Wednesday - August 27th - Adelaide, Australia

Ashlee and I moved on in our vacation today to the state of South Australia and the city of Adelaide. While walking around Adelaide we stopped at the Austral Hotel/Pub and I had my first draught of Cooper's Dark Ale which is brewed here in the area. Excellent taste and body. Drank it with an order of Australian "wedges" which are thick-cut steak fries served with a chili and sour cream dipping sauce. Yummy.

Later that afternoon down at the beach area of Glenelg I had a Cooper's Pale Ale draught at the Jetty Hotel/Bar and it was pretty good. Probably the best Pale Ale I have had in Australia so far. That evening I almost hit for the "Cooper Cycle" ( didn't get the chance to try the Mild Ale) having a bottle of Sparkling Ale. This one was different and I actually really liked it despite being skeptical. Thanks to my wife's long hours of work on the road in Memphis and Little Rock, Arkansas, for getting us enough Hilton points to get access to the Executive Lounge at the Adelaide Hilton where I was able to have a complimentary Sparkling Ale since it was the only choice other than a nasty Hahn Lager...yeeech.

Tuesday, August 27th - Blue Mountains, Australia

Just a quick entry to say that I had a James Squire Amber Ale draught today at a little historic hotel bar in The Blue Mountains outside Sydney. It was recommended by our tour driver and James Squire was an original convict sent to Australia who became a beer brewer and entrepreneur. This was the same beer that I had chosen in a bottle the night before. As predicted, it was even better on tap.

Monday - August 25th, 2008 - Hunter Valley & Sydney, Australia

Bluetongue Microbrewery - Hunter Valley Area - tried a sample "paddle" of their 5 beers. Preferred the Black Ale and got a free half-pint of it for purchasing the paddle. Traded my Premium Light sample to Mel, a gal from New Zealand, for her sample of Black Ale .... good trade, lightweight! Also had samples of their Alcholic Ginger Beer (uhh, no thanks, but my wife, Ashlee, liked it enough after one taste to buy a glass, but she was half in the bag from wine tasting all morning!), their Traditional Pilsner (a traditional snore to me) and their Premium Lager (not bad). Bought a nice T-shirt although it doesn't say that it's made in Australia on it.

Bought a bottle of Toohey's at another winery in the Hunter Valley area. Mel and the other two Kiwi gals seemed to like it so I thought I would try it mark it off my list. It's a common popular brand here and it was an OK lager. Better than Foster's. Nice website and I do like their slogan, "For the Love of Beer."

http://www.tooheysnew.com.au/history.html

Visited my favorite little wine/beer store at Wharf # 3 again when we got back to Sydney and finished the evening with a bottle of Cascade Pale Ale (not bad - needs a few more hops) and a very nice James Squire Amber Ale. Both of these brews are Australian.

Beer # 1....yeah, right...make that Blogged Beer # 1 - Sydney, Australia

Little Creatures Pale Ale -

Pint Bottle bought at a liquor store on Sydney Harbor. Not a bad pale ale but not as good as some of the IPA's I have had recently, but it sure beats the multitude of pilsners and lagers available here in Australia including the one I have had two of so far, one on the plane on the way over here and one at lunch because it was my best choice, Victoria Bitter. Drinkable, but that's about it.