{"id":415,"date":"2008-10-02T00:01:37","date_gmt":"2008-10-01T11:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/?p=415"},"modified":"2011-03-02T15:10:08","modified_gmt":"2011-03-02T02:10:08","slug":"grand-ridge-natural-blonde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2008\/10\/02\/grand-ridge-natural-blonde\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Ridge ‘Natural Blonde’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Grand<\/a>
Grand Ridge 'Natural Blonde'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I visited the Grand Ridge brewery (in a poky little Victorian town called Mirboo North) when I was in Australia for my birthday a few years ago (2006?) and had a fantastic time there, so I was pleased to see their stuff in the local corner shop upon my return to Melbourne for Karen & Lee’s wedding.<\/p>\n

The Blonde itself (herself?) is a lovely accessible wheat beer. Hugely drinkable, with a good dose of fruity- and spicy-ness, even a bit of a fresh herby sort of a thing going on. Good for evangelism to people who usually stick to their lagers, or to anyone who’s already been pursuaded into a Summer Ale type of thing.<\/p>\n

And it has to be said that the range of craft beer on offer at the local IGA (a superette, essentially, in New Zealand English terms; just a little convenience store) was seriously heartening. A lot of the next few entries are from one little shopping spree in the early evening of the Friday when I arrived in town.<\/p>\n

\"Grand<\/a>
Diary entry #50, Grand Ridge Natural Blonde<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Verbatim:<\/strong> Grand Ridge Natural Blonde. 2\/10\/08 $3.50 @ IGA, Armadale 3143. In Melbourne, Fatty and I raided the local shop. Hadn’t had this at the brewery two years back. It’s lovely + drinkable. Very accessible wheat. Fruity and spicy, freshly herby even.<\/p>\n

Afterthoughts, October 2010:<\/strong> I have no earthly idea why that beer — that wheat<\/em> beer, even — seems to have no head, and no trace of having had one. I’m similarly confused as to why my historical self didn’t find that notable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I visited the Grand Ridge brewery (in a poky little Victorian town called Mirboo North) when I was in Australia for my birthday a few years ago (2006?) and had a fantastic time there, so I was pleased to see their stuff in the local corner shop upon my return to Melbourne for Karen & … Continue reading Grand Ridge ‘Natural Blonde’<\/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":[6,15,10],"class_list":["post-415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary","tag-pages","tag-australia","tag-wheat"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":449,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2008\/10\/03\/james-squires-ipa-grand-ridge-hatlifter-stout\/","url_meta":{"origin":415,"position":0},"title":"James Squires IPA & Grand Ridge ‘Hatlifter’ Stout","author":"Phil","date":"October 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In this, the first double-whammy entry, mine is the IPA. It's a tasty, mild brew which is still very-definitely an IPA. It's gently hoppy (Fuggly, to be specific) and nicely malty, and is a perfect Gateway Beer to introduce people to pale ales. I do like the Squires beers. On\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"James Squires IPA & Grand Ridge 'Hatlifter' Stout","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/James-Squires-IPA-Grand-Ridge-Hatlifter-Stout-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":692,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2009\/01\/21\/renaissance-paradox-blonde\/","url_meta":{"origin":415,"position":1},"title":"Renaissance ‘Paradox’ Blonde","author":"Phil","date":"January 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"By \"blonde\", here, they mean \"golden ale\". You can see I've developed an obsession. It's a great bright gold with lively racing bubbles that make a fine head which lasts all the way down the glass and make for an notably (but enjoyably) fizzy feel. It's perhaps not as aromatic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Renaissance 'Paradox' Blonde","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Renaissance-Paradox-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4051,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/05\/20\/gabs-paddle-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":415,"position":2},"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":"https:\/\/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":131,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2004\/04\/11\/jamieson-mountain-ale\/","url_meta":{"origin":415,"position":3},"title":"Jamieson \u2018Mountain Ale\u2019","author":"Phil","date":"April 11, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: Jamieson Mountain Ale. 330ml, 4.9%, $3ish, 11\/4\/04, at home. \"Dark wheat beer\". Brown-black. Weird. Seems stuck halfway. Not bad, per se, but not wheat and not dark. Can't see it winning friends. Stick with La Rossa. Afterthoughts, October 2010: Oh, so very far to go until proper Beer Nerdery,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jamieson 'Mountain Ale'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diary-1012-Jamieson-Mountain-Ale-300x201.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1848,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/02\/26\/liberty-brewing-west-coast-blonde-amarillo\/","url_meta":{"origin":415,"position":4},"title":"Liberty Brewing ‘West Coast Blonde: Amarillo’","author":"Phil","date":"February 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Liberty 'West Coast Blonde'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Liberty-West-Coast-Blonde-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":210,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2005\/03\/19\/judas\/","url_meta":{"origin":415,"position":5},"title":"Judas","author":"Phil","date":"March 19, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: Judas. 330ml, $5, 8.6%, 19\/3\/05. Belgian Blonde. Cool, scary bottle; how could I resist? Nice golden cloudless blonde, bubbles don't hang around much. Got a pleasant little fruitiness in it. Really very good, more accessable than you'd guess from its design. Afterthoughts, October 2010: Well, at least the \u2018Duvel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Judas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diary-1021-Judas-300x188.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415","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=415"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":420,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions\/420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}