The BeerCast

‘All beer is good. Some beer is better…’ is a great philosophy for a brewer - and maybe for a beer website too, come to that (although I would hesitate to describe something like Bud Light as good). But that particular saying comes from motto-happy Monteith’s, who also describe themselves as ‘The home of craft beer’, and ‘The taste of New Zealand.’ Some hefty boasts there indeed. Other potential rivals for being the taste of New Zealand are an apparently flourishing microbrewery scene, and global lagerpushers like Tui, Speight’s and Steinlager.

Knowing nothing at all about Monteith’s (not unusual for some of the producers of faraway beers Laberboy gets through), I’d assumed it was just your run of the mill one-trick-brewery. After a visit to their website, how wrong I was (again, not unusual). Established as the Phoenix Brewery in the mid 19th Century, they thrived on the influx of prospectors chasing gold. The Monteith family concern went from strength to strength, and these days produce all kinds of real ales for the Kiwi market (sadly us UK drinkers just get the lager, rather than their doppelbocks, pilseners, wheat beers, porters, radlers, etc etc).

I say sadly only because of the undoubted quality of the brewer, gained from a single bottle of their New Zealand lager. Looking rather splendid in a fern-embossed bottle, it really shows there can be a difference in what are often thought as generic lagers. Dry, crisp, and numerous other adjectives beloved of beer producers later, it’s a really good find. Hopefully some of their other beers will make it over here (they may already have, of course) - but until I can find some I’ll more than happily make do with their lager. At last…Lagerboy uncovers a gem.

Monteith’s official website

Last month when we visited the Scottish Beer Festival at the Assembly Rooms in our home city we found a great deal of things we liked, both new and old. One of the newer discoveries was a pale bitter called Peden’s Cove from the Windie Goat Brewery in Failford, Ayrshire. Tucked away in the far corner of the festival due to alphabetical order, it was a really tasty session bitter from a relatively new producer (they started up in 2006). Anyhow, Michelle the head brewer recently sent us a minikeg of one of her newer inventions - Gutter Slab. With a whole weekend of golf on the telly to get through…what could be better?

Named after a fishing pool in the River Ayr, it seemed to be something of an experiment for Michelle (going by her brewery blog) - a hop-packed IPA in the ‘American Style’ (i.e. hop-packed doesn’t even get close). But we love hops on the BeerCast, and particularly love beers that pack a punch - and by crikey does Gutter Slab pound the hops down your throat. Cascade really zing from the beer, giving out that sharp grapefruit taste. At 5.5%abv, it’s not up there with most IPA’s from over the pond, but it certainly tastes like one.

It pours an opaque orange colour, even after having been well settled - and with these minikegs you always get half a glass full of chunks before the drinkable beer comes. But the lemony smell that follows really makes you want to dive in, and when you do the characteristic Cascadey hop taste screams at you. I get the feeling that if it was around 4%abv it would really lose something, so the higher alcohol content pays off. The consensus from the BeerCasters at the sampling was that it would be even better on cask. If we ever find ourselves at the Failford Inn, I would certainly want to find out.

Windie Goat Brewery

We were in Doctors pub on Forrest Road last week for BeerCaster John’s birthday - and I think he did drink beer at some point on his journey around the world of booze.* Someone spotted this opportunistic bit of graffiti on a poster advertising pitchers of Fosters lager. Hard to argue, really. Needless to say we were on the better stuff - Adnams Broadside, Kelburn Goldihops, Caledonian Deuchars IPA, and Inveralmond’s Thrappledouser. Well, apart from John.

* Bulmers John…Bulmers

BeerCaster Grooben was lucky enough to recently pay a visit to the Far East, and as we’re never off duty managed to pick up some beery treats for the podcasters back in Blighty. His trip to Japan results in our second episode featuring ji-biru, as we tuck into a series of delights from Tokyo and Kyoto. Firstly however, we begin with Sapporo Premium Lager (4.7%), brewed under licence in the EU and a typical Japanese lager. But we quickly move on to more interesting things, as the first beer he brought back is totally in Japanese and even after much Googling cannot be identified. So we call it Kinshachi Sakura Beer (as the flowers adorn the label), but later discover it’s actually Landbeer Kaori No Yutakana (5.0%), (thanks to friend of the BeerCast Tim Eustace in Tokyo). Our third beer is Kyoto Machiya Kölnisch (5.0%), which thankfully has an English label. Finally we end on Ishikawa’s Tama no Meguri (5.5%), from Fussa City to the west of the capital. On the panel this week are Richard, Shovels, Andy (of Andy and Jess), and of course Grooben - who also brings along some little men for us to try…

1. Sapporo Premium Lager (4.7%abv)
Sapporo Brewery, somewhere in the EU.
330ml glass bottle

Sapporo are one of the dominant Japanese brewers, having recently flexed their muscles and bought out Canadian producer Sleemans in a $400m deal. One of those newly acquired plants now churns out all Sapporo for North America, but us Europeans get ours brewed anonymously under licence. Anyhow, the company has Euro roots, having been started by German-trained Seibei Nakagawa in the Hokkaido city that adorns the label. Along with other domestic heavyweights such as Asahi and Kirin, Sapporo’s beers are everywhere in Japan - the ubiquitous golden star logo peeks out from vending machines on every street corner. But is it any good?

What They Say - “Sapporo Premium Lager is an original Japanese beer. It is a bright, golden lager beer with a smooth, firm body, a balanced, complete flavour and a clean aftertaste.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Grooben - It is generic but is better than other lagers 6
Andy - This is an ‘insert Tab A into Slot B’ lager 6
Richard - Very sweet, it gets marks off for being ‘brewed in EU’ 5
Shovels - Taste at the front then you swallow water 5

2. Kaori no Yutakana (5.0%abv)
Landbeer Brewery, Nagoya.
330ml glass bottle

A bit of a mystery this one - the rather beautiful cherry blossom label suggests a Spring seasonal beer, and I managed to detect the Landbeer name somewhere on the back - but that was it. We muddled through the podcast referring to it as Kinshachi Sakura beer, as the gold fish (Kinshachi) features on the bottle, and is the symbol of the city of Nagoya. Afterwards an email to TimE in Tokyo revealed the name is actually Kaori no Yutakana - ‘plentiful smell’, and Landbeer have a range of Kaori (smell) beers. I don’t think they are one of Tim’s favourites, but what about the panellists in Edinburgh?

What We Say…
Richard - Tizer colour, slight wheatbeer taste, it’s great 8
Shovels - Like a pale ale, but gives up it’s taste quickly 8
Grooben - The first sip’s nice then it tastes of nothing 7
Andy - Pleasant golden colour and almost orangey taste 6½

3. Kyoto Machiya Kölnisch (5.0%abv)
Kinshi-Masamune Corporation, Kyoto.
330ml glass bottle

In 1781 the Kinshi-Masamune Corporation started producing sake in the then Japanese capital of Kyoto. Like a lot of their fellow producers they added beer to their repertoire after deregulation in 1994, but unlike others seemed to decide on German styles to perfect. As a result, they have three very teutonic beers in their range - an Alt, a Schwartz, and a Kölnisch. The latter of these is a yellow straw-coloured ale with prominent hoppiness, common to the city of Cologne, which is typically less bitter than the pilseners. We’ve yet to sample one of these on the BeerCast, so how will it go down?

What They Say - “When you describe Kyoto, you couldn’t skip the pure water, old wooden house in a row and food culture. This is beer whose mother is the honourable tradition in Kyoto and whose father is the beer boasted of by Germany. A new historical chapter is recorded in our culture.” [Bottle Label]

What We Say…
Andy - All the elements of beers I like, and none I don’t 9
Grooben - Could do with more flavour but nicer than expected 7
Richard - No malt or hops in the taste, something lacking 6
Shovels - I don’t really like the wheatyness to it 5½

4. Tama no Megumi (5.5%abv)
Ishikawa Brewery, Fussa City, Tokyo.
500ml glass bottle

Ishikawa are also a sake brewer who supplemented their output with beer once they were allowed, and four years later (1998) released their first effort. But it came with a history, as they resurrected a one hundred year-old style. Tama no Megumi means ‘the blessing of Tama’ (Tama being the western part of Tokyo where the Musashino plateau meets the Tama hills), and was originally produced in the Nishitama area in 1888. Unlike the other beers tonight, it’s also bottle conditioned.

What They Say - “We use underground natural water to brew this beer, natural beer without the process of filtration or pasteurisation. Enjoy the taste of genuine local beer - bottle conditioned, it can be stored for up to five years, and is secondarily fermented in the bottle.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Richard - Lots of things going on at once, but none unpleasant 7
Grooben - Complex when many Japanese beers are subtle 6
Shovels - Can’t pin the taste down, it jumps around a bit 6
Andy - Fine, but a wee bit watery without a defined taste 5

BeerCast panel verdict

Kaori No Yutakana - 29½/40
Kyoto Machiya Kolsch - 27½/40
Tama no meguri - 24/40
Sapporo Lager - 22/40

Panellists - (from top left) Shovels, Andy, Grooben, Richard

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #18 - Sakura Beers
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with episode 19 - a Summer Special. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!