Hop dog ‘sticky figgy’ brown ale

Rating:

imageThis is an up and coming little micro-brewery from Nowra, on the South Coast of NSW. One that is certainly on our brewery visit list.

We served this in a shaker glass as the attractive deep mahogany pour whips up a dense tan head that swells to about a finger in height before recoiling quickly to a collar with minimal lacing. The aroma is dominated by nuts with rich roasted malts and earthy undertones of caramel, fig, spice, toffee and dark fruits. In the mouth it’s highly fizzy with intense carbonation which feels like a mouth full of bubbles. Medium bodied. Upfront an explosion of bubbles makes it very hard to swallow with an absolute belter of a burp following each sip. As the beer warms the carbonation does subside a little and a hint of chocolatey malt, caramel, earthy fig and subtle coffee notes finally show through. Even after we finished, we still thought the high carbonation didn’t do it any favours. The 5.8% ABV is hidden and doesn’t add any extra depth. The humble old brown ale is one of our most favourite styles but we think this one was way too over-carbonated for our liking. Whether it’s an issue with the temperature of fermentation or the heavy handed use of priming sugar is the question we’re asking. Brown ale’s shouldn’t be this fizzy.