 mullet (767), Melbourne, Australia
Oct 27, 2007 Updated: May 27, 2008
The cork on this one was a lot more compliant than the one for the Icon, which was a relief. Barely any pop on opening though. Clear deep gold-amber, with a solid head but it’s pretty thin because there’s not much carbonation to hold it up. Crazily intense perfumey esters dominate - tropical fruit, mango Weis bars, apricot nectar, lime rind, violets, hand soap - with some subtle Xmas cake batter like Brasserie des Rocs and noticeable diacetyl which becomes more apparent with time. Similarly cartoon-like flavour - intensely perfumey and fruity, with thick, sweet malt mostly balanced by perfume and fruit and soft alcohol. Considerable diacetyl flavour. Soapy too, which probably isn’t helped by the hand soap esters. Unusually low carbonation really lets the mouthfeel down. The alcohol is handled very well though - noticeable but soft, a bit like Duvel only not as intense. The diacetyl and lack of carbonation really point to a bottle-conditioning issue. I had kept the bottle in ambient (warm) temperatures for about three weeks after buying it though, so there’s really no excuses. It’s still a rather nice beer though - fascinatingly weird in an almost monstrous, cartoon-like way with all those crazy flavours. Intruiging stuff. Guess I’ll be holding onto my other bottle for a while to see if it gets better. Just losing the diacetyl would improve it greatly.<br /><b>RR:</b> Small bottle. Good on em for making this more available in a better format. Cheap too! No diacetyl here, but just so estery! Just a complete mess of fruit salad - way too much to be enjoyable. Otherwise it’s a well-constructed beer.
Chrism86 (115), Melbourne, Australia
Sep 29, 2008 Updated: Oct 4, 2008Pours slightly hazy golden orange with fizzy snow white head. Aromas are dominated by apricot with hints of banana. Palate is not too dissimilar, sweet, slightly chewy malt brings dried aprictos, while the yeast and hops bring a small amount of earthy spice. Probably a more modern interpretation of the belgian tripel style.
winkle (442), Brisbane, Australia
Sep 18, 2008 Off keg: Poured a hazy dull gold with a small lasting head and good lacing. Aroma is slightly under stated, but good with spice, orange and alcohol notes. Rich body with a smooth creamy mouthfeel, maybe verging on the slightly too sticky. Complex flavours - orange, malty and spicy with a good balance from the hops. Most enjoyable.
Pyobon (178), Sydney, Australia
Aug 29, 2008 Bottle. Hazy golden with very little head. Complex, but not very intense aroma, with spice, hops and orange. Medium body, medium carbonation, with a creamy texture. The flavour is complex and evolves as the beer warrms. There are sweet malts, orange, some spice (coriander, maybe clove) and enjoyable bitterness throughut the taste, starting spicey peppery and ending with dark chocolate notes on what is clearly hops. A rich, interesting, complex beer.
sinkas (175), Perth/Fremantle, Australia
Aug 22, 2008 330ml, thanks to Chaosworrier
Fairly pale but murky pour, excellent spritzy carbonation, with incredible lacing, Aroma of alcohol and thin malt with hints of apricot, and black pepper.
palate is a little to heavy on the booze, coming off very dry in a alcohlic kind of way, if it were just toned down by0.5%ABV I think it would be a truly excellent beer. None the less, the best Aussie made Belgian style beer I have sampled.
yalnikim (676), Wellington, New Zealand
Aug 20, 2008 Tasted 26/08/2008. 330ml bottle shared with Sam and Steve in Invercargill. Rose gold. Complex spicy alcohols, some sweet fruit and candy sugar. Nicely drinkable, while also alerting you to its strength. Wish I’d had a little more than 100ml. I guess beers, like football (either one), does a little better on - or close to - home turf. This beer really stood up next the the relative disappointment of the Westvleteren and Struise brews tried on the same evening...
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