Virtual Happy Hour (Brews & Spirits, Pics & Reviews)

[Zardnaar]

Grolsch 5% abv



Dutch lager brewed under licence here in NZ. Have not had for a long time. Last time I had it was when I got the pictured beer glass.

Perfectly adequate generic euro lagers. Nothing exciting no complaints. Should probably stop drinking but having pizza for dinner and it is a hot summer night.

7/10. Basic does the job. My glass is around 450mls or 500 mls so really need a larger Russian bottle to fill it. Reminds me a bit of Zatecky Gus which is my go to for generic pilsner. ZG is a bit better than this one.

United Nations world tour. Samoa,NZ, Aussie, Holland.

Grolsch Premium Lager | Grolsch Bierbrouwerij N.V.

72 beer advocate. Fair rating IMHO.

 

[Zardnaar]

Beer 5 by opening more like 9 ABV.

Quite hoppy for a pilsner but not particularly exciting. Bit more bitter than my personal preference.

It is in beer advocate but much like most NZ craft beers not many reviews.

Bouncing Czech | Boundary Road Brewery

Bouncing Czech is a Bohemian / Czech Pilsner style beer brewed by Boundary Road Brewery in Papakura, New Zealand. Score: n/a with 6 ratings and reviews. Last update: 05-27-2022.

www.beeradvocate.com

Nice enough but had better for cheaper. 7.2/10 not as good as a 7.5 better than 7. For the price probably pick generic German pilsner option as I can get 2.5 Krombacher's for the same price.

Probably a bit pretentious calling itself a bouncing Czech Pilsner.

 

[Zardnaar]

Parrotdog Hazy IPA

Now this is a hazy IPA. Perfectly balanced NZ craft brewery. Very similar to my favorite Russian IPA/APA.

Not to hoppy as mentioned some IPAs mistake more hops for good taste.

The Russian IPAs (and hard to find) are half the price at 7 % though this one is a bit stronger but not overwhelming in flavour.

I really like this one. Bigger can as well (450mls). 2.4 standard drinks Aus/NZ 3.1 UK.

4.6 for me might even go 4.7. Pretty damn good. Best beer so far. Gonna shortlist this one gonna buy again.

 

[Zardnaar]

Harrington Rogue Hop Pilsner

5%abv. Just a bitter pilsner. Nice enough gets the job done. Nothing special. Last beer of the night. Things a bit fuzzy.

Weekends beer supply evaporated. I blame the pizza..

From worst to best inc price point.

VB
Boundary Road pilsner
Harrington Pilsner
Grolsch Premium Pilsner
Vailima lager
Behemoth APA Murica
Parrotdog IPA

Well done Samoa. Reasonably priced lager preferred it over some if the more expensive pilsners. Best bang for buck good start to the session 4 beers in a bottle by abv.

APA and IPA were nice. Everything else was ok except for the VB. VB doesn't pretend to be anything else though.

Vailima is about the same price as premium/imported lagers that are "better". Sleeper hit outperformed expectations.

Bit sloshed but not to bad. Nice buzz watching The Wire. Gonna stop now ignore the wine.

 

[embee]

Is it worse than Bud? I kinda like Bud not much flavour or a bit watery but not unpleasant.

I'm not the best judge as to that question as I thoroughly detest Budweiser. The only mass-produced beverage less palatable than warm Coke is warm Bud. I've had it (the only beer available on a two-month dig out in the middle of the Negev desert) and it put me off the alleged lager permanently.

Natty Boh compares to PBR, which isn't surprising as Pabst Brewing now brews Natty. Both have the same enjoyment factor:

The first one goes down a little rough put if you muscle through it, the second one goes down significantly easier. Once you've pounded that one, the third can and all cans after that are very easy to drink. Which is good because it takes about 8 cans to get good and drunk on them.

Both pair well with burgers, especially greasy burgers.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm not the best judge as to that question as I thoroughly detest Budweiser. The only mass-produced beverage less palatable than warm Coke is warm Bud. I've had it (the only beer available on a two-month dig out in the middle of the Negev desert) and it put me off the alleged lager permanently.

Natty Boh compares to PBR, which isn't surprising as Pabst Brewing now brews Natty. Both have the same enjoyment factor:

The first one goes down a little rough put if you muscle through it, the second one goes down significantly easier. Once you've pounded that one, the third can and all cans after that are very easy to drink. Which is good because it takes about 8 cans to get good and drunk on them.

Both pair well with burgers, especially greasy burgers.

I find Bud inoffensive. Not much flavour, bit watery. Makes it easy enough to drink.

 

[Cadence]

Leather Britches Porter by Blackberry Farm Brewery in Tennessee. It's very light for a porter with a bit of bitterness. The hints of fruit and chocolate are maybe too subtle for me. It's fine, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it 6.4% ABV, 39 IBU. Beer advocate only has 7 ratings for it. The can label is part of the 48 Beer Project by artist Heidi Geist. The can explains that Leather Britches refers to a southern method for preserving green beans.

 

[Zardnaar]

Waitangi Day weekend over here. Long weekend. Hot summer day. Gonna be rough

Cheap APA about 1/3rd the price as previous effort. $15 usd for 10 pack. Sucker for the packaging.

Hoping for the best not expecting much. 4.8% kinda weak for APA so....

From Nelson NZ's "Sunshine State" equivalent. Good wine and hops up that way.

 

[Cadence]

Waitangi Day weekend over here. Long weekend. Hot summer day. Gonna be rough

Happy Waitangi Day!

 

[Zardnaar]

Happy Waitangi Day!

It was yesterday, 3 day weekend. Wife's looking at a wine bottle and don't have to cook tonight.