Fortitude Brewing have been standing on Mount Tamborine for more a decade, and their slogan, In Cerevisia Fortitudo, (which translates to In Beer is Strength) has been around just as long. Now the brewery team is “inspiring an attitude” with two core beers introduced at the start of spring 2023 based around the idea of inspiration and virtue. (The second being this Japanese-style lager.)
If you’d asked me a week ago what the six types of courage were, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you.* But Courage 6 is a pale ale that “celebrates not just one, but six types of courage: Physical, Social, Intellectual, Moral, Emotional, and Spiritual.” Perhaps it’s best bought in multiples of six, to make sure you get all that liquid courage.
This is the kind of beer I’m dreaming of when I’m a few kilometres into a run. It’s at that point that I’m sweating and longing for a pale ale with enough hop character for flavour, but not so much as to overwhelm the crispness. In this tropical pale ale, a fluffy white head and a bright body line you up for a crisp refreshment that cuts through, with an initial slap of bitterness that eases out into hoppy notes that dance around the edge of the palate. While the flavour isn’t full-on, there’s an exciting mix of fruitiness: I got citrus, pineapple, melon, grape and lychee.
Mick Wüst
* And with my spotty memory, I probably couldn’t even now unless I had cheat notes.
Published September 5, 2023 2023-09-05 00:00:00
