“In mid-October, our friends, our friends from Sauce Brewing came down to Melbourne from Marickville to put something fun into tank. The Photosphere is the visible surface of the sun – a thick layer of gas with constant fiery eruptions. We felt the best way to celebrate the warm weather was to brew a thick, hazy DIPA with a huge hit of tangerine, passionfruit & citrus. Think tropical. Think lounging on the beach with friends. Think Photosphere.”
Glassware: IPA
Appearance: Cloudy mustard yellow with a rocky two finger cap. The head slowly reduced to a collar with thick and blotchy lace clinging to the walls of the glass.
Aroma: A fair amount of sweet fruit sugars, nectar, frosty fruit and juice concentrate. Quite dank and resinous…also picking up a hint of coconut which is the main attribute of this new and uber popular Sabro hop. Dank herbs, tangerine, guava, pineapple, mango and melon all getting a good look in as well. Plenty on offer.
Flavour: Sweet and sticky fruit sugars, frosty fruit, pineapple, mango and sweet orange citrus i.e orange, tangerine. A little flutter of coconut around the edges. Bitter citrus kicks up late in the mid…emphasized by a bit of stinging booze which reaches in to the dry and pithy finish. Incredible length on it too.
Mouthfeel: Super smooth and creamy initially but it turns prickly and slightly sharp in the swallow. Quite a hefty burn (8.5% ABV). Medium-full body. Nicely carbonated.
Overall: When we saw that two of Australia’s hottest hazy brewers had teamed up we almost wet ourselves. The end product was a slight let down though. Too boozy and prickly for the style. The search for a contender for Trubble continues.