June 11, 2013

Just, what is craft? The secret minutes of the Moa summit.

By Ale_of_a_time

Using my extensive journalistic prowess and contacts within the NZ brewing industry, I’ve managed to get the unedited minutes from last night’s meeting.

Helmed by Moa’s Josh Scott, it was an unprecedented summit in order to leverage craft beer’s success to help continue marketing Moa… or something. Here’s a news article about it all here: https://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/17554473/craft-beer-definition-discussed/

I have edited out each speaker in order to preserve identities and reputations.

Chairman: Well, as you know I’ve gathered you here to discuss a novel question, one no one has pondered yet and I think this stunt… errr summit called at short notice will help solve a problem that troubles almost every consumer.

Customers are frequently overheard asking “can someone re-assure me if this beer is craft before I enjoy it?”.

Now it is time for us to define “What is Craft”.

Anonymous: Owning your own brewery.

note: Anonymous was promptly escorted from the premises.

Chairman: right. Anyone else…

Anonymous 2: Why?

Chairman: Why what?

Anonymous 2: Why do we need to define craft?

Chairman: because um, you know, the evil big companies are pretending to be craft.

Anonymous 2: So?

Chairman: so … they shouldn’t.

Anonymous 3: What will they do when we define it?

Chairman: Well, I assume they’ll stop, disband their labels, twirl their moustaches and slink off to the pre-mix market.

Anonymous 4: That’s a bit daft, right?

Anonymous 16: What do we do if we find someone saying they are craft but they make bad beer or something?

Chairman: We slag them off… on Twitter!

Anonymous 6: We do that to you already.

Chairman: You do?

Anonymous 8: I’m doing it right now.

Chairman: How about if someone is owned by a major label they aren’t craft.

Anonymous 10: So like, Emerson’s?

Chairman: yeah… wait. I don’t know – maybe we do it on size?

Anonymous 40: Ah, right, lets go smash some Sierra Nevada bottles.

Chairman: NO no, this is about NZ craft.

Anonymous 39: Craft is regional then?

Chairman: Yes

Anonymous 45: Great, Down with foreigners!

Anønymøus 11: brø?

Chairman: ok ok, made in NZ, with only NZ ingredients.

Everyone: bro.

Chairman: Ok we aren’t getting anywhere. Maybe if you are privat.. wait no nevermind. Maybe we just decide if we like them or not.

Anonymous 34: Like a a little club?

Chairman: Just like a stupid little club. That settles it. People who we like get in our stupid little club, or something. Craft is about clubs and meetings and Definitions. Definitions are definitely craft.

The minutes end there. Seems they’ve defined craft by clubs, meetings and definitions. Glad to see Moa have saved beer, and in turn, probably their share price. Thank god for that.

The inroads great beer has been making into the NZ and overseas markets are now validated and probably stronger.

Craft has been defined

Woo fucking hoo.

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June 2, 2013

USA mini-focus part 2: Jester King/Brash Brewing

By Ale_of_a_time

Part two of my USA mini-focus is taking a look at a couple of beers that are very new to the country and not your typical “oh my god hops right?” American IPAs/Pales/BIPAs etc.

I think it’s great to see a more diverse segment of their beer scene being represented here in Australia. We all know the Sierra Nevada, Green Flash, Bear Republic and the like, but there is a lot more going on.

The first, food, part of my mini-focus is here: Dr Juicy Jay’s Crab Shack

Jester King – Boxer’s Revenge

Boxer's Revenge Jester King beers intrigue me greatly. They describe themselves as an “authentic farmhouse brewery” – far removed from the aforementioned hop forward US beers, they use barrel aging. natural or wild yeast and certified organic ingredients to set themselves apart.

This one, Boxer’s Revenge Barrel Aged Wild Ale, is burnt orange in colour and hits you right away with a funky sour aroma of leather, pineapple, guava and blue cheese.

It drinks similar to it smells. Leathery brettanomyces (a kind of yeast), pineapple, and dry with a very tart big grapefruit juice finish

No way does it taste 10.2% and is fairly drinkable given all the interesting facets.

For those familiar with Bob’s Armpit, out of Wig and Pen in Canberra (and I know many of you Melbourne folks are after this year’s Boxer's 2Good Beer Week), imagine a bigger, more sour version.

This tart, sour, leathery, tropical beer would be a perfect match to some refreshing lemon sorbet to help complement the flavours and serve as a bit of a palate cleanser as you go.

Cost was $28 at Slowbeer in Melbourne – coming in a 750ml bottle.

Also worth mentioning the amount of information on of Jester King’s beers. As much info as anyone could want. Ingredients, right down to the yeast, OG and FG. A goldmine for homebrewers and beer lovers.

Boxers 3

Next up…

Brash Brewing – Smoglifter

I love the artwork on this bottle. It reminds me of Fallout 3. I have lost a lot of time to that video game so such a label definitely appeals to me.

Smoglifter 2Also from Slowbeer, it’s a 650ml bottle for $19 and is 10% Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout. (For those unawares, milk stouts are brewed with lactose – a type of sugar derived from milk. Not with milk thrown into the beer or anything).

The best way I can describe this is fairly smoggy and dirty. Probably down to the imagery being put in my head by the name… ok definitely; but given it pours pitch-black and has a dirty brown head, it isn’t a huge leap to make.

It smells slightly ashy with a lot of powdery cocoa to back it up. It tastes and feels similar –  not clean rich and silky but a little ashy and dirty with the cocoa carrying through and some sweetness to finish.

Very rough around the edges it might stand to a few more months in the bottle.

I’m going to say I’m not completely convinced on this one. The artwork was more interesting to me than the beer itself. It all just felt a little clumsy and well… smoggy.

Also Try:

Some other beers from the USA that I’ve been loving at the moment that may be flying under your radar:

Clown Shoes – Hoppy Feet  – A black IPA from Clown Shoes brewery, these guys have a few interesting beers but this is definitely my favourite. A huge rich BIPA that has endless layers of resiny juicy hops all supported by rich dark malt.

There is a “1.5″ imperial version on shelves at the moment but I felt that was a little off-balance. The original is my favourite for sure.

Devil’s Canyon – Cali Sunshine RyeIPA - An English style IPA brewed with rye, this one comes in a big 473ml can. I don’t think I’ve encountered an English style IPA with rye but it really works. English hops with their gentle fruit and earthy aromas combined with the spice that rye brings is a real winner in my eyes.

Stillwater – Stateside Saison - A classic saison base from Stillwater this one has the extra punch of NZ and USA hops to lift it to something unique. Bottle conditioned, this is the kind of beer you can put on a table at a dinner party and have everyone enjoy from pre-dinner to dessert.

And thus ends my USA mini-focus. Only two posts but I hope I covered some of the more interesting things that you can get your mouth around. Also note, I tried to use some albums that are unmistakably American as the backdrop for these photos. I’ll shout anyone who can name them all a free American beer… but I really bet you can’t. There’s 5 in total.

 

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June 1, 2013

USA mini-focus: Part 1 – Dr Juicy Jay’s Crab Shack

By Ale_of_a_time

In the words of Hugh Laurie

America

America…

The States.

Have you been paying attention? The once maligned culture of food and drink in the USA is now the hottest ticket in old Melbourne town.

Shit burgers, and worse beer are slowly being replaced in our minds by great burgers and better beer. Long slow cooked BBQ ribs, smoky sauces and fine rye bourbon. Giant IPAs, well crafted rich stouts and wild ales have beer lovers clambering to taste something from the Land of the Free,

While America’s food presence in Melbourne is getting almost to the point of ridiculousness, in terms of beer it is only just beginning. The American section of any good beer shop is still relatively small given the size and influence of the American beer industry but it’s growing almost by the minute.

I was going to get my wisdom teeth out this weekend.

Bear with me, this is related.

We talked about what I wanted to eat before having to suffer through a couple of days of soup and whatever else you eat after getting teeth removed. The criteria was basically, something crunchy and unhealthy.

Ribs were high on my list, as were wings. I fucking love ribs and wings.

I decided on a new place in an old bar that is unique to this whole “rush to more American culture” phase. No ribs, but they do have fried chicken. So part one of my 2 part USA mini-focus is….

Dr Juicy Jay’s Crab Shack (at the Public Bar North Melbourne).

Doesn’t it make you just want to go for the name alone?

A while back the crew from the Old Bar in Fitzroy took over the closed down Public Bar. The Public Bar is slightly infamous for being an all night dive bar with great local bands, dirty beer lines and interesting smells.

Also where Emma and I first kissed, at 5am one morning, all those years ago. So romantic.

It had been closed down a while, with a brief period as a cafe or something called “Ms Money Penny’s”. That didn’t last long and I still

Low quality, bad light.. too busy eating to care.

Low quality, bad light.. too busy eating to care.

don’t know what it was.

Excited to have the Public Bar back in business, I was even more excited to see they had Mountain Goat Hightail on tap and were soon offering occasional treats from Gumbo Kitchen, a local food truck.

Then they announced they would be turning over their food to this crab shack dealy.

I don’t know a heap about crab shacks other than what I’ve seen on My Name is Earl, but the idea of fried soft-shell crab, fried shrimp and all that kinda thing, couldn’t appeal to me more

Unique to Melbourne it is a welcome antidote to endless overpriced appropriated streetfood in new crowded bars with polished concrete and queues out the door (not that I don’t love me some Chin Chin or Mamasita but it got a little ridiculous there for a while).

Even though my wisdom teeth surgery was postponed we decided to go anyway. And I’m glad we did.

It’s still the same old Public Bar. I don’t think any amount of cleaning could cleanse that place of its many aromas, but with the presence of the crab shack there is newspaper covering the tables and a self serve wooden cutlery and condiments table featuring some great spicy habanero sauce.

Ordering no crab (which I plan to go back for) we got 400gms of Creole shrimp, a cob salad and Southern Fried Chicken with waffles.

I cannot comment on the authenticity of everything but I can comment on the deliciousness (and if you think you can comment on the authenticity, please don’t. I don’t care).

Even though we clearly over ordered, the shrimp was spicy and crunchy and oh so perfect with a beer. The chicken was crunchy and unsurprisingly juicy and the waffle soft and sweet with maple syrup.

I don’t know who came up with fried chicken and waffle on the same plate, but they were right.

The salad was also great. Salty fried bacon, boiled egg, blue cheese, all that stuff. Rich, probably unhealthy but damn delicious.

A rich, fatty, salty, sweet, crispy dinner in a dirty pub on a rainy Melbourne night. Just what the doctor ordered… even if he did postpone my surgery.

Also try:

Meatmother - Still fairly new, this bar/restaurant specialises in slow cooked BBQ and has a great beer and bourbon list. Get yourself an Anchor Steam Ale, an Elmer T Lee bourbon (neat of course) and some spare ribs with a side of mac and cheese and you’ll be singing the Star Spangled Banner before you know it. http://meatmother.com.au/

Kodiak Club - Their wings with blue cheese dip and celery are a true example of an American classic. They are a bourbon bar so maybe try an old fashioned along with them before easing into something neat. http://www.kodiakclub.com.au/

Carnivore’s Ball - Blogger Burger Mary is throwing a 2 night BBQ bash. Last year she teamed up with the guys from Red River BBQ for a weekly BBQ night at the Worker’s Club in Collingwood. I believe I may have compared tasting her Dr Pepper glazed wings to “finding God”. So yeah.  Details: http://www.burgermary.com/2013/05/carnivores/

Inspired by the crabshack, I decided to go home and liberate my fridge of a couple of big American beers that have been in there a week or so. Tune in tomorrow where I talk about Jester King – Boxer’s Revenge and Brash Brewing – Smoglifter.

Dr Juicy Jay's Fried Chicken and Crab Shack on Urbanspoon

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May 5, 2013

Evil Twin – Hipster Ale

By Ale_of_a_time

In the bottlestore today I couldn’t resist grabbing a can of Evil Twin Hipster Ale. Emma asked me why and I said “so I could whinge about the word hipster on my blog”.

As you can tell, I approach my subjects with almost science-like methods.

But the more I thought about it the more I couldn’t decide if I wanted to spend a good chunk Hipster Alewhining about how the word hipster is very overused. Every damn food review has to squeeze in the word hipster. Some recent quotes I’ve seen are “hipster mexican food chain”  or “This is a great place, just don’t tell the hipsters”.  Get over it everyone.

Does anyone even know what a hipster is anymore? It used to be purely for people wearing cardigans, thick glasses and doing cocaine, but now liking something even slightly different brands you as some sort of hipster.

And everyone is so worried about being a hipster they have to preface things by saying “this might sound hipster but…”. Argh.

So here I am, with a hipster ale and no idea how to approach it. Lets see how this goes down I guess.

The basics

Evil Twin is Danish and contract brewed in the “gypsy” style, just like Mikkeller. In fact… brewed by Mikkel’s twin brother.

Gypsy brewing is super in right now and I love it. Like, it deconstructs the concept of brewing.

Hipster ale on turntableI compare it to the idea of Lars Von Trier and the Dogma 95 film movement. Von Trier was Danish too. Danish is very European. Which I love.

How does it look

The can doesn’t really scream “hipster”. I guess it is kind of 80′s but the font isn’t even in helvetica and the can doesn’t even have a moustache on it. I mean what the hell guys?

At least it is in a can though.

Bottles. So tired of them.

The only time bottles are cool is when I can sample the sounds they make for my next album. It’s post-Girl Talk-esque. Very forward but also introspective.

The beer is kind of cloudy orange with a clear white head. Again, a severe lack of moustaches when poured. Nothing to indicate that this was something “hipster”.

Don’t fret everyone, I’ve made sure to fix up this hipster hate-crime by attaching a moustache to both the can and the glass.

Being so hipster myself, I always keep spare moustaches on hand.

I mean, what am I? some sort of goth?

Moustaches and beer

 

How does it smell/taste?

Smells like pine, citrus, pineapple, all that shit. To be honest I liked these smells about five years ago, now I’m a little over them. American hop aromas are so cliche.

Although I can’t wait until they are so overdone they become ironic.

Then I’ll really be into it. You know?

Tastes more of the same. Juicy citrus and tropical fruits give way to a solid bitterness very quickly and a strong taste of honey. Honey is cool. Bees.

Unfortunately it finishes kind of flat… I wanted fresh and zingy like the new Tegan and Sara album but it finishes dull and lacklustre like the last Dan Deacon album.

 

The verdict

This beer feels super self-aware and very meta. Current but full of cliche. Well intended but not finishing well.

Just like this review.

Also try

8 Wired: Hopwired – Out of NZ this IPA has a similar hop profile with a bigger finish.

Brewdog: Punk IPA – Also in cans, also a stupid name but a lovely classic IPA.

Prickly Moses: Raconteur IPA – A very solid Australian IPA which was tasting brilliant last time I had it on tap.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Reviews

April 23, 2013

Dirty Deeds II: The Cleanening

By Ale_of_a_time

As a follow up to my last post, Dirty Deeds, I sat down and spoke with one of the guys behind the beer, Patrick Ale (you could say we had an Ale of a ti… bah forget it.) to discuss the brand, beer and the industry in general.

I did record the interview but the more I thought about it, the more I thought using straight up quotes would hinder from the general impression I got.

Firstly, my opinion on the brand hasn’t changed – but as I said to Patrick, if everyone liked all brands then it would be a pretty boring industry.

On the flipside, Patrick freely admitted he underestimated the market and given the chance to do it over again, they would do things differently.  The missteps made are obvious but the fact they are open to criticism while actively engaging the community is admirable.

I’ve had respected breweries (well marketers) retweet criticism with a “thanks blah blah blah” comment. Making it painfully obvious they never actually read what was said, so it’s refreshing to have someone willing to sit and chat after criticism has been cast. And to be honest, if I was a businessman trying to enter a market and was copping it from uppity bloggers such as me, I would probably just tell them to get stuffed.

As a beer lover, it is easy to begrudge someone out to make a quick buck at the expense of the an industry I love. Anyone who knows much about what happened in the 90s in American beer will know just how damaging people out to make a quick buck can be. It’s not anti-business – it’s about protecting the industry.

Over the course of the night I was happy and excited to learn that Patrick has an increasing appreciation for beer and they still plan on building a brewery to move away from contract brewing. They have a Sabco pilot system which they are using for experimentation and small batch brewing; and are coming out with an IPA aimed directly at us “beer geeks” (a quote!). And in contrast to many similar beer businesses he was able to tell me what hops they used in the Pale Ale (Cascade and Amarillo) while also leaving with a list of sour beers I recommended over the course of the evening. Anyone we can convert to sours is surely at least a small victory, right?

We can be precious as a community and industry but I also think we need to be; however just as a good bar person should help a customer standing bewildered at a row of unfamiliar taps, maybe it is in our best interest to engage businesses trying to make a quick dollar. While I fear many won’t be willing to take our often harsh and unforgiving “advice”, I think those that do should be given some credit.

I would rather see brands like this become a constructive part of our scene, rather than barely a footnote like so many before.

To finish, I should probably mention the beer. In all honesty, it wasn’t bad. Decent floral aroma and a clean finish. While it might seem tame compared to many pale offerings hitting the market, it’s also tastier than a few others.  Will I reach for it next time at the bottle store? Probably not; but will I actively avoid it like I do a some other brands? no.

And who knows, maybe we’ll see a sour version sometime soon?

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Interviews, Other

March 25, 2013

Dirty Deeds

By Ale_of_a_time

A story was put up today that fired a clear shot at small brewery branding in Australia.

This quote from new player on the market, Quiet Deeds’ co-founder Patrick Alè, will give you the gist.

“We were trying to create a really approachable craft beer that had ‘cut-through’ with its packaging – a modern design, that also had a flavour profile that didn’t alienate three quarters of the population.

“I think that’s one of the pitfalls of a lot of these craft brewers. They focus too much on the equipment and not enough on the actual brand, the packaging, the story, and getting the distribution right.”

Full story here: http://www.theshout.com.au/2013/03/25/article/Craft-brewers-neglect-branding-Red-Island 

As you may guess, that has rubbed a few people the wrong way. From a company who imports a sickly sweet cider, that admittedly is well branded and extremely popular, it reads as though they think good beer in Australia needs saving, and they are the ones to do it.

It reads as though they think the other players in the market need a lesson and they are the ones to teach.

It reads like patronising marketing bullshit.

There are many local brands that have great, clear branding, with a solid story. Admittedly there are some horrendous labels out there but many of them have great beer inside and are brewed by fine people who would rather put out quality product than get on their high horse about their competitors.

I’m offended on behalf of them (whether they want me to or not). I’m offended for the whole industry.

And you know what is really taking the piss? Their branding is terrible.

“Quiet Deeds… for those who would rather toast than boast”.

Come on bro. That’s what you’re bringing to the party?

And somehow the packaging is worse than their tag line. Some sort of floating yellow brick pattern over red text with a bold drop shadow.  That’s what they think passes for strong branding and packaging?

Your modern design looks more like a video game from the mid 90s.

Sorry Quiet Deeds but until you can prove that your here to be part of what is one of the friendliest, most interesting and exciting scenes happening globally – and not enter the market with insulting jibes about the people who have worked hard to contribute to this amazing industry; then you don’t get my respect.

You might not want to “alienate” anyone with flavour, but you are already alienating us with your spin.

Part II is up here: http://aleofatime.com/2013/04/23/dirty-deeds-ii-the-cleanening/

7 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Other

March 5, 2013

Stuff that I like

By Ale_of_a_time

I would like to talk punk rock. And no, I don’t mean a certain Scottish brewery who insist on constantly telling us how punk they are while happily taking fat Government paychecks*.

What I want to talk about is a revelation I had while seeing one of my all time favourite bands, Bomb the Music Industry.

It was the end of their last ever tour of Australia, they were playing a 30 minute set at 4pm, in a youth centre in Footscray (Melbourne suburb with a very bad reputation) on a Sunday to a small crowd of mostly teenagers – who were there to see the Smith St Band.

Only a few days earlier the guitarist from The Bennies, also on the tour, was stabbed after a show in Byron (he is ok now for the record – also the Bennies are awesome live).

Now I can’t be sure what motivates you but I can imagine that if you were Jeff Rosenstock; driving force of BTMI and semi-retiring punk rock singer whose music has been featured in both the Office and Weeds, I’m sure you would find it difficult to get inspired to put BTMIon an awesome show given the circumstances.

However, during their short set what we got was intensity, passion, joy and a sweet stage dive off the speaker tower (pictured).

I can’t help but compare this to the current beer industry. With small producers doing it with tiny profit margins just to share their love for beer and what they produce. And like a lot of my favourite bands, many have other jobs just to support their passion.

This was mixed with the realisation that something I love is never going to be loved by the masses but rather a tiny part of a tiny market. Many of my favourite bands never get noticed by more than a handful of people and it is the same with many of my favourite beers.

The things I love are unloved or unwanted by the majority. That might seem gloomily introspective but it is as true as it is sad.

As we see an increase of cynically produced cash grabs aimed at the unaware beer drinker I can’t help but notice my peers continuing to discuss and dissect each one. Every time a supermarket chain, multi-national brewer or some marketing company formulates a beer aimed at the new beer market, our community can’t shut up about it.

One of the most common mantras is “well you never know until you taste it” but I don’t particularly want to know. I’ve been disappointed many times by these beers so chances are I already do know and more to the point, I don’t actually care.

I sometimes wonder if as a community we keep buying them just to moan on the internet when they are thin, uninteresting or not even close to what they pretend to be.

Why does the community need to feel like it is in charge of quality control for the major players when our money and time would be better spent talking about brewers who care about you more than the bottom line?

As beer gets more attention, I encourage and I hope beer lovers are willing to focus on everything that is great that is happening right now. Increasing styles, more breweries, more beer lovers, and all around just more fun.

Next time you choose a beer maybe think to yourself “would this beer be willing to stage dive at a Footscray youth centre?” (or if you think it’s snappier; WTBBWTSDAAFYC). If your answer is no, maybe you need to consider something else?

*For the record I think what they do is amazing, I’m just taking the piss.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Other

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