The Bar - Beer, Wine & Spirits Discussion Thread

[Doashuey]

Haven't seen anything here and Beer Cartel in Sydney don't even have any stock so it's unlikely to find its way here soon unless it's a one off shipment covered by a retailer.

As they grow and expand they may look at it. But to be honest, transporting your well made craft beer across the nullabour in a truck for a realtively small audience is probably not something these guys would likely do ( reduced quality due to heat during transport).
Keep an eye out for them if you find yourself in QLD or better still get to the brewery.

 

[avishka5]

Had a quick look at the Gabs hottest 100 beers for 2018 and it seems like the WA breweries didn’t fair that well this year compared to last year. Pretty shocked that Nail VPA finished 72.

 

[mattyc75]

Had a quick look at the Gabs hottest 100 beers for 2018 and it seems like the WA breweries didn’t fair that well this year compared to last year. Pretty shocked that Nail VPA finished 72.

Was that the one where balter came first?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[avishka5]

Was that the one where balter came first?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Yeah

 

[Coinz]

Our Captain has hit a big bird
https://thewest.com.au/sport/west-c...h-a-bush-chook-on-fishing-trip-ng-b881086826z

 

[DanWCE]

Had a quick look at the Gabs hottest 100 beers for 2018 and it seems like the WA breweries didn’t fair that well this year compared to last year. Pretty shocked that Nail VPA finished 72.

Most WA breweries are not represented on a National level. The biggest that was (Feral) is no longer independent and thus doesn't accrue the votes it used to.

This competition is mostly a who has the biggest marketing budget to pester their customers for a vote. It's a reasonable snap shot of the industry and styles but far from gospel.

 

[avishka5]

Most WA breweries are not represented on a National level. The biggest that was (Feral) is no longer independent and thus doesn't accrue the votes it used to.

This competition is mostly a who has the biggest marketing budget to pester their customers for a vote. It's a reasonable snap shot of the industry and styles but far from gospel.

I kinda figured when little creatures and Coopers did quite well. I don’t mind those two as cheap go to but I don’t even consider them as craft breweries.


Btw is XPA any good?

 

[DanWCE]

I kinda figured when little creatures and Coopers did quite well. I don’t mind those two as cheap go to but I don’t even consider them as craft breweries.


Btw is XPA any good?

I don't think much of it but my first try was a pint topped to the brim which does no favours on presenting a beer of that style. Plus their beer rarely gets here fresh so it may have been an older keg.

I should revisit it after it won back to back. My theory is that without the mad cash and celebrity surfer ownership they'd be just another brewery fighting for a top 100 spot versus a top 3 finish.

 

[avishka5]

I don't think much of it but my first try was a pint topped to the brim which does no favours on presenting a beer of that style. Plus their beer rarely gets here fresh so it may have been an older keg.

I should revisit it after it won back to back. My theory is that without the mad cash and celebrity surfer ownership they'd be just another brewery fighting for a top 100 spot versus a top 3 finish.

I reckon I might have tried it but I was sloshed and it could have been another beer of theirs. I wasn’t impressed at the time.

 

[Moley27]

I don't think much of it but my first try was a pint topped to the brim which does no favours on presenting a beer of that style. Plus their beer rarely gets here fresh so it may have been an older keg.

I should revisit it after it won back to back. My theory is that without the mad cash and celebrity surfer ownership they'd be just another brewery fighting for a top 100 spot versus a top 3 finish.

Personally I'm a big fan of the Balter XPA abd would personally count Nail VPA and Stone and Wood Pacific amongst my other favourites as a guide.

Spent an afternoon at Blasta on Sunday for the first time, they are making some pretty great beers, their Mosaic IPA was extremely moreish.

 

[FKASC]

That craft beer hottest 100 is an absolute joke (same with the JJJ one).

These days with social media being the way it is, you just can’t trust polls like these.

So so many mediocre beers in the top 20

 

[DanWCE]

Personally I'm a big fan of the Balter XPA abd would personally count Nail VPA and Stone and Wood Pacific amongst my other favourites as a guide.

Spent an afternoon at Blasta on Sunday for the first time, they are making some pretty great beers, their Mosaic IPA was extremely moreish.

I am in the minority even amongst my own beer drinking mates about the quality of the Balter XPA, but we all agree it's not a #1, even if the other boys do like it.

 

[Lynch takes a mark]

The fact that the likes of Modus FT and Sonic Prayer, Biggie Juice and VPA are behind YH New Towner, Coopers mid and Furphy says as much as is needed to be said for the credibility.

My beer preferences have definitely changed over the last couple of years, I appreciate the craft stuff but I've only been drinking kolsh, pils and wheat beers over summer. 150 Lashes seems to be the hoppiest beer I can tolerate atm.

 

[SloppyJoe]

Personally I'm a big fan of the Balter XPA abd would personally count Nail VPA and Stone and Wood Pacific amongst my other favourites as a guide.

Spent an afternoon at Blasta on Sunday for the first time, they are making some pretty great beers, their Mosaic IPA was extremely moreish.

I hit up Blasta a few times during the season and really enjoy their beers.

Their My Way and Chainbreaker IPAs are great - the former can be found in cans at some places. Both are quite dark/reddish for IPAs.

And their NEIPA (Unleash the Beast) was excellent.

 

[Freight Train]

Had a quick look at the Gabs hottest 100 beers for 2018 and it seems like the WA breweries didn’t fair that well this year compared to last year. Pretty shocked that Nail VPA finished 72.

Single Fin will always be my #1.

A lot of love for Balter though, which are good beers don't get me wrong but I wouldn't rate the three that made it that high as the best Australian beers necessarily.

 

[avishka5]

Single Fin will always be my #1.

A lot of love for Balter though, which are good beers don't get me wrong but I wouldn't rate the three that made it that high as the best Australian beers necessarily.

Fell in love with single fin again. Think drinking it at the stadium put me off it for a bit. That said, its not my favourite Gage roads bevy either.

 

[Moley27]

That craft beer hottest 100 is an absolute joke (same with the JJJ one).

These days with social media being the way it is, you just can’t trust polls like these.

So so many mediocre beers in the top 20

I guess with everything popularity swings a poll, not just the popularity of the mediocre beers but also the publicity around the poll has grown along with the growth of craft beers.

More and more people who would previously only drink Emu Export etc are starting to branch out into craft and the Furphys and 150 Lashes are more to their tastes than the really impressive craft beers.

The top 100 new beers that GABs releases every year is usually a more interesting list than the standard top 100.

https://www.gabsfestival.com/h100-2018-aus-new-list

https://www.gabsfestival.com/h100-2018-aus-indie-list

 

[DanWCE]

That craft beer hottest 100 is an absolute joke (same with the JJJ one).

These days with social media being the way it is, you just can’t trust polls like these.

So so many mediocre beers in the top 20

How could it be improved? Stopping votes for non independents is one way but some genuinely good beers then miss out, not least of which is the multiple #1 Hop Hog.

That also still allows the likes of Coopers to feature prominently although most of us with a more developed palate wouldn't put it at the pinnacle. I suppose the problem is that much like the JJJ it's simply the most popular, most approachable, most widely accepted which wins. It's not an award for being cutting edge or pushing boundaries o or being the best, it's an award for being popular. And that's why my opinion of the best beer doesn't correlate with the voting results these days.

 

[FKASC]

I suppose the problem is that much like the JJJ it's simply the most popular, most approachable, most widely accepted which wins. It's not an award for being cutting edge or pushing boundaries o or being the best, it's an award for being popular. And that's why my opinion of the best beer doesn't correlate with the voting results these days.

Exactly.

I don’t think it can be improved. It’s a popularity contest, but even then I doubt it would correlate with the best selling craft beers. (sales numbers would actually be interesting to look at)

I mean, Bridge Road pale ale in the top 5 - could it possibly be the fifth best craft beer in Aus? Absolutely no chance. Fifth most popular? I have never seen anyone drink that let alone seen it on tap anywhere in Melbourne. Obviously they’ve tapped into some pocket of the population and got them all to vote for them.

I guess it could be improved by ensuring it’s not implied to be a measure of how good these beers are, and just referring to it as the voters’ favourites.

I mean, I’d love for them to take the average Joe who votes, give them a blind tasting of their #1 choice as well as 2 others from the top 20, and see how many can actually pick what they voted for.

There’s so many of the same generic beer in the top 20, i’d be surprised if most people could pick it

Plus, the fact that Captain Sensible is in the top 20 suggests that Balter have just told people to vote for their entire suite. How many people would otherwise genuinely vote Captain Sensible as their favourite beer?

 

[avishka5]

Exactly.

I don’t think it can be improved. It’s a popularity contest, but even then I doubt it would correlate with the best selling craft beers. (sales numbers would actually be interesting to look at)

I mean, Bridge Road pale ale in the top 5 - could it possibly be the fifth best craft beer in Aus? Absolutely no chance. Fifth most popular? I have never seen anyone drink that let alone seen it on tap anywhere in Melbourne. Obviously they’ve tapped into some pocket of the population and got them all to vote for them.

I guess it could be improved by ensuring it’s not implied to be a measure of how good these beers are, and just referring to it as the voters’ favourites.

I mean, I’d love for them to take the average Joe who votes, give them a blind tasting of their #1 choice as well as 2 others from the top 20, and see how many can actually pick what they voted for.

There’s so many of the same generic beer in the top 20, i’d be surprised if most people could pick it

Plus, the fact that Captain Sensible is in the top 20 suggests that Balter have just told people to vote for their entire suite. How many people would otherwise genuinely vote Captain Sensible as their favourite beer?

I follow a couple breweries on FB and most of them had posts leading up wanting people to vote for them. In fact i got suggested posts from other breweries wanting people to vote. I actually got a lot of suggested ad's from Bentspoke brewing to vote. I guess they've invested a bit of coin into facebook marketing and it seems like it's paid big time for them. I've never seen their beers here and didn't even hear of them till i saw those posts.

I saw heaps of ads from Coopers wanting people to Vote. I like Coopers but they shouldn't be included (along with LC and Furphy's).

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Coopers shouldn’t be included because of the taste, I’d have thought.

 

[Here2tellyouwhy]

Im drinking Coopers session ale.

Come at me DanWCE

EDIT: and Carbine Chaos

 

[avishka5]

Im drinking Coopers session ale.

Cum at me DanWCE

EDIT: and Carbine Chaos

weird flex but it's 2019 and all that.

 

[avishka5]

colonial IPA yay or nah?

Im not a huge fan of their beers apart from their sour.

 

[Here2tellyouwhy]

weird flex but it's 2019 and all that.

whats weird flex?