Showing posts with label Sauvignon blanc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sauvignon blanc. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Beer - #xxx - Mikkeller - Nelson Sauvignon

Undoubtedly the most expensive beer I've brought.

the man says It’s hard to name a favourite among your children. But if I have to choose one it has to be Nelson Sauvignon. It’s a light Belgian ale brewed with brettanomyces and enzymes for the driest possible beer. We used Nelson Sauvin hops, which have grape characteristics and it is aged on white wine barrels. This is done to imitate Champagne – and I actually think we succeeded.
… But my favorites much depend on the mood. Maybe I prefer wine?


Champagne sized 750 ml bottle of beer, 9%ABV, so 270 calories a serve size, and this would be

Of course by Mikkeller this one brewed at De Proefbrouwerij in the style most likely to be Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut, or at a pinch  Belgian Strong Ale and they're in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Nelson Sauvignon is a New Year beer it is fermented with ale yeast, brettanomyces and enzymes. Then it has been aged three months in Austrian white wine casks. Very dry, very vinous and very delicious.

Brygget af basismalt og under mæskníngen og gæringen tilsat enzymer for at opnå en så høj forgærbarhed som overhovedet muligt. Til både bitter-, smags- og aromahumle er brugt den New Zealandske humlesort ‘Nelson Sauvin’ som er opkaldt efter sine druekarakterer, der bringer minder til den New Zealandske hvidvinsdrue Sauvignon Blanc. Af gær er benyttet både champagnegær og brettanomyces og pga. enzymerne er øllen gæret meget langt ned og dermed er slutresultatet en meget tør øl. Efter endt gæring har øllen ligget 5 måneder på hvidvinsfade fra Østrigske Weingut Kollwentz og opnået yderligere karakter

Brewed of base malt and during mashing and fermentation enzymes added to achieve a high fermentability as possible. For both bitterness , flavor and aroma hops are used the New Zealand hop variety ' Nelson Sauvin ' named after its grape characters that recalls to the New Zealand white wine grape Sauvignon Blanc. By yeast is used both champagnegær and brettanomyces and due . Enzymes , the beer is fermented very far down and thus the end result is a very dry beer . After fermentation the beer has been five months in white wine casks from Austrian Weingut Kollwentz and achieved additional character.



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.

Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut



Bière de Champagne (or Bière Brut) is a hybrid beer style, generally made in Belgium and France. The "brewing" process for this style can more resemble the process used in sparkling wine (AKA Champagne). In general, these beers are lighter in body, higher in alcohol and quite carbonated. Color can range from almost clear to medium/dark gold. ABV can range from 9% to 14% or more.

Or...

A rare specialty beer style with few examples available worldwide, Bière de Champagne embodies the fruity, estery, spicy phenolic character of many Belgian Ales, with the body and fine bubbly texture and mouth-feel of Champagnes and other sparkling wines. With the time and care involved in its production, it gives the term “specialty beer” new meaning. DEUS Brut des Flandres, for example, goes through a months-long process of three separate fermentations, including a bottle fermentation (bottle conditioning), after which the bottles travel from Belgium to France where they go through the remuage process (collecting the yeast in the bottle necks by inverting the bottles) and riddling them (slightly turning the bottles over a period of weeks). The yeast is then removed from the bottles by dégorgement, where the yeast is frozen in the bottle neck and the frozen bung of yeast is driven out by pressure. Refreshing, yet subtle and refined, these are ideal as an aperitif and for celebrations.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Beer - #484 - Moa - Blanc

Local beer, Not Local Music, numbers, and  self review.

Moa Blanc wheat beer is a blend of 50% wheat malt and 50% barley malt resulting in an elegantly smooth beer with hints of spice and uplifting esters. Based on a German Kristallweizen style, but in a nod to its origins, Moa Blanc is brewed using renowned Sauvignon Blanc yeast.


Moa Blanc - another of the beers that I thought I'd had, but clearly not, I have no idea how this happens but it does.

Brewed by Moa Brewing Company in that style that is of Belgian White (Witbier) and they're in Blenheim, New Zealand

The bigger sized 750ml bottle, as is the style, from the brewer, and it's a 5.5% ABV beer and 165 calories a serve. Cork and cage too, all fancy. 2.96 standard drinks worth in the bottle.  Lucky I went for my exercise earlier....

Moa - BlancMoa Blanc wheat beer is brewed using a blend of 65% wheat malt and 35% barley malt which results in an elegantly smooth beer, with hints of spice and uplifting esters. The slightly cloudy appearance reflects its Germanic origins and it’s customary to gently roll the bottle before opening to create an even distribution of the sediment signature. 

Moa Blanc has a fruity aroma and taste. Banana, vanilla, citrus and bubble gum fruit flavours dominate, with some phenolic characters present. Moa Blanc is a highly drinkable wheat beer, with flavours more moderate than other wheat beers. Hop aroma and bitterness are minimal. Moa Blanc is best served at approximately 4˚C in a pilsner glass.

I've already noticed a confusion between description (a) and (b), makes it interesting for drinking and keeps you on your toes.

I'm also sitting in the sun, in the garden, as you can see, and the music bar is playing the Pixies, just so you know what's coming at the end.

Moa BlancI really did have to use a nutcracker to get the cork out, it was firmly in, but a gorgeous pop when it did let go.

Clear pour, and I know that this is a wheat beer, I can see the sediment in the bottom, it too is a bit in place, so I'm going to muddy it up for the second and other pours.

Nice hop aroma on opening, I'm sure that that is Wheat beer style though, it's more a pilsner aroma than a wheat.  Great head though, nice pour, lovely colour.

I'd still not pick this as a Wheat Beer though, it really does seem more like a Pilsner. MrsPhil had a sip and though it was ok to drink, I'm not  sure that is a good or bad thing though, it could mean I have to share, it could mean I have to go buy more.

[caption id="attachment_9729" align="alignright" width="112"]I used  a nutcracker thing to open it, for real, I'm not even joking I used a nutcracker thing to open it, for real, I'm not even joking[/caption]

This is a very lively and well carbonated beer, and I couldn't get it to cloud up, despite a vigorous swirling, it might be my action or it might be there is no sediment to cloud it up.

This though is where I begin to have a doubt about what kind of beer this is! At the end of the bottle though the cloudiness appears, and I really did try, and then the lemony and citrus came through like the cavalry to the rescue. This just made a pleasant beer much more fun and enjoyable.

Now I know that the Moa beers are a bit hit and miss, and this as a style for them is a bit of a miss, not one of their best efforts, and frankly it's a bit of a hodgepodge of things, I can see why there is an "Evolution" and a "Sour" version of the same, sometimes you might have to put lipstick on a pig.

The "Evolution" version, which I don't have, by some accounts is about 3x this, and more the Wheat beer that it should be.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7 a of its things from the thing, a jolly good and solid mark for a solid and go-to beer, which for me at the moment this is, mostly because the current stock with this branding is on run-out special, I'm so cheap. sometimes. Moa continue to entertain and disappoint in equal measures with their beers. At this, the run-out price, though you'd have to be a curmudgeon no to enjoy it

The double dip review


  1. Am I enjoying it? Yes I am, and I have been, and I will enjoy the rest of the stash that I have.

  2. Would I have another? Of course! Despite it's confused style (to my mind) this is a drinkable and accessible beer.

  3. Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Yes, bring a nut-cracker and we will crack another!



Music I've already given away as being "The Pixies" This is "Caribou" The Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1986. I'm listening to an album called "Wave of Mutilation" which is a "best of"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6m-pwWCDKU

 

BELGIAN WHITE & WITBIER



Belgian style wheat beers are very pale, opaque, with the crisp character of wheat, plus the citric refreshment of orange peel and coriander. Ingredients sometimes also include oats for smoothness, and other spices such as grains of paradise. Serve with light cheeses or mussels

Sunday, August 11, 2013

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.

8 Wired HopwiredWe 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 :-)





Tuesday, January 29, 2013

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 :-)

 

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

I'm not famous I can make any statement I want

Two words yesterday on twitter "Free Polanski".

Not from a world recognised name, but a name known in New Zealand. Someone who commands an audience and imparts information, love, humor, and adds that bit in your day that makes a difference. I know, still only a voice on the radio and anyone "could" do it. They can't he does.

But carelessly or otherwise he's committed to a statement, a "cause celeb", and joined a bunch of others calling for something based on what I can only assume is "better than you" -ness

Does that make him a bad person? Not really. But is does highlight that whilst I never met him, never spoken to him, and am not that likely to bump into him in the streets (although that is the most probable), I've formed an opinion about what he should and should not be able to comment on.

Except that this is different. We might disagree on political things, he might be left I might be center, we might disagree on Chardonnay over Sauvignon, or free-range over farm eggs. But we can't disagree on child abuse surely?

Confusing assumed greatness, or significance, and ignoring illegality and moral bankruptcy just seems, in my opinion, to be wrong.

Then just to put the record straight I think Nelson Mandela is a Terrorist. But I'm allowed to say that, I'm not a celebrity.