With can art that looks lifted from a tattoo shop flash book and a puntasticly long name, there are a few reasons why I consider myself very excited to crack into Enter The Dragon, a dragonfruit hazy "sesh-uan ale" from 7th Day Brewery. Add to the mix that this is a fruited version of Spring Break Hazy IPA, one of my favourite beers of 2023, and I can’t wait to crack open this lucky red can.
When released, Enter The Dragon pours an angry marmalade orange with a red tinge among the almost gradient like haze. The bouquet throws well beyond the rim of the glass with stone fruit and tropical notes reeking of a potent bundle of hops.
Sipping is a perplexing experience: it’s not often I try a beer that doesn’t taste familiar. On top of an aqualine balance of tart fruit and bitter hops is a paradox of refreshment delivered by a 4.3 percent ABV which is punching well above its weight. The closest beer I can relate to this is one I downed after accidentally eating too much of the world’s hottest chilli. It’s a tickle sweet, a cuddle sour and an invigorating punch on the tongue. Makes me want to eat something really spicy to see how I go taming this dragon.
Originally brewed to celebrate the coronation of a British king, Far King Lager has gone on to become one of their most popular in-house beers and, as a result, made it out in cans. Beneath a soft white head you'll want to rest your noggin on, Far King Lager pours a resplendent golden orange that any monarch would be proud to pop on their head and make it look too small. The aroma is clean, hoppy and contains a distinctly European-influenced malt aroma, a characteristic that continues on the tongue, and in your cheeks, with each refreshing, refined and sophisticated sip.
7th Day fans will be delighted to know Far King is based on their Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show gold-winning pilsner but with a less sweet, more savoury, malt-driven body that still manages to be refreshing and sippable. At just 4.1 percent ABV, this is a lager that's both easy to knock back but could still satisfy as your only beer of the day as 7th Day prove themselves adept brewers of beloved European styles.
I can’t believe they had this on tap last year and I’m only just tasting it now. That’s what I call Far King hell.
Benedict Kennedy-Cox
Published February 20, 2024 2024-02-20 00:00:00
