After Melbourne, Nicole and I flew to the Outback and Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park, home of Australia’s most famous geological standout— Uluṟu/Ayers Rock. Oddly enough, Kata Tjuṯa/Mount Olga is a nearby formation that is bigger in area, height, and Aboriginal sacredness but, for some reason, it never hit it big in the European-descendant demographic. I think I can see the reason why, though. Being such a monolithic structure makes Uluṟu a little more impressive than the conglomeration that is Kata Tjuṯa.
Uluṟu/Ayers Rock |
Kata Tjuṯa/Mount Olga |
When we weren’t taking in the sights we were hanging out at the small cluster of accommodations and restaurants located a few miles from the rock. Before dinner one night I decided it was time to crack open two of the beers I picked up at The Local Bottlestore & Provisions.
Pacific Ale |
Stone & Wood's Pacific Ale (4.4% ABV) is unfiltered so it has the cloudy appearance that is so familiar to the process. It is a pale yellow—almost pastel—and it looks a bit like a Belgian wit. A rocky, bubbly white head tops off the beer. Pacific Ale has yeasty, zesty scents as well as a pungent passion fruit or grapefruit aroma. According to Nicole: “It smells like Hawaii.” The fruitiness is apparent on the tongue but it’s not as obvious as it is on the nose. There is also a yeasty undertone and little to no bitterness; this beer is all about showcasing the fruit flavors that linger and tingle on the back of the tongue. In terms of mouthfeel, Pacific Ale is dry, dry, dry. Dry as the Outback I was drinking it in. It’s downright arid: a desert. It is probably the driest beer I have ever had as well as one of the best Aussie beers I’ve ever had.
Hop Hog |
Our final stop on our Australian adventure was Cairns (to pronounce like an Aussie, disregard the “i” and “r”): a perpetually warm city near the rainforest and Great Barrier Reef. By the time we landed and settled in at our hotel the sun was beginning to set and we were in need of some snacks and suds. Blue Sky Brewery is where we set our sights.
Blue Sky is in an open-walled courtyard type of setting with a small bar and seating area located just off of the sidewalk and a larger bar and seating area set back into the niche. We bellied-up to the larger bar, I ordered an IPA (I didn’t write down its proper name and it’s not on the website because it’s not a flagship beer—it might have been Big Hitter), and we took a seat off to the side.IPA (maybe) |
Beer dork that I am, I was making quite the show of assessing my beer by holding it up to the light and in front of a white piece of paper. Not surprisingly, this turned a few heads. One such head belonged to Todd, an employee of Blue Sky and the man who was about to proctor the Believe it or Not bar trivia. Politely, but with obvious curiosity, he asked what in the Sam Hill I was doing. After a quick explanation I handed him my card, he handed me Tess’s card (she being the Advertising & Marketing Manager for the brewery) so that we might get in contact and get an insider’s view of Blue Sky, and thus set in motion a series of events that eventually capped off our Aussie journey (do be patient, dear reader, for these events will unfold before your eager eyes through my most masterful storytelling).
And, hell yes, we participated in the pub trivia. If you don’t know me but have read this blog then you can be assured of three things: I like beer, I like roller coasters, and I like pub trivia. Just like at the Mitre Tavern, we placed second. The killing round was the sports round; it was almost exclusively about cricket, rugby, and Aussie-rules football. To a couple of Americans, these sports look like the bastard children of Quidditch and Calvinball so, needless to say, we floundered. We did, however, get the bonus round correct and walked out of Blue Sky with a free six-pack of Blue Sky Pilsner (4.5% ABV). Sweet.
Cairns Gold |
During the game I enjoyed a Cairns Gold (3.3% ABV). This time I know I got the right beer because they served it in a “stubbie” AKA bottle. I know that in America we call short bottles stubbies but it seems that all bottles in Australia share this designation. Cairns Gold is very clear and has the color of dark champagne. It is the color that non-beer geeks associate with beer. A floral hop aroma is pretty easy to root out (yes, Aussie readers, I know what “root” means to you but I’m writing to a predominately American audience so get your mind out of the gutter). These floral hops have an interesting effect on the taste; the beer is not bitter but possesses a sweet, flowery, and fruity flavor that is reminiscent of eating a honeysuckle. I would pin the causes of the flowery and fruity flavors on the hops and the sweetness on the malts.
True Blue |
The final beer I had before departing was True Blue Stout (6.4 % ABV), a beer that, I think, is suffering from an identity crisis. The colors are right for a stout: dark, chestnut brown, red highlights, and an off-white head. The aroma, however, is slightly off. It has a very mild smell and it’s not very roasty. It smells, instead, like the sweet malts found in a nut brown ale. The flavor redeems True Blue to some extent; it does taste a little bit like a stout with a mild roast flavor and light coffee and dark chocolate aftertaste. It also has a tiny base of bitter that sits in the back of the tongue. However, as I drank, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was also tasting the nutty flavors of a brown ale. Whatever redemption was in the flavor was taken away by the mouthfeel; True Blue is too dang light to be a stout. It’s not heavy and it’s not thick and creamy. A stout should feel like a meal, this beer was just too thinned out. It tasted quite good, though; I just don’t believe it’s being marketed correctly. My advice to Blue sky: re-brand True Blue as a brown and then formulate a new, monstrously thick recipe for a stout and serve that sucker on nitro.
We have more to talk about including a rainforest trip, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, and a lot more interactions with the fine folks at Blue Sky. Stay tuned for more.
Prost!
Chris
I think Chris summed up the highlights of Ayer’s Rock. However, I will add a couple of things about the wildlife. Our hotel warned us of the presence of giant centipedes and to keep our luggage zipped at all times. Luckily, we did not see any giant centipedes but we did see some large spiders hanging out in their webs. I am not sure what kind they were because I couldn’t handle looking at the spider identification book long enough to figure it out. As we walked to some of the lookouts we saw some tracks that could possibly have been dingo tracks. During our sunrise tour we were told to keep a lookout for camels. Unfortunately, we only saw a dead one by the side of the road. It still amazes me how large they are
Wicked Cider |
Nicole
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the Hop Hog and the Stone & Wood Pacific Ale.
Hope you had a great time in Melbourne.
James (The Local BottleStore/ Taphouse)
Thank YOU, James. That's a great place you got there in St. Kilda. It was cool to see Colorado breweries like Left Hand and Avery represented at the Taphouse.
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