July 2nd, 2015

Bigger is Better

Dominic's witty and entertaining assessment of our July 4th celebrations last week were pretty much spot on. But it seems he just can't get into the 'murica mindset leading up to American Beer Day.

Clearly, on this day more than any other day, bigger is better.

When we held our first celebration of US brewing all those years ago we had 5 US beers on tap and put up a few streamers and balloons.
The following year set us on an upwards trajectory when had US beer on all 8 taps, US flags, more streamers, balloons, po' boys and warm apple pie.

Then it was more beers, more flags and american BBQ meat. Last year we plastered the walls with stars and stripes, filled the bar with balloons and even had a US beer on handpump.

So, what can we do this year? The only thing we can do: go bigger!

The Hurricanes and Highlanders gave us some assistance with that, we'll be showing the rugby grand final coverage from 7pm.

As usual we're giving Uncle Sam ipecac to decorate our walls with even more red, white and blue - but that's all by the by. The main show is the beers.

We've now got access to a huge range of small 20L american kegs thanks to Beer Without Border's well timed US shipment, that arrived last week.
The smaller keg size means the tap lineup will evolve throughout the night. We'll be featuring fresh imports of old classics combined with beers we've never had on tap before.

We'll be starting off with the following lineup:

Almanac Saison Dolores

Ballast Point Longfin Lager

Ballast Point Indra Kunindra

Speakeasy Prohibition Ale

Almanac Farmers Reserve Strawberry Sour

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Speakeasy Blind Tiger IIPA

Coronado Barrelman's Brown

Most of those are just wee kegs, so waiting in the wings will be:

Modern Times Lomaland Saison

Almanac Honey Saison

Coronado Golden Pils

Ballast Point Fathom IPL

Coronado Stupid Stout

Ballast Point Victory at Sea

Karl Strauss Off the Rails

Almanac Golden Gate Gose

Ballast Point Big Eye IPA

Almanac IPA

Gigantic IPA

Speakeasy Double Daddy IIPA

Rogue Mocha Porter

So, there's little chance of us running out of great beer this Saturday. 

The Fire Truck is taking over our little kitchen from 5pm and will be plying you with an amazing looking american inspired menu:

After the big game The X-Ray Catz will rock(abilly)ing out in the lounge, to help you celebrate the Hurricane's victory.
Their  high energy rockabilly. surf, swing and classic rock 'n' roll starts a little later than usual at 10pm.
So in summary: US beers on tap from midday, Fire Truck food from 5pm, rugby grand final from 7pm, X-Ray Catz from 10pm. Should be a good Saturday.

Choka Partywave Brah

Hot Water head brewer Dave is a pretty understated guy.

Instead of brewing a crazy, adjunct-filled, gimmick beer for GABS; he just brewed a normal IPA.
Partywave IPA is made with malt, hops, yeast, water and nothing else - and is one of the best IPA’s you’ll try this year.
It turns out combining the hop bills from his Kauri Falls pale ale and About Time IPA yields a damn good, balanced, fruity, delicious IPA.

We’re tapping our keg at 5pm this Tuesday, see you there.

Ya Gotta Be Fresh

The very same shipment that had allowed us to go nuts on the 4th also contained quite a few new bottles and cans.

New to our fridge are: Modern Times Oneida Pale Ale, Mount Remarkable IPL and Ballast Point Fathom IPL (in cans!).

Restocked are: Ballast Point Indra Kunindra, Even Keel cans, Blind Tiger and small Victory at Sea.

Have Reached Peak Hop?

The very latest shipments in from the USA had plenty of new brews to showcase - but not so many of them were hoppy pale ales...
Maybe this is a sign of changing times in the states... or maybe we just wanted a theme to tie together this eclectic mix of excellent beers that just arrived fresh from the states.

Clickbait title aside, on Wednesday July 15th at 6pm we'll be holding a tasting consisting of:

Modern Times Mount Remarkable IPL

Modern Times Oneida American Pale Ale

Speakeasy Blind Tiger

Rogue Pumpkin Saviour

Coronado Señor Saison

Almanac Farmer’s Reserve Strawberry

Rogue Sriracha Stout

Ballast Point Indra Kunindra

You can book your place to taste over at The Cult Beer Store for just $40.

The tasting kicks off at 6pm and will just have light snacks provided - so eat dinner beforehand!