Cloudy brown with a massive head that lasted moderately. Had a very sugary aroma, but was also sort of sour on tasting. There were some cherry notes in there, but it was a bit restrained. A slight level of bitterness, but overall it was a little vacant.

Bottle. A sugary sweetness is present throughout, with some caramel and toffee notes coming through. There is also light sweet cherry note in there aswell, but very subtle. Fizzy mouthfeel, and an almost empty finish. I didn’t think there was enough fruit in this for a fruit beer.

Bottle (<i>Sydney Summer Gathering 2007</i>): Well, looking at the ratings for this one it seems as though I just didn’t get it on the day. The contortions required to extract the cork were indicative of the troubles I had in articulating the sensory experience to come. A mighty head crowned the hazy wood-brown to amber liquid, and promised a great deal. However, the nose was rather weak, only showing some orange notes and mild yeastiness. In the mouth sweet toffees and bananas were dominant, though in a way quite different to the usual Belgian chanracter. I also picked up some pleasant quince notes. Yet, ultimately I found this lacklustre and dissapointing.

If you think a beer brewed with Redback yeast and Dogbolter primings sounds like a queer fish, you’d be right. And yet somehow this Matilda Bay special edition has turned out rather well. A "magnificent muddle", according to the hieroglyphs in my beer-stained notebook. The wax-capped champagne cork was a bugger to lever loose, eventually revealing a cloudy brown brew with an impressive lasting head. The aroma offered a clue to what lay ahead, mixing coffee notes with sour lambic fruitiness. It perhaps smelled a little stale at this stage in its life, but not irrevocably so. Overall, odd but interesting. The mouthfeel was a minor negative - a big mouth-filling Cremola Foam surge of bubbles. Tasted as odd as it smelled - toffee, dried fruit and sour lambic notes. Unconventional brewing in the best possible sense. Pity this isn’t generally available as I’d love to revisit. (Corked bottle courtesy of Linc - thanks, buddy. Sydney RateBeer Jan 07 gathering)

Rich deep colour, fruity, malty aroma, some hint of christmas cake- dark dried fruit. Quite soft on the palate, with the flavours quite muted, sweet and moderately malty.