A Beer In Review - Borambola's Tuckerbox Hoppy Lager

If you're not familiar with the Dog on the Tuckerbox story, http://thedogonthetuckerbox.com/ is, logically enough, a good place to start. I won't recount it here as I'm not much of an expert and the website is only a click away, I'm more well versed on the poems written about it. Taken from the poems/folk song page is the version I've heard most often before -

Nine Miles From Gundagai - Jack Moses

I've done my share of shearing sheep,

Of droving and all that;

And bogged a bullock team as well,

On a Murrumbidgee flat.

I've seen the bullock stretch and strain

And blink his bleary eye,

And the dog sit on the tuckerbox

Nine miles from Gundagai.

I've been jilted, jarred and crossed in love,

And sand-bagged in the dark,

Till if a mountain fell on me,

I'd treat it as a lark.

It's when you've got your bullocks bogged,

That's the time you flog and cry,

And the dog sits on the tuckerbox

Nine miles from Gundagai.

We've all got our little troubles,

In life's hard, thorny way.

Some strike them in a motor car

And others in a dray.

But when your dog and bullocks strike,

It ain't no apple pie,

And the dog sat on the tuckerbox

Nine miles from Gundagai

Name: Tuckerbox

Alcohol Content: 5% (1.3 standard drinks)

Served: Chilled, straight from the 330ml bottle to mouth

What it says-

"Like his counterpart on the tuckerbox, Rusty the Jack Russell terrier waited eagerly to greet visitors to Borambola Homestead. 

His luck run out before his master's when he met an 18 wheeler while chasing a bitch. His pudgy brother, Scruffy, now stands guard in his place."

What I says-

First glance: The fruity aroma hops straight up the nose, they certainly got the hoppy part right.

Flavour: Strong fruity flavour. Initial sip had it as being too much hops for mine, but after subsequent sips I've decided that there is quite a nice malt balance.

Verdict: I'm now looking at the empty bottle wishing there was a second one to follow it. Strong flavour, would perhaps get to be too much over a full session, but a very drinkable lager. If I owned a tuckerbox, I'd probably stock it with a 6 pack of Tuckerbox every Friday, just for emergencies like.

Score: 3.5 bottle caps

For more info visit borambola.com

Join me next week for Prickly Moses' Red Ale.

A Beer In Review - Temple's Bicycle Beer

10 years ago I wouldn't be able to drink a beer called bicycle, I'd be too busy making jokes about town bikes and how they compare to your girlfriend/mum/sister. Now your girlfriend is your wife and, unless she is actually sleeping around(even then that's a very slippery slope to be treading), that's really bad form; I've met your mum and she's lovely, she baked cookies for us that one time; and I would like to take your sister out, so saying that, even in jest, is probably not in my best interest.

Now my only joke about bicycle beer is this-

Q: If I drink 15 bicycle beers, I become like a bicycle and can no longer stand. Why? 

A: Because I'm two-tired.

"Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains...." 

Name: Bicycle Beer

Alcohol Content: 4.2% (1.1 standard drinks)

Served: Chilled, straight from the 330ml bottle to my mouth

What it says-

"A light and refreshing beer with a soft malt character complemented by the fresh hop aroma of citrus & summer fruits & the addition of an ancient sea salt"

What I says-

First glance: I'm kind of excited, the beer doesn't advertise what style it is- ale, lager, stout, etc. I just don't know what they're trying to pedal* here, it's a Victorian mystery to be revealed below...

Flavour: Fairly mild light ale. Has plenty of citrus, I'm not familiar with the style but I guess you could almost call it a radler, which would make sense for the name (radler = cyclist, it's called 'Bicycle Beer', get it?).

Verdict: I enjoyed this beer. Nice flavour, I feel it would go well on a hot summer's day. Yes drinking this beer is like riding a bike- 'If you can't remember how to do it, you're too drunk. Just kebab up and get yourself home to bed.'

Score: 3.5 bottle caps

For more info visit - templebrewing.com.au

Join me next week for Tuckerbox Hoppy Lager

*When I said I only had one joke about bicycle beer, I lied.

A Beer In Review - Kosciuszko Pale Ale

Surf's Up Tonight came on the radio today, not an Oil's song that I hear over the wireless too often. Normally you get a bit of Beds Are Burning, maybe some King of the Mountain or perhaps a little Blue Sky Mine. Shame it wasn't Kosciuszko, it would've been more appropriate for my choice of beer for this week. Lucky for me I have that song on my computer, so I can play at loud as my puny laptop speakers will allow (yes it just manages to drown out the sound of ABC News 24 droning through from next door).

"High up in the homelands

Celebration 'cross the land

Builds up like a cyclone

Now the fires begin to rage"

Name: Kosciuszko Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: 4.5% (1.2 standard drinks)

Served: Chilled, straight from the 330ml bottle to my mouth

What it says-

"Kosciuszko Brewery encompasses the spirit and the inspiration of the Snowy Mounatins, like the pioneering explorer, Edmund Strzelecki who first ascended our highest mountain and named it in honour of Polish freedom fighter Kosciuszko, we are exploring the natural brewing limits by producing awesome ales that reflect the purity and spirit of the Australian Alps. Kosciuszko Pale Ale refreshes your palate with a pleasant rich maltiness and a fruity hoppy finish. It is brewed for enjoyment after a hard day of skiing, hiking, fishing or just enjoying yourself in the mountains. Always in season."

What I says-

First glance: I do believe this is the first, and perhaps only, of these beers that I have come across before. I feel like I've tried it previously, most definitely I've seen it on tap somewhere. I want to say either in Byron Bay or possibly in The Grand Central Arms in Brisbane city, but I can remember properly neither the occasion nor the beer. Having said all that, I do enjoy a good pale ale, so let's get into it.

Flavour: Mild fruity flavour. Slightly bitter, but not too much there.

Verdict: Fairly stock standard pale ale for mine. Not terrible, quite drinkable in fact, but it would have to be a pretty thin selection of beers for this to be my first choice. Maybe it IS better after a day of skiing, hiking or fishing in the Snowy Mountains. Alas the only time I've spent days doing any of those things on or around Mount Kosciuszko I was 11, and I was more of a 'mug of hot Milo man' back then.

Score: 3 bottle caps

For more info Google it, that's 'Kosciuszko Brewing Company'

Join me next week for Temple's Bicycle Beer.

Really kind of disappointed I won't need to be looking up the spelling of Kosciuszko 9 fucken times, maybe I can work in there a few times just for shits and giggles.

A Beer In Review - Feral's Sly Fox Summer Ale

I had initially intended to review this beer last week, but due to unforeseen circumstances this didn't happen. Rather than squeezing this so-called summer ale into the last two days of the official summer (for those of us in the southern hemisphere anyway), I'm now sampling it a whole week later on an breezy Autumn evening. I hope the beer police don't arrest me.

Name: Sly Fox

Alcohol Content: 4.7% (1.3 standard drinks)

Served: Chilled, straight from the 330ml bottle to my mouth

What it says-

"This sneaky little beer is light on its feet but still packs a punch of flavour. We lightly filter the beer to get a vibrant hoppy aroma with a clean bitterness that pairs perfectly with a hot summer's day."

Also-

"Fresh from the Swan valley."

Also-

"Treat like milk, refrigerate where possible"*

What I says-

First glance: Smells like a fantastic pale ale, I'm well excited to get my laughing gear around this one.

Flavour: This beer is a journey of epic proportion. It starts out as a typical fruity pale ale, then hits you with a slight bitter kick and then the two blend for a lovely mellow finish. Makes for an incredibly refreshing beer, very tasty. Plenty of flavour without being overpowering.

Verdict: Despite my not treating this beer in its prescribed fashion (see first above, then below), this beer is brilliant. I feel I've said it all, a very tasty ale, with a lovely finish and not too much flavour. Not sure how it'd perform over a session, but a chilled six pack on a hot summer's day (or any time really) would go down an absolute treat.

Score: 4.5 bottle caps

For more info visit feralbrewing.com.au

Join me next week for Kosciuszko Brewing Company's Pale Ale

*I first read this when I was extracting this beer from a 2 month hibernation inside a box that was sat on our balcony. Ergo I did not do this, whoops.