Crackenback pale ale

Pours nicely with a beautiful, cloudy golden colour. The smell has very faint hints of caramel and a touch of green from what smell like good quality hops. I haven't done any research but i don't think they are American hops as the flavour is not overly astringent.
Crackenback has the taste of pale but it is also rounded and a little soft. A lot less acidity than a Coopers pale and a bit more easy going than a Little Creatures, so it is a kind of 'user friendly' pale ale.
No one thing in the beer is overpowering and there is a really interesting hint of dark, bitter chocolate as an aftertaste.
This is a well balanced beer, given to me by my father in law, which i have enjoyed drinking.
The only thing i would say is that it could be a touch more bitter on the finnish. Instead of getting a clean, bitter taste i get a little too much round alcohol flavour. This is a very minor complaint.
Really good beer.
Cheers
D

White Rabbit Dark Ale

White Rabbit Dark Ale

Healesville, VIC

6pk - $21

This is a new brew from the guys at Little Creatures. As they are owned by Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander they decided to build a brewery in the heart of the Yarra and start brewing a dark ale, the result is White Rabbit.

The photo doesn't do the beer justice but it's not really dark, more a deep amber. It has a rich forest fruit nose with a slight hoppy herbal note. The palate is more of the above with a nice creamy end. The release notes say it's about half as much bitterness as Little Creatures Pale Ale but it doesn't show with the fruit palate dominating.

Do I like it?

Yes

Will I drink it a lot?

Probably not

While a good beer it's not really my style, but it's had quite a bit of hype (mostly due to the fact that they promised its release in early November and it wasn't released until December) and people want to try it. So get out there and try a few.

Graham