{"id":1848,"date":"2011-02-26T00:01:56","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T11:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/?p=1848"},"modified":"2011-03-15T13:47:51","modified_gmt":"2011-03-15T00:47:51","slug":"liberty-brewing-west-coast-blonde-amarillo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/02\/26\/liberty-brewing-west-coast-blonde-amarillo\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty Brewing ‘West Coast Blonde: Amarillo’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Liberty<\/a>
Liberty 'West Coast Blonde'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On February 26th,1<\/sup> Hashigo Zake hosted an amazing fundraising night, donating all<\/em> of their takings between 6pm and midnight to raise money for a local mental health charity and the Red Cross effort in Christchurch. My plan was to stop by late shortly before midnight, after spending my Saturday night hanging out with some friends. But when Pieta realised she’d been locked out of her apartment and that her key was with her flatmate on the other side of town, it was me and my bike to the rescue. Which was all very fun and random, but it did put me in the mood \/ give me the need for something light and refreshing once I arrived at the pub.<\/p>\n

And damn, was this it. Joseph Wood of Liberty Brewing<\/a> had donated kegs of his West Coast Blonde, and it was precisely what I needed. The Amarillo-hopped version was on tap at the time (it exists in two differently-hopped varieties, and a a few kegs of both were delivered), and it reminded me a lot of Stone & Wood’s ‘Draught Ale’ (now renamed ‘Pacific Ale’) — and I mean that as a compliment because I freakin’ love<\/em> that stuff2<\/sup> — what with the multi-faceted fruit-salady-ness, the gorgeous hazy strawish appearance, and the ability to make a person feel human again. For Liberty’s first official<\/em> release, it’s pretty damn promising (and apparently also rather lovely in its Simcoe-hopped incarnation). But we already knew it would be, especially after his stupidly-awesome ‘Summ!t’ IIPA, which was an unofficial third entrant in Malthouse’s West Coast IPA Challenge last year — and which very much stole the show.3<\/sup><\/p>\n

Verbatim:<\/strong> Liberty ‘West Coast Blonde: Amarillo’ 26\/2\/11 donated to HZ for their Christchurch Quake \/ Mental Health fundraiser, which was apparently a huge hit, raising $5K+. Full Marks. I’ve just been biking around a bit tonight, so needed something light + refreshing. This is very much it. Lovely pale + hazy straw. Fruit[] salady, with edges of smokeyness. 5.5% (I still can’t draw fives.) Crisp + dry finish, compared to a nice NZ Pils by some. Really rather reminiscent of Stone & Wood Draught — though I should say “Pacific” now. Stunning burps.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Liberty<\/a>
Liberty 'West Coast Blonde' tap badge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Liberty<\/a>
Diary II entry #66, Liberty 'West Coast Blonde: Amarillo'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

1: i.e., “today”, if you’re playing along with the fiction wherein I update these things as I go, rather than in fits of productivity days or weeks or months (or years!) after the fact. And please, do play along.<\/span>
\n2: We had it at the Malthouse after each of the two most-recent Beervana beer festivals. Which puts it in that awkward Grey Area of Not Uploaded Yet Diary<\/em> Entries. Sorry about that, but take my word for it; its appearances are met with fairly glowing reviews.<\/span>
\n3: I’d direct you to its entry, but, er, Grey Area (see above, n2) again. Sorry<\/em>.<\/span>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On February 26th,1 Hashigo Zake hosted an amazing fundraising night, donating all of their takings between 6pm and midnight to raise money for a local mental health charity and the Red Cross effort in Christchurch. My plan was to stop by late shortly before midnight, after spending my Saturday night hanging out with some friends. … Continue reading Liberty Brewing ‘West Coast Blonde: Amarillo’<\/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":[6,14,28],"class_list":["post-1848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary","tag-pages","tag-nz","tag-golden-ale"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3486,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/06\/20\/liberty-never-go-back\/","url_meta":{"origin":1848,"position":0},"title":"Liberty ‘Never Go Back’","author":"Phil","date":"June 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"And so here my notes complete a hat-trick1 of ten-per-cent-plus black-and-glorious monster beers. It happened entirely by accident -- presumably helped by the contemporaneous feeling that Winter Was Coming -- and now also occasions one of those nice coincidences that seem to happen (as I mentioned last time) when I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Liberty 'Never Go Back'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Liberty-Never-Go-Back-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4513,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/07\/06\/left-coast-the-wedge\/","url_meta":{"origin":1848,"position":1},"title":"Left Coast ‘The Wedge’","author":"Phil","date":"July 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It appears I might have \"Black IPA\" on the brain. Or hoppy porter, at least \u2014 the question of whether the one is the other is an enjoyable piece of modern beer taxonomy for me to ponder as I have a nice glass of something-dark on a wintery evening. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Left Coast 'The Wedge'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Left-Coast-The-Wedge-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4296,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/06\/16\/beer-diary-podcast-s02e03\/","url_meta":{"origin":1848,"position":2},"title":"Beer Diary Podcast s02e03: Jo Wood & Mike Neilsen","author":"Phil","date":"June 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"George and I ventued into the (not really) wilds of Upper Hutt to have a chat with Jo Wood (of Liberty Brewing) and Mike Neilsen (of Tuatara); two homebrewers turned professional brewers (in very different capacities) who still love to get together on a weekend and knock up a random\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Podcast episodes"","block_context":{"text":"Podcast episodes","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/podcast-episodes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Part of Mike's brew kit","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mike-Nielsens-brew-kit-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4739,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/07\/22\/liberty-yakima-monster\/","url_meta":{"origin":1848,"position":3},"title":"Liberty \/ Galbraith’s ‘Yakima Monster’","author":"Phil","date":"July 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"That right there is a real contender to win the Outstanding Achievement of Awesomeness in Tap Badge Design award.1 It's fair to say the craft beer scene in our little nation punches well above its weight, but it's worth also pausing to celebrate the easily-arguable notion we're also rather spoiled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Liberty \/ Galbraith's 'Yakima Monster' handpull badge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Liberty-Yakima-Monster-Galbraiths-edition-handpull-badge1-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1021,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2010\/11\/01\/west-coast-brewing-pale-ale\/","url_meta":{"origin":1848,"position":4},"title":"West Coast Brewing Pale Ale","author":"Phil","date":"November 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"My friends and I became very fond of the West Coast beers when we stopped for a night in the tiny town of Blackball, and had more than a few at the \u2018Hilton\u2019. Their lager and dark are certainly nothing socks-knocking in craft beer terms, but they're well made, tasty,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"West Coast Pale Ale","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/West-Coast-Pale-Ale-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":140,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2004\/11\/04\/anchor-brewing-co-liberty-ale\/","url_meta":{"origin":1848,"position":5},"title":"Anchor \u2018Liberty Ale\u2019","author":"Phil","date":"November 4, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"I remember this one quite well, reaching for a legendary American ale after the re-election of GWB. It was a pretty freaking bleak day; I was in a genuine philosophical funk for days, even weeks. 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