A conversation about Knappstein Reserve Lager

So a friend asked if I had tried Knappstein Reserve Lager yet, and while I knew of it, I hadn't tried it before. So at the weekend, on a trip to the Boathouse in Palm Beach, I spotted it on the beer list so ordered one. Unknown to me, my friend had just picked up a four pack and I thought I would share our thoughts on the beer as we emailed each other about it!!!...

It's a hot day, and sitting at the Boathouse in Palm Beach with this beer is a good thing...

Well firstly, I am slightly surprised it is advertised as a Lager, especially a Bavarian Style Lager - this is more like a pale ale lager mix to me - and my friend shared the view that it is isn't what you would describe as a typical lager. 

The first thing we said to each other about the beer was the smell - it has a distinct white wine smell over a beer - hardly surprising considering it is Knappstien! 

The beer itself was again, like the smell, really interesting (think peaches etc) and has a smooth light body which makes it a great hot weather drink. The beer offered little head (me and my friend sniggered like little boys at this comment but you know what I mean - the head disappeared quick style on this lager) and it left a residual taste of a mix of white wine and an ever so slight hoppy bitterness. While I stopped at one of these as I enjoyed it, but didn't love it, my friend went for a second as he was raving about it. After the second, he slightly altered his view - while he liked it, he said two was the max he could have in a night. 

Maybe this change of view sums up the beer - an unusual lager that sums up all that is awesome about craft beer - a 'thirst' by beer makers to make beers that are different and make the beer part of the conversation opposed to being something to sip while having a conversation. I am sure this is a beer that many will love and many, like me, love to have tried and tasted... 

Keg and Brew

I was slightly unsure of going to this place; I was worried it would be a 'fad' place - like so many places that get the "latest popular magazine/website favourite place tag" it is often all PR and not a lot of substance. Never-the-less, I met up with a friend mid week and I have to say this place is AMAZING. I actually think it might become my new number one beer venue!

There are a lot of taps in this place!

AND even more taps here...

When you walk in to this place, you get dazed staring at all the taps behind the bar that you don't even notice the animals on the wall!!

It's a bison!

Theres a moose loose around this hoose! Hehehe

This is such an easy place to get to from Central Station, if you are looking for somewhere with easy transport links -  this place is a solid choice. The sheer volume of beer on tap made me realise how many beers there are to try and blog about! Speaking to the bar staff they also say that the beers often change which is excellent and the number of Australian States and countries from around the world represented made it a bit of Craft Beer World Cup... 

As you can see, I am loving this place and have actually been back since I took the photos etc and I can promise you it is just a great pub (I don't often go to the same pub in quick succession... I like to keep trying new places as often as possible).  

So the first beer I tried was their 'Beer of the Week' - Young Cub from Arctic Fox. It looks like a Coopers Green and it also reminds me of a flatter version of it too. It has very gentle flavours and aromas (there are some citrus smells and a little hint of wheat) which makes it a really easy beer to drink and I think will do well with people new to craft beer, people that normally drink wine and also people stuck somewhere on a really humid day and needing a beer to refresh.

It is a really cloudy beer like a Coopers Green...

I then moved onto the Arctic Fox Rye Ale. I have to say, I am loving the whole Rye Ale trend going on at the moment, this is a beautiful beer. Like a good Rye Ale, this beer has a little bit of bitterness in the aftertaste with strong sweet rye notes upfront. It is medium bodied and dark golden in colour. I hadn't heard of Arctic Fox before, but I will look out for it in the future. 

Arctic Fox Rye Ale

A then finished the night with Bridge Road Pale Ale. I am a fan of Bridge Road and I like to finish a mid week beer session with beers that isn't hop overloaded, as I don't want to wake up the next morning tasting hops... The Bridge Road is a lighter Pale Ale with a light golden colour and a head that keeps. It is a really smooth tasting beer with a light hops taste upfront that gently dies away. It is a perfect finishing beer to a great night catching up with a friend in one of my new favourite pubs...

Bridge Road Pale Ale

Well, I am really glad I tried KB, what a great pub that I will just keep coming back to... 

The outside has kept its traditional routes...

Lord Raglan

So I have a list of craft breweries and craft pubs I want to try out and I found out that Shenanigans were doing the tap takeover at the Lord Raglan I realised that I could kill two birds with one stone! So off the wife popped down on a mid Sunday arvo to Redfern and spent a few hours in the pub! 

The Rocks Brewing Company has done a great job in restoring it - it looks amazing! The pop art graffitti on the walls is very cool, almost a bit of a Newtown influence and the retro pin ball machines look like they were stolen out the set of Greece the movie... a cool touch! The bar area is big to allow for all the tabs they have - the full set of the Rocks Brewing range, Yulli and Riverview were all on show as was Shenanigans - like I said, they have a lot of beers of tap! 

The wife was driving so she could only have one drink but she was impressed that the staff not only knew their craft beer, but also the wines as well and picked a really great chardonnay - often in these craft beer places, the wine list isn't too hot and the staff couldn't tell you too much about it so this place got a big tick from her as well (guys should note this point).  

Pin Ball anyone?

Thats a big bar area... that means lots of taps!

B E E R? at a bar? awesome!

So onto Shenanigans, so I tried the Red Sky first, as it seemed to be getting a few mentions in craft beer sites but it wasn't really for me. The upfront flavours were great, you can tell the american influence but the really flowery taste at the end wasn't jumping out at me (it has flavours of jasmine in it). Different yes, interesting yes, glad I tried it? yes. Will I order another one, probably not. But I am sure many people will and love it. One of the reasons that the craft beer scene is so interesting is that you try new and weird and wonderful things, and this beer proves the craft beer scene is still firing innovative beers out into the marketplace. 

Then I moved onto the Wrong Turn, and this was both the wife's and my favourite beer - so it looks like a Belgian White Ale with its cloudy colour and the fruity, slightly bitter smell. But it must be the rye they add to it that takes a little of the fruitiness away from a Belgian White Ale and gives it a bit more punch and weight in the body. This really is a great beer in my eyes. Shenanigans has taken a common and popular style drink and give it a slight twist to reflect what they want from it - great job! 

After this I moved onto the Winston - probably their most common known beer. It is an American Pale Ale - a big, fuller, flatter, full of hops beer that is getting quite a common style of beer in Sydney. It's your go to beer, great to drink and the Winston is no different. I would say that it isn't a session style beer as I think after a few of these you would have a mouth of hops but a few after work or after dinner and you would be a happy person.   

Shenanigans tap takeover

A Wrong Turn leads to a chardonnay which leads to some food....

Overall, the Lord Reglan is a great asset for Redfern / Alexandria and a great pub that has some cool games, graffitti art and a huge array of beers on tap. Shenanigans is a great brewery and the Wrong Turn was my favourite - get along to the Lord Reglan and enjoy their beers!

Stone and wood

So one of the reasons I was excited to head up to Byron Bay was to enjoy the weather, surf and drinking Stone and Wood, especially drinking Stone and Wood, especially drinking Stone and Wood in their Brewery, especially drinking Stone and Wood on the beach, especially dri... OK, you get what I am trying to say here! 

But, a quick tweet to find out opening times I was shocked and horrified (I am being a bit dramatic here...) to find out they don't have a brewery bar and tours are just during the day. So my immediate thought was - "well how am I going to blog about Stone and Wood then?" So over the course of the weekend, I drank the various Stone and Wood beers in pubs or back at our cabin. So below is a few pictures! 

Drinking Garden Ale in the Railway Pub

A Pacific Ale at the Beach Hotel

Drinking Stone and Wood Lager back at the cabin

Drinking the Garden Ale at Great Northern Hotel. 

You find Stone & Wood everywhere up in Byron!! Awesome.

So the Pacific Ale is just a great beer, and up in the humidity, by the beach when you are hot and sweaty, the Pacific Ale becomes even better. Its light body and upfront aromas of fruits and passionfruit just make this such a refreshing beer! 

The lager is really full of flavour - not like your usual lagers, and if it is possible, the lager has more 'weight to it' than the Pacific Ale. They advertise this beer as German style and I get it and would agree. A good european style lager. My only slight 'reservedness' on this is, well if you want a great German Beer, then drink a German one - what I love about the craft scene here in Aus is that it creates new styles or blends styles or does deviations on styles and this is just a good German style lager.

I tried the Jasper Ale but it was too hot for it, so I will talk about it in a winter blog - by the fire, up in the Blue Mountains and this beer would be awesome, in summer on the beach, it didn't work for me. 

And onto my favourite - the Garden Ale. I haven't really come across it down in Sydney, and I have to say, if you see it on the list - you have to try it. It was fantastic! It is a low alcohol beer, which means you can just smash em, there is malts in there, but no bitter finish. You get a "wiff" of fruit, but nothing too much - you get a little of everything, with a medium body which makes it a great beer to drink after a few stronger crafties like a Belgian White Ale etc... 

So, gutted that I couldn't see the guys brewing it and having a few in their [non existent] brewery bar, but it is amazing that everywhere stocks these up in Byron, and if it is hot - go for a Pacific Ale, if it winter, tell me what the Jasper Ale is like, and if you see the Garden Ale, grab it in the pub before it runs out...