The Ninth Annual Blackhurst Beer Festival (Part Two)

And here is the continuation...

Beer Number Six - Peak Brewery, Sollinger Bock (6.5%, New Zealand)
Peak Brewery is a certified organic brewery based in Masterton making beer along classic British and European lines. They name all their beers after him and mountain ranges – the Solling range is in Central Germany, near the city of Einbeck where this style of beer is reputed to have originated (‘bock’ being a derivative of ‘beck’).

A bock is a strong lager of German origin (originally dark, although modern examples range in colour from light copper to brown) with several substyles including maibock (or helles bock), which is a paler, more hopped version generally made for consumption at spring festivals and (Northern hemisphere) Easter.

Colour: Hazy amber golden
Nose: Yeast; hops
Taste: Yeast; banana; fruity; tangy; touch of spice; leathery finish

Comments:
I’ve had this before – smoked gone right
Pineapple, mango, citrus, tangelo, watermelon, grass, horse piss and green tea – tasty; chewy; mmmm
Tobacco flavours, smoky cigarette water but quite nice
Mmmm, I like this; fizzy little number
Mmmm, nice with Huntley and Palmers and crackers but still a little sweet for a whole night worth of drinking
All my sensory organs have deserted me – wait... floral delicate nose; perfumed rose water
Yes please – malty; I can taste brown sugar
Tastes like home brew but isn’t – indescribable

And this was our winner - with 74 points it was the favourite in 1st place!

Beer Number Seven - Moylan’s Kilt Lifter (8%, USA)
Brendan Moylan was just a normal chap in California with an accounting degree. Naturally he realised this was incredibly dull and bought himself a Christmas present of a beer brewing kit. ‘One thing led to another’ and he had soon built his own brew pub. This is beginning to sound familiar.

His beer has since won six gold and four silver medals at the World Beer Championships, and was the California Champion at the US Beer Tasting Championships seven times out of the last ten. This is no mean feat as beer in America has come a long way, baby. Moylan claims, ‘Prohibition in this country ended our brewing tradition. Budweiser and a few others moved in fast and captured many of the larger markets. Now we’re entering a new phase of beer brewing. I think you’ll see it continue to grow.’ How very perspicacious.

The Kilt Lifter is, unsurprisingly, a Scotch-style ale (also known as Wee Heavy), described as robust and strapping. The term Scotch Ale was first used to describe ales exported from Edinburgh in the 18th century and is a popular term in the USA. It is not to be confused with what French and Belgian brewers call Scotch Ale, by which they mean peat-smoked, malt-flavoured beers. The ale should be slightly warmed in the glass to ‘enhance the truly bold character’ and ‘sharing is encouraged’.

Colour: Dark ruby-amber with ferocious off-white head (little retention)
Nose: Dark roasty chewy caramel malt; nuttiness and graininess; oak and earthy notes
Taste: Strong malt profile; complex spices and oakiness; toasted biscuit; caramel custard; figs and dates; earthy hops round out the finish

Comments:
Smoked fruit salad served with a whisky side – quite acidic – Scottish?
Strawberry liqueur followed by marmite and a fag
Sweet with horse manure and malt overtones
Maltexo
Pudding – dark chocolate overtones; dates; caramel sauce – reminds me of Speights’ Old Dark Ice Cream
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup; peat single malt
Smells like the rubbish bin after the bin men have been – Tastes better than it smells
Peachy, malty liqueur

Apart from one person who liked it very much, and one person who really didn't, this beer recieved the most average award of the evening and came in equal 5th position with 48 points.

Beer Number Eight - De Molen Heen & Weer (9.5%, The Netherlands)
De Molen is Dutch for the mill – in the Netherlands, all mills are windmills unless specifically stated. Heen and Weer means back and forth, because the De Molen Brewery has two separate locations and the beer folk spend a lot of time driving between the two – those crazy Dutchies!

It is an Abbey Triple style: the term ‘Abbey Beers’ was originally given to any monastic or monastic-style beer. In a champagne-esque move, the Union of Belgian Brewers introduced the logo ‘Certified Belgian Abbey Beer’ in 1999 which could only be borne by beers brewed under license to an existing or abandoned abbey, with the monastery having control over certain aspects of the commercial operation and reaping a proportion of the profits. Heen and Weer is not one of those, but just has a vaguely monastic branding.

The term ‘triple’ comes from the Low Countries and is believed to relate to the strength of the beer as indicated by the number of crosses on the cask – X being the weakest strength, XX being medium strength, and XXX being the strongest (approx 3% abv, 6% abv, and 9% abv respectively).

Colour: Hazy orange
Nose: Sweet malt; soapy sprucy hops; vegetable notes; apples; oranges; sweet caramel; gentle toffee; brown sugar
Taste: Sweet fruits and huge malt; oats and oranges; coriander; wheaty yeasty; honey; aggressive alcohol; slightly bitter with a malty hop aftertaste

Comments:
Patchiouli and malt – strong malt flavour with no hops – high alcohol?
Tastes good at first but fizzles out
Malty fizzy golden syrup
Clear, refreshing on the back of the tongue
Starting to get a smooth finish with whisky overtones – must be North of the border
Toffee caramel – not for me, thank you
Smooth, cooling caramel – like eating caramello
Smelled peaty at first, then less so, then rusty aftertaste

Strong, malty and chocolately caramel must be popular among the group as this beer ranked 3rd with 68 points.

Beer Number Nine - La Guillotine (9%, Belgium)

In 1906 Leon Huyghe founded Brouwerij Huyghe in the city of Melle in East Flanders on the site of a brewery which had been in operation since 1654. La Guillotine was first brewed in 1989 to commemorate the bicentennial of the French Revolution, which had such a devastating effect on the Belgian monasteries and the associated breweries. In 1790 the National Assembly seized all church lands and all religious orders were officially dissolved. Those religious buildings that didn’t close were destroyed and any remaining priests and monks were imprisoned or massacred.

La Guillotine has top-fermentation with re-fermentation in the bottle. It is curious as to why a Belgian brewer would choose to commemorate such an event, but perhaps the suggestion is that at 9%, more than two of these strong blond beers would cause you to lose your head.

Colour: Clear golden
Nose: Lemon; tulip petals; toast; spicy; yeasty; earth; grass; candied sugar; golden syrup; fruit cake; cereal
Taste: Lemon; leaves; cloves; grapes; sweet bready malt; light honey hints; soft caramel; vanilla; cough drop

Comments:
Aromatic, but not in a way that appeals, sorry
Like the previous one but keeps on giving – me likey!
Smooth, sweet and fresh
Not overpowering – I like it
Must have overloaded my taste buds – I can’t taste a blinking thing – Lemony Snicket
I did not detect lemon, grass, candied sugar, fruit cake, or tulip petals – I did get a hint of Chester’s urine
Syrupy smooth with a light finish
Lime and malt; great taste. Sell the family car; we’re buying the brewery – Yum!

Quite a popular little number (it appears we like them strong), this came second overall with 71 points.

Beer Number Ten - Ise Kadoya Stout (5%, Japan)

According to the label, ‘Ise Kadoya has made miso and soy sauce according to ancient tradition in a centuries-old wood building in old Ise, and now brews beer in small batches in the same traditional, natural way.’ Perhaps someone should tell them the process is a little different...?

They also have a restaurant and recommend this stout as an accompaniment to their oyster dishes. The restaurant was originally established to provide nourishment for the numerous pilgrims that journeyed to Ise City (one of the most sacred cities of the Shinto religion) and Ise Shrine from all over Japan.

Colour: Black opaque with thin tan head
Nose: Deep dark chocolate; roasted grain; coal smoke; cherry skins; some milkiness
Taste: Roasted grain; dark chocolate; caramel; soy sauce; dry roast malts; convincing ashiness; smoking toast; tingly mouthfeel; coffee finish

Comments:
Brown sugar but quite light in the mouth; sour rather than bitter – dark lager
Black beer – fizzy tarmac
Chocolate liquorice; candyfloss beer
I’ve run out of descriptive words
Fizzy dark – the champagne of darks, only it smelt like curry
Spaz’s home brew – I have just realised that may look offensive – I mean, perhaps a good start?
Gassy for a stout – not creamy and heavy as I expected
Smells of chocolate; malty

Not a spectacular finish, perhaps because expectations weren't met. This beer was awarded 44 points and finished 8th equal.
So the winner on the night was the Kiwi offering, which is interesting to note. Also of interest was the fact that the beers that I like (the hoppy, bitter ones with clean refreshing bite) were not popular with the group. I can only imagine that this is because for the first time in nine Blackhurst beer festivals, our tasters were predominantly New Zealanders.

Thanks to all for taking part in our not-at-all-scientific tasting extravaganza. And so, for another year, that's all folks!

Friday Five: The Best of the Great Kiwi Beer Festival

Here are some totally unstructured notes from the Great Kiwi Beer Festival which we attended on 25th February in Christchurch (to accompany the random photos on My Week in Pictures).

Out of a sense of beer-loyalty, our first beverage of the day is from the Yeastie Boys. We are rewarded with great flavours. I have a Hud-a-wa’ while Him Outdoors goes for a former favourite: Pot Kettle Black. Mine is malty, biscuity, nutty, fruity, with a hint of camembert – surprisingly refreshing for a strong beer (6.8%) and a great way to start the day!

Next we visit the Wigram Brewing Co where Him Outdoors has a Mustang Pale Ale, which he declares features subtle hops with herbaceous overtones. I have a Ginger Jerry, which is cold with a sharp bite; it pours a lovely pale yellow colour with lazy bubbles and with hints of honey and lemon you might expect from a wheat beer. It is, however, predominantly ginger in flavour (as the name would lead you to suspect) with a spicy finish, and turns out to be one of my favourite beers of the day.

At Mike’s Organic Brewery, Him Outdoors has another old favourite, Mike’s Ale. This is the beer previously known as Mike’s Mild (brewed in the English style) but it has recently undergone a name change as some punters think ‘mild’ means low alcohol and low flavour, which is certainly not the case. We chat to Mr Mike himself, who proudly explains that the family-owned brewery is the oldest one here, having been going for 23 years.

I sample a Strawberry Blonde, which tastes a bit like a spritzer – probably due to the carbonation levels. It’s very fruity and beery, tasting like a Pilsner with lots of strawberries thrown at it. It’s pretty and pink and most likely aimed at girls – although not in the throwing bottles of beer at people sense. I don’t think I’m ‘that sort of girl’.

Him Outdoors has an intermediate Mendip Bitter from Peak Brewery. He says it tastes great but the texture is not so flash – perhaps it didn’t travel well? At Brew Moon I have a Hophead Organic IPA which tastes quite full of tannins beneath the sharp hops. Him Outdoors asked for stout but gets Amberley Pale Ale instead. It’s smoother than the IPA and has a better mouthfeel.

We can’t pass the Twisted Hop hand-pull pump and are rewarded with a fantastic IPA – a refreshing, crisp, citrusy, strong ale, a perfect mixture of hoppy and nutty flavours and a great texture; ideal for drinking on a sunny summer day, and I love it! Him Outdoors has another intermediate – a Ballast Point Schooner Wet Hop Pale Ale, which smells and tastes like blood oranges.

The Townshend ESB is alright but not as special as I remembered, and no, I can’t pinpoint why. Usually this is excellent, so I shall just put this down as a bad pint and revisit another day. Him Outdoors plumps for a Bavarian wheat beer, which he merely describes as ‘very disappointing’ and then pops over for a chat with Dale Holland of Dale’s Brewery. Dale won the supreme award at New Zealand’s largest home brew competition in 2010. Since then he has been brewing small batches of his beers at the West Coast Brewery in Westport. Him Outdoors has one of his Belgian style beers made with Belgian yeast and Maris hops, which is (apparently) very smooth and pleasing.

At the Sprig and Fern, we both opt for the Scotch Ale which has a terrific distinctive flavour; lots of malt and chocolate flavours with a subtle hop. Honey-cured bacon and avocado butties from Black Betty’s perk us up and enable us to continue with the tastings. After 2pm it really fills up with massive queues for everything: food; beer; toilets...

Him Outdoors has the porter from Tuatara – this well-balanced porter is his favourite, although nothing beats drinking it from a hand-pull pump in The Malthouse in Wellington; now that really was special. I enjoy the Helles with its tasty bubble-gum characteristics. Wide Boy Steve tries Moa for the first time and loves it. I’m used to it (I drink it at Jack’s Point after every race I do out there) but he is suitably impressed.
 

I move on to The Big Smoke from 8 Wired – my notes say ‘lovely!’ underlined many times. It is a smoky, hoppy, dark porter and eminently drinkable. Another hit is the West Coast Brewery Draught, which is ‘nutty and nice’ (my tasting notes are getting increasingly banal) and tastes like beer should.

 

Some lads are refused beer – they have no glasses or wristbands, and the ambience is beginning to change. It is still a beautiful sunny afternoon, however, with innocuous background music from the not-hugely-dynamic bands. I confess I find the Black Seeds almost insufferably dull without sufficient levels of intoxication.

The Captain Cooker Manuka Beer from Mussel Inn is nicely beery and flavoursome, with a hint of sweetness. The young lad we have with us (the son of friends) pronounces the Ballast Point Coronado Idiot to be ‘unenjoyably alcoholic’ – an interesting comment from a drinker who chooses his beer for its abv. I have heard much about Ballast Point – an American brewery from San Diego – who are all for experimenting and crafting excellent ales in traditional styles. I tried their Blue Eye IPA which is both hoppy and yeasty and very appealing – I will look out for more of their brews in the future.

 

I finish up the day with a Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black – it is still the best in the business; so smooth and subtly blended. I really do love this stuff! And so, it makes it into my top five beers of the day which are, in no particular order:

5 Favourite Beers of the Festival

1. Pot Kettle Black - Yeastie Boys
2. Ginger Jerry - Wigram Brewing Co
3. IPA - Twisted Hop
4. The Big Smoke - 8 Wired
5. Draught - West Coast Brewery

Beervana 2009: Tasting Notes (Part Two)

I am able to try an IPA from Nøgne Ø, of which we have never heard before. I find it has notes of varnish and isn’t overly drinkable – I can just taste alcohol rather than beer. Him Outdoors claims it’s ‘flowery’ – maybe jonquils then, as their fragrance gives me a violent headache. He has got an Imperial Stout so we swap – this is very, very nice; black with dark brown froth.

The boys turn up with a none-too-fresh-looking chilli in a beer glass. It’s a gimmick lager which bites your tongue from Mussel Inn. Why would you do that to a beer? It’s just silly. To be fair, when the Weevil arrives (two hours late) and wants to catch up, she aims immediately for something she knows she likes, the Monkey Puzzle Extra Strong Ale from the same place, which she announces is ‘a good starter’.

There are talks throughout the evening on such topics as ‘beer and cheese matching’, ‘brewing organically’, ‘the right glass for your beer’ and ‘women and beer mythbusters’. An announcement over the public address system keeps reminding us that these talks are on, but although I would like to listen to Neil Miller and Martin Bosley talk about food and beer, I don’t feel that now is the right time to do so when I am too busy sampling the delights myself – I’ll get a curry later; that will do for food and beer matching tonight.

I am bought a random beer which turns out to be an IPA from the Twisted Hop. My notes at this point read ‘Lovely. I like it. More of this sort of thing’. I am finding it increasingly difficult to balance my pen, programme and camera, and also to write coherent notes evidently.

As Him Outdoors talks to strangers he finds a long-haired ale-lover from Stockport. He actually lives in Auckland and has come down this weekend especially for the beer festival. He is in raptures over the Great End ESB at the Peak Brewery. We try it and I can see why. It is cask conditioned and served via a hand-pull it tastes like something I would expect to find in Coniston. It claims to be ‘extra strong and extra bitter’; my notes read ‘very strong, very fruity and a little bit extra.’ The Weevil reckons it tastes like a Scottish Cal 80, Bellhaven; she’s all for her comparisons.

When we try the Old House ESB from the Townshend Brewery, she decides it is like a Tetley's Mild from Haddon Hall. Just in case I don’t realise how high praise this is, she adds, ‘This is the best beer I’ve had in New Zealand’. The brewing chaps are a little concerned when she asks for ‘more of your finest flattest beer please’ until she bats her big brown eyes and tells them she loves it. I’m impressed too (by the beer rather than the eyes – I’ve seen them all my life) and although it smells slightly of cabbage, it is flat and fulsome and English-tasting.

We head back up to the Arrow Brewing Company for Some Wee Heavy Scotch Ale which is pleasant and sweet and, well...heavy. The chaps provide tasting notes which claim it contains flavours of toffee and orange brandy’. At this stage I think we should probably take their word for it. The Weevil notes, ‘Another flat one – but more fruity Kiwi style’. Him Outdoors has finished noting things. In fact, I think he has misplaced his programme but he has appointed himself chief photographer, hence lots of blurred shots of drinkers’ feet.

We save the best until (nearly) last and savour a drop of Pot Kettle Black from Yeastie Boys. It is still the best beer in show, and they have pretty smart t-shirts too. It’s like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange with hops and alcohol: very tasty indeed!

The adjacent stall is the Green Man Brewery apparently trying to save the world one beer at a time. We join them by starting with an IPA, which is reminiscent of bananas and cloves in a totally nice and tasty, and finishing shortly afterwards with the Strong, which is strong and tasty. I must admit to trying this last time round and not remembering a whole lot afterwards. After a couple of sips of this blend of Dopplebock matured on whisky barrel wood and blended with Best Bitter, a similar thing seems to happen. Is this déjà bu?

So in summation, my top 5 in no particular order are:
Tobin’s Cask Ale – Arrow Brewing Company; Tricerahops Double IPA – Ninkasi; Old House ESB – Townshend Brewery; Great End ESB – Peak Brewery; Yeastie Boys – Pot Kettle Black

Beervana: Tasting notes (Part 1)

Well, my head has almost recovered after a night of hedonistic beery pleasure, and this morning’s run along the Eastern walkway with occasional glimpses of the inland Kaikouras (they were just there!) has cleared the mental decks so that I can write up some rather illegible tasting notes from this weekend’s Beervana.

Him outdoors was like a boy in a sweetshop, or indeed, a bloke in a beer shop, and was barely restrained from leaping about trying everything at once. Methodically enough, we began at the beginning, handing over our first beer tokens in exchange for some Mike’s Mild from White Cliffs Organic Brewery. You don’t often get a good (or actually, any at all) mild in New Zealand, but this is excellent. I’ve had it before and enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it again tonight – a great start to the evening.

We moved on down, or up depending on your viewpoint, to the Renaissance stand where I sampled the Perfection Pale Ale, which is a great name for a beer. Again, I have had this before and liked it – most notably after the Grape Ride where I collapsed after cycling 101km around the Queen Charlotte Sound and the vineyards of Marlborough. Re-hydrating with plenty of water and some very tasty wine from Forrest Estate , I also refreshed myself with some of the local ale and I have been a convert ever since.

I really like the balance of the bitter hops and the creamy toffee notes. At the risk of sounding incredibly girly, I also really like the label. I think the design and the shape of the bottle makes this one of the best looking beers on the market.

Next stop was Peak Brewery from Taratahi, and I tried their Monkey Point India Pale Ale. Apparently Monkey Point is the name of the first brewery in India. The chocolate notes rang out loud and clear but it was slightly too sweet for my taste. I am always impressed with breweries in the middle of wine regions and I wish Mr. Morgan well with his range of German and British style ales from his relatively new (three years old) brewery. He sells them at the Farmers’ Market in Masterton and also has a hectare of sauvignon and pinot noir vines planted on his property. I think that might just be greedy!

We couldn’t pass the Epic stall without having a taste of their Pale Ale – just to check it is as good as we remember – it is. This is my tipple of choice at The Malthouse . I believe it won gold and best in class at the awards. The trophies depicting a mash tun are very cool and those who had won them were proudly displaying them on their stalls.

We first had Epic Pale Ale two years ago when there was a beer festival beneath the Old Bank on a Saturday afternoon. We emerged blinking into the pale sunlight with a feeling we had just tasted the best beer we’d had in New Zealand since we arrived ten years previously. I loved the Armageddon Ale that Epic released recently, but sadly that wasn’t on offer, or not that I could see anyway. Does this mean it’s all gone? Bring it back please – I love it! I love hops, which may explain it. In the meantime, I will happily drink the Pale Ale.

And now for something completely different – Waituna Brewing Company from Rewa are promoting their TaaKawa Ale as New Zealand’s first indigenous beverage. Apparently it incorporates the Kawakawa herb and spring water into a beer, which sounds very clever. The marketing people have just sold a line into Tesco’s in the UK and are hoping to ‘place TaaKawa competitively at the top of the National and the International market’. It’s clean and crisp, refreshing the palate.

For old time’s sake we sampled some of the ales from Brew Moon . We used to live in Christchurch and a trip home was always completed with a stop off at the brewery in Amberley. We were asked if we wanted the hoppy or the very hoppy and subsequently I tried the Hophead IPA while Him Outdoors had the Amberley Pale Ale. A delicious drop!

One of the great things about beer festivals is the opportunity to talk to the artisans who make the stuff, and Mr Bennett himself was manning his stall of Bennett’s Fine Beer and Ale . He is a man of boundless enthusiasm, and when he is not brewing beer or running supermarkets, he makes artwork out of toast – yep, that’s right, toast, but they’re actually really good!

We tried his Belgium Strong, which was interesting and different. As the name suggests, it is made to taste like a Belgian golden ale (Leffe Blonde springs to mind) with a taste that is slightly sweet and fruity. It is also strong (7%), but you don’t really notice the kick until later. Mr Bennett claims that he wanted to make this style of beer because ‘this is what the beer gods favour.’ He could well be onto something…

To be continued...