Regent Hotel

I have been pretty slack lately. I still haven't sorted out Internet at the new flat and I have been busy at work. I have not really had a decent session on the turps in a while either which doesn't help. Anyhow, not far from my office is an OK pub called the Regent Hotel (stalkers can probably work out where my new job is located). They do a good counter lunch and have both James Squire Golden Ale (pictured) and Cooper's Pale Ale in proper real keg form. The guys at work like nothing better than getting amongst it during a lunch hour which suits my cultural preferences down to a tea. Last Friday I also ventured to the Kirribilli Club, an RSL aligned club not far my phat flat. They had two interesting beers on in proper real keg. James Squire Amber Ale and Baron's Pale Ale which went down a treat (about 10 schooners in total), even considering I was backing up from an impressive lunchtime session at the Regent. Currently in the fridge at home I have a six pack of Warsteiner and a 5L minikeg of Bitburger I want to smash ASAP. Tonight will be a good night as I'm off the Tharens in Kings Cross for dinner. It's an all you can drink affair so I will be giving it a good nudge to ensure I get my moneys worth. Sadly beers on offer are limited to Tooheys New and Carlton Draught - not complete shit, but not really exciting either. Tomorrow I plan to rack my two can screamer into a cube for some cold conditioning love. I'll post about that sometime next week. I'll also post about my new 50" plasma TV that I have been having wet dreams about. Till then I will leave you with the lovely Sydney Harbour which I get to enjoy on a daily basis. I live less than 300 meters from the landmarks in the pictures. It's a hard knock life!

Baron's Black Wattle Superior

As we strolled along Hatton Garden towards Farringdon Station, I noticed the beer festival signs on the window of the local Wetherspoons place - The Sir John Oldcastle. For those who have never been to this pub, I will spare a comprehensive description. Just think tacky fruit machines, pensioners, tramps, sticky carpet, smell of sick and/or urine - You get the picture, its a dive. However, for one reason or another I was drawn to a beer from my Homeland, Baron's Black Wattle Superior (4.8% abv a bit weaker than the Aussie version which is 5.8%). Now initially when I heard (via my Uni Alumni letter, yes I went to uni with the Baron's), that it was going to be brewed by Marston's, I immediately thought that I would give it a miss. Nothing good comes out of that place. But curiosity got the better of me. I have had this beer before, back in late 2005 or early 2006 whilst in Sydney, and for those of you who don't know their Australian operations are brewed under licence by AIB. It's basically an Amber Ale with a nutty edge which is supplied by the roast wattle seeds. Surprisingly, this beer was actually ok, which is amazing due to where it was brewed. Still I did risk my own personal hygiene and moral standing by venturing into this establishment. I work around the corner, I was lucky a colleague didn't see me!

Website

Baron's Pale Ale

A relative newcomer to the Australian Beer scene, Baron's Pale Ale (4.6% abv) takes the well established American Pale Ale route and extends the concept by using highly aromatic hops sourced from New Zealand. I had heard rumours about Baron's beers and their growing popularity in the United States and was keen to check out what all the hype was all about. The beer is uniquely bitter, Its unobtrusive, but I think the IBU rating would still be well over 30 IBU's. The aroma is of passionfruit and lychee, but instead of deriving these flavours from Cascade and Amarillo, Baron's have chosen newer hop varieties such as Nelson Sauvin and Pacific Gem to do the job. Due to the beer only being relesed relatively recently, I have been unable to find out too much info. However as always there is a website! Overall, a good balanced beer which I shall crave until I can find it either here in the UK, or when I move back to Australia.