Beer - #270 - Coromandel - Good as Gold

The second of the local beers, A local beer to where we are on holiday, is Coromandel Good as Gold,  Brewed by Coromandel Brewing in the style of a  Pilsener and  they do that in Matarangi, Whitianga, New Zealand, but I thought it was Hahei.

"Our kiwi version of a Bohemian style pilsner. Riwaka and Pacifica hops give a delicate flavour and aroma to this classic beer style that is light bodied and easy to drink."

The 500ml bottle, seems standard, and at 5% ABV means this is just 2 standard drink units,and comes with the tummy friendly 150 calories.

Very muted aroma on opening,as it did with a little hiss.  Of course at the beach you pour this into the general purpose tumbler...

And it pours a really pale yellow with a decent head, not as strong as the the Easy Rider, but a head! rejoice and take the tumbler home!

There are some hops in there.

Quite raspy and harsh is how I could describe this, which would be par for the course for a Pilsner beer.

There is a a nice feel about this, and I find myself enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would.  I can pick the lovely happiness and it's carried by some nice sweetness.

It doesn't finish dry either which is nice.

I am not a fan of Pilsner beer, however when you consider this against other more commercial versions this is a cracker!

The pdubyah-o-meter says to me that this should rate as 8, a very good, beer.  I'm not a fan  of this style but if you are then you should enjoy this. I probably wouldn't buy it again over other beers, but given a warm day and something nice to accompany this this would be a great summer day beer,

Related articles

• Beach Life - Summer 2013 - #1 (pdubyah.com)

Beach Life – Summer 2013 – #6

Well here we are then. At the beach house. this is the view, well this is the view when you hold the camera up a bit higher than eye-line, but you get it.

The local Fauna are really really noisy. We have Tui, Fantails, and Califonian Quail, Pheasants, the local Kingfisher and sundry other things all chipping in.



This was yesterday afternoon when we arrived. You really can see the beach (in the red rectangle) the trees and bushes are all growing up and the glimpse is getting glimpser.



Annoyingly the automatic lighting thing on the barbecue still works, couple of clicks and it's away. We've had this thing for many years now, and it still keeps going. It doesn't get a lot of use when I'm not here though, the in-laws aren't that fussed on cooking on it, apart from the occasion smoked fish.

Because it's still a bit murky the Gentleman Fishing Club has been put on hold. I'm sure I'll get on this later.

Already had a beer, well last night had a beer. We've also, MrsPdubyah and me, been on a mooch down the end of the beach and back. It was a bit bracing. Saw some of the younger neighbours who'd been partying for at least an hour being clowns, I should go see how they are today.

Had a couple of exercise walks, yesterday afternoon after the drive here, and this morning. Lordy this morning everyone was out jogging/running/cycling/mooching. All adults mind, no teenagers, funny that. It was was however 8am and what do you expect?

Today then, well I've done some exercise, MrsPdubyah was leaving as I got back, and FIL has gone for a meander. MIL is in bed, having been up at 7am putting a load of washing on, probably onto her second, it's her thing.

Suddenly it'll be 10am, I'll have to make some bread, there will be coffee and then the house will settle for an hour before lunch.

It's all go!

Related articles

• Beach Life - Summer 2013 - #4 (pdubyah.com)

Beach Life - Summer 2013 - #1

I'm lucky enough for there to be a beach house in the family trust that I get to visit frequently. The parents are there a lot, almost permanently in the summer months.

so this year, again, it’s to the beach house for a couple of weeks more or less.

Rings Beach - Coromandel - North Facing on the East Side of the peninsular.

The bach is about 50 meters from the sand, on the beach side of the road, down a small cut communal path. At the end of the path there is a picnic\bbq table and at one point there used to be a bathtub, might still be there.  You can spot the house in the picture there is a lone white car parked besides it. On the beach you might see a kayak and a RIB.

It's a real community beach, everyone knows everyone, everyone is willing to help everyone and we tend to party as a community with the hosting being shared from house to house on an informal rotation basis. There is always a beer or Gin to be had somewhere.

Rings Beach named after Mr Frank Ring who in the early days owned a sheep farm and who was the son of Charles Ring of Coromandel fame. Gold was first discovered at Driving Creek in Coromandel Town in 1852 by the Ring brothers.

As well as me this year Rings Beach will also be probably home to a pair of  the New Zealand dotterel/tūturiwhatu  -  This endangered bird can be found on a number of beaches on the Coromandel. There are only about 450 New Zealand dotterel on the Coromandel and 1700 nationwide, these birds need all the help they can get. They nest on the sand, mostly above the high tide mark, but weather vagaries, and predators, as well as careless people are all threats to them. Their nest will be roped off, and hopefully they'll hatch their eggs and then there will be 451 :-)

Rings Beach is also home to the Gentleman's Fishing Club and the Kontiki device.

And there is a web page! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rings-Beach-Coromandel/172961526108932

I'm kind of hoping to write more about how I'm doing nothing all day, except the bbq for breakfast eggs and bacon, and the evening meal of fresh fish, or exotic meat. How the fishing is going, and how the book reading is coming along.

I'll be trying to exercise, not get sidetracked into too much coffee shop and ice-cream and relax a little.

It is for me summer after all.

Related articles

• Dotterels need their own space (stuff.co.nz)


• Two days in the Coromandel (nomadsworld.com)


• Coromandel Peninsula Beach Impressions (mountainsofhappiness.wordpress.com)


• Coromandel (jonathankiwi.wordpress.com)

4th Annual Rings Beach Food and Drink Festival

The 4th Annual Rings Beach, Coromandel, Food and Drink Festival, Saturday January 26th.

A new beach tradition, originally started to honour a birthday, has now taken a life of it's own. Hosted at one of the beach homes this is purely a fun affair. Entry is free, and optional.

The rules, where there are any, are that dish is either a "sweet" or a "Savoury" and has to have a matched drink to go with it. It also has to be "Foreign". So for example you could enter Sushi and Sake, if you dared.

Some things you need to  know about "Rings Beach Life" is that you can't enter something that you'd reasonably expect to have, so Crayfish, and Scallops would be considered a bit of a no, since they are regularly dived for by various residents.

Similarly there are some traditional things that you shouldn't enter, a smoked Salmon for instance, as this is one of the centre pieces at the Rings Beach Christmas day gathering, along with Scallops, and Crayfish.

Everyone attending gets to make one vote in each of the 4 categories.

The prizes are awarded in the categories

• Best Dish -  Savoury


• Best Dish  - Sweet


• Most Original


• Best Overall

It was decided that there would be a new category next year, best cocktail or matched drink, which might turn into a best matched pair award, I hope it doesn't since the Sangria served with one of the dishes was singularly brilliant!

There were three "Sweet" desserts, A Danish Trifle, a Strawberry gateaux and a Blueberry tartlet. Competition in that category is fierce.

The winner was the Danish Trifle, possibly due to an alcohol content, but it was really tasty

The "Savoury" category had a lot of entrants, in no particular order, and from my poor memory;

• Marinated Smoked Mussels, matched with a Stoke Smokey Ale


• Chinese Chicken and Corn Soup, matched with a Scrumpy Punch


• Lebanese burgers, matched with a vodka cocktail


• Lamb Tagine, matched with an "El Morocco" cocktail


• Cucumber Soup and Naan, matched to a Sauvignon Blanc


• Fish Pie, matched with a Chardonnay


• Cheese sticks and Sauvignon


• Jambalaya, matched to a Sauvignon


• Buffalo Beach beef bourguignon, matched with a Red Wine


• Pickle Dogs, matched with Budweiser


• Meatballs and chorizo, matched to a Sangria


• Possum Eye Pie, matched with a Red Wine


• and page 45 of the Donna hay cookbook, and a strawberry cocktail

[gallery ids="4191,4192,4193,4194,4195,4196,4197,4198,4199,4200"]

The Winners;

The Jambalaya won the best savoury prize, the Beef bourguignon won the best overall, the possum eye pie won the most original

I ate some of everything and the Possum eye pie was spectacular, the Beef dish was divine, the Danish Trifle was a treat. And whilst I didn't think the Jambalaya was the best dish there it was very special and tasty and did deserve to win.

The prizes consisted a selection of tiaras, wands and beads from the $2 shop, and there was a special award of a wooden spoon to one voter for being vocal :-)