Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana - USA - 25/12/2013

The low down: 
You've seen Rogue show up here before, and it scored quite well but this is an entirely different beast. Voodoo Doughnut are an Oregon Doughnut company with wacky crazy flavours. They team up with Rogue Ales to deliver what I consider to be the best dessert beers that can ever exist.

This one is Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Banana. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH
Let me say that again: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

This beer is so impressive (coupled with the small taste I've had of maple bacon voodoo doughnut) that when I am in the states next year, I have added on 2 days to visit Newport OR.

It's that good.

Packaging: 10/10
Pink bottle, voodoo doughnut logo, everything about this is awesome. The empty bottle weighs a ton.
Refreshment: 10/10
This goes down slick. It's malty and lightly carbonated.
Flavour 10/10
Banana is the king of the flavours here, with chocolate second and peanut butter trailing behind. It tastes like an alcoholic Max Brenner milkshake.
Alcohol Content: 9/10
5.3%. That's a lot for a specialty ale that is packed with so much flavour.
Price: 8/10
$19.00 OK the honeymoon is over. I know it can be had for US$13 at the brew pub we will visit in Newport, and it is a 750ml bottle.
Total: 47/50

Welcome to the world leaders list, and with good cause. This stuff is bottled gold. I can't wait to try the raspberry, chocolate, and pretzel flavour, and who knows what else they will come up with before September. This was perfectly matched to Christmas dinner, but it would have worked with anything.
Cheers.

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye - USA - 25/12/2013

The low down:
For the second course this Christmas we plowed on into a full baked dinner that required supreme concentration, both to prepare and to eat. This next beer did not help with that.

Burnt caramels, fruity goodness and the ever present rye flavour, this is amazing stuff. Very different to your usual double IPA that it sits on the shelf with. This is my first rye beer and I can definitely say it won’t be my last. It’s almost peppery and spicy like a good seasoning. It's not too hoppy and it has a serious kick, I'm surprised I was able to continue to bake a ham and baste a turkey.

Bear Republic is a veteran of 25 years of micro-brewing finesse and their back catalog has some serious brew cred. They also build hot rods and top-fuellers, which they hopefully don’t drive after drinking their own brews.

Packaging: 8/10
Digging the hot rod, and the brown bottle does protect the never filtered ale inside.
Refreshment: 6/10
Definitely refreshing, I think it's the rye.
Flavour 10/10
As this is my first rye ale, it sets a precedent. I'll be sure to come back and comment if this should change.
Alcohol Content: 10/10
8%. Do not operate heavy machinery, or a turkey baster.
Price: 8/10
$8.10. A dollar per percentage of ABV seems pretty good to me.
Total: 42/50




So this was on the menu after the duck but before the turkey and the ham. I'd say it would have gone with either, but it really shone with some sharp bitey cheddar, quince paste, and kabana sausage on crackers.
Cheers.

Jamieson The beast IPA - Australia - 25/12/2013

The low down:
Merry Christmas!

I don't normally subscribe to Catholic dogma, but there’s something about good food and good drink with family that appeals to me, and the illegitimate birth of the baby Jesus seems like a fine reason to hit the kitchen and the bar.
Jokes about anthropomorphic jaguar rape aside, this beer is hardcore. Dark fruits and caramel with a powerful malty and honey follow through. It's not something you can drink a lot of, but it is incredibly dense in its flavour delivery.

Apparently that density is the result of six shop additions. There is a distinct alcoholic belly warming that comes with a bottle of this beer, but I guess given the bottle art I should have expected that. This beer is spectacular and by spectacular I mean deadly.

Packaging: 9/10
Ziggurats and warriors and the aforementioned man-jaguar.
Refreshment: 6/10
You cannot possibly session this beer.
Flavour 10/10:
Completely stacked with many levels of flavour.
Alcohol Content: 9/10
7%. Here’s that deadly alcohol I was talking about, and you can taste it.
Price: 7/10
$6.30 I think this is OK because of the amount of alcohol and flavour in the bottle.
Total: 41/50






This was matched to the first course of non-denominational holiday eating event. We had Peking duck in mandarin pancakes, and the slightly sweet slightly spicy Hoi Sin set this off like a rocket.
Cheers

Boatrock Smash - Australia - 21/12/13

The low down:
Golden ales seem to be the new trend among microbreweries in Australia, and this one is officially called a new world hop ale, but I know a golden when I drink it. This is a spectacular offering from Melbourne.

Malty and fruity are the flavours of the day but the real surprise is the good tinge of hops and honey at the end. Throwing the RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) to the wind, Boatrocker themselves say that this beer is designed to be smashed any time of the day. So does that include 8AM before taking the kids to school?

These guys are brand new to the craft scene this year, but I expect great things from them.


Packaging: 7/10
Lightning bolt, Lightning bolt! What you guys don't LARP?
Refreshment: 8/10
Golden ale goodness. Light carbonation, and a honey finish on the hops makes this very sessionable.
Flavour 8/10:
Flavour filled and I can't wait for their specialty brews.
Alcohol Content: 5/10
4.4%. A little on the light side, but this is likely to be a session beer, so probably not a terrible idea.
Price: 8/10
$5.50 Remember this is their first year in business. There's a lot of cost that goes into setting up a new brewery. Reasonable.
Total: 36/50

There will be many more experiences at the Boatrocker brewery. Currently they also have an IPA and a pale ale, but a couple more coming soon. Watch this space, and in the meantime enjoy this with some tacos.
Cheers.

Founders Dry Hopped Pale Ale - U.S.A. - 21/12/2013

The low down:
American Craft beer is a diverse field. They don't have a burgeoning middle-class like they previously did, but they have more craft breweries per capita than anywhere else in the world, except Australia.

Since they have 16 times our population it means they have around 2700 brew pubs, microbreweries, and other miscellaneous places to pick up a pint. Founders out of Grand Rapids is one of the top dogs in the field at the moment and it's easy to see why.

The Pale Ale is both tropical and the right amount of bitter with a nice undertone that is spicy, but not so much that it lessens the refreshment.


Packaging: 7/10
I'm not sure what the image is (maybe a flowery lady?) but it’s well designed and has a special label for export.
Refreshment: 9/10
Another hot day in Sydney. I could see myself doing the whole six pack.
Flavour 9/10:
Tasty. tropical fruits, spicy malts and a little bit of bitter from the hops.
Alcohol Content: 8/10
5.4%. Quite a nice buzz for a session beer, be very careful!
Price: 8/10
$6 this seems like the going price for Sierra Nevada, Founders and Dogfish head. All are worth it.
Total: 41/50

I drank this really quickly. My only regret is that it is now gone and all I have are these words. I don’t think the overall score even reflects how much I like this beer. It is a synergy of brewing awesomeness, the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.
Looking for something for Christmas lunch? This is it for those southern hemisphere celebrators.
Cheers.

Itaipava Pilsen - Brasil - 20/12/2013

The low down:
I've often heard the term ‘bottling up ones emotions’. I wasn't sure what it meant until I was unlucky enough to drink this abomination. This alleged pilsner is bottled revulsion.

When chilled it doesn't taste cold, instead it tastes chemical and of something I can only assume is grave dirt. I imagine if I poured it into a glass it might fluoresce.

I'm struggling to describe it. It's… bad. It's outright offensive to drink. I almost didn't want to finish it and I would finish a Tooheys New.





Packaging: 4/10
It’s not a terrible label/bottle but I now associate it with heinousness.
Refreshment: 2/10
It was really hot and this did not help.
Flavour 1/10:
That’s right, a 1 for flavour. It did remotely taste of beer which tipped this rating over to 1 by an iota.
Alcohol Content: 4/10
4.5%. It’s even low for a pilsner.
Price: 1/10
$6 Yes, you have to pay for this.
Total: 12/50




Don’t do it. The only excuse is if you find it for free at a corporate event and down it as a rapid solution to dealing with people who you find offensive, and only if they are more offensive than the beer.
Cheers.

Moa Methode - New Zealand - 18/12/2013

The low down:
BEER FOR OLYMPIANS? What are they competing in!? Darts is Olympic right, and snooker? This is a spicy fruity Pilsener, though it is lacking the hop intensity of its European brethren, I don't think it suffers for it.

For those that don’t know, the Moa was a gigantic 3 meter tall man-eating mega-fauna that inhabited New Zealand right up until the 14th century AD.

Before the New Zealand Tourism board gets too upset, I should probably retract the man-eating and replace it with man eaten. As with most flightless birds, we ate them to extinction. Go us.

Now the next trick is to drink Moa to extinction.


Packaging: 7/10

Sleek , clean, and well designed.
Refreshment: 9/10
Southern hemisphere summer refreshing. It's super effective.
Flavour 8/10:
Super tasty, little bit fruity, little bit spicy, it’s probably cinnamon and apricots.
Alcohol Content: 5/10
5%. Pilsner to the end.
Price: 5/10
$6.30 Reasonable, but given that they are pushing this stuff like 42 below vodka, it could stand to drop a buck or so.
Total: 34/50





Match it with dodo, moa, Galapagos turtle or white rhino. Spot the theme.
Cheers.

Moondog Selvmordstokt - Australia - 18/12/2013

The low down:
You know you’re in for a treat when NogneO come to town. This wheat porter with sour cherry wine is something entirely different to anything I have ever tried before.

Quoting verbatim from the bottle is likely to be far more entertaining than anything I can come up with. It details that a loose translation of the name is "it is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand." and goes on to quote Haddaway.

As for flavour, the fruit and wheat stand out. With cherry being my favorite fruit, wheat being my favorite beer and Viking being my favorite medieval barbarians, this stuff is right up my alley. There’s a little bit of caramel here, and obviously some chocolate and cherry. Damn, is this one fine beer.

Packaging: 10/10
More Viking warrior art and the lyrics to What is Love.
Refreshment: 8/10
This cannot be drunk quickly, but it is sating my thirst.
Flavour 10/10:
Cherry wheat porter with spice. I don’t think I can put together a more appealing series of words. Maybe boobs beer explosions outer space? Nope.
Alcohol Content: 10/10
7.6% and the weird thing is I can’t seem to taste it.
Price: 8/10
$9.00 .It’s pretty close to Light-force in quality, but it’s only a 330ml bottle, so it loses just a couple of points.
Total: 46/50




It’s late in the evening, I’m watching movies and slowly sipping this delicious collaboration. It’s like everything NogneO touch turns to gold, or something like gold but more delicious. Perhaps this would go well with some cookies.
Cheers.

Ekim Berserker - Australia - 16/12/2013

The low down.
I'm not sure why I’m reviewing this. Apparently this is a bottle from the last crate that shipped and you, dear reader, are unlikely to ever get to drink it. Oh, no, I've remembered why I’m reviewing. Because it’s fricken amazing.

I met the brewer from Ekim once, at a brew festival. He still hand-labels and hand-bottles his beers. This is true love of beer. The custom art on the bottle is a portent of things to come, the beer is bordering on berserk. It brings to mind the Love Among Freaks track of the same name.
I dare not quote all of the lyrics but the opening line is probably enough to give you an idea of how I feel about this beer. "My love for you is like a truck, Berserker" you may have heard it uttered in Clerks, if not, you now have 2 tasks.

The flavours are charred malt and fruits, delicious bitter overtones and caramel swirl of tasty. This is a powerful brew, from one of the leaders in what I wouldn't call craft beers, but art beers.

Packaging: 10/10
Viking warrior art.
Refreshment: 8/10
Tasty and refreshing, a little bitter, but in the good way
Flavour 9/10:
Lots of flavour, all mixed together and it works.
Alcohol Content: 10/10
7.2%. Berserker.
Price: 10/10
$8.10 did I mention hand-bottled and labeled?

Total: 47/50





I've been drinking mine with a hearty feed of herb encrusted pork, butterflied and baked in its own juices. I'll be adding some sort of dessert to the tail end, but that’s not up to me.

This is truly a one of a kind beer, and if you can find one, drink it, no matter what the accompanying meal may be.
Cheers.

Raging Flem - Australia - 16/12/2013

The low down:
"Treat as milk" the label says, and so I fed it to some newborns. Not really, but this is part of the fabled "brewpub" series, meaning it is shipped cold and refrigerated from brewery to belly. It’s also an alcohol infused nectar of the gods not dissimilar to some of the Trappist elites.

It has a very full bodied and complex flavour with pepper, citrus and floral overtones as well as very spicy... something. Being an IPA, the hops are certainly present, but they don’t overpower the other flavours.

Some people might misinterpret Raging Flem but I’m pretty sure this is alluding to the Flemish language and people, as opposed to the phlegm of the mucus variety.



Packaging: 6/10
Fairly regular, no magical stories, the line about milk is nice.
Refreshment: 7/10
Easy to drink despite the boozeahol.
Flavour 10/10:
Lots of flavour, all mixed together and it works.
Alcohol Content: 10/10
7.2%. Holy Moses. The scary thing is that you can’t really tell until you’re about half way in.
Price: 9/10
$7.70 considering you can’t drive a car after drinking 1 of these (in Australia at least) that seems like good value to me...

Total: 42/50

This is a powerfully good beer, full of flavour and alcohol. I’m light headed after one. I don’t think these are matched to a particular food, perhaps some fine cheese and quince paste. If you drink 2 or 3 it will probably be a kebab or pizza by the slice.
Cheers.

Riverside Brewing Co Sixty Nine Summer Ale - Australia - 15/12/2013

The low down:
The juvenile inside me is having a really hard time with this one. I expect it’s because he's young and reckless and needs to unwind. I can only assume the naming of the beer is the fault of Bryan Adams, otherwise the Parramatta based Riverside brewing co. has managed to get quite an illicit brand onto shelves.

The beer itself is delicious. I have a soft spot for really summery beers, specifically because Australia is really the beneficiary of one incredibly long summer, you might say an endless summer. Tropical fruits and citrus make this beer a perfect warm Sunday afternoon delight.

I know I’m not going to get through this whole review without at least snickering at the name, so let’s get it out of the way now.

Heh.

Packaging: 7/10
A little provocative, but the subject on the front is tastefully clad in her 1960's bathing suit
Refreshment: 9/10
Not too bitter, and light with a tropical aftertaste.
Flavour 8/10:
Quite subtle. Not packed with flavour, but that’s a good thing..
Alcohol Content: 5/10
4.6%. People are going to think I’m a drunkard (What? The beer blog guy likes to drink? Absurd), but I think it could have gone up to 5.
Price: 8/10
$5. A fiver for a craft beer is good going. Especially a delicious one.
Total: 37/50

69 is a neat drop. Thanks to proximity and quality it’s becoming more available in the trendy inner west bars as well. Let’s hope it doesn't lose the thing that makes it great; that swinging 60s party-time attitude.
I’m not sure what they ate in the 60's, but it probably wasn't Vietnamese or Korean food, and that’s a shame because this would be the ultimate partner.
Cheers

Robinsons Iron Maiden Trooper - England - 15/12/2013

The low down:
 So when you're waiting for the next attack
You'd better stand, there's no turning back

The Beer is based on the Trooper, which is based on the charge of the light brigade which is based on conjecture and possibly some third hand accounts.

The good news is that unlike most merchandised foods/drinks, Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden actually took an interest in what the output would be. It's typical modern English, and that’s not a bad thing.

Iron Maiden (the band) really represents a bygone era when metal had massive hair and power wails in every verse, and if you see them live now they are still as awesome as ever, just like their beer.


Packaging: 10/10
Number of the Beast was the first vinyl I ever bought. I live for this kind of art.
Refreshment: 6/10
English ale refreshing, it sits nicely and doesn't suffer as it gets warmer.
Flavour 8/10:
Not particularly carbonated with notes of citrus and some lovely bitter hops.
Alcohol Content: 5/10
4.7%. Gone are the days of sex drugs and rock and roll, I guess. See my recommendation below.
Price: 5/10
$10 for a 500ml. Not terrible considering it's licensed.
Total: 34/50



I haven’t been able to dig up whether there will be more Iron Maiden ales produced by Robinsons, If there are I am looking forward to:
- 666, the lager of the beast.
- Fear of the Dark Ale
- Run to the Hills Indian Pale ale
- The Mikeller/Brewdog cross over with ABV in the 30s "The wasted years."
You're welcome.
Tonight we eat curry with English beer!
Cheers.

2 Brothers Kung Foo Rice Lager - Australia - 15/12/2013

The low down:
Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like beer. If you put beer into a cup it becomes the cup, in a bottle it becomes the bottle, in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, beer can flow or it can crash. Be beer, my friend. - Not Bruce Lee

Welcome to the 12 days of Christmas, or craft brew week, or something or other. All I know is there are very few days of work left and it is summer, which means delicious craft brews on shelves.

The story on the bottle is a wonderful tale of school yard entrepreneurship and the beer inside is luscious fruity and crisp. Slightly tangy and citrus it's really easy to drink, and it is disappearing faster than I might like.


Packaging: 9/10
I don’t THINK it's racist.
Refreshment: 10/10
Thanks to the Australian December and global warming, I can truthfully say this is mighty refreshing.
Flavour 9/10:
Tropical and fruity with a very slightly bitter finish.
Alcohol Content: 6/10
4.5%. A little lower than I might like, but comparative to other rice beers I've had.
Price: 7/10
$6.30 Worth it. You expect to pay a premium for craft beers.
Total: 41/50

Go and buy this, now. Run out the stock of this Melbournian glory. First coffee, now beer. What will they beat us at next? If I had to choose a meal to match this with, I’m thinking fish and chips. Preferably by the seaside.
Cheers.

Myanmar Lager - Myanmar - 6/12/2013

The Low Down:
This is a big juicy sweet lager, fresh from B̶u̶r̶m̶a̶ Republic of the Union of Myanmar. In the home country this is more heavily advertised than Coca-Cola. You can't walk a block without a great big sign espousing the real world benefits of the greatest drink in the country.

If these billboards are to be believed Myanmar lager turns you into a sexual Tyrannosaurus, capable of near god-like actions of romantic attraction.

There isn't a lot of truth to the advertising of course, but the beer is a pretty good example of the southeast Asian tradition of drinking copious amounts of booze to deal with the heat, the poverty and the spicy food.

Packaging: 5/10
Fairly good, I like the palace.
Refreshment: 8/10
Asian beers are by definition refreshing, and this is no exception.
Flavour 6/10
It isn't the most spectacular or complex beer, it is simple and sweet and a little bitter.
Alcohol Content: 6/10
5%. Pretty impressive for what feels like a light beer.
Price: 9/10
$1.50 oh Asia and your still poverty stricken economy.
Total: 34/50




A great offering from the future gem lords of the sub-continent (Just watch, now that they are exporting again cheap jade and gemstones will fill the rivers and we will all live like Scrooge McDuck).
Mangoes and papayas. Do it.
Cheers.

Almaza Pilsner - Lebanon - 9/10/2011

The Low Down:
They should rename this beer "The Stank" because that is what it is now known as around the group at the barbecue at which I imbibed it. It smells... horrific, like a mixture of welding slag and cat litter and the taste doesn't come in much better.

Almaza (I capitalise because I care) is a Heineken owned mass produced swill that doesn't even have the common decency to taste like Heineken. They took Heineken and they removed all of the good, all of the joy, and all of the decency, leaving a satanic bile inducing turd of a beer.







Packaging: 3/10
The lack of capitalisation has my OCD raging.
Refreshment: 1/10
I drank this at a barbecue, in October, in Sydney, and could barely bring it to my lips.
Flavour 0/10:
I've never rated anything 0 before, that's because nothing has been quite as horrible as this. I was saving the 0 and this toilet water has earned it.
Alcohol Content: 1/10
4.2%. adding insult to injury, it's even low for a pilsner.
Price: 2/10
$3.00 seems OK, but some methylated spirits and orange juice is better value.
Total: 7/50


Burn it, burn it with fire, use napalm, WMD's, anything, just keep it away. Even the blogger layout tool hates this beer, for some reason the formatting kept resetting.
Cheers.

Macabee lager beer - Israel - 23/8/11

The Low Down:

Beers from the Middle East are notoriously hit or miss, kind of like their peace talks, this one is both hit and miss. If Israeli politics were as bland as Macabee, then that joke wouldn't have worked very well.

I looked up where Netanya was when I couldn't really say anything about the beer other than "easy to drink but nothing remarkable". Netanya, where the beer is brewed, is easy to look at but nothing remarkable. WHY CAN’T ALL OF THE MIDDLE EAST BE LIKE THIS? </political rage out>

If nothing else, conflict makes it hard for me to source content for this blog.



Packaging: 8/10
A clever design with only the name and ABV in English.
Refreshment: 10/10
DAMN is this easy to drink. Exacting carbonation, my other half labelled it as "dangerous"
Flavour 2/10:
Nope it doesn't have that.
Alcohol Content: 6/10
5%. This could get very dangerous very quick.
Price: 6/10
$6 fairly reasonable given how hard it is to find here.
Total: 32/50






This is the Hebrew answer to Pabst Blue Ribbon. Drink it on Instagram. I can easily see this becoming the go-to beer for Rohypnol predators, given that girls will actually drink it.
Lechayim!

Harrys Premium Lager - Singapore - 23/8/11

The Low Down.
Going to the Harry's rooftop bar at Changi Airport has become a regular past time since I caught the travel bug. Every time my stop-over allows for it I have at least 1, sometimes quite a few more.

There’s something about the tropical climate, the sound of large aircraft, and the taste of a top quality lager that make airports almost attractive to be stuck in for prolonged periods. There’s also the added benefit that HPL is probably the cheapest beer in Singapore, given that it’s produced locally, sold primarily at the airport, and is often on special. You can pick it up at Harry’s on the harbor as well, but I think it’s better at the airport.



I should stop now and tell you some actual facts rather than a nostalgic diatribe of my travel adventures.


Packaging: 6/10
The bottle is simple and elegant.
Refreshment: 8/10
This is probably dependent on the where and the when, in some cases it's almost worth missing your connecting flight for.
Flavour: 7/10
It’s mild and sweet, with a smooth finish. Not the greatest for flavour, but that’s not why you drink it.
Alcohol Content: 6/10
4.8%. Good enough. Any more of it and no one would make their connections.
Price: 5/10
$10 in Singapore for a bottle. Cheaper on tap but not as nice.
Total: 42/50

Forget the Singapore Sling, this is the go-to drink when in the land of the Merlion. There’s a Hungry Jacks next door in terminal 3, they do a turkey bacon burger. It's pretty great after 6 or 7 HPLs.
Cheers.