{"id":1079,"date":"2010-11-19T00:01:56","date_gmt":"2010-11-18T11:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/?p=1079"},"modified":"2011-03-02T15:19:57","modified_gmt":"2011-03-02T02:19:57","slug":"tuatara-x-anniversary-ale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2010\/11\/19\/tuatara-x-anniversary-ale\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuatara ‘X’ Anniversary Ale"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tuatara<\/a>
Tuatara 'X'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still (mysteriously) Wellington’s only local brewery, Tuatara recently arrived at their tenth birthday and celebrated (as breweries understandably tend to do) by making themselves a beer for the occasion. Essentially, they blammed \u2018Ardennes<\/a>\u2019 up a few notches, landing it at a suitably1<\/sup> anniversary-ish 10%. It debuted at Beervana and was apparently well received, and we had a few bottles in stock at work to plug the gap in between the availability of kegs.<\/p>\n

Despite liking<\/a> ‘Ardennes’, and also heftier<\/a>–Belgian<\/a>–esque<\/a> beers in general, this just isn’t My Thing at all, which put me in rare disagreement with some usually-similarly-minded folk. But hey, subjectivity<\/a>, right? For me, it committed the basically unforgivable sin of being just kinda naff<\/em>; not different enough from Ardennes, other than in the strength — and that strength just rolls all around your face with its syrupy hotness and ruins any real chance for balance, or depth, or character. It’s your birthday, so you should go a bit crazy, but if your only thought for how<\/em> to go crazy is to effectively pour petrol into one of your existing beers, something is amiss.<\/p>\n

And — maybe that strength is to blame — shouldn’t you also make sure all the bolts are tight on an anniversary release? These things arrived with horribly-wonky labels that made you wonder just how dark it was in the warehouse that no one noticed nor cared, and the text on those misapplied labels also shipped with an awesome typo which cited their use of heretofore-unheard-of boble hops<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tuatara can do great things; when their beers are ‘on’, they are delightful and accessible local takes on iconic styles of beer — although they really need to get around to admitting to themselves (and the rest of us) that their deservedly-popular APA is now part of the family and not a “limited release” as per the label, since it’s been continuously-available for some eight months. But Tuatara are also<\/em> capable of alarming bits of rushed decision-making, over-stretching (with a side of corner-cutting), and evident narcolepsy at the switch. ‘X’, sadly, is a product of those latter temperaments — which is doubly depressing for a Birthday Beer.<\/p>\n

Verbatim:<\/strong> Tuatara ‘X’ Anniversary Ale 2000-2010 19\/11\/10 10% 750ml shouted by a customer + shared. Essentially an embiggened Ardennes, it’s an over-strong tripel. Similarly dry, Belgish nose, but not alarmingly fumey. Warming in the face, though. Honey-ish, oily texture. Actually oddly ‘normal’, but with that hot, boozy finish.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Tuatara<\/a>
Tuatara 'X' and its oddly crinkly label<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Tuatara<\/a>
Tuatara 'X' and its rather neat typo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Tuatara<\/a>
Diary II entry #37, Tuatara 'X' Anniversary Ale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

1: I’ve commented before<\/a> on the “borderline numerology” trend among brewers, particularly in regard their own anniversaries and such. I remember it initially striking me as evidencing a lack of creativity, but I quickly decided I liked the obsessiveness and nerdery of it.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Still (mysteriously) Wellington’s only local brewery, Tuatara recently arrived at their tenth birthday and celebrated (as breweries understandably tend to do) by making themselves a beer for the occasion. Essentially, they blammed \u2018Ardennes\u2019 up a few notches, landing it at a suitably1 anniversary-ish 10%. It debuted at Beervana and was apparently well received, and we … Continue reading Tuatara ‘X’ Anniversary Ale<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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}},"categories":[3],"tags":[26,6,14,8],"class_list":["post-1079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary","tag-belgian","tag-pages","tag-nz","tag-photogenic"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":569,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2008\/11\/08\/tuatara-ardennes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1079,"position":0},"title":"Tuatara ‘Ardennes’","author":"Phil","date":"November 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: Tuatara 'Ardennes'. A belgian-style strong golden ale from local favourites Tuatara. Just recently back on tap at work, and thereby eligible for staff drinks. Huzzah. One of our regulars (a formidable Beer Nerd) rates it as the #2 All-Around Best Value Beer Buy on the Planet, which isn't a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tuatara 'Ardennes'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tuatara-Ardennes-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1239,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2010\/12\/29\/tuatara-porter-doubly-modified-croucher-mrs-claus\/","url_meta":{"origin":1079,"position":1},"title":"Tuatara Porter (doubly modified) & Croucher ‘Mrs. Claus’","author":"Phil","date":"December 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"There some beers that you want to like, but you just can't. Both of these were near-misses, for me, so I lessened their Diary-polluting effect by consolidating them into one entry. Pinot and porter are usually a great match -- Hallertau do a wonderfully-mad 'Porter Noir' with barrels home to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tuatara Porter (with pinot and cherries) and Croucher 'Mrs Claus'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tuatara-Porter-with-pinot-and-cherries-and-Croucher-Mrs-Claus-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":874,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2010\/09\/30\/tuatara-ardennes-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1079,"position":2},"title":"Tuatara ‘Ardennes’","author":"Phil","date":"September 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"'Ardennes' is one of those beers that I forget about for ages, only to pleasantly surprise myself when I go back to it. In this case, I was cleaning out the fridge one night -- as I do; I've turned it from a chore into a sport and an artform,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tuatara 'Ardennes'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diary-2018-Tuatara-Ardennes-300x156.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":555,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2008\/11\/05\/tuatara-porter\/","url_meta":{"origin":1079,"position":3},"title":"Tuatara Porter","author":"Phil","date":"November 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: Tuatara Porter. A quiet little achiever, this one. On hand pump at das Malthaus, and so lovely and smooth and, well, flat. A nice way to ease yourself (and others) into drinking dark beer, it's subtly coffee-ish and toast-ish and slightly chocolatey. A surprisingly good pre-lunch pint, too. Afterthoughts,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tuatara Porter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tuatara-Porter-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":595,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2008\/11\/15\/three-boys-ipa\/","url_meta":{"origin":1079,"position":4},"title":"Three Boys IPA","author":"Phil","date":"November 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: Three Boys IPA. 15\/11\/08 $8.50 @ Malthouse, 5.2% Had it lots, but it warrants an entry. Gorgeousness personified. Slightly less traditional than a Tuatara IPA, but proudly so. Wonderfully balanced (cf Epic...), slight grapefruity hint, not hoppy for the sake of it. Full damn marks. Afterthoughts, November 2010: I'd\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three Boys IPA","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diary-1065-Three-Boys-IPA-300x219.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19483,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2017\/10\/27\/tpils\/","url_meta":{"origin":1079,"position":5},"title":"Tuatara Pilsner’s new origin story","author":"Phil","date":"October 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I had three beers yesterday\u00a0\u2014 all of them pilsners and two of them that one right there from Tuatara. Shortly before they were bought out by DB \/ Heineken, they changed its name to 'Mot Eureka' and gave it a new look. I'm not at all a fan of\u00a0either move,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Observations"","block_context":{"text":"Observations","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/reports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tuatara 'Mot Eureka' (P\u014dneke, 26 October 2017)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tuatara-Mot-Eureka.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tuatara-Mot-Eureka.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tuatara-Mot-Eureka.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tuatara-Mot-Eureka.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tuatara-Mot-Eureka.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1079"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1103,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079\/revisions\/1103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}