It's coming up on a year since the Clifton Hill Brewpub decided to remove almost all guest drops from its fonts and let its young brewer take over and fill 13 of them with beers from the in-house brewery. It's clearly proved a smart move as they're in the process of ordering new, larger tanks to help meet demand. It also means they've just hit brew 100 and to mark the occasion they've brewed their biggest beer yet.
The Centenary brew is an imperial IPA with which brewer Ben aimed for 10 percent ABV and overshot the mark, ending up at 10.8. That said, he nailed the character (conversation with him reveals he may be at the start of his brewing career but he's an avid student and well versed in its intricate technicalities). Brewed with nothing but pilsner malt as a base, onto which he loaded Sticklebract, Galaxy, Chinook and Cascade hops, it's surprisingly delicate for such a big beer, retains some fruity and spicy hop characters and manages to finish dry.
It's joined on the taps by a melange of beers that weren't there last time we called in before Christmas. Among them are a nicely acidic sour stout, A Wild Night Stout, with hints of cherry, the spicy Sticklebract IPA, plus a 3.5 percent ABV Session IPA that is clean and tight, with peach and mandarin hop characters.
Given Ben is in the process of filling a growing collection of barrels in the pub's dining room with the likes of saisons, expect the lineup to get ever more diverse over time.
Published February 10, 2017 2017-02-10 00:00:00