25 April 2010

Brew Dog--Funny Stuff!!

Brew Dog from Scotland is one of my favorite breweries. They brew some outstanding and aggressive beers... notability my favie PUNK IPA...  In the vid below they are taking the piss out of the Schorschbräu brewery in Germany as they have taken the crown away from them for the second time in the past 12 months on who brews the highest ABV beer in the world..A good rivalry to have! .. The Brew Dog guys are definite PROPER BEER advocates..Love yer work fellas!




Sink the Bismarck! from BrewDog on Vimeo.



Expect to see a review of PUNK IPA soon along with other great beers from BREW DOG!

24 April 2010

Murray's Icon 2IPA

This brew comes from down the the road from me!! From a fantastic craft brewery called Murray's. Created by head brewer Shawn, this is the jewel in the crown of  Murray's range of PROPER beers in my opinion.
It is an approachable Double IPA (India Pale Ale) with heavy malt tones and hops on the nose.The hops are definitely there (1kg is added per 100 litres during the brewing process!) giving bitterness thoughhout the pint while the malts mellow them through making it a very drinkable and refreshing Double IPA. It isn't as hoppy as some of the other double IPA's I've tried but still definitely holds its own at 7.5%ABV.
Hints of fruit are there on the taste buds- blood orange and abit of burnt caramel/toffee too.




At the moment it's only available on tap at the the brewery, It is usually released in September in bottle form either in 330ml stubbies or the 750ml bomber.
Being a local I tend too pick it up in one of their superb growler take away/refillable bottles 1.89 litres (see pic). In saying that the taste from the tap does vary from time to time sometimes being more maltier than the last.
In a final note about this beaut beer I think it sits in-between the English IPA's of old and the Hop crazy Double IPA's of the USA as it does give you a hop hit but as with the English styles quite malty and smooth. Maybe it's a new style we have here -- The Aussie  IPA!!!
Great Job Murray's!

Also check out Murray's Blog where Murray himself gets fired up about the big Macro breweries parading their weak yellow fizzy crap around. Great read.

20 April 2010

Hunter Beer Co./Potters Brewery Pale Ale

This review is about a beaut local pale ale I picked up yesterday at Hunter Beer Co./ Potters Brewery in the Hunter Valley NSW .
I also had it on tap at the brewery's pub as a taster along with all their regulars and a couple of seasonal beers.

They were:

Kolsch

Witbier

Larger

Bock

Chocolate Porter

Pale Ale

Gose (limited)

Oyster stout

Ginger Beer (Sold Out--Maybe next time)



The two that stood out for me were the Oyster Stout (what Guinness really should be!!) and the Pale Ale. Unfortunately the Oyster Stout was all sold out in bottles so I took home a couple of Pale Ales anyway after having a good 'ol chat with the brewer Keith--Top bloke who really knows his PROPER BEER!


Got home (after a chicken burger stop in Kuri Kuri : ) and put the Ale on ice. After it chilled down abit I poured a pint of this slightly straw like amber liquid brew....not much aroma on the nose but after the first gulp you can really notice piney-fruity HOPS are there! Smooth mouth feel and  at 5.2%ABV makes it a great Ale to appreciate and savor after a hard days work or anytime really...

Very enjoyable to drink...  This one really surprised me.
Probably I will go as far to say the one the best pale ales this awesome up and coming craft beer country has to offer...
The pub tap version was so much more bitter and largery --is that a word?? (which I don't mind at all)
I was expecting the same but the bottle conditioned version was so much more smoother and complex in terms of  hoppy goodness.  Went well with some of the cheese we got out there in the valley too!
Definately recommended for all you Pale Ale and IPA fans out there...




I have found over the years if you find yourself at a establishment that serves proper beer its always good to try out the bottled version-if available-- to compare to the tap and vice versa. You never know you might find a absolute gem out there like I have.
Also if you're in this part of the world give the Hunter beer co/Potters Brewery a visit I'm sure the kind lads will look after ya!

16 April 2010

Coopers sparkling ale!

For my first review I had to go back to the first beer that I had that I thought was a proper beer (and still is). Before trying coopers I was like much of my friends and other young Aussies downing chemi brews from one of the big two breweries-hate to say it but Melbourne Bitter was my drink of choice back then...
I had my first Coopers sparkling ale on my 18th birthday (the legal age in Australia to buy alcohol) but it wasn't me who bought it ... one of my mates said "try this ..it's good!"  Had a swing and maaaaate it was good--at the time it was totally different to what I had been used to and changed my idea of beer forever....


Coopers sparkling ale at 5.8% ABV it packs a punch! No preservatives or additives are added either making it qualify in my book as PROPER BEER!  It's no hop monster but it is a well balanced, cloudy, perfectly carbonated ,slightly bitter with a bit of citrus coming through too, Making it a great beer for any occasion.  Also without any silly chemicals in it the hangover will be less severe if you are keen on downing a fair few the night before. Above all it is a great option at the bottle-o in the usual sea of macro's.

Coopers as whole also gets my respect as it has grown from an old school craft brewery into the largest (still) family owned brewery in Australia--Even after several attempts by big macro breweries to take it over the Coopers family kept staunch and the company grew as a result.

Coopers Sparkling is pretty much available everywhere in Australia and I have seen it throughout Malaysia,Thailand at high-end supermarkets such as Isetan and and also in Japan at my fave bottle-o: Tanakaya in Mejiro Tokyo .

DG


Welcome to Proper Beer Mate!

Well here we go! This blog is about what I think is proper beer! Mainly writing reviews based on my experiences here in Australia but also Japan and Asia. The beaut up and coming craft breweries of  Australia and Japan I have found are in a similar situation--Both financially and in terms of size.
Throughout this blog i'll be writing on their industries and the challenges and triumphs they come across. 


And don't worry they'll definitely be reviews of beer from the Pioneer countries of craft beer-our mates in the US/Canada and UK/Europe/Scandinavia.. Both old world and new world beers will be featured here.

Another aim of this blog is to hopefully educate people what proper beer actually is, what it should be and what it shouldn't be. 

.....So sit back with a Pint of yer favie PROPER BEER and enjoy! 

DG