Beer - #420 - Tuatara - Black, the Whittaker’s Chocolate version

Three versions of this beer - this one, my second, the  Tuatara Black Whittaker’s Chocolate - Limited Edition Unfiltered Chocolate Stout

Tuatara Black Whittaker’s Chocolate Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company in the style that is no surprise then -  a Stout - and they are based in Paraparaumu, New Zealand

Delivered as a 500ml bottle that has all the lumps and bumps of a Tuatara, they really are great tactile bottles,  this one contains beer that  is 6.5% ABV, with 195 calories a serve, and is then 2.6 standard drink units in NZ.  I note that this one  is listed as having 100 IBU things. 

Chocolate is as popular as beer itself and an important note in a bunch of great dark ales. So for Tuatara’s new BLACK series we went all out and made a dark ale heavily impregnated with actual chocolate. A quick telex to Whittaker’s, New Zealand’s most beloved chocolate maker, saw a load of their finest Ghana spirited up to the Kapiti coast where it was turned into a rich, bittersweet stout with hints of nuts and raisins. Chocolate lovers, stout lovers, anyone who’s never counted a kilojoule in their life, will be in heaven.

The Toasted Malt one was great, I wonder what this has in store.

Beer - #419 - Tuatara - Black, the Toasted Malt version

Three versions of this beer - This one Tuatara Black Toasted Malt - Limited Edition Unfiltered Stout

Right then -   Tuatara Black Toasted Malt Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company in the style that is a Stout and they are based in Paraparaumu, New Zealand

Delivered as a 500ml bottle that has all the lumps and bumps of a Tuatara, and this on is 7 ABV, with 210 calories a serve, and is 2.8 standard drink units in this bottle.

[caption id="attachment_9023" align="alignright" width="300"]
Selfie[/caption]

Greetings stout lovers. At Tuatara we know your dedication to toasted malts requires no embellishment, so for you we have our brilliant, elemental BLACK. Using everything from Roasted Barley to Dark Crystal (yeah, that’s a thing) we’ve popped the 5-grain into the toaster to create a malt base of opulent Cimmerian shade. And to ensure you’re not losing out to all those pale ale bores, we’ve hopped things up a bit with buckets of Pacific Jade, Chinook, Citra, Amarillo and Centennial. It’s a big one, so don’t overdo it.

I think "can" you can overdo it.

Beer - #318 - Tuatara - Ardennes

I'm a simple man, but Tuatara Ardennes, strikes me as being something Belgium related, of course.

Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company this is in the style of a  Belgian Ale and they do that in the metropolis that to me an you is known as Paraparaumu, New Zealand.

500ml bottle (Pint-ish) of a 6.5% ABV beer, or 2.5 standard drinks to me and you, 195 calories a servings.

Tuatara Ardennes is a strong, Belgian-identified ale. There’s no missing the strong bit – 6.5% alc/vol should be fairly self-explanatory – but the Belgian half of the equation is the result of our obsession with the style. In creating his own version we've named it after the Ardennes yeast that gives it all those spicy orange notes. We were also fairly obsessed with making it drinkable, so drinkable in fact that we may have to redirect your attention to the 6.5% alc/vol bit. Avoid heavy machinery.

They say.

I have to cook on the BBQ I hope that at least on of the things works out ok for me

Thats fairly yeasty and a bit sour on opening, vinegary. Very pale, and I was surprised by that, I was expecting darker, or different. No head, at all. But it looks fairly well carbonated.

Aroma settles to more yeast, which would be what you might expect.



Pours a great golden colour, and has a decent head, but this is very carbonated on the tongue. To the nose this is a Belgium style yeasted beer, and the sourness of the up front note is of Belgium. But that's all there is.

Does look nice in the glass though.

So where are we at? This is a beer that is made to, at least, smell and initially taste like a Belgium style beer. Which for me it does.

What else does it do?

Frankly not a lot. And honestly as it warms it gets more 'iffy' the warmth that you'd expect from the malts appear to be a bit off centre, and they clash with the sourness. It's a challenge.

This might make for a fairly decent domestic beer, but it's hard to look past the way that it appears to have rapid changes of personality. The over-riding sourness makes this less than a winner, but not by much

The pdubyah-o-meter - the arbiter of arbitrary- says 7 - which is ok, makes this beer that you shouldn't avoid or skip on, it's ok at what it is an what id odes it's just, again, not setting a benchmark or bar that other beers would beed to meet or beat.

Smells like Belgium beer should, tastes like a Belgium beer should, but that shouldn't be all of it, or perhaps they're showing off and it is, As an extension of their Dubbel and Tripel this is nice rounder.

Musically , the Vinyl gave away to the iPod and some Elbow, and this on the loudness.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dELKUivJo4w&w=640&h=360]

Belgian Ardennes

is one of the great and versatile strains for the production of classic Belgian style ales. This strain produces a beautiful balance of delicate fruit esters and subtle spicy notes; with neither one dominating. Unlike many other Belgian style strains, this strain is highly flocculent and results in bright beers.

BELGIAN ALE

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.

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Beer - #258 - Tuatara - Dubbel

a Dubbel, from Tuatara, Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company in the style of an  Abbey Dubbel in the mystical Paraparaumu, New Zealand

A seasonal beer, so something a little special perhaps.  650ml of a 7.5% ABV beer, of 3.6 standard  drinks, and maybe around 25 IBU's which appears normal for this type and style. Also, and it's important, 225 calories.

Perhaps it’s time to discuss putting beer down. No we’re not insulting the object of our love and livelihood, we’re talking cellaring. With the different malts and house-made Belgian candy sugar, this classic Dubbel could benefit from 6 to 30 months of repose in a quiet, cool place. If you can bear the wait you’ll find the plum and raisin characters, the characteristic phenolics and the hints of dark chocolate reconciled to perfection. ABV from 8.5% to 7.5%.

The aroma is disappointing , but it settles to something like chocolate. I'd best pour it as sniffing a bottle seems weird.  Poured thinner, perhaps paler would be a better, or less thick than I thought it might, with a smallish head, that like my hopes and dreams faded away. All of which is nonsense as it's quite a nice rich deep red-brown colour.

A nice fruit aroma. And it drinks really nice, a really familiar palate of mustiness, and a little sweetness and a bang of astringent alcohol.  Which doesn't sound as good as it tastes, and it tastes great.

I'm easily impressed, this is really easy drinking, and, does it for me.

A reality check though says that this perhaps doesn't have as much upfront sweeteners, doesn't have a lot of middle carry and might be a bit thin, but the alcohol tang isn't a thing as it warms up a bit. However you can put this into it's category as a Belgium beer, it's jolly good stuff

The pdubyah-o-meter says, get in!, and makes this a very very good 8.5 arbitrary stars.

Hopped With Pacific Jade, Styrian Goldings neither of which appear a mention on the hops list  I forlornly copied 

How to sum this up then, Nice. I'd drink it again. It's of it's style, and if you like the style you'd probably be ok with this. It's not strong on any points, there's no over-riding element, and if I had the patience I'd put one on the cupboard for ageing.

Like that's ever going to happen. Cheers!

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Beer - #235 - Tuatara - Belgian Tripel - Redux

Back to the middle again, away from the heavier beers that I seem to have been having of late with a NZ Tuatara Belgian Tripel, Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company in the style of a  Belgian Strong Ale and they're in, of course, Paraparaumu, New Zealand.

Develop an active interest in Belgium’s monastic Trappist brews and it’ll quickly become obvious that the Low Countries weren’t named after the alcohol content of their favourite beers. Tuatara Tripel is is brewed in that same intense style, rich on the nose with esters and hop aromas balanced to perfection. It’s possessed of a sustained and lively body that instantly fills the mouth with flavour. Meanwhile a smooth aftertaste ensures the kind of drinkability that by rights no 8.5% alc/vol beer ought to possess.

And just to make it worse for myself here is a clip of me taking it all serious

http://youtu.be/FBpcybmsedY

8.5% of a beer, in a 650ml bottle, in NZ 4.65 standard drink units.  I rated this 8 last time I drank it   Who's surprised that I forgot about this. well me. I don't know that it made much of an impression because I'm usually better at remembering things, he said not convincingly.

I also picked up, knowingly a Brewaucracy "In Triplicate" Which I thought was a 9, as if that changes anything.

Hopefully then, a head, and a bit more balance of flavours. We'll get to that next.

Fair hiss, vinegary cider aroma, Orange golden pour, and fluffy white head to accompany. Aroma more to caramel malts and familiar belgium notes. It's better than I remember.

Slightly sour front, but it gives over to a nice balanced sweetness, and finishes sharp. Again the alcohol is not apparent in this, which is both a good and bad thing. Nose full of aroma every sip too, and you know I mean "big sip".

Lovely earthiness, lovely sweetness, nice tang, and a #smileface from me on this. I rated it an 8 before and I think that on this I would probably rate this on the pdubyah-o-meter as a  9 making it a great beer.

Of course I'm coming off the back of a few of the more eccentric beers, the porters and stouts and some very very hoppy beers, so this was a retreat to something I know, or hope, is more comfortable to drink. Very easy drinking, very tempted I would be to have another if I had one to have. For a New Zealand company this is quite accomplished.

To be able to buy a quality Belgium Tripel style beer, made locally, and for it to be the equal or better than some imported offerings, for my palate at least, is a very rewarding thing. At least it's not like Champagne and they'll have to change it's name to something. Which reminds me that one of our commercial brewers trademarked "Radler" as a name, and so therefore you can't get a 'real' Radler beer brewed or marketed here. But that's a different story altogether.

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Beer - #132 - Tuatara - Belgian Tripel

Tuatara Belgian Tripel  Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company in the style of a : Belgian Strong Ale and that's all done in Paraparaumu, New Zealand.

8.5%ABV (4.65 Standard drinks) contained in a 650ml bottle.

Develop an active interest in Belgium’s monastic Trappist brews and it’ll quickly become obvious that the Low Countries weren’t named after the alcohol content of their favourite beers. Tuatara Tripel is is brewed in that same intense style, rich on the nose with esters and hop aromas balanced to perfection. It’s possessed of a sustained and lively body that instantly fills the mouth with flavour. Meanwhile a smooth aftertaste ensures the kind of drinkability that by rights no 8.5% alc/vol beer ought to possess.

This wasn't my first choice tonight, but if you buy beer at lunch time and leave it to get warm then what can you do, except stop and buy another beer from the cold room.

Expectations are of golden/chestnut , malty sweet, and alcohol present but not making a big deal about it.

Ok it pours golden syrup golden, it fizzes like an alka-seltzer, but delivers no head, and now appears to look very flat. Slightly bittery yeasty aroma.

And then heaven on the tongue! All the malty sweetness floods you with a tearful hug.  There's plenty of length in this too the lingering taste on the lips and back of throat. They're fairly docile tastes though, and I didn't get the same enjoyment second or third mouthful. Bit disappointing, I do still get the back burn of something though.

For me there isn't enough sweet malt taste, the alcohol is masked but bobs it's noise in a bit, it might be just over carbonated, and it still looks like a flat beer poured a day ago.

Taking stock though, as you must. This isn't bad. It stands on it's own merits and is doing what it says on the label. There isn't much indication that this is an 8.5% beer, and that you should be paying more attention to that.

Overall the pdubyah-o-meter things that 8 on its arbitrary scale means that this is accomplished, and well mannered, unlikely to disappoint, and also unlikely to make it to the top table.  I like it a lot more than I thought I would, you know the bar is high when it comes to trying to make a standard your own thing. Fair play and well done.

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Beer - #102 - Tuatara - Double Trouble APA

This is from the Tuatara Brewing Company in the style of an  Imperial/Double IPA And that do this all the way  south in sunny Paraparaumu, New Zealand

Calling Double Trouble a "hop showcase" might imply that this brutal 167 IBU monster has your best interests at heart. If your answer to the question, "How much hopping would you like?" is simply "more", this is what you wish for. The malt base and Chico yeast together construct the perfect platform for the multiple additions of so many hop varieties no mere beer label could label them all. Your overwhelmed taste buds will know the feeling.

So here's a list of what I think I'm getting: Bitter. Bitter. 167 IBU us on the high side, roughly speaking,  beers with IBUs of less than 20 have little to no apparent hops presence. Beers with IBUs from 20 to 45 are the most common and have mild to pronounced hops presence. Beers with IBUs greater than 45 are heavily hopped and can be quite bitter. 167 puts this at the top end of the top http://www.beertutor.com/beers/index.php?t=highest_ibu. So not scientific in the sense that the brewer declares a value, but even so, this is going to be something.

Hopped With: Pacific Jade to bitter (70 IBU up front), then Pacific Jade, Nelson Sauvin, Simcoe, and Zythos late in the boil for Flavour and aroma. Then Nelson Sauvin for the first dry-hop, and Simcoe and Zythos for the second dry-hop. Calculated at 167 IBU.

Also it's 650ml (pint and a top up) of a 9% ABV Beer, that's about 4.6 standard drinks, so I'm either going to get frowning or in a nice place smiling, the IBU question may fade to grey.

And surprise you can smell the hops and the bitterness they promise in spades. The beer is pale golden beer colour and a decent off orange head. A win!  Very grassy on the nose, nice carbonation, and again, this time without the sarcasm, a fairly muted bitterness received, compared to what I expected. I'm getting a citrus tone in this as well, I could be making it up to impress you I know what I'm tasting of course, but I spy grapefruit.

This is nice on the tongue too, decent length and a nice after. I might put the 3-d glasses on and have a gander at the label. Which is in 3D :-), back at the beer, and I'm enjoying the bittery, but I'm also now getting orangey.

It's a thing alright. Very tidy and not at all a challenge, mainly because this time I came prepared with an expectation that matched the label and not what I thought in my head might happen.

This is not a cheap beer, but for this I'm not sitting here thinking that it was money not well spent, I'd hate to think of the price in bars if I pad around $13.00 for this. bearing in mind that this is the equivalent of, say, 2 Heineken beers, by volume, which would be a bout 2.6 units of beer, than in a unit of beer per ml this is easily great value for money.

the pdubyah-o-meter loves this 9.25 worth of love. BUT I couldn't in all honesty sit down and have a another, this is "beer for the evening" not "the beer for all evening" it's would make you a dull boy in the morning.  It's very cleverly delivered as a strong beer with a lot of bitterness that manages to hide both the extreme bitterness and the alcohol content, and that's very cunning.

I'm not going to gush and offer you a refund if you buy and don't like, you know that this is bitter, you know that this is strong, it's not a sweet beer, it's immaculately balanced and something to behold, you should be satisfied if you like those things and you'll need no encouragement.