GABS 2015 Part 1 - Thursday, Friday and everything in between

Hey all, welcome to a special GABS edition of the blog, covering our trip to Melbourne, GABS, and everything else inbetween. This will be a long, rambling post so I'm just warning you all in advance!

It's that time of the year again!

The trip started on Thursday afternoon, with everyone training over to the Airport. A couple of drinks and some dinner later, were were aboard our 8:30 flight to Melbourne. A quick bag drop/check-in later, we were off to Whiskey and Alement to start our adventure proper with some drinks

Professional flash blocking there

After a few boilermakers and cocktails later, we had to make the first of many brief souvlaki stops at Stalactites

The face of TRUE happiness

Before heading out for a night of Shenanigans that stretched well into the early hours of the next morning...

Day 1 - Friday 22/5

After a late awakening directly attributable to the previous night's shenanigans, we woke up and had a delish brekky at Trunk Diner before walking on up to Carlton Gardens

Still the nicest building I've been to a festival in

The queue this year wasn't too bad, and they even had ticket sellers circulating around outside so you could prebuy tickets... We decided that 2 pages should be sufficient to start off

Just a couple of sneaky pages

Inside, we grabbed a table in a prime spot next to Container A, and began our quest to drink every festival beer from 1-118. We started off with 2 Brothers "Hazella", a hazelnut brown, which is extremely fitting in hindsight considering the sheer number of nut beers/brown and black beers that were on show this year

The first 5 of 118 to come... Spilt all over the table already

Everyone put in a solid effort for the first day, all bright eyed and bushy tailed in spite of our solid drinking effort the night before

World's most staged photo

After completing 1-30 (half of Container A), we decided it was time to have a wander around the festival and check out some of the other beers on offer. 

Garage Project was definitely a highlight, with all 6 of their beers on show nothing short of exquisite. Sea of Green fresh hop pilsener was my pick, narrowly edging out the Two Tap Flat White that had beer crema!

Paddle +1, no shame there

After a good feed courtesy of Meat Mother, we sat back down to continue our journey to the end of Container A

By this point we'd wised up and nicked a chux to protect our guides from the sea of beer on the table

We finished up on the James Squire Brewers 2050 - a fruity Schwarzbier that was nice, but not quite as interesting as I'd hoped. However there were plenty of great beers at the first container;

Personal Highlights from Container A:

5 - 8 Wired Brewing - Hippy Berliner
A delicious, fresh berlinerweiss with plenty of fruit and wine character, the big hit of hops in the middle really pushed it up to my shortlist

12 - Baird Sour Puss
A super fruity and fresh IPA with plenty of lemony flavour from both lemon peel and the hops, like a lemon warhead IPA

18 - Big Shed Brewing - Golden Stout Time
The first of many sweet stouts, but definitely in the top 2, this tasted like a Golden Gaytime in a glass with a whole lot of extra roast for good measure

23 - Blackhorse Brewhouse - Finger Lime Ale
A hoppy pale ale that's been loaded with finger limes, it was my favourite pale ale of the festival due to the sheet deliciousness of the zesty lime, blending with the really well balanced hop profile

30 - Burleigh Brewing Company - Peach Saison
A real easy-drinking fruit saison, the mix of real peach and 'peachy' hops created a super smooth, delicious fruit saison

We'll be coming back to a few of these on the shortlist later!

Following the day session, we decided we'd probably had enough GABS for one day, and needed to do something a bit different... So we went bar/brewery hopping!

First stop was the Little Creatures Dining Hall in Fitzroy, where the only photos I managed to take were of the ATM. It's inside a fridge. 

Surely not...

Yup.

We were treated to a couple of rounds of free drinks courtesy of our sneaky Lion contacts, had a tasty dinner, then jumped into a squad of waiting Ubers to head to our second stop for the night, Mountain Goat Brewery

Definitely has a cool vibe from outside

Here, we got to try a whole bunch of special and one-off brews, including the Abbey Collabbey 5, and their AIBA Gold-medal winning Barrel Breed Barley Wine... super delicious

That photobomb tho

Next up, we had a nice brisk walk through the cold night over to the Moon Dog Brewery - half the group were convinced I was leading them down an alley to murder them - where we crashed down onto a set of sofas to work through a few weird and wonderful beers, including a peanut porter, a jammy dodger, and a Splice IPA that could almost be mistaken for the actual icecream!

The fact that this is the best photo I have from Moon Dog says a lot...

This culminated in us meeting up with our old mate Sammy B, then heading back into town to hit Rooftop and Toff, once again until the heinous hours of the morning...

Thanks for reading guys, also check out Part 2 for the second half and conclusion to our adventure!

Winter Black Beer Roundup

So as I'm sure we're all aware after the past few week's weather, Winter seems to have come very early this year. And when it's icy outside, there's no better beer to drink than a big, hearty black beer to help keep you toasty and warm. So below is a roundup of a few of the best black beers I've had so far this year, and a look at Little Creatures' latest release!

First up, we have an absolute cracker of a beer that's been chilling in my cellar for a while now, Black Damnation III from Black Mes. Sitting at 13% ABV and being crazy dark, it was a perfect candidate for a bit of ageing, and the results haven't disappointed

Been in the cellar for a while, needed a dust off for the photo

Pouring into the glass an opaque black colour with minimal though thick head. Aroma is a mix of some vanilla/oaky notes, dark fruit, and some spiritesque heat. Oily on the palate, very rich dark malt and some real whisky flavours come through to help break up the heaviness of the body.

Really delicious and highly recommended for anyone who's a big imperial stout fan, or big into whisky.

Overall: 4.5/5

Next up, we have another monster stout, although this one has spent a little less time ageing (I'm too impatient). Bridge Road's One Thousand is a celebration of their 1000th brew, and is their first ever imperial stout. Judging from this, they should definitely make them more often!

Probably should have laid this one down for a bit

Straight away in the glass, it's jet black and has a very generous amount of frothy ten head. Aroma is mocha, real notes of coffee, chocolate and even some caramel, though this is all backed up by a healthy dose of earthy and grassy hops. Body is medium, surprising for such a big beer, and the flavours come on strong, again with mocha alongside a lot of roast, all on a silky smooth finish.

I kinda wish I'd waited to drink this, I think it would have aged very well, hoping to track down another and stick it in the cellar for a bit!

Overall: 5/5

Thirdly, have an an old favourite of mine, Rogue's Chocolate Stout. I've had this a couple of times, but I decided I wanted to try out a stout float after seeing Bitter Phew were running a stout float night. This just seemed like the perfect candidate, so I grabbed a bottle and went to work!

Lady on the bottle definitely not drinking stout...

The beer itself is just as good as always, real sweetness in the nose and flavour, strong cocoa and roasty notes backed by a bit of praline? and a firm but not too bitter backbone. 

Stout Float mmmm

Over a bit of vanilla bean gelato was where this beer really shone, the sweetness of the icecream really cut into the roast and backbone of the beer and left behind the sweeter cocoa/coffee flavours. Was almost tempted to warm up some of the beer and see if I could get it similar to an affogato!

Overall very tasty, and recommended that you try it as a stout float if you can track some down!

Beer: 4/5
Beer with Icecream: 4.5/5
And finally, we have a Peek at the latest from Little Creatures, The Return of the Dread Domestic Extra Stout. A re-release of the old Dreadnought, they've sized down to 330mL and kicked off a new "Seasonal Release" collection with a killer Stout!

I think it's the opposite of pale

Weighing in at 7.2%, she's not as formidable as say, the Black Mes from earlier, but definitely punchier than the Rogue. Cocoa and some licquorice through the nose, backed by some slight spice from the hops. Body is velvety smooth, and plenty of roast, chocolate and coffee to go around. Almost like an iced coffee at times (Especially as it warms a bit). 

Definitely a great stout, and probably the most 'drinkable' of the four beers on show here as it's the only beer that when I finished it, I was keen for a second right away!

Overall: 4/5

Thanks for reading guys! Plenty happening in the next few weeks, running a beer tasting today on the new 4 Pines Pale Ale pack:

Probably won't write about this for a while though

Starting the new job tomorrow, then heading down to Melbourne for GABS on thursday, it's going to be beer beer and more beer for the next fortnight! Keep and eye out for GABS posts, if I feel up to it might do a bit of a liveblog!

Until next time!

Milo Heads North - 10th and 11th of April

Hey all, decided I should probably write a new post again, but instead of a beer review roundup, this week we have coverage of Milo the Kombi's trip from Ballina to Byron and everything in between.

Legitimately needs that many people pushing to get up a  gutter

On Wednesday last week, I got a call from Tim, one of our NSW craft ambassadors, asking if I wanted to do a gig on the weekend... In Ballina. Unperturbed by the distance, I was keen to go, so thursday was frantically spent organising flights and hotel bookings, which ended up being ready just in the nick of time!

On friday, I knocked off work at midday and headed over to the airport. A few mechanical delays later, I touched down at Ballina/Byron airport around 5pm. Greeting me at the gate was Marto (Wayne Martin), our rep for the Ballina area. We jumped into his ute and headed over to our first stop: Shaw's Bay Hotel

As we pulled into the Shawsy parking lot I saw a small crowd milling around, and once we got inside, I was introduced to Milo:

Up and running in all his glory

I quickly realised this was not my first time meeting Milo, having spotted him at the brewery in Geelong earlier this year:

Didn't have the sweet Jockey box back then though

Introductions aside, Marto introduced me to the 2-man crew who run the Shawsy, Marty and his dad Brendan. Marty joined Marto and I in spending the evening chatting to the punters and dispensing some tasty craft beer. In a pub that primarily sells New and Gold, craft can be a hard sell, but we managed to get plenty of people to give Creatures a go, and nobody left disappointed!

A little sampling never hurt anyone

The next morning, Tim flew into Ballina, and we both headed over to the Shawsy to ready Milo for the trip ahead. The heavens opened on us, and didn't really look likely to stop. But we persisted, and managed to get Milo up and running... Though he definitely put up a fight:

Once we got on the road, things didn't particularly improve. The windscreen wipers were worse than useless:

Not even doctored, this is literally all they did

And between the dodgy brakes, sticky gearbox and pelting rain, Tim spent about 80% of his time driving making this face:

And courtesy of Marto's photography, you can see we nearly rolled on the first corner we took:

That suspension though

But somehow, despite all odds, we made it to the Beach Hotel in Byron in one piece. The front driveway nearly took us out, but a push from some friendly locals got us up into the courtyard and we were ready to get set up:

A pretty snazzy setup if I do say so myself

From here, things rapidly improved. The weather went from 15 degrees and bucketing with rain, to 25 and lovely, and shortly afterwards local artist ! N I T S U A showed up to spraypaint an awesome mural:

And although Tim nearly got caught out with a big suss bag of green stuff:

I swear officer they're hops

We ended up having a killer day of sharing our beers and chatting to people about Little Creatures and Craft Beer! Plenty of pots were dispensed, the one-off shirts were a big hit, and we ended up having a killer afternoon

Tim's about to drink a tasty cup of hops

Overall, a great bit of fun, got to share our beers with plenty of people who probably wouldn't even give them a thought otherwise, and also got to talk beer with a number of people who are just as passionate about beer as I am!

Thanks for reading guys, tune in next time for a roundup for a few more weird and wonderful beers, and some leadup to GABS!

Click here for a more complete album of photos

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!!

The last few weeks in Beer - 21st January - 12th February

Hey all, I'm back again after a few weeks not writing, had a few hectic weekends in a row and kept putting it off. At least I have plenty to write about today!

First of all, I've managed to put together a solid group to go down to Melbourne for GABS, which is pretty exciting! We have ~8 people locked in and ready to take the challenge of trying every festival beer, and I'm looking forward to seeing how many people actually make it this year!

I've made it out to a few bars in the last couple of weeks, including an old favourite "The SG", where there's always a few interesting beers on tap:

Great taps + always a few curveballs in bottles

I sampled the 2 summer ales on tap, Angstrom's Hadron summer saison, and Batch's Watermelon summer. While the watermelon was nice, I couldn't help but be a bit overwhelmed by the watermelon flavour, while the summer saison was a little more balanced.

I also ended up in Wollongong for a weekend to go to a family birthday, so I had to stop in at the Illawarra brewery bar and have a couple of paddles!

Cheap flights of great beer, what a bar

Managed to make it through 90% of their beers, standouts were the Nitro milk stout and the Cherry Lambic, both of which are definitely worth a try if you can track them down!

I've also had a few notable beers in the last few weeks, so I've decided to review 5 of them. All five of our beers this week are from Aussie brewers, so a bit of a departure from my normal US imports.

To start off, we have Lord Nelson Brewery's latest seasonal, a summer ale called Quayle ale:

Actually drank this on a hot summer's day!

Pours a cloudy golden colour with minimal head (surprising given the style), aroma is a mix of herbal and floral notes. On the palate there's some fruity notes to accompany the herbal saaz hops, but the body is a little lacking, even for a summer ale. Just missing a bit of guts in my opinion.

Overall: 2.5/5

Next up, we have the latest In-Breed from Mountain Goat, "The Delmont" West Coast IPA. Brewed in homage to the Crafty Pint's founder Tom Delmont, it's been brewed to emulate a 'San Diego' IPA style.

No angle was particularly flattering for the label

Immediately when I opened the bottle, a familiar aroma was present, that of a Mountain Goat summer ale. Seems this IPA has a similar hop profile. The resiny/citrusy hop mix is definitely more prevalent here than the summer ale.

On the palate, a biscuity body underlies a clean, resinous bitterness, with some grapefruit and orange notes. Probably not quite as complex as expected, but still a great West Coast IPA.

Overall: 4/5

Next up, the first bottled beer from Doctor's Orders that I've tried, Prescription 12:

Wish my doctor actually prescribed beer

Pours a deep brown colour with light tan head. Aroma is roasty malt, slight coffee, mixed with a slightly tropical hop aroma, an odd combination.

On the tongue it's a slightly syrupy feel - quite rich - and the flavour is a battle between roasty malt and belgian yeast character, with hints of fruity hops but no defining hop character.

Overall, not quite what I expected, having had this on tap before. I have to assume this is either an older bottle, or the draught variant is hoppier.

Overall: 3.5/5

To finish up, we have a pair of barleywines from Moon Dog; one new and one that's been living in my cellar for quite a while that I decided I should pop out and try alongside their latest offering. 

So to start, we have their latest barleywine, The Beard Downunder, a smoked barley wine, aged in whisky and rum barrels. A collaboration with Rogue, I had high expectations going into this beer, and it definitely didn't disappoint.

Possibly the world's sussest beard name

In the glass it's a deep amber colour, with sparing off-white head. Aroma is some alcohol heat wrapped around notes of currant and vanilla. 

Quite rich on the tongue, caramel from the malt blends with brown fruit flavours to create a very rich body, punctuated by some hints of oak and vanilla. Definite rum character that's a great match to a more traditional barleywine body.

Probably helped by it's low alcohol for a barleywine (9%), but one of the most balanced barleywines I've had from an Australian brewer.

Overall: 5/5

Finally, we have what I think may have been Moon Dog's first ever Barelywine, the Nordic Saddle Buffer. Also a collaboration, this time with Kissmeyer, it's a Shiraz barrel aged English-style barleywine, and with the amount of ageing it's had I expected something quite subdued.

Still not sure how old this bad boy was

Poured a cloudy dark orange/brown colour, with large amounts of yeast throughout, tried to minimise with the pour to no avail. Closest aroma I can pick is a traditional barleywine (caramel, dark fruit) with hints of benedictine, a slight fortified wine smell.

On the palate it's surprisingly dry, with a little more of the fortified wine character coming through alongside a slightly spicy malt body, flavours of raisin and biscuit throughout, and a mild to moderate alcohol burn underneath.

Clocking in at just shy of 15% ABV (14.6), it's no wonder this was more punchy than the Rogue collaboration. Has definitely aged well, maintaining some of the earthy hop notes to help keep it balanced.

Overall: 4/5

Thanks again for reading, I'll be making a big trip to Beer Cartel to pick up piles of beer in the coming weeks so should have plenty of new bottles to drink and review in the near future. 

Last couple of weeks in Beer - January 12th - 21st

Hey all, welcome back to our regular programming, had a short break over Xmas but now it's business as usual. To start off, I bought a few new beers!

Moon Dog & Rogue, Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn, Doctor's Orders and Mikkeller. Heaven

Pretty excited for all of the above, the Narwhal and Hand & Seal have gone into my cellar to age a bit, while the other 4 are now waiting in my fridge for someone to crack them open... Can't wait.

I also got a couple of other beers last week, including 2 huge double IPAs, one from the boys at Moon Dog, and one Air-freighted directly from the US to Aus so it'd still be fresh. Reviews of both forthcoming below, as well as a couple of nice dark beers I've had to try and get through this freezing, rainy summer.

To start off, we'll go with the Jammy, fruity IPA from Moon Dog, Marmajuke Double IPA:

I feel like "Marmaduke" normally has a D... But that's none of my business

Aroma is sweet and kinda jammy, real orange aroma comes through. On the palate it's similar, with a sweet orange layer over the top of a base that tastes very similar to Jukebox Hero, Moon Dog's regular IPA. In this case, the orange really adds to the beer, contrasting the piney and herbaceous hop notes and creating a really tasty double IPA! The sweetness also helps to hide the alcohol, there's no way you'd pick this as 8.4%

Overall: 4.5/5

Next up, we have one of the most absurdly pricy beers I've ever bought, although I think it almost might have been worth it... Introducing Stone's Enjoy By 02.14.15 (14th of Feb for people who use proper date formats) IPA.

I have until the 2nd of Smarch to drink it, awesome!

As soon as the bottle is open, and even more son once it's in the glass, this beer smells hugely of pine resin with a hint of grapefruit. 
Flavour wise it's a big, bold Double IPA, the pine and grapefruit notes come through as strongly as in the aroma, with a big dry hop bitterness coming through at the end to balance it all.
A really fantastic example of a double IPA, possible the best I've ever had. If we're going to be getting more beers like this express airfreight from the US l'll be a very happy man!

Overall: 5/5

Now onto the dark beers, we'll start off with an old favourite of mine that I've finally decided to review, then onto a beer that's spent the better part of the last 12 months in my cellar, waiting, always waiting.

So first up, we have Founders Brewing Breakfast Stout - Double Chocolate, Coffee and Oatmeal Stout:

Apparently this label has been banned in parts of America for having a child on it... 

Pours from the bottle a opaque, pitch black. Aroma is super roasty with notes of black malt, coffee and chocolate all melding together. Body is extremely thick, almost chewable. Flavour is a real bittersweet blend of the roasty, tannic coffee and malt notes contrasting the sweetness from the chocolate and oats. 
Fantastic stout with some great sweet notes, worth picking up for any lover of dark beers!

Overall: 4.5/5

Finally, we have a bottle of moderately aged Brooklyn Black Ops. Hidden in the depths of my cellar for a year, I had to pull it out to make space for some new arrivals and decided a freezing cold summer weekend was as good a time as any.

This beer doesn't actually exist. You never saw it.

In the glass, a black-brown colour with ample brown head. Aroma is far more savoury that the above breakfast stout, roasty dark malt mixed with an oaky vanilla and maybe even slight leather.
Body is silky smooth, more savoury than sweet, a little more leather mixed with bourbony vanilla and oak all on top of a bittersweet black malt backbone make for a tantalizingly complex stout!

Overall: 5/5

Thanks for reading everyone! Ill be back again soon, having tried a few more bottles from the wonderful collection of beer that is my fridge.

Xmas 2014 in Beer - The quest to find a Furphy

Hey all, so rather than writing my usual set of beer tasting notes, I've decided today to do a recount of my epic quest to track down the elusive 'Furphy' beer that I'd been selling for months but had never seen nor tasted, and I wasn't OK with that at all! 

The quest started on December 28th, the day after Boxing day. After having our big Cowell family Xmas lunch the day before, the ladies of the family had run off to go shopping, leaving the blokes to sit around and watch day 2 of the Boxing Day test:

Pictured: Us clinching the series with a decisive... draw

When we hit lunch, I decided it was time for us to leave Queenscliff, and make the journey over to Geelong to track down the Little Creatures brewery, and the treasure, Furphy. 30 minutes later, we were there

Yes I was too lazy to get out of the car, thanks for asking

From a distance, the brewery is pretty unassuming, having been built in the old Wool factory, but the main chimney stands up high and is visible from miles away!

We headed along the walkway from our car to the brewery, stopping along the way to check out some of the cool decoration, until we found ourselves in a lovely leafy courtyard

I checked inside for Furphy but found only rust. Sadness

I think the pot to the left is watching me...

The rest of the family grabbed a table, but I headed inside to check out the bar. The setup they have is quite cool, a joint dining hall and bar that even has a 50L brewing system installed in one of the walls!

A pretty nice bar setup if I do say so myself

I would kill for a system this good

I finally got to the front of the queue at the bar, when I saw it; Furphy on tap! I grabbed a round and headed outside to sample Furphy for the first time!

Couldn't help having a sip before the photo... oops

In the glass, Furphy is a pale golden orange colour with ample white head and solid lacing. Aroma is a mix of floral and fruity notes with a little bit of sweetness. 
Bodywise, it's very light and only lightly carbonated.
On the palate, it's initially light, floral and a tad grassy before the hops come through, showing some stone-fruit flavours and adding a solid amount of bitterness. 
Overall, a fantastic Kolsch-style beer that's flavoursome but still light and super sessionable.

Overall: 4/5

I soon realised I wouldn't be happy just having one of these awesome beers, so I headed inside to search for pack beer. At first it seemed hopeless, there was literally every other Creatures beer available except for Furphy...

All the beer in the world but no Furphy...

Until I realised I'm completely blind and it was sitting in the entranceway to the bar the whole time.

Victory is mine!

I grabbed a case and headed back to Queenscliff victorious. However it turns out that no matter how hard you try, you can't fit an entire case of beer in a piece of carry-on luggage. 2 6-packs made the trip back to Sydney with me, while the other 2 went to family members who I know were eager to enjoy a fairly unique beer!

I'm hoping I can bring a 6-pack into work and run a small tasting for anyone who's keen in the near future, Lion People, keep an eye on this space!

Thanks for reading guys, I'll try to get back to my normal bi-weekly blogs starting now, so keep an eye out for my next post!