{"id":727,"date":"2010-09-07T00:01:49","date_gmt":"2010-09-06T12:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/?p=727"},"modified":"2011-03-02T15:17:06","modified_gmt":"2011-03-02T02:17:06","slug":"mussel-inn-pale-whale-ale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2010\/09\/07\/mussel-inn-pale-whale-ale\/","title":{"rendered":"Mussel Inn ‘Pale Whale’ Ale"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mussel<\/a>
Mussel Inn 'Pale Whale' Ale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You do meet some choice people, in a job like mine. (You meet some intolerable<\/em> ones, too, but I prefer not to write about them<\/em>, here.)<\/p>\n

Three people wandered into our pub the day before Beervana, and when I commented on the Mussel Inn shirt one of them was wearing, it turned out that they all actually worked there. Coincidentally, we’d just taken delivery of a few cases each of three of their beers, so I had to show them the write-up I’d done to introduce them in the Book. (I also like how it makes for a nice example of how my writing style gets quite a bit more ‘loose’ as the small hours creep on and the feeling of “I should really finish this” creeps in.)<\/p>\n

Golden Bay\u2019s legendary Mussel Inn has been brewing and serving craft beer forever. Or at least since very shortly after time itself began \u2014 if there is a God, and if he rested on the seventh day, he was probably there, enjoying a well-earned pint. If they\u2019re at all able, beer geeks should all make pilgrimage at least once in their lives[…].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They were chuffed, and we had a good old-fashioned geek-out for a while, and the next day at the beer festival, they brought over a little swag-bag of unlabelled bottles — a few beers that aren’t usually available other than at the pub itself. Bloody lovely of them. The beer, itself, was lovely and straightforward. The name comes from a nice little joke that a whale is a big body and a long tail, and the beer does live up to it.<\/p>\n

Verbatim:<\/strong> Mussel Inn ‘Pale Whale Ale’ 7\/9\/10, gift from Mussel Inn people @ Beervana, after we met at my pub and they saw my write-up. 500ml shared with Neil. 6%. Hazy light apricotty brown. Slightly sweet + muted-fruity nose. Body is decently big + smooth. Quite a good length on the flavour; “big body, long tail” = whale, they say. Cute. Not perfect, maybe a rough travel, but very tasty. Must visit…<\/p>\n

\n
\"Mussel<\/a>
Mussel Inn introductory blurb, Malthouse Beer Book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Mussel<\/a>
Diary II entry #2, Mussel Inn 'Pale Whale Ale'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You do meet some choice people, in a job like mine. (You meet some intolerable ones, too, but I prefer not to write about them, here.) Three people wandered into our pub the day before Beervana, and when I commented on the Mussel Inn shirt one of them was wearing, it turned out that they … Continue reading Mussel Inn ‘Pale Whale’ 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":[6,14,12],"class_list":["post-727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary","tag-pages","tag-nz","tag-pale-ale"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":735,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2010\/09\/08\/mussel-inn%e2%80%a6-pumpkinsomething\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":0},"title":"Mussel Inn\u2026 Pumpkinsomething","author":"Phil","date":"September 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I totally forgot the name of this thing, but the only mention of a pumpkin beer on the Mussel Inn's awesomely \/ terrifyingly retro website -- it just screams Microsoft FrontPage, which was last released seven years ago -- is one they call 'Happy Jackal' (I'm not sure why). Dogfish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mussel Inn Pumpkinsomething","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mussel-Inn-Pumpkinsomething-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":906,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2010\/10\/10\/beer-101-tasting-session\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":1},"title":"Beer 101 Tasting Session","author":"Phil","date":"October 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"George (the gifter of the original Diary) organised a little tasting session at his house for a few friends of ours, with me playing the Informative Nerd. I'll be the first to admit that I made them all run a bit of a marathon, but we hit most of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Beer 101 tasting session empties","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Beer-101-1-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18004,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2016\/03\/29\/beer-diary-podcast-s05e05\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":2},"title":"Beer Diary Podcast s05e05: Crowd, Fun, Ding","author":"Phil","date":"March 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Damn these recurrent hiatuses. It happened again, as these things do. But we're back this week \u2014 rather fittingly, after the long weekend \u2014 with a little look at crowdfunding in the beer business, some reminiscences over my marvellous trip to the Mussel Inn, and looking forward to the Great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Podcast episodes"","block_context":{"text":"Podcast episodes","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/podcast-episodes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mussel Inn tap bank, plus miscellany","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mussel-Inn-Taps-and-chaos-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":811,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2010\/09\/20\/harringtons-saddleback\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":3},"title":"Harrington’s ‘Saddleback’","author":"Phil","date":"September 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Given the nature of the place he runs, our Overboss can be a surprisingly... incurious drinker, sometimes. He's very-much fond of what he's fond of (i.e., American Pale Ale), and doesn't seem to much wander into other fields. But hey, that does leave me (as resident Beer Nerd) with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Harrington's 'Saddleback'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Harringtons-Saddleback-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3934,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/05\/09\/alaskan-winter-ale\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":4},"title":"Alaskan Winter Ale","author":"Phil","date":"May 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u00a0had glorious great big ostentatious American-style tap handles. I quickly hatched a plan (not just within the bounds of my own head; I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alaskan 'Winter Ale'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Alaskan-Winter-Ale1-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":403,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2008\/08\/28\/croucher-pale-ale\/","url_meta":{"origin":727,"position":5},"title":"Croucher Pale Ale","author":"Phil","date":"August 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: Croucher Pale Ale, from Rotorua, but with none of that city's usual aromatic downsides. An after-work drink, and a pretty damn good one. It's a little bit Little-Creatures-esque, what with being a pale ale, but not being a thwack in the head with a fistful of hops. 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