Murray's Brewery Spartacus Imperial IPA

Style
Imperial IPA
ABV
10.0%
Bitterness
100 IBU

A few years back, in the earliest days of The Crafty Pint, we were notified, rather excitedly, of a beer that was to make its debut at Beer DeLuxe in Fed Square as part of a Murray's tap takeover. The NSW brewery that had given Australia its first widely available double IPA – Icon 2IPA – was set to unleash Spartacus, a 10 per cent ABV, 100 IBU imperial IPA.

Today, such beers might not raise eyebrows quite so high or drop jaws quite so low, given the hop-based armed race that has engulfed much of the beer world in recent years. Yet, its return after a three-year hiatus is another reminder of just how trailblazing the Murray's brewers (initially Graeme Mahy then Shawn Sherlock, now Graeme again) have been on the local scene.

The beer is released as part of a splurge of IPAs coming from Murray's in April (including the Skully red IPA we wrote about recently) and, we're told, is one of 18 different IPAs released by the brewery over its decade in existence. Graeme says Spartacus features "almost too many hop additions to count" with the result a hazy golden beer in which we'd place the dominant hop aroma as apricot, supported by a chewy, almost sticky malt backbone and building, resinous, piney hop flavours and bitterness. As big as its name and "It kicks arse" label tagline suggests.

Published April 17, 2016

Name
Murray's
Address

3443 Nelson Bay Rd
Bobs Farm
NSW 2316

Phone
(02) 4982 6411
Open Hours

Cellar door
Mon to Fri: 10am to 5.30pm
Weekends from 10am
Restaurant
Lunch: Open 7 days
Dinner: Friday and Saturday nights in January (bookings essential)

Tours

Public tours daily at 2pm. $5 per person. Bookings recommended.
Groups of 20 or more and private tours by appointment.
Extreme Brewery Tours via helicopter. (Murray is not the pilot - but he'd love to be). By appointment.

CBCo Goldy
Black Bad Boy Bao 2024 B

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