Bowden Brewing sure have been on a tear when it comes to limited releases in 2022, so let's get up to speed with a trio of recent offerings. It's a collective that shows the breadth of the brewers' scope too, featuring a nostalgic fruit box style tropical sour, a lawnmower-friendly session hazy and a schwarzbier dropped for Oktoberfest.
Starting with the lawnmower beer, Snean Weather is a light hazy pale packing the fuller flavours of a higher ABV beer. Designed as a mowing companion this spring, complete with classic Sneans footwear, New Balance 624s, it’s an all-tropical affair, with a decent whack of pineapple, papaya, passionfruit and even a little lychee. The heavy addition of oats means this beer takes on a very pale yellow, almost white appearance, while keeping things light and fluffy and bitterness low. Hit peak dad mode this spring with a spot of Sneans and beer pairing.
When it comes to Shadow Puppets, Bowden are taking drinkers back to simpler times when shadow puppets were a source of entertainment. In beer form, you have a dark / black lager, which is equal parts full of dark beer flavours and with the quaffability of a lager. It hits the style guidelines quite sweetly, pouring a dark brown colour and starting off with aromas of bready malts, a little roast, dark chocolate and a hint of herbal earthiness. The mouthfeel is a touch creamy and has a little chocolate sweetness, with that dark chocolate there again to taste with a hint of roast and hazelnut, making for a fine balance of dark and light, absent of any harsh roast while ending with a moderate bitterness.
Looking back to a different moment in time is Fruit Frenzy; here, the brewers reminisce about the joy of opening their lunchbox at recess to pluck out their tropical juice fruit box. In 2022 grown-up form, you have a sour and super juicy ode to yesteryear that absolutely nails the brief. Laden with strawberry, passionfruit and guava, Fruit Frenzy takes juicy to next level. It’s thick but sits just short of pulpy or cordial-esque. All three fruit additions do their job, with the passionfruit and guava adding juice and tartness while the strawberry sweetness marries things together. Not exactly the drink for a recess break but definitely one that will flow easily this summer.
Matt King
Published October 11, 2022 2022-10-11 00:00:00
