Beer - #534 - 8 Wired - Black Wired Black IPA

Broken promise, broken record, broken a record, and break for a party.

8 Wired Black Wired Black IPA, I know I said I didn't get them, the Black IPA, but.

Full body but dry and hoppy

This is fyo, keg only, beer, so I have the 1 litre bottle of a beer that is 7% ABV, so I get that to be 5.52 standard drink units in NZ, and like 210 calories a serve size.

Black Wired Black IPA  is by  8 Wired Brewing, brewed at Renaissance Brewing and this is in the style that is Black IPA,

[caption id="attachment_10285" align="alignleft" width="300"] Black as coal, cold as ice[/caption]

Roasted malt and coffee dominate this beer, hop forward with a caramel and licorice finish.

So not a lot to go on with this.

As to 8 Wired, they make all sorts of variation on the Wired theme, including Hop, Fresh Hopped, Re-, and Cross. They're generally pretty good beers too.

What could go wrong?, apart from not 'getting' the black IPA thing, and then remembering the Fiasco beer I had recently that was a 10.

Fresh hop aroma, green, as always that is a bit nice.

The pour is lovely, and even a head! a very nice head of substance. Aroma gets stronger and is very full.  It really is as dark as it looks, the head really is a full and firm.

Golly, that is a banging beer, great hops bitter, lovely sweetness and a dark malted finish and then a tad of dryness.

I know I had a conversation recently about Black IPA, this might change your mind.

This is really nice. The toasted/roasted malt adds so much in the back of this and bulks up the profile to a new level. I like the dry finish too.

I like the way it looks in the glass too, it's a good to look  at and good to drink beer. Does it get any betterer?

Second pour was just as attractive as the first. it look so nice in the glass, you really might want on if you saw it. There are some that wouldn't touch this because of the colour though, and you need to talk softly to them and as them to taste, as this, in this style, is a joyous thing. OF course a committed lager drinker isn't going to like it.

So, recap, lovely level of initial bitterness, a lovely middle full of roasted malts and a lingering and dry finish. Plus it looks pretty.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 9 a of its things from the thing. For all that I wrote and enthused there is room for improvement, of course, and at this time and on this day, I would like to have just a little more hop.

The double dip review

1. Am I enjoying it? It truly is  thing of joy and I cast aside my prejudice of Black IPA, clearly there are good versions.


2. Would I have another? I so would, this is a cracker! Lucky for me I have the whole bottle.


3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Yes, I'd make you drink it and let you decide how much you really liked it and that it really was a thing, and that it is a different thing from the normal IPA with some black added.

I break with the usual new music tradition and so the Music box was playing Jim Morrison and the Doors, mad if I didn't enjoy it, this is of course LA Woman, and the track the same name. Honey though I'm not sure I ever listened to much Jim Morrison or the Doors and in a sense this is new to me, I found a lot of music in my 'yoof' a bit challenging, including This, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Who and others, Perhaps even then I as a little bit less rock and roll and a a bit more pop and disco?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3jf9_rua5Q&w=420&h=315]

Anyway I knew some of the songs and some of the words to some of the songs, I'm sure the neighbour though it wa karaoke hour as the dial accidentally dialled upt o 11.

BLACK IPA

An emerging beer style roughly defined as a beer with IPA-level hopping, relatively high alcohol and a distinct toasty dark malt character. Typically lacks the roastiness and body of a strong stout and is hoppier than a strong porter. Expressive dry-hopping is common. Also called India Dark Ale, India Black Ale, Cascadian Dark Ale, Dark IPA, and sometimes India Brown Ale.

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Beer - #198 - 8 Wired - HopWired IPA

8 Wired HopWired IPA. Brewed by  8 Wired Brewing , although brewed at Renaissance Brewing in the sttyle: India Pale Ale (IPA) and that's all the thing in Blenheim, New Zealand.

7.3% ABV making 500ml about 2.9 standard drinks. And at 70 IBU is at the higher end of IPA.

We believe HopWired is the first bottled version of a true new world India Pale Ale made with NZ grown base malt and 100% truly unique NZ hops. We bet you’ll find nothing else like it on the shelves. Although the malty sweetness is there, this beer is all about the hops. Unlike an American I.P.A. which will mainly hit you with a grapefruity-citrus flavour and aroma, the unique NZ hops used in HopWired are more like a tropical punchbowl: Passion fruit, lime, oranges and Sauvignon Blanc to name but a few. A local Marlborough winemaker said it smelled like gooseberries... Gooseberries? Who has ever smelled a gooseberry?? Decide for yourself or just enjoy it without further complications. Cheers!

This has a muted hoppy/grass aroma, which is really nice on the nose. Pours a lovely rimu brown with an understated head.  Aroma is stronger of the grass/hops that you'd be expecting.

This is interesting. I was expecting sharper more acidic taste, and I get a much softer bite than I would have expected or be expecting. It's not nearly as bitter as it could be.

There are some intriguing under-notes to this,  not grapefruit but something similar. It's an all-on mouthful.  Leaves a lovely lacing on the glass too.

So where is this at? It's not abundantly bitter, it's not overly layered with flavours. It's not tart and it's not sweet. It carries ok, but is short of a good length, but that does not make it thin.

Like many others I like this a good deal. The pdubyah-o-meter says easily a 9, which may be over-generous, but this for sure a very quaffable and amiable beer to be drinking. I'm going to enjoy the rest of my evening with this, and I'm listening to Buddy Guy - the  "Skin Deep" Album,  it's a Chicago Blues thing, and just now, just today it's right on the money :-)

Thanks to the nice people at Liquorland In Newmarket for having this "on tap" and available for take-home in a handy 2l container. Hey this one... it's only about 12 standard drink units.... stand by

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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 - #152 - 8 Wired - Tall Poppy India Red Ale

Back to something from a more established NZ brewery - the 8 Wired Tall Poppy India Red Ale - 8 Wired Brewing which is brewed at Renaissance Brewing, this one in the style of a  Amber Ale
and they're in Blenheim, New Zealand.

500ml bottle, 7% ABV, thats 2.8 Standard drink units, and 60 IBU's so at the lower end for IPA .... stand by for incoming......

Tall Poppy - India Red Ale This is an ale that is not afraid of standing tall among other great beers. The intense, sharp and fruity hoppiness is backed by its complex, caramel-like malty structure. Big, yet refreshing. Bold but balanced. This beer has been designed to have it all, to be the greatest common denominator.

Love the play on words they manage.

This sounds like the business but this is s brewer who takes risks and has delivered a mixed bag, in my opinion.

The immediate hop aroma is really nice, not ones I'm familiar with (Warrior, Columbus, Simcoe, Amarillo) Fantastic dark red colour, reasonable head,  and that fantastic aroma, almost spicy.

There's a mouthful of flavour too, caramel malts, backed with a fair hit of bitterness.

If anything this ends a little "dry" in the mouth, but there isn't a lot to tell you you're drinking a reasonably strong beer by way of alcohol astringent.

In the glass, given a few minutes, this really begins to bloom and blossom. this might be that I'm a bit over average beers in my enthusiasm, but this light up a lot of buttons on the pdubyah-o-meter. It could be that I'm comfortable with the bitterness that this delivers, or the way that the caramel and malt combine with the whole to make a nice.

The pdubyah-o-meter says 8.5, which makes this a fair decent beer. I'm happily necking this like there is no tomorrow, and I'll suddenly realise that there is only the one, and this is it.

For all it's good points I didn't get a head, I get no lacing, and if anything it's under hopped. It's easily drinkable, and if I was where this was on tap I'd be more than happy to pull up a barstool order me some fries and have a another, or two.

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Beer- #100 - 8 Wired - Superconductor

Well, we're 100 not out, literally, since so far my the beers have all been from the bottle shop and enjoyed in the pleasure of the home. Makes me a bit of a no-mates. So to get me over that loneliness I'm going to to have some of the 8 Wired Superconductor, and I'm going to Spotify The XX - Coexist, because the TV has been hijacked by the ladies who are watching X-Factor or whatever that's called.

8 Wired Brewing  who get theirs brewed at Renaissance Brewing, Blenheim, New Zealand, this one in the style of an  Imperial/Double IPA.

The label says "if you don't like hops don't buy this beer". It's feisty this one.

500ml bottle of an 8.8% ABV beer (that's equivalent to 3.5 standard drinks)

Holy heck that's a hophead amount of aroma, but it also has a sweetness of caramel malts. The Hops have a pine note to them. Naturally I can't pour with a head, you'd think by now that i'd have got the knack.

And that's very much a significant amount of bitter hops on the palate. Not so much that you suck air in through tangy lips, but that's a noise that's making itself heard. (it does say on the label.....)  That pine aroma seems to carry through to the taste, this is very long as a taste.

This is, though, a pleasant and drinkable golden coloured beer, and again a bit of a winner from 8 Wired.  The pdubyah-o-meter makes this a solid 8 things. This isn't going to be a beer that satisfies or impresses everyone. It's more at the bitter end of the scale than the softer sweeter end, and it probably should be enjoyed with something that stands up to it by way of a food match. In the end though this does push my boundary for hops and bitter, and I'm going to bid a bit of a retreat from the edge.

100 beers (that I've written about, I wish that was all my intake, but you know I'd be telling you a fib), and this one seems a reasonable way to get there.

Beer - #82 - 8 Wired - The Big Smoke

Tonight then - a 8 Wired The Big Smoke Smoked Porter. Brewed at Renaissance Brewing, in the style of a " Smoked*", and they do this in Blenheim, New Zealand.

"Now what is this? A smoked beer?? It really isn’t as crazy as it sounds. 250 years ago virtually all beers were smoked (it’s true, Google it!), but with the dawning of the industrial revolution most of the smoke lifted. However, in the German town of Bamberg the flame has quite literally been kept alive and to this day the town’s brewers produce world renowned beers brewed with their own special rauchmalz (beechwood smoked malt). We’ve taken our best porter recipe and added a good measure of that same Bamberg Rauchmalz. The smoke mingles beautifully with the rich, dark roasted chocolate flavours of the porter without being overpowering. Although it pairs extremely well with smoked seafood, barbeques, strong cheeses and hearty stews, its food friendliness isn’t limited to savouries; chocolate and caramel based deserts are great companions too! Trust us; it really isn’t as crazy as it sounds."

Previously I've tried the Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude, although that was before I had a pdubyah-o-meter, Suffice to say that it was a beer that really really really challenged me. Really. I like that about the Yeastie boys though they're doing their own thing, and that's ok by me. And the McCashin Stoke Bomber Smoky Ale of course.

Bu this is about 8 Wired though, they've settled on a packaging that's similar over their range, it's the new thing in branding. This is then a 500ml bottle of a 6.2% ABV beer.

Dark Porter colour, mocha head of a decent sized, and the immediate aroma of wood shavings like you get in woodwork shops, and then that settles to a smoked aroma.

To the taste. And I smiled. This.

The Smoked flavour really adds to this on the palate, there's no battle going on for attention it just is what it is, beer in the smokey style.  I think this is a nicely balanced beer, it's drinking ok and leaving a decent lacing in the glass. Still smiling.  That the smoke dominates this isn't a bad thing, there's no added sweetness from malts and no background bitterness from hops.

8 Wired have done a good thing well. The pdubyah-o-meter swings  to a 8.5 arbitrary things making this a decent beer decently enjoyed. I'm getting harsher and more demanding of beers that light my fire so 8.5 is a bit good. I'd go another of these, but that would be because I'm enjoying it as a beer and a drink, you don't have to contemplate at every mouthful  what it is you're enjoying.  A beer for drinking and not for challenging you. It works.

*Smoked : the classic smoked beers hail from Bamberg in Franconia, Germany. These are made using malt that has been smoked over beechwood. The insistent smokiness may be applied to any lager style. In North America, the same technique has been used to make smoked porter. Whiskey malt beers are made using peat-smoked malt.

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Beer – #5 in a series - 8 Wired Saison Sauvin

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A cheeky little 7% ABV  beer this one.

Reading from the interwebtubes website, and the label it clearly says  "this is not a beer meant to be drunk by the gallon".

If you're a fan of the Pale Ale taste then you'll enjoy this, and although I'm not generally a fan of that style of beer this one is a little bit special and very tasty, and I'd give a gallon a crack.

In a 500ml (that's just about a pint) this is a very pleasing drink, long enough to taste and enjoy.

On the arbitrary Pdubya-o-meter this one rates, for me 9 arbitrary stars out of 10 arbitrary stars.

Once again thank you to the nice guys at The Wine Circle in Huapai (and on twitter  )-  for having such a fine selection and choice.

Cheers!

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