Last Tuesday saw the highly anticipated launch of the Ale Stars' Brews from both Darlo and St. Kilda Taphouses. Black & Tannin & BONZA (from Darlo and St. Kilda respectively) went head to head in a battle of the brews.
We warmed up our palates with the delicious black imperial pilsner, Iron Lung, from Doctor's Orders Brewing and then moved on Darlo's Ale Star effort, Black & Tannin.
Black & Tannin was brewed by Doc from Doctor's Orders Brewing, the Darlo Ale Stars team and head brewer Keith Grice of the Hunter Brewing Co. The result was a delicious Baltic Porter aged in an old Shiraz barrel - rich with notes of chocolate, tobacco, ash, pepper & spice.
Next up was the St. Kilda Ale Stars' effort, BONZA, a Belgian IPA.
BONZA, which stands for Belgian, Oz, New Zealand and America, was brewed at Mornington Peninsula Brewery with help of MPB brewer AG. We decided late to add a soft "J" at the end for the Japanese Sorachi Ace hops that were also added to the brew (i.e. BONZAJ). Members of the St. Kilda Ale Star committee behind the recipe for the Belgian IPA were also on deck to speak about the brew and what how their idea of a Belgian IPA unfolded.
The brew had excellent phenolic aromas and character as expected from a good Belgian and the significant hop additions yielded tropical stone fruit flavours ensuring it was true to the IPA component of its name.
Our final brew for the night was a fresh keg of MPB's Imperial IPA, a perfect way to round out a great night.
Thanks to AG for creating this fantastic commemorative poster for us - there were rumours the Ale Stars will brew another beer with AG and the MPB crew next year. Fingers crossed!
No comments:
Post a Comment