Fog

After much too long, I am finally getting around to putting up an update.
There has been a fair lot going on recently. Not much around 2 weeks ago, hence the lack of a new post, but this past week has been pretty happening.

Left Wednesday evening for Wellington to attend a conference. After checking in to our hotel, we headed off in the general direction of Lambton Quay to find The Malthouse. I couln't remember the name or exact location, but vaguely remembered it being in the area. Just so happens, we walked right up to it! They have a really nice selection of beers there, and the atmosphere wasn't bad. I jumped on the Cock & Bull Monk's Habit, that they had on tap. Not a bad drop at all, though I wouldn't spend a whole night drinking just that. After a few more interesting and not so interesting brews, it was off to bed.
Thursday evening saw us at the Bar Bodega again, and I managed to find 5 more beers there that I hadn't tried before, and there are still a few there I have yet to try.

Saturday I more or less spent recovering from the conference sponsored food and drinks of Friday evening, but Sunday was a beautiful day for some climbing.
We headed out to The Monument, and after huffing and puffing up the hill for half an hour we had some good climbs in front of us. It all took a little longer than we expected though (as usual), and it ended up getting rather dark and very very foggy for the walk back to the car. No big deal, we thought, we all have head lamps or flashlights, and it is all downhill. We very quickly realised though, that we couldn't see more than about 2-3 metres in front of ourselves. The next thing we know, we are walking on terrain that is very unfamiliar. We were well and truly lost! Thankfully, a dog was barking somewhere off in the distance, and by using that as a guide we eventually found the street, about 400m from the car. It only took us 1.5 hours and 2 sets of batteries in my headlamp.

Rain and chocolate beer

At least I managed to get out and do some climbing this past weekend, even if we did drive 2 hours to get a crag 20 minutes away. We were fully planning on a good day of climbing and new route development at Devil's Gap on Sunday. The morning was looking a little grey, but blue sky was visible, so I chose to ignore the 'rain radar' from the Met Service and the fact that it was showing showers on the Banks Peninsula.
Left at 10, stopped for some V at the bakery, and away we went.
45 minutes later....rain.
It had looked pretty bad from a distance, but that is often the case in the hills, even though the rock stays dry. When we got up the road it was real rain though. So, turn around and back to Castle Rock we went.
Got there around noon, and it was cold and windy at the carpark. A few suggested heading indoors for the day, but the 2 drivers silently decided since we had just driven 2 hours, we were going to climb. Thankfully, down below it was a bit warmer and and we were out of the wind, so we were on for some climbing!
I really wanted to get Rowan up Hangman, but we had to get there somehow. So, as a warmup on a cold day, I got to do Expedition Crack...again. It went better this time, but I am still one rest short of the redpoint. Needless to say, Rowan made Hangman look pretty effortless, even after all the insecurity before hand. The Sword in the Stone/Uncomprimising Vulture combination finished off the day, and it was beer time.
Headed to the Speight's Ale House at Tower Junction, and it turns out they have just released their winter beer, a chocolate ale. Not a bad initial taste, really like chocolate, but after a while it starts to taste like the Old Dark. I am fairly sure it is the same beer, they just added chocolate.
Continuing on a beer note, I tried a few bottles of my honey wheat this past weekend. It still tastes quite 'green'. I think it may need at least another 3-4 weeks to mature. Freshly poured out of the bottle, it has a very strong yeast aroma, and the hops taste kinda sticks out on its own. If I leave the glass out for about an hour though and the beer gets warm and goes flat, the honey taste comes back and hops start to blend in. So, I am hoping as it matures the yeast flavour will settle and the others will blend well. Side note: this is the second beer so far that has a sediment that stays on the bottom, none in the glass.

Honey Lime Lager update

This is a bit late, but this past weekend was pretty much anything but exciting. Went to a couple of graduation dinners, which was nice, but with the weather being as bad as it was I didn't get to do any climbing.
I did try 3 new commercial beers though, Myanmar (okay), Hahn (horrid), and Matson's Strong Arm (quite good).
Probably the most exciting event was bottling my own beer yesterday evening though. My "Thai Green....Beer?" Honey Lime Lager. It is a mix of Mac's Pale Ale and Lager malt kits, the Mac's lager yeast, some honey and lime leaves (used in many Thai dishes).
I was pleasantly suprised to see it has a really beautiful stawberry colour, slightly sweet aroma, and light lime aftertaste. I can't picture drinking a lot of this beer at once, but one or two on a hot day would probably be quite refreshing.
I will put up the recipe and a bit more of a description when I try the first bottle in a few weeks.

Beer recipes

I am still learning how to brew my own beer, but I am getting better and figured I would share some recipes that have worked well for me and/or might interest someone else. I brew like I cook, a minimal amount of exact measuring and temperature control, and a lot of 'wonder what this will do?'. I generally start with a malt kit, add some extra grain and hops, and whatever else catches my fancy. I am starting to pay more attention to the SG recently, because I am trying to figure out how accurate the brew calculator on the Brew Craft website is.

"Pucker Up" - Heavy Hop Porter
I brewed this one back in December '05, and am just drinking the last of the bottles now (April '06). It is a fairly complex beer, but the taste has remained consistent. I had a bunch of grains left over from a stout, and some Saaz hops from a pilsner, and I decided to just used them all up. It turned out to be extremely dry (hence the 'pucker up') from the hops, though not overly burnt tasting. According to the 'beer calculator', the Orig. SG should have been 1.077 and the Final SG 1.023, giving it an alcohol content of 8%, but I am fairly sure it isn't much above 6%.

Ingredients:
- 2.5kg equal parts of Black Patent Porter Malt, Roasted Barley, and Chocolate Malt
- 2x 1.7kg Mac's Triple Malt Dark beer kits
- 50grams Brewer's Choice Czech Saaz hop pellets

Steps:
1) Boil all grains with 4 litres water slowly for 1/2 hour, while warming the malt kits.
2) Remove some of the grain from the pot, add the hop pellets, and continue boiling for 15 minutes, while priming the yeast (included with the malt kits).
3) Filter the grains and hops, add remaining water, malt kits, and yeast to the fermenter along with enough cold water to fill it to 20 litres.
4) After 8 days, switch the beer to a glass carboy for secondary fermentation.
5) Few days later (I left it for 3), mix with 120grams of sugar, and bottle.

"Wild Bromb-Ale" - Mac's Pale Ale II (blackberry style)
I brewed this one in February, and the taste never quite matured, even though I am almost through drinking it (April '06). I still had some Saaz hops left, so I decided to just make a hopped Mac's Pale Ale. When I bottled it, it had a distinct wild blackberry aroma and flavour, probably from the hops. It still has quite a fruity flavour, but it isn't quite as blackberry like as before. It has never tasted 'finished' though. Supposedly this should have been OSG=1.057 and FSG=1.015, and 6.3%ABV, but I kinda doubt it.

Ingredients:
- 2x 1.7kg Mac's Pale Ale beer kits
- 30grams Brewer's Choice Czech Saaz hop pellets

Steps:
1) Boil the hops with 3 litres water slowly for 1/2 hour, while warming the malt kits.
2) Filter the hops, add remaining water, malt kits, and yeast to the fermenter along with enough cold water to fill it to 20 litres.
3) After 6 days, switch the beer to a glass carboy for secondary fermentation.
5) Few days later (I left it for 4), mix with 120grams of sugar, and bottle.

Satan Doesn't Ice Skate

Well, I was hoping to have a really exciting update from some crazy, busy, climbing filled, long holiday weekend, but it is Monday, raining, and I am back at work.
On a very very positive note though, I finally nailed my very first FA (first ascent) of a climbing route. This route has been on my ticklist for over 2 months, but between wet weather and other projects, I hadn't gotten around to leading it until Saturday. I have named it Satan Doesn't Ice Skate, and it is marked in the photo in green. The name came to me after Gary named his route (marked in pink) When Hell Froze Over (yes, it was really cold that day!). I wish I could say I did the route in style, tiptoeing my way up the beginning, then powering my way through the roof, occasinally stopping to put in the odd bit of gear from the minimal selection hanging off my harness.
But.......I can't......
In reality, I hadn't climbed anything higher than a metre in 2 solid weeks, and I had been suffering with a very tiring cold all week. So, needless to say, I wasn't in the best shape to be climbing in on Saturday.
I knew from having toproped and cleaned the route a few weeks back, that I was going to need a fair selection of cams, mostly in the smallish range (but above the roof was a wide bit, so I took the #3 too). Then, there was that ragged crack a bit below the roof, which seemed to scream, 'put a tricam or 3 in me', but I couldn't remember what size(s), so I just racked up all 8. Of course the standard wires and lowe balls had to be taken, and just so I wouldn't run out, 15 draws. I could barely stand up.
I decided that Saturday was going to be my day no matter what anyway, so away I went. I slotted the first nut before even leaving the ground, took 2 steps and slotted the second nut. I tried to make the next move, started shaking, got off balance, started running out of strength, and decided to take a rest. 2 steps back down, and I was where I had just started from, this wasn't going very well. I calmed myself and came up with a game plan for how to get through the first crux, which is really only a slightly awkward move past the 2nd nut. I made it! That wasn't so bad. I was still shaking like a leaf, but at least the holds were now much bigger and the rest ledge was in sight. As long as I kept my balance, I would be fine. Gary, between his words of encouragment, starts telling me how the rattling and clanking caused by my shaking reminded him of his grandmother's old china cabinet. I guess he was just trying to lighten the mood...
I made it to the ledge, set a tricam, and started to feel a bit better. At least I stopped shaking, mostly. After a good long rest, and setting a more than redundant crux protection 'piece', it was time for the roof! Try #1=a quick look at the crux, and back down to the ledge. Try #2=fully into the crux, try the #3 cam, too small,try slinging the chockstone, too tight, damn, back down to the ledge. Turns out, down climbing the crux of the route isn't easy, but is doable if you want the FA bad enough. Had a quick think, and realised that having a #4 cam to protect the moves over the lip was the only way I was going to get through this. Thankfully I could stand on the ledge, and haul it up. Also turns out that all but the smallest 3 tricams are too big to be of any use. So, now with a #4 in tow, I leave the largest 5 tricams and the #3 cam hanging at the ledge. Try #3=up, place cam, and whoohoo, away we go! 16 pieces of gear in total placed, and 12 draws later, I had finally climbed 'my route'.
Now I have my eye on this crack at the very end of the crag.....

Beer taster's (and climber's) trip to Wellington

I just got back from the long 4 day Easter weekend, which I spent in Wellington. It ended up getting extended by one more day back here in Christchurch, due to me feeling very under the weather.
My plan, besides sightseeing, was to try as many of the local beers as possible, and check out the urban climbing opportunities. I didn't take my climbing shoes with me, so I wouldn't get in trouble, but I did check out what beers and pubs I should be looking for while I was there.
We flew in on Friday around midday, checked-in at the hotel, and decided to go check out the Lord Of The Rings display at Te Papa. As we walked to the museum, it became apparent that there weren't too many places open, which was going to make finding something to eat afterwards a bit of a challenge. Needless to say, I got very distracted once we hit Chaffers Park. The concrete slabs that have been set up for climbing around the skate park offer some perfect hand sized crack climbing! Then just before the boardwalk behind Te Papa starts, the stairs down to the mini beach have some great (though dirty) offwidth cracks. Then the back side of Te Papa itself has about a dozen finger cracks, but I think it would be very frowned upon to climb them.
Anyway, after checking out the LotR display, which was quite good, we headed out to find an open restuarant. Of all the pubs I had found in the internet that served local beer, only one was open, Bodega. They have the entire Tuatara range of beers on tap, so I was pretty happy. I have had the Tuatara Pilsner a number of times, and find it the the closest I have had to a Czech Pilsner outside of Europe. I really wanted to run through all of their offerings, but to be honest, the atmostphere wasn't exactly what my girlfriend was looking for. I did manage to try the Tuatara Heffe, Ardennes and Porter though.
Saturday, we did more sightseeing. Thankfully, the Mac's Brewery Bar & Resturant was open for lunch. Excellent food, and all of their beers, including the special releases, on tap. I was happy. I have had pretty much all of the Mac's beers, but there was one special release that I hadn't even heard of, and a brand new one. Verboden Vice and Brewjolais, respectively. The VV is a wheat, and kinda okay, the Brewjolais is a green hopped 'Kiwi' pale ale, and very tasty.
Sunday, we ended up at the One Red Dog for dinner, and some more beer tasting. Though they didn't have anything I hadn't already tried on tap, I made my way through a few bottles of new (for me) Martinborough beers. I had the White Rock Wheat, Martin's Lager, and Square Ale. I didn't like the Square much, but the other two were quite alright. After dinner we retired to our hotel room, where I continued my beer tasting with some bottles of Bennett's that I picked up at the supermarket. I tried the 4 Seasons Ale, Classic Black, and Wellington Lager. I was not pleased with the Black, once it warmed up, but the 4 Season's tasted just like a rather drinkable ginger beer, and the Lager wasn't too bad at all.
Monday, I woke up at 20 to 6 in the morning with a very sore throat, which immediately put an end to any more beer tasting for the rest of my trip.
Tuesday, I spent the day at home, feel very weak and tired, but at least without the sore throat. So, I decided to bottle my latest brew, a honey wheat. I had a bit of a taste, and I think it will be my best beer yet. It is not a proper wheat beer like you would get in southern germany, but rather a very light crisp beer, with a very nice hoppy overtone from the Hallertau hops that I left in the brew during the primary fermentation. I will have the recipe on my recipe page, when I have tried the first bottle.

Beer review list

I should have started this 10 years ago, but better late than never I guess.
This is a list of the beers I have tried so far (as many as I can remember anyway...), with a very subjective rating for each.
The list should be alphabetical by brewery/beer, and the ratings are 0-10:
0 = the absolute worst beer, tastes recycled...if you know what I mean
1-3 = just plain bad beer, probably not even drinkable by most connoisseurs, good for college students though (I would know)
4-6 = average beer, can vary greatly by region, personal taste, level of inebriation, etc, etc
7-9 = good beer, this is what I am willing to pay for, and try to brew at home
10 = great beer, I can only dream of brewing this kind of stuff myself

I also try to include the brewery, country of origin (this is not necessarily where the beer was brewed), and when I last tried the beer (at least before adding it to the list). BTW, clicking on any of the beer labels (or name of the brewery, if there is no label) will take you to the respective brewery website, if they have one.

I will be updating this list as I try more beers, and remember ones I tried before, so check back often.

The first 2 pages have 90 beers each, to aid in readability and loading times.
Go to page: 1 2 3

Bennetts 4 Seasons Ale (6)
- Island Bay Brewing, NZ - 15/04/06 -
Really good, if you like ginger beer. Interesting tidbit about the Island Bay Brewing company, they appear to not really be their own brewery, but rather just a labeler of beers brewed by others.

Bennetts Classic Black (4)
- Island Bay Brewing, NZ - 15/04/06 -
Starts off okay, but really looses it once it gets anything warmer than chilled.



Bennetts Wellington Lager (7)
- Island Bay Brewing, NZ - 15/04/06 -
Nothing to complain about, and nothing spectacular. Would go well both with and without curry.



Black Sheep Special Ale (7)
- The Black Sheep Brewery, EN - 10/05/06 -
Quite good, very interesting, but the hops stood out a bit too much, almost like it hadn't aged enough.


Black Sheep Holy Grail (7)
- The Black Sheep Brewery, EN - 10/05/06 -
Good enough beer, but the label is the best part.



Brahma (4)
- Brahma Brewery, BR - 10/05/06 -
I only had the export version, so I can't say what it really tastes like. It is okay, not exactly good, but not really bad. A little sweet, and tasted like it had corn in it (it doesn't, but they do use what is essentially corn syrup).

Brooklyn Lager (7)
- The Brooklyn Brewery, USA - 25/02/06 -
A really good beer, way better than I expected.




Brugge Blond (6)
- Palm Breweries, BE - 01/06/06 -
Pretty typical light watery belgian beer.



Budweiser (3)
- Anheuser-Busch, USA - ?/?/00(?) -
This might have been halfway decent 100+ years ago, but then they started adding rice, and now it is just overbrewed garbage.

Bud Ice (1)
- Anheuser-Busch, USA - ?/?/96 -
What was it with ice beers 10 years ago? None of them were any good!

Bud Light (2)
- Anheuser-Busch, USA - ?/?/00(?) -



Budweiser Budvar (8)
- Budějovický Budvar, CZ - ?/04/07 -
This is the real deal, the original Budweiser! Never to be confused with any crap Anheuser-Busch product!
A quality continental lager. Not as bitter as a Pilsner of course, but has more body than the watery curry lagers.

Busch (1)
- Anheuser-Busch, USA - ?/?/99(?) -


Canterbury Draught (CD) (1)
- Lion Nathan, NZ - ?/?/05 -
This one just barely scrapes by not being a 0!




Casablanca Lager (2)
- Société des Brasseries du Maroc, MA - 10/06/07 -
I really hope this beer just wasn't stored well. It tasted out-right "musty", as if mold were growing in the bottle. (I looked, couldn't see any...)
I just can't image anyone brewing a beer to taste like that on purpose.


Cave Creek Chili Beer (6)
- Black Mountain Brewing Co., USA - 09/06/07 -
Bonus point for creativity. The beer is a bit too light to keep up with the chili flavor, but otherwise good and spicy. (still think my chili beer tastes better though)


Chimay Bleue (7)
- Chimay, BE - ?/?/05 -
Most certainly not an average beer, but much too sweet for my taste.


Chimay Rouge (8)
- Chimay, BE - 28/04/06 -
The only one of the three Chimays that I actually like. A pretty classic dark belgian beer.


Chimay Triple (7)
- Chimay, BE - ?/?/05 -
A good typical belgian beer, but as I do not like many belgian beers, this isn't one of my favourites either.

Colt 45 (0)
- Pabst Brewing Company, USA - ?/?/99 -
Okay, I know most people wouldn't even consider this 'beer', but I had to list it anyway.


Coors (1)
- Coors Brewing Company, USA, - ?/?/00 -




Coors Light (1)
- Coors Brewing Company, USA, - ?/?/00 -
How you can make a light version of an already light and tastless beer escapes me entirely!

Corona Extra (4)
- Grupo Modelo, ME - ?/?/05 -
Extra? Extra what? It most certainly isn't taste! The obligatory lime wedge is purely so there is something to taste when drinking this. I guess that with absolutely no taste whatsoever, it at least can't be a 'bad' beer.

Croucher Bohemian Pilsner (8)
- Croucher Brewing Co., NZ - 10/06/07 -
Another excellent Pilsner from New Zealand. Nice and crisp.



DB Draught (0)
- DB Breweries, NZ - ?/05/05 -
Gag, and I thought New Zealand brewed better beer than the US.


Epic Pale Ale (8)
- Epic Brewing Company, NZ - 01/06/06 -
Definitely well deserving of the awards that it got. A bold and complex character.


Flame Beer (2)
- DB Breweries, NZ - ?/10/05 -
Well, you can drink it, but I am not sure why anyone would want to. Even the label looks like it should be on a pack of cigarette lighters, not a beer.


Hahn Premium Lager (3)
- Lion Nathan, AU - 29/04/06 -
It is every bit as bad as I expected. It probably deserves a 2, but I suppose after drinking an entire 6 pack I feel obligated to give it the benefit of the doubt.


Hite (1)
- HITE, KR - 17/05/07 -
Like one of my friends said, they must have forgotten the "S" at the beginning of the name. I didn't think it was physically possible, but this beer has even less taste and color than Corona!


Hofbräu Maibock (6)
- Hofbräu München, DE - 01/06/06 -
As a maibock, not bad, maybe even a bit better than absolute average, but I have definitely had better.




Hog Dark Ale (5)
- The Loaded Hog, NZ - ?/?/06 -
The Loaded Hog beers may have won awards, but they all taste the same to me, and not great at that.


Hog Draft Ale (5)
- The Loaded Hog, NZ - ?/?/06 -




Hog Gold Lager (5)
- The Loaded Hog, NZ - ?/?/06 -




Hog Wheat (5)
- The Loaded Hog, NZ - ?/?/06 -




James Cook Spruce Beer (4)
- Wigram Brewing Co, NZ - ?/?/05 -
Unbelievable, such a unique beer as this one should at least taste different than the other Wigram beers, but they still managed to ruin it for Heritage Foods.


James Squire Pilsener (7)
- Malt Shovel Brewery, AU - 20/04/06 -
Not bad, but very light in taste. I would say this is a 'curry lager' style pilsner, as in it would probably go well with a curry.


Keystone (1)
- Coors Brewing Company, USA, - ?/?/98 -
Not really suprising I forgot this one, it was bad, but not notable.



Killians Irish Red (4)
- Coors Brewing Company, USA, - ?/?/00 -
I am thoroughly amazed that Coors actually brews a 'drinkable' beer.

Krombacher Pils (6)
- Krombacher Brauerei, DE - ?/04/07 -
Recently widely available here in New Zealand. Pretty much a very bog-standard Pils in Germany, so kind of comparable to Becks and Steinlager. Almost too easy to drink...

La Fin du Mond (6)
- Unibroue, CA - ?/11/05 -
Interesting, definitely better than many other Canadian beers, but didn't exactly blow me away (it might have if I had drank more than one though, at 9%ABV).

Labatt Blue (4)
- Labatt Breweries, CA - ?/?/00 -
One of those beers that is neither offensive nor exciting whatsoever, in other words not good and totally boring to boot.


La Trappe Dubbel (7)
- Bierbrouwerij de Koningshoeven B.V., NL - 02/06/07 -
Not bad, but pretty much just another trappist beer, even if it is from Holland.


La Trappe Quadrupel (7)
- Bierbrouwerij de Koningshoeven B.V., NL - 02/06/07 -
Okay, 500ml of it will see you well on your way. Actually quite drinkable for such a strong beer (10%), but not really special either.




Leffe Blond (6)
- Interbrew, BE - ?/?/05 -
Some people think all belgian beer is special, I disagree. Just because it costs $10 per bottle, doesn't mean it is super special beer. I am not saying Leffe is bad beer, far from it, but it isn't super dooper great either.

Leffe Bruin (7)
- Interbrew, BE - 28/04/06 -
This is the original Leffe brew, and is still the best of their 4 beers.

Leffe Radieuse (7)
- Interbrew, BE - ?/?/06 -
Definitely the most interesting of the Leffes. Not entirely to my taste, but a fun beer to drink on the odd occasion.

Leffe Triple (6)
- Interbrew, BE - ?/?/05 -
Another strong overly sweet belgian brew.


Liefmans Frambozen (8)
- Liefmans Breweries, BE - ?/?/05 -
I know I shouldn't like a fruit beer this much, but it is very tasty. I wouldn't want to drink more than one every once in a while, but it is a treat.


Liefmans Kriek (8)
- Liefmans Breweries, BE - ?/?/05 -
I think I like the cherries even better than the rasberries.



Limburg Czechmate Pilsner (9)
- Limburg Brewing, NZ - 24/04/06 -
The first beer that I am rating while drinking! Another excellent drop from New Zealand. By using imported Czech ingredients, Limburg has really captured the true pilsner taste. A bit lighter on the malt side, but full on saaz hop taste.

Limburg Hopsmacker (8)
- Limburg Brewing, NZ - 24/04/06 -
Definite bonus points for creativity! It may not be a classic ale, but it is quality beer (and for those of us who like hops, very tasty).


Limburg Witbier (7)
- Limburg Brewing, NZ - 24/04/06 -
If you like belgian wheats, this is probably going to be one of the best New Zealand versions that you will drink. What I can't believe is, it has corriander in it, which I normally find absolutely revolting, but they seemed have made it work.

Lion Brown (4)
- Lion Nathan, NZ - ?/?/05 -
Yup, that's right. It is barely average beer. Pull out your plastic rigger and fill 'er up.


Lion Red (4)
- Lion Nathan, NZ - ?/?/05 -
As bad, if not worse, than it's brother Lion Brown.




Long Trail Ale (7)
- Long Trail Brewing, USA - ?/08/02 -





Mac's Black (6)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - ?/03/06 -
Bit too burnt for my taste, but overall okay.





Mac's Blonde (4)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - ?/09/05 -
I don't care what anyone says, corriander does not belong in beer!




Mac's Brewjolais (8)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - 15/04/06 -
Very nice. I really enjoyed the fresh hops (you can really taste them), though the beer could've probably matured just a bit longer. A short run beer, so get it where and while you can!

Mac's Copperhop (6)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - ?/03/06 -
A tasty enough very hoppy reddish lager. Wait, where did that come from??




Mac's Gold (5)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - ?/03/06 -







Mac's Hop Harvest Pilsener (9)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - ?/10/05 -
Hands down, my favourite beer in New Zealand so far. This, along with the Tuatara Pilsner, is just plain great beer. Possibly not quite as tight as the Tuatara, but very very creative, you can taste the different hops. Unfortunately, this was a limited run, and I think it is all gone :-(

Mac's Hop Rocker Pilsener (7)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - ?/03/07 -
Not as good as the Hop Harvest or Brewjolais, but still a good beer and good tasting pilsner.



Mac's Light (4)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - ?/01/06 -
What is there to say, it is a light beer.





Mac's Nelson Reserve (7)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - 21/04/06 -
Just plain good, tasty, hoppy lager, but not in a pilsner way.





Mac's Sassy Red (7)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - ?/12/05 -
I don't say this very often, but it is just too much! I like hops and malt as much as the next guy, but this is just rediculous. Not a bad beer by any means, if you can withstand the onslaught.


Mac's Sultry Dark (7)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - 06/04/06 -
Now, that is a tasty porter. Quite heavy, with some really nice malty flavours. Again, it appears to be a special run beer, only available for a short time, on tap, at a few pubs.

Mac's Verboden Vice (6)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - 15/04/06 -
Another Hoegaarden ripoff in my opinion, but then again I am not much of a Hoegaarden fan. Yet another short run.

Mac's Wicked Blonde (4)
- McCashins/Lion Breweries, NZ - ?/01/06 -
Okay, remember what I said about the Blonde!? Then why in the world would anyone want to make a 'special release' of the same crap?



Magic Hat Blind Faith (7)
- Magic Hat Brewing Company, USA - ?/?/00 -





Magic Hat #9 (7)
- Magic Hat Brewing Company, USA - ?/?/00 -





Martinborough Tora Dark (4)
- Martinborough Brewing Company, NZ - 24/05/06 -
Not impressed at all. Sort of okay and drinkable, but not very nice.


Martinborough White Rock Wheat (6)
- Martinborough Brewing Company, NZ - 16/04/06 -
*Sigh* another one trying to do the whole 'belgian wheat beer' thing, they sort did okay, but it is a bit lacking in quantity of taste.

Martinborough Martin's Lager (7)
- Martinborough Brewing Company, NZ - 16/04/06 -
Good. I could drink this for an evening or two.

Martinborough Square Ale (4)
- Martinborough Brewing Company, NZ - 16/04/06 -
Okay, one of these days I am going to figure out what that particular after taste is (same in the Bennett's Dark). In the meantime, let me just say it is nasty!

Matson's Strong Arm (8)
- Matson's Brewery, NZ - 02/05/06 -
A good strong english ale. No head and a little sweet, but a good brew.


Matson's Premium Pilsener (5)
- Matson's Brewery, NZ - 16/05/06 -
Reminded me very much of the beer you get in Germany at a soccer match. Not exactly bad, but definitely not good. At least they managed to brew a true german tasting pils.

Michelob Lager (1)
- Miller Brewing Company, USA - ?/?/98 -








Miller Genuine Draft (MGD) (1)
- Miller Brewing Company, USA - ?/?/00 -
I physically can not drink this beer!


Miller Lite (2)
- Miller Brewing Company, USA - ?/01/00 -




Milwaukee's Best (Beast) (0)
- Miller Brewing Company, USA - ?/?/00 -
It is just plain bad beer. 'Beast' is not a term of endearment, no matter what Miller's advertising compaign says.

Molson Canadian (1)
- Molson, CA - ?/?/96 -
Molson may be North America's oldest brewery, but all that means is that they started brewing nasty beer before the US americans did.

Molson Export (3)
- Molson, CA - ?/?/96 -
Potentially the least offensive of the Molson beers, but still pretty utterly horrid!


Molson Golden (2)
- Molson, CA - ?/?/96 -




Molson Ice (0)
- Molson, CA - ?/05/96 -
I should probably have a soft spot in my heart for the very first beer I got really really really drunk off of, but I don't... It is crap, just like all the other Molsons.

Molson XXX (1)
- Molson, CA - ?/?/96 -
Hhhmmm, let's see.....what happens if we take an already really bad tasting beer, and give it more alcohol?
It tastes even worse, yay!!!!

Monteith's Black (7)
- Monteith’s Brewing Company, NZ - ?/04/06 -
Wherever I go, there always seems to be a micro-brewery that does a fairly decent rendition of a german schwarzbier. In New Zealand, this is it.

Monteith's Celtic (6)
- Monteith’s Brewing Company, NZ - ?/04/06 -
Drinkable enough, but everyone and their brother seems to have it on tap.


Monteith's Golden (6)
- Monteith’s Brewing Company, NZ - ?/04/06 -




Monteith's Original (6)
- Monteith’s Brewing Company, NZ - ?/04/06 -
A better beer than I give it credit for, it just doesn't do much for me.


Monteith's Oud Bruin (5)
- Monteith’s Brewing Company, NZ - ?/08/05 -
Well, it was an attempt at something or other belgian like. Interesting enough as a one off, but it is just as well that run is over.


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