Yikes. Tumut River Brewing Co’s Deliverance has always been a hefty hitter, loaded with hops and usually coming in at 8 percent ABV. But they’ve beefed up their 2022 version even more. It now sits at a neat 10 percent ABV and 100 IBU, and comes jam-packed with Azacca, Mandarina Bavaria and Eclipse hops – as well as a boatload of specialty malts from Voyager.
The rusty red body gives off a ripe fruit pungency that spreads across all parts of the tongue with the first sip.
There’s a crooning sweetness from the malt that straddles toffee and sweet cough medicine, with the hops bringing berry notes, bitter mandarin peel and the stickiness of sucking on a mango seed. Apparently some of Tumut’s punters describe it as "gooey", and they’re not wrong; the body folds over itself like drizzling golden syrup.
Don’t enter into a relationship with this beer unless you’re ready for the bitterness. What starts as a sigh quickly settles in for a long stay. There is a counterbalance of sweetness, and the hop and malt flavours do a good job of dancing it around the ballroom… but it’s not afraid to make its presence known. While the double digit booze keeps itself hidden, those 100 IBUs do not...
Meanwhile, ahead of You Am I taking the stage at Batlow's Winter Bites festival on August 27, the brewery's rebrewed their You Am IPA. You can order it directly here.
Mick Wüst
Published August 17, 2022 2022-08-17 00:00:00
