Breweries "Visited"

Thursday, December 20, 2012

PANIC!

Day #376 HopWired / 8 Wired Brewing Company, Blenheim, New Zealand
Previously from this brewery: N/A; new brewery

Unless you've been living under a rock, you're by now well aware the world is ending tomorrow.  If you were living under a rock, great job in resurfacing just in time to die tomorrow!  Sorry I can't nail down a specific time things are going to head south tomorrow, but maybe it's better if the end of the world just sneaks up on you.  I guess people will always try to predict the end of days - eventually, someone is going to be right.  All kidding aside, this talk of the Mayans and their lack of desire to keep printing calendar pages 1,000 years in the future does raise the question: what would you do if you knew today was the last day ever?  Personally, I'd gather up my friends and throw the biggest, wildest, craziest, most out of control tailgate of all time.  If possible, I'd try to coordinate this in State College, PA, as that's the town that's always felt most like home to me, despite only living there four years.  Should things get crazy tomorrow... call me.  I'll have the beers cold and the grill hot.

To get ready for the big day tomorrow, I'm reviewing HayWired, an IPA from 8 Wired Brewing Company in New Zealand.  This one was on draft at TJ's, where they continue to roll out new breweries even though they no longer are required to (by me, anyway).  In the glass, this beer is an apricot color, with a lingering white head.  There's a floral, grapefruit aroma, and the taste has notes of grass, green pepper (or is that green apple?  It's definitely green), pine, and citrus, with a mild bitter finish.  This is a very interesting, not like many other IPAs.  Well worth a sample if you find this one on draft or in a bottle shop near you.
G'Day! Or, whatever the catch
phrase greeting from New Zealand might be.

Curious brewery name, right?  True.  The name comes from No. 8 gauge wire, which is commonly used in New Zealand for electric fencing and serves as a symbol of the ingenuity and resourcefulness prevalent in their culture.  Now you know.

Thing to Think About Today:
Hey, if the Mayans are right and it all goes to shit tomorrow, I want you all to know it's been fun.  Glad you guys have been along for the ride.  And if the Mayans are wrong?  Man, I got some catching up at work to do.  We close with the obligatory song for the end of days, R.E.M. singing It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).  Good luck on the other side, friends.



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