Beerswax
Posts tagged coffee
Burleigh - Black Girafffe…AC/DC - Back In Black
I’m not overwhelmingly familiar with this brewery’s output. I know I’ve had an English-style bitter which was a bit of alright, and - horror of horror - a no-carb beer (old reviews of these coming soon). Of the latter, I can safely say I would rather emulate a golden shower porn actor than drink that vile concoction again. Yes, it was that bad. Fuck it, bring on 2 girls one….actually, no.
Anyway, this is a beer blog…so where was I? Yes, this one. A schwarzbier according to beeradvocate.com, which doesn’t tell you much, and a limited release like the English-style bitter. And according to the label, a black coffee lager. Well, call me intrigued. As you can see, it looked and poured like a stout, but tasted nothing like one, really. Coffee of course was the predominant flavour and very upfront, but it didn’t really come across as a lager - which is a good thing. More like Coopers Dark Ale but with a much more distinctive taste. But not distinctive enough to make it a habit. As far as their limited edition beers go, I’d much rather the bitter, and they still haven’t made up for that no-carb abomination. Still, I remember it being pretty good for what it was, maybe nothing particularly special or different as I was expecting, but drinkable enough.
And behind it we have Acca Dacca. The comeback album after Bon Scott died tragically (and, let’s not deny it, fucking stupidly). I don’t like Brian Johnson-led AC/DC nearly as much as I like the early, arse-kicking, whiskey-and-beer-and-smokes-drenched AC/DC of the 70s, but this album is still worthy. The title track is, of course, utterly legendary, and you could tell they were channeling Bon’s spirit as it’s a real barnstormer of an album. Yet another original pressing, and another one banged up as all hell, but completely worth it. RIP, Bon Scott, this was a pretty fitting tribute.
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Mountain Goat Cross Breed - Seedy Goat Coffee IPA…Manilla Road - Into the Abyss
So, let’s get this ale-soaked ball rolling, shall we? This first post combines possibly my favourite brewery with possibly my favourite band.
Mountain Goat is a Melbourne instution, venerated by average punters, hipsters and beer afficianados alike. They’ve made a name for themselves for their homebrew-on-a-larger-scale approach and their signature hop-driven ales. They also try new things, such as their Crossbreed series which are generally limited edition and bit out of left field. Like this India Pale Ale blended with coffee. And it’s noticeable, not just a coffee tinge. You get the IPA aroma and flavour upfront, which is, disappointingly not enough for me, being the massive hophead I am. And the coffee flavour was at first strong and a little strange, but after a while it melded very nicely with the rest of the flavours. Very unusual, but once you get used to it it’s quite pleasant. This is not my favourite beer from them but it’s a nice experiment. I still prefer a straight IPA though, not to mention a paint-strippingly strong coffee in the morning.
Manilla Road. The best band no one’s ever heard of. They’ve been going strong for over thirty years and keep on plugging away, never veering off the “true metal” path but staying interesting and just plain fucking awesome. This album, released in ‘88, was a bit of an extension of their sound into thrash metal territory, which was seriously vicious but still majestically epic. A short-lived experiment but one that’s definitely worth of the ‘Road name. (and this is the only Manilla Road original pressing I own thus far [apart from their more modern releases Voyager and Playground of the Damned]. The asking price for some of those original pressings is, quite frankly, ridiculous…)
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