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The Friday Night 6 Pack Session


TonyW

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I quite like it too Scotty.

 

Had some a fortnight ago. Interesting fact for bottlers' date=' they come in 375ml crown seal bottles. Can't actually think of much else that does? [img']unsure[/img]

 

Hmm, I had some of these yesterday and was underwhelmed.

 

I also had 3 Bridge Rd Bling IPA and was impressed. Stunning drop.

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I quite like it too Scotty.

 

Had some a fortnight ago. Interesting fact for bottlers' date=' they come in 375ml crown seal bottles. Can't actually think of much else that does? [img']unsure[/img]

 

Hmm, I had some of these yesterday and was underwhelmed.

 

I also had 3 Bridge Rd Bling IPA and was impressed. Stunning drop.

I agree with both comments. The free IPA glass that came in the pack was good too wink

 

Phil, for a clone of the Bright Ale, try Tony's recipe on AHB. You may have to convert from the AG recipe.

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Thanks Hairy

 

As it turns out I'm going to temporarily fly home on Sunday for a week or so just to remind the kids I really am a total and utter bast@&$, and to see if Brunhilda recognises me. And I've been busting to try out my AG setup, so if all the grains arrive in time before I leave again, I'll use the all grain recipe. It'll all depend on whether dad remains reasonably stable or not.

 

Cheers

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Looks like I am going to have a pleasant Friday evening-fish and chips for dinner washed down with a few Two Birds Golden Ale,not tried it before but first impressions are good,nice deep golden almost orange color,quite fruity with not too much bitterness,almost peach aroma,I may have trouble saving any for the weekend.

These craft beers are a trap,every time I taste something nice I want to try and replicate it!I can see the credit card getting a work out at the LHBS sometime soon.whistling

Cheers

N'oz

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The 2 Birds Golden Ale is a pleasant enough beer but I really like their Sunset Ale; that's a cracker of a beer.

Well I reckon you would be a pretty good judge Hairy so maybe I will put that one on the list for next Friday night..smile

Cheers

N'oz

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I know it's Saturday, but I've got a Coopers Thomas Coopers Selection Artisans Reserve Pilsner ... what a mouthful!! I'm not really one for pilsners so probably not the best to comment on it. Not bad though. Reminds me of the lager a lot.

 

Next up - Viking beer, first try, two weeks in the bottle. Good times

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Today I picked up a pack of Wicked Elf Witbier ,nice ,citrus overtones,clean and refreshing,

should go nicely with the fish cooked in foil with lemon slices and onion,mushrooms.

Wonder whether I will want to try and replicate this one too..smile

Cheers

N'oz

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Howdy Nigel

 

PB2s Lemon Zest Weizen recipe is really very close to the Wicked Elf. I used the zest of one small lemon and it was a touch understated. May I suggest either 1 large or 2 small lemons' date=' with the juice of half the large or the one small.[/quote']

Thanks Phil that sounds lovely,I adore the fragrance and flavor that lemon imparts ,I use it a lot in cooking and have used it in my first two brews,the ginger beer and the "radler" and I am really happy with both of those so I will certainly give that recipe a try and will tweak it as you suggest.

Thanks so much mate,you really are a great source of inspiration and helpful tips here on this great Coopers forum.smile

Cheers

N'oz

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Tonight's "friday night 6".

 

Feral Hop Hog PA.

LC IPA

Bierhous IPA

JS IPA

Bridgeport IPA

Sierra Nevada Torpedo extra IPA

 

How did you go with your IPA extravaganza? From experience the James Squires IPA would have been a bit out of its depth in that company.

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Tonight's "friday night 6".

 

Feral Hop Hog PA.

LC IPA

Bierhous IPA

JS IPA

Bridgeport IPA

Sierra Nevada Torpedo extra IPA

 

How did you go with your IPA extravaganza? From experience the James Squires IPA would have been a bit out of its depth in that company.

 

I had a Bridgeport IPA yesterday for the first time and it was pretty good. Definitely a sessionable IPA at 5.5%. But as far as bitterness goes the JS Stow Away IPA has got it covered. I've found with Stow Away it's hard to have just one to fully appreciate it. Once you get to the 3rd or 4th stubbie it's magic.

 

Hop Hog is amazing that goes without saying and LC IPA is a great drop too.

 

I did my bi-annual trip to Dan Murphy's yesterday and picked up these brews:

 

Feral: Sly Fox Summer Ale - brilliant straw coloured ale, perfect 'little brother' to the Hop Hog.

Sail & Anchor/Karl Strauss: The Bloke Red Ale

Sierra Nevada: Torpedo IPA

Sierra Nevada: Northern Hemisphere Wet Hop Ale

Cricketer's Arms: Lager

Coopers: Dark Ale

 

Plus I've still got a few Hop Thief #6s hanging out in the fridge.

 

 

 

 

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Hop Hog is amazing that goes without saying

 

I kept hearing that, so I bought a 4 pack a few weeks ago. They were so over carbonated it was hard to pour them, and the bite from all those bubbles certainly muted any hop flavours in the beer. I'm guessing I just got a bad batch, as I have heard too many good things about this beer from other people to accept that what I had was the norm.

 

I will have to try again.

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After a lovely 10 days with the family and able to put down one brew, I'm back in Brisbane away from my stash. So off to Dr Dan's to buy some and I think I scored well.

 

I found some Punch and Judy's Ale and I can see what you guys were raving about. Absolutely amazing colour and flavour and right up there with the Rogers Ale. And since it's probably a mid-strength, I can have a few without getting silly.

 

The others I bought and have yet to put in the fridge are:

Vale LGR (obviously a lager);

Knappstein Reserve Lager; and

A boxed 6 pack of Grand Ridge Brewery consisting of 6 different beers (Almighty Light, Natural Blonde Wheat Beer, Brewers Pilsener Lager, Gippsland Gold Pale Ale, Yarra Valley Gold, and Hatlifter Stout).

 

It should be a good weekend!

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The others I bought and have yet to put in the fridge are:

Vale LGR (obviously a lager);

Knappstein Reserve Lager; and

A boxed 6 pack of Grand Ridge Brewery consisting of 6 different beers (Almighty Light' date=' Natural Blonde Wheat Beer, Brewers Pilsener Lager, Gippsland Gold Pale Ale, Yarra Valley Gold, and Hatlifter Stout).

 

It should be a good weekend![/quote']

I quite like the Vale LGR; it's a pleasant hoppy little lager. I have never been a big fan of the Knappstein Reserve Lager; it isn't a bad beer but Nelson Sauvin just doesn't do it for me.

 

And I really like the Hatlifter Stout love

 

Enjoy them Phil.

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Hop Hog is amazing that goes without saying

 

I kept hearing that' date=' so I bought a 4 pack a few weeks ago. They were so over carbonated it was hard to pour them, and the bite from all those bubbles certainly muted any hop flavours in the beer. I'm guessing I just got a bad batch, as I have heard too many good things about this beer from other people to accept that what I had was the norm.

 

I will have to try again.[/quote']

 

I agree with you on the bubbles Philbo - they definitely take the edge off any huge hop kick. I had one off top a few weeks back and it was pretty good too.

 

Last night I drank the Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Wet Hop Ale. Wow. It is like a meal in itself.

 

Not as pungent as the "Fresh Hop Ale" I had last year (combo of US & NZ hops) but still had buckets full of bitterness. I drank it after two pale ale tallies and a pint of Rogers and it put me on my arse (710 ml bottle, 6.2%). Handle with care.

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I called into Dans for a few beers (trying to let my home brew stocks rise a little) and bought:

 

1. Vale Lager (inspired by Antiphile)

2. The Bloke Red Ale - I had tried it before and it is quite nice if a little sweet.

3. Cascade Early Harvest - I tried the 2013 version as my first one and thought it was average. The 2014 batch is average too, in my opinion.

4. 2 Birds Sunset Ale - a cracker of a beer. A nice amber beer with a hit of cascade.

5. Timothy Taylor's Landlord - possibly/probably my most favourite beer love

6. Adnams Broadside - have just taken my first sip and it has a strong raisiny taste to it. I think it will be great when it warms up.

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Tonight's "friday night 6".

 

Feral Hop Hog PA.

LC IPA

Bierhous IPA

JS IPA

Bridgeport IPA

Sierra Nevada Torpedo extra IPA

 

How did you go with your IPA extravaganza? From experience the James Squires IPA would have been a bit out of its depth in that company.

 

Loved the hop hog. Awesome beer.

 

The Bierhous IPA was rat shit. Rough bitterness and waaaay to gassy. All head no beer. Never again. It ruined my palate for the rest of the tasting.

 

I will have to try the SN and Bridgeport again. In hindsight a session of IPAs was a bad idea. The bitterness lingures and you can't properly assess the beers later in the tasting. I stopped at 5 and had the JS the next day. It's designed for the mass market and is easy to drink with the bitterness subdued compared to the others.

 

Next time just 1 IPA at the end.

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I will have to try the Hop Hog again. From the tastings I've done I preferred the Lobethal IPA.

 

When I had the Hop Hog it was as you described the Bierhaus one. Way too gassy, and all in the 4 pack were like that. There's a thread on another forum about the poor QC of Aussie craft breweries. Let's hope there's little truth to it. unsure

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There's a thread on another forum about the poor QC of Aussie craft breweries. Let's hope there's little truth to it. unsure

I haven't read the thread but have experienced it recently. A few weeks ago I had some guests staying over and bought a few beers. Included was a four pack of Murray's Punch & Judy.

 

All four beers were gushers with glasses full of foam and no beer. I experienced this with other Murray's beers a few years ago but thought they had sorted it out.

 

Anyway' date=' I emailed to let them know and also gave them the batch number to help them work out the source of the problem. I didn't even receive an acknowledgement in response.

 

Murray's beers are good but they need to work on their (or their contractors) bottling process. You have to give the big breweries credit for their consistency and quality control of their products (excluding the taste [img']biggrin[/img]).

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Hi P2 and Hairy (if I put your names together I get 2 PHairies - but I digress. I can also feel a few more apologies coming on)

 

This subject is very topical for me. The 4 pack of Punch & Judy I got last week was the same. The first wasn't too bad, but the last three were gushers too. It's lucky I wasn't dying of thirst and was able to let them settle down so I could get to the liquid underneath the foam.

 

Of the others my thoughts are as follows (in the order tasted):

1. Grand Ridge Brewery 6-pack of different beers:

(a) Natural Blonde Wheat Beer - I can't sugar coat this I'm sorry. Very very disappointing. The colour was poor (a cross between the palest Pilsner I've ever seen and the palest commercial ginger beer I've ever seen. Carbonation was atrociously poor (very very flat). When pouring from a height of about 30 cm I could get a head on the beer, but it was gone within 60 seconds. Taste-wise it wasn't one I'd be proud to show off. Rather watery with perhaps a very very slight lemon tang (even though I don't think it was meant to have one.

(b) Brewers Pilsener Lager - Getting better but still a lot less carbonation than I would have expected. Tastewise it wasn't bad by any means, but I can think of many others I'd try to buy first. Let's say, a bit underwhelming.

( c) Gippsland Gold Pale Ale - Now we're getting somewhere. Nice beer, good head on pouring and retention. Nice zing on the palate and full-flavoured. I certainly wouldn't be embarrased to serve this one to friends.

(d) Yarra Valley Gold - another beauty. Presents well, lovely use of hops (both bittering and flavour), though a bit shy in aroma hops. A real surprise beer I am prepared to spend money on again.

I haven't tried the Almighty Light (2,9%) or the Hatlifter Stout yet. It seems Hairy's tastes might be similar to mine in some respects, so I'm looking forward to the stout.

 

3. Vale LGR: Again a very nice beer. Lots and lots of flavour and an unexpected surprise with a little more bitterness than normal, but it scored well on my card. Even though in some respects I feel it may be slightly understated, there's no mistaking it really is a craft beer in the true sense of the word.

 

4. Knappstein Reserve Lager: I read Hairy's thoughts before I had tasted it and I was thinking I wonder why he wasn't keen. But after half of the glass, I realised. The Nelson Sauvin doesn't quite fit with a Lager for a crispness. The taste lives on in the mouth long long afterwards leaving a lingering slightly unpleasant taste. It's not a bad taste, but a bit hard to describe. I certainly wouldn't call it a clean refreshing flavour though.

 

Out of sheer laziness, I bought a carton of Coopers Sparkling today (my excuse is it will clean my tongue thoroughly), so I'll continue on with tasing the more craftier-type beers later in the week.

 

And I hope in the meantime to 2 PHairies don't put out a contract on me! unsure

 

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Well I didn't buy 6 of them but I did pick up a couple of Little Creatures Pale Ale to have with my fish and chips on Friday..all I can say is wow..big citrus hit with some noticeable hoppy bitterness too..very nice drop..shame 'bout the price.

Cheers

N'oz

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And I hope in the meantime to 2 PHairies don't put out a contract on me! unsure

There will be some Phairy dust coming your way.

 

The problem with the Punch and Judy is that the spoilage organism also affected the taste.

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