Dont think this would last too long on that voyage to india. Strangely the ipa is the sweetest and least bitter of the lot, though perhaps this has more to do with the yeast and malt used. Overripe rockmelon and caramel smell, no hops. Sweet caramel-butterscotch flavour, dried out with alcohol rather than hops. Slightly earthy low bitterness surfaces late. Also tried an oaked version of this which tasted like you might expect, ie had to tip it in the potplant.

Malt hop aroma with fruit cherry. Clear red colour with poor head and lacing. Sweet malt hop flavour with stone fruit. Flat palate.

Recently visited Goolwa and thought I’d give the Steam Exchange Brewery a go. I just bought a mixed pack of their beers. This beer I found to be fairly nice, it was easy drinking without being too light in taste.

ooh er, what’s that smell. I’ll tell you what it is, it’s wort. It’s the bloody smell of poorly boiled wort. DMS, grainy malt. Yes, someone has chucked a handful of hops in there but it’s not enough to provide a distinct hop character, nor is there enough bitterness. Looking at other ratings, I guess there is some time to go before these guys get their consistency happening, but they’re in there with a chance.

After tasting the steam ale, I opened this one with some trepidation, but I was pleasantly surprised. The aroma was predictably quite hop driven, even though there is no mention of any American hops on the label. The mouthfeel was quite unexpected and big and malty, almost chewy. Get the impression there might be some chocolate malt in there. I’m assuming it is bottle conditioned due to the haze in the glass and the tightly packed foam head, which unfortunately didn’t last too long. All in all, a pleasant experience, my wife also liked the malty aftertaste. If anything, too much malt for the amount of bitterness, especially in an IPA.