Houble Dazy

England 241 for 4

v New Zealand

Close on Day One

Thursday 21 November 2019

1st Test

Played at Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui

Different New Zealand Ticks = 85

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What a find that was. The Rising Tide Brewhouse in Mt Maunganui. It's basically Mount Brewing Brewery, with an attached Tap House. Odd location. In a "small industry" estate. Fella I was sat next to at the cricket said it used to be a rough old, never more than three blokes in pub round the corner from the construction company he worked for. Sounds about right. Anyway. That. Was. Then.

Tonight, it was busy busy. With, and I kid you not, a painting class going on in part of the Brewery. Superb push ahead business model. But, for the Carrier Bag Firm, it was the no fucking point counting number of keg Taps on offer. I've done the audit on Untappd. FIFTEEN of their own on. THIRTEEN Guests. Belting.

Mount Brewing Co, Blowhole Pale Ale on keg at 4.5%.

Nice beer. Tasted all the better as we'd had a hectic transit day getting from Auckland to Mt Maunganui. It was simple & sessionable. It was actually a bit of malt hit which kept it alive.

Mount Brewing Co, Sea Beast IPA on keg at 6%.

Some resinous bitter gets there. A lot of power. But, just a bit misplaced. Needs some sugar to make it all work better. The ABV works well though.

Those two pushed my New Zealand Beer Ticks to 85. Although, I had 71 before this trip. The best one I've had so far was a superb….

Brothers Beer, Houble Dazy, New England IPA on keg at 8.2%.

That one, officially, got the lot going on. The smell is apricot. The Hop bitterness kicks in early. Stays late. Great mouthfeel. Simple sugar allows the Hops to flourish.

On balance, 241 for 4, is probably not all that bad. But, I can't help think, it could have been better for England. The general feeling was that they'd put the yards in, gutsed it out. But, then didn't really cash in. Burns - over 3 hours. Sibley - an hour and half. Denley - 4 hours. But, no absolute big 'un. When the NZers took the New Ball, England were 198 for 3, 10 overs for the Day. I proclaimed. 200 for 3 would suit me at Close. Lasted ten balls. Denley gone for 74 at 203. So, it's set up well. Stevens are Even.

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