Scott Watson who was convicted in May 1999 of the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope on his boat Blade on 1 January 1998. The bodies of Smart and Hope have never been found.
Watson is serving a life sentence with a non-parole period of 17 years and is expected be released on 8 July 2016
On New Year"s Eve 1997, young holiday-makers Ben Smart and Olivia Hope dissapeared from a party at Furneaux Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds, and were last seen boarding a mystery yacht with a mystery man.
The boat that they were last seen boarding was described by witnesses as a 40ft wooden ketch (two masted yacht) with high freeboard. When Scott was photographed earlier in the evening before going ashore, he had short hair and was obviously clean shaven. His yacht "Blade' is a 26ft steel sloop (single masted yacht) with very low freeboard.
Doubts are explored here : http://www.freescottwatson.org/northandsouth/northandsouth.pdf
However you'll find assertions of guilt along the lines of "I found the DNA evidence along with the fact Watson scrubbed his yacht so thoroughly it was cleaner than a hospital ward the main indicators of guilt."
Couple of things.
No bodies were found and are unlikely to ever be found
There appears to be some level of doubt about the 'evidence' of hair and DNA
There appears to be confusion over timelines, and locations
Scott Watson, I've always had the understanding, is\was a bit weird
I also have a memory of a conversation with someone who asserted that he'd probably be in jail for something else if it wasn't for this.
As an aside: Watson married Coral Branch in Paremoremo Prison in 2004. They separated in 2007.
It's getting close to release time for Scott Watson. No closure would have been served to the parents, or friends of Ben and Olivia.
Scott Watson may well be free in a couple of years, however will always be walking with a shadow over him, and a bunch of people who will want answers and the elusive closure.
Scott Watson may also not be released, or released with some severe and strict conditions. It depends on how much 'remorse' he shows, and his likelihood of re-offending.
It'll be an interesting time, we're not known in NZ to let a sleeping dog lie, and living in the spotlight might have some interesting side effects.
Something a bit more mainstream, a Townshend Hollandale’s Premium Best. Brewed by Townshend Brewery in this style of an Premium Bitter/ESB and that is the mysterious Upper Moutere, New Zealand.
500ml bottle, that's just shy of a 'pint', of a 5.3% ABV beer, making that 2.1 standard drink units. Whopping 159 calories a serve
[caption id="attachment_6328" align="alignleft" width="300"] Look it's a Selfie ![/caption]
Dales Brewing Co produces an award winning Belgian Ale that we here at Townshend's thoroughly enjoy. As fans of Dale's brews, we approached him to ask if he'd mind letting us use his exact same recipe but with a cheeky English Ale yeast instead if his Belgian choice. Here is the result: A smooth, malty ESB. Thanks Dale. You are a star.
Very lively on opening, grassy hoppy, the top runneth over.
Pours a lovely dark chestnut brown, with a lovely amount of foamy and persistent head. It is very lively in the glass. IT really does look magnificent and if only it was based on looks I'd be hooked.
I could't help myself I took a goodly mouthful of this, and I thought, this is very British beer like. Which isn't abad thing
The flavour profile is all in the middle.
It's all grassy hops. The carbonation gives your tongue a tickle and there is a nod to a caramel finish, but if you drew a bell curve you've pretty much drawn the flavour hit for this.
This isn't overly bitter, and it's not offensive, although the hopiness note does scream bit in the middle.
The pdubyah-o-meter says that this is solid and 8's for your mates. Very good.
This looks great, pours great, had a great head, leaves a decent lacing, is light, refreshing and easy easy to drink. But the bitterness and the loud hop in the middle is a bit off-putting and may stop you after a couple of making this a session beer. I'd happily sit with a few of these, couple of mates and some inconsequential sport on in the background and tell lies like a boss.
But it's not memorable despite being very good. Bit like the choice of music I have on,
Speaking of the music, I have on for this is the toe tapping Arctic Monkeys Album, AM - and this is the track that has no relevance to me at all - Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? The style and delivery is their own and you couldn't mistake them for any other band. They might be taking themselves a bit serious, perhaps they need the money.
PREMIUM BITTER/ESB
In England, many breweries have a number of bitters in their range. The style that has come to be known as Premium or Special Bitter generally includes the stronger ( 4.6%-6.0%) examples. These are mostly served in the traditional way from the cask, but some are also found in bottle form where the extra malt allows them to stand up better than the more delicate ordinary Bitter. In the US, the designation ESB is common for this style, owing to the influence of Fuller’s ESB, the London brew that was among the first to be exported to the States. In the US, some ESBs are made with American hops and a clean yeast, but the alcohol range is the same, as is the range of bitterness, usually between 25 and 35 but occasionally creeping higher.
This is a 250ml bottle (tiny) of a 13.5% ABVbeer, which translates into 2.7 standard drink units, this is 405 calories! Also has an IBU of 100
This product is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Contains; Grimstad water, malted barley, malted wheat, hops and sake yeast No 7.
It says importantly that this is from batch 741, brewed 12/20/2011 and is best before 20th december 2016. They all are :-)
We brewed this ale with the famous sake yeast No 7 from Masumi Sake in Nagano, Japan. On advise from Masumi’s master brewers, we fermented this ale very slowly at low temperatures to bring out No 7’s fabulously fruity character. This product is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Please enjoy chilled! Special thanks to Masumi!
Love the way that this is packaged, mind you how much that added to the cost who cat tell, and of course the fact that the shop had a 20% off beer day today made it an easy easy choice.
Sour aroma is what I pick immediately opening, not off-putting sour, just is sour.
Of course no head, what was I expecting. Well a head to be honest. It looks terribly flat but I did hear a hiss on opening.
So here goes. Cracking aroma in the glass, all fruity and rich. And <insert swears word> wow!
What a full full mouthful taste this has, startling! Lots of rich depth, a lovely amount of bitterness, and plenty of flavour textures to enjoy. All this in such a small package.
There isn't really a lot to indicate that this is a 'big' beer at 13.5%, but it does have that astringent tang at the end. But the lovely nose aroma when you go to drink only gets better even with slight warming.
Not to be quaffed then this is a beer that I'm sipping and quietly enjoying, puzzled over it's complex nature.
The pdubyah-o-metersays make this a 10. You just don't get beers like this every shopping trip. A total treat for the tastebuds .
As it warms you get much more sticky toffee qualities and a much fuller mouthfeel, carried on a tip tongue of bitterness, but with immense fruits and richness. Let down only by the lack of a head on pouring, blame the workman, I would suggest that for this less is most certainly more.
Would I offer you your money back if you didn't like it? This might be one of those beers where possibly not. I can begin to tell why this might be too bitter, or have too much astringent in the carry, but there is no way you'd pick this as being a big hitting beer. Perhaps I should have finished with this and not let it finish me first :-). If you can try this please try it.
Nøgne Ø appear to be the darlings of the craft brewing scene, or that may just be me and the dissonance of seeing their name, on this occasion I'm really impressed. It's been a long time between Nøgne Ø beers for me, and I can't imagine why I've avoided them, perhaps I should have a closer look at the shelf next time.
Music tonight is again those nice people - Tame Impala, this though isn't music for everyone, unless you like psychedelic rock that is. Like my beer I like a change and challenge, and although I don't love it, Im not not loving it.
Not a style, per se, but the only logical category to incorporate the plethora of strong, stylistically vague beers coming from American micros these days. Some are related to English Strong Ales, but with more hop, while others are ultra-strong variants on the IPA theme. But no matter how varied their origins or characters might be, all are intense, potent, with generous quantities of hops and malt.
I found the today when I was looking for something else.
It's a note from my daughter from many years ago to the Tooth Fairy about a tooth that had fallen out, but that she had been playing with, which had then become lost.
Yes it's in purple, yes that's a picture of the tooth that was lost. Note that this isn't to scale.
This folds in the middle and here is a 'front' page, it's like a miniature card.
There are some things you just can't buy.
(she slept with this under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy to find, she did get her gold coin).
This is a 12 fl Oz bottle , that's 355ml, of a 7% ABV beer, making it 2 standard drink units in NZ, and at 32 IBU which is middle ground for a lot of styles of beer such as Pale Ale, ESB, Porter and Pilsner. 210 calories a serve.
If Green Flash were founded in historical Belgium, Rayon Vert would have been our flagship brew. A bold layering of hops finds balance from traditional malts. Bottle conditioning with fresh ale yeast and Brettanomyces finishes the beer, adding a delightful effervescence, dryness and continuously evolving character. Rayon Vert is Green Flash.
MrsPdubyah has been at work all day, A Sunday, which is unusual, and I've done what little chores there were, mostly getting some grass maintenance in.
The bottles from Green Flash are custom made, logo imprinted, which is a nice touch. I'm easily impressed. Really nice fruity aroma on opening, loads of carbonation too!
And it's all head and no beer. like 70/30 fluff over liquid. It's a nice orange yellow what little there is of it, and its persistent it could take a while before I can drink any. Familiar 'musty' yeast aroma greets the nose.
So Belgium style Pale Ale. I get the earthiness that I associate with Pale Ale, and there is a mustiness that you can associate with some Belgium style ales.
This is somewhat like 3 monts which is what came to mind when I tasted this, the musty and very dryness of it.
So, continuing the mixed message, this also delivers a little sour too.
I can honestly say that this beer makes me feel uncomfortable, in that I'm not enjoying it as much as I want to. The pdubyah-o-meter, my own opinion and random number makes this a whole 7. Which is a good beer. But it is in the pack of beers. But this isn't a beer for me.
Perhaps this should be better with a strong food to accompany it to give it some counterpoint, I wish I'd thought of that earlier.
No music today, except the sound of leather on willow as there are two cricket matches going on and I'm making a half hearted attempt to watch both, or listen to one watch the other and listen. New Zealand v India is the local match, and England against Australia in the other. NZ need to get a wriggle on and England need to win something this tour.
Food though, being boring is just peri-peri marinaded chicken that will got a going on the barbecue later.
Belgian-style ales seldom fit neatly into classic beer styles, but this category represents those "session" ales (in Belgium this means under 7% abv!) that do not fit other categories. Colour ranges from golden to deep amber, with the occasional example coming in darker. Body tends to be light to medium, with a wide range of hop and malt levels. Yeastiness and acidity may also be present.
"This is absolutely the most interesting beer I’ve drank in some time. The appearance and aroma are top-notch, and the taste is great, too; while it does seem to be missing that fuzzy “it” thing, it’s still a tasty beer and worth your time and money to give it a try.
I wanted to score this higher, but just couldn’t…"
I bought me this based on the last Unibroue beer I had that made me cry with joy, this is the Unibroue Trois Pistoles.
Brewed by Unibroue (Sapporo) in the Style of a Belgian Strong Ale from the cure metropolis that we know as Chambly, Canada. (The Avoidance systems have kicked in about Sapporo....)
Strong Belgian type ale similar to a Port wine ! Is as dark as can be, mellow in taste with an aroma of ripe fruits. It can be compared to an old porto and is brewed from well roasted malt.
Small (by the way of things) 355ml bottle of a 9% ABV beer, really really well presented with loads of silver foils and prettiness. Lots of warning and advice about glass type and not pouring the dregs at the bottom of the bottle. IBU of 16 and calories at 270. Drinks of 2.5 units in kiwiland.
Intriguingly Southern Tier call this a bottle Conditioned Sparkling Ale w/ Rose Hips, and that it has "high" bitterness. I've seen it called an American Strong Ale too in reviews.
This is a 650ml, of a 9% ABV beer, with 270 calories a serve, which makes it a 4.62 standard drink unit beverage in NZ. After the stunning Porter Noir and the Creme Brûlée I have a high expectation going into this.
[caption id="attachment_6273" align="alignleft" width="300"] The obligatory Selfie[/caption]
We rely on age-old tools in the brewery despite being surrounded by high technology. As a sort of compass, we use the six pointed brewer’s star to help navigate uncharted brews. The cardinal points of water, malt, grain, yeast, hops and a brewer make the baseline. From there anything goes. Sometimes the journey is as important as the destination.
You’ll notice a slight bitterness in Compass derived from our use of rose hips accentuated by high effervescence. Drink it cold from a fluted or tulip glass. And by all means, avoid sea serpents.
Just grassy hops on opening, then an underlying note of something sweeter, fruitier.
But this doesn't immediately translate to the palate, and I get a very excitable and well carbonated pale yellow straw coloured beer, Fantastic head. But as to the sharper points they don't appear to be immediate.
On the nose you can pick something sweet, on the tongue you get a understated bitterness for the carry, and it's carrying a slightly sweeter thing, but it's not well defined, not really that sweet and frankly a bit coy.
This doesn't make this a bad or undrinkable beer though, just one that is giving me a few challenges of identification.
Couple of major things that I have a thing with.
No Belgium style, aroma, or taste discernible. No familiar yeasts, no alcohol astringent note. So hard to measure it against that. The aroma continues to carry something sweet though.
A quandary ensues then, and as usual I have to put aside what the pre-conception I may or may not have about this and the style it may or may not have. I've got a lovely pouring, and looking beer with a head and lacing. I've got a fine mouthfeel and a muted low level of bitterness, but a beer that has a really low and persistent sweet note. It has a great aroma.
All the things that should make this a spectacular beer.
Crucially there is absolutely no indication at all, anywhere in this, that you're drinking a beer that is by any measure strong at 9% and it delivers that without any of the other noises that you'd expect or associate with 'strength'. By which I mean that this is not a LOUD beer to drink, you don't get a punch in taste buds and a wallop of bitterness or a wave of astringent tang. It's just a really really decent quaffable beer, but it's not for all that fulfilling.
So the pdubyah-o-meter rates this at a still very good 9. I've managed to drink it all in not a lot of time, it hasn't warmed in the glass to give me anything else, except an empty glass and that forlorn tipping the bottle as if some magic will happen and more beer will suddenly pour from it. I did that, it didn't do that.
A cautionary note would be that "bottle conditioned" means that this comes with passengers that will cloud up and dance in the glass. I wish I'd thought that through. I now have a cloudy yellow straw well carbonated beer, and I'm going to miss it when it's gone. I'd happily go another of these, and then possibly an early bedtime, it's got a lot of good things about it, but it's an awkward beer when you have expectation (A) and delivery (B).
Music with this tonight is Tame Impala - an Australian band who give the psychedelic rock a go.
BELGIAN STRONG ALE
Belgian Strong Ales can vary from pale to dark brown in color, darker ales may be colored with dark candy sugar. Hop flavor can range from low to high, while hop aroma is low. The beers are medium to full-bodied and have a high alcoholic character. Types of beers included here include tripels, dubbels and ultra-strong abbey ales.
AMERICAN STRONG ALE
Not a style, per se, but the only logical category to incorporate the plethora of strong, stylistically vague beers coming from American micros these days. Some are related to English Strong Ales, but with more hop, while others are ultra-strong variants on the IPA theme. But no matter how varied their origins or characters might be, all are intense, potent, with generous quantities of hops and malt.
From this nice people at Yeastie Boys brewed at Invercargill Brewery, this one in the style of a: Belgian Strong Ale and that's all the thing in Wellington, New Zealand.
[caption id="attachment_6261" align="alignright" width="300"] The obligatory Selfie[/caption]
or this could be a Belgian-style strong golden ale with Earl Grey Excelsior tea.
750ml bottle, of a 7.5% ABV beer - of 225 calories a serve, this in and of itself is a 4.4 standard units of drinks worth.
The beer scene has changed a lot in five years. Back then it was hard to find a new beer and now we can hardly step out of the house without stumbling across a new brewery. People ask when the bubble will burst, when we'll run out of ideas, when a new fad will lead people down a different path. We say this is only the beginning. Here's to us, and to you, and to this golden age of beer we're all living... long may it last!
Because I was prepared for It I got a whiff of the earl grey thing on opening, and some more mute Belgium style yeasts
Poured a more darker orange than I thought, like golden syrup orange. started to have a head, didn't stay.
Quite muted aroma in the glass.
Initial taste is somewhat expected tart astringent but it's soft and not bitter.
Honesty isn't always the best policy but this might be a bit thin. I'm not sensing a lot of the floral that I might have been talking my head into getting. This though is a jolly fine Belgium style beer, and that's always going to rock my boat.
As it gets to warming there are a bunch of other layers that begin to show through, the problem of pouring beer at the wrong temperature. But then if I had to think about everything then I'd be here all night and thirsty.
The pdubyah-o-meter, because I know that's what this is about, says 8, the low end though, better than good, but not very good as it's first stab at a mark. But this is really a 9 a great beer, just drink it at warmer than fridge cold :-)
I don't think that this would stand up against other Belgium beers, and then you'll go on about Dubbel, Tripel etc etc. For me it's about the yeasting, the warmth from the malt, the sweet and then hopefully not a sting of astringent alcohol at the end, and as this warmed it also warmed my feeling towards is.
I know that this is only 7.5% ABV but it seems to have a more in it than that, I can tell that this would take me to my happy place. It's much nicer as it warms up and invites you to quaff and not contemplate. Strange the ways that some beers have that Jekyll and Hide thing going on. This might be one of those.
Belgian Strong Ales can vary from pale to dark brown in color, darker ales may be colored with dark candy sugar. Hop flavor can range from low to high, while hop aroma is low. The beers are medium to full-bodied and have a high alcoholic character. Types of beers included here include tripels, dubbels and ultra-strong abbey ales.
This is a 20fl oz, 650ml bottle, 9.5% ABV, and 285 calories a serve. This would be 4.88 standard drink units in NZ.
When we opened our doors 17 years ago, imposing India Pale Ales didn’t even have a style name, but thanks to the bravaddo and ingenuity of American craft brewers, ourselves included, the "Imperial IPA" has grown into one of the most coveted and delicious styles of beer around and one we feel is perfectly suited to serve as this year’s anniversary beer. A quintet of hops--Citra, Green Bullet, Pacific Gem, Pacific Jade, and Wakatu--lend a spicy tropical spike balanced out by clean breadiness on the finish. It makes for the perfect specialty ale to toast to 17 years of brewing immensely flavorful beers. Prost!
I've been looking forward to this too. Fantastic hop aroma on opening, sharp but not peppery.
Pours orange - goldfish golden with a small and disappearing head. Great hop aroma that has oranges and other citrus in it.
Oh wow that's a flavour burst of some good measure. Corker! Decently carbonated you get a real burst of sweet flavours all up front and a really nice long finish to a slight bitterness. I get, or sense, a lot of oranges.
I have to say that I am really pleasantly surprised by this, I was expecting something a little heavier and bitter. But It's really nice to have something a little sweeter that is quite full in the mouth, and that finishes to a reasonably easy bitterness.
I'm going to argue that this is a 9, making it for am a great beer. I'd easily sit and attempt a session of this. Might get to two, since it's a bit heavy n the ABV, but what a way to finish.
I never did get that initial rush of flavours again, which is a pity, it really was eye popping, I'd pay for that again. I've easily managed to drink the first half in my enthusiasm for this, it's a bit good.
Given that I have to drink even less in the next few months, this would be a beer that I'd be happy to benchmark that against. One of those occasional beers where I might be tempted to bet you your money back if you didn't like it, however I think that the bright orange flavours might not be to everyone's taste. However I could think of so many other beers where you wouldn't get this much entertainment in a glass.
This is nice with a bit of Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes - on in the background, and a good old fashioned pie cooking in the oven, one of the few days recently where I don't have to stand outside and cook.
As this warms the stronger hop grassiness begins to nose through in the glass. This is pleasant too. There isn't too much left to drink though, I have accidentally managed to drink the most of it. On the Bruce Springsteen though, I get the idea that he might be trying to sing a bit tough and story. I may get back to that .
