GABS 2013 - wondering where the notes went 12 months on

Approximately 12 months ago i let it be known that i was heading to GABS 2013 to follow up on the awesome work achieved and sensational beers drunk at GABS 2012.  I promised a thorough review and some more sparkling notes and biting, sassy beer reviews and this is what happened...

Day 1 - a sensational day was had and many an amusing note was written, but sadly after kicking off at midnight, following it up with a pub in the city, some beers at the footy, we then ended up at the bar formerly known as the Comfy Chair for some night cap drinks.  Alas, this is the last known location of my GABS guide from the days events and all those brilliant insights were lost to the ages and a pall fell across my mood, with the one caveat - there was still tomorrow, still a chance to make amends, still a chance to wonder why i wrote that about a certain random beer...

Day 2 - another sensational day was had, despite a slow start due to the lingering ill-effects of the previous sensational day.  Day 2 was primed for making amends and the comments were more biting, more witty, more verbose in describing not just the taste, but the grander spirit of the beer.  Alas, these were lost shortly after leaving the grand old lady that is the Royal Exhibition Building and once more these nuggets of life, love, beer and numberwang were lost for the ages.

Tomorrow, i'm returning to the scene of the last two events for GABS 2014.  This year i'm not making any bold proclamations, nor any seemingly innocuous promises that i will be unable to keep.  But i will endeavour to enjoy the event and record my thoughts both on the beers and the occasion via short rambling sentences and hoping that the records are not lost.  Wish me luck.

Giddy Up Piggy

GABS 2012 - looking through the bottom of an empty glass 12 months on

*cough* *cough* it's a little dusty around here.  apologies for the absence.

here's something i've been meaning to put up for a while - a documentation of my thoughts from 2012's Great Australian Beer Spectapular.  which for those not in the know was a brilliant collection of 60 craft beers brewed especially for the the festival (and then some post-festival-selling-and-profit-making-by-the-brewers!) and beer nerds such as myself.  i sampled 26 (including an accidental double), but sadly only made notes for a few.  a couple are amusing, but mainly to myself, so please forgive the indulgence.

i didn't drink them in numerical order of the beer, but that's how i've set it out.  with its name and description followed by my brief, yet still somehow rambling, notes.  there's also a few pearls of wisdom that were sprinkled throughout the evening and recorded for posterity.  including this lovely first snippet of gold from my good friend Fan.

Hop Lovers are like Kraut Rock = Cold Music/Cold Feeling. German.
Malt Lovers are like group hugs by the fire.

2. Epic Zythos (IPA). well rounded lad - worth a large
6. 8 Wired C4 (Double brown ale with coffee).  Great - BIG!
8. Garage Project Double Day of the Dead (strong black lager). like - strong, good strong.
10. Harringtons A Bit of Kiwi Wit (New Zealand Witbier). soury but not too much.
12. Moa Cocoa Weizen (Chocolate wheat beer). Been there!
13. The Mussel Inn Smoking Swine (Smoked Manuka beer).  didn't taste it but it smelled like your clothes after a night by a camp fire.
16. Yeastie Boys Gunnamattta (Tea-leafed IPA). good.

it's not a tuba.

18. 4 Pines Beetroot Belgian Ale (Strong Belgian Ale). nice and fruity, but beetroot isn't a fruit.
19. Barry Cranston's Brown Dog (Australian Brown Ale).  good work Barry - my kinda beer.
21. Hopdog Children of Darkness (Barrelled Black IPA).  tastes black.
22. Illawarra Saison Rouge (Red Saison).  alcohol is starting to distract, still good.  x2.
24. Lord Nelson Last Consignment (American Brown Ale). bitter.
25. Murray's Bob's Farmhouse Ale (Farmhouse Ale).  meaty - belgian.
26. Pinchgut Red PLZ (Red Lager).  lacks lustre it does.

a zealous love for beer.

27. The Mash Collective Amasia (Rumweizen).  Pepperpry possibly.
31. Boatrocker Aotearoa Smash! (California Common).  bland like Daryl Somers.
32. Bridge Road God Save the Lager (Imperial Pilsener).  Good.
33. Bright Resistance Red Ale (India Red Ale).  Malty Yum.
34. Grand Ridge Sarsaparilla Stout (Stout).  smells like medicine.

average paddle time/number of attendees x index.

41. Mornington Peninsula Grouch (Imperial American Amber Ale).  first large.  unsighted.  goood choice.  goaty.
42. Mountain Goat Top Paddock (Spiced Red Saison).  spicy saisson.  prefer others from stable.
45. Red Hill Sticke Alt (Secret Alt).  good - not outstanding.
48. True South Coconut Telegraph Porter (Coconut Porter).  no lime in the coconut, but i drunk the bowl up.
49. Moo Brew Belgo (American/Belgian Ale).  almost slipped through the cracks.
51. Steam Exchange/Lobethal Bierhaus (Double Dubbel IPA).  i'm not coherant.
57. Little Creatures/White Rabbit The Little Rabbit (Belgian Style Ale).  fruity belgian - not so much.
59. The Monk Sweet Potato Porter (A variation on USA style pumpkin beer).  Porter - no great potato.

Anyhoo,  as you can see there was a distinct lack of sense in the majority of these posts.  Am just disappointed not every beer got the treatment!  So this friday and saturday i intend to be a bit more fastidious in recording notes against each beer i try at GABS 2013, while still maintaining that great rambling short sentence structure we've come to know and love.

Brilliant Book Titles of the 19th Century

So it turns out my new favourite title for a book written in the 19th Century was written by a Kerlin.  This is good.  Not sure i'm willing to recommend it for a read though...

Isaac Newton Kerlin (1834-1893), The Mind Unveiled; or a Brief History of Twenty-Two Imbecile Children (Philadelphia: U. Hunt & Son, 1858)

Something i enjoyed reading...

Hunter S. Thompson plus is drinking plus the Kentucky Derby = a good gonzo read





note: you may not recognise Ralph Steadman's name, but you'll know some of his work

Helping out a friend...

A friend of me e-mailed me the following question on a friday afternoon... What's a cool name for... Wait for it... A booklet to help you...wait for it.... To get through your exams?

So being the good friend i am i sent them back a few suggestions...

• The totally cool way to get through your exams.


• The totally cool way to get through your exams - remember P's get degrees!

• Ten easy ways to cheat through your exams!

• Man vs Wild's guide to surviving your exams!

• Ice cold tips to get you through your exams.

• It's a Friday arvo and someone asked me to come up with a name for this booklet.

• How to juggle nights at the footy sheds and passing your exams.

• Ten key staff personnel to bribe in order to pass your exams.

• Jamaica's bobsled team's guide to getting through your exams.

• If you're smart enough to be able to read this title then you probably don't need this booklet.

Blind Punch Drunk

I'm sure you've all heard of the sayings "Blind Drunk" and "Punch Drunk", but have you ever thought of what would happen if you combined the two and what the resulting "Blind Punch Drunk" would look like?

Well if you haven't, check out this link and enjoy the beauty that is "Blind Punch Drunk".