The Last month and a half in Beer - 13th of February to 25th of March

Hey all, been just shy of a month since my last blog post, and what a month it's been. First weekend, Melo was in town from over in the UK, so we had a bit of a Craft Beer Binge at the Union over in Newtown that's probably worthy of it's own blog post...

A veritable smorgasboard of amazing beer

The following weekend, I jetted down to Melbourne for a family birthday, but had to make a stop in at my favourite little craft brewery, Moon Dog, where they had a new, black summer ale in tap, as well as some of the coolest tap heads this side of the Pacific

I only wish every brewery had tapheads this cool

Where I also picked up one of the grooviest growlers I've ever seen, full of delicious Love Tap

Classy place for a photo

And more recently, Jen and I had a little getaway to Hawk's Nest on the far side of Port Stephens. This meant we had to pop into Murray's on our way home for a couple of sneaky beers, as well as a chat with the man himself!

And of course across all of these weeks, I've been making sure to try some of the latest and greatest craft beers, so without any more about my personal life, I've got a plethora of reviews lined up for this post.

Firstly, I have to get a plug in for the latest beer we've released at work, the Hop Thief 7. It's the latest variant in a long line of American Pale ales, where we change the hop and malt profile every ~6 months. In this latest variant, our feature hops are Galaxy and Mosiac, and the body is noticeably lighter than in the previous variant.

Where'd I get the matching glassware from? Secret I swear

Due to this lighter body, the hop high notes seem to come through much more readily, leading to a far fruitier flavour profile. This in turn has also made it easier to drink than the 6, which at times could be a bit heavy.

Definitely very palatable and worth tracking down to try, at this stage it should be available just about everywhere.

Overall: 3.5/5

Secondly, the latest from Moon Dog, a very experimental beer to say the least, we have the Bad Boy Bubbly - Barley Champagne 

Barley Champagne or Barely Champagne?

Clocking in at a whopping 13.1%, as soon as you pop the cap it's obvious this isn't a standard beer, or even a beer at all. Doesn't quite have the 'pop' that a champagne bottle does, but once you pour it you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd opened the wrong bottle

On the palate, it's somewhat of a cross between a semi-dry champagne and a fruity pale ale, though without the bitterness. Flavours of melon and citrus mix with a slight yeasty tinge to create an extremely unique "beer". 

Overall: 4.5/5

Next up, we have a remix of an old favourite, Mikkeller's "Wheat is the new Hops", but in it's barrel aged form:

I'm seriously overuse this glass don't I?

I've previously had the non Barrel-ages version and was a big fan, so I was glad to taste that this version is very similar, yet still different enough to warrant the effort of barrel aging.

Pours a clear golden colour with a good bit of off-white head. Nose is sorta funky, hint of brettanomyces and some subdued grassy notes. Flavour wise there's an immediate malt sweetness that fades into a slightly sour body, a little bit of citrus and plenty of acidity. Slight grape flavour is evident throughout from the chardonnay barrels too. Overall a very complex beer, maybe even too much so considering the existign complexity in the non barrel-aged version.

Overall: 4/5

Finally, we come to my favourite beer of the last 6 weeks, Shenanigans Brewing Co's Imperial Winston. Brewed as a celebration of their first anniversary, it's a massively hopped double IPA that's more fruity than bitter, and that's perfect for me.

I think I technically had this before the street release... don't tell anyone though

Right away when you open the bottle, there's tropical fruit aromas pouring out. Pours a slightly hazy golden orange with thick white head. Aroma is mainly tropical fruits, alongside some more piney notes and other fruits like peach. 

On the palate it's sweet but not cloying, with very real flavours of fruit to match the aroma coming through on every sip. Slight bitterness is evident but mostly overpowered, and there's no sign of alcohol in the flavour profile despite it being over 9%

Overall an amazing DIPA, especially when as fresh as this bottle was. If you're keen to try it, I'd recommend tracking one 

Overall: 5/5


Thanks for reading, and sorry I didn't manage to write anything for 6 weeks, life's been busy with... Watching the Cricket and... watching more cricket and rugby and... I'm just lazy

Tune in next time for some more beers and me getting Hyped up for GABS 2015, which I just bought tickets for!!