Beer Adventures

[sawguy21]

We North Americans generally like our beer cold, I do, but a lot of the imports and our own craft beers seem to lose flavor when chilled. They are better at what the Brits call 'room temperature', 55 degrees.

[aigheadish]

Barf! I want it cold cold!

[K-Guy]

We North Americans generally like our beer cold

That's because the big breweries were started by German immigrants brewing lagers which require cold storage. The British beers were ales and didn't require it. For myself, lagers are what I like to drink and I have had a good one from Britain.

[Ianab]

The temperature certainly changes the taste of a beer. Brews that are designed to be drunk ice cold are usually unpleasant when warm as you start picking up flavours that might be "barf". Ales that are brewed for more room temp, or at least UK cellar temp, tend to loose flavours when chilled to far.

[Ianab]

Still sticking with the advent calendar protocol, and taking out each days beer.  ;)

Yesterday it was Joe's Exotic Jackfruit Hazy IPA  ???



 

Very tropical, and "fruity" even.  :D

Tonight it's Currant Events Sour Ale. 


 

Not sure if it's really beer, or red currant wine. Very drinkable, but like a lot of these, you probably only want one in a session.  :D

[Walnut Beast]

Absolutely ice cold makes a difference. Put a couple in the freezer for a hour and drink. Then drink one out of the fridge. You will never go back 

[Ianab]

Absolutely ice cold makes a difference. Put a couple in the freezer for a hour and drink. Then drink one out of the fridge. You will never go back

100% the temperature affects the flavour. But it's actually suppressing some of it. With some beers that's a good things (Looking at you Aussie lagers  :D ) 
Other beers are brewed to be drunk at ~8C (English room temp?  :D ) You miss most of the flavour if they are too cold.  A bit like Red wine at room temp and white wine chilled. The reverse doesn't taste right. 
I'm not sure exactly what Joe Exotics IPA was designed for.  ??? :P : An "Interesting" brew. 

[K-Guy]

@Ianab 

In the 90's a buddy of mine went to Australia on a work visa for a year and enjoyed some of those Aussie lagers but he also spent 2 weeks in New Zealand on the return trip. He said your XX beer was the best he ever had. 

[Ianab]

In the 90's a buddy of mine went to Australia on a work visa for a year and enjoyed some of those Aussie lagers but he also spent 2 weeks in New Zealand on the return trip. He said your XX beer was the best he ever had.

You know why the Aussies called their lager XXXX? 
  
They couldn't spell beer.   :D
But it is perfectly good beer, especially if it's Ice Cold on a hot Aussie day.  
Anyway, a couple more brews from the last few days. 
This is "Chur", a NZ flavoured Pale Ale. Just a nice ale. 



The other can is is their Half Way Down lager. It was one of the "house beers" when they first opened their brewpub. Named in honour of the song "Dominion Road" by the Mutton Birds. It's a classic NZ song from the 90s, and has the line "Half way down Dominion Road". The brewery is coincidentally also 1/2 way down the same Dominion Road the song refers to. 
The Mutton Birds - Dominion Road (Music Video) HD - YouTube
"Chur" is NZ slang for "Cheers", although a more general purpose word for agreement / thanks or praise. Pronounce it like Korg from the Thor Movies would for authentic effect. 
So a couple of pretty normal beers, nice drops they were too.  
Then back into the Hazy's. A Hazy You Can't Refuse  :D



And tonight's drop. Embiggen, a recipe from a Portland craft brewery, with an Kiwi twist. A 7% brew, but a nice one. Perfectly cromulant, as the can says. 

[Texas Ranger]

DanG, I thought Texas had a lot of brews

[Ianab]

DanG, I thought Texas had a lot of brews

This is all from one small brewery in Auckland. They have their mainstays, like the Chur and 1/2 Way Down, which are pretty standard NZ style beers, and those come in pre-printed cans. The more experimental  and single batch ones have a printed label stuck on a bare can. 
Last count was 206 breweries or beer brands operating. Some brands are just marketing, and have their beer produced by someone else, so it's hard to get an exact count. Some only produce a couple of different brews, while others like Behemoth seem to have a new brew every week. 
The internet shopping has really opened up the market for the smaller breweries as they can distribute Nationally without have to have their own distribution network or tap into some other distributor. 

[K-Guy]

DanG, I thought Texas had a lot of brews

You should see Germany, just about every town seems to have their own brewery.

[Ianab]

You should see Germany, just about every town seems to have their own brewery.

It's getting that way here.  :D 

Germany does have a very long history of beer making, and seem to work to maintain that traditional style beer making. (this is a good thing) 
Oddly it's a reversal of the previous trend where all the small local breweries got bought up by the "Big 2". So by the 80s there were only 2 beer companies in NZ. They each had several large breweries around the country. but they had settled into their safe (profitable) mainstream beers. So while there was maybe 10 choices, they were all variations of "NZ Pale Ale". All perfectly good beers, but nothing adventurous. That's when folks started getting into home brewing seriously, which is totally legal as long as you don't sell the beer.  From there it was, What if I got a bigger fermenting tank and a licence to sell (and collect the tax) on my beer?  Turned out that if you filled out the right paperwork that was also completely legal. That's not the same a profitable, because small batch brewing costs more than the large industrial operations, same as a small sawmill can't process boards as cheap as a big mill can. But the demand for the different beers was there, and a lot of operations have set up as brewpub / eatery operations. Then they can charge restaurant prices for the draught beer they brew themselves, and sell you a pizza at the some time. 

Tonight's treat...

"Super Ripe Mango Triple Hazy IPA". 




  
The beer equivalent of being mugged with a sock full of tropical fruit.  :D 

[Ianab]

Dec 23 -  Yo Ho Ho. Rum infused Belgian Dark Ale.   ???



 

Captain Jack Sparrow would approve. Very smooth for a 10% beer, Would consider more than one if I had no plans for tomorrow.  

Last can is a pretty regular (low carb) pale ale. Might leave that out for Santa  ;) I did get some more supplies in for Christmas, and have the free 0.5% can for lunch at Mum's. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, being retired, the word 'adventure' doesn't enter my picture very often ;D but today I had a very nice visit from Spike60 and he brought along a very nice, semi-local beer from Sierra Brewing, which we knocked off over a good conversation. Sorry I don't recall the specific name. After Bob left and i did another hour or so of works I came in the house and found another semi-local beer sitting on my desk, well 3 cans anyway. Apparently my daughter dropped it off because her hubby has (again) quit drinking beer. Not bad stuff. I wish he had quit before he drank the first 3 pints. ;D


 



 

 Good stuff, never heard of it, but I'd drink it again.

[sawguy21]

Therein lies the problem. There are so so many good beers on the market what's a guy to do? ;D

[Ianab]

Therein lies the problem. There are so so many good beers on the market what's a guy to do? ;D

Buy a different one each week, for research purposes. Just  say you are doing it for science and it's all OK.  ;D
You eventually find the styles you like the best, so when you wander into a random brewpub, you have a fair idea what style of beer you want. If you like regular beer, try the local "Pale ale" . Nothing special, but probably very nice. If you are brave, there might be "Jack's Pirate Rum infused Dark Ale". Are your taste buds feeling  today?"  :D
Back in the day my friends and I got into home brewing for 2 reasons. Beer was expensive, and it mostly tasted the same. So cheaper AND different had a lot of appeal. That led to all sort of folks realising you could actually brew and sell beer, as long as you followed the rules and paid the tax. 

[Crossroads]

In 1998 I started making home brew. At first it was just fun to create something. I had 4 Pepsi kegs in a fridge. 1 always had a chocolatey porter in it and the other 3 were my experimental containers. The problem began when I needed to empty a container so that I could make another experimental brew. I started being less productive and spent more time at home trying to empty another keg. Then in 04 I had an incident with another young man at a local watering hole and spent the night in jail. I vowed to quit drinking that night and still going after 19 years. Now, one of the hardest things I've ever done was to transfer a batch of "holiday cheer" into a keg without taking a sample. The aroma made my mouth water and I wanted to taste it, but held fast. I ended up giving away 4 kegs of beer and all of my home brew supplies. 

[rusticretreater]

Any brewpub that makes a variety of beers will likely have a sampler.  If not, just ask if they have one.  At one of my local supermarkets they have a rack of beers that you can select and put into a 6-pack for a standard price.

IMO most brewpub offerings are not all that great. Usually each place has one or two they hang their hat on.  The rest are experiments looking for another decent marketable brew.  

[newoodguy78]

Props to you @Crossroads for recognizing a problem and having the restraint to stick with it. I enjoy a beer at the end of the day probably as much as anyone. Yet I've seen all too many good people get messed up because they don't have the switch to turn it off.

[Crossroads]

Thank you, I'm definitely happier now, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about a nice thick porter now and then.  

[Stephen1]

Good for you Crossroads!
I like a Guinness after running the sawmill. That's my reward. The only micro Brewery that comes close is in Jasper Alberta, I spent 2 winters there teaching skiing and the brewery made a great porter that compared to Guiness as the water they used was the same as what is used in Ireland. The best part was $2 off for local residents and the Eastern hockey game came on at 5pm

[Crossroads]

Sounds tasty! The Black Butte porter is the one I tried to copy when I was brewing. 

[Ianab]

Sounds tasty! The Black Butte porter is the one I tried to copy when I was brewing.

I know some folks have problems with alcohol, and are best to just avoid it. 
The "craft beer" thread was mostly about "different" beers, rather than "getting drunk". That's the theme of a lot of the 'ale house" and craft breweries now. Wander in, sample a coupe of  brews, order a pizza or burger, and walk or Uber home. 
A much more "civilised" attitude to drinking, and I have no worries taking the kids to the local for dinner, they get lemonade or cola, and it's 3 blocks walk home. 

[Crossroads]

Well then, I suppose I'll excuse myself then. Sorry my "beer adventure " didn't match the intent.