We all follow the Palace, Over land and sea, And Brighton…well not Brighton

In a stunning turn of events the mighty mighty Eagles, Crystal Palace F.C., late of Selhurst Park, London SE25 gained promotion from the Championship league to the Premier League of  English Football.

So the next season no travelling to Brighton, Blackpool, Charlton, Derby or Leeds, oh no.

Next year, they get to visit Old Trafford, The Emirates, face the Kop, take on the might of Manchester City, and visit Upton Park and many other grounds

And being in New Zealand I'll get to watch each and every game live, on paytv.

The playing team that won the play-off game has a cost value of around 2 million pounds sterling. True they've sold Wilfred Zaha to Manchester United for 15 million pounds, a tidy profit, but they have to be prudent and pick up some quality players that will get them over the first year hurdle. Otherwise it'll be 38 games of edge of seat panic.

The reward for promotion and in a worst case scenario relegated is estimated to be in the region of 120-140  million pounds. Mostly from TV I imagine, hardly from shirt sales, although they'll add a few coins into the coffers.

They'll have to get about 40 points, from the 114 on offer (3 points for a win) to have a chance at a second year.

They may stand a chance, based on the different styles of football that exists between the Premier League and the Championship League teams.

But the real bonus is that I get to wear my old replica shirts, wave my scarf and even invest in a new shirt.

It'll be a wild time.

Beer - #173 - Renaissance - Enlightenment Series - The Age of Raisin

AND it's back home to NZ and ironically a Belgium style beer - Renaissance Enlightenment Series The Age of Raisin. of course Brewed by Renaissance Brewing in the style of a  Belgian Ale and that's in a place I haven't been - Blenheim, New Zealand

A Belgium Ale being lower in alcohol than other Belgium beer styles (Typically under 7% ABV).

This one a 500ml bottle of 6.5% ABV beer - which is 2.8 standard drinks- IBU might be 17.5

Age of Raisin is aromatic, spicy, light brown Belgian style ale brewed with raisins and passion (27% passion by volume). Raisins were added to the boil and fermenter to yield a subtle background flavour to this rich and flavoursome brew. The passion was added using our own secret method....

So for a start "Secret Method" I hope they don't mean succussion or 'added syrup', and bejeebus 27% passion? What happened did someone forget or not know what "passion" was?

And who are Enlightenment Brewing ? And why do they have the same beer in the same packaging ?

In brewing this ale we added jumbo raisins from California [to our mind the best kind] to the brewing process, both before and after fermentation. We also used Aromatic malt from Gladfield in Canterbury and Abbey Malt, Belgian Special B, as well as CaraBelge malt from Europe.

The beer was fermented with a special Belgian yeast to impart spicy notes and then filtered and infused with even more raisins.

Which is less scary than "Secret Method"

and....... back in the room .......  On opening there is a fruit aroma (go on I'll say raisin) This is a dark beer, with not so much of a head as an effort, and the aroma settles to a big raisin base. It doesn't seem overly carbonated, and looks a bit flat and wine like in the glass.

There is a huge amount of raisin note, a lot of fruit and caramel at the front, but a back note of something burnt that settles on a fairly tart and bitter end. The aroma meanders away from raisin and I'm going to be unkind and suggest wavers towards rubber glue.

This is trying to be fruity and clever, it isn't and it isn't. It's an odd mix of something and another that doesn't quite hit a spot that it might be aiming for. It's clever in the way that it's clever, but it's not clever in a way that makes you wonder why no one thought of it first. And then you get why.

It's not actually very pleasant.

The aroma wanders around from raisin and that of rubber glue. There is a tart under note that lingers around being a nuisance, it pours like it's flat with little carbonation.  As to 'passion' that might have been the 'angst' that the brewer had and not a reference to a fruit. But then I might not be enlightened enough.

The pdubyah-o-meter hates this a 27% passion at 5. And that's all I have to say. except :- Average, not a lot of redeeming features. Nothing to write home about.  Too fruity, too tart, bit tacky. Not good.

I'm disappointed Renaissance are a real swing and a hope and the variance in the delivery and quality of beer makes it hard to remain a fan. Their Barley Wine is awesome,the Stout and the Punkin are very good,  their White IPA is a tragedy, as is the Raisin.

As someone that likes a good Belgium style beer I've had the unfortunate experience of having nothing a good Belgium beer. I might have a love-hate thing going on, and it's true you can't please everyone all of the time.

 

Beer - #172 - Rogue - Brutal IPA

yes indeed, Rogue Brutal IPA, Brewed by Rogue Ales IN the style of a India Pale Ale (IPA)  and that all takes place in Newport, Oregon USA

Brutal combines Oregon hops with English Malts. The Oregon grown Crystal hop is a triploid variety developed from the German Hallertau aroma hop variety with contributions from Cascade, Brewers Gold, and Early Green. Crystal is the only hop used in brewing Brutal and it provides a massive amount of aroma without dry-hopping. The English malts used are floor malted Pipkin (a mellow cross of Maris Otter and Warboys, from an English company called Beeston), Cara Vienna and Cara Wheat.


A 650ml bottle of a 6%ABV beer (3.2 standard drinks), and at 59 IBU it can be expected to be "bitter"

It definitely has a bitter aroma on opening, pours a lovely ambers and has a decent fluffy and light head. Still has a grassy hop aroma and it appears to be on a solid malt base, I get lemon/grapefruit.

Gosh that's easy drinking with a lovely front of some soft sweetness and after a long note ends nicely and softly bitter.  It has a really nice mouthfeel it's sort of fluffy as best I can describe. I'm not so sure that such a punch of malts makes this a beer that is comfortable to drink. And "Brutal" isn't quite what I got delivered.

However this isn't dry hopped and therefore has to carry what it has as it is. I was expecting more bitterness, and less maltiness. I'm really enjoying this though, despite my misgivings I stand by 'easy drinking' but I also think that you'd struggle to drink this in a session.

The pdubyah-o-meter though, always controversial, an unpredictable says 8 - making it very good on the arbitrary nature of the scale. I'd buy this for you in a pub, but only if I knew you and we'd had been out drinking before. I'm not sure that it's a beer that I'd stand up and say to someone who was used to more commercial beer flavours that this was a shining example of why they needed to change. They might find it too sugary and a bit flat on completeness.

For me though, this isn't bad, and I've yet to have a Rogue beer that's really let me down. If I had a bucket list it would for sure contain a visit to the brewer to shake the hand of a master, and then 6 months later to leave and do the next thing on the list :-)

If I had a mind (or wallet) that had a stocked beer fridge, and I had the sort of friends that popped around for a beer or two, I'd be ok with serving this to them without fear that they wouldn't like it.

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The Less of me for April

The less of me for April - A moth where I had to push on

• 16 Runs


• 94.14kms in total


• 5.8kms average per walk-out


• Fastest 5km improves all the time 34:44  - remembering back that it was 44:03 in December when I really started to go for it.


• Weight  dropping slowy - now at 95 kg


• New shoes - New Balance Minimus

Finished the month off with a niggling injury of hamstrings that took a while to settle down, and it was disappointing not to finish at 100km.

Beer - #171 - Verhaeghe - Duchesse De Bourgogne

Sunday, I've just been to the movies, I've switched on the UFC, and I've decided to have a single beer - this on the Verhaeghe - Duchesse De Bourgogne.

Brewed by Verhaeghe in the style of a Sour Red/Brown and it's made in Vichte, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.



Duchesee de Bourgogne is the traditional top fermented reddish-brown ale from the West-Flanders region of Belgium. This refined ale also known as "The Burgundies of Belgium" is a blend of 8 and 18 months old ales following careful maturation in oak casks. 100% natural and unpasteurized.

250 ml bottle of a 6.2% ABV beer (1.2 standard drinks). And the last time I had a sour beer it was a long drink, and although not really my thing I rated it very well (the Lindemans Gueze)

Sour and Cidery on opening, dark red brown and very lively beer (like 50/50 beer head pour, but it's settles back to a 70/30). Head holds itself too. Sour aroma remains, but tending to a more sweet note, sort of like a fruit chutney. (bet you never read something like that in a wine review, or possibly any other beer review)

It is sour, but not puckering up sour, and it's somewhat refreshing on the palate. There is a lovely fruity base and plenty of carbonation to make this overall a pretty nice drink.  I liked the last sour beer in a strange change of pace kind of way, and this is as good as if not better than that.

They're a bit similar and dis-similar at the same time, this appears to have it's roots in a fruit beer that aims to be sour other then a straight up sour beer.  Fruity beer done punk rock. I like it.

The pdubyah-o-meter says 8 things in it's scale, making it "very good" on the arbitrary scale of things. As a change of beers and as a exploration this is a nice find. It has many elements of other fruit typle beers and ciders. I'd easily go another

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Star Trek - Into the darkness - oh dear.

Star Trek - Into the darkness

I just saw the movie.

There are a few things that I have questions about.

Underwater ?
Can fly in an atmosphere?
'short' distance from Earth, well known planet and situation, (they have a debrief about it) and yet un-exploited (by characters like Mudd?)

Tribbles ?
Mudds Spacecraft still in dock and ready to go?

He cries?

The all new Dreadnought class can go faster than Warp?

And can transport people through shields? - "What are you doing there?" and apparently despite shields being up,  you can enquire if the "beam" can be blocked, and it's only a lack of power that prevents you?

Quick phone call to a reclusive and looking a bit worse for wear 'Old Spock' to ask how it ends?

No way of blocking communicator traffic, and they work from one end of space to the other - Can you hear me Scotty ?

Re-animation using a newly extracted "serum" from blood, takes 2 weeks in a human, hour or less in a troublesome tribble.

Carol Marcus - random character - like the mirror of the man in red in the landing party - gratuitous underwear shot, has managed to defeat many security checks and walks onto a spaceship - just like that, oh and how important?

Many and varied 'alien' species, already in contact and employed in Star Fleet.

And Earth has no missile defence system ?

and we finish with a  5 year mission to explore and discover new civilisations  ?

But it's a  jolly good roller coaster of a ride. Khan is great, the new play on the old plot is fantastic and I'd watch it again. For those who remember the Star Trek series the first time around, this play well to the nostalgic and doesn't stray too far away from comfortable. I do hope however that the next film doesn't have a bald woman, whales, and a satellite that's gone all Wal-E, but a Genesis project might go well, if only they could figure out how "old spock" didn't do that bit.

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Beer - #170 - Garage Project - Aro Noir

Garage Project - Aro Noir - I've been looking forward to this - Brewed by Garage Project in the Style of a  Stout and they're all about Wellington, New Zealand

for those of you who don’t know Aro there is a light side and a dark side to the valley. For those of us on the dark side of the street it’s been a long dark winter. But salvation is nigh. The coming of Spring has brought the first teasing hints that the sun might come again to the Garage.

It’s pitch black and full flavoured but with a nice balance of hops and roast malt character. At its heart is English Maris Otter pale malt, with a touch of Crystal and a generous addition of Roast and Black malts. The hops are American, Chinook andSummit, creating a nice citric bitterness and aroma which marries nicely with the roast malt character. At 7.1% abv it’s rich but not heavy or cloying.

Yes, it is inspired by the darkness of a Wellington winter in Aro Valley, but truly it is a stout for all seasons.

A generous 650ml bottle of a 7% ABV beer - making it about 3.8 standard drink units, I'm unreasonably excited by the prospect of this. Madmess.

The cap-off aroma is of chocolates - It's a tar black pour with a brown fluffy head that soon dies away. There seems to be a rich collection of aromas in the glass, but I get a lot of dark fruit.

And there is nothing you're you're not expecting in the taste, it's full rich and a bit good.  There is smokey, there is coffee, there is a nice bitter front and a long warm finish. I would have liked less bitter up front, but that's a pick not a complaint. There is enough each mouthful to make this very enjoyable.

The pdubyah-o-meter says 7.75 of it's things, it could do with more body and for me a bit more malt sweet. The layers of taste are there but they could be there more.  It's not to say that I wouldn't over indulge with this on a night out, and that'd make the walk home a bit wobbly and longer than  expected. Fine stuff.

Oh and as an aside - this is post #500. I'm not sure what else I wrote about other than beer, I'll make a note to review it some time.

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Beer - #169 - Queenstown Brewers - 25oz Pilsner

Queenstown Brewers - 25oz Pilsner - Brewed by Queenstown Brewers in the style of a Pilsener and of course from Queenstown, New Zealand



330ml bottle of a 5% ABV beer (1.3 standard drink units) and 31 IBU things - Pilsner being 25-45 range

A crisp Kiwi style Pilsner made from premium NZ malt and hops. Not fined or filtered.

in1870, a 28oz gold nugget was found by the miners at One Mile Creek. They celebrated with barrels of beer...

it says.

Tang of hops on opening, Pale Golden pour with a nice headsworth of froth, the unmistakable lager  aroma. And passionfruit.

Grassy mouthfeel,  but it's all up-front and doesn't finish to much. I'm mildly disappointed in this, it seems, again, the brewer has settled for middle when they should be aiming higher. The pdubyah-o-meter says 6 things on its scale of things. Making this a beer that sits in a whole lot of other beers clamouring for attention that they don't deserve.

I feel a bit mean and spiteful when I say there is not a lot of body, carry, or love in this. The brewer has two beers a brown one and a yellow one. Market covered. And they're both a bit "emperors new clothes"  It's a way short of any mark that would make it memorable or remarkable.

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Beer - #168 - Queenstown Brewers - Steam Brew

Another new find - Queenstown Brewers - Steam Brew - Brewed by Queenstown Brewers in the Style of a California Common and not surprisingly they do this in Queenstown, New Zealand.

330ml bottle 5.9% ABV (around 1.3 standard drinks) and an IBU of 33 - which is low end English Bitter . Califonia Common - Style originating in 18th century California, where brewers without access to refrigeration produced beers using lager yeasts and warm temperatures. These still retain some of the rounded character inherent in all lagers, but with a dose of ale fruitiness.

During the Otago gold rush, miners brought with them a thirst for a beer that originated in the Californian goldfields called Steam. It was a highly charged brew that let off a good head of steam when the barrels were tapped. The brew had the smooth richness of lager, combined with the fruity bitterness of ale, much like the beer you are drinking now.

Bready yeasty aroma to kick off with.  It is a really nice brown colour beer, and has a decent head to go with it. Aroma on the pour moves more to hops.

This is decently bitter, but instantly I'm thinking it lacks body. There are grass notes on the palate, but there isn't a lot of length in the taste to linger over it. There's not a lot of swee under notes either. A bit one dimensional.

It is decently carbonated and as it sits for a bit the floral note is more evident. But it's not really enough to move this forward. It is another new brewer doing something safe and middle-of-the-road, which for a commercial enterprise is dandy and fine. But this isn't going to ring any bells and as a result the pdubyah-o-meter says that this is a middling 6 of it's things on the scale of things.

If I'm in Queenstown again I'd be sure to look up the brewery and be in awe of the enterprise. This though as a beer is drinkable, enjoyable and would carry you a night of merriment and good company, but it wouldn't be remembered for it's presence. And that's a pity.

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Beer - #167 - Berthold Keller - Super Strength

Well this was a gift. A Can of beer. A Can!!! Berthold Keller - Super Strength - Brewed by Martens in the style of a  Strong Pale Lager/Imperial Pils and they're in Bocholt, Belgium.

9% ABV 500ml can, being 3.6 Standard drinks of,  this is as far from craft as Noah's Ark would be from an American Cup Yacht.

So A Belgium beer, which should rock my boat, but 9% ABV which will make my world spin.

And a can. I have to admit that the quality of beers in cans in NZ is lacking.

But I'm game so here goes.....  Sweet aroma on opening, pale golden yellow, lots of carbonation, but the head settles to a film and doesn't hold, the aroma settles to a base malt. It's really fizzy.

Now to be fair, I thought that initially this carries itself ok, there is that nice malty sweet taste, and a small kicker of alcohol at the end. But this is thin as rice paper, with no depth of flavour or carry. The after note of sour makes this slightly odd.

However I've had worse Belgium beers than this. What's interesting is that you don't get an overt indication that this is a very strong beer. But at the end of the day a lack of any taste means that there isn't a lot to wrote home about.

The pdubyah-o-meter says 5.5 of it's things of things, and I'm not overly unhappy. I really have had beer that's been sold as being a thing, this comes in a can with no fanfare, and there is no downside to no marketing.  It's not all bad, it's just not a beer you might want your mates to see you drinking, as there appears to be no benefit or reason for the high ABV count other than "it just is" perhaps they have a different audience.

Occasionally I get sent some email - This one : Seen on Public Transport

occasionally I get sent some email - This one : Seen on Public Transport

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="4715,4716,4717,4718,4719,4720,4721,4722,4723,4724,4725,4726,4727,4728,4729,4730,4731,4732,4733,4734,4735,4736,4737,4714,4713"]

Beer - #166 - Mountain Goat - Fancy Pants Amber Ale

Mountain Goat - Rare Breed - in this case the Fancy Pants Amber Ale.m a beer from 'strayer. Brewed by Mountain Goat Beer in the unsurprising style of an Amber Ale and that's in Richmond, Victoria, Australia, (West Island of NZ)

Right, firstly this is an Aussie Beer. Apart from Fosters, XXXX, VB, Carlton and Swan this is the first time I had an Aussie Beer, when not in Australia.

We found some fresh hop flowers down the back of the couch the other day (in their little protective foil bags so they really were fresh), and we all said as one: “Fancy Pants.” Could we do it again? Easy said, only one way to find out. Long story short, its back: Fancy Pants Amber Ale. Stupid name, serious beer. We used Galaxy Flowers through our hop-back to give a full-on tropical fruit/spicey aroma. On top of alot of traditional ale malt we threw a liberal dose of crystal malt, a little wheat and fermented her warm with an American Ale yeast. It’s deep copper/amber with a full, rocky head. 5.2% alc/vol, 35 BU, served in the bar in our fanciest glass.

So 640ml bottle - in itself an odd size, 2.5 standard drink units at 5.3%ABV and with 35IBU this is a low bitter beer. This is part of their "Rare Breed" beers, the one-offs or the as the season takes their fancy.  It appealed because it's label which is far to detailed and in far to small a font to read :-), and because I'm a sucker for packaging.

The opening is promising of a hopiness that made me smile. Dark amber pour and well decent creamy fluffy head, the hopiness aroma in abundance. And it tastes ok. The low bitterness ins't too worried by the malt sweetness that you have.  There's a bunch of floral notes too, all very complimentary.

This is fair dinkum ok. If anything there is too much floral, but the hops and the malts are well balanced and that makes it ok by me.  It's a very good bar beer.

Is it a spectacular beer? Not really. But it rings my bell (at least tonight ) The pdubyah-o-meter says 8.5 but wants to be 9, making it a good evening in my house. I hate to say it but if you were drinking this out you'd be easily persuaded to have another and one for the road, or two. A decent and happy session beer.

You know that thing where if you like Amber Ale and try this and don't like it, I'd probably give you your money back, that. Of it's kind and of this beer it's pretty good.

It's annoying both of high quality, and drinkability. It's a shame that this is a limited edition, I'm sure there is a reason for that that I don't have the inclination to follow.

If I was, in some parallel universe, brewing commercial quantities of beer, that would be a great strategy, but you could only do it from a solid base. Like many commercial craft beers Goat seems to be based around a micro-brewery pub. I'm glad they do enough to get a wider audience. at least to NZ.

A fantastic Aussie beer.And there I was thinking something else. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi! Oi! Oi!  'nuff said.

Beer - #165 - 8 Wired - Grand Cru 2011

All Poshed up with this then : 8 Wired Grand Cru 2011  - Brewed by 8 Wired Brewing in the style of a : Abt/Quadrupel and as always that's all happening in Blenheim, New Zealand

A Quadrupel!, actually  a Barrel Aged, Sour Quadruple - and I chose it by the label without reading it, a sucker for packaging. I probably would have brought it anyway had I thought it through. On the packaging all the labels are crinkly - they say because of deformed bottles - beauty is in the eye....

So it's an 11%ABV beer  in a 375ml bottle, thats 3 standard drinks worth.

Aged for 16 months in Pinot Noir Barrels with Brettanomyces and Pediococcus.

Grand Cru started out as The Sultan. When we made this beer last year I filled 8 old Pinot Noir barrels and more or less forgot about it. The native bugs in the barrels kept fermenting the beer, making it slightly sour. To further enhance the funky character, I blended it with 2 barrels of a Flanders Red kinda thing, that has also been fermenting funky for about 18 months.

Which screams of  - to minimise a loss we've thrown something together - given it a fancy name, and an impressive looking label, and sell it for a goodly margin. At least they're up-front. I'm not sure that this isn't the whole ethos of 8 wired though - a bit of hit and hope. Unless I'm just being cruel for the sake of it.

Anyway.  Opening aroma is cider apple. It's a murky cloudy pour, with an effort at a head but not a good one, the sour aroma remains. I guess it could be tannin wine? It settles to a red-wine nose though.

So it's fizzy red-wine then. Or is it. It's got a lot of what seems like cherry flavour. And it does have a wine background and nose, but does not carry the roughness of the tannin that get with some red wines.

This is at both times then a bit cranky and weird, but odd and comforting. It's not a hard drink, and you'd forget that this is a strong beer, and being as how it's a large serve you'll soon be squiffy if you take it lightly.

The off-putting thing is the muddy cloudy colour, and to be honest I would have enjoyed more head, well to be honest any head.  The up-side is that this has an understated sourness, none of the tannin rough, no after burn from alcohol and is pretty tasty.

I can see how this might not please either a wine drinker or a beer drinker. It says Quadrupel, and it probably could say anything. I have to bow to their description.

The pdubyah-o-meter is confused as all heck, but seems that an 8.5 is a good score. I like it but I don't love it, It would a fantastic beer to crack out in a bar and impress your less well travelled companions, and as a gift to a wine drinker this might be something to consider.

Would I rush out an get another? Possibly not. Would it get better with age? It's not a wine, it's doubtful. Am I ashamed at dissing them with insinuations of hit and hope? A little, yes.

An update to this : I have brought more, and I really like it, it's clever and a tidy small drink to finish you off for the evening. I should revise my score and be more generous. This really is good.

 

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Beer - #164 - Geek - Coconut Porter

All in then on a Geek Coconut Porter- Brewed by Geek Beer in the style of a  Porter and they weave this magic in Windy Wellington, New Zealand

Never had a Geek beer - but couldn't pass this one up. A 330ml bottle of a 6% ABV beer (1.6 Standard drinks), and at 30IBU this isn't going to be too challenging middle range bitter.

Geek Coconut Porter is a dark robust porter with a depth of flavour created from a wide range of carefully selected malts with the addition of toasted coconut. The intriguing aroma and rich chocolate flavour makes for a truly delicious beer. You could even say it’s Geekalicious.

Aroma on opening of desiccated coconut and of chocolate, it's like confectionery.

Dark pour, no head, not even a hint of one, it's almost dead flat calm, even though I know I could hear carbonation a happening. The Aroma remains a dark rich fruity base.

And a confusion of tastes follows. Mostly burnt fruit. But of coconut there is some, not all up in your face but you can hear it singing on the wings.

I'm betwixt and between on this, it seems like it should be heavier but it's a bit thin on length. There is a magnificence of chocolates and fruits and coconuts, but  there could be more.

It's ok, but they could all be turned up to 11, as it is though this lacks lenght, and turns into a rather sweet experience that might make it a longer drink than you'd like.

The pdubyah-o-meter after a first flush peters out to a rather disappointing 7 things on its scale of things. I would have liked more, I'm glad I came, and it won't put me off another.

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Beer - #163 - Garage Project - Red Rocks

Garage Project - Red Rocks - Brewed by Garage Project in the Style: Amber Ale in Wellington, New Zealand

All a bit special. 650ml bottle, 7.5% ABV - 3.6 Standard Drink units.

Red Rocks is a rich ruby red ale with loads of chewy malt character. There wasn’t a lot of restraint shown in the hopping of this beer. We had a fair bit of whole cone Nelson Sauvin hops in the fridge and they all went in. The end result is a nice balance of malt sweetness and bitterness, with some assertive hop aroma and flavour.

These guys party when they make beer, and well this was a bottle I couldn't go past.

Big bang of hops on the aroma, rich dark brown pour, but a poor effort of head. The hop aroma isn't fussy and just is, and it's almost chocolate like, but that might be fanciful.

My mouth is a bit watering with expectation, and that a weird thing. OMG, this is a delightfully rich deep beer. There is a smash of malt sweets and a layer of hop bitter, and it's like a party going on in my mouth! The hops are raw and grassy, the caramels are just on point, and the carbonation is lovely and mellow.

The hops get more prevalent as it sits, but they don't carry a sourness or sour end with them, and they are carried well by the malts.

Love it a lot, the pdubyah-o-meter is 9.25th of a thing, it's a bit good. Lovely balanced beer well put together.

'nuff said.

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• Beer - #152 - 8 Wired - Tall Poppy India Red Ale (pdubyah.com)

Beer - #162 - St Peters - Suffolk Gold

Change of pace again , this time to a St Peters Suffolk Gold in the style of a Premium Bitter/ESB - Brewed by St Peters (UK)  in Bungay, England

500ml bottle, 4.9%ABV,  2.45  Standard drinks. And the Bottle is a magnificent thing in itself.

"Suffolk grown First Gold hops provide the bitterness and aroma for this well hopped premium beer. This is brewed with Suffolk malt to produce a full bodied ale with a lasting hop aroma"

And there's me doing my best Wurzel Gummidge impression.

Because it's a friday, and I am looking forward to this. Beer that is, not necessarily this beer.

English bitter aroma, golden brown pour, a bit cloudy, reasonable head. The aroma is light and faintly grassy hoppy, the taste is somewhat soft too, and there is a hop kick in a long tasting mouthful. Nice lacing too.

I like the hoppiness in this, they taste fairly green, but aren't sharp or annoying, there is however not much else you can say. I'm sure there are malts but they all part of a thing and not individual players.

Pretty inoffensive and not a lot to write home about, the pdubyah-o-meter says a lazy 7 on this.   When you have a wide selection of bitters it's not easy to be different or stand-out. This is a beer you could easily share with friends, and drink a lot of without getting all rowdy.

For a Friday it's probably a good thing.

Beer - #161 - Brewaucracy - In Triplicate

Brewaucracy  - In Triplicate is an Abbey Tripel beer from a new brewer in the 'Tron.  Brewaucracy Brewed at Shunters Yard Brewery in the Style of an  Abbey Tripel in the glorious Waikato town of Hamilton, New Zealand.

500ml of a  10.3%ABV beer, and at 35IBU things (bitter/stout bitter).  Oh it's 4.1 standard drinks.  Thse website says 9.6, the bottle says 10.3, these boys are onto it with batch measurements, I do say well done to that!.

A Belgian-inspired beer, roughly straddling the Tripel and Belgian Golden Strong styles, if we're being all style nerd about it. If we're not, it's a warming, spicy, zesty, and disturbingly drinkable beer for 9.6% abv. It's a beer designed for celebrating the good times in life, and to toasting the eventual defeat of every wowser who would try to tell you how you may or may not enjoy those times.

Share In Triplicate with the people you love, and try it with a crisp summer salad, ideally featuring chorizo, or perhaps corn fritters or crab cakes.

Of just with some cheese and a cracker, which is all I have left.  That and the Rolling Stones on Spotify.

There doesn't appear to be a rush of sweet aroma / alcohol with this. It's very pale, well carbonated and again nice white fully head on the pour. Still not a sweet aroma but a touch of yeast perhaps. O hit really is pale translucent pale.

Gosh though how do they do that. There is a massive amount of caramel and sweet in the taste, I'd thought it was going to disappoint, and whilst it didn't stun me it surprised me. The alcohol that you expect from a Tripel is there making itself known, it's a little sour and not as sharp as I'd expected.

It has a fair length of taste in it too, and I'm comfortable that this is hitting the spot. And I'm also a bit amazed they've got the taste into such a pale beer. Oh and I'm glad I'm at home because this is a fairly strong beer that could become quaffable and get you into trouble .

There is thought a disappointing lack of any aroma in this, there is one, you have to work hard to get it though, it's delicate for no reason I can figure,  and frankly I'd rather there was one. I'd like the nose of caramels and sugars before the crash of tastes onto the tongue.

It is a little sour and might not sweet enough, the alcohol note might be just right, I like that the batch ABV is measured and noted. But you know what it's a chuffing good beer, and it made me smile.

I especially like that Brewaucracy haven't picked an IPA, or plain old Lager to kick off with and have taken a high ground in craftiness, I especially like that the "Smoko" and this are totally different beers and not beers on a theme of...  I just like it.

The pdubuyah-o-meter loves this a lot at 9. it's fairly decent and something I'd buy again, and that makes it ok. I'm not going to offer you money back if you don't like it, you just will, it's good.

Beer - #160 - Brewaucracy - Smoko

A Smoked Lager from a new brewer - Brewed by Brewaucracy in the style of a  Smoked and they do this all in the 'Tron - Hamilton, New Zealand.

A 500ml bottle, 26 on the IBU scale of things and 5%ABV - which is two standard drinks.

The good old kiwi Smoko. Idleness! Indolence! Actually, we're a little envious... if we ever took a break, we'd do it with a bacon sandwich and a beer. If only we could combine the two...

Smoko is our take on a Bamberg-style Rauchbier (literally "smoked beer"). Beechwood smoked malt gives a bacon-on-bread flavour, while the zesty European hops provide a zingy and refreshing bitterness to help wash down that tasty treat.

Enjoy while shirking responsibility.

Instantly there is a lovely  wood aroma, although I thought more sawdust than smoke.

Very dark pour, very decent head and a big amount of smoked beer taste, that's more like it .

This is very drinkable and the layers of taste aren't all big and punchy, the woody aroma is lighter than the taste, and there is no bitterness in the mix to highlight anything.  I didn't get any smokiness that reminded me of anything other than smoke.

It carries a nice sweetness when it warms in the glass, but it never gives up the smokiness.

The pdubyah-o-meter likes this 8 worth of things. If anything this is too mild a drink and I would have thought it needed a tad more bitterness in the mix, for me there is no "zesty" in this , b ut it's very very nice, and one of the nicest smoked beers I've had.  Sterling effort.