I’ve taken temporary refuge1 in a country so emphatically beachy† that it resists any attempts us monkeys make to lay infrastructure on the shore. There’s always plenty of “research” to be done while I’m here — I can confirm, for example, that Toohey’s Extra Dry (“Ted”, to its friends) does have contexts in which it’s perfectly … Continue reading Station Ident: Beached
Born in 1979 and raised in suburban Wellington, I spent most of my adulthood in the City there, with a few years each in Canberra and Melbourne — before moving back to Melbourne at the end of 2018. I studied law and philosophy at university, and have worked as a bartender for so long I’ve … Continue reading About the author
Back with unusual promptness — which is hopefully a good omen — George and I sat down on Friday for a few beers and a somewhat-supersized season opener for another round of the podcast. We try a couple of new-ish releases, and one bottle that’d been sitting around waiting for the right occasion. And, unusually, … Continue reading Beer Diary Podcast s03e01: A Very Good Friday
This is always a great time of year to be a beer geek. Beervana and its satellite events are like Woodstock meets Comic-Con meets some kind of secular-and-sudsy pilgrimage. But my week, hectic and exhausting as it undoubtedly was, took a turn for the surreal on Thursday night when I was sitting down at the … Continue reading An acceptance speech — and a welcome
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 was an exhaustive set of five. Shamefully so, since it was from Moo Brew, who’ve made any number … Continue reading GABS Glass #4: Moo Brew ‘Belgo’
The best-laid plans and all that, right? Four different U.S. imports arrived in the keg fridge at work in the early stages of last winter, and all four had glorious great big ostentatious American-style tap handles. I quickly hatched a plan (not just within the bounds of my own head; I told the right people and … Continue reading Alaskan Winter Ale
Karma is a bitch, sometimes. One day, I upload a podcast in which I make a flippant reference to wishing that trench foot isn’t lost from the world — I’m not even sure why I did; these things just ramble out of my brain, sometimes — and the very next day, I’m faced with a … Continue reading Firestone Walker ‘Velvet Merlin’
It looks rather frightful, that Moa, doesn’t it? Maybe even sufficiently angry-faced that it hardly seems like a herbivore at all, in fact. I honestly still can’t tell if I like the kitsch of it, or if I just think it’s hideous. Something similar happens with the ludicrously-extravagant coasters — just how much money poured … Continue reading Moa Imperial Stout
Around a year ago, Luke Nicholas was talking to Sam Calagione and was able to apparently-accurately say that their ‘Portamarillo’ would be New Zealand’s second-ever collaborative brew — after the also-with-Luke Epic / Thornbridge Stout. Now, they’re everywhere. To maybe-needlessly hammer the point: Galbraith’s Alehouse is currently hosting several brewers as part of a ‘Great … Continue reading Renaissance / 8 Wired / Yeastie Boys ‘Rescue Red’
My impromptu round of Kegtris was apparently enough to earn me a second pint, this time of the also-just-tapped Emerson’s ‘1812’. The fashion for hop-tastic IPA being what it is, old-school classics like this are often unfairly passed-over. “Old-school” is obviously a fairly relative term, given that ‘1812’ isn’t old in IPA-itself terms — but it’s … Continue reading Emerson’s ‘1812’ IPA