Aussie Company Wins Gold For Its Rums

100% Australian owned Kinkynero Dark Rum and Kinkylux White Rum, produced by the makers of Vodka O (ASM Liquor), are proving they are up there with the best, taking out Gold in their rum categories at the 2010 World Spirit Awards in Europe.

Kinkynero and Kinkylux were up against more established global rum brands and it was very much a David versus Goliath battle as the Aussie owned spirits were awarded Gold in the dark and white rum categories. Competing against over 1,000 brands from around the world, the gold medal wins are yet another accolade for the burgeoning Aussie-based brand.

Kinkynero is a rich dark Carribbean rum which has been barrel aged for more than two years. It features subtle undertones of cocoa, vanilla and raisins, and can be enjoyed neat or in a variety of cocktails.

Kinkylux is a light bodied white rum made from the finest Caribbean sugar cane. Aged in oak barrels for over two years, Kinkylux has a smooth, mellow and refreshing taste, and is perfect straight or in cocktails.

Other wins for ASM Liquor include Double Gold for Tequila Blu at the two most prestigious spirit tasting awards in the world – the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the 2010 World Spirit Awards in Europe.

Kinkynero and Kinkylux’s Gold medals are a win for rum aficionados everywhere and proves that Australia can produce a top-notch rum that can beat the more established brands. And, at under $40 per bottle, we should all drink to that!

For more information be sure to check out the ASM Liquor webpage.

Tags: ASM Liquor, Rum

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3 Ravens Bronze – 4.6% Alcohol

Poured a hazy copper colour, a low level of carbonation and a medium sized beige head, with lots of small floaties floating around in the liquid (hops maybe?).

On the nose earthy hop notes are accompanied with a variety of malt driven smells including marmalade, toffee, caramel, bread and toffee.

On the palate the flavour follows very closely the theme set by the aroma, being dominated by malt notes namely caramel, bread, roasted nuts, toffee along with some mild citrus brought to the party by the English style hops.

Verdict: Well balanced, with a great body and mouth feel, a highly drinkable brew in the colder months, and a solid English style Pale Ale.

Score: 8.0 / 10

Link: 3 Ravens

Where to buy: The 3 Ravens Bronze along with the rest of their range can be purchased directly from their website.

Related content: 3 Ravens Blond

Tags: 3 Ravens, English Pale Ale, VIC

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Otway Organic Lager – 4.5% Alcohol

Over the last decade people have become more concerned with what they are putting into their bodies and the effect its production had on the planet. Brewing beer is traditionally a very resource hungry process and it has been good to see brewers trying to limit their use of planets resources. Mountain Goat has recently installed water tanks at their brewery for drinking water and solar panels on their roof to help with electricity consumption, and fortunately they are not alone.

The Otway Lager contains only organic certified hops, malt and rainwater captured at the estate and promises the drinker a preservative free experience. In a glass the Lager appears pale gold in colour with a medium level of carbonation and medium size head which didn’t hang around long before dying off completely.

The aroma is very fresh with mint, fresh cut grass, cloves, coriander notes on the nose. On the palate some banana, mango, pepper, bread and coriander notes laid over slightly sweet base. The Otway Lager is well balanced and ends extremely clean lending a lot it to its sessionabilty.

Verdict: Not as crisp as I would have hoped, the beer is still very good though the base malts work beautifully.

Score: 7.6 / 10

Link: Otway Estate

Where to find: Short of heading south of the border to Victoria, you can purchase their range online at the Otway Estate website.

Tags: Organic, Otway Estate, Slow Beer, VIC

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Iron House Paddys Head Stout 5.2% Alcohol

The weather in Sydney of late has been cold and wet to say the least, signalling the time to switch from those easy drinking lagers and light ales that embody summer to the stouts and porters that bring warmth to the cold of winter. Iron House Paddys Head Stout covers the need nicely dark black and hailing from down South in Tasmania, where we assume they know a thing or two about staying warm in the cold.

The Iron House Stout poured from a bottle into a glass with a small tan coloured head, a low level of carbonation and a dark black body. The nose is a real highlight on this brew with plenty of different aromas to intrigue the stand outs being licorice, roasted coffee, cooking chocolate and a hint of vanilla.

On the palate this brew is not lacking in the flavour department chocolate, burnt toast, macadamia nuts, coffee, brown sugar and pepper were very easy to pick up. Considering the amount of flavours present I was extremely surprised how clean this beer ends, not much is left after swallowing except for a moderately sweet caramel aftertaste.

This is not a beer that works when overly cold as some of the flavours come through very one sided and harsh. But its not the sort of style you tend to rush anyhow, allowed to warm the taste becomes alot more rounded and the more subtle flavours really shine.

Verdict: A lovely Winter Stout this is a great brew to unwind with after a cold wet Winters day, I am definitely keen to get my hands on some more.

Score: 8.1/10

Link: Iron House Brewery

Where to buy:Seems Iron House beers don’t make it too far North from their home in Tassie, luckily they can be purchased online from the “Taste of Tassie” website.

Tags: Iron House, stout, TAS

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Stout / Porter Brewshare @ The Local Taphouse

The rain was pelting down in Sydney last night, but it didn’t stop a crowd of home brewers converging on The Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst. Every few months the Taphouse plays host to an event for beer loves named “Brewshare”. A style for the night is set and homebrewers bring along their brews to share and be judged, last night the theme was Porters / Stouts which was a good choice considering the inclement weather on the night.
It ended up being a great night that was thoroughly enjoyed by all, below are some of the brews I was fortunate enough to taste (sorry to anyone I missed, your sheet didn’t make it home me!):

Oak Imperial Stout

Ben Buxton

Vitals
8.5% Alcohol

Ingredients

Caramalt, Crystal malt, roasted barley

Chinook & Cascade hops

Irish Ale & Whitelabs super high gravity

Notes:

This brew sat on bourboned oak chips for 3 weeks. This added a great level of complexity and also help smooth it out, even at 8.5% this brew was pretty easy drinking.

Pret a Porter

Peter Philip

Vitals

4.8% Alcohol

30 IBU

35 SRM

Ingredients

Pale malt, flaked barley, black barley, caraamber and chocolate malt

East Kent Goldings

Safale S-04

Notes:

This brew was transferred from keg to plastics bottles which I think result in a loss of the aroma. Although what it lacked in the smell it more than made up with in taste very smooth and easy to drink.

German Dark Ale

Greg Hughes

Vitals

none provided

Ingredients

Light malt extract, black grain

Northern Brewer & Hallertau Hops

European Ale Yeast

Notes:

Awesome aroma I think I am a sucker for anything with Hallertau in it, on the palate  very tasty and easy drinking.

The Governor

Michael Hodge

Vitals

8.5% Alcohol

53 IBU

Ingredients

Light malt extract, roasted barley, crystal grain, caramalt, roasted wattle seeds

Perle & Hallertau Hops

Lager yeast

Notes:

This was possibly my favourite beer of the night, packed full of flavour. The roasted wattle seeds added a great uniqueness to this brew, on the palate Cherries and raisins shone though balanced perfectly balanced with the heat from the alcohol.

Cherry Fever Stout

Sam Haldane

Vitals

6.5% Alcohol

30 IBU

60 SRM

Ingredients

Light & Dark DME, Medium crystal, black malt, roasted barley

Northern Brewer & Willamette hops

Wyeast #1272 (American Ale 2)

Notes:

Very rich the cherries combined perfectly with the stouts richness to produce something akin to a Cherry Ripe in liquid form.

Kobushi Black Dragon

Jesse Hopwood

Vitals

6.75% Alcohol

Ingredients

Liquid caramel extract, light DME, Chocolate, pale, crystal and carafa I malts

Perle, East Kent Goldings, Chinook, Saaz and Northern Brewer hops

Safale US yeast

Notes:

This beer definitely didn’t leave you wanting for taste. The extensive use of different hop varieties gave a hug level of complexity.

Coco Coconut Stout

Anthony Mills

Vitals:

5.89% Alcohol

36.5 IBU

70.6 EBC

Ingredients

Thomas Fawcett Golden Promise – Chocolate malt, Simpsons Golden naked oats, black malt, Weyerman Caraamber, Bairds Maris Otter, Light and dark DME

Challenger and Fuggles hops

Wyeast #1028 (London Ale)

Coconut meat, 1 vanilla bean, 90ml Malibu rum, Cocoa beans

Notes:

This was my own entry into the comp, and it did alot better than I expected it came second and won me a yeast voucher from Daves homebrew store in North Sydney. The first few weeks in the bottle the vanilla was overpowering to the point it I was going to write it off as a dud brew given time to age though this died down to a more subtle level, I couldn’t really taste the coconut although most people said they could.

Tags: homebrew, Porters, Stots, The Local Taphouse

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RIP Thomas Angrove – Inventor Of The Wine Cask

The ABC has reported that Thomas Angrove a South Australian winemaker and the inventor of the Wine Cask has unfortunately passed away aged 92.

The wine cask has a rich history being first patented back in 1965 by Thomas Angrove, although the early models required the consumer to cut a corner of the bladder first to access the wine inside. All this ended though in 1967 when Penfolds Wines patented a plastic air tight tap which provided the missing piece of technology to achieve boxed wine perfection.

Ever since the humble wine cask has grown in popularity. Large wineries loved the cask from its inception as it is inexpensive, easier to transport, handle and more environmentally friendly when compared with glass bottles. Whilst consumers loved the convenience, value for money, the awesome effect up to 40 standard drinks can have on a person and the fact the bladder could be blown up and used as a pillow for a little lay down after a long day of merry making.

For years wowsers and do-gooders have decried the ever affordable wine cask as the downfall of society. Legions of young people on the other hand have always appreciated its low low price and its ability to be carried easily to any far away house party.

This notoriety has elevated the wine cask to a special place in the hearts of generations leading to its own nicknames such as goon bag, the Redfern briefcase, chateau cardboard, and the Penrith handbag. The wine cask has even allowed Australians to advance in the arena of backyard sporting with the great time (and people) wasters Goon of Fortune otherwise known as Wheel of Goon and slap the bag.

R.I.P Thomas Angrove people across the world salute your contribution to the alcoholic arts.

Tags: goon, SA, Thomas Angrove, wine

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Gulf Brewery – Humpback Pale Ale – 4.2% Alcohol

In a glass the Humpback Ale appears an orange / amber colour with an above average level of carbonation, and a head around 1cm in height which didn’t hang around for long before subsiding down to nothingness. On the nose this brew is fairly restrained with some slight citrus, caramel and straw aromas coming through.

On the palate malt driven caramel and toffee notes take the lead with the mild english hops kicking in around the halfway mark adding marmalade, tobacco and some citrus notes. Further toward the back a lot of smoke flavours seem to appear before ending slightly sweet with a heavy citrus twang.

Verdict: I wasn’t expecting the smokiness at all and for the first few sips found it a little too aggressive. Further along though my palate seemed to adjust and it added a nice bit of complexity to the flavour. Overall a great English style Pale Ale, which I look forward to enjoying again!

Score: 8.0 / 10

Link:http://www.gulfbrewery.com.au/

Where to buy: This beer is available from the Australian Hotel located in the Rocks.

Tags: Gulf Brewery, Gulf Brewing, pale ale, SA

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Murrays Dark Knight – 4.5% Alcohol

This brew poured into a glass dark almost black in colour with an off white coloured head around 1cm in height on top, which settled down to a generous lacing over the space of 1-2 minutes. On the nose coffee, roasted nuts, chocolate predominate with the odd mild hint of aniseed.

On the palate the Dark Knight has a very creamy mouth feel, and a low level of carbonation. Cherry, chocolate and burnt caramel flavours are plentiful ending slightly sweet with a a hint of dark chocolate.

Verdict: This is the third time I have had the Murrays Dark Knight Porter and it doesn’t seem to get old! Its balance is perfect and is and all round ultra smooth drop.

Rating: 8.3 / 10

Link: Murrays Brewing Co

Related Beers:

• Murrays Pilsner

Tags: Murrays, NSW, porter

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Zen and the art of the perfect Martini

There are few cocktails in the world that invoke the image of style and refinement as the traditional Gin Martini. This is with out a doubt mainly due to the legendary figures of the 20th century that enjoyed this drink such as Winston Churchill, Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Franklin Roosevelt and Richard Nixon.

Making the perfect Martini
Ask five different Martini connoisseurs on how you should make the perfect Martini and you are likely to get five differing opinions on the exact ingredient ratios and the technique making it that should be used.

Fictional secret service agent James Bond always requested his Martini to be “shaken, not stirred”. Believe it or not though many people believe the shaking of Gin is a faux pas as the shaking action bruises the gin. One purpose behind shaking is to make a colder drink though as the spirits spend more time in contact with the ice.

One golden rule you should always use when it comes to making a great Martini is paying attention to the quality of the ingredients used. There is only three ingredients involved in this cocktail so there is no point trying to make a good Martini with below average Gin, every one of the three ingredients needs to be of the highest quality you can possibly find.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Cocktails, gin, martini, vermouth

1 Comment | Posted in » Mixed Drinks

Mildura – Storm Cloudy Ale – 4.5% Alcohol

After pouring into a glass the Mildura Storm Cloudy Ale is a hazy golden amber colour with a medium level of carbonation and a good sized white loosely packed head up top. On the nose citrus notes from the hops predominate although cloves, spice, bread and honey are not too hard to detect.

On the palate citrus orange and caramel notes lead the way with more citrus (lemon and lime) coming through in the taste as the beer progresses. This brew ends fairly clean with just a slight residual sweetness and a mild tart sensation.

Verdict: This is the third time I have tried the Mildura Storm Cloudy Ale and every time it has left me disappointed, the taste just seems a bit off balance. Love the rest of the Mildura Breweries range, the Storm Cloudy Ale is definitely not my cup of tea though.

Score: 6.7 / 10

Link: http://www.mildurabrewery.com.au/

Tags: ale, amarillo, Citrus, Mildura, VIC

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