The Bar - Beer, Wine & Spirits.

[Canada EH]

Some new Palm Bay purple cans I bought 6 pack 3+ times a day but they were cool about it. Penticton the place where theres 2 liquies on the same street across the street from one another, went in for a second and the goof said NO NO NO you come in only once per day, whata goof.

[Virus__]

Managed to pick these up for $1.95 a can yesterday. They're usually $7/ea here or around $25 for a 4 pack. I'm not the biggest fan of pre-mixed spirit, but I haven't had JD in over a year & last time it was a 4 pack of these with cola, which I managed to down within an hour. 2 standard drinks a can gets you buzzed, it's nice.

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Virus__ said:

Managed to pick these up for $1.95 a can yesterday. They're usually $7/ea here or around $25 for a 4 pack. I'm not the biggest fan of pre-mixed spirit, but I haven't had JD in over a year & last time it was a 4 pack of these with cola, which I managed to down within an hour. 2 standard drinks a can gets you buzzed, it's nice.

 

 

Those look interesting!

[Virus__]

1 minute ago, Legendarypoet said:

Those look interesting!

They aren't bad. 10% ABV & 250ml, they taste more like JD than mixer which is nice & i'll be honest I didn't think the lemonade one was gonna be any good & it's not half bad.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Thankfully American beer is great now, not the crap it was 30 years ago. If I had to pick my top 3, in no specific order:

 

 

 

[Virus__]

3 minutes ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

Thankfully American beer is great now, not the crap it was 30 years ago. If I had to pick my top 3, in no specific order:

 

 

 

 

 

I hear good things about Stone & their IPA. I need to see if I can track it down here in Australia!

[SteveGrabowski0]

2 minutes ago, Virus__ said:

I hear good things about Stone & their IPA. I need to see if I can track it down here in Australia!

Their IPAs are excellent. They're also the ones who make the Arrogant Bastard Ale from the top pic. Their pale ale is pretty average and their smoked porter is nothing special, but most of their beers are amazing.

[Virus__]

Hell yeah. Just walked into the big box liquor merchant of the company I work for & they had 6 packs of Ballast Point Grunion Pale Ale for $14.90 plus my 10% staff discount. Where as the Sculpin, Sea Rose, Even Keel & Big Eye are at least $25 for their 6 packs here.

[Dredgy]

Australian here (who owns a restaurant). We recently rolled out an all Queensland beer list, and contemplating an all Queensland wine list. Wine samples have started to arrive, and this is the most sensational white:

Symphony Hill Petit Manseng 2016 - Granite Belt, QLD. Sharp acidity at the front, but a smooth, buttery texture like a really well-made Riesling or Gewurztraminer. Pineapple and peach flavours are overwhelming with an orange marmalade finish. Little-known grape variety originating in the Pyrenees but well suited to a high-altitude Queensland climate. Expensive, but worth every cent (and then some). Thoroughly recommend.

 

If anyone lives around the Rockhampton region, let me know and I'm happy to share or offer discounts on beer/wine/spirit samples.

 

 

 

[Virus__]

18 hours ago, Dredgy said:

Australian here (who owns a restaurant). We recently rolled out an all Queensland beer list, and contemplating an all Queensland wine list. Wine samples have started to arrive, and this is the most sensational white:

Symphony Hill Petit Manseng 2016 - Granite Belt, QLD. Sharp acidity at the front, but a smooth, buttery texture like a really well-made Riesling or Gewurztraminer. Pineapple and peach flavours are overwhelming with an orange marmalade finish. Little-known grape variety originating in the Pyrenees but well suited to a high-altitude Queensland climate. Expensive, but worth every cent (and then some). Thoroughly recommend.

 

 

If anyone lives around the Rockhampton region, let me know and I'm happy to share or offer discounts on beer/wine/spirit samples.

 

 

 

Oh nice, what brewers do you have on that list?

 

Granite Belt Wine eh, I honestly wouldn't even think of Queensland as a wine state. But I have to remember there's places like Stanthorpe (which is part of the Granite Belt) where some of the best stone fruit comes from & apples.

 

If you're looking for a decent craft cider to add to your collection, maybe give Granite Belt Cider Co a go, they're owned by Byron Bay brewers Stone & Wood, they only do one cider really but it is damn good.

 

 

 

We recently just got a local-ish (only about 2 hour drive away) ginger beer in at work by Buderim ginger, I knew they did soft drinks but didn't realise they did alcoholic as well. So the boss gave me one to sample, not bad. It's basically a brewed non-alcoholic ginger beer with a neutral spirit added to it, rather than being a fermented product. Thought i'd give it a bash before going back to work tonight, it's pretty good. I wouldn't mind replicating such to be honest. Which shouldn't be hard when I know someone who makes their own spirits.

 

 

 

[Guest]

18 hours ago, Dredgy said:

<snip>

When I come back to Queensland next holidays you will have to tell me what beer to get because its pretty interesting there. Carltons and Tooheys is not great nor XXXX. I settled for getting the Pacific Ale, which I loved from when I went to Rarotonga (Although its strangely cheaper there - why is alcohol so expensive in Australia?). 

I wish I could just bring up some Speights :'( 

I did love the James Boag stuff though, really nice. 

Also saw you guys had Macs, but no Macs Summer Ale. 

[Virus__]

1 hour ago, RorzNZ said:

When I come back to Queensland next holidays you will have to tell me what beer to get because its pretty interesting there. Carltons and Tooheys is not great nor XXXX. I settled for getting the Pacific Ale, which I loved from when I went to Rarotonga (Although its strangely cheaper there - why is alcohol so expensive in Australia?). 

I wish I could just bring up some Speights :'( 

I did love the James Boag stuff though, really nice. 

Also saw you guys had Macs, but no Macs Summer Ale. 

Balter XPA, Green Beacon Windjammer IPA, Stone & Wood Pacific Ale (I assume that was the pacific ale you were talking about?), Young Henry's Newtowner Australian Pale Ale, Pirate Life Pale Ale. Also Coopers Pale Ale & Sparkling Ale.

 

Pretty much have a look at the GABS Hottest 100 for 2017 & the majority of those beers are awesome.

[Dredgy]

4 hours ago, RorzNZ said:

When I come back to Queensland next holidays you will have to tell me what beer to get because its pretty interesting there. Carltons and Tooheys is not great nor XXXX. I settled for getting the Pacific Ale, which I loved from when I went to Rarotonga (Although its strangely cheaper there - why is alcohol so expensive in Australia?). 

So our QLD beer list is:

• Baffle Beer Helles Lager - great, refreshing lager brewed in German Style by German Guy. But won't be available except a few places in Central Queensland, though they do have an online store (but freight is $$$).
• Slipstream Rye Pale Ale - midstrength pale ale made on rye rather than barley. This is Queensland's most underrated beer etc. So much flavour for so little alcohol. Should be easy enough to find in Brisbane. They have a solid pilsner lager as well.
• Black Hops Pale Ale - classic American style pale ale. #20 on GABS hottest 100. Their distribution is janky (I am the only venue in Central Queensland that stocks it), but they are easy to find around Brisbane/Gold Coast and do sell 12 packs with free delivery from Dan Murphys. Highly commender their IPA too.
• Balter Alt Brown. #96 on GABS 100 and owned by the surfer Mick Fanning. Rock solid distribution so any bottle shop that doesn't stock it will be able to special order it in. Easy drinking brown altbier. If you're not into dark beers, this is a great introduction.
• Bargara Rusty Roo. Irish style red. Small smattering of hops but predominantly malt. I think Boozebud stocks it for online sales, some Dan Murphy's outlets might stock it. I'll also throw in a shout out to their 'Hard Apple' cider.
• Green Beacon Windjammer IPA. All of Green Beacon's stuff is fantastic. Brewery is close to Brisbane CBD so worth a visit. This is quite a fruity IPA that's smashable on a summer's day. Like Balter, distribution is top notch.
• Bacchus Sex, Drugs & Rocky Road. It's a beer. It tastes like Rocky Road. Novelty? Yes. Worth it? Yes. Bacchus is the place to go for extreme novelty beers of exceptionally high quality. Highlights for me include their Atomic Pina Colada, Peanut Brittle Gose, Peanut Butter Jelly Time and Raspberry & White Chocolate Pilsner. Best bet to find them is to visit their brewery in the Brisbane suburbs or to order direct from their website.

Price wise comes down to tax. Taxation depends on base ingredient for alcohol (grapes, malt etc.) and alcohol content. Wine tends to be very cheap for very high quality stuff (same in NZ though), but spirits and high ABV beers are taxed out the wazoo. Container deposit schemes in NSW, plus expense of distribution play parts in pricing too. 

5 hours ago, Virus__ said:

Oh nice, what brewers do you have on that list?

See above.

 

Also, thanks for pointing out the Buderim Alcoholic ginger beer. I was looking at them in January and they only had the soft drink and a rum + ginger beer mixture so it must be a new addition. I'll reach out to them because ginger beer is a good seller for us and I'm bored of the Matso's that we currently sell.

 

Granite Belt is a fantastic wine region, and Symphony Hill in particular is world class (though priced to match). The Stanthorpe climate  \is great for Mediterranean grapes, and Petit Verdot in Queensland is the signature grape - it grows better there than it does in its native France, or indeed anywhere else. Tonight I tried Symphony Hill's reserve Sauvignon Blanc and Reserve Lagrein. While I'm shamelessly plugging Symphony Hill, try their Reserve Petit Verdot. Will cost you about $70 direct from the winery, but is worth every single cent and will make any occasion special.

 

I have some wine samples coming in from the South Burnett region which is a relative unknown for me so I'm excited to try!

[Virus__]

12 hours ago, Dredgy said:

So our QLD beer list is:

• Baffle Beer Helles Lager - great, refreshing lager brewed in German Style by German Guy. But won't be available except a few places in Central Queensland, though they do have an online store (but freight is $$$).
• Slipstream Rye Pale Ale - midstrength pale ale made on rye rather than barley. This is Queensland's most underrated beer etc. So much flavour for so little alcohol. Should be easy enough to find in Brisbane. They have a solid pilsner lager as well.
• Black Hops Pale Ale - classic American style pale ale. #20 on GABS hottest 100. Their distribution is janky (I am the only venue in Central Queensland that stocks it), but they are easy to find around Brisbane/Gold Coast and do sell 12 packs with free delivery from Dan Murphys. Highly commender their IPA too.
• Balter Alt Brown. #96 on GABS 100 and owned by the surfer Mick Fanning. Rock solid distribution so any bottle shop that doesn't stock it will be able to special order it in. Easy drinking brown altbier. If you're not into dark beers, this is a great introduction.
• Bargara Rusty Roo. Irish style red. Small smattering of hops but predominantly malt. I think Boozebud stocks it for online sales, some Dan Murphy's outlets might stock it. I'll also throw in a shout out to their 'Hard Apple' cider.
• Green Beacon Windjammer IPA. All of Green Beacon's stuff is fantastic. Brewery is close to Brisbane CBD so worth a visit. This is quite a fruity IPA that's smashable on a summer's day. Like Balter, distribution is top notch.
• Bacchus Sex, Drugs & Rocky Road. It's a beer. It tastes like Rocky Road. Novelty? Yes. Worth it? Yes. Bacchus is the place to go for extreme novelty beers of exceptionally high quality. Highlights for me include their Atomic Pina Colada, Peanut Brittle Gose, Peanut Butter Jelly Time and Raspberry & White Chocolate Pilsner. Best bet to find them is to visit their brewery in the Brisbane suburbs or to order direct from their website.

Price wise comes down to tax. Taxation depends on base ingredient for alcohol (grapes, malt etc.) and alcohol content. Wine tends to be very cheap for very high quality stuff (same in NZ though), but spirits and high ABV beers are taxed out the wazoo. Container deposit schemes in NSW, plus expense of distribution play parts in pricing too. 

See above.

 

Also, thanks for pointing out the Buderim Alcoholic ginger beer. I was looking at them in January and they only had the soft drink and a rum + ginger beer mixture so it must be a new addition. I'll reach out to them because ginger beer is a good seller for us and I'm bored of the Matso's that we currently sell.

 

Granite Belt is a fantastic wine region, and Symphony Hill in particular is world class (though priced to match). The Stanthorpe climate  \is great for Mediterranean grapes, and Petit Verdot in Queensland is the signature grape - it grows better there than it does in its native France, or indeed anywhere else. Tonight I tried Symphony Hill's reserve Sauvignon Blanc and Reserve Lagrein. While I'm shamelessly plugging Symphony Hill, try their Reserve Petit Verdot. Will cost you about $70 direct from the winery, but is worth every single cent and will make any occasion special.

 

I have some wine samples coming in from the South Burnett region which is a relative unknown for me so I'm excited to try!

Balter & Green Beacon are 2 of my all time favourite breweries. I also live a stones throw from Balter. Mick & Joel are such cool dudes. Windjammer imo is possibly the best Australian IPA on the market, I am so bummed I never got my hands on their Mango Milkshake IPA they released on their 5th birthday last month. Also i'm off to a meet up with some people from a craft beer forum in April at Balter, that should be good.
 

That is an impressive list you have there of quality beers I must say. I've tried the Pale Ale from Black Hops & the boss told me we're meant to be getting it ranged for our store which would mean we would then have for local craft, Balter, Stone & Wood, Green Beacon, Newstead Brewing, Burliegh Brewing & then hopefully Black Hops. But we also carry, Pirate Life, Young Henry's, Gage Roads (despite they were 30% owned by Woolworths for a bit), Mountain Goat, I forget what else, but for a BWS we do alright for the craft. We're also getting Modus Operandi! The boss was meant to be picking up a carton yesterday. Can't wait to have that in store. I assume it'll be either their Pale Ale or IPA.

 

Ah yeah, don't get me started on the federal taxation on alcohol. It is really hurting small breweries & small distilleries. One example Husk Distillers (famous for Ink Gin & 20 minutes down the road from me) made a post on Facebook the other week when the bi-annual tax excise came in & how much they get charged per litre of pure alcohol, it's stupid. These small guys don't deserve these barriers that the big guys can easily afford & probably pay a lot less given how they operate.

 

Also if you like your high end spirits, they do one of the best & most unique rums around called Agricole Rum, where they grow & process their own sugar cane on the property & instead of processing it into molasses they just press it & distil the fresh cane juice, amazing & totally different flavour profile for a rum. If you get the chance give their Pure Cane white rum a go, it is fantastic, it is not only smooth for a white rum, but it is actually sweet with quite a vanilla note to it. Their 1866 aged is rather nice too & I hear good things about their Spiced Bam Bam which is the newest in their rums a 5 year old aged spiced rum.

 

I mean it's not a traditional brewed ginger beer, but a soft drink with what appears to be neutral spirit added according to the ingredients. But it's the closest I have tried that to me seems like Bundy ginger beer but alcoholic. Personally I like Matso's buuuuuuuut, not only is it a mid strength & very very expensive ($96 a carton? So expensive), it's also a wine based ginger beer I am told, since Gage Roads contract brew for them & the boss was at their brewery a few years ago & learnt that titbit from one of the brewers there.

 

You know i've never seen a bottle of white that is a Sauv that expensive from Australia. Chardonnay Pinot Noir or dessert wines, sure, i've even sampled some of those. But never a Sauv or a Sem Sauv, even when I worked for Dans our whites were mostly under the $40 a bottle price range & there's some excellent whites in the $20-$40 price range.

 

Also nice to see a fellow Aussie in here, I don't feel as isolated now when I talk about alcohol from this country haha.

[Dredgy]

10 hours ago, Virus__ said:

You know i've never seen a bottle of white that is a Sauv that expensive from Australia. Chardonnay Pinot Noir or dessert wines, sure, i've even sampled some of those. But never a Sauv or a Sem Sauv, even when I worked for Dans our whites were mostly under the $40 a bottle price range & there's some excellent whites in the $20-$40 price range.

 

Also nice to see a fellow Aussie in here, I don't feel as isolated now when I talk about alcohol from this country haha.

 

If you're referencing my recommendation for Petit Verdot - it's a red wine, not a white  Their Sauv Blanc is a bit cheaper. But I do deal with a few expensive whites. Penfold's Yattarna most often.

 

Black Hops keep told me they'd have distribution in ALM by late January, it's now late February and I'm ordering it through Dan Murphy's delivery! Modus Operandi have been ranged in ALM so I did have them once as beer of the month.

 

[Virus__]

12 hours ago, Dredgy said:

 

If you're referencing my recommendation for Petit Verdot - it's a red wine, not a white  Their Sauv Blanc is a bit cheaper. But I do deal with a few expensive whites. Penfold's Yattarna most often.

 

Black Hops keep told me they'd have distribution in ALM by late January, it's now late February and I'm ordering it through Dan Murphy's delivery! Modus Operandi have been ranged in ALM so I did have them once as beer of the month.

 

Ah. Red makes waaaay more sense for that price haha.

 

I've been told we're meant to be ranging Black Hops.. That was almost 2 months ago, & there has been talks of it well before Christmas last year of nationwide availability with us. My boss apparently went & picked up a carton of Modus the other day, so hopefully he's going to write me a can off to try, I doubt it when they're like around $15 a can I am told..

[BeefyMeats]

Banna bread beer is one of my favorite fancy beers, but right now some things are going wrong at work so I'm downing some sambvca and $1 99 shots. Cant wait for the hangover tomorrow!

 

[Virus__]

Decided I wanted cider tonight. Not too sweet, not too dry pretty easy to drink. Another good effort by Young Henry's, I think i've tried it before but can't remember.

 

 

[MrDynamicMan]

On 1/29/2018 at 12:13 PM, mr moose said:

Not bear or wine drinker, but I have been enjoying Somersby pear ciders recently. 

ciders are fantastic. In South Africa we have a really nice one called Savannah.

Ive never been much of a wine person, rather just have grape juice tbh.

[Virus__]

18 minutes ago, MrDynamicMan said:

ciders are fantastic. In South Africa we have a really nice one called Savannah.

Ive never been much of a wine person, rather just have grape juice tbh.

We have that here in Aus (the company I work for are the sole importers of it) it's way too easy to drink.

[MrDynamicMan]

1 hour ago, Virus__ said:

We have that here in Aus (the company I work for are the sole importers of it) it's way too easy to drink.

thats what makes it so good 

[Virus__]

Was in Aldi the other day browsing & doing a bit of grocery shopping whilst waiting on new tyres for the car, and decided to give this Pale Ale of theirs from New Zealand a go, $18 for 12 of them pretty decent deal. For what it is, it's actually not bad, sweet & fruity, not overly bitter/hoppy, given it was dry hopped with 3 different types of hops. Goes down very easily.

 

Had the Modus Operandi rep drop by work yesterday & he left some samples for us, their session IPA, Red IPA & IPA. I took the IPA, since the boss allegedly claimed the Red IPA. It's not bad, a very fruity aroma & bitter on the mouth, not bad, but not something I could easily have more than one of. But I don't think i'd be buying it since it's $11 a can...

[spwath]

Right now my drink of choice is Captain Morgan 100 proof. Not too great at first, but a few shots in and it's pretty good. I'm going to try some higher quality rum soon though.

[Psittac]

I almost posted earlier about my favorite beer's, having a New Belgium sampler pack in hand, but couldn't remember the brewery for my favorite (rockyard excavator, somehow just remembered).  But I had to open up this thread to talk about the worst beer I have ever had.  It isn't as bad as the worst liquor ever (a pepper tequila that made a girl puke 17 years ago), but it's fuhqing horrible.  New Belgium Cellar Blend Sour Ale.  I can't take another sip.

[Virus__]

My boss gave me a few beers yesterday, I hadn't tried this particular one from Mountain Goat before, but god damn it was a tasty little number. Very similar to Stone & Wood's Pacific Ale, but more flavour & more body. I think i'll be buying a 6 pack in the near future!!