Arriving during the West Coast’s warm ascension towards weeks of dry, 40-plus degree days, this Beerland trio puts drinkability front and centre.
Helles for Heroes sees 2023 Western Australian State Amateur Brewing Comp winner Luke Sims’ recipe scaled up, and packaged – Northbridge Brewing Co have been competition hosts for the past few years. Using locally grown and malted Mallokup Pilsener malt, plus a little Munich and Melanoidin malt, the clean recipe calls for just Hallertau Mittlefruh hops. A new, enthusiastic, NovaLager yeast strain does the fermenting, while soft carbonation lends a welcome fullness to this straightforward beer. Although medium weighted, Mallokup's malt feels round and smooth. The lick of bitterness through the short, dry finish provides just enough resolution to this celebration of malt and cold-conditioning.
Beerland’s continuing SMASH (Single Malt And Single Hop) series continues with Luminosa Smash. The hop is celebrated for its peach lemonade characters, while there’s also papaya, guava and fresh OJ passing through the 100 percent Golden Promise base. Smashed, clean and crisp, it’s a wonderful way to explore the nuance of a single hop variety.
Which leaves Chill, a cold IPA which longstanding senior brewer Andrew Dean describes as “my favourite beer that we’ve brewed over the course of ten years” – before noting that his first impressions of the style that they were something of an IPL charlatan. Those concerns seem to have been resolved with this second, now packaged, release.
An Eclipse-driven, super-refreshing sweet citrus medley of mandarin peel, sweet lemon and pomelo energises over the lean base. Faint herbal dustings want attention but fall in line with light, grassy resin that builds through a considerable dry length. Likewise, bitterness, although measuring some 50 IBUs, never lurches for attention. Instead, it’s braggadocio beginnings are quickly snapped back into a harmonious crisp finish.
Guy Southern
Read our feature with Andrew on Northbridge Brewing Co's first ten years here.
Published November 20, 2024 2024-11-20 00:00:00
