As with many of their peers, one of the ways in which Stomping Ground adapted to the time of COVID-19 was to start canning more of their beers – both limited releases and some that had been around for years but only in draught form. Upside Down Brown sits in the latter category: a popular pour at their brewpub in Collingwood but the sort of beer likely to be nudged down the: "What shall we can next?" discussion list in pre-pandemic, pro-hop days.
Why? Well, it's about as unfashionable as they come these days: an English style brown that deals in subtleties of malt character and is more in keeping with flat caps and fires than hazies and 100 metre hype queues. Pouring a ruddy brown (the beer is inspired by the Yarra, after all), you'll pick up some cocoa, hints of nuttiness, a touch of cake batter sweetness, and a vaguely earthy, drying, toasty finish. A little like a dark, crunchy biscuit you'd dip into your coffee and a welcome reminder of the Old World delights pretty much abandoned by the craft beer industry over the past decade.
James Smith
Published June 14, 2020 2020-06-14 00:00:00
