list | Water, Water Everywhere And Not A Drop To Drink

Apr 18 2013

More New Zealand Beers.

Getting myself from Auckland to New Plymouth last year was a hellish mission. Think road works and foul weather and hairpin turns and four-cylinder engines and utter lack of cell signal. On the left-hand side of the road. Under the cover of night. I’m not sure whether I mined some value from the experience, or if the return journey was so fantastic that it masked the horror I felt while making that drive alone, but I thought it wise to once again hire an automobile this year. AND decided to shake things up by flying into Wellington in Auckland’s stead, a route that turned out to be nearly as lengthy, but a lot less nerve-racking.

Anyway, down to beer business. I added a few new Kiwi beers to the list while hanging ’round New Plymouth. Unfortunately, I still haven’t made it to Mike’s Organic Brewery. (I’m determined to go next year.) I did have amazing eggs florentine at Lahar in Okato, though, so it’s all good. When I arrived back in Wellington, the beer situation got really interesting. My friend Tully (of #TullysWellington Instagram fame) sent me to beer heaven, also known as Malthouse on Courtenay Place. I walked in, grabbed a stool, and said, “I would like a New Zealand beer that I’ve never had before.” Then this happened:

The guy behind the bar, Van, was ah-mazingly knowledgable and keen to serve up all kinds of wonderful beers of which I’d never heard. My favorite was definitely Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black. The Yeastie Boys’ name didn’t hurt their case, but their beer was pretty much the best beer I’ve had in… well, a long time. This is what they say about Pot Kettle Black:

“Pot Kettle Black is our multi-award winning ‘Black IPA’ (that some call a ‘Hoppy Porter’). The different names convey the fact that this beer is a contradiction of styles: fresh and hoppy, yet dark and rich. Most importantly it is mindbendingly delicious and a complete original.”

Check the freshly alphabetized KIWI BEER LIST here.

Tagged ale, auckland, beer, black, brew, brewery, craft, heaven, ipa, kiwi, list, malthouse, new plymouth, new zealand, north island, organic, porter, tully, wellington, yeastie boys

Mar 19 2013

Leave a comment

In the Name of Science, Travel

The Aussie Beer List Lives!

$12 Beer.

I’m in Margaret River, WA at the moment, where you can’t stumble over without landing in some fantastic winery or brewery’s car park, so I’m finding lots of great local beers. And also spending too much money in the name of beer snobbery. Please, make my “efforts” worthwhile and go check the latest.

Tagged aussie, Australia, beer, list, local, margaret river, quest, wa, west oz, western australia

Jan 24 2013

3 Comments

Hither and Thither, In the Name of Science

Pine Tree State Beerin’

While I was up in the hinterlands (Maine), I acquired a few exceptional new beers for the Yankee List. My favorite was Sunday River Brew Pub’s Alpine Porter, which tastes like pine trees. Seriously. It’s weird but amazing. Portland, M.E.’s Allagash Black (which I’d never seen before) is fantastic, as well.

Anddd I realize this is kind of annoying, but I’ve also added a very small-batch beer that you’re unlikely to come across… I feel it deserves a spot on the list: The Maple Brown Sugar Cranberry Xmas Ale was created by my friend Josh Hahn. Josh is probably not related to those Hahn brewers in Oz, but he has equal (if not greater) brewmaster skills. Thanks, Josh!

If you click on that link up there, you can see the entire list. As always, discourse is encouraged.

Tagged allagash, beer, brew, craft, josh hahn, list, maine, shipyard, sunday river, the shed, yankee

Dec 29 2012

Leave a comment

Hither and Thither

Non-resolutions.

Around this time last year, I was on this pro-fate, anti-resolution kick. After listening to me prattle on for a couple of days, my housemate suggested that I read The Secret. Matty mentioned something about the Law of Attraction. I’m not sure what, exactly (and I still haven’t finished the book), but he went on to tell me that he’d made a list one year–simply written down things that he’d wanted to accomplish in the upcoming year–and forgotten all about it. When he went back to the list a year later, he’d accomplished almost everything on it. The good, old Law of Attraction. I think. I seem to remember him explaining that in expressing his desires in a concrete way, he gave them some kind of power. My interest (skepticism?) was piqued. So, I wrote my own list of non-resolutions for 2012 somewhere in the middle of my leatherbound notebook, folded down the page’s corner, moved on. The List

A few days ago, I remembered the non-resolutions and confessed to my friend, Megan, that although I couldn’t remember exactly what I’d written down, I was pretty sure I hadn’t accomplished any of it. Shrug.

Alas, mere moments ago, I dug the notebook out of my over-stuffed bookcase and unearthed “My 2012 List (of Goals).” There are eight items on it. Some of them are embarrassing, so I will not be divulging them here. But as it turns out, I did every single one of them. Sometimes in the strictly literal sense, and occasionally, on a very temporary basis: I visited Yudi in Bondi; not Indo. I got a new board from California; not the board I’d intended to retrieve. I guess, like most things, it’s all about perspective.

I haven’t yet decided if I’m making a list for 2013. If I do, it certainly will not be called “2013 Resolutions.”