Brewed since 1998, Surefoot’s dark, roasted malts dominate the pal;ate, while the finish is full, smooth and subtly sweet. It’s surefooted as a mountain goat .”
From now on it’s going to be quite hard for us not to see Mountain Goat as a sell out to a big corporate brewery. On the other hand though, we can’t ignore the fact that these guys are one of the original true craft brewers to come out of Australia. From 1997 until now they have been at the forefront of Australian craft beer and that in itself demands respect, and respect is what these brewers have from us. OK let’s crack on. Served from a can into a snifter glass. The obsidian appearance reveals an edge of deep crimson when held to the light. A frothy two finger head is generated but it rapidly shrinks down to a thick halo with a healthy amount of lace trailing it. The nose is nice and malty. Plenty of chocolate and cocoa with just the faintest touch of coffee. A sturdy backbone of roasted grains also offers up a hint of corn flakes, brown sugar and fresh crusty bread. Nothing life changing just proficient brewing on show. In the mouth it’s creamy and quite well bodied. The 5% ABV is, to put it in to cricket terms, batting above its average. In other words it’s doing extremely well to possess so much body for such a mild percentage. A delicious explosion of roasted malts, dark chocolate and mild bitter hops are introduced to the palate. A pleasant malt sweetness bridges the mid and in turn delivers a slightly dry and roasty finish. Good legs on it too. This has been one of those surprise beers. Upon cracking it we weren’t expecting a whole lot but it has surely come through. It’s nothing aggressive, quite the opposite actually. It’s almost a session stout. Not a bad drop at all