Why Does My Beer Have an Internet?

When will I stop using shitty filters? NEVER!

So all over twitter and facebook, (because I follow the beers...) has been buzz about epic orcon. Now granted most of the buzz was due to the free beer being offered at O'carrolls, but this buzz is deserved.

Epic is known for its hoppy beers, hoppy to the point of madness. Take the hop zombie for example. Its like trying to scrape your tongue with a sappy pine branch. Which can be a good thing, but only for a moment. This beer however is more of a session beer, I popped the lid and heavenly sweet hops wafted from the bottle. Good start. Aroma is everything, at least 70% of everything, 50% at the least...er anyway it smelled good. Also sweetness. The website calls it passion fruit, but my odd food pairing (sesame seaweed salad ooops) didn't let me come to that conclusion'straight away. But thanks to the power of suggestion as as the last drops go down, I can say that passionfruit is a fair call. There's a great balance with the malt here. Round smooth, exquisite mouthfeel. Very silky. Full body, not too much bitter after taste, beautiful balance, should have bought two and only $7.99 at Forest Hill Liqourland, which is the BEST craft beer stockist on the shore.

I pour to minimise head, cause I don't like sipping foam that much.

First batch of Home Brew

I know my husband loves me because he pays attention to the things I love and encourages me to pursue my dreams.

Friday afternoon I found myself at the courier depot picking up a surprise parcel! It was a Coppertun home brew starter kit, everything you need (except bottles) to brew a batch of beer. Giddy with excitement I could barely drive home, so I drove to the home brew shop instead and picked up some 750 bottles in anticipation of bottling.

Its still pretty wintery here, so I was a bit concerned about fermentation but the brew shop lady was overflowing with knowledge and rest assured my brew will ferment even if it takes a bit longer than usual.

Is it just me or is the picture on the box somewhat misleading......

First I sterilised everything, even the can opener. No way in hell is my first batch of beer going to be contaminated with rogue micro-organisms only the sweet little brewers yeasties allowed.

Then I mixed up the malt, dextrose/hops mix (smells so good) and filled to make 23L of brown goodness.

Temperature gage indicates around 20C so all good for brewing, now I just have to wait a couple of weeks and I'll be ready to bottle.

11/8/12
Mangrove Jack's Munich Lager
27062-245-26-00 Best Before 28-06-14

Mixed with Coppertun beer essentials German lager.60 Malt, dextrose and hops dry mix.

And Mangrove Jack's supplied yeast sprinkled on top.

21/8/12
Gravity 1.012 (forgot to take initial reading DUH!!!)
28/8/12
Gravity 1.011 (its still bubbling away beer takes ages. the kit instructions LIE!)
10/9/12
Gravity 1.010 (still bubbling, COME ON BEER!!!)
15/9/12
Gravity 1.0075 (still bubbling and using a new hydrometer)
16/9/12
Gravity 1.0070 (seems slightly lower than yesterday, am I imagining things? maybe...maybe.)
17/9/12
Gravity 1.0075 ( I suck at reading hydrometers.)
20/9/12
Gravity 1.006 (definitely lower, and bubbling has slowed way down!)
23/9/12
Bottled! 27 x 750ml bottles.
3/10/12
10 days later and the beer is looking very clear indeed! really starting to mature. I'm think at least another 11 days till I test a bottle.

23L of beery goodness just waiting to happen.

Brunch at Pear Tree

Eggs Benny $15.5
Mushrooms on toast $15
Flat White $3.9
Latte $4.5
Steinlager Premium light $7
Total $45.90 (A bit less than I pay for a breakfast out in Auckland at somewhere like the Papermoon cafe)

I only just found out that the house now know as the Pear Tree was previously owned by distant relatives and my mother used to spend nights there as a child. But now its a wonderful place to eat and if you're ever in Kerikeri stop by!

Its conveniently located at THE tourist hot spot stone store and Kemp house, but doesn't suffer from tourist trap prices and the food is excellent. Its so good I went twice, once for lunch and back again the next day for brunch. Who can resist sitting in the sun watching the water and perving at the tourists?

The seared scallop salad thing i had for lunch was perfect, the whole thing was deliciously, loads of different flavours all working together to make me wish I'd ordered two. They have Stoke amber and golden lager on tap, plus Guiness and a selection of reasonably priced wines. 

This is where our holiday fund went.......

Half done

All done

Edge before the stairs to the back garden. Drains take a sharp curve and runs down the side of the steps under some concrete.

Now theres the leaking pipe in the backyard to be dug up and fixed and hurrah! ALL done! All up $3700  incl GST.

Going to The Pub

My mums partner has returned to OZ for work because he just couldn't make enough money in NZ. Fair enough wages here are pretty bad compared with the ever increasing cost of living. One things my mum mentioned that really hit home for me is that they often found they had to decline shouting a round or avoid going out with friends because it was too expensive. I know the feeling, I couldn't afford to buy other people drinks that's for sure. I can't really afford to go out for lunch/dinner unless I have a coupon. (Yay grab one!)

I've of a couple of workmates who seem to manage to go out several times a week and I get regaled with tales of restaurants and bars. Ah to lead a life where I could just go out if I didn't feel like cooking.

So what does a pub lunch on the North Shore of Auckland cost?

Macs Brew Bar Hurstmere road
Rustic Pizza $21
Hand cut chunky fries $8
2 x Pints $17
Total $46 (I paid only $26 thanks to a grabone voucher)

The pizza and fries could have fed 3 people though, we certainly didn't finish it all. If we'd had two beers each the price would have rocketed to $63. $63 for beers,pizza and chips? Does that sound reasonable
thats about;

$51 (US)
£32 (GB)
€39
$50 (AUS)
$51 (CAN)


So is NZ expensive or just expensive compared to my wages? Is it reasonable to assume an average worker could afford to go out for a meal once a week? Or am I trying to aspire to a lifestyle way beyond my means,  has my generation come to expect too much? 

Summers garden at an end

Marigolds, finally in bloom, lettuces.

Sunday Beer Treat

Introverts Afternoon out

Takapuna is an odd little centre but I really like it, despite its efforts to pretend its nowhere near the beach.

There are a few things horribly wrong with it, but its the same affliction spread  over most of auckland. Crappy apartment buildings. Even worse, leaky crappy apartment buildings full of people who complain about the noise. 

For lunch I decided to try Sals, a new york style pizza place. Slice and a beer for $11. Montieths Pilsner or Amstel on tap. It was pretty good. Pepperoni wasn't too strong and the base was nice and salty. Would eat again!

It can be strange, eating alone, but there was someone else inside eating and reading a book by themselves so I wasn't the only weirdo in the shop. I used to be able to find a lot of alone time at home. But since its become overcrowded I've had to leave the comforts of my dwelling to find that restorative time. Its kind of ironic, the introvert has to leave the house and go out into the big wide world to be alone. 

Next was just some wandering and wondering. This was in a pop-up gallery. I guess that's where they fill and empty shop with art. I like kiwiana but this maybe taking it a bit too far. The artist is Rachel Foster. She is pretty gorgeous, I wonder if she uses herself as a model for her series of sexy ladies draping themselves over kiwi icons?

Then I had to stop in retrospace to see if there was any cool new dr who stuff. I also saw a tribble and this stormtrooper helmet. But funds are low so just browsing today. Lots of nerds in the shop today. I wish I worked there, but only on Sundays.

Walked further down to Glengarrys to check out the craft beer selections. Portofino had like 50 gabillion empty tables, I thought it was closed till I saw one occupied table in a sea of white table cloths. Maybe it sucks ass? Anyway here are the awesome beers I got from glengarry.

It started hosing down and it was afternoon tea time so I had a coffee and slice at didas....ooooooo discount with my Glengarry card! Yay. I am still amazed at how cafes cant do a ginger cruch to save themselves. I think they all buy it from the same crappy supplier. Either that or I am wrong in what I think a ginger crunch should be. BISCUITY BASE PEOPLE, BISCUITY BASE. I like a crunchy base, what can I say.

Once it mostly stopped raining I wandered down to my car, and watched the windsurfers for a bit. Cool sea air, mental quietness, it was all good.

The end.

2011 Reading List