Given the occasional – and occasionally very high profile – stoushes within the beer world around names and trademarks, you couldn't help wonder if there may be some repercussions when The Mill Brewery opened in Collingwood last year when been The Mill craft beer bar had already operating in Brisbane for the past few years. And, indeed, there have been repercussions. Yes, the crew from the latter hooked up with the former's founder and head brewer Mirek to make a beer together.
They opted for an imperial red ale, a beer that tends to see everything – well, malt, hops, booze, at least – ramped up. Here, ramping up has certainly occurred, creating a beer in which the pendulum swings more towards the malt. Sure, there's Columbus, Amarillo and Cascade hops in there, but they're very much in a supporting role, with the beer much more about the dense, palate coating, sticky toffee and treacle malts that create its hazy blood orange hue. There's a touch of the herbal on the nose, little in the way of bitterness and a fair bit of booze too in a heavyweight beer best approached with time on your side.
Published March 1, 2018 2018-03-01 00:00:00