De Halve Maan Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel

You may have noticed that basically every time I talk about Belgian beer I make a comparison to a Bruges based brewery,  De Halve Maan and in particular their beer called Straffe Hendrik (also known as Strong Henry).

It was therefore with excitement that I received a box from my wife for Christmas delivered from the Beer Cellar and contained within were six Straffe Hendrik Quadrupels and two Straffe Hendrik glasses from which to drink them. I love the idea of the glass should match the beer. I am not sure if it actually makes any difference to the taste but it certainly shows a level of respect to your beer.

The first time I tried Straffe Hendrik was at the brewery itself on my first visit to Bruges. At that time their strongest beer was the Straffe Hendrik Tripel. However by the time I visited again two years later they had upped the ante and you could also buy a Quadrupel. These are the beers against which I measure all Belgian style beers (unless we are talking about Kriek...but that is a blog for another day.)

At 11% the Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel packs a real punch but you wouldn't know it from drinking it. The dark smooth malty finish goes down like velvet. For everyone who isn't Belgian and is trying to brew Belgian style beer the bar is high and, looking back, no imitator I have tried has reached it yet. If you consider yourself a beer drinker this needs to be on your "Must Drink Before You Die" list.

Rockin Robin

Another entry in the Christmas beer collection. Again this is the result of collaboration between Staffordshire Brewery and Cottage Delight Fine Foods. This time a darker Amber Ale named Rockin Robin, the Robin being a Christmas related bird in England.

 

This was quite a different beer than the Grumpy Santa from the day before. It was a winter ale, which to me is a dark but spicey beer. This beer was certainly dark, although not really spicey. It was actually more chocolately along the lines of a porter. A good porter. I can see a pint of this being just the thing in a snowy countryside pub at winter.

Grumpy Santa Beer

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!

Christmas is a time to eat, drink and be merry. A few beers always go down well. One man who enjoys a beer on Christmas is Father Christmas himself. With everyone leaving him a beer and some cake at the bottom of their Chimney each Christmas Eve he must have developed quite a taste for the stuff. Having said that he must taste so many he knows when he is being shortchanged. With that in mind Staffordshire Brewery in the UK has teamed up with Cottage Delight Fine Foods to produce a beer under the Had Enough Brewery label called Grumpy Santa. The intention is of course to make Santa less grumpy.

Grumpy Santa is a Golden Ale. Like a good English real ale it is best served cool, but not chilled to bring out the flavours. That works quite well if it is sitting by the fireplace all night. It has a nice smooth malty taste. Not too strong in flavour. Probably works better in a cold English winter than a grey Wellington summer. Not amazing but a perfectly festive golden ale.

Golden Eagle Old Skool Vienna Lager

With the summer weather finally arriving it was time for something a bit lighter than the usual IPA. It was also time for a different brewery that I haven't tried before, Golden Eagle Brewery from Christchurch. Like many smaller breweries they share with another brewer, Raindogs Brewing Co, who I have yet to try. Golden Eagle is the lovechild of an Englishman come to New Zealand who missed the English Real Ale scene before the explosion of the craft beer scene in New Zealand. Certainly something I can relate to, with my worries about what I was going to drink when I returned from London.

I have seen Golden Eagle's South Island Pale Ale and New York Porter at the local New World, but it was a visit to a different New World where I picked up the Old Skool Vienna Lager. Lager gets a bit of a bad rap because it has been the standard for many years. There are certainly plenty of tasteless brews out there but that doesn't mean it should be written off. Nothing beats a cold fresh lager on a hot day. I don't remember drinking much beer when I was in Vienna (although evidence would suggest otherwise) so I had no preconceived ideas of what the Old Skool should taste like. However, I was surprised to see how dark it was when it poured. This was not your usual pale lager. The same went for the taste. It was much richer and maltier than I would have expected from a lager. I would go as far as saying it didn't really taste like lager at all. Nice drop though.

Tuatara Iti APA

With a reduction in blood alcohol levels for driving coming into force the trend towards higher alcohol beers needs to find a bit of balance. Tuatara's answer to lower alcohol but not lower taste beer has been around a little while. You may recall I tried it's BIG counterpart Nui a little while ago so it was a perfect (possibly even overdue) time to try an Iti (Maori for small.)

Iti comes in a standard 330ml bottle, which is small for many craft beers out there these days. You can even buy it in a six pack, which again is unusual for the craft beer mark
et. The alcohol content comes in at 3.3%. At 0.9 standard drinks per bottle I can be comfortable that having two while out at a summer BBQ isn't going to push me over the limit. Fortunately the taste is far from small. It proudly carries the APA style and although not as hoppy as some of its competitors it still has plenty of hops in there to keep your taste buds interested as well as a smooth malt base. A good drop for those who have to drive but still want to have a couple of tasty brews.

Mata Black Bru

With cold dark weather it is very important to keep those dark beers flowing. This time it is a Mata Black Bru from Aotearoa Breweries from Kawerau. Brewing and beer is definitely a male dominated industry and pastime, so it is great to see that this brewery is run by a woman, along with the help of her family. It is also good to see that they promote sustainable business practices, like converting the cardboard waste from packing to business cards and the leftover grain from mashing going to the pigs. I am sure those are happy pigs.

Black Bru says it is a dark ale; it also says it is a stout. It is certainly an interesting take on a stout, but isn't really heavy enough to fit into the category of what you usually expect a stout to be like so dark ale is probably a good approximation. It certainly has the dark thick colour, but then the taste is also fruity which comes as a surprise. If you are on the hunt for something along the lines of a Guinness, then this probably isn't for you, but if you want something slightly different for a cold winter night then the Black Bru is worth a try.

(If the photo background looks a bit different than usual it is because we have had to move out of our house while the kitchen gets re-done. Doesn't mean the beer doesn't get drunk though.)

Beervana 2014

With a busy job and a young family I am not really one to get into the beer "scene". There are lots of events in Wellington and were I a few years younger I would probably be participating in many of them. However, there is one event every year where me and my friends take the day off work and head to the biggest event on the beer calendar, Beervana.

I feel like a bit of a veteran now, this being my third attendance at Beervana and apparently this year was going to be bigger than ever. It was a cold, windy and gloomy start to the day so probably a good one to be spending inside drinking beer. We arrived early but there were many other people who had similar plans so we were far from the first there. We joined the crowds and eventually the gates opened ahead of us and we moved forward. This year the usual tokens were replaced by wrist bands that you simply loaded up with cash and swiped to pay for your beer. There were a handful of people moving amongst the crowd handing out wristbands but we figured we would just pick ours up inside.

We handed off our tickets and wandered into Westpac Stadium ready to try out another year's worth of interesting brews. Our decision to pick up wrist bands inside was a mistake. We got the usual guide and beer glass (plastic this year) but not wrist band. We found a member of staff who helpfully went and found a box of wrist bands and started handing them out, however, the mobs of beer hungry patrons (I should really have just said men) quickly exhausted that supply. Armed with a wrist band the next step was to get some money on to it so we could pay for our beers. There were only two spots that we could find where you could, so I am sure you can imagine that several hundred people all lining up to have their wrist bands loaded resulted in very long lines, lots of waiting and not much beer being sold. I hope this is a lesson for next year Beervana organisers....

So about an hour later we were finally in a position where we could actually do what we came for, try some beer. The usual Wellington suspects were there Tuatara, Garage Project, Yeastie Boys, Parrot Dog, Panhead...as well as some of the ones you would expect from out of town, Epic, Monteiths, Moa, Emersons...and of course the specialty bars, this year being Taste of  Portland (Oregon), Pink Boots Society (Lady Brewers) and the ANZAC themed brews. (The Australian Bar was a no show this year as their beers didn't arrive in time....) And of course it wouldn't be Beervana without the food and as always there was plenty of tasty food to help attendees to drink responsibly, including beer ice-cream (although I didn't partake in that myself.)

It certainly was bigger this year. Where previously you turned left and that is where you find all the stands, this year you could also go right and there were just as many that way as well (although I was probably halfway through before I realised that was the case). The stands were also bigger this year as well. Garage Project were making the most of their big stand from last year but other people were happy being flashy too. Panhead had a full tattoo parlour and you could even get a tattoo done! (although I understand that they were booked out before the festival started.) Of course there were plenty of brewers there who also only had a label written in vivid on their tap and possibly a coaster with their brand on. When it comes down to it I actually find that more appealing than the big flashy stand. I can't help but think back to the first beer festival I attended, The Great British Beer Festival, in London. There all the stands are the same and the taps simply have a brewer's shield on them to identify what you are drinking. Something quite appealing about the egalitarian way that CAMRA  (Campaign for Real Ale) does things.

It may well be that the bad weather and the slow start had meant I had started things in the wrong frame of mind, but this year just didn't really click for me. The usual beers were the usual beers. There was definitely some tasty stuff in there. I particularly enjoyed what the Pink Boots Society were getting up to, returning to their stand a number of times. The other pleasant surprise of the day came from the ANZAC brews. Do you like ANZAC biscuits? Do you like beer that tastes like ANZAC biscuits? Beer purists would shudder in contempt but the golden syrupy rolled oats goodness just went down a a treat.

So for another year, my presence on the Wellington Beer scene has come and gone. I will be here if you want to find me in the interim and depending on how I feel you may see me at Beervana again next year.

Yeastie Boys His Majesty 2013

Sometimes you want a BIG beer. There are plenty of options as far as taste, alcohol content, vessel size and various other options go. A birthday is always a good reason to have a big beer, particularly if it is the brewery's birthday. That is what Yeastie Boys do each year with their His Majesty and Her Majesty series, different brews each year, depending on what the brewer feels like doing.

I was fortunate enough to have a big bottle of His Majesty 2013, a Belgian Strong Ale brewed at Invercargill Brewery. The beer comes in a BIG bottle, actually a wine bottle, so if you are having on of these you are in for the long haul. You won't be thinking of driving anywhere afterwards either, with a BIG 8% alcohol content.

I am enjoying some variety in my beer at the moment so it's always nice to be drinking something other than an IPA. His Majesty 2013 is very easy to drink considering the alcohol content. You can taste the malt, you get a touch of yeast and it all just works as a Belgian Ale should. Balanced.

Panhead Blacktop Oat Stout

As the cold dark weather continues it is a perfect time to continue my exploration of dark beers. This time it is a tried and true hop head's take on a stout. Panhead's Blacktop Oat Stout. A friend of mine told me that unfortunately this beer wasn't selling because nobody really likes it, however, a trip over to Untappd shows that there are plenty of people drinking it and plenty of them like it too, so I think he must have his facts wrong. The masses seem to like it and I like it too.

It poured out nice and dark with plenty of head, as a good stout should. It tasted dark but chocolatey and smooth rather than strongly burnt and it had an interesting dry finish. Not sure if this is a tactic to make you go back and quench your thirst with another mouthful? Overall a fitting addition to a cold night beer library and one I look forward to slowly making my way through one again.

Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black

Brrrr! Winter time. Cold, rainy, windy. Indoors weather. Also the perfect weather for dark beers. Yeastie Boys flagship beer and top seller is the Pot Kettle Black. The main black beers are the stout and the porter and the Pot Kettle Black is of the latter variety. However, unlike a malty London Porter this is an American Porter. I'm not sure that the definition of an American Porter on Beer Advocate helps me understand what that means but from tasting it you get the a smooth burnt flavour you would expect from a good porter, but then are followed with a hoppyness, which I guess you would expect from American (and of course NZ beers.) Again Yeastie Boys' blend of two styles comes to the fore. A tasty treat on a cold dark night.

The Malthouse

Bit of a different tack for today's blog. Some Wellington beer nostalgia. Long before there was a craft beer scene, you basically took your luck on whichever of the big breweries supplied the bar you happened to be at. If you were feeling fancy you might grab a Heineken or a Tiger but that was about it. There were a couple of places where you might have a little more choice but they were the exception.

One such place, however, was the Malthouse. And I am not talking about the Malthouse up the end of Courtenay Place. Before that bar cemented its place in craft beer culture, it was situated on Willis Street. It was an odd place. You had to go up a big set of stairs that looked like you were heading into an office building, but at the top they opened up and you came into a (usually) crowded bar packed with all manner of people. Students rubbed shoulders with suits and bogans and nobody really cared as long as they could get good beer. You could sit around and watch sport, you could play pool, you couldd sit out on the long deck at the front. A trip to the Malthouse was usually the sign of the start of a big night. The decor was pretty tired and looked like an old hotel bar but that all added to the charm.

Although my love of tasty beer may have matured in London it was definitely born at the Malthouse. I still remember looking at the array of taps trying to decide what I wanted to drink and seeing a beer that was definitely New Zealand, but wasn't from the big breweries. It was called Tuatara. It was expensive compared to other beers on offer (although not by today's prices...) but it was an explosioin of flavours in my mouth that made the other beers I had been drinking taste like water. I kept drinking the water but from there on I was always left wanting more.

(I wrote this as a thank you to the Malthouse for being the first beer institution that I recognise to follow me on the Twitter.)

Moa Methode

Moa, Moa, Moa...one of the most divisive brewers in New Zealand. They want to be a craft brewer but they also want to be a big corporate listed on the stock exchange. I'm not really that bothered by the politics around craft brewing (although plenty of people are) but there are a few things that Moa has done that can't help but alienate some of the market. (Define what is and isn't craft brewing?  It's still all beer...)

All of that aside it doesn't mean I am not going to drink their beer. It is readily available at a lot of bars and supermarkets, although I note that they have had to drop their price in recent times. I am definitely enjoying my Pilsner's this year so thought I would check out Moa's offering, the Methode. It is a nice colour and it goes down smoothly. The taste is very mellow and perhaps a little too mellow for me when I think of a Pilsner. I want a bit of a kick and the Methode just doesn't have it. Happily drink it at a corporate do but otherwise I'm not in any great hurry.

(Oh, yeah I forgot to take a photo. It's OK, cause you can check out the website above.)

Tuatara Delicious Neck

Making beer available at movie theatres was a great move. I can still remember a time where the  best you could get was a giant cup of coke and a ridulously large box of popcorn. Trust two of NZ's top talent in their respectives fields, Tuatara Brewery for brewing, and Taika Waititi for movie making, to combine the two at a new level to support Taiki's latest movie, What we do in the Shadows, a story of vampires flatting in Wellington. A trip to the movie at the Embassy Theatre gave me an opportunity to sample the spawn of this union in its intended environment, Delicious Neck - What we brew in the Shadows (got to love a good pun.) All profits from the beer apparently go towards paying for wider distribution of the movie.

The movie was entertaining, although very much an inside nod and wink to Wellingtonians. (Did anyone else notice that all the bars mentioned in the movie don't exist anymore?) The beer has a detailed label, unlike the minimalist art usually favoured by Tuatara. As it was straight from the bottle I didn't get to see its colour (I assume it was dark red...). As an Immortal Pale Ale (perhaps not the first?) it had a strong taste with plenty of hops packed in there. It was a reasonably smooth finish and went down surprisingly easily. Before I knew it I had drained the neck. I didn't taste any blood, but of course the brewers at Tuatara probably have hops running through their veins...

Fresh....

Beer is always better when shared with friends. The same is particularly true when it is your own beer that you are sharing. With my latest batch about the right age to now drink and a visit to my friend Tom (Hi Tom!) I felt it was a good time to break out a couple of bottles. Our friend Nigel (a significant beer aficionado and hop head) was also there so the pressure was on to see what the taste was like. After chatting about this blog (honestly) the time was right to crack the bottles. We poured out a jug and dispersed into into glasses. It was a bit cloudy, but I put that down to the movement while travelling but still had a nice amber colour. We each took a drink from our vessel and gave it some thought. Tom described it as a "Fresh" which means it needs to age a bit more. Nigel said "It tastes like home brew" which, although it seems like it should be obvious, was a particularly true statement. Nigel and Tom used to produce plenty of their own home brew many years ago and I drunk my fair share. It always had a distinct taste to it. Up until now my brews have suggested at that taste, but this is the first one that screams it. Surprising seeing as this was a more expensive brew kit. I had expected it to be more like something you would buy at a bar but perhaps, as Tom said, it just needs a bit more time...

Bach Brewing Kingtide IPA

Another IPA today. This one from the very Kiwi named Bach Brewing (not to mention it being a great beer pun.) As a relatively new brewery they only have a few beers, the latest being the Kingtide Pacific IPA. Bach Brewing's labels make you yearn for that ingrained kiwi desire to be sitting at the beach in summer with you feet up drinking a beer.

Next time I find myself in that glorious position I want a bottle of Kingtide Pacific IPA in my hand. There is a nice balance between the hops and the citrus. It just tastes like summer. Keep brewing this Bach Brewing I am looking forward to having another go at this when Summer is back (even if it is only briefly in Wellington...)

Emerson's 1812 Hoppy Pale Ale

You always know when you have an Emerson's beer. They are the only significant brewery in NZ whose bottles don't have long necks. As I pour most of my beers into a glass to give them an airing while I drink them it doesn't really matter but it is still cool that they have that point of difference.

 

Emerson's take on the fashionable brew of the moment, the Indian Pale Ale is the 1812 Hoppy Pale Ale. The beer itself lives up to the billing. You get plenty of hops up front but they don't hang around for long so unfortunately there isn't much of a finish on it. It is nice enough to drink and I would happily down a few but it won't be my go to Pale Ale when there is so much other choice out there.

Tuatara Nui

We all know hops are all the rage. Every NZ brewer is packing them in to their beers. Tuatara is no exception. Nui (Maori for Big) is one of their latest creations and is one for the hopheads. At 7% alcohol it is also one for the boozeheads. They suggest drinking it with an Iti (Maori for small) at only 3.3%. I will have to leave that for another time though as I had only grabbed a Nui when I was down at Moore Wilsons.

Hopheads won't be disappointed. It has a strong hoppy taste but isn't too bitter so would be quite a good gateway hop for those who find the bitterness on Panhead's brews too much....

Yeastie Boys The Sly Persuader

Yeastie Boys have a new beer range out called the Spoonbender series. It has taken me a while to realise this but Yeastie Boys thing seems to be taking two distinct brewing styles and mashing (like the beer pun?) them together to see what happens. As you have seen that doesn't always work for my pallet but if you are going to be innovators you have to push the boundaries. They also collaborate quite heavily with other people in the industry. If you look at their bottles you will see that they are brewed all over the place. I'm not even sure that they have a brewery of their own to tour?

Anyways, enough digression, there are three beers in the Spoonbender series but I have only tried one, The Sly Persuader. I don't understand the science behind it all, but basically Yeastie Boys have teamed up with Australian winemakers, Some Young Punks, and somehow added the wine to the beer via a candi-sugar. As I said I don't understand what that all means but this isn't supposed to be a science lesson so I won't try to explain any further.

Before moving to the taste I thought the label was worth a mention. Apparently the people depicted on the labels are members of old school photos. There is something slightly haunting about the way that they have been painted. I chose the Sly Persuader, of the three, because he seemed the least intimidating.

All of the above has combined to bring quite a different taste experience. It is still beer, there is yeast and hops there but a sweetness comes through from the wine sugar that just takes it all to another place. The flavours are subtle, not too much of any single one but it still takes a while to come to grips with the whole thing. It is almost like an IPA Radler even though it is a Belgian Blonde Ale.

Clean and Fill

A bit longer than the 10 days before getting my latest brew out of the barrel and into the bottle but you have to do it when you have time and standing out in the garage for a couple of hours at night in the cold doesn't really strike me as being that much fun. A recent trip to the Warehouse had me walking away with a big plastic container with wheels on the bottom. Perfect for soaking and delabelling my bottles and then washing the bottles. Much better for my wife than taking up the whole kitchen. After the usual scrubbing and sanitising I connected the bottle filler to the barrel and started to fill away. Big bottles only this time. It is nice to have choice. Most exciting is the opportunity to use the flip top bottles Ben and Gina had generously given me for Christmas. It felt like it took me ages to work out how to put the flip top on, but once I had it sorted I was filling them like a pro. Fortunately I still have a few beers left from my last brew so I won't be going thirsty until this one is done.

Mangrove Jack's Craft Series IPA

Even though most of what I write about is other people's beer I still get up to a bit of home brewing every now and then. The reality is I can't get through a full brew by myself in less than about six months. That doesn't stop the empty bottles building up though and they were starting to get out of control. The only solution was that I needed to fill them up with more beer.

A prior visit to Brew Zealand when I had been in Petone

meant I had all the gear I needed. This time I decided to spend a little more and invest in a Mangrove Jack's Craft Series IPA. The method was all the same. Clean, water, malt, brew enhance, yeast. I decided not to add any hops to this one. Might as well see what the standard tastes like before changing it. Once the airlock was bubbling away nicely it was just a matter of waiting for the time to pass; at least 10 days this time, rather than the usual seven.

Harrington's Rogue Hop Organic Pilsner

Another Harrington's from the local New World. IPAs are in vogue as a platform for pushing hops, but in fact you can pack plenty of hop flavour into a pilsner without it losing its identity. That is what Harrington's is going for with their Rogue Hop Organic Pilsner.

It has a nice refreshing taste to it. It is very easy to drink. It pushes itself as having a hoppy aftertaste, but, although the hops are definitely there, it probably isn't enough to satisfy the hop heads. Having said that it works well for me. A nice one to come back to in summer I think.

Boundary Road Chocolate Moose

Boundary Road...mass produced craft beers. There is definitely a place in the market for them and I know plenty of people who like what they have to offer. Even the beer I am talking about today, the Chocolate Moose. 

I like the witty name. It works well for a for a Chocolate Porter. I have drunk this beer before but thought
I would give it another chance. A chocolate porter doesn't actually taste like chocolate, rather it has dark, almost burnt rich flavours to it. The chocolate moose hasn't quite achieved that. In fact it tastes like someone has just mixed beer with chocolate milk. Not bitter dark chocolate but sweet dairy milk. It is weird and doesn't do it for me unfortunately. Still like the name though...

Harrrington's East Indies Lager

There seems to be a wide range of Harrington's beers down at the local New World. I felt like a bit of a change from all the IPAs I usually drink so went with the East Indies Lager. We were also having some unseasonably warm weather in the middle of winter so what better way to pretend it is summer than to down a good lager

Lagers are supposed to be refreshing so it was good to see that this had a nice clean fresh taste about it. Just what you expect from a lager. Nothing amazing but it delivered and still had some taste to it rather than some of the lager competitors out there which can sometimes be mistaken for water.

Tuatara Conehead

This is one I have had sitting around for a while. I bought two Coneheads when they first came out and have had one waiting until the time was right. Turns out the right time was when I noticed it in the cupboard.

With the Rastafarian coloured label and the name of Conehead I couldn't help but expect something smokey, but in fact that isn't what this beer is about. The cone is the green hops that Tuatara picked up from Motueka and used to brew it, instead of the usual dried hops that you find in most beers. The effect is a much fruitier taste up front followed by a very dry finish. There is a hoppy taste through the middle but the hops are sticky. Overall it is an interesting take on the APA. Not quite as good as the traditional IPA or APA but I would give green hops another go to see what other people can do with them.

Mussel Inn Black Rhino

I've mentioned the Mussel Inn before on my trip to Nelson, but haven't done a review of one of their beers. The Mussel Inn is a pub in Golden Bay which has been around since the early nineties and its brewery has been around since the mid nineties. They source all their ingredients locally (more or less) and have a very wide range of beers that you can get on tap and a bunch of other beers that you can buy in bottles.

One such bottled beer is the Black Rhino robust Imperial Porter style dark Ale. Winter is the best time to get into the dark beers. The robust part is probably the 7% alcohol. The colour is good and dark and thick, which is what you want from a porter. The beer itself had a burnt taste too it, which I guess comes from the burnt malt, again what you would expect. There was also a slight chocolately aftertaste. It certainly ticked all of the porter boxes, so can't really be faulted on that front but at the same time it was just lacking that little oomph that turns a good beer into a great beer.

Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude

Yeastie Boys is a great Wellington brewery. They have a small range of beers but a loyal following (and a very active Twitter account.) One of their beers that a lot of people seem to like is the Rex Attitude, a peat smoked golden ale. I wasn't really sure what that meant but thought I would give it a try. It has a Tyrannosaurus Rex on the label, so that is a pretty cool start.

There is apparently a whole market for beer made from peat smoked malt. Peat is thick mud from bogs often found in Scotland. It gives a smokey taste to whiskey. It also helps keep mummified bodies intact for hundreds of years. Whiskey is basically an extra alcoholic version of beer so I can see how people wanted to try some whiskey flavours in their beer.

I have to say though, I am not converted to the peat smoked beer market. The Rex Attitude has a nice golden colour to it, although slightly cloudier than usual. You can certainly smell the smokiness in the aroma. However, when you drink it you are assaulted from all fronts with flavours. It tastes like beer, but it also tastes like whiskey. You can taste the smoke, but it also tastes a bit like dirt (I guess that's the peat.) It's interesting, but if I want whiskey I will drink whiskey. Mixing it with beer just doesn't really do it for me. Sorry Yeastie Boys I will have to stick with the Digital IPA (which I love.)

Mike's Hemp IPA

Mike's is another NZ brewery that has been around for a while, in Taranaki since 1989, but has really taken off since the craft beer boom. Their angle is that their beers are organic, being brewed from all natural ingredients. Now, most small brewers are probably organic anyway if they are just using water, malt, hops and yeast, but is nice that they embrace their organicness. I fondly remember that a Mike's Organic Ale was one of the first beers I had upon retur
ning to Wellington nearly two years ago, before I realised what a huge industry craft beer now is.

They have a wide range of standard beers for a small brewery, but they also like to experiment with some more random stuff. That is what I am drinking today, a member of the Mike's X range. They have standard label with a small sticker over the top telling you what you are drinking. Today it is the Hemp IPA. Can't get much more green and organic than hemp. It was an interesting drink. It was an IPA and there were definitely some hops there, but there was something else too which made the taste kind of oily. Not sure if it was the hemp or the hops were just green,  but I'm undecided about this one. Could be worth another look but as it is part of the X range they may never make it again...

Panhead Supercharger APA

Another Panhead beer for me today. This is one of the original Panhead releases but it is still going strong. Like the Vandal the Supercharger is an American Pale Ale. This one isn't quite as strong but at 5.7% it still has a kick to it. 

That includes the hops too. It has plenty of hops to it, but that is what you should expect from an American Pale Ale. You can tell it is full of hops though because there is a bit of a sticky aftertaste. Maybe the hops were still green when it was brewed? I read somewhere that Panhead's goal is to cram their beer full of hops and they certainly achieved that with the Supercharger. If you are a hop head then this one will go down just fine.

Tuatara Belgian Tripel

Everyone loves a good trilogy so it is fitting that I finish these three posts by talking about Tuatara's third Belgian brew, conveniently called the Tripel. A Tripel is one of the strongest beers you can get. The Belgians do a Quadrupel but there aren't many of those around.

Tuatara's Tripel certainly follows the Belgian tradition but isn't quite as smooth as some of its BelgianArdennes so maybe I was never destined to like it all that much, although I didn't know that until after I had drunk it.

forebears. The booze is strong and you know it when you taste it. This isn't a beer to just throw back. You need to enjoy it over a long time. Trouble is it comes in a large bottle so it ends up being a really long time. If I was having it again I would consider splitting it with a friend. Tuatara might want to consider selling it in a smaller bottle? Interestingly this is a stronger version of the

Of Tuatara's Belgian trio the Dubbel far outshines the other two, both in drinkability and authenticity but with all beer it is always a matter of personal taste. For those whose Belgian experience goes as far as Hoegarden I encourage you to try some of the other Belgian style brews on offer.

Tuatara Belgian Dubbel

Time for another Tuatara Belgian Beer. This one isn't from the Beer Cellar box. Instead I picked it up at New World some time ago and as it says on the label instructions I have been storing it in a cool cupboard in the garage. Aging beer isn't something you usually think about but as I slowly drink may way through my home brew I understand that beer ages quite nicely.

Unlike the Ardennes, the Dubbel is a much closer approximation of a Belgian beer. It is malty and yeasty and has a burnt chocolately aftertaste. Rich flavours which I would expect from a Belgian brew. At 7.5% you aren't being overwhelmed by the booze but its a big bottle so probably not the best if you are driving. Still if I am feeling continental this is definitely worth another try.

Tuatara Belgian Ardennes

I went through a period where I was quite into Belgian beers. I WAS in Belgium at the time but it did carry on for a while after I left. I don't mean Stella Artois, Hoegarden and Leffe. There is much more to Belgian beer than that. Zot brewery, de Gaar and a bunch of other random stuff, not to mention Kriek. However, today I am talking about a New Zealand version of a Belgian beer. Tuatara has a range of Belgian beers including the Dubbel and the Tripel! I'll tell you about those later but today it is the Belgian Ardennes.

I was a bit disappointed when I poured it that there wasn't much head because something I associate with Belgian beers is plenty of froth. The colour of the beer was nice and light though. It was nice to have a bit of a break from the hops that permeate most NZ brews. The Belgian maltiness was definitely there and there was a touch of citrus but there wasn't really much of an aftertaste, which leaves you wanting a bit more from each mouthful. 

Overall it was a noble effort but I know that you can get so much more from Belgian beer and this hasn't quite made it yet.

Behemoth Brewing Company Chur

Another brewery so new it doesn't even have a web site today. This one is Auckland based Behemoth Brewery. They are on the Twitter and the Facebook though...Maybe I am just behind the times. Behemoth's signature brew is a New Zealand Pale ale, called Chur! Doesn't get much more Kiwi than that. (Note to International readers. "Chur" is a Kiwiism that doesn't really translate. Can I recommend you find a New Zealander and get them to teach you the appropriate way to use it.)

Chur! sells itself as being full of NZ Hops. It certainly has a hoppy taste to it, but isn't as strong as some of its competitors. The citrus hops also dominate the bitter hops so it is quite a refreshing drink. It didn't blow me away with its taste, but it is certainly nice enough to drink a few.

Panhead The Vandal

My last beer was one that harkens back to more traditional brewing flavours. Today's beer is all about what is current in NZ brewing. This one's from a brewery that is so new they haven't even got their website up and running yet. Panhead Custom Ales is all about up and running with their hot rod themed brews. Just what you would expect from another Upper Hutt brewery. These guys are totally inspired by the American market and that means HOPS! The Vandal (named after a famous NZ hot rod) pushes that as far as it can go. It's hops or bust on this one. The taste is strong. It is so bitter it is almost like drinking smoke. I have heard other people say that it has a fruity taste due to the fresh hops. It does have three types of hops in there. I didn't really get the fruit flavour, but if you are into strong hop flavours in your beers then take the Vandal for a drive. It's only limited release so you may have already missed it as it sped past...

Harrington's Brewer's Selection IPA

Harrington's brewery is another one of those breweries which has actually been around for a while (since 1991) but is now able to ride the craft brewing wave. If you check out their photos on their website you can see that these aren't young upstarts, they have been at it for a while. My latest bottle out of my Beer Cellar box is a bottle of Harrington's Brewer's Selection IPA. Harrington's is in Christchurch, the most English of New Zealand Cities. Despite its name, the Indian Pale Ale is a very English beer. However, many New Zealand and American brewers see it as an opportunity to fill an IPA full of hops and call it an APA (Aotearoa/American respectively). Don't get me wrong, those beers have their place and there are many that I very much enjoy. Nonetheless it is great to drink some of the  more subtle flavours that you get in British Real Ale. Harrington's seem to have followed this older line of thinking when they created their IPA. They even say on their label that their aim is to go beyond the hop and create balanced brews. That is exactly what they have delivered. It has a nice golden colour to it. There is definitely the taste of hops there but they work with the other flavours in the beer to give you a nice balanced taste, that doesn't leave you feeling like the hops have beaten up the other flavours. Overall it is as close as I have found to an English beer from an NZ brewery. Well done. Very drinkable.

Deep Creek Brewing Co's Undercurrent

Some people swear by a good pilsner. They sure are an interesting mix of light coloured beer with a hoppy taste and there is no doubt that they go down well while you are sitting in a bar in Prague. However I find that sometimes it just isn't the beer I feel like drinking.

Having said that on a hot day I decided to give the Deep Creek Brewing Co's Uncercurrent Pilsner a try. One word to describe this beer. Perfect. It had a nice golden colour with a good head on it (Beer like this should have head people!) It was a fantastic balance with a sweet wheatey start followed by a bitter hoppy aftertaste. Unfortunately a look at their website makes it look like they aren't actually brewing it at the moment. I guess that is what you get with craft brewing in small batches. Hopefully they bring it back because I would definitely have it again.

Kereru Auro

Time to crack into that Beer Cellar box. As the box was a gift from my wife I asked her to choose the first beer that I should try out of it and she chose the Auro from the Kereru Brewing Company. Kereru are a great example of homebrewers who after many years of brewing for themselves decided to make the jump to commercial brewing and it went so well that they moved out of their house and into commercial premises. All in little old Upper Hutt.

The Auro is interesting in that it is a gluten free golden ale. I think that is a brave move as people who can't tolerate gluten probably don't even think about wanting to have a beer but I assume there must be a market for it. It had a nice clear golden colour. I found the taste to be very wheatey and quite sweet. Apparently it compliments pork, which I could see because you need something savoury, or perhaps hoppy, to balance out the sweetness. Probably not one I will have too much again, but nice if you like your beers sweet.

The Beer Cellar

I would love for this post to be about how I have a cellar full of beer. Unfortunately that is something I will just have to aim for in the future. However, it is a post about a great birthday present I got from my wife.

With the craft brew scene growing every day it is impossible to keep up with everything that is out. One The Beer Cellar has on offer. One way to sample a range of great craft beer, from  both NZ and overseas, is to invest in one of their Mixed Cases.
way of giving it a good shot is to check out what

I am looking forward to trying the contents of mine. I will tell you what I think.

Not so hopped

Having finally used up my previous brew reserves (except that flat ginger beer) and acquired some more bottles through having received a dozen flip top bottles for Christmas (thanks Ben and Gina) and freed a variety of  beers from their bottles over the Christmas period it was now time to try my latest brew. You may recall I was hoping for something a bit hoppier than my last attempt. After pouring out a bottle, the colour on it was nice. A good amber brown. The taste was good, but not the hoppiness I had been hoping for. There was certainly a note of the hops there and they seemed to have toned down the maltiness of some of my previous brews. Nonetheless, I don't seem to be getting what I am looking for from the beer brewing kits. Might be time to invest in some more brewing equipment and go full grain.