Mash Brewing Black Cat '24 & Barley In The Barrel (with Campus)

Style
Black IPA & Barrel-Aged Barley Wine
ABV
6.5% & 14.5%

Perth’s endless Californian climate seems to be teetering. Although the lack of rainfall would suggest otherwise, the decreasing daylight hours are triggering hibernation of the mind. It’s a state which Mash are poised take full advantage of with this pair of formable sippers.

Black Cat’s longstanding black IPA riff returns for 2024 with a confluence of dark malts featuring baker’s chocolate and cacao tones. Prune, resin dust and a fleeting ashy quality appear as dryness takes hold a third of the way in and remains unrelenting long after the sip, dragging moderate bitterness along for the arid ride. This is a brooding yet lean cat.

Barley In The Barrel ratchets up the booze and complexity, although after months of conditioning, some of which took place in ex-Whipper Snapper whisky casks, this pours with rare elegance. While its potential was evident, an early sample showcased brash American-style barley wine characters at odds with the base, yet time has been exceedingly generous to what is one of WA’s largest beers.

Pouring a deep, clear oxblood [Seriously, Guy! – Editor], the harmonised ride features whisky prunes, Sherry and Port notes, ice cream choc drizzle, brittle toffee, almond, warm fruit cake, flat post-mix cola, honeyed, dried fig and fine oak tannins, with a wisp of booze the only hint of its size.

It almost needs to be set with a cream swirl on top, and some Scotch Fingers beside the glass. And, probably, a dram of Whipper Snapper whisky for good measure while contemplating the changing of seasons.

Guy Southern

Published May 25, 2024

Name
Mash Brewing
Address

10250 West Swan Rd
Henley Brook
WA 6055

Phone
(08) 9296 5588
Open Hours

Mon to Thurs: 11am to 4pm
Fri & Sat: 11am to late
(Kitchen closes at 9pm)
Sunday: 11am to sunset
(Kitchen closes at 6pm)

FOBOH B2
Smeaton brewery for sale B2

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