The Final Inst-ale-ment

Well, it’s been a marvellous trip and a great adventure in round the world ales. Unfortunately, the gift of 40 beers, provided last year, has reached its final drop. In this last submission, ales from Europe, India, NZ, UK, Australia and, finally, Canada are represented.

Just to be sure there was a measure of consistency, all beers were consumed with dishes from Asian Lily in Graceville or pizza from Pizzeria 1889 at Yeronga (both highly recommended purveyors of take-away dishes). The only issue came when the stouts were to be consumed … but they both proved to be fine tipples to go with the chosen dishes.

So, here, in the final order of consumption (and no, it wasn’t one big beer swilling fest up, I just haven’t made a post in 2 months) are the last eight submissions from the Festival of 40 Ales:

Chimay Pères Trappistes
Rating: 4 Habaneros
Verdict: A trap worth being caught in

There is a definite benefit to not wasting your time on talk, and spending it on perfecting ales. The naughty little monks that brew this golden drop add to your brewing pleasure but allowing you the self-satidfaction of knowing that part of your purchase is going to charitable works.

Drink this – it is a brew made in heaven.

Tui – East India Pale Ale
Rating: 5 Habaneros
Verdict: Kiwi Perfection in a small brown bottle

I always thought the Kiwis only exported a cheap workforce to Australia … but it turns out they’re sending a great beer as well. This was a beautiful drop – very smooth with great flavours.

A beautiful drop from across the waters.

Newcastle Brown Ale
Rating: 3 Habaneros

Verdict: Disappointed

I don’t know what went wrong here. NBA used to be one of my favourite drops … stronger than a pilsner but not as chocolatey as a Guinness. Maybe it had spent too long in the bottle … or something else was affecting the tase. Either way, on past experience, this still has a high rating on my dance card so I will have to try some more.

A good British import that bridges the light/dark gap.

Bluetongue Traditional Pilsner
Rating: 3 Habaneros
Verdict: Not quite a reptile of a beer

From one of our better known boutique breweries, this is a simple quaffing ale. Neither stand out not drop down and avoid, it walks a lovely moderate line that suits many meals. I quite liked the flavours here and it had a lovely crisp palate.

Like most lizards, it is best drunk cold.

Guinness Extra Stout
Rating: 2 Habaneros
Verdict: DON’T DO THE AUSTRALIAN BOTTLED VARIETY

Gyargghhh – I have a lovely memory of Guinness of the tap in the UK … and it has now been driven from my mind by this wastrel of a brew. I don’t think you can put into a bottle what the Irish have spent generations getting right out of the vat. This had no head, no velvety smoothness and no fighting spirit. It almost behoves me to make a special trip to Ireland just to re-educate my palate.

Brewed under licence? I think they need their licence revoked!

James Squire Porter
Rating: 3 Habaneros
Verdict: Smooth, creamy and full of dark ale goodness

This is not a stout but has the full body and great toes of a dark ale. Best consumed with something meaty and warm, this was a lovely flavoured drop that copes well with a little more temperature than your average drop … in Australia.

Mmmm, steak and ale. Nice.

Kokanee Glacier Beer
Rating: 5 Habaneros
Verdict: (all together now) Oh Can-a-da

Wow, I don’t know what they put in their glaciers, but if they all taste this good then I am going to avoid all common wisdom and am off to lick one!

Sweet without being cloying, fresh and crisp and a wonderful set of flavours. This was a great surprise and one I think I will need to go back and try some more of. May even have to arrange a visit to Banff/Lake Louise/Sunshine in Canada as it is on tap. They probably just run a pipe from the nearest river of ice.

Pure Canuck Gold

Oranjeboom Premium Lager
Rating: 4 Habaneros
Verdict: A fitting farewell from the Dutch who have been brewing this since 1671

Nothing spectacular, just a gorgeous drop from the flatlands. Nice flavours, good body and a great after taste. This was the ideal drop to finish the reviews on.

Orange Boom … too right!

The Diminishing Ratio of Safety to Patience Over Time

I wonder if anyone has done any research into this phenomenon where a person’s risk tolerance will increase the longer they are forced to wait for something to happen. This is most often seen at non-signalled intersections on busy roads. Whether it’s a pedestrian, cyclist or driver, you can almost count the point at where someone’s safety override has just been tripped by the patience meter. As the clock continues to tick, the risks they are prepared to take seem to increase.

Just imagine the scenario where you are pulling out across two lanes of traffic heading in one direction in order to get to one of the two the lanes travelling in the opposite direction. In ideal circumstances, it would be totally clear and you would just indicate and pull-out in a leisurely manner.

Now let’s add a little bit of traffic in both directions and you would probably consider maybe a 5 to 10 second gap in both directions would give you the comfort zone for your manoeuvre. This gives you enough time to get out and safely into the flow of traffic.

So then we mix it up by having the two flows of traffic stagger their gaps. Sure there is enough space to the left, but not to the right. And then, 5 seconds later there is the same situation but in opposite directions. Just not enough space to get out with the same safety margin.

If you watch for a while, you will notice that the standard person who, at the start of the scenario, was giving a nice safe gap is now edging slowly out and beginning to consider smaller and smaller gaps. I know this because I do it myself. On a busy road and in the afternoon when I just want to get home, the gaps I will take must give the oncoming drivers a little scare.

So, I reckon that this observation would extrapolate out to many scenarios that pit one measure of the human condition against another. I would almost guarantee that the standard behaviour would see that the ratio of condition A to B will diminish as time wears away the patience of the participant.

Getting Near The End Of My Ales

St Arnou Premium Blonde
Rating: 5 Habaneros
Verdict: The Patron Saint of brewing blesses us once more

I am definitely wanting to worship at the altar of Arnou on a more regular basis. This brew was just the nicest balance of crispness and taste as well as a suitable dose of flavour. Apparently, during the journey of relocating his remains to Metz, the porters of St Arnou received the miracle of a never emptying mug of ale. Now that is a miracle worth drinking to.

Blessed are the beer makers, for theirs is the Ale House in Heaven

Piraat – Belgian Strong Ale
Rating: 4 Habaneros
Verdict: Avast ye landlubbers, this beer will get your sea legs going in no time

I was totally surprised by this brew. In a squat bottle, with an old ship and a 10.5% images as warning, I expected this to be a nasty concoction. But I was wrong!

Sure, it has the sweetness of flavour that all the strong ales carry, but this didn’t taste like a tub of molasses had mated with some malt and hops to produce a beer flavoured syrup. It was a pleasant, although strong, fully flavoured brew that is worth a try.

Get wrecked on this piraat island, it’s worth the trip.

Lucky Beer
Rating: 4 Habaneros (plus 1/2 for the shape)
Verdict: A great taste in the best bottle ever

Shaped like a laughing jade Buddha, this comically shaped green bottle hides a pleasant surprise … a very drinkable ale. All the right flavours. with a leaning towards the hoppy end of the scale, this is a quaffable beer suitable to many situations. Of course, the bonus is that the bottle will make you smile and is worth keeping. Well I am going to … just for luck.

Buddha smiles and there is no bitterness.

My New Endeavour

I have started a new WordPress blog which I hope you may find useful … it’s called Foto Friday. In it I would like to place the various tips, tricks and experiences I have had behind the camera – Film and Digital.

Look for it here – http://fotofriday.wordpress.com

Each Friday evening (time, kids and weather permitting) I will load a new item and will happily take requests if there is anything you want to share/comment/explore further.

Two More Down The Hatch

Fish Rock Brewery Red Emperor Amber Ale
Rating: 3 Habaneros
Verdict: A whole lot less fishy than it’s ale-house cousin
Quite liked this one … just the right blend of flavours. Still a little sharp round the gills but far less scaly than the previous drop.

Worth a dive into the rock pool to sample this one.

Pilsner Urquell
Rating: 0 Habaneros
Verdict: Apparently ‘A Uniquely Rewarding Taste’ – and they’re right … provided punishment is a form of reward

Maybe I am being too harsh, but this is the first brew I have not been able to complete. I couldn’t get my mouth around the jarring flavours all clamouring for attention … like battling little kids in an ice-cream shop. The label goes on to say ‘intensely hoppy, with a balance of subtle sweetness & velvety bitterness, wrapped in a gloriously crisp body’. Now normally, that is the sort of description I would use to describe Elle McPherson – but there is nowhere near that sort of reward with this ale.

No, no, no, no, no … either my buds were off that night or this just is a beer for laying down and avoiding.

Two More for the Consumption List

Kwak
Rating: 2 Habaneros
Verdict: Um, well, umm … let’s just say it is an acquired taste

Straight from the bottle with no typos from me – “An uncomparable belgian top fermentation beer with a unique taste.” I couldn’t agree more – it is definitely a unique taste, and not one I am likely to recommend. This is a strong (8% ABV) beer with all the syrupy textures that go with it surrounded by strong malt and hop flavours – uncomparable uniqueness!!!

Estrella Damm
Rating: 4 Habaneros
Verdict: Proving that the Spanish can make a damm fine brew

What a corker – smashingly good cerveza. None of you namby-pamby, citrus requiring Spanish speaking ales like Corona’s – this is a fine European premium ale. Crisp, smooth and tasty I could go plenty more of these.

Apparently Estrella means star, and this is a star of a beer.

Lost Count of the Beers – But Here’s 5 More

DAB: Dortmunder Actien – Brauerie
Rating: 4 Habaneros
Verdict: Definitely drinkable

Another brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516 that has definitely got it right. A beautifully crisp and smooth drop … much like my beloved Belgian pilsners.
Tasty, tasty.

Byron Bay All Natural Premium Ale
Rating: 2 Habaneros
Verdict: It’s sort of like beer, but not

I really don’t know how to rate this. It’s not that it wasn’t tasty or refreshing in a simplistic ‘I’m drinking XXXX but I am thinking of Kirin’ kind of way – more like a ‘you’re telling me it’s turkey but I know it’s soya protein tofu based turkey substitute’ kind of beer. Simply, I wouldn’t do this one again unless there was  no real beer left in the fridge, under the stairs or even very warm on the back deck cause it hasn’t been chilled yet.

Fish Rock Brewery Leather Jacket Lager
Rating: 1 Habanero
Verdict: Gargh, fish probably were involved in the brewing of this travesty
I really don’t know what they were thinking with this one. It’s too hoppy, malty and beer-y all at the same time. I was hoping that the palate would warm to it but it just wasn’t a happening thing.
Let it sleep with the fishes.

La Trappe Tripel
Rating: 3 Habaneros
Verdict: Mmmm, the monks have been at it again
A nice mild blend of hops and malt flavours – not as thumpy as the Trappist brew but quite satisfying nonetheless.

Pepperjack Hand Crafted Ale
Rating: 3 Habaneros
Verdict: High hopes lowered, think I’ll stick to their wines

A tasty drop that went down well but I wasn’t sure where they were headed. It has some of the strength of flavour in the heavier brews but without the alcohol hit to go with it. I think this one needs a second try as there were flavours in there that were trying to get out but they may have been to subtle for my uncouth palate.
Give it a try, could be rewarding.

Beez Neez Is Tha Bizness

Beez Neez Honey Wheat Beer
Rating: 4 Habaneros
Verdict: Honey goes in , and honey comes out

My, oh my, oh my. Friends have been quietly raving about this brew but it has taken me a while to reach it. Now, like a fat bear in the woods discovering an untouched hive, I want more. This is a wonderfully smooth and mild brew … not weak, just velvety. A light touch of honey and no hoppiness makes this an unusual, but more-ish brew.

Thoroughly recommended is this one – not a heavy fighting beer, more of a quietly relaxed quaffing ale.

Interesting Comparison of the Human Eye to a Camera

Thanks to B&H Photo’s regular newsletter, this little gem of a comparison appeared.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/The-Photographic-Eye.jsp

I’ve often wondered how to compare a biological and evolutionarily developed imaging system with a digital world.

How does a curved imaging surface compare to a flat surface for quality and focus?

Is it fair to compare a system really designed for movement and hunting to a system more akin to an advanced still painting with detail and colour across the whole scene?

Do developers of the bionic eyes look more towards the Foveon style sensors and a composite imaging solution with focus and colour in the centre and tone and movement towards the edges?

Irrespective, the debate will continue to rage about eye to camera comparisons but I think this really shows that the two really don’t match.

It’s American … Which Probably Explains It

Michelob Ultra
Rating: 3 Habaneros
Verdict: Low Carb & Low Cal? That makes it damn near a health drink

A very smooth and mild brew – unassuming, unassailing … and well, un-beerish. This is probably too smooth for my liking. I could have drunk more of them but still feel vaguely unsatisfied and somewhat cheated. In the end, like most things, if you are worried about your weight then don’t drink beer, or just drink less of them. It would be like trying to introduce diet KFC … pointless and wrong.

If, however, you are looking a for a mildly refreshing, lightly carbonated, Summers afternoon drink … than have a G&T