“Founded in the beautiful and vibrant rural town of Orange, Badlands Brewery has emerged as an energetic young player in the Australian brewing scene.”
Not only is Orange known for it’s world class wines, we can now add a burgeoning craft beer brewery to the area as well. Served in a shaker glass the cloudy straw-golden pour manages to construct a 1 finger head which reduces quite quickly and eventually settles to a fine layer on tap. Laced poorly. As this pale ale is inspired by the English style the aroma has swapped the usual fruit-forward hops for the more biscuity and earthy Goldings hops offering up delicate wafts of cereal grains, corn, malty sweet, peach and mild citrus. Very lagery. In the mouth it’s a little thin with mild-moderate carbonation. Very light on, making this a perfect summer session beer. But, the problem that usually ensues with this is that flavour usually takes a back seat, and unfortunately this is the case here. Upfront there is a slight malty sweetness that is coming off a little metallic and chemically. This off-putting combo is hard to get over but a slight hint of earthy hops and bready malts through the mid are followed by a crisp, slightly herbal finish. Average length. 4.6% ABV is on the lower end of the scale but most English ales are, so we guess it is true to style. We just thought it’s a little one dimensional and seriously under-hopped. Not a memorable one but it would be easy to smash a dozen of these on a warm afternoon. That’s about it.