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Drinking one of my Milds.
Lovely malty brew, with subtle dark malt characters from the carafa special II, and nice body and character from a mix of crystal malts.
And the beauty is, it's only 3.6% ABV, but lacks nothing in taste.

Mad Brewers Orchard Ale is pretty yuck. Cider mixed with flat VB. Do not want.

Bridge Road Brewers Galaxy Single Hop IPA. Wow, this bottle is awful. Inclined towards blaming handling because I haven't heard a single bad word about this beer prior. Doesn't seem infected just brutally harsh - not just in the bitterness but in flavour too. Pretty rank.

(To counter an obvious rebuttal - my favourite beer so far clocks in at 74IBU so it is not simply a matter of me not liking bitter beers)

Paddockwood's double IPA, Loki. Bloody delicious. So far I havn't been a big fan of the american citrous hops but this one is warming me up to them. There's a definite cascade bite at the front of a whole hoppin medley with a nice smooth malty back. The brewer told me it comes in at ~80 IBU... I could drink it all night regardless

Nogne-O IPA - Very interesting English/US hybrid. Only my second beer from this brewery but I am already very impressed with their work. Can't wait to try some more of their wares.

Good Lord! Is Sierra Nevada's Porter a lovely beer or what? Travels much better than their PA. Grab it if you stumble across a bottle.

Just got back from the Fed Square Micro Breweries Showcase.

Arctic Fox American Pale Ale - smelled great, tasted...not as good as mine.
Bridge Road Celtic Red - way too sweet for me.
Bright Brewery Staircase Porter - Meh.
Coldstream Naked Ale - Servicible pale ale that did nothing to distinguish itself from basically every other PA there.
Coldstream Porter - alright but wouldn't bother trying to replicate.
Grand Ridge Moonshine - Really nice actually. Was very surprised because I have had nothing but bad experiences with them in the bottle before.
Grand Ridge Hatlifter - Alright but seems like Moonshine's little brother. Pale is comparison.
Grand Ridge Supershine - Served at room temp (undercover but basically outdoors on a 30+ degree day). Hard to judge this way but did seem like it would be an impressive beer cooler. Nice aroma, colour and body. Flavour a tad harsh hot but certainly good enough for me to try it again.
Hawthorn Brewing Premium Pale Ale - Not bad at all.
Holgate Mt Macedon Pale Ale - See Coldstream Naked Ale.
Holgate Temptress - Not bad.
Mountain Goat Steam Ale - Well, it least it isn't blonde or low carb. May as well be though.
Mountain Goat Rapunzel - Really didn't like this beer but I think it might be the style not agreeing with me rather than the beer being sub-par.
Red Duck Porter - Alright.
Sweetwater Pale Ale - See Coldstream Naked Ale.
Three Troupers Pale Ale - Nice enough.
True South Summer Ale - Tipped it.
Tooborac Stomemasons Pale Ale - Tipped it - possibly infected.

And ...uh...2 more I can't remember...for some strange reason.

Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale - I wasn't much of a fan of their Dead Guy Ale. It was an okay beer I guess but I guess it didn't live up to expectation (both reputation and name, I guess). Was convinced I should try the DDG a little later. Only got around to it now. Very interesting beer. A little sweeter on the nose than I like but big, bold fruit along side. Fruit comes through in the flavour, stonefruit mostly I guess. Fair bit of caramel (almost to toffee but not quite). Lovely bitterness up front but doesn't quite hang around as long as I'd like (probably longer than many others might though). Finishes dry (for the sweetness of the beer, I mean) but with something similar to a hint of chocolate but not quite. Some pleasant warm alc. This one is supposedly all Cascade and while there is a definite citrus element it isn't coming across like any other Cascade dominated beer I've had before.

Some Belgian blond I brewed for a swap.

I am a little sad to say that it is a little autolysed. I guess it is because the particular yeast has a very fast metablolism.
It is generally pretty nice, though it has a bit of a peanut flavour that I think could have otherwise been avoided.

My latest ginger beer - dry 'hopped' with curry leaves.

Not quite what I was aiming for but still interesting and very much drinkable.

My Coopers Amarillo Pale Ale....yummy brew served cold

Another Sclenkerla Rauchbier Urbock again. Pretty disappointed this time. Detecting some sourness.

Rogue Brutal Bitter - Man, the new version (Willamette for bittering) is actually a slight improvement on what was already a fave of mine.

My Saison, Choc Stout (using Saison Yeast) and APA........man i love this brewing caper and I love having a few different styles on the go at once.....

hoegarden grand cru


best drop EVER !

Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen. Only ever had the Urbock and Weizen before. Love the Urbock to bits but hate the Weizen. What did I think of this one? Not quite as good as the Urbock but still a tremendous beer.

Bum wrote:Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen. Only ever had the Urbock and Weizen before. Love the Urbock to bits but hate the Weizen. What did I think of this one? Not quite as good as the Urbock but still a tremendous beer.

Had that yesterday as part of the BJCP study group.

Loved it! As did quite a few of us who are now planning some smoked beers.

I reckon a smoked robust porter would be delish!

I think NickB has a smoked porter in the DB at AHB that is very well regarded by other brewers. On my to brew list, can't work out if I'll do it before I attempt a Schlenkerla Urbock or not.

Chase down the Urbock if you're able. It is, to my palate, very similar but a much fuller experience. I'd definitely settle for the Marzen if I had to however. They only bottle the Urbock once a year (October) so last years should still be very good drinking but I've recently found some (BB mid this year?) that seem to be thinning out a little somehow? Look for 2011 ones.

Had a Budějovický Budvar, on tap from an imported keg, at the Beach House Café (in Port Macq) at lunch today.

Crystal clear, obviously filtered. Nice slightly sweet malty nose, with little, if any, hop aroma. Taste was very smooth, initially with the malt sweetness (not a crystal type sweetness, but a light Bohemian Malt sweetness), with very soft hops. As the glass went down, the hop bitterness came more to the fore once I'd swallowed the beer. Overall, very balanced, very enjoyable. Far ahead of any Aus standard lager.

warra48 wrote:Had a Budějovický Budvar, on tap from an imported keg, at the Beach House Café (in Port Macq) at lunch today.

Crystal clear, obviously filtered. Nice slightly sweet malty nose, with little, if any, hop aroma. Taste was very smooth, initially with the malt sweetness (not a crystal type sweetness, but a light Bohemian Malt sweetness), with very soft hops. As the glass went down, the hop bitterness came more to the fore once I'd swallowed the beer. Overall, very balanced, very enjoyable. Far ahead of any Aus standard lager.

My lager of choice if drinking commercial!

There isn't an Aussie mega-lager (standard or premium) that comes close