The Bar - Beer, Wine & Spirits Discussion Thread

[Bender_]

Yahtzee

 

[KO_KO]

Jap whisk(e)y is the bomb atm, love how crisp they are no peat involved ftw

 

[Boohemian]

I'm working my way through a carton of Rogue's 7 hop IPA. Picked it up cheap from international beer shop because it was out of code.

Purists will say that IPAs should be drunk as fresh as possible, but the older ones mellow out and the malt body comes through. It's different than what the brewer had in mind, but it's not necessarily worse. With a discount >50% for a carton I'll take this one over hoegaarden anyday.

Rogue are pretty gimmicky and more miss than hit for me, but this range is pretty solid.

 

[Boohemian]

If we're talking peat, Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude is something to seek out. Beautiful peated ale.

 

[BigBirdz]

I recently purchased a bottle of StarWard whisky. Its an Australian whiskey and its top notch I got the wine cast aged one and will be purchasing the normal one next time. Highly highly recommended.

 

[Matele]

Alright, question. What's a decent cheap beer I'll be able to buy on a meager uni student budget?

 

[squashface]

Alright, question. What's a decent cheap beer I'll be able to buy on a meager uni student budget?

Hollandia.

$30 a carton

 

[Matele]

Hollandia.

$30 a carton

Noted

 

[bzparkes]

I can't help but fell James Packer is to blame for this. Or maybe I'm just drunk amd don't like lizard looking fat heads.

Probably the latter but you're not alone, on both counts.

 

[Suma Magic]

Stick with scotch either neat or with a dash of water. Don't be one of those 3 cube guys, just proves you're clueless about how to drink it. If you want ice that's fine but either pack the glass so the ice melts slower or use one big cube.

Here are my thoughts on your drink choice and how I judge you;

Beer drinkers.

• The guy who only drinks craft beer; Don't get me wrong i enjoy craft beer but I'm pretty open to anything, craft or not. May as well get some sleeve tattoos and change your surname to Masten if you insist on only craft.
• Corona drinkers; Anyone who drinks a beer that needs a ******* lime in it to give it any flavour needs their head checked. There's a time and place for them and that time and place is with your pussy, non-beer loving mates. That or the past as you want to forget you ever had a thing for them. Sorry Keys.
• Pale ale drinkers; Their favourite must be fruit salad with edible flowers sonthey go for the beer that smells and tastes closest to it. That or they're a slave to fashion.
• VB/Carlton draught/Toohey's/etc...; Dad drank it and I have no opinions of my own so I decided to drinknthe same thing, probably from the age of 14. Oh and Winnie blues.
• Import drinkers; So sophisticated and classy, these people don't realise they're drinking their beer's country's equivalent of Fosters.
• Melbourne bitter; "I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok..." I used to buy this shit out of a shopping trolley at bottle-os in Launceston back in my teen years for $1, now it's one of the more expensive beers on tap adored by flanelette loving hipsters in trendy pubs all across Melbourne.

Wine drinkers

• NZ sav blanc; these same people probably drank crouchen riesling back in the day and jumped on the chardonnay bandwagon yet now claim they hate it. Anyone who drinks something that smells of cats piss and passionfruit needs to make better life choices.
• Big barossa reds; Boring businessmen with no mind of their own looking to impress others guys who have no idea about wine either. Of course there's some amazing wines from there but when the only wine you know is penfolds grange and insist it's the best, well you're probably the kind of guy that name drops people you met 5 years ago like you know them to try to clinch a business deal.
• Merlot drinkers; Ever seen a unicorn? Neither have I.

Scotch drinkers

• Glennfiddich; You just spent 5 minutes staring at my collection of single malts, asking me questions yet settled on Glennfiddich 12yo? You're either clueless or cheap.
• Johnnie walker blue; "What's your most expensive scotch?" This person doesn't understand that the most expensive is not necessarily the best but they are a tosser who just wants to show whoever they are with that they have money to burn. Expect this person to order with 3 cubes, take one sip then ask for a splash of coke.
• Anything peaty; had Laphroaig once on a work tab and now has to tell his mates/colleagues how much of a whisky expert he is.

Cocktail drinkers

• Creamy drinks; Personally i rarely see these people anymore but it's almost always some fat lady in her thirties, some old duck who only drinks brandy alexanders or some tool who keeps raving how awesome they are because he can't taste the alcohol. Of course you can't mate, i put one shot of chocolate liqueur in there and charged you $16...
• Negroni drinkers; Either hipsters, pretentious gits or bartenders. I know this for a fact because I am the latter 2 of those 3 options.
• Vodka martini drinkers, shaken; Fresh off their James Bond marathon these people think they are the height of sophistication where really they're just morons. Never order this drink in a decent bar because everyone working there will judge you. Oh and the drink's real name is Kangaroo cocktail.
• Fruit tingle drinkers; Just show me your ID love...

Mixed spirits

• Bundy drinkers; All those great rums out there and you choose to drink the one that tastes like a sweaty miner's arse? Probably explains why those fly in, fly out workers like it so much.
• Scotch & coke; Fine if you drink the cheapest scotch but when you start asking for Johnnie black or better then that just tells me you've got more money than sense.
• Tequila sunrise; A favourite of the RSL denizens this drink tells me you have all the sophisication of a homeless guy in Frankston.
• Vodka cranberry drinkers; Typical WCE Bigfooty board poster.

I drink VB because I like the taste, and because it's cheapish. My dad drank white wine mostly then gave up drinking.

I drink J&B with ice or soda. Mostly because it's cheap and because Patrick Bateman did. Thoughts on J&B?

 

[bzparkes]

I've worked bar a bit and try to have half- decent taste and couldn't agree more with almost all of these.

As a student you can only be picky when you can afford to. What drives me crazy is when people hate on something like Export, oh that's piss etc..... And then order a Heineken or a Stella. Stella's like 4 pound a six-pack in the UK. It's all perspective.

The other is as you said, the person who only drinks quadruple hopped IPAs, as if hops are the only thing that makes a good beer and refuse to drink anything else. If you can't enjoy an average tinny when offered or a shitty mid strength at the football, do you really like beer?

It's a bit like anything in life, if you love something great, but don't shit on someone else's taste because more than likely you'll end up looking like the idiot; someone will always know more or have better taste.

All true. Of course I wrote the post in jest because even though I think I have refined taste, I'll drink whatever's on hand when push comes to shove should the occasion call for it. My boss is the same and he's a sommelier. If you're having a great time then drink whatever.

Your drink choice doesn't define you, only the reason for it.

 

[Keys]

• Corona drinkers; Anyone who drinks a beer that needs a ******* lime in it to give it any flavour needs their head checked. There's a time and place for them and that time and place is with your pussy, non-beer loving mates. That or the past as you want to forget you ever had a thing for them. Sorry Keys

Yeah yeah I get it. Coronas are drunk by either pussies or pretentious w***ers

For the record I don't put limes (or lemons) in mine and I got in the habit of drinking them on Broome because they were refreshing in the heat. I could also drink them in quantity without getting gassy, feeling full or waking up with a hangover. At some point they became pretty reasonably priced as well which helped

I'm pretty much a beer only drinker and arent particularly fussy what I drink - I have my preferences but won't knock anything back if it's offered

Don't drink wine and if I stray onto spirits it's often a precursor to trouble. Last time I drank vodka I woke up in a shower fully clothed with no memory of how I got there. Had a night on Captain Morgan's and ended up with a broken ankle. Last bender I was put onto Old Fashioneds and Syd can confirm that didn't end all that well

So it's safer to stick to beer for me - even if it's one for pussies

Well Islay whiskies are my favourite so because you've got Ardbeg you're good in my books. Had Lagavulin 16yo before? It's pretty popular these days but was the whisky that got in interested in Scotch. The Glenlivet founder's reserve is really good and you can usually get it on special for under $50, which is surprising considering how good it is.

Oban and Cragganmore are also 2 must try whiskies. Personally I want to try Balvenie but haven't been able to justify the cost at this stage. Also anything Japanese by Suntory is phenomenal but hard to find and pricy. I try to pick up a couple of bottles duty free whenever I come back from overseas.

Scotch snob you sound like

I did get given a bottle of Chivas Regal as a gift a little while back, not the standard one but a slightly more upmarket one. That was pretty nice especially since I don't usually like scotch

Had it with dry so that probably counts against me

 

[bzparkes]

I drink VB because I like the taste, and because it's cheapish. My dad drank white wine mostly then gave up drinking.

I drink J&B with ice or soda. Mostly because it's cheap and because Patrick Bateman did. Thoughts on J&B?

J&B isn't bad and drinking it with ice or soda is a great choice. I personally find drinking with coke or dry a bit pointless as it disguises the flavour so you may as well drink vodka. That and the sugar from the mixers gives me a massive headache the next day, something i don't get drinking something neat or with soda.

 

[bzparkes]

Yeah yeah I get it. Coronas are drunk by either pussies or pretentious ******s

For the record I don't put limes (or lemons) in mine and I got in the habit of drinking them on Broome because they were refreshing in the heat. I could also drink them in quantity without getting gassy, feeling full or waking up with a hangover. At some point they became pretty reasonably priced as well which helped

I'm pretty much a beer only drinker and arent particularly fussy what I drink - I have my preferences but won't knock anything back if it's offered

Don't drink wine and if I stray onto spirits it's often a precursor to trouble. Last time I drank vodka I woke up in a shower fully clothed with no memory of how I got there. Had a night on Captain Morgan's and ended up with a broken ankle. Last bender I was put onto Old Fashioneds and Syd can confirm that didn't end all that well

So it's safer to stick to beer for me - even if it's one for pussies




Scotch snob you sound like

I did get given a bottle of Chivas Regal as a gift a little while back, not the standard one but a slightly more upmarket one. That was pretty nice especially since I don't usually like scotch

Had it with dry so that probably counts against me

Hah it's all in fun. To be honest I don't really give a shit what people drink but what I've written are some strongly held industry opinions rather than my own.

Are those opinions justified? Probably not. Bartenders can be the biggest w***ers you meet in the industry. Kind of like chefs but at least chefs have a trade qualification.

 

[Keys]

When it comes to beer the biggest bugbear I have is the stupid pricing structure that has 6 packs costing upwards of $20

Hate shelling out that much when I can get a carton for $50 or thereabouts

 

[mick06]

Doing my best to give a perspective from the other side of the bar

My thoughts are. If you work here and you sell it, just pour whatever the **** im asking you to and ill pay you in return

 

[bzparkes]

When it comes to beer the biggest bugbear I have is the stupid pricing structure that has 6 packs costing upwards of $20

Hate shelling out that much when I can get a carton for $50 or thereabouts

That's why they do it. It sounds great value like you're saving money but when in reality you're spending $50 instead of $20.

 

[bzparkes]

My thoughts are. If you work here and you sell it, just pour whatever the **** im asking you to and ill pay you in return

This is also true and i completely agree.

 

[bzparkes]

As for my own drink choices i'll pretty much drink anything so if you judge me by my own criteria I'm mostly everything i bagged except for aged scotch and mixer, total waste of money.

Having said that i love gin, whisky and beer of most kinds. Love wine also and cocktails if i know the bartender. Same as getting coffee from a familiar barista i guess.

 

[avishka5]

That's why they do it. It sounds great value like you're saving money but when in reality you're spending $50 instead of $20.

true but then you have 3 more 6 packs for for your 3 next sessions and don't have to spend another $60. Its only impractical if you rarely drink and don't down a six pack in a sitting.

 

[avishka5]

• Bundy drinkers; All those great rums out there and you choose to drink the one that tastes like a sweaty miner's arse? Probably explains why those fly in, fly out workers like it so much.
• Scotch & coke; Fine if you drink the cheapest scotch but when you start asking for Johnnie black or better then that just tells me you've got more money than sense.
• Tequila sunrise; A favourite of the RSL denizens this drink tells me you have all the sophisication of a homeless guy in Frankston.
• Vodka cranberry drinkers; Typical WCE Bigfooty board poster.

How do you know what sweaty miners arse taste like?

 

[bzparkes]

true but then you have 3 more 6 packs for for your 3 next sessions and don't have to spend another $60. Its only impractical if you rarely drink and don't down a six pack in a sitting.

Oh i don't disagree, buying 6 packs just boosts their profit substantially but they also want to entice you to spend more money. Bit of a balancing act. I'll always buy a case but i'm a sad sack who drinks 18 stubbies in one hit.

 

[bzparkes]

How do you know what sweaty miners arse taste like?

I used to drink bundy

 

[Keys]

How do you know what sweaty miners arse taste like?

I used to drink bundy

Out of a sweaty miners arse crack yeah

 

[bzparkes]

Out of a sweaty miners arse crack yeah

Did i also mention i used to live in Queensland? There's a trifecta if i ever saw one.