Orion Breweries – Orion 75 Premium Series Pilsner, 5%ABV 350ml can. A bit of an oddity as you don’t generally see even normal Orion draft around here, let alone some special edition. Orion 75 Premium Series Pilsner. Smells like a Pilsner, funky but also light fruity notes, very light bready slightly toasty and caramel malts. It’s a golden amber in colour, has a nice big tan head on pouring which disappears rather quickly, carbonation is fine. The hopping is all bittering hops, standard for a Pilsner, but they are very up front and really hang around, not really any stronger than some European Pilsner hop bitterness, but I think these may be a modern hop, not like Saaz or other Pilsner standards? As it warms, and you get adjusted to the lets say bold hopping, a light but defined malt character appears that reminds me of basically eating actual Pilsner malt grains. Its all very refined and exactly what is says on the can. This is actually pretty good. 2.5/5.
Nowhereman – 123 Days Later, Pilsner. 5.4% 375ml can . Lagered for 123 days. Very light sudsy head, rich golden colour, and crystal clear. Smell is lager funky with a little bit of biscuity malt. Taste is mainly nice traditional style bittering hops (unsure what hops were used but its Saaz-like) and very light bready malt if any. Decent but a little low carbonation, and it has a surprisingly for style very nice mouthfeel. Its dry, crisp, funky, and bigger than I was expecting on the bittering hops and funk. It is very nice. 3/5.
Nowhereman – Carnival, Passionfruit Rice Lager. 5% 375ml can. Not much head, a light golden colour, slightly cloudy. Its smells heaps like passionfruit. It has that rice taste initially, and a little bit of some other malt maybe? Theres a mild passionfruit taste, and a light fruit sourness in there. A very light hop bitterness. Its unusual to have fruit used so mildly, it kind of replaces the hops in some ways. Its like a commercial lager with a real nice passionfruit smell, and a mild passionfruit taste. Its very nice. Good carbonation. A super drinkable mildly fruited beer. 2.5/5.
Nowhereman – Birra Negroni, Amber ale. 5.8% 375ml can. Blood orange, corriander, juniper, orange peel and Citra hops according to the can. Ruby red/brown colour, a slight and lightly lacing head. It smells like Citra, because you cant escape Citra, and caramel malts maybe? The taste is pretty complex, a kind of a rye-like spicy thing? earthy? In the taste, and to some extent the smell, I feel like there is a brettanomyces character? Theres definitely orange peel and pith,and a bit more citrus sour as it warms, and that whatever it is spicy thing? Thats not bad. A Farmhouse Negroni would be an amazing decision. 2.5/5
Edit 19/10/22 – Trying the Birra Negroni again. Nowhereman confirmed no Brett anywhere in their brewery or beers, so…thats that. As I said the first time, I like this beer!
A Lot of beers over the Long Weekend plus Thursday, some better and/or fresher than others, but all pretty good. Altbier is a fantastic style, very happy to have discovered it.
Little Bang – Geezer Pleaser, ESB. 5.5% 375ml can. First beer from this brewery. Canned in Feb, but shouldn’t be an issue for an ESB. Nice colour, decent carbonation. Caramel malt and some kind of hops on the nose. Taste is nice straight bittering hops, thats where this shines, and caramel malts rounding it out. Takes a bit of warming up, obviously, to really shine. Its straight up and nice. 2.5/5
Rocky Ridge – Mel’s Gin, Sour Ale. 4% 375ml can. – Packaged in March so I was expecting this to not be great, but I do try and try all Rocky Ridge stuff I can find. Its surprisingly still minty on the first few sips. No melon, no gin. Its a kettle sour (or however they do the short and stopped sours these days), so it has that particular character of sourness. The mint is definitely there and its strange possibly unnatural, at first, but the sourness eventually removes it from being detected anymore. I would like to know what this was like fresh. 2/5.
Mash Brewing – Red Cat, Red IPA. 6.5% 375ml can. – Nice colour, very nice head that becomes real cloudy and lumpy. Smell is a big malty, sweet, super fruity, IPA. Taste, Its a big malty almost cloying IPA with that red malt bite crossed with that big piney resinous hops. All the things I dislike. Dont usually expect to encounter a IPA like this in 2022 outside of like Sierra Nevada Torpedo. Its really not that bad. Its well made, hits all the points for style and more. I just unfortunately cant handle 375ml of this style of beer anymore. Its 2.5/5 because its good, possibly very good, despite my dislike.
Black Brewing – Bad Boy BaoBao, Milk Stout. 4.5% 375ml. – I can smell the cherry, and the choc, a Cherry Ripe, theres no hops or malt in the smell. The Taste is a Cherry ripe, sweet and tart, its all on the sides of the tongue. There is dark, and black malts that slowly appear and overpower the cherry and chocolate. Its viscous and tart and sweet all around the sides, but with a dryness down the centre of the tongue. Nice, different, 2.5/5
Artisan Brewing – Great Southern, Belgian Style Table Beer. 3.5% 375ml can. – This is nice. Big fluffy head, nice zesty yeasty smell, cloudy golden almost orange colour. The taste is mild but enough, mainly yeast character; Belgian-y, spicy, peppery. A slight hop bitterness is balanced well with the yeast. There is little to no malt taste. A very soft mouthfeel. A real nice little beer. 2/5
Slow Lane Brewing – Altogether, Altbier, 5% 375ml can. – Insane thick tan head. Smells like a lager, but slightly fruity. Brown-coppery colour, rather hazy. This is nice, and I dont think I have ever had this style before. Like a British Mild but with higher carbonation, and more yeast character. Slightly more hopping, too. Its fruity yeast esters up front and a nice traditional hop bitterness. The malt character is mild, but both dark and sweet malts are detectable. Crisp and clean enough. Nice beer, great style. 2.5/5
Slow Lane Brewing – Simpicity, Helles German Lager. 5% 375ml can. – Cloudy, very light amber, golden colour. Small light head. Smell is light colour malts, slightly bready, kind of fruity? Great bitterness, very defined and clean, all bittering hops. The malt character is very light. There’s a little bit of fruitiness, too. Nice. 2/5.
Mismatch – Dark Ale. 5.5% 375ml can. – I have never seen this one before. Color is brown/dark read and clear, nice tan head. Smell is fruity dark malt, clean yeast. Taste is a very clean, rather crisp dark ale with a nice amount of bittering hops. Good. 2/5.
Budweiser Budvar. Artesian water, Moravian barley, Saaz hops. This is a really nice beer. A really great malty, lager funky, hoppy smell, it hits all the points. The taste is nicely malty, fantastic Saaz bitterness. Its a real beer compared to US Bud. This is really nice and stands strongly along side any good European Lager and Pilsner. 3/5.
Rocky Ridge – Dirty Desert Pastry Stout. 8% 375ml can. Smells like rich mudcake or brownie, kind of boozy, chocolate, obviously some dark roasty malt. The head doesn’t stick around and the carbonation is very light, but that’s no issue. This tastes like a stout just crammed with super rich dark muddy chocolate cake, brownies, chocolate icing. I cant really detect the marshmallow, and there is some lactose sweetness, but that’s all very submerged in the chocolate. Nice mouthfeel and body, fitting but not viscous. Packaged in July, I’m sure something with actual marshmallows and mudcake in it needs to be drank very fresh but this is still very tasty and big and rich and its pretty damn great. A real sipper that just grows as it warms. 3/5.
★★★
Nowhereman – Alpha Ron Stout 2022. 5.6% 375ml can. First off the can art is awesome, its embossed with metallic bits, excellent. Opaque Black. Great super brown head. Smells like a straight up stout, coffee, also burnt toast. Tastes initially like a good straight up stout but as you sip, as it warms, it focuses in on the blacker malts, the darker roasted side, pretty sure all the bitterness comes from the malts, no noticeable hops at all. This is surprisingly bigger than I was expecting. The light body/mouthfeel and carbonation are both deceptive and enhancing of its punch. Another long sipper. Nice. 3.
Bach Brewing from Auckland New Zealand. A new brewery to me. And my first beer from them is a style I pretty much dislike. West Coast IPA.
Bach Brewing – Throbbing Grist, West Coast IPA. 6.6% 440ml can. Amarillo, Citra, Idaho 7 and Talus hops. Stinks like mango, passionfruit, guava etc.. but theres a bunch of other stuff going on I cant place. The earthy character balanced with the dryness from the really deep pine resin is the best bit. Its not over malty or sweet and cloying from trying to “balance” the malts with the bitterness or anything. Its a good IPA with nice modern hop weirdness, not much else to say. 2.5/5.
The Space Donut was sold out by the time I found the Rocky Ridge stand at Froth Fest (I’m sure there were maps but I’m and idiot and was stuck trying the great Artisan Brewing stuff). So I took a bus trip to a liquor store I knew had it in stock and grabbed 2 of them, then I saw the Double Dragonfruit (excellent and first “reviewed” here) and grabbed two of those. And lastly grabbed a Rosé Gose. I didn’t even want to try the Rosé Gose at Froth Fest, because its basically 2 things I’m just not a fan off, I was wrong, kind of.
Rocky Ridge – Rosé Gosé. 9%ABV 375ml can. Smells very Rosé wine, a light lacto funk, and the taste is like a big fucking punch in the mouth, Its basically Rosé grape juice, carbonated and soured, with a bit of Gose saltiness in there. But like 110% amped for all of it. Truly incredible in its just brutal fuck you-ness. Wild stuff. 3 because yes it is good, its, fantastic even and made well, and you do kind of adjust or succumb to it eventually and its actually nice, my personal dislike for Rosé wine put aside.
★★★
Rocky Ridge – Space Donuts Maple Bacon Stout. 8%ABV 500ml can. Great big tan head. Nice smoke, burnt sugar, maple syrup maybe? There’s some very roasted black malt smells. The taste is…. smoke and then… just the bottom of hell dark malt flavour’s. Fucking weird. There’s some sweetness to kind of try and level it out in the mouth, but that first sip is just a vertical drop into pure darkness. This needs to be in a bottle and aged for like at least a year or more and I would love to drink the results. Its not maple, or bacon, but its fucking awesome and bizarre. 3.5 stars. Even after it warms more and it gets a bit more sweetness its still just insane dark rich black roasted viscous insane malts. I don’t even know what the name is referencing.
Update 2/9/22: Just had this again and its a bit more boozy this time, more richer? viscous? More cloying, Still extremely dark and bitter, but it has this boozy almost sickly edge to it now.
★★★★
Rocky Ridge – Double Dragon Imperial Dragonfruit Sour. 8%ABV 375ml can. The thing I missed about this the first time was the a mount of strawberry in it. In all the gaps and bits of sides of your tongue where its not the big lacto sourness, or the more big citrus side stuff, its all just strawberry. The only Dragonfruit could possibly be just the smell. Weird beer, Great beer. Really big and intense and scary drinkable. 3/5.
Blackman’s Brewing – Arthur, Smoked Porter. 6%ABV 375ml can. Smell is a good amount of smoke, some caramel malt. Taste has that slight acidity that comes with smoked beers, but also some dark beers. (Marris Otter, Beechwood smoked malt, Carafa T3, Munich). The hops are 100% Cascade, the bitterness is mild but fitting. No real mouthfeel, good carbonation. It’s a real nice porter, and the smoke just makes it better. 2.5/5.
★★★
Artisan Brewing – Waffles, Belgian Oatmeal Porter. 4.2%ABV 375ml can. Pretty standard dark roasty malts on the nose, some caramel, nice enough. Not much mouthfeel, its pretty light actually considering oatmeal is in the name. It is 4.2% but still…I let this warm up a bit and it did slightly increase in malt flavour. This is very much a straight up Porter with very light hop bitterness. It tastes fine, is clean and nice, looks lovely. I would like more Belgian and Oatmeal and Porter, though. 2/5
