Tre Amigos

Epic Mash Up Pale Ale
Firstly, props to RS for the photo. Sadly, the one I took was really blurry, so thankfully he took a better one when he drank his bottle.

I was really excited to try this, and as you may have guessed, we are all really big fans of New Zealand craft beers. This then, a collaboration brew from Epic that had input from each of the New Zealand craft breweries, could go either way. It could be amazing, or the collaboration could produce a terrible beer, where the flavours are too out of whack.

The mash up then, was somewhere in between the two. It was no Feral Hop Hop or Little Creatures, but it definitely lacked in terms of flavour and an overall wow factor.

Therefore, I would not get this again, but sometimes, it’s worth trying a new beer to see whether or not you like it. If you come by it, give it a shot

JG

Mac’s Spring Tide Lager

A boring and bland lager from New Zealand. My hopes weren’t that high to start out with, because I find their Hoprocker Pils to be a bit watery. Thankfully, this one was a freebie from work, so it cost me nothing.

Please opt for something better if you see this on the shelves, unless of course you enjoy drinking average, flavourless lagers.

JG

8 Wired Rewired Brown Ale

An interesting and inventive take on a classic.

I’d been putting off reviewing this 8 Wired, firstly because lately there’s just been so many new and interesting beers I’ve been drinking, and secondly because a while back we just about reviewed every single 8 Wired beer.

I remember that on the night we opened this one up, not only did I get my first taste of a Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye, but YM also opened up a bottle of Beer Geek Breakfast to go with dessert, which was absolutely amazing. Therefore, you might be thinking, wow those are two awesome beers, I wonder how the Rewired stacks up against those two heavyweights?

The beer poured a dark brown almost black colour, but smelt like roast coffee with hints of licorice. It was really unexpected yet somewhat pleasant to experience the fruitiness of the hops meshed with a dry, bitter finish. The rewired is super smooth, and this brown ale has so much more complexity to it than your average brown ale, say Newcastle Brown.This is a great sessionable beer, that displays complex yet approachable flavours far beyond what its label suggests. Probably the best Brown Ale I’ve had to date.

Can be bought for $13.99 from the International Beer Shop

JG

8wired Hopwired IPA

What choice is there when having Indian for dinner than an IPA? The food and drink complement each other through and through. Their spiciness and over powering flavour causing you to switch from a sip of beer to a bite of your food to a sip of beer. 8wired is a brewery I’ve become very familiar with in the past few months who supply exceptional brews from New Zealand.

This IPA dishes out a nice flow of honey tasting hops with a caramel centre. It’s quite well packed with flavour, more than Sierra Nevada but less than the likes of Greenflash.  It’s well balanced too. The malt supplies a smooth bitterness that rolls in after the sugary flavours disappear.  The Beer didn’t seem very carbonated initially but plenty of bubbles seemed to form in my mouth during sips and glugs. The deeper I got into the glass the more buttery the beer’s texture became, almost turning into the caramel you could taste so clearly. Don’t get me wrong though, this is no scotch ale, just a very rich IPA, and you can defiantly taste the fruitiness.

Apparently when presented to wine makers they could smell amongst the usual passionfruit and oranges…gooseberries! While I couldn’t smell that myself I can say the beer smelt and tasted exceptional.

I find 8wired’s Hops often have some vague similarity to Australian craft beer but they’re pushing taste boundaries and have levels of craftsmanship that few of the Aussie craft breweries can compete with.  

Between the Tre Amigos we’ve had all but two 8wired beers and they have all been excellent. If you see them on the shelf in your local liquor store definitely give them a try.

Place: International Beer Shop     Price $13.99       Would I drink it again: Certainly

YM

Mac’s Hop Rocker Pilsner

Whilst I was in Melbourne on holidays, a very good mate arrived home from his 6 month road-trip around Australia. And so on a balmy Friday afternoon, I headed over to his place to catch up and hear some impressive stories. Before heading over, I quickly grabbed some beers from the fridge, and it just so happened that one of them was the Hoprocker pilsner from Mac’s Brewery. Lately, we (Tre Amigos) have been loving the New Zealand beers, due to their strong affection to increase and change the amount and number of hops in just about every traditional beer style, which has led to the creation of some awesome brews.

While I am not a massive fan of the pilsner style, the beer was right there in front of me, so I thought what the hell, and opened it. The blurb describes how Mac’s have slightly altered the combination of hops, adding both Sauvin (love these) and hops, to induce a complex bitter taste, but in a good way of course.

Sadly, on this occasion, I did not have  glass to pour the beer into, but from multiple google images, the beer looks crystal clear, with a lager-y gold colour as expected from a pilsner. A solid whiff of the beer brings both hay and fruity flavours, which are no doubt due to the altered hop varieties.

I found the Hop Rocker to be a tad winey on the palate, while the malt flavours were voluptuous and almost chewy. There is a definite fruitness about the beer, with hints of freshly cut grass, orange, melon and possible lemon? The hops definitely make the beer, but it is slightly let down by the lack of complexity and crispness found within the malt. I also found the beer to be a tad watery.

All in all, this beer is easy to drink, has some fantastic hop flavours, and is a perfect accompaniment for a warm summer’s afternoon. Sadly, I would not be persuaded to try this again or any of Mac’s additional brews, due to the beers ultimate lack of overall performance.

Bought from the International Beer Shop for $3.50

JG

8 Wired Saison Sauvin

The only Saison I’ve had up until now, Saison Dupont, holds a very special place in my beer journey. On a hot day or night, this beer is perfect. It has just enough bitterness and flavour complexity on the palate to quench any thirst, and I can happily sip this beer all night.

The 8 Wired Saison Sauvin then, is a very interesting/unusual beer. From the first glimpse of the title, thoughts of traditional Belgian farmhouse brews with strong wheaty and earthy flavours are brought to mind. However, when you notice that Sauvin has been included in the name, you might be mistaken for thinking that this beer is somewhat related to a Sauvignon Blanc (well you’re right).

To be fair, this beer somehow takes the best of both the Saison and the Sauvin hops (which do actually produce very fruity white wine notes) and mashes them together to create this unique beer. Not only does it have the initial passion and grapefruity-ness from the Sauvin which are very powerful on the nose, but the bitter aftertaste is somehow mellow, sophisticated and restrained all at the same time.

This beer is no way your typical farmhouse brew, but its freshness makes it an absolute winner. This is a great summer beer that can be bought from the International Beer Shop without breaking the budget at $14 or 2 for $25.

JG