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Beerdrinker's diary
January, 2007
Author: Neil McInnes
Tuesday, 2 January – Baroona
To the Baroona Brewey in the grounds of the Onetangi Vineyard on Waiheke Island. I went to taste the beer (she the wine) and have some of the food from their menu. The food was a disappointment: expensive and low quality (tinned peaches in the cheese board!). We should have guessed - a lot of the food on Waiheke is poor value/quality.
The Baroona Weiss had a mild aroma of yeasty banana with some yeast skank and a touch of acidity. That was the best it got. Light-bodied with a slight wheat note and a mild sourness, the lack of any real residual in the aftertaste (apart from another slight wheat note) suggests this is really a lager masquerading as a weissbier.
Back at the in-laws in Palm Beach later that evening I had a Baroona Full Malty. The label said it was a ‘trappist style’ beer and the 7.5% abv also suggested it could be something interesting. But in the end it wasn’t. It had a mild, almost muddy aroma with a bit of yeast sock coming through. Surprisingly light-bodied and clean finishing except for some brown spice notes. Reasonable bitterness, but otherwise unexciting.
Wednesday, 3 January – Old Speckled Hen
Picked up this classic English Ale at The Barn - Waiheke’s Super Liquor store in Ostend. Appealing aroma of malt (with some hop), relatively light-bodied with a bitter palate. Little in the way of malt sweetness in the taste though there were noticeable malt flavours in the finish - along with some tasty hops.
Thursday, 4 January – Hofbrau Munchener Kindl Weiss
After my earlier disaster with Hofbrau I was a little apprehensive when I saw this at the Waiheke’s only supermarket – Woolworths. I checked the date: it was OK, so I took a punt. Ended up being worth the effort as it wasn’t an overblown ‘big’ weiss and therefore easy drinking. But if you like your weissbier chewy then you’ll find this a little light.
Friday, 5 January – Heineken freebies
To ASB Showgrounds in Auckland City for Varekai by Cirque de Soleil courtesy of Heineken. DB’s PR company had offered a double invite – so I decided to take them up on it. Their staff also provided me with vouchers for 4 free Heinekens (in the designer aluminum bottle). I paid for the prostitution my soul with a big hangover and a horrible cough the next morning.
Tuesday, 9 January – The curse of antibiotics
The horrible cough got worse on the road trip back to the capital. Doctor diagnosed it as the bronchitis the family had over the Xmas break. I’d managed to stave it off until the very end of the holiday (so as not to interrupt vital drinking time) but now there was no drinking for 7 whole days – “the horror, the horror”.
Saturday, 13 January – Guinness and beef pie
To Te Papa Tongarewa for some quality time with the kids. After exhausting them and myself at the Discovery Centres we went into the notoriously expensive café. A Guinness and Beef pie was only six dollars and had chunky beef pieces in a sweet gravy. Will try it with a beer the next time.
Sunday, 14 January – Beer Hunting
To New World Supermarket in Island Bay for some beer hunting. Owner (and toast artist) Maurice Bennett is well known for his beer selection and his line of contract beers under the Bennett’s label. New in were three beers from Blenheim brewer Renaissance in pint bottles. I bought a bottle of Perfection Pale Ale for celebrating the end of my period of beer denial.
Wednesday, 17 January – Renaissance Perfection Pale Ale
This one really blew our minds when it first came out on the tap – fruity, hoppy and generally gorgeous. Subsequent kegs never had the same fruity aroma and taste so I was hoping this bottle would recapture that moment of first love.
The aroma was full and big with hops and malt. There was a satisfying depth of flavour, sweet malt notes and an intense resiny bitterness. While there wasn’t the passionfruit of the earlier brews, there was grapefruit along with meaty bitter finish (that didn’t bludgeon the tastebuds). Glorious.
Friday, 19 January – After work drinking
To Bodega for a pint of Epic Mayhem. It had an aroma of passionfruit which became more grapefruity as the hop aromas kicked in. The body had good ale weight and the grapefruity hop thing came through on the palate and carried through to a big ballsy bitter finish. Num-nums.
Arriving home to loved ones I had a Monteith’s Summer beer (because there was nothing else cold) followed by a Mac’s Great White with dinner. Still unable to rate the Great White more than OK. It’s somewhere between the Blonde Mac and the Verboten Vice it replaced, but not as good as either.
Rounded off the evening with a bottle Duvel in its glass in the garden after dark, which was immensely satisfying. If I had another I would have drunk it. But I didn’t, so it probably saved me from falling over and hurting myself.
Sunday, 21 January – Mac’s Spring Tide
To Silverstream Steam Museum for a ride on a steam carriage for a 5th birthday party and farewell to family friends emigrating to a rural idyll in Canterbury. The train went back and forth along a 1.5 km stretch of track while the little ‘uns geeked out. Good fun for the first 10 minutes, but I we went back and forward for at least an hour and a half. Was offered and accepted a Spring Tide from Mac’s new range. It’s Lo Carb and organic – and that’s probably the best you can say about it! There was a bit of hop up front, and then a cavernous hole where the malt flavour should be. A vacuously bodied beer one could say.
Thursday, 25 January – Bombardier Bitter
To Glengarry’s in Kelburn on the way home to pick up a something for drinking with dinner. They were renovating because their shelves weren’t OSH compliant - !? Was seduced by the fact that Well’s Bombardier English Premium Bitter is a ‘full pint’ (ie five sixty ml not five hundred). Glad to see the British obsession with value for money from booze is bringing benefits to the colonial pisshead. I’m still waiting for BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free) to hit – but I guess I could be waiting for some time.
Bombardier has a deep rich brown-amber colour with a sweet malt note in the aroma. Bitter on the top of the palate, it has a full malt flavour with touches of marmite creeping in. Strong bitterness in the finish. This was a big sucker as far as English bitters go, as it was 5.2% abv.
Friday, 26 January – Leffe Blonde
To Leuven Belgian Bar for a quick Leffe Blonde after work. Sweet and yeasty aroma (with a little sock creeping in) and a discernible hop note. It had a soft yeasty start but the hops kicked in quickly and provided a bitter underpinning to a clean sweetness (ie you can taste a sugary sweetness starting, but it never fully develops). As you drink, the bitterness builds on top of a dry and yeasty finish.
Saturday, 27 January – John Bull Finest Bitter
Another ‘full pint’ of English bitter from Glengarry’s – again from Wells. John Bull had the familiar malt-dominant aroma of many English bitter, though hops could be easily picked up. There was butter and vegemite in the mouth as well as some roasted malt flavours. Again the hops poked through in the palate and in the aftertaste.
Sunday, 28 January – Cooper’s Vintage Ale retry
Bought another couple of bottles of Cooper’s Vintage Ale from Regional Wines and Spirits during the week for a retasting. While the alcohol came through on the nose, there was also evidence of fruitiness, hops and some strong caramel notes. The caramel notes carried through into the taste where there was also a pruney-raisiny thing going on. Light-bodied for its 7.5% and the spicy hops and port-like alcohol notes meant it wasn’t cloying and had a refreshing aftertaste.
Will write this one up for M2 magazine as its vinous nature will appeal to some oenophiles out there.
Wednesday, 31 January – Monk’s Habit
To Bodega for a swifty after work. Chose a Cock’n’Bull Monk’s Habit and then had to steel myself to pay nine dollars for a three hundred ml stemmed glass. It was however worth the brass. Sweet fruit aroma of blackcurrant/boysenberry with a passionfruit or pineapple note. For a big beer it was relatively light bodied and it had a deep bitterness and a nice, but sharp, alcohol note. Smooth hop finish with a tasty alcohol astringency coming though. A satisfying and well balanced beer. This one is getting better each time I drink it.
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