The aroma hits you like a freight train when first poured, you might be thinking "is this too much for me?" well suck it up cause this is by far the best IPA, DIPA in Australia. The beer is balanced, the hops aroma and flavour are out of this world. Fruity, bitter, malty. It does not come better than this! The only issue I have is that it only is available in bombers or on tap at select locations. A six pack would be better, I really, really don’t want to share this with anyone and by the end of it I am feeling decidedly merry! Try some today.

I think the rootin roos are on the label as it is a play on words. You know, a pun like. The 2 denotes number of macropods, and the IPA is Indigenous Pouncy Animals. The make love bit? Yeah makes a lot of sense since no bloody kangaroo has ever been useful in any of the wars we have fought. Where were they when Darwin was being bombed and what the hell did they do at Da Nang? Oh wait, I geddit, they are an Aussie Icon! And so should this beer be. While the whole DIPA thing seems to be distinctly American (just like diapers v nappies, but that is another story), this one from Murray’s brewery is a treat. I couldn’t wait to try this to such an extent that I cracked my first one of these from cellar temperature rather than the fridge. The result was no disappointment at all. The appearance in the glass, a Duvel snifter is a rich coppery colour with a fine creamy head, even at room temperature. The nose is a melange of citrus and toffee with the promise of a malty back palate in the tasting. Such it shall be. Beautifully balanced with the definite smack of floral and spicy hops combined with a caramello maltiness this one is a treat. Like the Scottish lad, my wife had a taste but then immediately declared me a loony for liking something so bitter. Meh, what does she know? She likes Pimms and lemonade. Anyway, Muzzah you have nailed this one old son. At $17 bucks a pop there are going to be many out there who will be amused with the label but shocked at the asking price. So what, that leaves more for those of us who love this. After all we can’t blame the brewer when our crappy federal excise laws discriminate against beer in favour of the fermented grape. I do sincerely hope this does get some more exposure and Murray can then perhaps expand production and as a result use economies of scale blah blah. I aim to drop a fifty on the weekend to get the equivalent of what is an impressive six pack. Now if I was going to say something corny in the end, which has nothing to do with the flavour constituents of the beer of course, I would suggest that you all say wallaby damned, I think I will hop to it and pouch a couple of these bewdies quicker than we can all say tsk tsk tsk to Joey for his Eccy thumping. But I won’t.

Bottle (750ml). This was one of the most anticipated Australian beers for me to try (and rightly so), so I brought 3 bottles (750ml) of the stuff. Poured a muddy deep copper with a good size frothy head which lasted well. Aroma was quite tropical with peaches, orange citrus, pine needles, passion fruit, grapefruit, resin and some light toffee malts in the back. Flavor was a burst of citrus hops with toffee and caramel malts, resiny hops, pine needles, earthy notes, passion fruit and a spicy hop finish. Full bodied with lively carbonation, oily texture, syrupy mouthfeel and a very long finish. I am glad I brought 3 of these as one is not enough. Luckily there making this brew into cases soon 16 x 330ml.

Impressive deep murkiness in colour with a good two fingers head. Beckoning introduction followed by a powerful and lingering sweet apple, licorice citrus and acidic aftertaste which kept on giving. The 750ml bottle looked daunting but once got into it, couldn’t get enough. A good beer.

So we wait months for Murrays to bottle this and when it finally turns up at a local bottle shop it comes in a corked 750ml bottle labelled with a couple of kangaroos shagging under the slogan, "Make love not war". The label is eye-catching, sure, but not necessarily in a "Hey! There’s two kangaroos shagging! I must buy more of this product!" sort of a way. More in a "What pony-tailed marketing twat thinks that will sell beer?" sort of a way. The price-tag is fairly hefty and I’m wondering how many Australians will actually want to drink 750mls of imperial IPA in a sitting? I buy a bottle and I’m home now and ready to pour. It’s a beautiful amber-orange colour and raises a thick whipped-cream head that lasts superbly. This is a very good-looking beer. The aroma is softer than I expect but gorgeous - rough-cut Seville marmalade, lychee and passionfruit. There are muted malts in the background but it’s mainly about the hops. A restrained aroma, rather than aggressive. First sip and it has a beautifully creamy body. Not too thick for the style, but very smooth. Some double IPAs are overpowering but this is great. Peaches, pear juice and limes bedded in malts and capped by a huge wash of alpha acids. A minty mid-palate and some robust fusels in the swallow. My wife takes a sip and says it has grapefruit-pith intensity of bitterness. A few sips later, she declares that it tastes better "when it doesn’t touch your tongue". She pours the remainder of her glass into mine. I’m guzzling this stuff like water and the 7.5% abv is starting to kick in. This is incredibly morish for a double IPA. Damn, I’m feeling good! Look at those cute kangaroos. Hur hur hur! Thish ish grand stuff. I’ll just have a liddle more... Yeah, that’s the shtuff.... And one for the road... Aw crap! All gone? This sucksh! Whose shtupid idea was it to shell this in theshe crappy liddle 750ml bottles? Thish stuff should come in 2-litre bottles, minimum. And they should home-deliver. And there should be more kangaroosh on the label. Yeah. More kangaroosh... I’m gonna bed now... Get me shome more in the morning... (750ml corked bottle from Liquor on Parade, Kingsford)