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Mugs Brewery, 28 Duke Street, Yarram (2026)

18/04/2022

Long weekend calls for a brew day.
Keeping it simple today with a basic pale ale, and revisiting an old favourite hop variety - Brambling X

22/03/2022

Unofficial pre-tasting going on here...
Mugs - Never Go Back BA 2021
Barrel aged rye imperial stout
Bottled late 2021 approx 14.5%abv
Thick pour, dense opaque black beer, a hint of carbonation but tan foam doesn't want to hang around.
Aroma oddly bready yeast at first, fair bit of dark Chocolate and coffee, toast, nuts, dried fruit... never really indicates much barrel TBH...
Low carbonation, very smooth, texture verges on being luscious yet the first hints of barrel poke through in the form of oaken astringency, as well as boozy dryness.
Whereas the aroma is a bit all over the shop, the palate is just bags of chocolate... like proper cocoa/cacao nibs.... none went in but just tastes like it...a dark caramel sweetness in there, barrel flavour is there in a woody/ oaky, slightly porty character; also feels like the warmer it gets the more the booze comes through.... low bitterness, mouth coating finish.
An ambitious project of a beer... the flavours are good but the barrel is not quite there and the beer maybe not as polished as I would like...I feel time in bottle will help a couple of these things but not all

24/10/2021

Brew day is a go!
Having a bit of a crack at a "hazy" IPA chucking some oats and rawb wheat in the mash, good hit of Galaxy hops and ferment with Kviek yeast

28/09/2020

continues!
Kriek Lambic-off!
Cantillon Kriek 2017 (C) vs 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek 2017 (F) vs Lindemans Cuvee Rene Oude Kriek 2017 (L)
Appearance: The C & F are a pretty similar ruby hue with a short lived pink head, the L has a deeper colour with a head that perists.
Aroma: F cherry skin, hard cheese funk, oak, red grape must; C is similarly vinous, cherry skin again, touch of balsamic in amongst it; L is sharper, amaretto notes, cherry pit, more earthy.
Palate: F is surprisingly easy and rounded, moderate acidity, carbonation moderate, long finish, somewhat clean; C acidity higher without being bracing, more tannin, longer finish but less balanced; L way sharper, fairly acetic, slight ropey/Pedio character in there, palate is sort of constricted somewhat.
Flavour: F beautiful really - sweet & sour cherry vibes with a good measure of oaken vanilla and toast with funky butryic parmesan undertones, delightful really; C not as oaky, more almost Dr Pepper/almond/amaretto vibes going on, savoury, slightly foxy, Pinot Noir tannin going on there, long finish, very good also; L so much different from the other two....lots of structure, cherry pit for days, amaretto sour vibes, kinda abrasive, amazing beer but not the winner here.
So yeah, hard call between the Cantillon & 3F, but the 3F just wins this round - amazing balance, the oak in there is just devine must be a newer barrel? Great fun, keep safe peoples!

25/09/2020

Haven't done something like this for a while, but it's , so let's give it a go
Stockade - Old Money Vertical
Vintage 2017 vs 2018 vs 2019
2017 - 330ml bottle 12.5%
2018 - 330mL bottle 12.5%
2019 - 375mL bottle 13.5%
Appearance - all deep opaque black body, the 17 & 18 have a tan head, the 19 have a darker tan head that is bigger holds stronger.
Aroma - '17 lovely rich dark chocolate, vanilla, toast, honeycomb, bourbon oak; '18 much the same, more vanilla and toast and vanilla, more potent; '19 far different beast, dried fruits, raisins, amongst rich chocolate pudding and sticky date pudding.
Palate - '17 thick, rich, lingering, substantial; '18 much of the same, possibly more carbonation; '19 is bigger, slicker but boozier and substantial, lingering tannin.
Flavour - '17 chocolate, dark honeycomb, vanilla, rather sweet, hint of raisin; '18 sweeter, more caramel, more caramel, more honeycomb, wow; '19 oh wow more stewy dried fruits - big dried fig, sultana, fig, dark caramel, vanilla toast... big!
The '17 is a lovely beer, very easy subtle, the '18 is in same boat just a bit more intense - the '19 is a different beer, similar but BIG dark dried fruits , more booze, but still lovely! Good line up!

24/08/2020

Lagering away the Galaxy Smash IPL(India Pale Lager) - sitting around 9.5%, she's a fair bit stronger than expected. 2020 crop of Galaxy hop pellets really make their mark on this - lots of fresh type passionfruit, dank herbs, possibly candied banana (or is that an ester!?). Gonna chuck some more dry hops in, ready for bottling this weekend!

29/07/2020

Mugs - Aequinoctium
Belgian Strong Ale
Circa 2016 approx 8%abv
Couldn't find definitive stats on this, but i'll persevere...
The colour is fantastic...can't quite get a good pic of it, but it's this lovely crimson red colour with wonderful clarity on the first pour. Forms a billowing off-white head, but it doesn't really last.
Good measure of rich dark sugars/toffee on the nose, vinous red fruits to match its hue...dried cherry, raspberry, raisin...a touch of earthy spice, slight sort of honeyed aged notes are complimentary....
Lifted carbonation lends a smooth velvety character to a full body, any malt richness has mellowed leaving the palate reasonably smooth but with a dry finish.
Much of the same on the palate really - lots of that brown/red(?) toffee upfront, rather vinous, berry-like, hints of pepper and clove spice, touch of maybe even vanilla/butter/autolysis character on the finish, restrained finish.
Think this is really a typical "mid" aged Belgian dark strong ale/dubbel - where its lots the initial lively spicy character of a young beer have mellowed, malt shines yet secondary aged characters are only just cropping up....

12/07/2020

The shelf of Mead!
Finally finished bottling the last of this year's batch of harvest mead - straight local Woodside honey wine around the 12% mark. Locking it away for coming years...

23/06/2020

Playing around with label ideas...

23/05/2020

Mugs - Big Black C
Imperial Black IPA
330mL bottle 9.5%abv Circa like 2015 maybe?

Did a bit of a revamp of the cellar today - I have a fair bit of this; not sure why i'd be stockpiling something this bloody hoppy, or old, anyhow...

It's pitch black, opaque, good size tan head holds and paints lace.

Aroma has a good amount of oxidation about it - old hop notes of like burnt marmalade and savoury earthy spice... there's like a burnt brown sugar sort of note under there, hint of coffee malt too; gives promise...

Fair carbonation which has always been my main gripe about this beer, but it really lends a complimentary creaminess to it, full body, lots of structure - it's sort of syrupy and stodgy yet bitter and roasty....despite its age (whatever that might be), there's plenty of life!

The malt does a huge gear shift here - BOOM there it is - lots of dark chocolate, Milo, dark malt extract/toffee; seemingly sweet but just a tease until those hops punch like the drop of dubstep track - loads of pine/woody resin, cooked citrus and stonefruit and melon; scary how there's still clarity of hop despite the age...that malt really does hold with like an autolyic creamy yeast note that sort of mingles with the otherwise HUGE bitterness to make it rather palatable.

I think I come back to this beer every 6 months and find myself still impressed; but here at the facts - the malt bill of this beer is that of an imperial stout; most of the hops are during the boil; the hops used are mostly old school West Coast "C" varieties; original bitterness was around 90 IBU - this is not a "New World" style of (black) IPA - and I think that's why I can still go back to it after many years; it was brewed with balls, it will go the distance!

23/05/2020

Mugs - Bread & Biscuit Braggot
Honey Ale with bread & biscuits added to mash
330mL bottle 9.3%ABV bottled 9/10/17

Lovely rich copper gold body with dense creamy head.

Stacks of honey on the aroma; very biscuity, toasty, sort of a dried apricot/marmalade sort of note that's rather forward also

Full on the palate, lovely and thick, chewy, long palate that sort of slowly dries becoming vinous and dry with a sort of toasty astringency and booze but it really takes some time to get there...like i reckon you'd drink some beers before the finish on this one is done!

Upfront get a really nice buttered toast with honey sort of vibe - TICK; mission statement achieved - but there's a lot going on here; get that marmalade note which has its own sort of citrus rind bitterness, dried apricots again too, it's very bready/doughy, becoming spicy, rather aromatic too like concentrated gum blossom character somehow; rich upfront, dry finish, booze is getting better than when it was young; lingering bitterness still there!

A traditional ale in the best sense - not just a mead & ale hybrid, but a great use for a few old stale biscuits and pieces of bread - the latter really adds to the texture & complexity of this beer!

Mugs Brewery

18/04/2022

22/03/2022

24/10/2021

28/09/2020

25/09/2020

24/08/2020

29/07/2020

12/07/2020

23/06/2020

23/05/2020

23/05/2020

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