Made by Barossa Valley Brewing, this is a tricky one... First of all i don't like the idea of using the words organic in the title of the beer. 'Organic' is very fashionable (it is also a great way to make anything from the earth, however i think it should be a little more subtle). Anyway, cynicism aside...
This is a rich, light amber beer. Beautiful texture and a fine, creamy head. Its full of fruit, apricot and hints of pineapple but they are soft and you still get the sense that this is a strong, tough beer. The sweet fruit hits the pallet straight of the bat and sends a rush of flavour. Its bitter with a hint of sour acid (this is a good thing).
The amber richness is very pilsner like, in fact its not unlike the James Squaire Pilsner but with out the finish.
This is where it comes apart a bit. The full flavour in the middle of my mouth does not have the length that i think a beer with this sort of intense flavour should have, it just doesn't have quite enough length for me. This is a small criticism, overall a really good beer. You could probably only manage a couple (good that they come in a 4 pack) of these in one session but its another great Australian beer... I'm so proud!
Dan
1 comment:
Hi Dan, Denham founder of Barossa Valley Brewing here. Stumbled across your review of the Organic Ale. Agree with all. We have in fact changed our hoping regime and the beer now has greater length for as you mentioned to balance the nose and mid pallet we needed a big back pallet. Also just on the name..shared the same concern but if you check the back label you will see we developed this beer by getting input over the course of nearly 2 years. We had tasting panel comprised of well known chefs, food commentators wine makers etc. We also got about 2,000 beer lovers to comment. So we needed a name that had no flavour or style implications. Given we use certified organic malt and hops (which are many times more expensive than non certfied) and the beer has organically changed into the beer you now have, this name was the best option during the development phase. Now that we are done as a small micro we can't justify the cost of re-doing all the packaging. Anyway glad you liked the beer. Keep up the good work on the blog.
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