My Aching Head

Recently Monteiths Brewing company has released a limited release beer celebrating 140 years of brewing. It is supposed to be brewed in the style of the 18060s, which due to the fact that I’m a  child of the 1980s I can’t comment on. Now, I’m not a fan of a limited release consumable of anything, least of all beer, it’s one of those things give me a taste of something that I might fall in love with and then cut off the supplier. Anyway, to the meat of it all, the beer.

When I first tasted it I wrote in my notes that it was a “subtle flavour” but now when I sit down with a bottle of it I’m thinking to myself just how flavoursome it is. This flavour certainly isn’t a refined clear crisp taste but more of a harsh fruit taste. The beer has a cloudy texture, kind of like someone has mixed in a bit of dirt to each bottle. I’m not sure if it’s the actual flavour or this texture, but It reminds me a lot of a Coopers Pale Ale.

It definitely isn’t an easy drinking beer, the first half a glass didn’t slide down like the other Monteiths do but once your palate has adapted to the interesting flavour it is a much different story. This isn’t a bad thing, I have a problem with a lot of the new beers brought onto the market being devoid of any beer-like flavour.

All in all, I enjoyed the Monteith 140, but I probably won’t be sucking back too many of them. It is only available at Monteith’s bars or in 4-packs from some bottle shops and supermarkets. I could only find it at New World in Queenstown and at the princely sum of $14 for 4 it isn’t even close to being affordable. Next time I’m at Monty’s though I’ll give a few more pints a go, I suppose I might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

I’ve been brewing over having a cocktail competition here on my blog for a while now and recently while I was in Melbourne decided what it should be. I’m announcing the My Aching Head Beer Cocktail Competition, so head on over to the page and get your entries in.

I’m keen to add some new exciting drinks to the drinking repertoire.

I must confess, I’ve got a real penchant for beer and I think it’s pretty good just as it is. That and we have a definite policy here at My Aching Head of trying not to shirk your responsibilities to the booze when you are drinking it, this is to say there’s not much room for light beer or half nips. However, there is a definite need for these types of drinks for drivers and children. All that aside, the original idea of the radler was brilliant, as my Bavarian (not German) friend delighted in telling me a genius bartender realised that he was running out of beer and decided to start selling it watered down with lemonade to cyclists - as though it was what was intended all along. The Wikipedia article on Shandy covers this and more, I’m particularly impressed with the section on the turbo shandy, a staple of some of my more fund-limited friends.

So I’m telling you stuff you probably already know,and having read the Wikipedia article already you will know that radler is German for “cyclist” but as one of my good friends (also from the aforementioned southern region of Germany) taught me, “shandy” is the German word for “shame”. Quite fitting really as shame is the emotion you should be feeling when drinking a shandy.

All of this is pretty harsh really, but it’s not all bad, a shandy can be very refreshing of a heavy morning and probably won’t have the effects of pushing you over the edge back into a drunk state. Secondly, there is a Monteith’s beer in New Zealand called Radler. This is a very crisp clean beer with a twist of lemon flavour yet it isn’t watered down at all, weighing in at 5% this is a perfect beer for a summer’s day (well, not quite as perfect as a Monteith’s Summer Ale).

Possibly the coolest advertising campaign ever, with Harvey Keitel telling everyone how cool New Zealand is, and finally claiming the he loves the beer. It’s pretty clear that the campaign and the beer have been a runaway success here, with 2 other brands of beer coming out with clones and everyone and their dog drinking the beer itself. It comes in a tall sleek green bottle that really stands out from the crowd of kiwi beers. The whole premise behind this beer is that it is made from all pure ingredients (and no preservatives) sourced from the untouched wilds of New Zealand.

It’s clearly cliched to call the taste of Steinlager Pure crisp and clean, but I’m all for cliche, so to describe the flavour, it is crisp and clean. I don’t really believe in the idea that some beer gives you a worse hangover than others (with equal alcohol content and this is one is a reasonable %5). I’m a huge believer that all hangovers were created equal and if you don’t wake up with an aching head then you haven’t drunk enough. Anyway, a few people I know think that because of it’s purity it is gentler on the head.

In any case, of all the good commercial beer in New Zealand (and there is a lot of good beer) I’m willing to say that Steinlager Pure is the best. 2 high quality beers that it is comparable to in drinkability are Speights Distinction Ale and Monteiths Radler. Distinction Ale is obviously a more robust drink while Radler is similarly crisp but has a taste that you can’t have for more than a few. Generally though, you could spend the whole night on the Pure.

In every town, there are drinking icons, places that everyone knows about, everyone has had their fair share of schooners at, and everyone will have great memories of in 35 years when they can’t drink anymore cause their kidneys give them grief. Of all the pubs in and around Brisbane the RE in Toowong may not be the swankiest, the coolest, or even the friendliest but it’s probably the best local. It’s one of those places that you could walk into blind folded and just the smell of it draws a picture. It just so happens in this case it’s the smell of spew, nonetheless it makes you feel like home, or you are at your local.

Let’s be fair about it, there is nothing that jumps out and takes you about this pub, the beer garden is big, complete with the requisite covers band 4 nights of the week playing more than it’s share of Jimmy Barnes, Powderfinger and Hunters & Collectors. The band has to stop playing at about 11 every night, cause the people that live nearby started complaining about the noise, even though there has been a band playing there since before they were born. Though, it’s not the band that the punters come to see, in fact they aren’t coming to see anything in particular except the beer. That’s the thing about uni students, all they need is a a few tables, a shitty band and cheap cold beer and they’ll sit and talk shit anywhere.

The public bar has about 42 flat screens within 4 metres of each other not to mention a couple of old blokes betting on the dogs that look like they’ve been there since it opened (1876), the dogs haven’t been there since then, the blokes have. The upstairs has a couple of pool tables and a bar, the bar is only open when they’ve got some reason which isn’t really that often. That being said, the upstairs has a nice little deck overlooking the stage.

As I’ve mentioned it’s not the coolest place, but it does have a webcam, so head on over to the website and check it out for yourself.