Macs Golden Bay Bitter

Brewed by Macs Brewery
Style: Bitter
Wellington, New Zealand

Hazy orange colour with thin creamy white head. Mild hop aroma. Big hop flavour, hint of orange and lemons. Dry finish. not too bad but may have been served too cold.

Aroma: sweet orange and apricot with a slight spciness, a floral whiff comes through - jasmine. Very clean - no yeast character on the nose.
Flavour: A juicy sweet malt character dominates right through the palate, a citrus hop up front that dissipates quickly. I know this is meant to have a new (yet to be named) hop in it but it tastes like a Golding, maybe lacking some earthy tones - orange, marmalade with a slight floral note.
Mouth feel:medium body and carbonation but served teeth chatteringly cold for something called ale.
Overall - a little dissapointling. It promised much on the nose but didn’t quite carry it the way through. This beer will not offend anyone but the teacher’s grade does says "must try harder"... i found it a little one dimensional and would appreciate another flavour aspect - perhaps yeast fruitiness or another hop characteristic to balance it out in the flavour (maybe some earthiness).

Tasted 08/03/2007. From tap at the Mac’s Brewery Bar, Wellington. Pours a deep gold, bright, with a white airy head that persists and laces strongly. Deep sappy resinous note on the nose, very much like a bag of hop pellets, with hints of grass and both autumn and tropical fruit. A big burst of caramalt bready notes on entry, more of that hop resin and fruit - quite citrusy in the middle - and a light grainy finish. Hop flavour remind me of the Brewjolais - almost as though fresh hops have been used. Pretty short. Clean on the palate, just a touch of hop resin. Nice low-med carbonation. Not quite as polished as the best commercial craft beers. served very cold. I’m not sure if it gets better or worse as it warms up...

On tap at Newmarket Macs bar. Served at 5.76 degrees...!!! Mid yellow/gold in colour, thin filmy head. Stonefruit nose with definate apricot / nectarine. Dusty & dryish up front, some hop bitterness with moderate malt tones but reasonably short. Drinkable.