They've brewed all manner of beers over their short existence to date yet if you were to ask a beer lover what they thought of when they pictured a Sailors Grave beer, they're most likely to come up with something farmhouse, funky or foraged (or all three). Along the way, however, the Moores have put out some more "normal" beers and, when they do, they're often really bloody good. Think of the Squid vs Whale lactose IPA series or the hop-heavy Fields V2 hazy farmhouse pale.
You can now add Embers to that list. It's a red IPA brewed as a "reflection on the devastating bushfires" of 2019/20 and to raise money for the Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund. And it's a fine example of the style. Layered, rich specialty malts take centre stage in the chestnut/amber liquid – clotted cream toffee, burnt sugar, sweet, buttery biscuits – with the hops adding some citrus peel and dark berry aromas plus the requisite bitterness to balance the malts. Delicious.
It left the brewery at the same time as their 2020 Law Of The Tongue smoky oyster stout. This year's version sees the Sunrise limes take on a kinda kaffir lime herbaceous edge while the smoke is kept on the subtle side. There's a sherbety liveliness to the aroma too, like that derived from citrusy hops, while the mahogany brown/black liquid slowly reveals liquorice, molasses and sarsaparilla. There's little in the way of roast or bitterness but that doesn't make this a sweet stout, more a rich, spicy dark ale.
James Smith
Published July 15, 2020 2020-07-15 00:00:00
