The Beer & Wine Review Thread

[Bren]

Time for our own KB Beer and Wine Reviews for those that like a tipple of the finer ales and wines.

First Review

Tuatara London Porter

This beer is a dark porter style (similar to stout). On first taste it caresses the tounge with a sweet velvety flavour and just a hint of chocolate. Once it hits the back of the throat you find yourself teased with it's more robust malty taste. It leaves you wanting more until the last drop is downed.
At about $6.00 a bottle it is not a cheap drop, but I will be keen to try it again...and again...

My rating is :drinkup::drinkup::drinkup::drinkup: out of five...

http://www.tuatarabrewing.co.nz/

[Batcerb]

http://www.samueladams.com

It has completely ruined me :weep:

If only there was an importer

*****

[rainman]

This is soooo not a thread for me...

I drink beer with beer in it, and cheap plonk from the supermarket, unless I have brewed even cheaper plonk/beer of my own.

I'll leave you to it. :bye:

[Kornholio]

The only beer anyone ever needs :)..........

[SMOKEU]

I don't generally drink alcohol unless it's my own homebrew. You never know what's in booze these days unless you make it yourself.

[Kornholio]

I don't generally drink alcohol unless it's my own homebrew. You never know what's in booze these days unless you make it yourself.

You sound like a true cheap drunk :p

[Bren]

Are you guys tellin me there aint no cultured people on KB?

[Grubber]

SPEIGHTS DARK ALE!
Cultured enough for ya?

[Quasi]

Are you guys tellin me there aint no cultured people on KB?

Correct!!!

We're just a bunch of plebs

[Bald Eagle]

SPEIGHTS DARK ALE!
Cultured enough for ya?

Bring your own spoon

[Grubber]

Bring your own spoon

Ya not wrong.....
it's a meal, na it's a soup, no, it's a meal....
Yum!:first:

[davereid]

Time for our own KB Beer and Wine Reviews for those that like a tipple of the finer ales and wines.

First Review

Tuatara London Porter

This beer is a dark porter style (similar to stout). On first taste it caresses the tounge with a sweet velvety flavour and just a hint of chocolate. Once it hits the back of the throat you find yourself teased with it's more robust malty taste. It leaves you wanting more until the last drop is downed.
At about $6.00 a bottle it is not a cheap drop, but I will be keen to try it again...and again...

My rating is :drinkup::drinkup::drinkup::drinkup: out of five...

http://www.tuatarabrewing.co.nz/

We are lucky having the Tuatara brewery in our area, it doesn't seem to be available widely.

I have quaffed my way through a bottle or two of TUATARA ARDENNES

Promoted as a "Belgian Style Ale", its a golden colour, and very clear. Smells a little like orange peel, and if served cool rather than cold appears heavily carbonated (making it very summery with that slight citrus smell.) 6.5% alcohol, so by the third one, I felt it had improved from merely "excellent" to "must have another at all costs".
I'll buy it again. Tonight on the way home would be good.

[Str8 Jacket]

Tuatara makes a nice drop but so do:

Captain Cooker
Three Boys
Emmersons
Renaissance
Epic
The list goes on and on....


There are quite a few NZ boutique breweries that make excellent beer of all kinds.

I LOVE BEER!!!!

[Quasi]

Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.

[SMOKEU]

You sound like a true cheap drunk :p

It costs me about $0.50 to get drunk.

[scissorhands]

Krolsh is $21 for 12 bots at supermarkets this week

[slofox]

At about $6.00 a bottle it is not a cheap drop, but I will be keen to try it again...and again...

My rating is :drinkup::drinkup::drinkup::drinkup: out of five...



If you are paying $6.00 a bottle for Tuatara, you are paying too much. $4.00 a bottle from me. I can courier to any address in NZ...

For the ultimate Porter, try Flying Dog "Gonzo" Porter - brewed in memory of Hunter S Thompson by Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD, USofA. Fan bloody tastic brew. 9.2% - MUST be good! (Not cheap though - $9.00 per 330ml...)


We are lucky having the Tuatara brewery in our area, it doesn't seem to be available widely.

I have quaffed my way through a bottle or two of TUATARA ARDENNES

Promoted as a "Belgian Style Ale", its a golden colour, and very clear. Smells a little like orange peel, and if served cool rather than cold appears heavily carbonated (making it very summery with that slight citrus smell.) 6.5% alcohol, so by the third one, I felt it had improved from merely "excellent" to "must have another at all costs".
I'll buy it again. Tonight on the way home would be good.

The Ardennes is in the style of a Belgian "top fermented golden ale" - akin to Duvel, Piraat, Brigand or La Chouffe to name but a few. This style is quite highly carbonated - this to give it a generous head in the glass. The Belgian versions are often quite sweet on the palate - a result, I think anyway, of decoction method mashing rather than the English infusion method. Decoction method tends to leave more unfermentable carbohydrates in the beer which I think leads to that flavour. Belgian Tripel beers are even more this way - to the extent of becoming "beer soup" in some cases (think Karmeliet). Just my opinion, like - some people love 'em.

I stock lots of imported beer for what it's worth.

[Bren]

I stock lots of imported beer for what it's worth.

Hmm, you may be someone who ios able to get a beer I have been craving for for ages...

Shiner Bok....not a fantastic beer but I love the stuff...

Where are you Slofox, what area?

[AllanB]

Anything over 4% tastes good in Christchurch this week!

I'm even considering squirting some of that hand sanitiser into my mouth - that's pretty high in alcohol. :yes:

[Clockwork]

Ok peeps.... time to fess up. I have "over the past few years become a beer snob. (currently drinking a Chimay Blue as I type).

Went to Beervana two weeks ago and I was stunned by the variety and quality of beers availaible, many brewed locally.

Tuatara make a nice drop but I started my pilgrimage to beer Snob status drinking Emerson's Pilsner.

Today I had a beer at the Malthouse, Wellington that simply blew me away. I was a Wigram Stout drawn through what the Malthouse calls a "hoppinator" but in this case it contained coffee beans. It was a bloody awesome drop!

Other noteable beers I've sampled would include
Rennesance (SP) Stonecutter
Monk's Habbit (local brew, can't recall the brewer)
Mike's double IPA. And their Whisky Porter.
Many of the Fuiller's range but particularly 1845, and ESB
Pretty much anything from Emerson's (possibly not the Taieri George)
Epic APA
Cooper's Vintage


Man, once you get into this stuff you just can't look regular beers in the face again, they all just seem like sugary pisswater.

[boostin]

Rennesance (SP) Stonecutter is a good one.

Also a big fat of the 3 Boys Oyster Stout

[Scuba_Steve]

Ok well looks like a wine is needed...

Recently I have been enjoying a Pieroth Rouge (Merlot) 2008 (For those who speak french "Vin de pays d'oc" & "Vin Rouge Français" are also on the bottle)
Not the cheapest wine available @ $25.95/bottle and only available through direct sell, But in my opinion a bloody good wine 12.5%alc/vol.

I would give it a :drinkup::drinkup::drinkup::drinkup::drinkup:/5

[davereid]

I stock lots of imported beer for what it's worth.

I'd like to try some of the beers mentioned in the thread, not particularly the imported ones, more interest in smaller kiwi brewers.

I guess you have stock of all those mentioned - can you link your website or summat ? Or pm me or summat ?

Thirsty. pm soon.

[Gareth123]

Torlesse Gerwurtraminer

Please pardon my spelling.

This lovely drop of white wine is slightly sweet but not over powerfully so. Would go well with a dish of pasta or fish.

I'd give it 5 outta 5. Costs around $20 a bottle

[Bren]

On wine I am partial to Wolf Blass Yellow Label Merlot or Mud House Merlot...usually both are about $20 but can pick up the wolf blass at $10 on occasion
Wolf blass 4/5
Mud House 4.5/5

[Scuba_Steve]

On wine I am partial to Wolf Blass Yellow Label Merlot or Mud House Merlot...usually both are about $20 but can pick up the wolf blass at $10 on occasion
Wolf blass 4/5
Mud House 4.5/5

Mud House is good, can't say I'm a fan of the Wolf blass tho

[rie]

Now is a good time to be getting into wine as certain movements in the industry currently means shitloads of really excellent wine is going to be dirt cheap.

you might go to the supermarket and scrutinise the sale wine with some suspicion, but right now there are some surprisingly good wines of all kinds (more so whites than reds) so reserve your skepticism. of course, some wines are too cheap to be true - e.g. if a white wine is particularly old, say 2006, and it's down to $10 you might have to wonder why since (very) generally white is best not aged.

[slofox]

Hmm, you may be someone who ios able to get a beer I have been craving for for ages...

Shiner Bok....not a fantastic beer but I love the stuff...

Where are you Slofox, what area?

The Tron.

www.hillcrestfinewines.co.nz

[allycatz]

Currently enjoying Brown Brothers Dolcetta & Syrah....nice drop designed to be served chilled and ever so slight fizz which suits me fine cos I usually drink red wine with lemonade (yes, I know sooo wrong)

[rachprice]

Rolling Shiraz awesome drop for around $15

Drappier - Champagne that tastes like Bollinger (mmm green apples) for half the price $50

[Maha]

The only beer anyone ever needs :)..........

Few years ago at Paeroa, mate asked if I wanted a beer, we were standing right outside a pub so ''hell yeah''! He came out with a couple of cups, I could feel the nice cold beer inside and it had a super smooth creamy head on it like I had never seen before. Tasted devine mate!
I offered to get another round in and asked '' what beer is it''? Waikato.....:shit:
''You are shitin' me! really''?...so I went and ordered two more Waikato's please.
The thing with Waikato is, it has to be very cold and you must start with it, you cant swap to it after drinking something else, thats when it taste like river bed dredge.

[slofox]

I usually drink red wine with lemonade (yes, I know sooo wrong)

:shit::gob::Oi::nono:

Remind me never to sell you anything good...

[Bren]

a little off topic, but have just downed a Jose Curevo Margarita premix (700ml @ 11%)
Reminds me what summer is about...nice fine afternoons getting tipsy...
BRING ON SUMMER and back yard parties!

[Maha]

Currently enjoying Brown Brothers Dolcetta & Syrah....nice drop designed to be served chilled and ever so slight fizz which suits me fine cos I usually drink red wine with lemonade (yes, I know sooo wrong)

We had some Germans here once and they drank Steinlager with coke :shifty:

[slofox]

We had some Germans here once and they drank Steinlager with coke :shifty:

Probably improves the flavour of both...

[Str8 Jacket]

Epic: Armageddon FTW!!!!

[Bren]

Brewed by Hawkes Bay Independant Brewery....

I was hoping this would be another good porter...The label was good and description sounded good...
Popped the top, took the first swig and UGH....I may as well have spent my money on VitaStout...

It lacked the boldness and character you come to expect from a porter....will NOT be buying this one again!!!!

2 out of 5 for me....

The good points....It was beer, and it had alcohol
the bad points...Overpricerd (for what it is) and without a robust flavour I was expecting

[slofox]

Brewed by Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, Md, USA.

Flying Dog is a micro-brewery in Maryland, USofA.

Do not make the mistake of lumping all USA beers in with the commercial swill that is produced by the big corporations. Just as in NZ we have high quality product from craft breweries, so it is in the USofA. The micro-breweries more than make up for the lack of integrity of the commercial product.

Gonzo Imperial Porter is brewed in memory of Hunter S Thompson, who stated that "good people drink good beer."

This is very dark for a porter - almost the colour of stout but allowing some deep bronze highlights through. It is gently gassed and carries of soft head in the glass.
The aromas are of mocha and malt in a sack with a wee hint of hops apparent too.
There is a rich front palate - not too burnt - more of treacle and toffee. There is some fruity sweetness as well. There is a gentle hoppy back palate - enough to be reassuringly bitter. At 9.2% alcohol, this is not for the faint of heart but the flavours are big enough to carry this level without any spirity heat or volatility.

Not cheap but worth the money. Can be purchased online from beerstore.co.nz. I sell it as well.

:drinkup::drinkup::drinkup::drinkup::drinkup: from me.

[jim.cox]

Epic: Armageddon FTW!!!!

I've been really enjoying the Epic 'Mayhem'

Trouble is, that since the quake, its been getting darned hard to find around here

[SPman]

Currently enjoying Brown Brothers Dolcetta & Syrah....nice drop designed to be served chilled and ever so slight fizz ...
How much you paying for that over there - we drink a lot of that but it's $17.99 a bottle here.....

[slofox]

How much you paying for that over there - we drink a lot of that but it's $17.99 a bottle here.....

We sell it for about that - $17.00 at the moment. Depends on the deal I get...supermarkets will discount the shit out if it from time to time...

[Clockwork]

Current offer from the Malthouse: Twisted Hop IPA pulled through manderins(the orange thingies) Not as spectacular as the Coffee flavoured Porter but still very drinkable.

The manager tells me he's next going to try a Tuatara drawen through (some yet undecided citrus fruit) followed by a Porter through Cherries (when they come in to season)

We offered him the suggestion of a chocolate stout drawen through the manderins too. (A la Terry's Chocolate Orange)

[SPman]

Tried some Renaissance beer over the weekend - the American Pale Ale and their India Pale Ale. The APA, whilst very pleasant, wasn't what I've come to expect from the American APA's I've tried, probably had my mouth destroyed by all the Imperial Double IPAs I've been sampling, but I really liked the IPA - a good malt base with the bitterness of the hops sliding over the top. A good solid brew that I'll get again (if possible)

[RiderInBlack]

Tried some Renaissance beer over the weekend
219932
Renaissance Stonecutter Scotch Ale (http://www.renaissancebrewing.co.nz/content/stonecutter-scotch-ale-craft-ale.html) is definitely one of my most favorite beers. Highly recommend it, but must be had with the right food and right temp. Love it.

[slofox]

Tried some Renaissance beer over the weekend - the American Pale Ale and their India Pale Ale. The APA, whilst very pleasant, wasn't what I've come to expect from the American APA's I've tried, probably had my mouth destroyed by all the Imperial Double IPAs I've been sampling, but I really liked the IPA - a good malt base with the bitterness of the hops sliding over the top. A good solid brew that I'll get again (if possible)

I have to agree regarding the APA - I prefer the "Perfection" EPA myself. To be honest, when I first tried the range, I told them I thought they had their names back to front - the EPA is much more aromatic than the APA which is what I would expect from an APA.
Having said that, I sell more of the APA than the EPA...so what would I know?

Try "Green Flash West Coast Pale Ale" if you can get it. Available from www.beerstore.co.nz by the boxful (or from me by the single)...

[jim.cox]

I had the pleasure of an IPA taste test last Friday - Epic Pale up against the Tuatara

This batch of Tuatara cant have been their best - normally I would said I prefered it

But this time the Epic won

[RiderInBlack]

Happy Birfsday to Me:apint:Blood nice drop. Went well with the Scottish Fillet Steak:drool:
http://www.achouffe.be/img/products/1.jpg


Description :
LA CHOUFFE is an unfiltered blonde beer, which is re-fermented in the bottle as well as in the keg. It is pleasantly fruity, spiced with coriander, and with a light hop taste.
Packaging :
330 ml bottle
750 ml bottle
1,5 litre bottle (= BIG CHOUFFE)
20 litre kegs
Alcohol :
8% alc./vol.
Original extract :
16 °Plato
Serving temperature :
4 to 10°C (bottle)

[Bren]

Happy Birfsday to Me:apint:Blood nice drop. Went well with the Scottish Fillet Steak:drool:



And just where do you get this stuff????

[RiderInBlack]

And just where do you get this stuff????http://www.cactusliquor.co.nz/cactus_image.gif
Cactus Liquor Whangarei (http://www.cactusliquor.co.nz/):2thumbsup

[Laava]

If it is your birthday then happy birthday but isn't chouffe french for arse?

[RiderInBlack]

If it is your birthday then happy birthday but isn't chouffe french for arse?If it is then it is one nice tasting bit of quality Blond Belgian Arse, I don't mind licking LOL. And Aye it is.

[EJK]

Anyone with money and taste? Cognac brandy? VS, VSOP, XO? Scotch whisky? Johnnie Walker, Hennessy, Appleton etc?

Teach me one or two things about good spirits. Say... What are good (and expensive)?

[RiderInBlack]

Anyone with money and taste? Cognac brandy? VS, VSOP, XO? Scotch whisky? Johnnie Walker, Hennessy, Appleton etc?

Teach me one or two things about good spirits. Say... What are good (and expensive)?A new thread for that would make it easier the search later on, but maybe if ya did a search yaself ya would have came across these threads that more suited for ya question:bleh: (instead of hijacking this one):
Scotch & Dry (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/98495-Scotch-amp-Dry?highlight=Malt+Wiskey)



What's your poison? (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/53630-What-s-your-poison?highlight=Malt+Wiskey)

[slofox]

And just where do you get this stuff????

I sell it...

[slofox]

Anyone with money and taste? Cognac brandy? VS, VSOP, XO? Scotch whisky? Johnnie Walker, Hennessy, Appleton etc?

Teach me one or two things about good spirits. Say... What are good (and expensive)?

Best Cognac I can get is from Peyrat & Cie. Single vineyard cognacs from the heart of the region. Premier Cru de Cognac, Grande Champagne. Which is as high as it gets.
700ml will cost you $110.00. Which is a lot cheaper than many of the big names because they are lesser known so you pay less for the name itself.

[EJK]

A new thread for that would make it easier the search later on, but maybe if ya did a search yaself ya would have came across these threads that more suited for ya question:bleh: (instead of hijacking this one):
Scotch & Dry (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/98495-Scotch-amp-Dry?highlight=Malt+Wiskey)


Maybe someone should start a new thread! I'd be keen!

Edit: Oh just saw the hyperlinks.


Best Cognac I can get is from Peyrat & Cie. Single vineyard cognacs from the heart of the region. Premier Cru de Cognac, Grande Champagne. Which is as high as it gets.
700ml will cost you $110.00. Which is a lot cheaper than many of the big names because they are lesser known so you pay less for the name itself.

Please tell me more! I like the info I'm hearin'!

[slofox]

Please tell me more! I like the info I'm hearin'!

There are 12 year old versions and 6 year old versions. The sixes cost a little less than the twelves as you would expect. There is also a 20 year old which sells for around $150.00.

There are several different vineyards represented - 5 of them are Grand Champagne, one Petit Champagne, 1 fins bois, 1 bons bois and 1 borderies.

The 12 year olds are usually pretty dark and much heavier bodied than your typical VSOP or VS - certainly much more complex than say Remy Martin. They are much more like the old fashioned Victorian cognacs of yesteryear.

I once talked a guy into trying one of the 12 year olds - Lafont de St Preuil to be exact. He was a Remy Martin man and was very dubious about this stuff. He eventually took one on a Friday night. He came back on Monday and ordered six bottles please ASAP! So he must have liked it.

You can read a little about the company itself HERE (http://www.frenchdepotshop.com.cy/peyrat.htm)

[EJK]

PM sent :yes:

[Bren]

went into Liquorland in P.N tonight....they had a good range of boutique/import beers...so thought I should try a couple...

First up is Green Flash Brewing Co (USA) Hop Head. it is a red ale at 6.4%....quite nice and citrusy flavour...not bad at all...problem was it could have been a bit fresher, but that is the problem with boutique beers...


Second up is the James Cook Spruce Beer, brewed by Wigram Breweries (Chch).
It is 5% and flavoured with Rimu and manuka...Exquisite is the only word I would use...Top marks!...nice dark tan colour and the taste just slaps you about....full of body and flavour...loved it

[ellipsis]

...prohibition would be fun...