Pro Craft in the glass.

Is that the RIS your SWMBO is drinking, or the title?

My SWMBO is a fiend for RIS.

SWMBO has always been an IPA fiend but recently has discovered black beers, courtesy of a vanilla porter here and suddenly got evangelical.

Shanghai is great now too. Even Shenzhen has some good stuff

I spoke with Yob today, he'd tasted a bottle last week.
Bandiccot's Lark barrel aged RIS.
Well for vallentines the boss is away dancing (with my young fella)to some tunes got me a lil mellow so I thought hey why not.

Nose- Chocolate in your face (I mean in your face, never been hit so hard with aroma)

Taste- Damn! But fuck!(should I have saved this a year or two more)
Too late the malt has hit the tongue, that barrel was truely an angel the oak with a slight under tone of wisky hits and the malts follow.

Over all- There are big beers you'll struggle with, this 500ml just leaves you wanting another.

We know the crew who made this, and the beer is almost as good as they are. But I've not had better, maybe different.

yob
yumbeer

Cracked a Crownie the other day that somebody left in my fridge.
Bugger all head and not nice to drink....fucking clear but. They must use Biofine or maybe gelatine in their brews.

Back to Bridge Road (Mayday Hills) again. I'm a dead set sucker for anything funky, soured or oaked from breweries that I rate, so I just can't resist anything from Mayday Hills, although I wasn't actually expecting much from this particular bottling. I was wrong though - this is right up the pointy end of the citrus IPAs I've had. Much drier than I was expecting, and quite restrained funk, with a distinct but not overpowering orange thread to it. Very aromatic for a nearly six month old IPA. Great balance - would drink again, and often.

I don't know where this little anecdote goes, so will put it here for the time being.

Was at a dodgy buffet last night, dressed up as classy and went to the bar to order a beer. They are Carlton Dry, Carlton Draught, Cascade Light and "Lynbrook Draught (It was the Lynbrook Hotel). I thought, that sounds interesting and so had the following conversation:

Me: Lynbrook Draught, looks interesting.
Bar Lady: Blank look
Me: Can you tell me about the Lynbrook Draught?
Bar Lady: It's cheaper than the others.
Bar Lady: Would you like to try?
Me: Ok.......
Me also: <Spits out>, 'll have a Carlton Dry thanks.

Twas shithouse. In small print it was brewed by Australian Brewery or something similiar. I just liked how the selling point was that it was cheaper than the rest. Hahahah. Food was crap too.

I usually choose to drink nothing at all in those situations. Even when I was young I never liked your VBs, Carltons, etc., I was a scothc and coke drinker as even Tooheys Dry and Carlton Cold were only just palatable. I only learned to like beer after I finally tried Coopers in my late 20s. If I go somewhere that only has Crown, Tsing Tao, Carlton, VB, etc., I have a dry night.

Really? Should dad be in the playground at 70 anyway?😂😂

I'm in UnZud at present. Just finished walking the Milford Track. That was grandma's present for my 70th birthday. Better than any restaurant playground.
I'm not paying the exorbitant roaming mobile fees, so no photo, as I'm only using our crappy old laptop on the hotel Wi-Fi, but the craft beers here are great.
Had a Laganutas IPA from the US and various other locally brewed craft beers. I'm having a ball sampling lots we never see in oz.

Did you get your money back?

We're now in Dunedin. Drove from Queenstown across to here and experienced some amazing scenery on the way.
Had a Garage Project Aro Noir Stout with yum cha for dinner. Smooth and complex, chocolate coffee roast velvet. Delicious.
Now sucking down a Matawhaka Imperial IPA in the hotel room. Very nice, but Imperial? Just IPA to my lupulin threshold, but going down so well all the same. Must have been filtered, as it's brilliantly clear. Honey colour, and just enough malt to carry the hops.

Found a nearby bar called Taps & Apps Brewpub, in Mililani, Oahu, Hawaii.
In what seemed like a crappy location with a minimal exterior, we walked into what looked a bit like a sports bar that a bunch of frat boys were about to walk into any second. However the vibe was still good and friendly, so I had a glance at the beer list. Holy cow! Great list of taps, including a few I've been wanting to try.


So I started with the Deschutes Big Black Butte

Slight roasty chocolate coffee aroma
Awesome flavour. Almost no roast sharpness, just a light hint. Chocolate comes through, with a slight coffee/nutty edge to it. Slight vanilla sweetness (I'm tempted to say there's some oats in there!) to a moderate-to-slight dry finish. Maybe a slight fruitiness as a result of the less-dry "mid-palate". Decent mouthfeel - filling but not to full, so quite sessionable. Excellent balance of the elements. Definitely worthy of its reputation.

Had a fair set of samples from the super friendly barman who didn't hesitate to start ripping out tasters as soon as I mentioned I was wondering about some of the IPAs.
... From that I decided the Firestone IPA was ok but not as great as I hoped, and went with the next/"better" one the dude suggested that was indeed the pick of the several hoppiest beers.
Belching Beaver Phantom Bride IPA

Great tropical pineapple aroma and flavour (much better than Firestone). Nice resinous vegetal (hoppy, in a good way) element in the flavour. Again, excellent balance of flavour, bitterness and (malty) strength.

Great malty aroma and flavour