Beer - #649 - Epic - No Agenda

Unusually, or usually I can't remember, this is a beer that I'm having keg version first over the bottle version. Epic - No Agenda, which leaves me with; No Agenda, No rhythm, no numbers, not at this party.

Bingo, Boom, Shakalaka. No Agenda. Good beer.

It's also in bottles but I got this from the FYO station, so a 1 Litre bottle, and the beer is 7.5% ABV,  so thats 225 calories a serve size, making this  5.92 standard drinks worth.

For Epic Brewing Company (NZ)  this is brewed at Steam Brewing Company in the style that is of Brown Ale and they do that not so far from where I live, but generally in Auckland, New Zealand

Our formula is this, we go out and hit people in the mouth, with HOPS.

[caption id="attachment_11654" align="alignright" width="300"] My agenda might be to put new lenses in as these make me squint[/caption]

97% of scientists agree.

Shut up already! It's science!!

Drink beer because it is good, and because YOU enjoy the taste.

Don't be a slave to the brand and don't follow the crowd, don't cower to peer pressure. It tastes good. Drink it.

No agenda. Good Beer.

So what could possibly go wrong? Well I already feel a bit like Andy Capp thinking of Brown Ale. But then I'm old, and that might be a joke for one.

It has the aroma of sugar/malt and a mild citrus thing. Not really sure what you can tell by having a whiff. It did sound quite vigorous though.

It's very brown, then again it is a brown ale. although held up to the light (carefully as that often ends badly) it is blackcurrant juice ruby red. In the glass there is a lot more hop base aroma.

Um, it's quite bitter drinking, and it really is a full body tasting beer, lots of oomph in the middle, no mistaking, and lovely dryish finish.

The middle, lets talk about the middle, it's chewy spicy sticky and hoppy, it's all the thing's I've missed in the last couple of beers I had. It is ideal for a colder evening.

I've managed to drink two glasses, and I've not had palate fatigue, you know where the hops and malt just beat you up, this is still a beer that I'm looking forward to supping.

It isn't though a quaffing beer, I think you have to be much more measured and deferential. Plus it's a notch up on the ABV. I've really enjoyed drinking this though, it's kept me entertained and I've not become bored of the taste profile, despite it's fullness.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 9 of its things from the thing. It is a great thing, just, it sneaks over the bar of 'very good' because it's solid and consistent drinking, no changes in profile colder or warmer, and I've been sipping for a while now, and I enjoyed it first to nearly the last (obviously I finish drinking after writing about it)

The double dip review

• Am I enjoying it? I am, I have been for the whole bottle.


• Would I have another? I would, it's ideal for a cold night.


• Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? It's a full drinking beer, and then slower drinking, if you want conversation and a mooch to a happy place this is great.

Music for this. " Postcards From Jeff " an alternative group from Manchester England, The album " Postcards from Jeff" which I had on the Spotify

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzM3Lsjsd-I

BROWN ALE

Color ranges from reddish-brown to dark brown. Lower in alcohol than porter, medium to full body flavor. Appropriate foods are apple pie, pork with brown sauce, beef vegetable soup and cheddar.

 

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Beer - #648 - Sawmill - Coffee Porter

A long time between drinks for me and this brewer, but they appear to be quite strong at the moment, and I haven't been wilfully avoiding them. So Long Gaps, Long Songs, Long Division and Long nights out.

 ...beer that is clean and flavoursome and straight up.

Brewed by Sawmill Brewing Company this on is styled as a Porter and that's North of Auckland in Leigh, New Zealand

This from the FYO station is a 5.2% ABV beer,  156 calories a serving size, and this bottle would be 4.1 standard drink units.

[caption id="attachment_11646" align="alignright" width="300"] Friday Evening is looking up[/caption]

A moderately strong brown beer that explores roasted malt flavors of chocolate and caramel.

So what could possibly go wrong?

The coffee aroma that I built myself up for, it's not there. It's there but it's not THERE! it's soft and quiet. It is however the only aroma from the bottle after I slip the flip top.

Pour is dark brown and the head looks like chocolate milkshake, I thought it would be a noise beer, it isn't. That head subsides a little to a more manageable size, still looks great though.

Aroma in the glass? That raw cold coffee aroma.

Taste? Well the coffee is there and present in the drinking of this. Very coffee.

Nicely lightly bitter and a flat neutral finish, a small persistence of coffee linger.

This might be better warmer, which is a hope more than a fact. At the moment it is 'thin' drinking, there doesn't appear anything to support or to carry the coffee in this, might be nice if there was some hop roughness, and a sharper finish, perhaps. I have patience, I can wait. Not f or long but I can wait.

I left it as long as I could, not long really, and the aroma that filled the glass was gorgeous. That is all, I'm leaving it some more.

[ a short while passed ]

The pour is much the same, but without the lovely head, the aroma still coffee, but slightly more bitter. Not a lot changed in the glass either, no pickup in the body, no addition to the finish. Much the same.

It is though a nice drinking beer, easy drinking, nothing that you might get upset with, but it's not a big hitter, more a go-to comfort beer, for me missing a big of body, some chewiness, and I'd have liked a finish that was something other than neutral.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7 of its things from the thing. Nothing to write home about here, nothing to set the word afire. If though I was visiting Leigh, I'd be happy to order this and sit in their bar with a pizza and enjoy myself, it is interesting enough, neutral enough to have a wider appeal, I don't think it ever set out to be a flag-bearer or bench-mark setter.

The double dip review

• Am I enjoying it? I sort of am, it's a nice time waster of a beer, supping away without thinking about it really.


• Would I have another? I probably would if I was visiting, I don't think I'd go out of my way though.


• Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? This would pass muster as a share beer because of the loud coffee note, but that might be the whole conversation because there isn't much else to talk about.

Music for this:  " Have Gun will Travel " is an alternative folk-rock band, They have an album " Science from an easy chair "  of course you can listen on Spotify.  Get a bit of the ' Spirit of Discovery ' in you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtEYv_xSmI

PORTER

Black or chocolate malt gives the porter its dark brown color. Porters are well hopped and heavily malted. This is a medium-bodied beer. Porters can be sweet. Hoppiness can range from bitter to mild. Porters are often confused with stouts.

Beer - #647 - North End - Fieldway APA

It's the BeerJerkNZ Beer Club beer of the week, this week the  North End - Fieldway APA

A home grown classic.

330ml can of a beer that is 5.8% ABV 50 IBU things, and 174 calories in the can, an 1.5 standard drink units.

Brewed by North End Brewing Co in the style this is  American Pale Ale
and they do all that at Waikanae Beach, New Zealand

Aotearoa Pale Ale. Our hop forward pale ale is bursting with hops grown across the Strait in Nelson.

[caption id="attachment_11637" align="alignleft" width="300"] New beer new hair cut, it works.[/caption]

A fruity New Zealand pale ale combining NZ Cascade, Pacifica and Waimea hops with NZ malt and our fruity ale yeast strain.

Sweet lemon, lime and mandarin marmalade is joined by a hint of the herb garden and tempered by a malt from the Rangitikei.

A home grown classic.

Field Way APA is named for the surf break of the same name.

So what could possibly go wrong?

Well, for a beer that's been sitting in the fridge for a couple of weeks it's incredibly lively, or excitable, a foam runneth over when I ka-chinked the tab.

Fruity aroma of fruity things though was distracting enough to forgive, things like Mango, even i they say Lemon, Lime, marmalade, papaya and bubble gum. I'm saying mango.

Pour is a pale yellow golden with a nice head that is fluffy and yet appears thin, but isn't.

Aroma settles to the more pale ale hop aroma that you'd expect and is no surprise, still with that lovely tropical fruit note.

It's a lot more bitter than the IBU rate of 40 might have you on to believe, and it had a firm dry finish, it's a rather 'large' presence beer.

Quite tart, dry finish, lovely aromatics, it's quite entertaining, and not at all what I was expecting, but that might surprise no-one as I'd not really thought through the APA style  which are usually big bitter affairs, in which case this is a swing and a ding.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 of its things from the thing. It is lovely to drink, but that almost creamy tropical fruit sweetness is quite imposing and very near the front of the palate. Did enjoy and dryness of the finish and the overall bitterness that was persistent through the whole drink.

The double dip review

• Am I enjoying it? Yes, it's a stop and drink beer, I don't know that it's a sit and talk beer, it demands your attention.


• Would I have another? I would love another, if only to figure out where my limit was in the balance of the sweet and bitter.


• Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? No problems with cracking a few of these for a chat and tales session.

Music for this,  " Lee Fields and the Expressions "  Elmer "Lee" Fields is an American soul artist born in 1951 in North Carolina, An Album " Faithful Man "  on the Spotify.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhMJKkeVVVA

 

AMRICAN PALE ALE

American Pale Ales are light in color, ranging from golden to a light copper color. The style of this beer is defined by the American hops used. American hops typically have high bitterness and aroma.This is a perfect beer for big fare like grilled burgers or combination pizzas, as well as lighter fare like sushi and green salads.

Related articles

• Next Round: In praise of the pale ale


• Beer - #630 - Rocky Knob - Home Again

Beer - #646 - Hop Federation - West Coast IPA

West Coast Style, West Coast Music, West of the even line and Go West!

An all American Hopped West Coast IPA.

1 litre, as I was at the FYO station, of beer that is 6.7% ABV, and 70 IBU things, thats about 200 calories a serve size, and thats 5.29 standard drink units.

Brewed by Hop Federation Brewery in the style that is India Pale Ale (IPA) and they are in Riwaka, New Zealand

[caption id="attachment_11628" align="alignleft" width="300"] Saturday on my mind...[/caption]

A marmalade nose, with a big tart grapefruit palette that sticks around until the very last mouthful.

Clean dry finish

You think being in Riwaka (they named a hop variety after it) that it would be local but no it has Chinook, Centennial, US Cascade hops.

So what could possibly go wrong?

Grassy hop and a slick of sweetness when I flip the lid, it smells sticky,

It really is a terribly pretty colour of orange brightness, and pours with a lovely light white head, the hop aroma in the glass is the same, the stickiness no so much.

The taste.

Well.

I don't know.

It's not such a big banger, I mean this isn't face scrunching nor is it arid dry at the finish.

The bitterness is 'bright' by what I mean that it's urgent and sharp but at one point, the front, although the linger, the aftertaste is grass tangy slightly.

It is high on citrus, and not eating grapefruit I'm going to bow to that descriptor, and having left it for a few minutes it is notable that the dryness is increasing, this might though be palate fatigue, which would be hard since I've had only a half glass.

It's difficult when you don't connect to a beer to be enthusiastic or pick the high points, this isn't a bad beer, not by any measure is is a bad beer. Obviously though it doesn't click with me.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7 of its things from the thing. I don't think it's bad, it isn't I don't however think it's good in the sense that I'm enjoying 'chewing' the mouthfeel and enjoying the malts and hops. This seems to be too peaky in the bitterness and not so much carry in the body.  This might be how the West Coast likes it though, give me this in the summer and I bet I'd be a bigger fan. Possibly a more summer quencher enjoyment beer than a late winter soother.

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? I am enjoying it, it's peaky and bitter and not at all unrewarding, it's easy drinking and made me smile.
Would I have another? I would, this is a decent beer.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I would so that I could get to the bottom of the taste profile and understand what I think I'm missing or not.

Music for this. Music for this was “The Brian Jonestown Massacre” an American neo-psychedelia band formed in San Francisco in 1990. The band’s output spans psychedelic rock, folk rock and shoe gaze. The Album " Revelation " which I have on the Spotify

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo2Kkq4xcJ8

INDIA PALE ALE & IPA

India Pale Ale gets its name and unique style from British brewers who were making beer for export to India. This style has an intense hop flavor which was used to preserve the beer for the long voyage. India Pale Ale has a golden to copper color with a medium maltiness and body. The aroma is moderate to very strong. IPAs work especially well at cutting the heat of chili, vindaloo or Sichuan cuisine.

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Beer - #645 - Tuatara - Tu-Rye-Aye

To be accurate -  Tu-Rye-Aye Midnight Rye IPA - Emerging beer, Forgotten songs, count your own beat and beat a path to the gathering.

Like the lyrics to Dexy’s famous song, rye refuses to be forgotten

From the FYO station at the local outlet, this is 1 litre of beer that is 60 IBU things, 7.5% ABV, which would be 225 calories a serve size, and the bottle is 5.92 standard drink units.

Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company in the emerging Style of  Black IPA and they are still in Paraparaumu, New Zealand

Like the lyrics to Dexy’s famous song, rye refuses to be forgotten.

[caption id="attachment_11612" align="alignright" width="300"] Come on Eileen ![/caption]

In this limited edition brew the rye grain’s spicy shrills duel exhilaratingly with the blended harmonies of fruity west coast hops, while deep dark malts plug away in the background.

The result is a complex, full, unfiltered cacophony in the concert hall of your mouth. So pour one, make a midnight run and sing just like our fathers.

Dungerees optional.

Taste: Tu-Rye-Aye black rye IPA starts with a rich dark malt, spicy rye malt, and US citric hop aroma. Complex flavour profile of dark malts and rye malt, balanced with 60 ibu of bitterness and full fruity flavor of American hops.

This brew is unfiltered to retain all of its character and fullness. 
Look: Black with a deep red hue and a light tan collar of foam
Aroma:Rich dark malt, spicy rye malt, and US citric hop aroma.

So what could possibly go wrong? Apart from bursting into song?

Certainly looks dark enough in the bottle.

There is no escaping the hop fresh aroma as I flip that top open, quite pronounced.

Pour is fantastic, lovely white head that is persistent-ih and then stops to a fine film that I'm overly happy with.

Taste. Stand on me. This is really really nice. Dominated by the firm middle of sweet roasted malts, the slightly dry finish is long and lingering.

The aroma now seems quite lost and odd on the nose as you raise to drink, but then you get that lovely wash of light bitterness and the sweetness and the light smack of dryness.  It is a bit good.

I went back to check the ABV, and then I wondered how they hid that, this is a beer that seems on the face of it to be very easy drinking and inviting to have a few (which is lucky I have another glass( but at the level it might be best tempered by a food thing.

Is this the perfect beer then? Hardly. It is however quite the lovely thing. It is lovely and dark, it has the toasted malt thing, it has the hop bite that should be there, it has a nice dry but not arid finish, but if anything it is over sweet which leads to a lot of lip smacking as you try to shake it off, despite the other flavours calling you back in, frequently, and which is why I think that in a bar you could get a bit over-indulged.

Play was interrupted by dinner, and so this sat for a bit doing what it did. Which is get a whole lot dryer and darker on the palate, which isn't at all a bad thing. So to the second glass, which I managed to pour as a half/half beer/head, because you know things happen.

So the second half of this is like a different beer, much hoppier, less sweet, harsher on the finish, and yet enough of that sweetness to make it still enjoyable.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8 of its things from the thing. Eight again. It's a time for the eights. which is still on the better side of average. At the end of day the hop load catches up and frankly wears you out with its presence, which is quite loud, does a great job of deflecting attention early but is just too strong a hop based beer to get away with it for long. But all hail the beer.

Off to sing a song.....

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? I am, it's a journey.
Would I have another? I had a couple, I'd enjoy another, but then I really might start singing.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? Actually I would turn up at yours with this, because it is one of those cross-over things and this one is fair decent and entertaining.

Music for this. Well of course it's ' Dexy's Midnight Runners ', but this isn't what you might expect. They have a spectacularly good very hard to find album called 'Don't Stand Me Down '  There is a play list on Youtube here.  For me  though the brilliant  standout is the track" This is what she's like " invest you're 15 minutes in this, or skip the first minute and get to the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXh19wfJT3Q&index=2&list=PL5BA914A30BD81D08

Don't Stand Me Down is the third studio album by Dexys Midnight Runners, released in September 1985.

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.