Aether were one of the first Aussie breweries to use hemp in a beer back in 2018 with HIIPA, their hemp infused IIPA. Late 2020 saw them celebrate their fourth birthday with Quadraphonic, an amped up version boosted to 9.4 percent ABV and pumped with Strata, Galaxy, Hort 4337, Citra and Mosaic hops.
Neither the booze nor the bitterness hits as hard as you might think they would in a beer like this, so there’s plenty of room for the malt and hop flavours to get all up in your face. While 2018’s beer was all about the dank, there’s a bit more going on in Quadraphonic. Syrupy caramel malt oozes together with sticky resin, mango, citrus rind and pineapple, and yet somehow subtle botanical hints still show through all of this.
This beer release coincided with the opening of a beer lounge at Aether’s Northgate taproom, so you have the option of drinking Quadraphonic while sitting on a Chesterfield lounge lit by stained glass lamps. Or you can drink a tinnie on a lawn chair at home – we won’t judge.
Mick Wust
Published November 27, 2020 2020-11-27 00:00:00
