{"id":4187,"date":"2012-06-15T00:37:37","date_gmt":"2012-06-14T12:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/?p=4187"},"modified":"2012-06-15T00:37:37","modified_gmt":"2012-06-14T12:37:37","slug":"gabs-paddle-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/06\/15\/gabs-paddle-2\/","title":{"rendered":"GABS Paddle #2: Random Favourites"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tasting<\/a>
Tasting Paddle #2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final Sunday-afternoon session of GABS was considerably lower-key than the ones which came before. There were fewer attendees (a shade less than the Friday afternoon session, perhaps would-be visitors were off being dutiful offspring for Mother’s Day), and the whole machine of the thing was running with now-practiced smoothness such that I, an early duties \/ backup volunteer had a particularly-early knockoff. Time, then \u2014 this not being rocket science \u2014 for a beer or several.<\/p>\n

My first paddle was everything I could find from the ‘sessionable’ weight class<\/a> of \u2264 4.5% ABV \u2014 I inadvertently overlooked the sixth on offer, Moo Brew’s ‘Belgo’, but I’ll get to that\u00a0next<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 and for my second set of five, I decided simply to round up the beers from places I knew and was fond of for one reason or other. It did wind up rather a rag-tag collection, style-wise (though skewing heavily ‘Belgian’), and a sensible drinking order took some figuring-out, again. But I think I managed it; this was a fun little ride.<\/p>\n

Starting with Bridge Road’s ‘God Save the Lager’<\/strong>\u00a0was daunting \u2014 since it’s a\u00a07.5% Imperial Pilsner and I hadn’t really eaten breakfast before heading in to town \u2014 but made the most sense, style-wise. A return to tasting paddles made it re-obvious that a little \/ warmish \/ plastic sample only ever gives you a hint<\/em>\u00a0of a beer’s real character, but \u2018G.S.T.L.\u2019 seemed a nudge drier and ‘spicier’ than Epic’s ‘LARGER’<\/a> \u2014 though it definitely shared the element of being potentially very dangerous indeed<\/em>. Also, “Imperial Pilsner” seems now to be well and truly a thing<\/em>; it’ll be interesting to see how it goes, as a (sub-)style. Then,\u00a0Doctor’s Orders ‘Plasma’ White IPA<\/strong>\u00a0looked to be an obvious second, and shares the quality of having a style-name with an unexpected adjective in front of it. But really, where else to go, after Black IPA<\/a>,1<\/sup> Red IPA<\/a> and good old-fashioned \u2014 what do we even call it, now? \u2014 Regular \/ Middlingly-Brown IPA. The hazy-and-pale body makes you think “white” in Belgian-Wit-esque way, and the hops come through with enjoyably-peculiar notes that made me wish I’d given it a proper-glass try. I’ve had many<\/em>\u00a0glasses of Doctor’s Orders ‘Iron Lung’ black pilsner<\/em>, so he’s got an obvious fondness for the stylistic colour-curveball and certainly seems to have the knack.<\/p>\n

I’d had a little sip of the ‘Bob’s Farmhouse Ale’ from\u00a0Murray’s<\/strong>\u00a0when I understudy-hosted the \u2018Beerista\u2019 seminar<\/a> during Friday night’s session but it was all a little lost in my personal bewilderment and hurry. It was, at this more-civilised pace, delicious<\/em>. Cleverly named for both their original location (before they moved the brewery to a headland North of Newcastle and put a charming little pub on Manly Beach) and its super-saison(ish) style, it’s alarmingly drinkable for its massive dose of booze, and\u00a0genuinely fun and funky while it’s at it. The Little Creatures \/ White Rabbit\u00a0‘Little Rabbit’<\/strong>\u00a0that followed, however, was a little more vexing. A collaboration between my long-loved Fremantle favourite<\/a> and their (also fondly regarded<\/a>) country cousin, it just seemed to fall well short of its promise. From the outset, it was \u2014 for its style \u2014 unsettlingly, needlessly clear<\/em>\u00a0(that’s it on the far right end of my tasting paddle, above, glowing much like Bridge Road’s souped-up pilsner<\/em>) and seemed way<\/em>\u00a0too strong given its stated inspiration was Westmalle’s table beer<\/a>. And even if that latter reference was just them reaching \/ being a bit generous \/ fudging things for the sake of ‘marketing’ and standing out in the Big Book of Many Blurbs, its strength just came across as too unbalancingly\u00a0hot<\/em>. It was nice<\/em>, but still kinda sad<\/em>, in context.<\/p>\n

Then finally, the black sheep of the paddle: Seven Sheds ‘Black Elephant’<\/strong>, which I reached just<\/em>\u00a0as I noticed brewer \/ beer writer Willie Simpson on a nearby table. A few of his books were instrumental in the transitioning of me from Clueless Drinker to Something Of A Beer Geek and now \u2014 as you know, if you’ve made it this far \u2014 Part-time Beer-related Rambler. So I just had to embrace the moment of geek-out and say Hi, and am relieved to report (as I always<\/em>\u00a0have been able to, so far in this industry) that he turned out to be a lovely chap and very approachable. Fittingly enough for a writer-brewed beer, the Big Book’s tasting note \u2014 “a complex riot of roasty notes” \u2014 was bang on<\/em>. ‘Black Elephant’ is apparently a blend (recipe-wise, I believe, rather than just piping two tanks together) of two Seven Sheds regulars; a Belgian strong ale (‘Elephant’s Trunk’) and a spiced strong dark ale (with the throw-back-ish name ‘Willie Warmer’).2<\/sup> And it tasted like just that; hugeness, spice, richness and the charming eccentricity of a mad old codger in a quiet pub.<\/p>\n

\"Gumbo<\/a>
Gumbo Kitchen Po' Boy and fried shrimp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just to repeat myself, this tasting paddle was early in the Sunday session after almost no breakfast. And, to repeat praise from my general post-GABS ponderings<\/a>, food at the festival was frequently fantastic. None moreso, to my mind, than the ‘Beef Debris’ Po’ Boys from the fine young folks at Gumbo Kitchen<\/a>. I liked it so much I had one each day, and treated myself to this<\/em>\u00a0feast (he says, gesturing sideways) for the final day. There was a fried shrimp option for the po’ boy, but I could never tear myself from the sure-fire deliciousness of the beef. So I asked for a side of fried shrimp<\/em>\u00a0with my sammich, resulting in a glorious pile of omnomtastic goodness. After a boozy tasting paddle and this<\/em>\u00a0epic heap of endorphin-crackling delight, I had quite<\/em>\u00a0the happyface firmly affixed to my skull for a good while into the afternoon.<\/p>\n

Original Diary entry:<\/strong>\u00a0GABS Paddle #2: Random Favourites. 13\/5\/12 Happy Mothers Day. Quiet Sunday session, but a nice mood. (32) Bridge Road ‘God Save the Lager’ (7.5% Imperial Pilsner) Spicier than ‘LARGER’, though temperature and plastic make comparison tricky. Nice and dry. Could be deadly. (20) Doctor’s Orders ‘Plasma’ (7% White IPA) Nicely ‘white’ \u2014 cloudy, pale, like a witbier \u2014 peculiar hoppy nose (but again; limitations). Nice flavourful bitterness. Would be worth a shot. (25) Murray’s ‘Bob’s Farmouse Ale’ (9%) Pete Mitcham told me the name refers to the new location. Oak-aged, hazy + nearly as pale as #20. We had this at Beerista and it’s great fun(k). Love it. (57) Little Creatures \/ White Rabbit ‘Little Rabbit’ (6.9% Belgian) Similar colour as prior, but unexpectedly clear. Strong, given the stated inspiration (Westmalle’s table beer), and quite ‘hot’. Big round fruit from Noble hops (probably). (50) Seven Sheds ‘Black Elephant’ (7.8% Black Trappist) Willie Simpson! (Minor geek-out impending…) Fittingly, the note is bang on. “A complex riot of roasty notes.” Hell yes. Weird + good. Soy-saucy. [And he was perfectly nice about the geek-out.]<\/p>\n

\n
\"Tasting<\/a>
Tasting Paddle #2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Diary<\/a>
Diary II entry #216.1, GABS Paddle #2: Random Favourites<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Diary<\/a>
Diary II entry #216.2, GABS Paddle #2: Random Favourites<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

1:<\/strong> There are a couple of them in my Diary<\/em>\u00a0on upcoming pages \u2014 local boys Funk Estate put out a new one I’ve been liking \/ drinking a lot lately which whole-heartedly embraces the contradictory style-term \u2014 so I’m sure I’ll have a proper re-airing of the sometimes-vexed issue of “Black IPA”.<\/span>
\n2:<\/strong> It gets the okay, I think, simply because his actual name is Willie<\/em>. Otherwise, it’d be just so appallingly worth of an entry on Pumpclip Parade<\/a> (well, if it had a pumpclip) \u2014 the label test even has the very Dad-joke-ish note “Guaranteed to warm the extremities”.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The final Sunday-afternoon session of GABS was considerably lower-key than the ones which came before. There were fewer attendees (a shade less than the Friday afternoon session, perhaps would-be visitors were off being dutiful offspring for Mother’s Day), and the whole machine of the thing was running with now-practiced smoothness such that I, an early … Continue reading GABS Paddle #2: Random Favourites<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[26,6,15,9,12,48],"class_list":["post-4187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary","tag-belgian","tag-pages","tag-australia","tag-lager","tag-pale-ale","tag-2012-05"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4051,"url":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/05\/20\/gabs-paddle-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":4187,"position":0},"title":"GABS Paddle #1: Everything \u2264 4.5% ABV","author":"Phil","date":"May 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As I've mentioned a few times when talking about GABS, my Friday was very\u00a0sleep-deprived; I only had two hours sleep on Thursday night -- my nocturnal nature meshes not at all\u00a0with early-morning flights -- and wound up awake for some twenty-six hours. So I took it very\u00a0easy, those first two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tasting Paddle #1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/GABS-2012-Tasting-Paddle-n1-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4125,"url":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/06\/28\/post-gabs-afternoon-taphouse-mooch\/","url_meta":{"origin":4187,"position":1},"title":"Post-GABS Afternoon Taphouse Mooch","author":"Phil","date":"June 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"When you're waiting for your plane home to Wellington, when you've been staying with friends in the near-Southern suburbs of Melbourne, when you're in a post-Spectapular state of beery bliss mixed pleasantly with mild lethargy \u2014 and when, perhaps, you're me\u00a0\u2014 there really is no answer to \"what shall I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Post-GABS Taphouse Tasting Paddle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Post-GABS-Taphouse-Mooch-tasting-paddle-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4189,"url":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/06\/15\/gabs-glass-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":4187,"position":2},"title":"GABS Glass #4: Moo Brew ‘Belgo’","author":"Phil","date":"June 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Reading the Big Book while waiting for my Food Coma to subside and my brain to ramp back up to some semblance of walking-and-talking ability, I noticed that I'd missed out a sessionable beer from what I thought\u00a0was an exhaustive set of five. Shamefully so, since it was from Moo\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Moo Brew 'Belgo'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Moo-Brew-Belgo-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4177,"url":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/06\/04\/gabs-glass-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":4187,"position":3},"title":"GABS Glasses #2 & #3: Bright ‘Resistance Red’ and Wig & Pen ‘This Beer’s Not Real Craft!’","author":"Phil","date":"June 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, there stands before you a blog-post-title-length record unlikely to be challenged for a while. I've no real idea why I ran two beers into one entry at the time, and I couldn't figure out a fair way to abbreviate any of it; these were both\u00a0lovely beers, and they deserve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bright Brewery 'Resistance Red Ale'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bright-Brewery-Resistance-Red-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4193,"url":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/06\/03\/beer-diary-podcast-s02e02\/","url_meta":{"origin":4187,"position":4},"title":"Beer Diary Podcast s02e02: Australia","author":"Phil","date":"June 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"And now, a brief interlude for a long-lost podcast episode. We recorded shortly before\u00a0I went away to GABS in Melbourne -- and immediately before George and I went along to Hashigo Zake's marvellous little 'X-Ale' festival in the still-empty ParrotDog brewery.\u00a0We take the chance to catch up a little on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Podcast episodes"","block_context":{"text":"Podcast episodes","link":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/podcast-episodes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Moon Dogs and 'Melon Gibson'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Moon-Dogs-and-Melon-Gibson-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4046,"url":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/05\/18\/gabs-2012-day-two-and-three-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":4187,"position":5},"title":"GABS 2012: Day Two & Three Photos, with Afterthoughts","author":"Phil","date":"May 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"GABS Weekend was genuinely awesome -- and pretty-much exhausting. I just never\u00a0caught up on the fact that my trip started with 26-odd-hours awake running on a mere two hours\u00a0sleep. But these are trifling #firstworldproblems; I was having a marvellous time, giddy with beer-geek joy, doing a bit of volunteer monkey-work,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Observations"","block_context":{"text":"Observations","link":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/reports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Queue of visitors","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/GABS-2012-Queue-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4187"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4344,"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4187\/revisions\/4344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}