Recent Tasting Notes
Henry of Harcourt Duck & Bull Premium Draught Cider (12/20)
Pours a full coloured lemon / gold. A little cloudy and soapy. Nose is quite understated; faint fruity apple notes and hints of tart acid. Palate is very easy going; mild apple fruits (perhaps a touch dilutive), plenty of fizz, soft acids, citrus fruits, some firming hardness and alcohol to finish. Somewhat unremarkable (for mine) but sound in construction. 9% ABV is very well hidden.
Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel (12/20)
Big active head early but settles quickly. Colour is a very clear light chocolate brown. Nose is an interesting and very balanced mix of roasts and chocolate. Good penetration. Less depth in the flavours when compared to the indications provided by the bouquet. Fizz palate dominates a little early, making the flavours hard to shine, although nutty coffee roast and hints of chocolate emerge in the middle and back palate. Shows plenty of balance. Very textbook and true to the genre.
Henry's of Harcourt Kingston Black (15/20)
Henry’s premium offering, a single variety cider made from Kingston Black apples. Lachan has the colour descriptor bang on - ornage / amber / apricot. Firm, serious nose of minerals, talcum powder, a hint of musk (lavender pehaps?), chalky...you get the picture. Almost riesling like. Perfumed and light musk confectionary flavours run through the palate early but quickly fall behind some reaonably fierce alcohol and sharp acid. Not rough in any sense but you are left in no doubt that this is a 11%+ drink. Sour citrus fruits kick though in the second half, with a hint of aniseed, driving a long finish. Some ABV heat lingers. Not a drink to take lightly. Definately improved over the course of 60 minutes.
Pours a full coloured lemon / gold. A little cloudy and soapy. Nose is quite understated; faint fruity apple notes and hints of tart acid. Palate is very easy going; mild apple fruits (perhaps a touch dilutive), plenty of fizz, soft acids, citrus fruits, some firming hardness and alcohol to finish. Somewhat unremarkable (for mine) but sound in construction. 9% ABV is very well hidden.
Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel (12/20)
Big active head early but settles quickly. Colour is a very clear light chocolate brown. Nose is an interesting and very balanced mix of roasts and chocolate. Good penetration. Less depth in the flavours when compared to the indications provided by the bouquet. Fizz palate dominates a little early, making the flavours hard to shine, although nutty coffee roast and hints of chocolate emerge in the middle and back palate. Shows plenty of balance. Very textbook and true to the genre.
Henry's of Harcourt Kingston Black (15/20)
Henry’s premium offering, a single variety cider made from Kingston Black apples. Lachan has the colour descriptor bang on - ornage / amber / apricot. Firm, serious nose of minerals, talcum powder, a hint of musk (lavender pehaps?), chalky...you get the picture. Almost riesling like. Perfumed and light musk confectionary flavours run through the palate early but quickly fall behind some reaonably fierce alcohol and sharp acid. Not rough in any sense but you are left in no doubt that this is a 11%+ drink. Sour citrus fruits kick though in the second half, with a hint of aniseed, driving a long finish. Some ABV heat lingers. Not a drink to take lightly. Definately improved over the course of 60 minutes.
Labels: Recent Tasting Notes
posted by Stewart Went at
9:03 pm
4 Comments:
Great tasting notes, I'll have to give them a try. On that note, I bought Thorogoods' Billy B Golden Malted Apple Beer a couple of weeks ago from your Camberwell store. I thought it was a mighty good brew. I'm terribly keen to try the Dark, do you have it in store?
Besides, it's good to see some quality cider & fruit beers coming out of Australia. "Strongbow" doesn't quite cut it.
By
Anonymous, at 1:16 pm
Cheers Geoff,
I also think its a very good drink...perhaps the best cider in Oz? Obviously plenty of positive reviews at ratebeer. Dark is one the way and may already be on the shelves.
I'll lob a message on the new releases when it arrives.
By
Stewart Went, at 2:10 pm
Excellent, I hope it'd be on the shelves soon.
I'm unsure whether it's appropriate to make requests or suggestions on here. I had a bit of a gander through your tasting notes on ratebeer.com and noticed that you had given the highest rating to the J.W. Lees Harvest Ale. Do they distribute this beer to Australia; is there any chance we could get it at Cloudwine?
Finally, why don’t we see many craft beers from the USA on our shelves? I presume there are restrictions of some type preventing this? I’d love to get my hands on them.
Cheers
By
Anonymous, at 1:30 pm
JW Lees is an amazing beer. I was working in New York for a month in mid 2005 and was fortunate to try over 50 high quality US micros, including Stone, Victory, Dogfish, North Coast Brewing. I spied the JW in a supermarket of all places.
I also purchased the 2003 in Amsterdam a few months back. Sad to say I do not believe it is distributed in Oz.
Re US imports nothing really preventing us getting the beer in but I think Cloudwine would struggle to move a 200 - 300 cases in a reasonable time frame (I figure this is min. order via sea freight). Plenty of people have enquired but I reckon the market is just too small (perhaps 50-odd punters in Melb).
By
Stewart Went, at 7:12 pm
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