#182 Three Boys – IPA

Name: IPA
Brewery: Three Boys (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Style: IPA
ABV: 5.2%
Source: Waiheke Wines

It’s a funny thing. The first time I had this I wasn’t all that fussed – I thought it smelled a lot like feet, and compared to the Mash Up and Hop Zombie I had just drunk, it seemed a bit naff.

Now I’ve learned an important lesson. Don’t try and judge anything after you’ve had a Mash Up and  Hop Zombie, because aside from the fact that you’re barely sober enough to register actual flavours, they will bully any smaller beers into a corner.

I enjoyed this beer much more the second time around. It didn’t smell like feet (I still can’t explain that one), and on a fresh palate the flavours were much more pronounced

On the nose I got a lovely hoppy smell of grapefruit, flowers and pine resin, and a distinctive biscuity malt . In the mouth it was the same – predominantly citrusy and grassy hops, a light malt backing and a little grain, with a fairly bitter finish.

This is a bit like yesterday’s beer – a little more reserved than most of the IPAs we get over here, but also more quaffable at 5.2%. And do we like Quaffable? Yes. We. Do!

#90 Three Boys – Wild Plum Ale (2010)

Name: Wild Plum Ale
Brewery: Three Boys (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 7,7%
Source: Regional Wines

The more astute readers out there may have noticed that there are two things about this post which appear… well, a bit off.

The first thing – well done if you noticed – is that there is no beer in my glass. This is not some kind of emperors new clothes shit that I’m trying to pull, it’s just that I actually attempted to do my first video blog with this beer and so didn’t take a picture – except for one at the beginning in anticipation of the video sucking. It did suck, massively – partly because I got a phone call halfway through and partly because I ramble even more when I’m talking than when I write.

So here I am, writing as usual about a beer which – hang on a minute – I’ve already reviewed! Actually not quite. The last time I had this beer it was the 2011 version on tap, and this one is the 2010 batch in a (beautifully wrapped) bottle. Different enough for me I say, and I make the rules of the blog.

The reason I’m having it again is not because I’m running out of beers (not even close), it’s just that last time it was in a big pint glass and a bit warm and weird and probably not as good as it could have been. Kieran at Regionals said I really should try the 2010 one, and kindly sold me a bottle that he had in the cellar.

Like last time, the beer poured a warm golden colour with a hint of rose, and a small fluffy head that diminished quickly. Unlike last time, it smelled amazingly good. The last one had smelled beery with a hint of plum/fake cherry, this time it was intensely plummy – quite a bit like tinned plums actually in that it was a sweet, concentrated, and slightly aged somehow. Beautiful!

In the mouth the difference was even greater. It was so much fuller this time, creamy and sweet with just a little tartness at the finish, where last time it had been quite sour. The flavours were more complex, and it had a real liqueur vibe to it – quite a lot like Japanese plum wine.

I was quite amazed at how different my two Wild Plum Ale experiences were, and I guess it just goes to show that fresh is not always best. I’m going to look out for some more to cellar (though I bet they won’t last long)
and others to give away as Christmas presents. I won’t even have to gift wrap them!

#54 Three Boys – Wild Plum Ale

Name: Wild Plum Ale 2011
Brewery: Three Boys (Christchurch, new Zealand)
Style: Fruit beer
ABV: 7.7%
Source: On tap at Galbraith’s Ales

I thought I was going to drink a barley wine last night, but decided that on a grey Saturday afternoon the best place to be was Galbraith’s. Of course, the rest of Auckland had decided that when Scotland and England are playing rugby the best place to be is Galbraith’s, so when I got there I found I could barely breathe for orange wigs, facepaint and kilts.

Me and Olivia headed outside and found a nice spot by the fire, taking with us a Coronado Islander IPA and a Three Boys Wild Plum Ale. We drank the IPA first which was like a luscious summer dessert – sticky tropical fruit, toffee, a creamy mouthfeel and sharp bitter finish. Olivia actually declared it to be the best beer she had ever tasted which is a big call, but not undeserved…

I had planned to post the IPA as my beer of the day, but after tasting the seasonally-released Three Boys Wild Plum Ale we both agreed that it was so interesting that I had to write about that one instead.

It looked fairly ordinary really – by which I mean it wasn’t bright purple, as you might expect for a beer that’s made with plums. The smell didn’t give too much away, either. I could sense a bit of stonefruit – not necessarily plums, a little alcohol, and some malt. I have to agree with Olivia though, who said “mostly it smells like beer.”

That’s why we were so surprised when we took a sip. A sour bomb went off instantly, followed by a burst of ripe plum, maraschino cherries, a little caramel sweetness and a bitter (not hoppy, but tart) finish. The flavour is really quite incredible – so intensely plummy that it’s almost a caricature… like sour, plum-flavoured boiled sweets.

I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of the beer -we kept marveling at it’s individuality with each sip – but after a certain point  it seemed to fall apart a bit. By that time the poor beer had been near the fire for about 45 minutes, and the sour plum flavour seemed to get thinner and a bit unpleasant as it got warm.

If I had this again (and I plan to), I would have it chilled (obviously), and in a smaller, more elegant glass. In the summertime at my mum’s house we’d sometimes have champagne flutes of Moscato d’Asti (cheap but delicious sweet, sparkling Italian wine) before dinner, and I fancy the idea of drinking the Wild Plum Ale like that. I’d also like to get it in a paper-wrapped bottle next time, because it looks so beautiful – see!

so damn fancy

#14 Three Boys Oyster Stout

Name: Oyster Stout
Brewery: Three Boys (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Style: Oyster Stout
ABV: 6.2%
Source: Glengarry Ponsonby

I said earlier today that my palate wasn’t refined enough to pick up on things like oyster flavours in a beer, and I thought I’d just make absolute sure of that by taste-testing a Three Boys Oyster Stout.
The things I do in the name of research!

The Oyster Stout does indeed contain Bluff oysters, which to me seems both wonderfully decadent and borderline bonkers.

I’ve just done a bit of research (Wiki’d it) and apparently the first known use of oysters in the brewing process was in 1929 in New Zealand. Cor, first that, now Rex Attitude – Kiwi brewers certainly are are a pioneering bunch!

Apparently the protein in the oysters give the beer a bit more body*… and a lot of people say that if you drink more than six of them you will actually start talking like a pirate. Nah, nobody says that, some people do that they can detect a hint of sea/brine/oysters when they drink it though.

The OS pours an almost pitch-black with a decent tan head. It smells of bitter roasted coffee, and dark chocolate. Once in the mouth I also got other subtle flavours – soy sauce, little a herby/medicinal note (licorice?) and something like the strong, dark treacle that my grandma used to give me on a spoon as a kid. It’s slightly spicy with a nice bitter kick at the end, and has a smooth, full mouth feel. Unfortunately – or perhaps actually quite fortunately, I just couldn’t pick up on any shellfish.

Arrr, matey, ’tis a fine stout indeed!

*According to my dad people used to put dead rats in cider for the same purpose. Somehow less appealing, no?