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 - #157 - Adnams - Innovation

Old Blighty calls every now and again and I found it hard to pass up on this, and Adnams Innovation.  Brewed by Adnams In the style of India Pale Ale (IPA) in the nicest of places: Southwold, England, although the brewer says it's their go at an American IPA.

It's a 6.7% ABV beer, Bottle Conditioned, in a pint bottle, and that would be 3.4 Standard drinks.  It's a fantastic presentation with understated embossed, picked out with gold letters labels in a custom bottle

Originally brewed as a one off to celebrate the opening of our new brewhouse and our new distribution centre, we have decided to repeat the beer again in 2009. It came first in its class at the 2008 World beer awards and has also won a Gold medal at the 2008 BBI (British Bottlers Institute) awards. The beer was created under the direction of our Chairman, Jonathan Adnams, whose instruction was to ‘Brew something to wow me’.
The beer, our version of an American IPA, is brewed with a blend of Wheat and Pale ale malts to give a spicy, biscuity undertone to the beer, but it is in the hops where the beer really shines. A blend of hops from England, Slovenia and America (namely Boadicea, Columbus and Stryian Goldings) combine to give a wonderful grapefruit and tropical fruit aroma and bitterness that is balanced by the sweetness of the barley.

But like I said, the call of the homeland sometimes you can't pass up, and  the Brits having a crack at an APA, get in!

The initial aroma is mostly of sweet sugars, it pours light beer brown with a reasonable head, but still carries a mostly sweet aroma. Its oddly bitter, and the floral notes don't sit well together.

This seems to be more malts and caramel than hops if I cut to the chase. And therein lies the rub. If I was an English local then this would be a departure from the standard fare of beer, and I possibly might be enthralled, but I'm not and  as a stand-alone beer compared up against the work of other brewery types this then is  a bit of a pigs ear.

The bitterness is an afterthought, the sweetness is the front taste, carrying it just too far.

I'd be kinder but the pdubyah-o-meter is 5.5 on this, and it's falling back into the pack of just beers. I'll grant that the 6.7 ABV content is well hidden, and will eventually make you wish you hadn't but unless you have a sweet tooth, or want a beer that carries an odd aroma that I'd rather not class as, but I have to, as "Wet grass" then this is beer for you. Not for me though.

A beer for the sweet of tooth and low of expectations.

Related articles

• Southwold: Adnams reports increased annual sales and profits (eadt.co.uk)


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Beer - #153 - Stone - Pale Ale

Back to the US of A for the next up a Stone - Pale Ale. Brewed by Stone Brewing Co. in the style of a  American Pale Ale
Escondido, California USA

5.4% ABV (1.51 Standard drink units) in a 355ml bottle, and this is 41 on the IBU scale so not bitter, as beers go.

Stone Pale Ale is our Southern California take on the classic British ale. Deep amber in color, this beer is a robust and full-flavored interpretation of the traditional style. Its bold malt character is perfectly complemented by a judicious amount of hops, lending it a subtly enticing aroma. This is an ale for those who have learned to appreciate distinctive flavors and have a thirst for something out of the ordinary.

Deep amber in color, Stone Pale Ale is robust and full flavored. A delicate hop aroma is complemented by a rich maltiness.

This should just round off a beer evening nicely if the expectation meets the delivery on this

Again a bunch of aroma from hops I might not be familiar with, and I picked an orange note because I had to give it a name. A decent pour of nice amber beer, with a reasonable head, already I like it on looks.  The aroma though might seem to settle to yeast or doughy note.

It for sure isn't bitter, and is fairly light on the tongue. It carries a decent carbonation too.  There are a few layers in this and the up-front taste hides a length that ends in bitterness, which isn't as pleasing.

There are some other things in the taste, you could make an effort and reach for them and attach them to citrus things, they're not unpleasant and remain, for me me, just a bit out of grasp.

I don't like this as much as I might, the overall falls to a slightly bitter depth, and tellingly the bitterness is a bit apparent in the after note, the finish. So upfront you get a off yeast aroma, a gentle malty introduction and then it comes with a bitter finish that might not be expected

I'd say that at 7 on the pdubyah-o-meter this has just made the bar. I might be swimming against the grain a bit. I thought the yeasty aroma was odd, I thought the bitter kick was surprising, and I can't figure out the other tastes, I may have gone into this thinking it was more than it was, I came out thinking it was less.

Repetition aplenty in this beer, it's lucky I'm, not with mates else I'd be sent off to think up some other words.

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Beer - #121 - Yeastie Boys - His Majesty 2012

I stopped in at my local bottle shop on the way home, a particularly weird day at work that was pretty frustrating on a number of fronts, and I picked me up a Yeastie Boys His Majesty 2012.

Yeastie Boys beer is  Brewed at Invercargill Brewery  and His Majesty 2012 is in the style of a : Belgian Ale <strong>

His Majesty, The Fourth, is a Belgian-style strong pale ale. A gentle (yet dangerous) giant of a beer featuring an interplay of sweet bready German malt, a hint of kiwi hops and a delicate spiced fruit from use of a Belgian Abbey yeast.

750ml, 8.5% ABV beer - that's about 5.3 standard drink units.

I'm only disappointed that this doesn't have a cork and cage,

Belgium beer then, Sweet, Dark Amber, Heady, Malty, slightly bitter under note. Oh I'm looking forward to this .

Restaurant Critic #3 – The Ponsonby Belgium Beer Cafe

The Ponsonby Belgium Beer Cafe was the venue for the big night out, MrsPdubyah and me, and another couple decided to have a bit of a thing, Not withstanding that we had some bar vouchers that would help us enjoy ourselves. Which meant as our start point anything over  $150 and we were paying our own money on the night.

The Ponsonby Belgium Beer Cafe is an awesome place, the staff are brilliant, the beer list is unmatched, and the atmosphere and ambience is second to none. It's just a nice place to be, drink and to go to.

On the other side it's on the expensive end of the drinking value scale.

The pub is such a nice place to be in, but where we were sat it was very cold, but I can gloss over that the dining room was set aside for a private function and that we were sat by the front door, so no marks down for that.

The bar is a wonder to behold, every beer in it's own glass, and I've yet to order a beer that that's not available. It really does have a high standard of customer satisfaction.

And the staff, well they are brilliant, attentive, courteous, polite, knowledgeable and they make you feel like you are the most important people in the bar.

But.... and there is always a but

It isn't a cheap night out, and the food is good but not great, outstanding, demanding or different, it's good pub grub indifferently delivered. Pulling my head in it does show as a Cafe not a restaurant, and the beer is the thing that is it's thing.

Oh and it was busy, very busy, constantly busy, but not crowded. It is popular.

The big night out then, and we had from their menu for food as Entree:-

• The Seafood Chowder $15 - possibly the star of the night, served in a loaf that had been scooped out, awesomeness, plenty of the seafood and an amazing thing of beauty


• The bread and the dips $11.00 - it was bread and dips, I sulked at such a poor choice


• The House Smoked Salmon $15.00 - the ladies shared this, and some of the bread and dips, it's very rich and very filling - best value for money.

and as  main:-

• Thai Beef Salad from the light menu $17.00 - also a best value for money selection, soft and tender beer and a hearty serving, looked good, ate great.


• Shepherd's Pie $ 23 - looked like it sounds, nothing to write home about, but was a bit good apparently


• Belgium Sausage $19 - disappointing based on the expectation of something more textured than a spiced sausage, hardly a thing of joy or excitement if this is a Flemish staple


• Fish and Chips $25.00 - it looked great and there wasn't much left

So that was $41 + $81 = $122 of food

And for beer and wine (Boys night out of course... payback comes later...)

• The Ned Sauvignon blanc - Standard glass of Wine - $10  x 4


• Leffe Brun - 500ml $ 14.00 x 3


• Leffe Blonde - 500ml $14 x 1


• Popperings HommelBeir 330ml $15.00 - this was very yeasty to aroma, but aside from that not as spectacular a choice as some, it was new to me, but not a thing that I'd rush back to, but then there are about a bazillion beers to choose from and so that's not going to be a problem.


• Grottenbeir Brune 330ml $15.50

and that means the addition of  $126.50 in beer and wine

Not going to quibble the $251 bill from the bar.

It was a atop night out for the $100 dollars we really had to pay, but if it'd been $250 I'd have wondered why we had chosen that venue as a way to celebrate something.

I'd take you there for the experience, wince at the cost of doing so, but talk about it for many years with deep affection and love. If you ever get the change to go, and someone else is paying, or you're showing off to a new girlfriend or boyfriend this might be for you.

As a celebration of taste opportunity of beer it's a winner, as pub grub it's great. As a premium priced beer venue attached to pub grub it falls into a strange place where you've had this fabulous drinking thing going on (if you're a beer drinker an are prepared to experiment) and where your drink is in a different league to the food. They don't match, there doesn't appear to be a logical step from the huge beer selection to the food on offer.

The food on offer does not appear to have anything that would make you empathise or connect to Belgium as a place, there is no back story or reason that item "A" would be on the menu that I could discern.

I'm going back though there is about a bazillion beers less the 3 or 4 that I've had to get through, and I won't rest until that happens :-)

Beer – #58 – Pauwel - Kwak

Pauwel Kwak - Brewed by Brouwerij Bosteels, and it's a Belgian Strong Ale from Buggenhout, Belgium.

A Tiny 330ml of 8.4% ABV Full-bodied Belgian Specialty Ale.

Amber in color with beautiful foam (yes I got a head on it!) and slightly to moderately sweet,  an intriguing malt character. And with all that it's promising a Rich, satisfying Belgian experience.

And yes, I have to say, that it's that, and a bag of chips.

Brown, malty, creamy, fruity of  fruits, this is a pretty classy beer.Sweet and moreish and yet holds back something.

Usually served in a contraption of indescribable, I just had it in a normal glass, and tell you what, it tastes just as good if not gooderer. You get to focus on the beer and not the delivery.

Pauwel Kwak is somewhat known for it's quirkiness of delivery , and yet it typifies the Belgium Beer, of this genre,  and as such you can you can taste the  many things that underly a Belgium, Beer. You can tell it's a strong beer as it hints quite strongly of alcohol as a backwash when you drink it,  but this is  also a beer who's flavour and aroma come through the more you enjoy it.

No surprises then that I like this, after all I have developed a bit of a soft spot for Belgium beer over the months, and the pdubyah-o-meter wavers at about 7 ish on the arbitrarily numbered scale of things.

I like this, it's a beer you can contemplate and measure against, it's not a giant amongst the Belgium beers, and I'm suspecting that this is a beer brewed for it's market, and not a beer that's just brewed for itself. The Kwak lovers will love it, the pub goer will thrill at the pretentious delivery of a beer. I like it because I expect to like it, but I enjoy it's colour, aroma and sweetness.

I've had this in the Belgium beer cafe in Ponsonby, and I'm glad I had this at home where it becomes more honest and has to stand on it's own. Hats off to he chaps at the Liquorland in Forest Hill who know their stuff, and after all this is a fine departure from the Chimay and the Duval and the Hoegaarden, or the Leffe. It's not like this is a limited production market.

I'm sorry I rambled on, I wanted to 10 from 10 this beer, I want to like it because that's what I want. I don't love it, I wouldn't not drink it, but I would not drink it for something else it all.

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