Lets drink a beer

You're so cranky - have you got your period?

We all like a quaffer, but no need to throw out your taste buds completely when you find one. I suppose if you've traversed the best beer has to offer and you still like fizz, then the best I can offer is to help you drink it, and commiserate you on lack of taste.

Is this a bad time to ask about getting my brush re-knotted? I'm very good at bad timing. I always try to get my own way with the wife when she's pissed off at me.
 
Drubbing said:
You're so cranky - have you got your period?
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PJ in case you do have your period - steer clear of bears.

i hear they can smell it.

[video=youtube;aeoivSlqz4w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeoivSlqz4w[/video]
 
My New top Drop

sierra-300x300.jpg


Just hit West Leedy beer shop and Dan Murphy's.

The good: probably the best pale ale I've tried. Seriously. And I love pale ales.

Fuck Little Creatures and their lip smacking, belly filling over-carbonated boutiqueness. I like LC, but never loved it - it's a beer trying doing too much and succeeding. This stuff drinks like a quaffer, and has the taste of a big, subtle, complex beer, but is beautifully balanced and doesn't overdo anything.

Just after buying this, I noticed Squires have done a bottle re-badge and thrown a new pale ale in. So I bagged a few of those. Coming of Sierra's, it's very ordinary (which might be unfair). Light on hops and too short a finish. Not bad, but meh.

The Bad: $20 a 6-pack or $77 a carton. Ouch. Just as well it's Fathers Day weekend. Leedy were almost out, so I picked up the last 4 bottles and grabbed a couple of Kellerweis as well. Haven't cracked one of these yet.

Their Topedo is an IPA and tried that too. Too strong at 7.2% for me, but far more restrained than Squire's IPA, which is overpowering and saturates your taste buds after a couple. Again, Sierra's is dangerously drinkable for a strong beer.

Also just trying their Summerfest, which is a pilsner style. Again. Very good. Nice and hoppy and full, but dry and clean on the finish so it never gets too much. Good summer beer.

Honestly, give one of these a go. Apparently Sierra is the best selling craft brew in the US. That's a lotta fucking beer. But I can see why. I went to LA a couple of years ago and tried some decent US stuff - Fat Tire, an amber ale, Steam etc. Never saw this one though. The Fat Tire was pretty good, but that's not hard among a sea of shit US beer.
 
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Drubbing said:
My New top Drop
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Funny you should mention this beer. I was actually remenising about my trip to Vegas after looking at a friends photos on Facebook. I tried this beer in Furnace Creek, Death Valley at this place (death valley - Google Maps). I was driving from Las Vegas to Yosemite (part of the Sierra Nevada) as part of a road trip from LV to LA. Good beer and good times!
 
I was at the Sovereign Arms in Joondalup last week for a work function, and they had Hoffenbrau on tap.

First time I've had this and I must say it was very nice. A bit different from the Belgians, less noticeable aftertaste and very nice nose on it.

Anyone tried this stuff?
 
Chimay Grande Reserve...The blue label one.

Delicious. I picked one up on the way home from work. Little did I realise I was about to be confronted with the plastic peestick with two lines!! Enjoying this very much as I celebrate a little :cool:
 
SmallYetDeadly said:
Chimay Grande Reserve...The blue label one.

Delicious. I picked one up on the way home from work. Little did I realise I was about to be confronted with the plastic peestick with two lines!! Enjoying this very much as I celebrate a little :cool:
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Chimay Grande Reserve is great. It's a bit stronger than the standard blue.
 
The local has started to stock a couple of the Sierra Nevada range XDrubs mentioned above

Tried the Pale Ale. Very nice for me, similar style to the Coopers Pale Ale but the extra alc% improves the viscosity and deepens the flavour profile a fair bit. I will buy again for sure.

Will have a crack at the Torpedo IPA this weekend. I typically prefer as malty beer to a hoppy one but it can't hurt to have a crack.
 
I find Coopers and Sierra miles apart. Coopers is an anomaly in pales IMO. It's definitely got a fruity edge to it, whereas most pales are hoppy.

Some can be too hoppy in an effort to deliver flavour.
 
Are we drinking the same beer?

Most tasting notes hit both of these with Citrus up front, Malt backbone and a drying hopped finish which I agree with. I'm not saying they taste the same but that they share a lot in common in their structure. Much more so than with something like Little Creatures Pale Ale.

A lot of people drink the Coopers too cold. My wife for one. It really closes up when it is at typical beer fridge/esky temp. As I get older I am drinking my beers warmer and warmer...guess I must be buying beers for the taste these days rather than the effect!

Anyway it's neither here nor there. The Coopers is the house beer here and the SNPA will make an excellent change up when I want something a bit richer and more satisfying.
 
American pale ales (APAs) are very hoppy. Coppers pale ale is completely different of course, australian style beer as in not hoppy at all. Most of coopers flavour comes from it's distinctive and bottled yeast. Nice strain and I love that yeast. Much like the banana type flavour I get from weihenstephan bottled yeast sometimes.
 
pablo_h said:
American pale ales (APAs) are very hoppy. Coppers pale ale is completely different of course, australian style beer as in not hoppy at all. Most of coopers flavour comes from it's distinctive and bottled yeast. Nice strain and I love that yeast. Much like the banana type flavour I get from weihenstephan bottled yeast sometimes.
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Yep, I'm with you there. SYD probably has a better palate than mine, but he may as well be talking about a completely different beer. I don't get citrus, I get apple and a bit of banana with a yeasty finish.

If Sierra had anything in common with Coopers, I'd just buy Coopers instead and save a wad. I actually had both of them here a few weeks back and they're chalk and cheese IMO.

I like my summer beers pretty cold, but not so cold you strip all the flavour out.
 
The Sierra is a superior beer. No arguments there.

Tried the Torpedo last night. It's pretty good for an IPA, I wouldn't turn my nose up at it like I would a Squire's IPA but they are just not my thing. This is a hoppy beer! Disguised it's alc% very well.
 
SmallYetDeadly said:
The Sierra is a superior beer. No arguments there.

Tried the Torpedo last night. It's pretty good for an IPA, I wouldn't turn my nose up at it like I would a Squire's IPA but they are just not my thing. This is a hoppy beer! Disguised it's alc% very well.
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Can't disagree there. Squires is overdone - way too much hop and malt I think.

Torpedo tastes great, but the alc is too hefty. Not cheap either.
 
Gage Roads

I've been enjoying some Gage Roads beers lately, personal favorites are thier Sleeping Giant IPA and Atomic Ale APA, you need to like hops to enjoy them.

A "mate" bought me a mixed pack of;
Melbourne Bitter,
Toheys Extra Dry,
XXX Gold
as a joke because he knows I'm a beer snob, the only one that went down the drain was the XXXX, I actually didn't mind the TED and I have a soft spot for MB, dunno why.

I too am a bit ove the Squires stuff, its just not right.

The truly special beers I have in the fridge are a couple of long necks from Seven Sheds brewery at Railton (Willie Simpsons place),the Willie Warmer, and Paradise Pale.
 
Thread goes back to full circle. Started on stout, and here it is again.
Started June with a carton of 750ml guiness best extra stout.
And here I am today with a carton of 750ml coopers extra stout!
I wish I could home brew, but live in a 2bdrm house falling apart with no room, and probably be moving before a brew would be ready... edit: Or maybe not. Might have to throw a lot of stuff out soon (which I would eventually do before moving anyway), and find some corner in the 'sleep out' area. Fire up some quick stout for august, a dark ale for sept, and a brown or a pale ale for 'moving beer'. I really want to move before september though, but that probably won't happen so I may as well brew.

It's criminal the amount you have to pay for a bottle of stout!
 
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glenos said:
I've been enjoying some Gage Roads beers lately, personal favorites are thier Sleeping Giant IPA and Atomic Ale APA, you need to like hops to enjoy them.

The truly special beers I have in the fridge are a couple of long necks from Seven Sheds brewery at Railton (Willie Simpsons place),the Willie Warmer, and Paradise Pale.
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Missed this post.
I've become a bit of a fan of the Gage Roads stuff. And to find out it is a Woolworths home brand (they own 25% of the brewery) surprised me even more so.

Trying to find boutique ales like those you have listed isn't even worth trying up here.

Beer in Australia has just gotten to be so expensive, and is almost at the stage where even 4x Gold is a luxury item these days. When I first arrived on these shores a carton of your average beers would cost about $30 (or at conversion rate at the time 10 quid), which back then was an amazing deal to me. Now they are approaching $50-60 at full price (which converts very unfavourably to the 33-40 pound mark).

I know that might not be a very fair comparison, but after going back to England for the first time in 10 years a while back I was surprised how much cheaper beer was over there now.

Back to Aussie beers, at least some of the smaller brewery beers are getting easier to find now. Just wish more places sold them up here.

Pablo: I used to drink Guinness in England when I lived there, then did a couple of trips across to Ireland, and now can't drink it as Ireland spoiled me too much. It really is a totally different drink over there, and just doesn't travel well.
 
Gage Roads itself is not a Woolworths home brand.

Gage Roads is an independent brewery which sold a 25% stake to Woolworths for a needed capital injection to facilitate growth, while giving up a percentage of their output capacity to a guaranteed, contracted offtake agreement for a 'Home Brand' beer with Woolworths Group.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/woolworths-25pc-stake-in-brewer/story-e6frg8zx-1225712753821

I have no idea what beer they produce for Woolies as their 'Premium Own Brand'. Be interested to know.

EDIT: According to this it is Dry Dock, Clipper Light, and Castaway Cider. Never tried any of them.
 
eggbert said:
Pablo: I used to drink Guinness in England when I lived there, then did a couple of trips across to Ireland, and now can't drink it as Ireland spoiled me too much. It really is a totally different drink over there, and just doesn't travel well.
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I've had guinness in Ireland too.
The guinness I'm talking about isn't the draught on tap or in 440ml cans, but the stronger stout.
If I was buying imported cans, I'd probably go for beamish or murphys anyway.
but the Guinness I'm talking about is the local guinness extra stout, though I much prefer coopers stout, which is why I'm drinking that this month.

I did have a nice bottle of guinness export stout made in Ireland, it was way stronger and nicer than the standard guinness draught/cans/bottles. But that's not available here, I only found it in europe.

Locally made southwarks stout was the best though. Used to sold here as Swan Stout. It disappeared a couple of years ago as it wasn't a big seller. Shame though as more people are probably recognising real beers these days it would probably be a decent seller.
That being said though, when I have walked into a bottle shop for a carton of stout tallies, I clean the shop out as thats the most stock they hold, so none of them sell well it seems.
 
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