Craft Beer Advent Calendar Dec 6-10

This is Part Two of my Craft Beer Advent Calendar to keep you up to date with the beers I’ve been drinking this month.

December 6

Mikkeller Pilsner-Style Beer

This was the first canned beer in the advent calendar, I prefer stubbies to cans to begin with. The label of this beer is quite peculiar, like some sort of art painting. The beer was pretty good, from Belgium.

December 7

Holgate Brewhouse Temptress

On the label it reads “… this luscious winter warmer infused with Dutch cocoa and whole vanilla beans…”. A good tasting beer – better suited to colder conditions. From Victoria, Australia.

December 8

Panhead Hopfenweisse

For the first New Zealand beer (and the second can) for the advent calendar I found this one difficult to drink. It was warm before I got through it. This beer is a Hopfenweisse, a wheat beer, hence why it was unusual for me.

December 9

Epic Pale Ale

Back to back New Zealand beers but luckily this one was a lot better to drink, more along the lines of a classic craft beer. I would recommend this for you to drink.

December 10

Tool Battle Royal Imperial Miso Porter

I like creative beer labels, at first impression I love the guns printed on this label as well as the Japanese fan. Even using ‘miso’ in the name (Japanese bean curd – used in various foods) I thought this would be a Japanese beer. The label says it is made in Spain on one part then says Denmark on another. At first taste I knew right away that this is crafty and that it was alcoholic (it says 11% on the label), I’m surprised that this is a beer because it was way too rich for anything I normally drink. It took longer than normal to drink this. I will have to do some research into this beer in the future to find out about the confusing label and the even more confusing taste.

I have to say that I wasn’t overall pleased with these beers, some were hard to drink while others were out of place for summer drinking. I'm not saying don't ever try these beers, if you want to become a beer master like me then you should try any beer you can get your hands on. 

The first lot were excellent though so I have faith that the next 14 days will produce some more great beers.

Cheers

Dave 

December 6-10

Craft Beer Advent Calendar Dec 1-5

I'm excited about this!

Saint John Craft Beer have created a unique advent calendar in the lead up the Christmas 2015.

What I'm drinking this month.

Randomly selecting 24 beers from across the world, they were wrapped in brown paper bags and tied. 

I wonder what's inside?

I didn’t know what they were at the time of buying it and therein lies the excitement.

Following the numbers written on them I’ve opened and consumed the first of them.

Want to know what they are?

December 1

Brooklyn Lager:

I can’t recall if I’ve tried this before but it was a surprise for the beginning of the calendar. A true American craft beer that went down nicely.

December 2

Dainton Good Son Golden Ale:

Dainton is one of my new favourite Australian Craft Brewers, they brew a wide variety of brews in particular Samurye Lager (which I will cover sometime soon). This was a nice standard kind of craft beer. Their label design is pretty interesting too.

December 3

Morrison English Bitter:

Yes! It only took until day three to get a Tasmanian beer, and a Launceston made one at that! Morrison Brewery make amazing beer and I enjoyed drinking this one.

December 4

Van Dieman Giblin Imperial Pale Ale:

How awesome is this! Four days in and another Tasmanian Beer. Van Dieman Imperial Pale Ale got me thinking about the upcoming release of the new Star Wars movie, it had a very chocolately feel to it with a good after taste, it also packs a punch at 7.7%.

December 5

3 Ravens English Extra Special Bitter

Two dark tasting beers in a row. First time to try this one from mainland Australia, another good beer for the advent calendar.

That’s the first of the carton, I’ll drink a few more and let you know what the rest are.

The first five.

Cheers

David

Asahi Soukai

Soukai

There is something new from the land of the rising sun, Asahi in Japan has brought us something else to quench our thirst over summer (in Australia), Asahi Soukai.

Asahi is known by its flagship beer Asahi Super Dry, they have taken that concept and created a weaker low carb version.

Soukai, meaning ‘refreshing’ is a fresh, new take on beer drinking.

I bought a 6-pack to sample and was pleased with the product.

A re-enactment

Even though it is only 3.5% it still gives you a buzz while keeping you more level headed than most standard beers.

This looks like a good party!

This is what the website has to say about their product:

“Asahi Soukai delivers a clean, smooth taste that embodies the sophisticated, Japanese way of life whilst still retaining that unmistakable refreshing, crisp Asahi Super Dry taste. Born of Asahi Super Dry, Asahi Soukai is an easy-to-drink, non-filling, sessionable beer, expertly brewed using quality Japanese brewing techniques. Asahi Soukai is light in colour and alcohol, with a body that has a clean, refreshing taste, with a slight bitter note that provides a balanced flavour, while its effervescent sparkle acts as a great thirst quencher.” http://www.asahipremiumbeverages.com/our-brands/asahi-soukai/

Pretty ordinary packaging

I’m a big fan of flashy, colourful labels, the plain white labelling of this product is a bit disappointing but then I think about where I lived in Hokkaido – it snowed there for about 5-6 months a year. With that in mind, white is a pretty normal colour for Japan.

If you are after something new and different to try then give this a go!

Cheers,

Dave 

Japanese Beer is elegant and sophisticated

Beers I Don't Like

Today's Topic

I’ve been going on and on about beers I like/ love, now I want to talk about ones I suggest to avoid.

I’m possibly going to annoy some people who read this – this is written based on my own opinions and experiences, unfortunately not every beer that exists I think is drinkable.

To avoid directly naming and shaming I will give you an explanation of the type of beer and why I don’t like it, while use memes to hopefully get a laugh out of you.

That must be some bad beer then?

Japan unfortunately had several bad beer experiences for me, I think the main issue is that Japanese brewers like to try new things and make their product more appealing, in my opinion they have broken rules when it comes to making beer.

Tomato Beer: I love tomatoes, I love beer, so why don’t they work so well together? I have bought a can of tomato beer and upon taking a mouthful I spat it out and threw the rest away. It had to have been one of the worst things I’ve ever tasted. I don’t like tomato juice and that was again proven at a Japanese bar where the bartender made me a beer and tomato juice cocktail, no lie there was vomit afterwards.

I think this has something to do with him drinking his urine?

Happoshu: This is a Japanese word for ‘fake beer’ in order to continue high sales in a cost increasing industry many Japanese brewers have turned to making this beer tasting product, the worst part is that it’s watered down and crap is added. The result is a very cheap product that is bad for you, they sell for about $1 a can and can mean a cheap all you can drink at karaoke, but after many times of drinking this my body has made me pay for it. If you drink in Japan I recommend paying for the better quality beers such as Sapporo Draught, Asahi Super Dry and Kirin Ichiban.

Be a good friend!

Non-Alcoholic Beer: Japan has a zero BAC level for driving, so if you go out and want to have beer then this is the best thing for you – I have friends who enjoy drinking it. But for me I have tried several varieties and they taste somewhat like beer but I could never finish any of them – they ended up down the sink.

I feel bad for bashing Japan but I couldn’t leave those experiences out, there are some other shocking beers to follow (To be continued)…

I've never tried hand sanitiser...

Apple Beer: There is a new beer out made with an apple twist. I was able to drink a sample of it but I couldn’t drink another one. I just don’t think that it’s a good combination, they should go separately (beer and cider).

$6 for 6-pack = bad! $20 for 6-pack = should be okay!

I think what I can sum up from here is that cheap and often experimental beer can quite possibly leave you with a bad experience. People have different tastes and will like some things and others not so much. But in my opinion you should spend the extra $$$ and get good quality beer that will leave you with a good buzz and hopefully not much of a hangover the next day.

Here are a few for you to think about, if I run into any more bad beer I will update this list.

Cheers

Dave

Fat Yak Pale Ale

Fat Yak Pale Ale

This is a fantastic craft beer that is proudly Australia and strangely has nothing to do with a fat yak.

One of the brews of out Matilda Bay in Western Australia, this is widely available across Australia in stubbie or on tap.

This is what the breweries website has to say about it “We wanted to create and easy drinking craft beer in the traditional North American pale ale style that has proved so popular with discerning beer drinkers – so we did, and then named it after a hairy Mongolian cow thing.” https://www.matildabay.com.au/fat-yak

Also available on tap

Along with the clear crafty flavour in the beer I noted some fruit elements, melon and passionfruit I learned after some research.

At 4.7% it is a pretty standard strength beer, but it is easy to drink though so I often find myself getting inebriated quicker than normal when drinking this beer.

I can never stop at just one!

If you actually want to eat food rather than just drink a lot of Fat Yak’s the website also claims that it goes well with almost any food – except for Yak which apparently doesn’t taste very nice.

For those of you that are more into cider, Matilda Bay make a ‘Dirty Granny’ cider, I’ll leave it up to you to find out how dirty it really is though!

Matilda Bay also makes Dirty Granny Cider

Typical with craft beer type drinks it is a little bit more expensive to buy but these days I will go for quality over quantity, as I have matured in my beer drinking habits and would rather enjoy what I’m drinking rather than go for that all night buzz.

As always Dave’s Beers of the World promotes responsible consumption of alcohol.

Has your favourite beer been featured yet? If not let Dave know and he will give it a road test.

Cheers,

Dave

Arrogant Bastard Ale

Fizzy yellow beer is for wussies

We drink Blonde beer because of the low carbs and the assumption of weight loss, we drink the local brew because we are loyal to our community, we drink Mexican beer in summer because it makes us think of fun times and relaxation, even stout helps you warm up in winter.

Arrogant Bastard

What if there was a beer called Arrogant Bastard? Would we drink it because that is what we want to feel like one or because we think the name is funny?

The deeper I delve into the world of beers of the world the more I am amused by people’s creations and what they choose to call them.

After discovering Fucking Hell, I also came upon Arrogant Bastard and have been laughing ever since.

This beer packs a mighty punch, weighing in at 7.2%, interestingly enough the website lists the hop variety as classified.

This is a strong craft beer

Directly from the website.

“This is an aggressive ale. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate and ale of this quality and depth.”

“Arrogant Bastard Ale openly challenged the tyrannical overlords who were brazenly attempting to keep Americans chained in the shackles of poor taste.”

It packs a punch

Even logging onto the website you are faced with a unique disclaimer page http://www.arrogantbastard.com/home.asp

1. I am aware that the following pages may contain images of full frontal Arrogance.

2. I am not a fizzy yellow beer drinker here under false pretences (sic).

3. I indemnify Stone Brewing Co. and all its affiliates from any damages to my ego I may incur from viewing this material.

Stone Brewing Co. based in America I think have really outdone themselves with the theme for this line of beers, there are others to try but so far I have only had the Arrogant Bastard. Fortunately it is available in Tasmania at St John Craft Beer in two sizes.

Some of the other varieties they have to offer

You can buy a large selection of merchandise online, they seem to have everything except for stubby holders though (-1 point).

This craft beer is not cheap, but you get what you pay for. I highly rate this craft beer for many reasons, I will warn you though it won’t be like anything you have tried before. 

- Dave =)

Tooheys

Tooheys is the beer of NSW

I’ve been a bit silent.

I haven’t had wifi access for the past week since I was camping out at Bathurst.

This is where I was

My first trip to New South Wales was full of unexplored areas to drink at.

As I like to do when I visit an area I immerse myself in the local brew, one I haven’t had too much of in recent years.

TEDDY

Tooheys is arguably the biggest selling beer in NSW (I nickname it the deer beer), its most popular brew is Tooheys Extra Dry. 

Dave’s BOTW has covered Toohey’s Extra Dry (TED’s) before so I won’t go into much detail. The unique clean, crisp taste is the reason I keep going back to TED’s, I had a carton of cans (no glass allowed in the camping area) to keep me occupied during the stay.

Blue Deer Beer

Another long living product of Tooheys that doesn’t seem to be very popular in Tassie is Tooheys New. Don’t get me wrong, my research suggests that this goes right off in NSW and Queensland but I’m not a big fan.

The latest

Tooheys Darling Pale Ale is a new product that is creeping into the market, I had a couple for quality control and will say that this is a pretty good beer. If you call me a darling for drinking it though I will make you regret it.

The company itself, Tooheys is based in Sydney but is owned by Kirin – those Japanese seem to be buying up a lot of Australia business, it also has links to Lion in New Zealand.

Simply ordering a beer at the bar was a challenge, the first few times I would order and ask for a pot or a 10oz completely baffled the several bartenders I annoyed. After a bit of research I finally learned the lingo, here is a cheat sheet to help us out when we travel around Australia.

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/03/how-to-order-a-beer-in-every-australian-state/

Cheers, 

Dave

Tooheys has long supported motor racing