Stories of a short, fat bastard.

Pours a slightly cloudy amber colour with a medium head. There is a small amount of carbonation visible.

First Sip: Mild, bready malt with a little citrus. Hops is medium-strength and fades away very quickly.

This is yet another nice brew from Moa. A little light on taste - it is a lager, after all - but still highly drinkable. I could easily smash down a 6-pack of this at a BBQ, or during a meat-smoking session, or even, since it's a brew from NZ, at a hungi. A yummy brew for a nice summer's day of cook-with-fire.

A yummy beer.

Moa Original Lager
Moa Brewing Company
5.0% alc/vol
330ml bottle



Same again, Sir? Yes!

Pours an opaque black with a tan head of fine bubbles, which fades away slowly. No carbonation visible.

First Sip: Thick, sweetish malts, with a mild black coffee flavour. Very mild hops which lingers for ages after the swallow. The mouth-feel is heavy, with a mild carbonation tingle on the tongue.

Okay. This one is going in my regular brews rotation. It's really yummy. Slightly fizzy and very tasty. A great one for cold winter evenings but a good one for all year. Best drunk cool, not cold - the flavours really come out.

Boatrocker Stout
Boatrocker Brewing Co
6.1% alc/vol
375ml can



Same AgYES!

Pours a slightly cloudy honey colour with a small head and not much carbonation visible.

First Sip: Mild, bready malt with a faint sweet citrus taste. Very mild hops which lingers for quite a long while. Medium mouth-feel with a nce carbonation tingle on the tongue.

This is supposed to be a pale but it's a bit light on ... well, everything. Don't get me wrong! This is a nice beer and is highly drinkable, and goes down easily. Even the beer burp is nice. I could easily go for a six pack at a bbq. Hmm... there's still some yeasty residue in the bottle. It could have been cloudier.


Pointers Pale Ale
Monteith's Brewing Co. New Zealand.
4.2% Alc/Vvol
330ml bottle



Same again, sir? Yes.

Pours a clear, dark red-brown colour. Very fine carbonation visible, with a medium head.

First Sip: A lot of malt, with a lot of coffee and a little dark chocolate flavours. A small amount of hops which lingers for a long time after the swallow. Mild carbonation tingle on the tongue, and a medium mouth-feel.

This is my second favourite ale after Black Horn, from my favourite brewery. Again, I'm not saying this simply because the brewery is just down the road from me. This is a very yummy ale and I'd never say "no" to it, unless the choice was between this and Black Horn. Even then, I'd have to ponder for a while to make up my mind. It is cool and refreshing and very tasty. Even the beer-burp in nice. And the ale is still tasty when it warms a little.

When I bought this 4-pack I get talking with Brendan, the brewer at Devil's Elbow. He invited me back to the off-limits Secret Brewer's Area, where we tasted some of the malt straight from the bag. It was crunchy and tasted of coffee and slightly burnt toast. Devil's Elbow is too small to have a malt-house, but Whoever does their malt does a great job. Then Brendan uses his Secret Brewer's Alchemy and MAGIC, and suddenly it's yummy yummy beer.

Nosey Bob Red Ale
Devil's Elbow Brewery, Dubbo
5.2% alc/vol
375ml can



Same again. sir? YES! Why do you even ask?

Pours a moderately cloudy, mid brown colour. No carbonation visible but a very large head (Pour fail!)

First Sip: moderately malty and a bit bready, with a little light citrus flavour. Mild hops which linger for quite some time. Nice carbonation tingle on the tongue. Medium mouth-feel.

So I had a major pour fail: the bottle fizzed when I opened it and I lost a bit of beer. I did an emergency pour into the glass, and filled it up with 99% head. It settled down and I could pour it properly, but I only got 4/5ths of the glass full.

This ale goes down very well. It's quite yummy, but a little too warming for a mid-Summer drink. But it *does* say "Autumn Ale" on the label, so no real complaints. I would love to try this one in cool weather but I didn't want to wait 6 months for that to happen.

Autumn Ale
Longstocking Brewery, Pambula, NSW
4.8% alc/vol
330ml bottle



Same again, sir? Yes!

Pours a clear, dark amber with a large head. Plenty of carbonation visible.

First sip: Lovely mid-strength malts with a slight fruity flavour. Very mild hops, with a very, very mild hoppy bitterness which lingers for a short while. Mild carbonation tingle on the tongue. Medium mouth-feel.

This is a tasty, yummy beer. Maybe it's because it's a hot day, or maybe it's because I don't enjoy being smashed on the mouth by a load of hops, but I am really enjoying drinking this. It's one for a Summer's BBQ, or even stilling in front of the fire after a Winter's day. Even the beer burp is nice.

This is a yummy beer.

Amber Ale
Longstocking Brewery, Pambula, NSW
4.8% alc/vol
330ml bottle



Same again. sir? Oh very yes please!

Pours a deep, opaque black. The head is large, tan, and made up of very fine foam. No carbonation visible.

First sip: Sweet, strong dark malts, with a little dark chocolate. Very mild hops which linger on the back of the tongue for ages. Fine carbonation tingle on the tongue. Very warming in the belly.

Ooh I do love this stout! Like many English beers, this one does taste better when allowed to warm a little in the glass. It does not need to be chilled to be enjoyable. It is very much a "cold winter nights in front of the fire" beer, but I would drink it any time. Oh hey look at the time! It's winter, almost night, it's a bit chilly, and I have a fire. Excellent.

Mudgee Mud Imperial Ale
Mudgee Brewing Co, Mudgee, NSW
8% alc/vol
750ml bottle (= 5 standard drinks)



Same again, sir? Oh so very yes!

Pours a deep, almost opaque red. Very little carbonation visible and a very small head.

First sip: Strong malt, with chocolate, coffee flavours up front. Very little hops - enough to put a very mild woody bitterness on the swallow. None of the flavours last long. Mild carbonation tingle on the tongue. Quite warming in the belly.

I know it sounds a little insipid, but this is a very drinkable beer. It goes down well, maybe a little too fast, and leaves you wanting another sip as soon as you finish the last. The dark maltiness wants me to linger over the brew, but I find myself halfway through the glass in no time at all. This is a yummy beer which leaves you warm in the belly.

Make that 2/3 of the way through the glass.



Dark Ale
Longstocking Brewery, Pambula, NSW
4.8% alc/vol
330ml bottle

Same again, sir? Yes please! (bugger. Finished this one already.)

The results of the MRI are in. It's not bursitis. I have a tear in the socket cartilage which runs from the 11 o'clock position to 1 o'clock - a SLAP tear - plus a little "subacromal subdeltoid bursal inflammation." I will have to spend a day at Royal North Shore for a short operation to fix this on a date to be determined.

I spent the day having my shoulder MRI'd.

Step 1: dye injection. I lay in front of the CT scanner so they could see where they needed to inject the dye because it had to go right into the joint. The nurse stuck a grid pattern on my back. Then, after some moving in and out of the scanner, she returned and put a tiny mark on my back. Then the doctor came in and explained what would happen.

He would give me a local, then he'd inject the dye,then he'd inject some saline. The local stung a little for a few seconds.

"You won't feel a thing, said the doctor lying to the patient," said the doctor, (actual words by doctor)
Oh?
"Actually, you'll feel a tinge. But first I have to make sure the needle is in the joint," he added.

So he stuck the needle in - I didn't feel anything - and he put a lead-lined hazmat apron so the nurses could move me back into the scanner and scan. Apparently he got it in.

"Good. Now I'll inject the dye. Tell me if you feel the tinge."
After a few seconds I felt the pain tingle in my shoulder. "Tinge!" I said.
"Good!"
"Good that it's going in the right place? Or good that it hurts?"
"Both!" he said happily.
I could really feel the dye going in now. "Tinge! Tinge! Tingetingetingetinge!"
"Hmm... you really shouldn't feel that." After a few seconds he said "All done! Now I'll inject some saline. It'll feel like someone is pushing a tennis ball into your back.

He was right - it did!

Step 2: MRI. I had to put in some high-density foam earplugs and head phones, then lie on the table and relax completely and stay still while the techs pack foam pieces around me so that I wouldn't move. My shoulder was clamped in a shoulder... clamping... thingy. A panic button was given to me to squeeze if I panicked. Because nothing metal could be in the scanner, the panic button was an air bulb connected to a tube that lead to a sensor outside the room. Music was piped to the headphones the same way. And then into the narrow tunnel for the MRI. The music in the headphones was barely audible over the noise of the MRI. I closed my eyes and spent 20 minutes trying to stay absolutely still. It's very difficult, even clamped in foam and shoved into a long tube.

And then it was over. In the end I was given a DVDR of the scans, and went home.

Medicare covered it all because it wasn't for workplace injury insurance. Which was nice.