Beer thread
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Just back from first sesh.<br />
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Had to have break or I was going to get hammered.<br />
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Recommendations to try - Three Boys Pineapple lumps (Festival Brew) - Chocolately Pineappley (obviously) yumminess<br />
- Dogfish Punkin - Like US Pumpkin Pie - Cinnamon and sweetness<br />
- Dogfish - Tamirillo something - didn't work for me<br />
- Emersons Festive Brew (Billy T Wit) Wheat Beer with Kumara. Pikopiko and Kawakawa - yum.<br />
- Twisted Hop IPA - I'm a hophead and this was up there with anything EPIC do (well maybe not quite Armageddon but bloody good anyway)<br />
- Sierra Nevada Sothern hemisphere Harvest (at the Regional Wines and Spirits stand) - At first taste I thought this would be an awesome beer to come back to from fishing on a hot summers day.<br />
- Mata - can't remeber what is was called but it is their festive brew and was at the Brewers Guild stand and tasted like a Hangi. Had Kumara and smokiness in the Brew<br />
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Sadly I struck one that i just tipped out. Peak Brewery (which I see around in Supermarkets) IPA. It was like something I would have made in a plastic tub from a cheap kit. It had hardly any hoppiness and was insipid. DO NOT WASTE MONEY ON.<br />
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Anyway this sesh runs until 4pm so I might sneak back for a couple more. -
OK . I've been back for more...<br />
<br />- Wired Hangi- this is one to savour. It took me a long time to drink the 100ml but there was no wy I was going to throw it out. Smokey and rich.<br />
- Sprig and Fern - happened to be paasing by, nothing overly interesting but I noticed they had a Gold for one of their brews. It was the Honey Ale and I walked out with a rigger of the stuff for tonight. Top Marks.<br />
- Mussel Inn- Feijoa Gueze - Not a drinking beer, but a fantastic food match. I guess that if you are at Mussel Boys and order Mussels this is the ideal match.<br />
*3 Boys Queen Elizabeth 2010 - I asked how they would describe this and they muttered something about a Scotch Ale and Porter combo- I could drink a large bottle of this witha meaty stew.<br /> - I also picked up on really good mentions for the Tautara APA. Thi will be in bottles in the shops soon for the hopheads
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went along yesterday, wish i'd read your post before I went along, but missed it for some reason.<br />
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Had a great time. As they say, so many beers, so little time. I went to the beer and food matching session with Martin Bosley. While i'm unlikely to cook any of what they had, it was interesting to see how different beers can be had with all sorts of different food.<br />
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Most of the brewers were willing to have a yarn about all sorts of stuff. The Bennett's guy was very much a salesman. Luke (aka Mr Epic) was also good value.<br />
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The Epic Barrell aged IPA was one that I really enjoyed. Also the Emerson's Festive Brew as a nice drop. Mikes had a Whiskey Porter, which was something like 10%, also a very nice drop.<br />
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It was well worth the visit IMO -
Had Spruce Beer on Saturday (along with Mata Artesan which I've had before) which despite being a fairly dark beer (likely due to the rimu and manuka-spiced kegs) is not as strong as I expected, still not too bad, has a rather interesting finish, that is down to the manuka and rimu, wasnt cheap either ($12.50 oer 500ml in a restaurant)<br />
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Is a good change to go to a restaurant that sells such a good range of beer (Pizza Barn @ Waipu) that is not just your usual lot, as they are not affiliated to either brewers, so they have Mata, Kronenberg, Monteith (plus a couple of others) on tap, plus a decent range of other bottled beers (not to mention the good range of single malts) all to go with thier good food!<br />
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[IMG]http://www.beerstore.co.nz/products/1000/1314_lg.jpg[/IMG] -
[quote name='taniwharugby']Had Spruce Beer on Saturday (along with Mata Artesan which I've had before) which despite being a fairly dark beer (likely due to the rimu and manuka-spiced kegs) is not as strong as I expected, still not too bad, has a rather interesting finish, that is down to the manuka and rimu, wasnt cheap either ($12.50 oer 500ml in a restaurant)<br />
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Is a good change to go to a restaurant that sells such a good range of beer (Pizza Barn @ Waipu) that is not just your usual lot, as they are not affiliated to either brewers, so they have Mata, Kronenberg, Monteith (plus a couple of others) on tap, plus a decent range of other bottled beers (not to mention the good range of single malts) all to go with thier good food!<br />
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[IMG]http://www.beerstore.co.nz/products/1000/1314_lg.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]<br />
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I will have to give them some competition over the hill this summer. My mate at Mangawhai has built a pizza oven in the area on their property that we camp on. It gets fired up most days for pizzas, fish, bread, roasts etc. I will have to keep the beer selection going. -
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ha, I contemplated grabbing a dozen of them last week...couldnt bring myself to, so bought some Amstel instead!
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finally got around to trying some Tuatara beers...<br />
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Wasnt a fan of the Pilsner or Ardenne, but liked thier Heche (think that is how it is spelt) the Wheat beer.<br />
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While in Rotovega last week, I had the pleasure of visiting the small [URL="http://www.croucherbrewing.co.nz/"]Croucher[/URL] 'Brewery' and tried a couple of thier drops (ones already on the market along with a couple that are yet to be released) <br />
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IIRC I tried the Pilsner, Hef and then a couple of others (IPA I think it was) not yet released, and I must say they were very good! -
Talking 'Tuatara' I had both the bottled and fresh (tap) of their new APA the other day. <br />
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Hashigo Zake had it on tap and when I got home later I had a bottle. The difference was quite noticable.<br />
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It is a heavily hopped American style Pale Ale and although very nice (if you are a 'hophead') I struggled to notice too much difference between it and Epic Armageddon.<br />
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Some interesting stuff here [URL]http://www.cultbeerstore.co.nz/[/URL] too -
got some Bear Beer from The Mill today. Was about $8.50 for half a doz. It's from Denmark apparently.<br />
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Not too bad for a 'session beer'. Had some taste and didn't go down too bad. The main test was that after 3 or 4, I could still drink another (a vital beer test IMO) -
The Stoke 'Gold' was very nice. Nothing OTT about it to distract from quenching the thirst. Despite the pleas on the label to drink it at a reasonable temperature, I found that both Gold and it's friend 'Amber' stood up well to being well chilled for a hot day.<br />
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Good basic kiwi beer made well and naturally. I'll be buying it again. -
So according to the Beeradvocate - a site of 1000's of user (mostly guys from overseas) beer submitted reviews. The Best beer in NZ is either.<br />
<br />- Craftsman - Renaiassance brewing.<br />
- Hop wired IPA - 8 wire brewing.<br />
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They have an average rating of [B]A[/B] and at least 4 reviews. But in reality any one of the [B]A- [/B]beers below is equally good, especially as they have more reviews.<br />
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Epic is the best brewery (followed by Emerson and Twisted hop)with 4 [B]A-[/B] beers - based on many more reviews. Epic Armageddon is [B]A- [/B]with 36 reviews. Under such higher scrutiny and more S.D on the vote, such an [B]A-[/B] is more reflective than the two [B]A'[/B]s above.<br />
Epic Pale Ale is [B]A- [/B] from 24 reviews.<br />
Epic Thornbridge Oak Barrel Aged Stout [B]A-[/B] 5 reviews.<br />
Epic Barrel Aged I.P.A. [B]A-[/B] 6 reviews<br />
Twisted Ankle. [B]A-[/B] from 8 reviews.<br />
Croucher - Pale Ale. [B]A-[/B] from 7.<br />
Emerson - Old 95. [B]A-[/B] from 17<br />
Emerson -Organic Pilsner. [B]A-[/B] from 22<br />
Emerson Bourbon Porter. [B]A-[/B] from 5 and [B]A[/B] from the Beeradvocate founders.<br />
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Golding Bitter from Twisted is [B]A+[/B] , but only two reviews.<br />
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Moa is heavily reviewed but have nothing over [B]B+[/B]<br />
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FWIW. Of the main stream stuff.<br />
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CD. [B]B-[/B]<br />
WD. [B] B-[/B]<br />
Speights. [B]C+[/B]<br />
Tui. [B]C[/B]<br />
Lion Red. [B]C-[/B]<br />
DB Draught. [B] D+[/B]<br />
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The now extinct Ranfurly Draught had an [B] F[/B] god it must have been shit.<br />
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I had an Orval the other night - wow, what a beer! bloody expensive, but damn what flavour.
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A bottle of this [URL]http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/yeastie-boys-pkb-remix-2010-us-mix/132877/[/URL] awaits my consumption with Xmas mince pies. I was waiting for xmas day but it may not make it.
