James Squire Australian Strong Ale

Brewed by Malt Shovel Brewery (Lion Nathan Co.)
Style: English Strong Ale
Sydney, Australia

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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Finally found it. Pours rusty amber colour with a little white head. The aroma is quite weak, mainly nutty malt flavours and a bit of alcohol present. Quite a roasted flavour; dark chocolate, nut, caramel, stone fruits and a fair bit of alcohol. A different beer at different temperatures really. Very different from the others in the James Squire range, much more of a sipper and one for the winter, but has the quality you expect from other beers in the range from MSB.

Copper/ ruby colour but little aroma. A disappointing palate though. Not much going on other than a robust sense of alcohol. A ok to good beer none the less. Think it will need food next time.

Dark red with brown tones and beige head. Fruity toasted aroma with alcoholic tones. Sweet and fruity flavor with buttery tones. Firm bitterness.

UPDATED: AUG 16, 2005 Bottle: 2004 bottle Poured a rusty ruby-red with hardly any head that dissapeared in literally about 10 seconds. Aroma of dark nutty malts with a string alcohol presence. Candied sugar, licqourice, and sweet bready yeast notes underneath. Flavour was initially wet cardbaord with alcohol, but eventually developed some faint grappa cherry notes and malt undertones. The palate was very dissapointing; tannins all over the place, a bit sour, astringent, and only medium bodied, yet with good bitterness. Good, but dissapointing. 7/2/6/2/13=3
Re-rate: 2005 bottle - Much, much better this time. Tawny orange. Peppery alcohol, toasty malts, fruity yeast notes, and minty hop aromas. Loads of toasty, toffee-like flavours with rich herbal hops. Warming and really quite pleasant. Much better than last year’s. 7/4/7/4/13=3.5

My bottled says Best Ale, but it appears to be the same beer: Copper hue with foamy off-white head and very good lace. The aroma has notes of caramel and toffee malts, touch of mocha, very floral and herbal hops, candycorn, and prune. The taste starts fruity and lightly sweet caramel notes. Additional undertones of hazelnut and wheat. The finish displays a smooth bitterness and some woody notes. The mouthfeel is full, twangy, and sharp. The moderate level of alcohol is very well hidden. A very quaffable brew, the best I have had so far from down under.

UPDATED: JUN 10, 2004 Bottled, thanks duff! Dark ruby, rich dense head. Aroma of chocolate and "punsch" (sweet arrack liquor) Sweet and soft. the alcohol is present, along with the fruitiness and a lot of toffee/chocolate. Solidly malty and flavourful. Interesting and unusual, but perhaps not very complex.

Copper color with a tall wispy light tan head tha diminishes and leave small glass bubbles for lace. Toasted rye bread with a hint of grass. Quite smooth in feel, but yet sticky. Lots of sweet malt throughout this concoction. Hints of toasted coconuts and almonds. Has a rather harsh linger though.

dark chocolate and dark stonefruit aromas dominant. dark, deep ruby colouration with rocky head. dark chocolate and dark stonefruit flavours with hints of bitter floral hop. a little watery, lightly roasted bitterness. not a bad beer, dark plums and chocolate are dominant.

very good looking beer, dark russet colour with a fair, though short lasting head. Aroma is of toasty malt with a little caramelized sugar. moving towards a grainy nuttiness and burnt malt, very drying chocolate and burnt toast.

Thanks to Gusler for sharing on a brew I've never seen nor heard of, but has expanded my horizons and warmed a sub-zero evening. Pours amber with a big bubbly head. Aroma is sweet, slightly tart with hints of grain beneath the surface. Bready notes as well as some candy sugar can also be detected. Flavor is rock candy, sweet malt with just enough balance that you can't point to the hops right off the bat but the sweetness isn't cloying at all, It's definitely not slutty. Some estery hops come through as this one goes down. Mouthfeel is nice and coating. Overall, very tasty, sweet beer, I imagine this would be great to cap off a session.