Happy Goblin Pale Ale

Brewed by Happy Goblin Brewery
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Mt Kuringai, NSW, Australia

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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650ml bottle (bottled on 18/4/13) at Yulli’s restaurant, Sydney which has a fine beer list to go with the vegetarian food. The ABV is now 4.8% for this batch release. Appears clear amber-brown with a decent off white head. Nose has flowery perfumy hops (English-style) on top of a caramel malt bill. Palate is deliciously smooth and silky with lovely balanced flavours and a firm floral hop bitterness. It is medium bodied with perfect carbonation for the style which is really an English-style pale ale rather than a golden/blond ale as per description above. Excellent stuff - I was reminded of Seven Sheds’ Kentish Ale which is another fine Aussie version of this style. The larger bottle size is appropriate for this very sessionable ale.

330ml bottle. Pours a muddy brown, with almost no head and no lace. A sweet, treacle-like aroma is noticeable, with some floral hops lurking in the background. Slightly oily pine hops to start, with sweet malt coming in next. Mouth-coating caramel dominates the middle, moving into a floral hop finish. It’s not a looker, but it is a decent, if slightly simple, ale.

330ml bottle. Pours with a lively crackle as the deep head of big bubbles forms and settles quickly. Passionfruit dominates the aroma and is very pleasing. Hazy sunset colour and quite lively in the mouth with a mild bitterness and a bit of fizz.

UPDATED: SEP 1, 2010 average beer, low carbonation. quite florally on the nose, with a heavy bitterness on the finish

Bottle - dated 29.5.09 4.2% Pours a very hazy orange, head disappeared straight away. Almost cidery aroma. As said below hard to get an idea of the flavour as the carbonation really cuts in - dry citrus , not much of an aftertaste. Agree with the homebrew reference

Bottle. Clear amber (but avoided pouring the sediment in the bottle) with a short-lived very loose white head. The aroma was fairly pleasant: not very pronounced but mostly floral. The palate is wrong, it has a light body but weird carbonation. It froths up in the mouth making it hard to taste and not quenching. It wasn’t obviously over-carbonated in that it did not froth out of the bottle on opening, but the mouthfeel of the carbonation didn’t work. The flavour was disappointing. There is very little foretaste and what there is is rather sharp - somewhat acidic, but not say in a pleasant citrusy way. It shifts gear abruptly to a rather metallic bitter finish, although there are some pleasant floral notes that develop when the initial harsh bitterness subsides. Disappointing.

This version bottled 11June 2008 is 4.5%abv. Eastery banana aroma. hazy orange color with small white head. May have been infected.

head fizzles immediately, leaving a murky nondescript dishwater brown fluid. looks a lot like kit homebrew. smells of tinned fruit salad, solvent (in a 4% beer!) and raw malt. in the mouth rough and thick and sweet, with some toastiness. no bitterness. no finish. surely they can aim a bit higher than this. tastes like it was fermented at 30 degrees with dry yeast.

UPDATED: OCT 29, 2007 Can’t believe i’m the only second to rate this beer. I’m officially dedicating my 100th rate to this beer because it’s officially the closest brewed to where I live. 330ml bottle Bottled 22.6.07 3.9%. Honey-like malt on the nose, some soft floral hop character. Pours a hazy pale amber body with a diminishing white head. Palate has a light carbonation, slightly sticky. Malt flavours are at the forefront; honey, toffee, vanilla, some light stonefruit hoppiness, slight vegetable character. Finish is mildly bitter, perhaps a bit abrupt. A particularly nice quaffing ale, I certainly hope to see more of it on the market.