BEER CLUB No.1

Between friends we've been brewing up the idea of having a Beer Club every once in a while - getting together to try new and unusual beers.

The Inaugural Beer Club took place out of the blue last week. As a precursor to larger Beer Club gatherings in future, it was a nice modest start, with a few ladies around on my balcony to test out the two ridiculous novelty ales i had come across.

The first was.............

NT DRAUGHT
Northern Territory, Australia

Dubbed "Australia's Biggest Beer", this m'fucker was seriously HUGE!
A present my Dad had brought back from Darwin for my 24th B'day, I'd forgotten it was sitting in the back of my pantry, waiting for the right occasion to come up to drink it. There was some debate as to whether the date printed on the box (03 April 2007) was the use by date or not, but we tried our luck anyhow.
It wasn't the most fantastic beer any of us had tried, and there was a comment made that "...it tastes kinda like what they'd serve as $1 pots at the Northern Territory's equivalent of The Tote!". No offense intended toward the beloved Tote, but more so to Geelong Bitter, the horrible beer we all used to neck as Dollar Pots on Tuesdays, back in the day. Frighteningly, I'm sure they fetch closer to two bucks nowadays.
Strangely enough, not unlike Geelong Bitter, Northern Territory Draught tasted MUCH better toward the end of the night (funny how that happens, aye?!). Clearly this beer was more about quantity than quality. Bulging out at 2 LITRES, let me give you an idea of how big the bastard was, with Brittany and I as a basis for comparison...



Second up was.............

BIÈRE DU BOUCANIER (Golden Ale)
East Flanders, Belgium


This beer was much preferred to the previous one. I picked it up at King & Godfree and the shop assistant claimed it was the strongest beer they stocked. At 11% Alcohol and 2.9 Standard Drinks, it was estimated that, although just a regular sized bottle, just two of these little puppies nearly equaled the strength of the whole gargantuan NT beer.
It was sweet, and fruity. A really nice beer, which came as a surprise, considering i thought i'd bought a tacky, novelty "Pirate Beer" that would taste revolting, like something you'd sooner scrub the decks with. But it's Belgian, after all, and i don't think I've ever had a BAD Belgian beer. Bière du Boucanier wont be sent to walk the plank - it gets the Beer Club tick of approval! Certainly not the beer to drink if you're thirsty, though... being so strong, it was only fit for minute little sips at a time. Be careful, Buccaneers... this bitch packs a punch!