Beer thread
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I did some mathematic, and figured out how much I spend on craft beer each week. Spoiler: too much.
So - figured I'd try to downgrade a bit, and try some of the "pseudo-craft" beers out there.
Mistake.
Monteith's "Sounds Hazy"... what the fuck. I genuinely don't know what this actually is... there is zero taste. Like - less than Heineken zero. I tried it out of the bottle, I tried pouring it into a glass, I noticed there's a shit-heap of sediment in the bottom of the bottle, I swirled the bottle around for 5 minutes to get all the sediment into the beer - drank it out of the bottle, tried again with getting all the sediment back into the beer, poured it into a glass.
Zero taste.
In fact, maybe looking back at the name of it... I'd always assumed the "Sounds" was a marketing name referring to Marlborough Sounds. But maybe, it's just that the product "sounds like a hazy beer", but sure as hell doesn't taste like one.Never again... until I forget, and get one thinking "at least it's better than the generic other options on tap", and then remember... nope, I'd have been better going with water, or Steinlager, or Wild Buck.
Fuck you DB. -
BTW - I've avoided becoming full-blown beer nerd, but I truly do have a deep fear of forgetting how bad the Monteith's "Hazy" was...
and am semi-seriously considering getting an app like untappd... does anybody else have it, use it, recommend it? Would it be useful for the one purpose I have... which is remembering which beers are shit, which I enjoyed, etc.I don't give a shit about the social aspect of it... as far as I'm concerned, drinking is me-time... the fact that pubs have other people is a necessary evil. Hot barmaids, that's the only social interaction I need when drinking.
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@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@Kruse considered doing some home brewing? You'll get craft beer for about a dollar a pint ... fresh and tasty at home
Too much work, too little space.
I've got less than 50sqm in my entire apartment, including balcony.
I did try some back in the Uni days, did one batch, was shit, gave up.
Feel free to talk me into it though, I'm on a roll for being influenced by the Fern. If you convince me I can do it in my limited space, with no real temperature control - I'd probably buy a kit on the way home. -
@Kruse said in Beer thread:
Feel free to talk me into it though, I'm on a roll for being influenced by the Fern. If you convince me I can do it in my limited space, with no real temperature control - I'd probably buy a kit on the way home.
I've been batching micro batches of about 10L. Just uses stovetop and oven in a 20L pot, and cool it in your sink. For ghetto brewing (I'm down with this) you can ferment in the damn pot, with a swamp cooler around it of water and a towel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler).
If you genuinely don't have space for a pot and tray somewhere, so be it, but it's a nice pathway to great, cheap beer. Personally, I love the brewing part of it, but you can brew 'good' tasty beers in an hour or so. To get great beers is like 'great' coffee - you go down a rabbit hole of diminishing returns. And - for context, there are few 'great' beers on the market; you'll be brewing competitively with most commercial craft beer (and way better than most of the beer sold on the market) very quickly
Edit: Happy to post more if folk are interested. I've been brewing a decade or so, and have gone the full range from 110L right down to 9L batches,
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the results of GABS Hot 100 poll have come out. Hazy's dominate with Garage Project's Sunrise Valley the Peoples #1 Choice
https://www.gabsfestival.com/nz-live-countdown-2020
GP have 5 in the top 15. Panhead's Supercharger APA is the most widely available of the top 10 in that it's in all? Lion pubs.
https://www.gabsfestival.com/nz-live-countdown-2020
I've sampled most of the top 30 but only 45 of the entire 100 Work to do!!
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@dogmeat said in Beer thread:
the results of GABS Hot 100 poll have come out. Hazy's dominate with Garage Project's Sunrise Valley the Peoples #1 Choice
It's a really sensational beer. Seroiusly good.
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@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@dogmeat said in Beer thread:
the results of GABS Hot 100 poll have come out. Hazy's dominate with Garage Project's Sunrise Valley the Peoples #1 Choice
It's a really sensational beer. Seroiusly good.
Is it widely available at supermarkets etc?
I bought some Birdseye to drink on Christmas Day - very tasty.
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As mentioned elsewhere: I bought a share in a craft brewery that operates as a co-op. Brother in law got me onto it, while they were first setting up a taphouse in Newtown.
Anyway that was 2 years ago, and despite multiple discussions on getting there for a beer, it didn't eventuate as the taproom was finished not long before COVID hit.
So I ordered a case when they had a run, of their standard IPA and a collaboration they did with nearby bistro/brewery. The results are both in and out of focus below. At 6.5% they pack a decent punch and they're not short on flavour from start to finish.
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@Bovidae said in Beer thread:
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@dogmeat said in Beer thread:
the results of GABS Hot 100 poll have come out. Hazy's dominate with Garage Project's Sunrise Valley the Peoples #1 Choice
It's a really sensational beer. Seroiusly good.
Is it widely available at supermarkets etc?
I bought some Birdseye to drink on Christmas Day - very tasty.
The Sunrise Valley from GP is a unicorn here in Oz. I missed it on it's first release but managed to score a couple of the second release. GP really does it in limited quantities which helps to build up the mystique.
Fom perusing both Top 100's, there is quite a difference in the Oz v NZ GABS top 100.
The Ozzie one has more voters who are more mainstream and less crafty than the Kiwi voters from the looks. The Oz list tends to be dominated by those beers readily available at Dan Murrphy's, BWS, etc and misses some truly awesome but hard to find Aussie Craft beers.
I think having Sunrise Valley as #1 really shows some sophisticated beer palates as does those in the top with Parrot Dog, Deep Creek, Behemoth, etc being well represented.
Also, I can recommend the Yakima Valley GP, it's almost as good as Sunrise Valley!
And the GP Party & Bullshit is one of my all time favourites. In no way is it a Hazy, it's an out and out, balls to the wall, hoppy Westcoast IPA and a brilliant one at that!
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Actually, just comparing the two GABS Top 100 lists, I've had more of the Kiwi Top 100 than I have the Aussie Top 100.
And there are more of my favourite beers on that list too.
Hats off to the Kiwi craft beer industry, they really are better than their cousins across the ditch!
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@RoninWC said in Beer thread:
The Sunrise Valley from GP is a unicorn here in Oz. I missed it on it's first release but managed to score a couple of the second release. GP really does it in limited quantities which helps to build up the mystique.
And that's also a problem. If you aren't in the loop about limited releases or strike it lucky, many of us never get to drink some of these highly rated beers.
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A small personal win yesterday that might amount to a big change so decided to celebrate a little with some good beers.
Decided on going with a GP tasting.
All awesome, preferred the Jan over the Dec. Party & Bullshit is one of my all time favourites and that Green Cheek X Hapi Sessions Vol. 7 is a monster. 9% of West Coast IIPA goodness, one of the best beers I've had.
By the end of that tasting, I was quite toasty
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@RoninWC said in Beer thread:
that Green Cheek X Hapi Sessions Vol. 7 is a monster. 9% of West Coast IIPA goodness, one of the best beers I've had.
And only about $15 a can over here.
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@antipodean Sure is, Sydney craft beer prices are obscene!
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@tim said in Beer thread:
Whatever happened to the Croucher Brothers?
As in from Rotorua? Still going I think. I had some Croucher over summer.
@taniwharugby you have a connection with these guys don’t you? (Or have I got the wrong man?)