Category Archives: Flavour of the Month

Green flash ‘road warrior’ rye DIPA

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image“Our Imperial Rye IPA is brewed in the name of our Road Warriors—the sales team who tirelessly hit the streets, traveling from town to town and pub to pub sharing the Green Flash experience. Road Warrior™ charges full flavor forward. Columbus and Mosaic hops, rich crystal and spicy rye malts pave the way for Mosaic and Amarillo dry-hopping to boldly shine through in the finish. Raise a glass to those who never settle!”

From this impressive us brewery comes this imperial rye IPA, using Columbus and mosaic hops, spicy rye, and then dry hopped Amarillo and mosaic. Pours a 1-2cm head which retains beautifully, but even more impressive is the rich ruby red/Amber hues in the shaker glass. There is good carbonation bubbling up. First whiff elicits booze, mixed with herbaceous resinous hops and caramel. Notes of pine also. There is a solid beer emerging here as we drink as its full bodied, there is a warmth from the alcohol content (9.0%) but it’s well contained by the spiciness or pepper like hit from the the rye and the caramel malt. This beer has an IBU of 80 but it’s so damn smooth you can’t really tell. Mouthfeel is full and almost chewy but this is an imperial so we expected this. More subtle flavours of grapefruit, rye bread, caramel, and a booze backbone. Virtually no lacing on the glass. We are noticing that all the great DIPA’s have this unbelievably smooth and contained bitterness with hidden booze burn and this beer sits in that category. It’s a brilliantly brewed beer and another feather in the cap for green flash.

Clown shoes ‘Muffin top’ Belgian-style Tripel IPA

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imageOnce again the boys at Clown Shoes return with a really crafty looking brew. We also have to commend on their ever-impressive artwork on the label.

Served in an IPA glass the almost clear copper/amber pour arouses a huge 3 finger crown that slowly simmers down. Excellent head retention allowing tonnes of thick, soapy lacing to be strewn down the glass. There are some truly amazing aromas emanating here, our first thoughts are sweet, sugary, spicy and caramelised. Quite complex actually. This hybrid style IPA has all the lush tropical fruits on offer like passion fruit, pineapple, lychee and tangerine but what is most impressive is the way the Tripel-like sugary sweetness cuts through but never overpowers. Hints of candied fruits, musk, fairy floss, spice, caramel, alcohol and raisin are an absolute delight to take in. Mind blowing! OK, now we’ve come down off the aroma we proceed to the mouth feel which is quite dry and sharp. Carbonation is mild while the body is medium-full. The taste is sparked by an astringent alcohol burn (10.5% ABV) which is accelerated by hints of cedar wood but soothed by subtle banana and candy through the mid. Bitter citrus fruits carry forward and deliver an even more bitter finish which lingers for an eternity on the back palate. Excellent duration. Wow, the head is absolutely buzzing. Well we have had hybrids that impress but this is just phenomenal, the way the brewers have balanced these two styles together reflects their true prowess and passion of craft beer. We feel blessed to have drunk this beer, absolutely top shelf stuff. Big ups.

La sirène Belgian Praline ale

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image“A very special Belgian chocolate ale. Building on a Belgian stout base, it is brewed with organic vanilla pods, cacao nibs from Mexico and hazelnuts and with a creamy body, it is velvety, dark and seductive. Can you stop at one?”

This little beauty won the gold medal at the 2014 GABS festival in Melbourne. We’ve had this before and it is an absolute cracker of a beer. Served in a tulip glass the mat black pour whipped up a huge 3 finger tan cap. Good head retention which omits some random webby lacing as we imbibe. Well, if you wanted an essay we could go on and on about the aroma but the dominant wafts include roasted chocolate and crystal malts, cocoa, vanilla, hazelnut, molasses, treacle, toffee, cream, nutmeg and leather. In the mouth it’s as smooth as silk with a dense, creamy texture from the lactose injected into it. Mild carbonation with full body. Upfront a mild bitterness is balanced out by the malty cocoa, chocolate, and Belgian yeast. A sharp sweetness with hints of spice in the mid-palate are finished off by a creamy chocolate finish. Feels like an eternity this beer as it sits on the tongue, displaying brilliant length. For 6.% ABV it’s such a smooth drop. This is a great beer, we downed plenty of these at the GABS and also at the local tap house in Sydney, so we can say from experience this is so much better straight off the tap. If you find, please buy asap, it’s rare as hens teeth. Two words…..absolutely brilliant.

8 wired brewing 2011 barrel aged smoked imperial porter

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imageWell, another addition to one of our favourite NZ craft breweries. The gist of this drop goes like this..Manuka smoked porter, refermented with farmhouse yeast and aged in American oak barrels for 18 months. The 11% alc vol is going to put hairs on our chest we think!

The aroma is intense. Sourness, funky yeast, red wine oak. Reminds us of a vintage red aroma. Poured into a tulip glass, a mat black colour hits us. There is minimal head here. Then the taste..smoked malt, that peaty like flavour dominates. So different to the initial olfactory onslaught, which is a tad saison like. Bitterness definately at the end of the palate. Full bodied, rich mouthfeel here as expected. Thrown into the mix is mild cocao somewhere in the background. Very oily also on the lips. Absolutely no lacing on the glass. Definate booze burn here but the smoked malt covers a lot of it. We have had plenty of imperials, and this little baby is right up there in terms of complexity. For a porter, we think ” fair enough”. So much going on in there…sweet, sour, salt. It’s a real testament to this world class brewery. Impressive.

Moon dog ‘Cold drip war’ coffee and chicory porter

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imageWe honestly think this brewery would have to be one of the best in Australia. There aren’t many that can continually produce this level of experimental craft brewing as these guys do. Hats off to them.

Served in a beer tulip the opaque black pour produced a tight 1 inch tan head with good retention. Laced well. The aroma features the coffee really well though chicory is somewhat new to us. We know it’s a type of flower and we can pick up a really sweet and slightly spicy aroma very similar to rye. There are also solid wafts of liquorice as well so it could be either of these 2 but to an untrained nose we can’t be sure. Undertones of ripe cherries, milk chocolate, herbs and cocoa are absolutely delicious and adds backbone to the overall aroma. In the mouth it’s creamy and highly carbonated for a porter. Upfront an assortment of lovely flavours meet the taste buds. Coffee, chocolate, rye and subtle spice lay a tasty platform for an earthy, malty mid-palate. The finish is just as exciting with coffee, tart berries and a mild bitterness with excellent length. 6.4 % ABV is really well buried among the list of lovely flavours here. This is a well balanced, world class porter here. Absolutely delicious. Big ups to the boys from Melbourne, keep it up.

Stone brewing ‘Self righteous’ Black IPA

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image“First brewed in 2007 as Stone 11th Anniversary Ale, this beer was an instant hit. With us. Other folks with great taste loved it too, but we were focused on how much we liked it, and we felt it was truly sublime. That euphoria didnt last long though, as it was soon replaced with the grim reality that when we sold out of it there wouldnt be any more. For Us. And that was simply unacceptable. So, we are now blessing ourselves, and you the enlightened, with this beer on a full time basis.. Thusly, you may now revel in your own self righteousness as you see fit with this glorious example of ours. You are genuinely welcome, as it is our pleasure.”

Here we have another top shelf brewery to come out of America’s craft beer pioneering west coast. Served in an IPA glass the mat black appearance is capped off by a one and a half finger tan head with good retention. Thick, webbed lacing is strewn all the way down the glass. The first thing we love about the aroma is the perfect balance between the bitter hops and the dark, roasted malts working in complete harmony. The second is the sheer complexity, this aroma boasts everything from fruity grapefruit, floral pine, chewy caramel, roasted coffee and chocolate. Not to mention the woody oak and creamy hints of vanilla. This aroma encompasses all ranges of the spectrum. Absolutely brilliant. Mouthfeel is dry with medium carbonation. Full bodied with an IBU rating of 90 that really dominates hard upfront. Lashings of grapefruit and spruce adds extra bitterness to the initial flavour as well. The mid-palate reflects a solid tussle between hoppy bitterness and roasted coffee and finishes with neither winning, again showing brilliant balance. A long drawn out back end displays good length. 8.7% ABV is very well hidden in this quality BIPA. True brewing prowess on show here. Impressive stuff.

Riverside brewing co. ‘777’ Imperial IPA

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imageHere he is, the stronger, meaner, bigger brother of the 77 IPA. We first tried this on tap at the local brewhouse in Darlinghurst, Sydney and were blown away at the quality and flavour of this beer.

Served in an IPA glass the slightly hazy and gorgeous copper orange pour whips up a rocky 2 finger head with good retention. Laced really well. The first thing this beauty offers is a big, rich hoppy aroma with plenty of malt backing. Lychee, passion fruit, sticky pine resins, spice, alcohol, caramel, pepper and a faint hint of cedar wood. Brilliant, absolutely superb aroma. In the mouth it’s dry and acrid with medium carbonation. Full bodied. From the top a faint hint of peat gets things underway while sweet, sticky notes of caramel sit really tight with the slightly bitter hints of grapefruit and lemon. The lightly toasted mid-palate also takes on a salty and astringent booze burn from the high ABV (9.2%). Very dry, saliva sapping finish is accentuated by lingering hints of grapefruit and orange peel that move in on the palate and refuse to leave. Incredible length on offer here. Just a world class IPA, from the pour to the finish and everything in between. Big ups to the riverside boys, absolute pearler.

Emelisse crème brulee stout

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imageBefore we start this review we have to give a big shout out to Ian from the oak barrel in Sydney city for reluctantly selling us one of his last remaining bottles of this rare Dutch stout.

Served in a beer tulip the opaque black pour produced a brown 1/4 inch head that slowly collapsed to a ring of foam around the inner edge of the glass. From the first sniff of this beer there is only one word. Wow!! If we were blindfolded you could excuse us for thinking there was a delicious dessert in front of us. Basically the aroma is sweet, creamy, rich and caramelised. Intricately, we pick up butterscotch, caramel, toffee, treacle, cocoa, vanilla, nougat, brown sugar, lactose and cream. Just mind blowing. In the mouth the texture was silky smooth with mild carbonation. Full bodied. The palate is initially met with vanilla, booze and caramel. This delicious trio carries on through the mid-palate while a hint of creamy lactose and additional flavours of treacle and burnt sugar are picked up. The finish is literally all of the previous flavours combined with an emphasised roastiness with exceptional length. The 8% ABV is buried somewhere among the arsenal of rich, gorgeous flavours that it’s just a sideshow in this amazing stout. We’re not even going to try to put this into words, it is that good. If you see this beer on the shelves do yourself a favour and grab it right now. Phenomenal.

Holgate brewhouse ‘Empress’ imperial mocha porter

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imageFrom this ever trustworthy Victorian brewery comes this gorgeous looking mocha porter. Namely the “bigger sister to our temptress chocolate porter”. So any die hard craft beer lover would know what they just stacked this beer up next to.

Served in a tulip glass the jet black pour produced a luscious 2 fingers of brown head that retains and laced well, leaving consistent rings of soapy residue on it’s way down. The aroma does put a lovely emphasis on the mocha and the subtle candy-like sweetness in the background balances out the rich English malts. Hints of coffee beans, creamy vanilla and licorice gives excellent depth on the nose. With a creamy mouthfeel and mild carbonation comes a full bodied palate with an intense roasty flavour. Upfront is the gorgeous roasted coffee we were hoping for. Coupling that are hints of malty chocolate and a subtle booze astringency. A rich and malty mid-palate delivers a roasted espresso finish with hints of chocolate and booze. Great length. The 10% ABV is surprisingly buried amongst the brilliant array of rich and complex flavours. Wow, all we can say is this has definitely lived up to it’s name. As the brewers state on the bottle this is the “bigger sister” of a beer that we gave a 9/10 and they are bang on target with that description. Top notch and a definite recommendation from us. Exceptional beer.