{"id":4019,"date":"2012-05-17T22:10:39","date_gmt":"2012-05-17T10:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/?p=4019"},"modified":"2012-05-17T23:16:16","modified_gmt":"2012-05-17T11:16:16","slug":"resolute-zaragoza-mole-stout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/05\/17\/resolute-zaragoza-mole-stout\/","title":{"rendered":"Resolute ‘Zaragoza’ Mol\u00e9 Stout"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Resolute<\/a>
Resolute 'Zaragoza' Mol\u00e9 Stout, twice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last week was massively distracted, in my brain and many others, by the run-up to GABS and Good Beer Week in Melbourne — but it (i.e., the week) still found time for the (North Island) launch of a new contract brewer in the local scene, Resolute Brewing<\/a>. Well, for a given value of “new”, at least, since it’s the work of Nathan Crabbe<\/a>, formerly part of contract-brewing operation Golden Ticket<\/a>. He’d departed that<\/em> gig for a job brewing at Harringtons but evidently had a relapse of the do-your-own-thing itch and is back in the game as Resolute.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

He pitched his Beer #1<\/a> as a ‘Mol\u00e9 Stout’<\/a>, inspired by — and brewed with many\/most of the same ingredients as — a traditional Mexican mole poblano<\/a> sauce, namely chocolate, chili and (very many) various spices. Which immediately puts me<\/em>\u00a0in mind of last year’s beloved ‘Day of the Dead’ from Garage Project,2<\/sup> but they’re very different beers, despite their rather-similar initial impressions. Surprisingly light (in both colour and alcoholic weight — the latter not quite<\/em>\u00a0as intended, I was told), Zaragoza was definitely promising and well put-together, especially considering its two-dozen-odd ingredients — they weren’t fighting like angry cats in a bag, though they weren’t making much noise of whatever attention-grabbing kind, come to that. Subtlety is no bad thing at all, but it was a little unexpected in this case. To me, it massively<\/em>\u00a0suited warming up rather a lot and developed into something like the (friendly) ghostly apparition of an astonishingly decadent chocolate brownie — all the flavour, none of the stodge. If anything, it could use more meat on its bones, but it wasn’t worryingly thin.<\/p>\n

\"Resolute<\/a>
Resolute and Golden Ticket, side by side<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Golden Ticket, meanwhile, has continued in the hands of Nathan’s former business partner Ally McGilvray and has been making some lovely beers — like ‘Black Emperor’<\/a> (a “black pilsner”) and ‘Champion Malky’ (a characterful golden ale) — one of which was on handpull right beside this one, fittingly enough. I’d had two pints of Zaragoza and realised I had time for another half of something before I had to head off, and was unable to resist the fittingness<\/em>\u00a0of the two beers side by side and one after another. I also got\u00a0that <\/em>photo of the badges together — Hashigo’s difficult lighting mandated using my camera’s HDR trickery<\/a> and the multiple exposures made Dylan’s photobomb ghostly and spectacular. ‘Brown Marvel’ is a charmingly quaffable take on an American Brown, a nicely balanced mix of a little malty roast and a little fruit hop. And as if to underscore the surprising lightness<\/em>\u00a0of Zaragoza, this “brown” seemed a shade or two darker<\/em>\u00a0in the glass than the stout which came before it.<\/p>\n

Original Diary entry: <\/strong>Resolute ‘Zaragoza’ Stout 8\/5\/12 @ HZ for BGC,3<\/sup> its North Island launch. R is Nathan, formerly of Golden Ticket, then Harringtons, then on his own again. Brewed at the resurrected Twisted Hop, which is neat. I’m not enough of a foodie to know much about\u00a0Mol\u00e9, but chili-choc is the general idea. Only 4.5% (intended to be %5-ish), and very-brown, not black. Surprising lightness of body isn’t bad, but I was keen for some stodge. Tastes very brownie<\/span>, but with utterly un-brownie texture. Hints of vanilla emerge (whether from actual vanilla or not). Chili isn’t of the hot kind at all. This isn’t a patch on DOTD, but it’s equally not at all bad and a promising start. — Then, appropriately, Golden Ticket ‘Brown Marvel’ (5.5%, $8, 380ml) Which is, oddly, darker. Pleasantly easy-going. Suits handpull. A little roast, and a little fruity hop.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Golden<\/a>
Golden Ticket 'Brown Marvel'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Hashigo's<\/a>
Hashigo's Daily Menu, Resolute-ified<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Diary<\/a>
Diary II entry #211, Resolute 'Zaragoza'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

1:<\/strong> There’s no real suggestion of a falling-out, or at least none that I’ve picked up on. It just seems to be the case — and fair enough — that since Golden Ticket had, by now, put out more beers without<\/em>\u00a0Nathan that it had done with<\/em>\u00a0him it’s become Ally’s thing.<\/span>
\n2:<\/strong> My favourite beer of 2011<\/a>, a black lager with cocoa, chili and agave syrup<\/a>\u00a0— which was also launched with appropriate timing, having its debut on the actual Dia De Los Muertos, November 1. ‘Zaragoza’, equally fittingly, made its first-first appearance on Cinco de Mayo.<\/span>
\n3:<\/strong> I habitually refer to Hashigo’s ‘New Release Tuesday’ as \u201c#BeerGeekChurch\u201d. They became ‘a thing’ with the Garage Project’s 24\/24 phase, and have continued since. There is always<\/em>\u00a0a decent crowd of lovely beer nerds to hang out with; it’s a brilliant part of the week.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week was massively distracted, in my brain and many others, by the run-up to GABS and Good Beer Week in Melbourne — but it (i.e., the week) still found time for the (North Island) launch of a new contract brewer in the local scene, Resolute Brewing. Well, for a given value of “new”, at … Continue reading Resolute ‘Zaragoza’ Mol\u00e9 Stout<\/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":[27,6,14,11,48],"class_list":["post-4019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary","tag-ale","tag-pages","tag-nz","tag-stout","tag-2012-05"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3086,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/05\/19\/townshend-st-bernards-oatmeal-stout\/","url_meta":{"origin":4019,"position":0},"title":"Townshend ‘St. Bernard’s’ Oatmeal Stout","author":"Phil","date":"May 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I bloody loves Oatmeal Stout, I do -- especially in the winter; it's basically the off-season equivalent of my recurring summertime Golden Ale obsession. There is just something absurdly comforting about a good one, and I've been blessed by more than a few fine examples, lately, ranging from sessionable ones\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Townshend 'St. Bernard's' Oatmeal Stout","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Townshend-St.-Bernards-Oatmeal-Stout-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2752,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/04\/20\/defamation-beetnik-ipa\/","url_meta":{"origin":4019,"position":1},"title":"Defamation ‘Beetnik’ IPA","author":"Phil","date":"April 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Stuck in the not-yet-uploaded limbo of the latter half of the first Diary is a stout by my now-flatmate; a big, delicious thing called 'Cottonpicker'. That was the first time I'd been moved to enter a homebrewed beer into my notes. And this here is the second. You could look\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Defamation 'Beetnik'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Defamation-Beetnik-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2004\/01\/10\/coopers-special-old-stout\/","url_meta":{"origin":4019,"position":2},"title":"Coopers \u2018Special Old Stout\u2019","author":"Phil","date":"January 10, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Four entries in, and we already find our first beer that no longer exists, as at the time of the Great Uploading in October 2010. I had to check online to make sure this actually did exist, and I wasn't just drunkenly misrecording the regular Best Extra Stout. Verbatim: Cooper's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Apostropher's nightmare, Coopers Special Old Stout","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diary-1004-Coopers-Special-Old-Stout-300x206.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":136,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2004\/08\/20\/carlow-oharas-celtic-stout\/","url_meta":{"origin":4019,"position":3},"title":"Carlow \u2018O\u2019Hara\u2019s Celtic Stout\u2019","author":"Phil","date":"August 20, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: O'Hara's Celtic Stout. 12oz, 4.3%, <$5, 20\/08\/04, at home. Same brewery as above: Carlow, Ireland. Good n black, but broad, tan bubbles which went wandering too soon. More like uber-dark ale, really. Won a gold at BIIA, 2000. Goes just great with Futurama. G. flinches at the coffee-ness. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"O'Hara's Celtic Stout","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diary-1014-OHaras-Celtic-Stout-300x222.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":963,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2010\/10\/23\/emersons-southern-clam-stout\/","url_meta":{"origin":4019,"position":4},"title":"Emerson’s ‘Southern Clam’ Stout","author":"Phil","date":"October 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This must be a pretty-damn-rare example of the Emerson's brewers following, rather than leading. You just couldn't say that this wasn't knowingly made in homage to Three Boys' ludicrously masterful Oyster Stout.1 The comparisons are as inevitable as they are apt, and the thing about Imitation's place on the Sincerity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Emerson's 'Southern Clam' Stout","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Emersons-Southern-Clam-Stout-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":123,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2004\/03\/29\/beamish-stout\/","url_meta":{"origin":4019,"position":5},"title":"Beamish Stout","author":"Phil","date":"March 29, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: Beamish Stout. 500ml, 4.2% $4ish, 29\/3\/04, at home with massive steak. It's dark, and raining. I thought it all work together (one of those days). God bless Mr Widget. Gorgeous bubbles. Smooth, less punch than Guinness, closer to Craic*. Very good everyday stout. Uses cereals and caramel, but it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Beamish Stout","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diary-1011-Beamish-Stout-300x228.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4019","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=4019"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4053,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4019\/revisions\/4053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}