Worlds Most Expensive Beer

I thought BrewDogs high alcohol special releases were expensive, but Nail Brewing Antarctic Nail Ale takes the cake at A$1850 a bottle. This premium for a single bottle (of a limited release of 30) shows that as much as Caroline Nodder want's to dispute it, there is a market for niche beers catering specifically to beer geeks. Proceeds from the sale of Antarctic Nail Ale will be going to support the pseudo-terrorist anti-whaling campaign Sea Shepherd.

Nail Brewing's owner/brewer John Stallwood claims that the strictly limited-edition beer is the world's purest, having been made with water melted from a block of Antarctic ice. The ice was collected from a large Antarctic iceberg by Stallwood's brother-in-law, Kevin McGinty, who is a terrorist member of Sea Shepherd's crew. Back in port in Hobart, the ice was melted then delivered to Stallwood in Perth, where he produced a 20-litre batch of his signature Nail Ale, using a pilot brewery at Edith Cowan University.

I personally don't have an appetite for expensive geek only beer, however I wonder how much this version of Nail Ale differs from the original brewery sourced water version?

The SMH ran a story on the beer yesterday if you can be bothered to read anything that Willie Simpson has to say..

Oprah gets into the VB

Oprah seems to be having a nice time down here in Australia. Besides forcing her US based opinions regarding golliwogs on our more tolerant nature, she has also been sampling some of Australia's laid back lifestyle including the attendance of a bogan BBQ.
.
"But Winfrey fitted right in, noshing on tabouleh, chicken kebabs and salads - all washed down with a can of VB"
.
Doesn't sound very Aussie to me. Where are the sausages, steak and proper real keg? To be fair the BBQ is a shining example of our of some of our ethnically diverse community, but VB? Really Oprah WTF.

Low Carb

It seems that Australian's or well the great unwashed amongst us, have fallen victims to the clever "low carb" marketing used by most Australian brewing companies. A recent article regarding a survey found that;

Almost three-quarters (71 per cent) of low-carb beer drinkers who responded to a VicHealth poll said it was a healthy alternative to full-strength beer.

A majority (59 per cent) said it was healthier than mid-strength while more (38 per cent) thought it was healthier than lower-alcohol light beer compared with those who knew it was not (36 per cent).

Hmm, common sense tells us that beer is calorie laden due to alcohol, not sugaz. But being beer geeks we knew that didn't we.

I must confess that the low carb marketing is good for one thing, and that's getting girls drinking beer, which means more girls in beer drinking venues. As for 'Pure Blonde" as in the image above. Well I'm not that fussed. I prefer my blondes on their backs with their legs open.

Rocks Brewing Co.

Last night I caught up with friends of mine who are holidaying from the UK. The plan was to meet up at The Australian Hotel in The Rocks, and as usual I was early so managed to get a schooner of Little Creatures Pale Ale and a schooner of Scharer's Lager in before my friends managed to find the pub. Neither of these beers were that good. It seems that little Creatures has tamed down a lot over the last couple of years and is now tastes like Toohey's New with some Galaxy hop flavour. The Scharer's lager tasted tart and sour, and was probably infected. The Australian was pumping and we couldn't get a table so we headed around to a relatively new craft beer venue at The Harts Pub, which is also home to the Rocks Brewing Co. As my friends only had a couple of hours it was never going to be a massive piss up, but more of a social meal and a chat. First of all I would like to say that the pub is massively expensive. Pints are between $9.60 and $12 which translates to between £6 and £7.50 per pint. Meals are around $20 which is about £12 so not too bad.
.
I started with a pint of Rocks Brewing Co. Governor Ale (4.4% abv) which is described as an American Blond Ale, and ordered the Brewers Burger for dinner. The beer was excellent and was the perfect summer beverage on the hottest and most humid day in December so far. Cool and refreshing with hints of stonefruit aroma most likely from NZ based hops. I had finished my pint before our meals arrived and I was drinking slow, so after a quick complain to see what the holdup was I was provided with a half of something else which was equally as nice. My burger arrived shortly after and I was content as it was one of the best burgers I have had in quite some time.
.
Anyway this probably doesn't interest most of you, but as I don't get out for a few beers very often anymore I think it was worth noting. Also, I will try and get back to The Harts at some other pint in the future for more adventures with true craft proper real keg.

Brew Masters

I have been watching and enjoying the new Discovery Channel documentary series Brew Masters starring Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head Craftbrewery in Delaware, US. Tonight is the screening of the last episode in the series, and previous episodes have covered collaboration beers with Sony for Bitches Brew and Epic Brewing from NZ with Portamarillo which is a beer spiced with Tamarillo fruit. My favourite episode is the Cicha episode where they make a corn beer which is mashed by chewing on the grains so the amylase protein in the brewers saliva converts the corn starch to fermentable sugars. Besides these interesting brews the series highlights overall Dogfish Head production from issues with the bottling line to the operation at the Rehoboth Beach brewpub. Snippets of the series is available from Discovery Channel website, and through other various means such as *cough*channel BT*cough*.

I had heard of Sam and Brian's hip hop act the 'Pain Releivaz' before, but the Bitches Brew episode was the first time I had heard them in action. Enjoy.
BTW - Dogfish Head use proper real keg as there preferred packaging. If this offends, then maybe this isn't the documentary for you.

Beer Fridge

I have a new beer fridge. Its not the greatest piece of kit in the world, but it does the job and the price was right. The GE 470 is of 80's vintage and was sourced through my local Freecycle group. Currently it holds a 19L keg of Amarillo Pale Ale which I brewed a couple of weeks ago. It also has a fermenter of an American Pale Ale which I brewed last week. This is cold conditioning so it drops bright before I chuck it in a keg.
.
A beer fridge is every Australian man's birthright. Often of generation gap older than its new eco-friendly cousin in the kitchen, it sits in the laundry or garage with the sole purpose of keeping a mans beer cold. Mine will also house hops in its generous freezer section and yeast samples in the door, but the point is that its sole purpose is beer related.
.
I am willing to overlook its power consumption for the simple fact that my beer will be cold and I'll have proper real keg on demand whenever I so choose.
.
I read a professional (aka newspaper columnists blog) last week which posed the question how much beer should a beer fridge hold? The journalist response was surprising and made me question his sexuality;
.
"The obvious answer is that it should be full to pussy's bow with beer, but I do not know that this is in fact true. My own beer fridge is about half full at the moment. Stocked with the remnants of our Halloween party. Four Kirins, three Steinlagers, two Heinekens, five sundry stubbies from the most excellent brewery of Mr. James Squire, and a couple of Cascade lights which somehow found their way in when my guard was down."
.
Besides the fact that its full of exotic tasteless Asian, Kiwi and Euro lagers, there is one fundamental problem. It is not being used to its full potential. Maybe he should trade for a smaller fridge? Anyway the article dribbles on for a bit and the Journalist tries to justify his gayness, and then pretty much comes out of the closet with his final line.
.
"I think then the rule of thumb must be, as in all things, that modest stillness and humility should be our watchword. A half-full beer fridge gives the impression that a good time has been had, and could yet be had again, but that one need not immediately launch oneself into a savage assault on the beer supplies, lending a considered and civilised repose to the contemplation of which bottle might come out next.
.
For me, I think, another Kirin might be in order."
.
Anyhow, for now I'll just be happy knowing that I have plenty of good quality piss on hand when ever I feel like it. You can read the homosexual ravings of the Journo here if you so wish.