Rule #4 - Always give a brewery another chance. Also I am a better beer/cider critic than you.

Firstly, I've been following HeraldSunFood on Twitter. The chick editor is going on and on and on about how devastating it is that Artisan Cider is no longer being made. Artisan Cider = Mercury. God there are some fucking horrible food/drink critics out there. For someone with supposed "taste" to be devastated over one of the most shocking products ever made (by Fosters may I add and therefore one of the worst breweries of all time) is a friggin' joke. Someone needs to be fired asap.

/rant

Now... Breweries are like bands. They'll have some amazing stuff, absolutely brilliant, nailed perfectly, and then have a bunch of mediocre, bland crap scattered around the goodness. Like if someone told me to listen to a Bob Dylan record and I'd never done so, and then listened to one of the last five instead of one of his first five, I'd think he was pretty friggin average as opposed to a flat out genius. In beer terms, this has happened to me twice over the last week.

Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissbier (GER) - The Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier is the commonly known Weihenstephan product and I believe is the one that most folk go on about. You know what, it was so underwhelming when I tried it a couple of months ago that I dismissed Weihenstephan's entire product line. But really it wasn't Weihenstephan's fault - it was all those folks that had built the Hefe up to be something so much more than it actually is. The Kristall on the other hand is a freakin' marvelous wheat beer. Like the Hoegaarden Grand Cru but 10% less sweet. So rich, so delicious. God damn I love my wheat beers.

La Trappe Tripel (Netherlands) - The fifth of seven trappists I've tried, the only one created outside of Belgium, and a god damn delight. I wouldn't put it above the Rochefort or Chimay but I wouldn't expect the Netherlands to beat the Belgians when it comes to beer, particulaly trappists, anyway. BUT - as is the theme of this blog, while the Tripel is an absolute joy on the palette, there is absolutely nothing to the La Trappe Blond - it is a waste of space. Though while I blame everyone else for my Weihenstephan disapproval up to now, this one is probably my own fault. If you're going to drink a Trappist, you need to drink the strongest - they're all about the indulgence. Blonds really are just half arsed trappists when it comes down to it.

And for those needing a bit of schooling on the Blond, Dubbel, Tripel etc terms, they just refer to the alcoholic content, and in the exact order you think. Blond the weakest, Tripel the strongest.

Another blog tomorrow - I need to cover the last round of purchases. Oh and the 3 Ravens White (VIC) was disappointing sadly. Like they had a deadline for when the product had to be ready, got a third of the way there, and then got it out to the public. It is a third of what a good wheat beer should be. Promising start, and then falls flat. At least every other 3 Ravens product I've tried so far has been great, I can forgive them for one indiscretion.