This is another wonderful product from Australia's best beer producer.

Before I start on the beer I would like to make a couple of comments about the new labels on all the James Squire range...

Why did you change the old labels? Why would you mess with something which has worked so well for so long. Anyway I don't want to dwell but I hope you did not pay the marketing people too much money.

So about the beer. It is not the type of pale ale we are used to. It is not a Little Creatures Pale, it is not a Alpha Pale, it is not a Coopers Pale. The Fifty Lashes Pale (which I am going to call Squire Pale) is a much more approachable beer than the one I have previously mentioned. Not approachable in a good way or a bad way, just approachable.

Approachable because I like Pale Ale to be a little confronting. I like a bit of herbaceous lift and citric acidity, some genuinely sour hop flavour. It is like all the edges have been softened. Still, it is very good. I am judging this beer harshly because it comes form Squire, I have come to expect perfection. For some (the majority) this will be perfection in a Pale Ale and I am enjoying mine right now however I would like to see it a touch more dirty, a bit more grippy.

Either way I am sure this will be another successful product and I am going to pour myself another.

Dan