High Country Hijinx – Taminick Cellars

First cab off the rank for our little jaunt was Taminick Cellars, slightly off the beaten path from Glenrowan and in a beautiful country surrounding.  

It's a gorgeous little building among the vines which is abuzz at the current stage due to it being the middle of the vintage season for the winemakers who also happen to be the beer makers.

There was a wine paired lunch in progress when we arrived, about 30 people enjoying what looked like some delicious meals and I kind of wished I was staying for the meal.

However, we were here for a purpose so we organised some tasters of the range that was on offer at the current stage.

The Lazy Dog Ale was tasting really refreshing with a good bitterness and the warm weather of the day made this a very popular choice of the day.

The Howling Pale was fantastic. Fresh and hoppy, this is he best that I've tasted it and this is likely due to being extremely fresh. A cracking pale ale that I'll be delighted to see it get some larger distribution once head brewer James gets his new 10HL brewery set up.

The star of the show was the Dead Dog Stout that was being poured through the hand pump. Delightfully smooth with the dominance of coffee roast asserting itself to created a smooth as silk stout. Not at all weather appropriate for this one, but this was not an issue for us because it was delicious.

Back to business, we're hittin' the road.

I think it's cheese time.

High Country Hijinx – Prologue

The trusty chariot that delivered and returned us safely

This is a story about adventure, mystery, travel, corporate espionage, and self discovery.

A young girl's strange erotic journey from Milan to Minsk.

Rochelle, Rochelle reference.

That's a reference to a movie that exists within a TV show. Pretty sharp.

Three young men*, three days, a lease car that requires some kilometres to be traveled and a world in the north country of Victoria that is rich with high quality food and some of the countries finest breweries.

*The three afremonetioned men aren't even that young really. In fact, the term 'men' is being used liberally to be honest. Three males. I'll refer to us as 'three males' from now on to avoid any challenges to facts.

Oh, some mountains. This photo isn't as good as I first thought.

Now that we've cleared that up, where does one begin?

I don't know, we'll figure it out as we go.

I'm writing this as we're driving, by the way, I don't want to you thinking that the above statement was an awfully fake flippancy, inserted in after I know the sequence of events that occured to create some sort of carefree image.

Ugh, this is a dreadful post so far.

Anyway.

Accompanying us as we hit the open road were Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Robert Plant, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page and a few others who proved very helpful in creating a road trip environment of cranking magnitude.

We're away. We're on the road. There will be more when we hit our first activity of note.

Dave out.  

The Session #73: Beer Audit

A fitting way to begin my regular (hopefully, really hopefully) contribution to The Session.

The beer cellar is a strange and beautiful beast and it's one that's particularly enjoyable, albeit impossible to tame.

I'm a good collector of beer. I've got good willpower to not drink something special that will benefit from some time to gather it's thoughts, though to be honest my cellar has a closing door so very often it's 'out of sight, out of mind'. And there I was, telling you how good my willpower was.

You saw through that, I know.

But in truth I definitely buy more beer than I drink, and this has resulted in a fairly substantial collection of ales that is just sitting there. Waiting. Glorifying themselves.

It's something that I've done deliberately. I thought the idea of squirrelling away some beers that were conducive to ageing would be something that I could do (given the aforementioned willpower that you didn't believe for a second...) and something that would be cool once I'd got something established.

I mean, who among you wouldn't want to be able to go to your stash at any given time and pull out a big barleywine or Belgian quad that has 3 years behind it?

I defy you to say you don't think that would be cool. Defy.

So for a little while I was buying beer with the express intention of targeting beers that would cellar well, and obviously this meant I was buying beer that I knew I wouldn't be drinking and given that a lot of them were a high ABV, I was handing over a lot of coin too.

I didn't mind this so much because I knew that my little project of padding out a cellar was getting some solid inclusions during this period.

It was an investment.*

Now here's where some of the questions arise.

What event is worthy of selecting a cellared beer to enjoy? How the hell can I enjoy a cellared beer in the summer months when everything is over 8% ABV and RIS and barleywines? Who will enjoy these beers with me, as most of them are large bottles? Why the hell do I do this?

Well these are all questions that have plagued me.

And then another phenomenon occurs. It occurs frequently actually.

It's Friday night and I decide I'll have a beer. It's been a tough week, I need something to quench my thirst. I need a pale ale, or an IPA, or a pilsner.

So I walk away from the 150+ beers that I have in my house and I go and buy more beer.

I walk away and I buy 'beer for drinking'.

The fact that I do this and use that term is a little bit mental. And I know that. I really do.

But I'm not going to stop. I like it.

There's also the issue of FOMO (fear of missing out).

If a new beer comes out I want it. If it seems like it will age well I want three. If it's limited release WHERE'S MY CREDIT CARD?

Even after all these negative elements go through my head rationally, I don't care.

It is awesome to be able to grab something that hasn't been available for two years, or grab that RIS that is three or four years old and is now tasting mind blowing.

A few times a year I'll go through them to see what I have, usually reshuffling because I've run out of room, but this is a pretty fun time to take stock of what I have. Sometimes I find beers that I forgot I picked up in the first place and this gives me some renewed enthusiasm for that beer, and I'm not ashamed to tell you that once I catalogued my cellar in an Excel spreadsheet.

It was quickly forgotten about because aside from it constantly having items come in a go out, it was utterly pointless and not useful at all.

If I could take back the thirty or so minutes it took me to compile that spreadsheet, I would.

Ultimately it's totally worth it for the very reason that I started it in the first place. I have a collection of amazing beers that are getting better, and at any given moment I can go and drink something that's really quite exceptional.



Vive la bier!

*This is obviously rich with irony. 

Hottest 100

Christmas is gone.

New Years has passed. 

Easter is a long way off (unless you're in a supermarket and want easter eggs...).

We're already a couple of weeks into January which seems scary, but there's no need for concern. 

The Local Taphouse Hottest 100 is nearly upon us again and this is going to be the most exciting countdown yet, as it's been an extraordinary year in Australian beer and there has been more great releases from more breweries than ever before. 

I figured I would tap out a few words about some of the beers that have stood out to me this year. 

I'll mention my top five as it seems to be mandatory for these Hottest 100 posts, but I'd much rather just have a bit of a discussion about a larger group of beers that deserve to be at the pointy end of the countdown. 

Without further ado;

1. Red Duck - Hop Bach. 

Gorgeous, malty double IPA that tasted as luxurious as the description suggested. Big and bold, but with the balance of a Russian gymnast. (<-- the ones that actually represent Russia, not the cast off ones that represent all the other countries.)

2. La Sirene - Wild Saison.

Come on, don't even need to say anything here. The class of the saison but with that funk that don't quit. I'd love to see an even wilder version someday.

3. Moon Dog - Perverse Sexual Amalgam.

Black. Sour. Cherries. Funk. Layers. These five words have already made me want to go to the fridge and get another one. Just so good. 

4. Mornington Peninsula Brewery - Imperial IPA.

Every beer that comes out of this brewery is a belter and this is the king. It's what an imperial IPA should be and is already a perennial favourite among the beer geeks. 

5. Feral - Watermelon Warhead.

How often would people scramble to participating venues to drain kegs of a beer that is 2.9%? That's a testament to how enjoyable this beer is. It was still a resounding favourite during GABS when it was well below 2% ABV. Just a great beer. 

That's my top 5 out of the way, so now I feel better and more relaxed. I'm sure most of you didn't really care what I thought my top 5 was, but I'm much more interested in talking about some of the beers that would be on the fringe or may not have been thought about. 

It seems that a lot of the beer geeks out there have evolved in their selection criteria from including the "Wow!" beers they have tasted during the year and have gone with the reliable beers that they have enjoyed regularly all year. 

Some have applied rules such as only including one beer from any given brewery. 

All pretty good formulas. 

I'll share a couple of thoughts with you about how I think this years Hottest 100 may unfold.

Favourites for the top 10. 

Stone & Wood - Pacific Ale

Pretty much a lock for top two. Becoming synonymous with Australian beer and the first one I think of when I want a summer beer. 

Little Creatures - Pale Ale.

Despite the sell off I still think this will get a ton of votes as a solid pale ale that's available country wide. 

Feral - Hop Hog.

Say no more. 

Vale - IPA. 

The best beer to come out of this brewery, multiplied by their marketing focus equals votes. 

Kooinda - Black IPA. 

Gorgeous, roasty black IPA will surely breach the top 10. It did last year and more people will have tasted it after 12 more months. I don't know anyone who doesn't like this beer. 

Temple - Midnight IPA. 

Another black IPA but another belter. So close to being in my top 5, this will surely get plenty of votes. 

I think these will clog the top end of the list and deservedly so. I really think the Kooi BIPA and the Midnight will feature heavily in the votes. 

Even if you're a pure beer geek and you'd love the list to be filled with the awesome, avant garde beers that you've loved over the year, this is a popularity contest so it won't happen. I mean, face it, Ra #2 is not going to be on the list. 

Next predictions. The beers I think that will shoot up the list from last year. 

Bolters. 

Cavalier  - Pale Ale. 

When the Cavalier Pale came in at number 72 last year I made the prediction then that this beer would feature a lot higher when this year's countdown and I stand by it. Brilliant pale ale that will sure get the love this year. 

Bridge Road Brewers - Beechworth Pale. 

Last year this came in at 65. What the hell!? How is that science? Surely this beer deserves to get in a lot higher than this. Even if the distribution is mainly in Victoria it's got to get in higher than 65. 

Mornington Peninsula - IPA.

It was around last year and it was good last year. It came in at 91. 12 months on, god knows how many pints of this beer have been poured and the reputation has only grown. Let me make a sweeping prediction. Top 40 perhaps?

Now which breweries do we think will feature the most? Breweries are releasing so many different beers these days, like Scott at Red Duck. 32 unique beers released or something? He's planning 50 for 2013? He didn't even feature in the 2012 list! Madness. 

Alright, here are the breweries that I think may get several mentions. 

Hoarders. 

Mornington Peninsula Brewery. 

A.G is missing something in his brewing arsenal. He doesn't know how to make a bad beer. Everything that comes out of that brewery is excellent and they could find themselves with several entries in the countdown.

Murray's Brewing Company.

A constant stream of quality from Bob's Farm. The series of stouts, Spartacus, Punk Monk, Icon. The list goes on. So much good beer. 

Temple Brewing Company.

If there is any Victorian bias at all then surely we'll see a few Temple beers on the list this year. Midnight will be there. Scarlet Sour should. Saison and Pale have tough competition but really deserve to be there. 

There's no real category for these next beers but they just deserve a special mention for being incredible beers in the year 2012. They probably all could have been in my top five but they all can't make it. Whittling down a list to 5 was nigh on impossible. 

Special mentions.

Doctor's Orders Brewing - Prescription 12.

So good. Time stopped from the first sip to the bottom of the pint. 

La Sirene - Saison. 

This would have been in the top 5 if it hadn't been for their Wild Saison. These guys clearly know the nuances of making farmhouse style beers. 

Mornington Peninsula Brewery - Russian Imperial Stout.

Chocolatey, roasty, bitter, balanced. Great beer. 

Moon Dog/Yeastie Boys - 7 P's. 

So many elements that you wouldn't necessarily put together, but oh my does it work. 

Red Hill - Hop Harvest.

Maybe I'm biased, but I had this at the brewery on the handpump on a wonderful afternoon and it was glorious. 

Mountain Goat/Mikkeller - Gypsy and the Goat.

Big black IPA, pepperberries ever present, this was a brilliant beer. 

Red Hill - Saison.

New offering from Red Hill this year was a beautiful version of this farmhouse style. 

Alright, I won't bore you any further. I can't wait for the countdown to see which of my predictions succeed or fail miserably, and see which new beers crack the list. 

Let's enjoy the day and celebrate the best year we've had in Australian beer. 

Signing off, comrades.

Movembeer

Movembeer. 

It definitely sounds like one of the silly words that I would make up, but this time there is something much more fun attached to it.

Movember is becoming more and more popular and is doing a good job raising awareness for men's health issues. It's also allowing men like me to look ridiculous for a month under the guise of charity.

Adding to the charity this year we have Penny Blue hosting a Movember party to close out the month, and there will be a beer brewed especially for it.

7 Cent brewery are an up and coming brewery that we'll expect to see more in the near future, but for now we'll be treated to a Belgian Dark Strong Ale to enjoy on the 30^th of November.

Not just a 9.0% ABV manly beer to celebrate the closure of this charitable month, but it will be poured through the Penny Blue handpumps providing some sensual, smooth ale.

Details!

We'd love to see the hirsute brotherhood come out in force and celebrate the end of the month of moustaches, and enjoy a lovely exclusive beer to mark the occasion.

We'd love to see everyone there really so bring your brothers, wives, mothers, children (overage children of course....), friends, girlfriends. You get it. Everyone is welcome.

You never know, you might be crowned the Man or the Miss of Movember and what does that mean??

Prizes! Prizes of a currently undisclosed nature, which are the best kind.

See you there.  

Detoxtober

You can probably guess most of the content of this post from the title. It's a bit whingey and whiney. Oh, 'whingey' and 'whiney' are very similar words. Similar meanings too.

But read on only if you're prepared to wade through the complaints.

It's October. The ending of the bitterly cold days and the introduction of the warm, sunny ones.

Starting to get to those afternoons that are perfect to crack a cold beer and enjoy.

But I've decided that I would not take part in that just yet. I thought I'd take a month to detox myself. A sabbatical from all things unhealthy. A decision to lead a more healthy lifestyle in general, starting with 31 days of sacrifice and effort to establish some ground work.

Removing beer from my schedule for a month is not a daunting task for me. A stubborn nature and stoic pride give me the idea that this won't be a challenge.

This made me want to add an element of sacrifice to this little exercise, so I decided to make it during October because I know that this tenth month holds some enjoyable activities would would be a shame to miss.

Not much happening in August, too much happening in December.

October it is. Or...... Detoxtober.

I don't like the name “Octsober”. It's usually used by the kinds of people that I wouldn't care to associate with. Oooh, he's precious, I bet you're thinking. Well it's just what I've observed thus far.

“Octsober” also suggests that it's purely giving up the drink for a month, but I've tried to make a much more rounded and balanced effort to better health.

So, Detoxtober. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Don't worry about it. Not important.

Struggling to think of relevant pictures for this post...

I already eat quite well so there hasn't been a great deal of diet change. Maybe a bit more fish and raw vegetables added. A more active lifestyle is what's required. Jogging is going from an irregular folly to a more habitual activity, the punching bag is getting a bit of work put in to it.

Another related event that led to me to this month of good health was triggered by a trip in to Bentleigh for some breakfast and a coffee. It was a sunny Sunday morning and I had a hankering for cafe Bent's homemade baked beans served with poached eggs. Delish.

I got in the car and headed down the back streets along the railway line toward Bentleigh. Nightmare. Quiet backstreets in gridlock. I'd not realised that this particular sunny Sunday was market day at Bentleigh. Mayhem.

Sat in my car waiting for traffic to pass in a short trip made me frustrated. I shouldn't have to drive these short distances. Decision made. The bike was to get reinstated as the method of transport for shorter distances.

Jogging, biking and throwing punches at a hanging bag. That's a good start at establishing some more activity.

The next challenge was going to be resisting the fun elements and events that October would bring.

The month got off to a flyer, too.

The first weekend of the month saw Chapel Street Cellars host a bonanza clearance sale. This was a minor challenge, because after some immediate panic at an opportunity missed I realised there was nothing stopping me attending and picking up some goodies to enjoy come November.

Crisis averted.

I did stock up on some lovely beers including a swag of Moon Dog's Perverse Sexual Amalgam at a knockdown price. A case of Thornbridge's Jaipur IPA was also snapped up, so early on in my month I had an army of delicious IPAs greeting me whenever I wandered past my beer shelves.

That same weekend I found out that Slowbeer still had some bottles of Red Duck's collaboration with Anders Kissmeyer. My favourite beer of the year so far. So joining the army of Jaipurs and collection of PSAs is three Hop Bachs. Quite the gallery watching my performance.

The first weekend of the month also brought about the time that an APA that I have brewed would be ready to drink and it tasted excellent out of the fermenter as I was bottling it, so my anticipation was already high and now there would be 31 more days to wait.

Oh, this is kind of relevant!

Next up we have Mountain Goat's 15^th birthday. Now I love the Double Hightail so the idea of a Triple Hightail was mouth watering! The birthday launch at the Great Britain Hotel would have been wonderful to attend, but alas I was probably doing something wonderful like washing dishes or mopping the floor. Rock 'n roll, son.

The Holgate launch of their new 500ml seasonal range occurred at Slowbeer and they had The Empress on tap. The Empress. I mean, this was probably the biggest tempter of the month.

One little gem that was coined and established by James and Jenn Davidson was a novel themed day. October 21. Brown Ale Day. A day to celebrate the oft forgotten and misunderstood style, the Brown Ale. I was active spruiking this idea and would have liked to have participated. Watch this space. Brown Ale Day 2013 will be a bigger day. A group of beer lovers gathered together to enjoy some fine brown ales, some delicious food which recipes include brown ale, a tasting of some home brewed brown ale and so forth.

It will be fun, just you wait and see.

The biggest event that October brings is the one I had in mind in the beginning of my sabbatical as my biggest sacrifice. The Victorian Microbrewery Showcase at Fed Square. Always a cracking event. A great chance to mingle with all the personalities of our great little community and to sample the wide and ever increasing gamut of beers being produced in this state.

So 25 days in to the month and I'm feeling great. Not really struggling with anything, and I haven't felt as healthy in a long time. I'm really happy that I've made this decision and adhered to it because I do honestly think it's a launching pad to a more healthy lifestyle in general.

This isn't relevant, but who doesn't want to see Crafty and two idiots dressed as pirates?

November 1 is just a week away and I won't pretend that I'm not looking forward to a lovely Hop Bach and a Jaipur or two.

Now I can't imagine that anyone is still reading this post now so I'll finish on some nonsense that's completely unrelated.

Beethoven, Beethoven, chocolate milkshake, Nova Scotia.

If you know the correct answer, send your entries to Locked Bag 7002, Sydney, NSW, 2000.

Once it's sent in don't forget to put you head in hands as part of the realisation that you have wasted your time.

Signing off.   

50 Shades Of Grey

I feel like I really should preface this post by making it crystal clear that these will be my thoughts on grey importing. 

Stock photo from "grey import" Google image search

Sorry to the menopausal women that have navigated here in error. Though, the name of the blog should have made you suspicious in the first place. No matter. 

I’ll give a brief outline of what “grey importing” is although now that I think of it anyone who has the inclination of reading this will most likely be well versed on what grey importing is, and what the implications are. 

But maybe my mum will read it, or maybe the erotic fiction fans who haven’t worked out that this post isn’t for them have persevered.

Grey importing in the beer market is the same as grey importing in any other market, whereby legal goods are sold outside normal distribution channels by companies which may have no relationship with the producer of the goods. Thanks to Wikipedia for the tight definition...

There we go Mum! Hi! Yes, I’m eating well. We’ll discuss it another time. 

So that all sounds pretty dodgy, right?

If the goods are not being obtained via regular distribution channels then how do we know that fair prices are being applied to these products? How do we know how much the retailers are tacking on as a mark up?

Specifically in the craft beer market it’s a touchy subject. The cogs in the craft beer machine are an honest bunch. And honesty is also what they demand.

A good example of this is the contract brewing debate that has, and continues to rage in the scene. What I have made of it is not that we don’t like contract brewing, we just don’t like people being dishonest about contract brewing and this kind of snowballed into a general distrust of contract brewing. Don’t even say the C word. 

In reality, contract brewing is a sensible way for new and developing breweries to grow without having to mortgage houses and harvest organs to purchase their own expensive breweries. 

What’s so bad about grey importing then?

With such a miniscule percentage of the beer market share, craft brewers live and die by their product. Through their nominated distribution channels they can control how the beer is handled to ensure that it reaches the end customer in the desired condition. So if a distribution channel with no relationship to the brewer gets their beers, there is no way to see how it’s being treated along the way. You see where the conflict is here. 

One of the vocal protesters of grey importing is Greg Koch from Stone Brewing Company in California. Australian Brews News spoke with Greg about the subject in 2010 and expressed his disapproval that his Stone beers were getting grey imported into Australia. 

It’s an interesting interview, Greg makes some really valid points. I’d heartedly recommend giving it a listen/watch as it’s good to hear how passionate he is about his craft even though he is publicly denying his beers to us. 

In the case of Stone, they distribute their unpasteurized stock in refrigerated freight once it leaves their refrigerated storage rooms and is guaranteed fresh for their local customer base. This is a guarantee that simply cannot be made when it’s grey imported. 

The upshot is that particularly with American beers, they are nearing their best before date as soon as they hit the shelves meaning we won’t taste exactly what we’re supposed to be tasting. Punters may taste this and think it’s typical and not be prepared to purchase local beers thinking that it’s all the same. Literally leaving a bad taste in a punters mouth can hurt the local brewing scene which needs as much help as it can get. 

It also puts independent retailers that utilize legitimate distribution channels for stock, and take proper care of their beers at a disadvantage as they will not have the stock that can be obtained through grey importing to compete. 

But you know what? While I think it’s really important for people to know the information about how their beer got from the brewery to their glass I always think the same thing:

If the people that are savvy enough to be aware of grey imported beers are craft beer nerds/ beer geeks/ informed beer drinkers then they already know these things. It’s not going to discourage them from drinking local beer or away from any particular brewery. 

It’s curiosity.

Craft beer drinkers want their beer to be in the best possible condition, and they can tell when they are and are not. 

You’ll often hear someone who has picked up something unique from Dan Murphy’s for example say “It wasn’t right, but Dan’s might not have taken the best care of their beer.”

The first thought of people is to troubleshoot why the beer might taste stale or not quite right. Not dismissing it as being a poor beer that they would not try again.

The choice is often made to buy a grey imported beer for the pure fact that it is something that you can’t get anywhere else. It’s understood that it might not taste perfect, but it’s a risk that people are prepared to take to try something new. It’s not always about finding something new either. Sometimes it might be that even though it might not be brewery fresh it’s still a cracking beer. 

In keeping with the already mentioned Stone Brewing Company, I have purchased grey import Ruination IPAs because of the great reputation it has in the States. Several people have independently told me that they have had grey imports here and fresh bottles in California and the fresh bottles are a cut above, and I believe them. That doesn’t mean that the Ruination on my shelf still doesn’t taste amazing. I know it will be better from the source. I still want to try it.

Alright, I feel like I’m starting to get ranty, I’ll wrap it up. 

It needs to be understood that the quality of the goods inside the bottle can not be guaranteed on grey imported beers, but if these things are understood then what’s the harm in letting us make the decision. 

All we want in any situation is to be able to make an informed decision, why should this be any different?