JS's 150 Lashes Pale Ale

[Blunt]

I used to rave on about how much I love the 150 lashes,

"oh the low sugar and the no preservatives so theres no hangover" blah blah I'd say

 

then i started homebrewing just after xmas and now a few months later,

I've gone out to a pub, ordered a 150 and just gone...

 

"where the f***s the body in the beer? its watery as f***, wheres the malt?

why am i not getting a punchy hop aroma? the head looks thin, its not a thick solid head

wtf!"

 

have i become a beer snob or is my pallate just more educated to beer? lol

 

thoughts?

[Corksniffer]

Dang straight. They're 'top shelf' beers before you start brewing your own

[Phoenix76]

Yep Corky you're dang right.

 

Blunt, think it happens to us all mate. I'll still drink cat's piss when I have to, but after brewing some great homebrews, well the CP is just that. Our homebrews are fresher, tastier, and can exhibit some beautiful hop flavours, malt, and all sorts of other additions we might use.

 

Cheers

Bill

[jackgym]

Yes, I've found the same with 150 Lashes, it's watery piss.

But I have a solution, brew your own 150 Lashes like I do.

 

1 tin Aust. Pale Ale

1kg LDM

1 pkt US-05 yeast

12g Amarillo hops

25g Nelson Sauvin hops.

 

Steep the Amarillo hops for 30 minutes in just boiled water.

Mix the hops, tin of APA and the malt in fermenter.

Top up to 23 L. Add yeast (try and get the temp. down near 24-26 deg.)

Ferment at 18 deg.

At about day 9 dry hop with 25g Nelson Sauvin hops.

Bottle on day 14.

Drink 150 Lashes as it used to be.

 

Cheers

[Otto Von Blotto]

I think that happens to most of us but 150 Lashes is probably what you'd consider and "entry level" pale ale. It's not as bland and watery as the usual megaswills but it's not packed with a big flavour punch like other pale ales are either. Apparently the Squires beers aren't as nice now as they were when it first began either, but I didn't drink them back then so I don't know if that's the case or not.

 

My favourite Aussie produced pale ale at the moment is probably 4 Pines, although the Newstead one is up there as well.

[joolbag]

So Otto have you tracked down pirate life yet?! Surely that beer would change your tune.

 

Or modus operandi. Def my two favourite beers (their pale ales) and breweries (rest of range) atm

[Wotto]

I agree with you Otto. Squires are now like a 'bridging beer' to get people from Megaswill to proper craft beer, something of a middle ground. I had a Squires 'Chancer', the golden ale, a few days ago at the pub and thought it was pretty average. It is a shame but I do remember their range being a lot better years ago. I guess being owned by Lion Nathan means flavour is sacrificed due to cost.

 

It was interesting to see that Lion left the Craft Beer Industry Association recently...

[headmaster]

In my recent experience the beer is rubbish. Made to a cost, sold to people who are yet to wake up from being brainwashed by the massive brewing conglomerates.

 

These beers, like most megaswill, involve compromise to make the stuff really cheap to make, to squeeze every last cent.

 

People would be quite happy eating canned dog food, until they first tasted what uncompromised real food was. You would have better dog tinned dog food and cheap tinned dog food. It's still dog food.

[Beerlust]

Fundamentally the beer structures of the James Squires range are still there, they've just been watered down (for a better term) to maximize the profit earning margin potential of the brand.

 

The thing that has always puzzled me with the megaswill brewery takeovers of smaller craft breweries is that those takeovers that don't eliminate the brand completely as competition, decide to @#$% with the base recipe(s) to such a degree that the beer then presents at a lower level to how it did that originally brought it to prominence where the megaswill brewery thought it worthwhile to acquire in the first place.

 

I think there must be a huge ratio imbalance in favour of pencil pushers vs brewers at megaswill breweries.

 

On a side note, I'm pretty sure Lion Nathan's interests were swallowed up by the Japanese "Kirin" brand/corporation sometime last year.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[joolbag]

Fascinating read gents. I remember in my mid-20s (a decade ago), a good mate bought me a schooner of JS Golden Ale at a pub in Surry Hills and I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the beer. It was so flavoursome, so balanced, and it went down like liquid gold.

 

I enjoyed it and it was my beer of choice at the pub if they had it on tap, and also in the bottle when I bought a case.

 

Recently have been very underwhelmed and it is a combination of my palate being exposed to great craft beers from relatively new Aussie breweries, as well as JS going downhill.

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

I have tried the Pirate Life PA, on tap no less, and at a bloody bogan pub in the outer northern suburbs of Brisbane which was rather surprising . It tasted nice but honestly not much different to a few of the APA batches I've brewed here at home over the years. Overall I probably still prefer 4 Pines or Newstead if I'm buying beer. It is up there too though.

 

I must go and check out the new Newstead brewpub too, which they've built about 300m down the road from XXXX

[Wotto]

 

On a side note' date=' I'm pretty sure Lion Nathan's interests were swallowed up by the Japanese "Kirin" brand/corporation sometime last year.

[/quote']

 

Yeah Lusty, I think Kirin owns Lion and have done for a few years but Lion still operates under its own name as a subsidiary. It's amusing to see the title 'Craft Beer' on their website which lists Squires, White Rabbit and Little Creatures... all good beers until they were acquired by a big company.

[ben 10]

I don't mind it actually.

I'd assume the perceived change in flavour is due to the homebrew input.

[Beerlust]

Hi Kelsey.

I have tried the Pirate Life PA' date=' on tap no less, and at a bloody bogan pub in the outer northern suburbs of Brisbane which was rather surprising [img']lol[/img]. It tasted nice but honestly not much different to a few of the APA batches I've brewed here at home over the years.

I agree with you about the Pale Ale. It's definitely nice, but I've got others I'd put ahead of it in that category.

 

It's their little 3.5% ABV "Throwback IPA" you really need to try.

 

That is an outstanding beer for a 3.5% beer.

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I'll definitely give it a go when or if I see it up here mate. After the Pirate pale ale I tried a Fortitude Brewing Pacer 2.8% pale ale, which actually had a reasonably nice flavour for a light strength beer. The malt backbone wasn't really there like it is in a full strength PA but still a nice refreshing drop and a pretty good hop presence.

[joolbag]

Hey Lusty, I'm keen to try some of these top rated APAs you mention. Which ones, I'll try to seek them out

[joolbag]

PS none of these time-wasting 3.5% session or mid-strength beers! Hahha you know my thoughts on these beers!

[Otto Von Blotto]

Nothing wrong with a middy if it tastes great, the best part is you can have more of them

[Quokka]

I tend to brew more in the Special Bitter range (3.8-4.4% if I recall correctly) most of the time, mostly because it's the point where the flavours balance out right. This offsets being able to drink as much as I like with a keg or more of beer on hand at any point in time. I actually have a few Coopers Mid in the house as I only had a rather strong ESB or better available and it's not suitable for lawnmowing, etc + you get some yeast!

 

I tried JS again recently and didn't like it, but I don't think it has actually changed since it went into commercial production - there are just so many better beers out, plus my homebrew has improved and I don't add sugar any more (except in a milk stout...)

 

I don't think there's really much wrong with most commercial beers on this side of the wall (i.e. not America,) Homebrewers just get spoiled by much better beers. There are still a few good commercial beers on tap around - for example I like the "Fat Yak."