Tag Archives: new zealand

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Garage Project, Herbed / Spiced Beer, New Zealand

Garage Project Day of the Dead

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Herbed / Spiced Beer
Other Notes: Brewed with smoked chipotle chili, raw cocoa nibs, vanilla and agave.

Brewer Description: (from can) Lager, but not as we know it. Garage Project’s Day of the Dead – a strong black lager inspired by the Aztec beverage xocolatl. “A bitter, frothy, spicy drink” combining cocoa and chili. Brewed with chipotle chili, refermented with organic blue agave syrup and conditioned over raw cocoa nibs with vanilla – rich and dark, Day of the Dead is smooth and drinkable with a complex mix of smoke, chocolate and restrained chili heat. A true celebration of the dark side.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 24th September 2016 and poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: It poured a dark dark brown colour with a just over one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly but settles to an extremely thin layer and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, cocoa, roasted malt, corn and a touch of chili.
Taste: Chocolate, roasted malts, cocoa, a touch of vanilla and light chili heat.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and moderate carbonation with light tingly spice.
Overall: Day of the Dead was sold as a pack with La Calavera Catrina which was also a spicy beer. However, while I did not enjoy La Calavera Catrina much, Day of the Dead was much better. The spice in Day of the Dead was there, but more restrained such that it did not take over the beer. Not great, but not bad either.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, New Zealand

8 Wired Sour Poppy

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 7%
Style: American Amber Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Continuing on with all things sour, delicious and boundary pushing, this time we decided to mess with one of our core range beers. So we gave Tall Poppy the sour treatment. The recipe is pretty much the same as the original beer but using natural, live cultures we dropped the pH to a level similar to nice, tart orange juice. The result is quite spectacular and very refreshing. Cheers.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 500ml bottle with no discernible best before date (unusual for 8 Wired). Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy copper red colour with less than a half finger off white head that dissipates quickly and leaves no lacing.
Aroma: Not very strong, but there’s lychee, grape, pine and some light sourness.
Taste: Sour, strong fruit lychee followed by grape, orange and maybe some berries.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I liked it better than the Tall Poppy which is was what it was based off of. But as per the ratings, not many others seem to have agreed with me. The recipe is supposed to be quite similar but what I like about the Sour Poppy is that it loses the booziness and caramel malt that I was not too fond of in the Tall Poppy and replaced it with sour fruitiness which I preferred. However, still not the best from 8 Wired.

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2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, New Zealand

8 Wired Tall Poppy

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 7%
Style: American Amber Ale
Other Notes: 60 IBUs. Malts – Pale, 3 shades of Crystal, Munich and Wheat. Hops – Warrior, Columbus, Simcoe and Amarillo.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Every now and again you just want to have it all, so in this spirit we created Tall Poppy. This ale is not afraid of standing tall among other great beers, and head and shoulders above mass market mediocrity. It is intense, with a sharp and fruity hoppiness backed by a complex, caramel-like malty structure. The best characteristics of an American style IPA collide with a rich Amber Ale. The result is a beer that is big yet refreshing, bold but balanced. Cheers!

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle from batch # 65 with a best before date of 25th January 2017, poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear brown colour with a reddish hue and a just over one finger beige head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong caramel malt notes with some dark fruits like plum, prunes and raisins. There is also a touch of pine and earthiness.
Taste: A touch of booziness hits first followed by everything in the aromas. Caramel, dark fruit, prunes, plum and raisins. The finish gives a touch of tea, coffee, pine and citrus.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: More amber ale than IPA in my opinion. But it was overly boozy and caramel-ly on both aroma and taste for me to fully enjoy it.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand, Porter - Baltic

Garage Project Baltic Porter

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 8%
Style: Baltic Porter
Other Notes: Brewed with a touch of smoked malt

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A beer needs to be dressed in the best. Poor Baltic Porter, favourite tipple of the Czars and one of our most popular dark beers, never had a stitch to wear. But now the face of Baltic is bear not bare, naked no longer thanks to the irreverent creative mischief of local gone global art collective & clothing brand ALC. With new threads and a quirky take on the traditional, Baltic is stepping out in fine style. Huge ups to ALC.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.75
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 650ml bottle with a best before date of 2nd November 2016. Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a dark brown colour with a reddish hue and a big three finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Caramel, roasted malts, molasses, coke sweetness and a hint of smoke.
Taste: Caramel, dark fruit sweetness of plum and prunes, chocolate, molasses and some light char and smoke on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to high prickly carbonation.
Overall: A pretty good Baltic Porter taste wise, but I felt that the body was too light and the carbonation slightly on the high side. Having said that, as it is, it does go down easy.

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2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., American Pale Ale, Beer Reviews, New Zealand

8 Wired Tropidelic

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 5.4%
Style: American Pale Ale

Brewer Description: Could not find any information or description for this beer at the time of posting.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.2
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 12 fl oz pour on draft at The Roundhouse Chicken + Beer into a pint glass.
Appearance: It was a clear deep golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly but left nice lacing.
Aroma: As the name suggests, aromas were tropical with peach, apricot and pineapple.
Taste: Felt like there was something missing here. Flavours were tropical but it disappeared really fast.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice aroma, and the flavours weren’t bad either, but they fell off too quickly, which did not make it as enjoyable as it could have been.

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