Russell Brewing 19th Anniversary IP G’Day! American IPA at 6.5% ABV ($6.30 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 650ml, no bottle date or best before)
Pours clear pale amber with two fingers of tight light tan head, excellent retention and lacing. (5/5) Nose is pine, citrus, tropical fruit, mild caramel malt. (8/10) Taste is mild to moderate sweet, strong bitter. (8/10) Medium to full body, moderate carbonation, long bitter finish. (4/5)
Keeping my multi-day ANZ streak going here, if barely – brewed in Surrey, so a lot closer to home, but with Australian hops, and lots of them. (And yet they still can’t be arsed to date the damn bottle. Listen, brewers, I’ll come over with a Sharpie and date them for you if that’s what it takes, OK? I just want to know how your beer is supposed to taste, is that so unreasonable?) Anyway, this can’t be a very old bottle, so it’s a bit of a moot point – lots of fairly bright hops, with the caramel malt nicely in the background, where it belongs. Not quite a palate wrecker, but it does deal out a bit of a light bludgeoning. A little on the brash and uncouth side, but so am I, so it’d be a bit unfair to hold that against it. (17/20)
8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
