU	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Nepal	NEP	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Netherlands	NED	178	6	6	8	20	11%
New Zealand	NZL	184	6	2	5	13	7%
Nicaragua	NCA	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Niger	NIG	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Nigeria	NGR	55	0	0	0	0	0%
North Korea	PRK	51	4	0	2	6	12%
Norway	NOR	64	2	1	1	4	6%
Oman	OMA	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Pakistan	PAK	21	0	0	0	0	0%
Palau	PLW	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Palestine	PLE	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Panama	PAN	7	0	0	0	0	0%
Papua New Guinea	PNG	8	0	0	0	0	0%
Paraguay	PAR	8	0	0	0	0	0%
Peru	PER	16	0	0	0	0	0%
Philippines	PHI	11	0	0	0	0	0%
Poland	POL	218	2	2	6	10	5%
Portugal	POR	77	0	1	0	1	1%
Puerto Rico	PUR	25	0	1	1	2	8%
Qatar	QAT	12	0	0	2	2	17%
Romania	ROU	103	2	5	2	9	9%
Russia	RUS	436	24	26	32	82	19%
Rwanda	RWA	7	0	0	0	0	0%
Saint Kitts and Nevis	SKN	7	0	0	0	0	0%
Saint Lucia	LCA	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	VIN	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Samoa	SAM	8	0	0	0	0	0%
San Marino	SMR	4	0	0	0	0	0%
São Tomé and Príncipe	STP	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Saudi Arabia	KSA	19	0	0	1	1	5%
Senegal	SEN	31	0	0	0	0	0%
Serbia	SRB	115	1	1	2	4	3%
Seychelles	SEY	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Sierra Leone	SLE	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Singapore	SIN	23	0	0	2	2	9%
Slovakia	SVK	47	0	1	3	4	9%
Slovenia	SLO	65	1	1	2	4	6%
Solomon Islands	SOL	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Somalia	SOM	2	0	0	0	0	0%
South Africa	RSA	125	3	2	1	6	5%
South Korea	KOR	245	13	8	7	28	11%
Spain	ESP	282	3	10	4	17	6%
Sri Lanka	SRI	7	0	0	0	0	0%
Sudan	SUD	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Suriname	SUR	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Swaziland	SWZ	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Sweden	SWE	134	1	4	3	8	6%
Switzerland	SUI	102	2	2	0	4	4%
Syria	SYR	10	0	0	0	0	0%
Tajikistan	TJK	16	0	0	1	1	6%
Tanzania	TAN	7	0	0	0	0	0%
Thailand	THA	37	0	2	1	3	8%
Timor-Leste	TLS	2	0	0	0	0	0%
Togo	TOG	6	0	0	0	0	0%
Tonga	TGA	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Trinidad and Tobago	TRI	30	1	0	3	4	13%
Tunisia	TUN	83	1	1	1	3	4%
Turkey	TUR	114	2	2	1	5	4%
Turkmenistan	TKM	10	0	0	0	0	0%
Tuvalu	TUV	3	0	0	0	0	0%
Uganda	UGA	16	1	0	0	1	6%
Ukraine	UKR	237	6	5	9	20	8%
United Arab Emirates	UAE	26	0	0	0	0	0%
United States	USA	530	46	29	29	104	20%
Uruguay	URU	29	0	0	0	0	0%
Uzbekistan	UZB	54	1	0	3	4	7%
Vanuatu	VAN	5	0	0	0	0	0%
Venezuela	VEN	70	1	0	0	1	1%
Vietnam	VIE	18	0	0	0	0	0%
Virgin Islands	ISV	7	0	0	0	0	0%
Yemen	YEM	4	0	0	0	0	0%
Zambia	ZAM	7	0	0	0	0	0%
Zimbabwe	ZIM	7	0	0	0	0	0%

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Beer – #43 – Old Mout - Pear Scrumpy - it's not a beer!

Old Mout  rhymes with fruit. Scrumpy - well remember when I were a nipper that we'd "go scrumping" which meant snagging an apple from a neighbours tree.

To the Old Mout pear scrumpy then, a welcome gift, and a welcome change to the beer diet.

The Old Mout cidery is in Nelson, and is a revival of an existing method. In a 1.25Litre pub pet bottle and at 7.9% this might be an interesting evening.

The summer of 2011/2012 saw an explosion of cider onto the market with various brands and target audience expectations. I thought I might have been cider-ed out, and with the exception of the highly regarded Rekorderlig Strawberry and Lime I've been giving it a miss.

To be honest the other reason I might have given the Old Mout a miss might have been the thought of a weird combination of fruit wine and cider, which kind of speaks to a "cheap" variation and a pop-cider that is aimed at a sweet-tooth alco-pop person. Not a serious cider. That and the fact that the brew giant DB recently brought a  control of Old Mout cider which again hints at bulk over substance.

So anyway, never wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, and being prepared to eat my words I prepared to give this a completely unbiased chance. For real.

It's clear, clear as water, three's not a lot to give away whats in the glass, the odd bubble, it's not therefore overly carbonated.  Smells of Musty fruis. And the taste is an intrigue. It's not sweet, its not sour. It does have alcohol that you can taste in the background. I had to check again that this was pear cider.

It's ok. It really is. and an evening or afternoon of this will end with you thinking pleasing things about the world.

Of course arbitrarily I'd be expected to pick an arbitrary number on the pdubyah-o-meter and using the 12 sided dice I came up with an easy 4 from 5. Crisp, clean, un-offensive this ticks many boxes. What will make this a winner though, despite big brewery involvement, is the crafty aspect of the brand,and you're not going to get a sideways looks for having this in your supermarket basket, or your beer selection at the bottle shop.

AND as a bonus I have a flavour one coming up...........

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The Drama of Home Theatre....

 

I also learnt today that Home Theatre is something I no longer grasp. Although I've yet to be convinced that a $20 HDMI cable is worse than a $90 cable I've learnt that the number of cable variants and where they go present a challenge to my old man mind.  The emphasis should be on Theatre, or perhaps they could rename it Minor Drama.

 

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"] LaserDisk Recorder (Photo credit: Joachim S. Müller)[/caption]

 

I miss the ikea style of how to do things, and to be presented not only an A, B or C choice but also an a,b or c choice did nothing but confuse me.

 

That and the unhelpful owners manual, which appeared to be thrown together in the style of one of those chose you own adventure books, if you chose option A got to page 48, if you chose option B got to page 63, where it tells you to refer to page 38.

 

It's not hard, mostly it's just pass-though wiring, plug in an input get an output, but 3 hours and I gave up on the accessory that was just designed to torment.

 

However the old Betamax collection gets a new lease of life, and I might crack out the Philips Videodisc player , as reward for my endeavours.

 

Beer – #42 – 8 Wired - iStout

On a day where I'm doing a double, the second one up is an "8 Wired iStout"

iStout is a 500ml bottle of 10% ABV beer.  Gosh! This one could make me forget many things.

iStout is brewed at Renaissance Brewing in the style of an Imperial Stout, and of course they're in Blenheim, New Zealand. Wait a minute Renaissance and 8 Wired from the same place. Well yes, yes they are, and I learn something new.

I've had some of the 8 Wired beers before, notably the Saison Sauvin, and I have a Renaissance beer in the fridge with my name on waiting for me to tall it's number.

But iStout. mostly brought for it's amusing name, don't tell the iApple people, and because it's a Stout, and I'm chasing down one that's as good as the Fig & Coffee Oatmeal Stout. He says. This was this weekends most expensive beer, and for that reason I expect a bit of bang for the buck.

Also I learnt  of  "the most decadent dessert of all; half a bottle in a glass with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top (beer geeks like us know it as the Imperial Stout Float)" I frowned.

It pours like it could  be liquid chocolate, it looks so thick!, and has a dark dark chocolate almost cappuccino coloured head, which after you marvel at it for a few moments sneaks off on you. Another head free beer.

And lordy that packs a wallop of flavour, smokey, chocolate, coffee, and all very smoothly delivered. Wasn't expecting that amount of taste to be honest, but I'm chuffed it's there. That is a pretty spectacular beer. On further drinking each time it's the same set of  surprise and enjoyment, and it's hiding it's 10% of alcohol well. This isn't a early evening beer, unless you're up for an early evening.

The pdubyah-o-meter in play compares this to the Epic Fig and Coffee Stout, and yes I know they're different styles but this isn't what I was looking for and therefore not a competition. For that reason it stands on it's own as a 9 from 10 for stouts though, this isn't to be taken lightly.

Might go sit down and smile indulgently at the children, and contemplate some cheese and crackers.

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Beer – #41 – Raindogs Brewing Company - Apothecary Amber Ale

So then Apothecary Amber Ale (Raindogs Brewing Co), Well it's an Amber Ale, and it's from Christchurch and it's in a fine 500ml bottle of 5.9% ABV-ness

Bit of a new boy there isn't a lot of on he interwebtubes about this beer.

Raindogs Brewing Co was born from the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, and this is the first beer I believe from brewer Sean Harris. It is by that measure something special.

A magnificent shade  of Amber it is, and it hold a head well, which I'm secretly giving a fist-pump about, since I've had not a lock of luck lately on beers with heads. It looks great to be honest, a right proper beer colour.

There was an aroma of bitterness at first, it's gone now, I might have imagined it.

I thought this was a bit thin, didn't carry a taste and was over carbonated. The taste finished to bitter and I don't get a lot of anything much by way of a taste that sit's up and says oi! I don't get it, or what it is, apart from a pretty coloured beer.

The pdubyah-o-meter of late has been at a high bar and this fails to make the grade, and I'd be arbitrarily marking it at 6 from 10. It's not that it's a bad beer, it would be great if I was in the pub in front of a fire with some friends, it's innocuous, not intrusive and quietly gets on with what it is. If I'm ever in Christchurch I'd look this up for a night out.

Liquorland on Forest Hill Road continues to amaze me with it's beer fridge, thanks chaps.

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