The plan
It was simple enough – take two interesting beers to the beach, taste them, compare them, BrewRank the beers and video it. Oh yeah, we also needed to pick a winner.
The setting
We had post card perfect day and beach side location. Brighton beach (in Sussex, UK) on a sunny, clear and very warm day (temperature was around 25C/78F)… If it weren’t for the pier and the shingles (should really call them rocks) on the beach we could have even been in the actual South Pacific. It was a Monday or maybe a Tuesday. The beach was pretty empty. Although there was a guy paddling his surf board and a few tasty bikinis around, but that’s not important. What matters is the beer.
We had chosen well. It was the Epic Pale Ale vs. the Kipling South Pacific Pale Ale. This seemed to a fitting pairing. Two unique beers. One brewed in New Zealand with lots of hops (Cascade? – I am sure we could find out on the excellent Epic website but we’re lazy) and the other brewed in the UK using Kiwi Hops and by a Kiwi-Italian brewing duo… Crazy. Had to be good.
Tasting Notes (abridged)
Ummm, need to re-watch the original video… [UPDATE to follow]
The Video (Beastie Boys mix): Filmed on Brighton beach in Sussex. This is the 1st in a possible series of beer taste-offs planned. Two great craft beers with lots of hops and unique tast – one from the UK and one from New Zealand but with crossed paths in the global world of craft beer. Backing track is Beastie Boys / Now Get Busy from the Wired CD (Creative Commons license). Enjoy!
The Winner
Epic won by just a tad. More bold. Epic scored 16 and Kipling scored 15.5 (out of 20). Both BeerVikings agreed on scoring and the winner (this time).
Verdict on the Flip Mino?
Well, the Flip is easy to use. Not sure about the camera work and the sound. Need to skill up on doing videos and editing software. Fun. Easy. This is just the beginning of Beer Viking TV.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Bought one yesterday here in Auckland and was expecting Epic Pale Ale to be awesome but think I got a bad one. Very hoppy (nice) but the citrusy coriander notes were dominated by sweaty musty socks which made every sip something I needed to psych up for. In light of it winning NZs best beer in 2006 though, I think it was just the batch (BB 05.05.10, B 379 10.49 it says on the bottle).
July 10th, 2009 at 8:08 am
@anonkiwi Thanks for the comment.
Doesn’t sound familiar to the couple of times we’ve been lucky enough to try Epic in the UK.
As you’re in New Zealand and have ready access to obtaining another bottle or two, I’d say that’s probably your way forward.