Five Barrel Flipside, Big Nipper & Norvell Belgian Christmas Ale

Style
Hazy IPAs & Christmas Ale
ABV
6.5% & 8.0% & 7.3%
Bitterness
40 & 40 & 35 IBU

A koala*, a crab and a reindeer walk into a brewery…

Flipside is a rush of fruit to the head. This hazy IPA is a showcase of Galaxy and Aussie Eclipse hops. It starts with aromas of peach and that fresh-but-sticky smell of rockmelon, and moves to lush citrus and tropical fruit flavours that come across dry in the mouth.

But the beautiful full body is what really got my attention. You know those float tanks designed to be exactly the right softness so the sensation is gentle on your skin? It’s like that in a beer. Or like when you go to a bedding store and find the softest blanket in the shop and they tell you it’s actually a microfleece faux cashmere throw or something (I’m sorry if I’m not up with the latest Manchester terminology; there’s a reason I’m not assistant manager at Pillowtalk). Between the malts, the fluffy carbonation and the snuggly slow bitterness, it’s a comfy beer.

****Big Nipper is another hazy from Five Barrel. This one is their core range Little Nipper Hazy IPA turned up to 8 percent ABV and 40 IBU.

With an all star hop lineup (Motueka, Citra, Eclipse, Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy), it was never going to be short on hop character. But while it’s juicy as anything, I found the flavours to be fairly straightforward rather than multi-faceted. My first impression was that of peeling a lychee, but that was then a followed by a flood of orange juice and a dry malt character like a bite of sourdough crust.

As for the label… well. I usually only say nice things about a beer’s artwork. But with this one, I feel like I was tricked into seeing more of a crab's undercarriage than I care to.**

Then we arrive at Norvell Belgian Christmas Ale, a dubbel with orange zest and nutmeg.

Look. I’m in a bit of a fix with this one. When I write up a beer, I like to give my own tasting notes and recommendations because, hey, who wants to read a repeat of what the brewery has already said? But in Five Barrel’s description of Norvell they say it “would be paired well with a mouthful of mince pies” and damn it they’re right. This abso-bloody-lutely would go well with fruit mince pies.

Maybe they’re a bit too hot and burn your mouth but you don’t care because that buttery pastry flakes apart in your mouth and the dripping sweet filling of dried fruits and spices is too good to wait for, and then you have a sip of Norvell and the sticky date pudding and fruitcake and nutmeg and zest all come together in a syrupy biscuity fruity malty layered wash of flavour that makes you forget how hot the pie is, so you have another bite and burn your mouth… and repeat until it’s all gone.

Mick Wüst

Or dropbear, if you turn the can upside down.
Though, again, I must stress that you will most likely not find a live crab in this beer.*

Published December 2, 2022

Name
Five Barrel Brewing
Address

318 Keira Street
Wollongong
NSW 2500

Phone
(02) 4200 8881
Open Hours

Sun to Wed: midday to 6pm
Thurs to Sat: midday to 9pm

CBCo Goldy
Black Bad Boy Bao 2024 B

More from Five Barrel Brewing

Five Barrel Organic Hazy
Midstrength Hazy Pale
3.5%
Five Barrel Red Rice Lager
Red Rice Lager
4.0%
Five Barrel Winner Winner Hazy IPA & Radio Star Oat Cream IPA
Hazy IPA & Oat Cream IPA
6.0% & 7.0%
Five Barrel Explosivo Pecan Pie Pastry Stout & Succession Plan British Imperial Stout
Pastry Stout & Imperial Stout
7.0% & 10.0%
Five Barrel Spud Australian Sparkling Ale
Potato Beer
5.0%
Five Barrel Sticky Beak Australian Pilsner & Possum Paradise, Wild Russell & Checkmate IPAs
Aussie Pilsner, White IPA, NZ IPA & American IPA
5.0% & 6.0% & 6.2% & 7.0%
Five Barrel Frostbite Cold IPA & Fowler’s Jam Raspberry Sour
Cold IPA & Raspberry Sour
6.8% & 4.4%
Five Barrel Peacock English IPA & Red Admiral Nazy NZ IPA
English IPA & Hazy NZ IPA
Both 6.0%
Five Barrel Blue Triangle, Local Call & Servants Of The People 2022
Various Styles As Indicated
7.0% & 6.0% & 10.0% & 10.0%
Five Barrel Monarch IPA, Little Duck Coffee IPA, Apple Cider & Mango Seltzer
Various Styles As Indicated
4.0% & 6.2% & 4.0% & 4.0%
Five Barrel Bière De Maison & Side Salad
Australian Farmhouse Ale & DDH Oat Cream IPA
6.0% & 7.5%
Five Barrel Pulp Wave, General Hazy IPA & Extension DIPA
Fruit Sour, Hazy IPA & Double IPA
4.0% & 7.2% & 8.2%
Five Barrel Ruru NZ Pilsner, Gnome Project NZ IPA & Checkmate American IPA
NZ Pilsner & IPAs
5.0% & 6.8% & 7.0%
Five Barrel Brewing Pre-Prohibition Porter & Esuna Botanical Sour
English Porter & Botanical Sour
6.0% & 4.0%
Five Barrel Brewing High Water & Big Picture
Helles Lager & Hazy IPA
5.8% & 6.8%
Five Barrel Brewing Hero Of The People 2021
Imperial Stouts
10.0%
Five Barrel Brewing London Calling
ESB
4.3%
Five Barrel Brewing Finger Trap Hazy Pale
Hazy Pale
4.3%
Five Barrel Brewing Puddle Jumper & Always Greener
NZ Pilsner & NZ Hazy DIPA
5.0% & 8.0%
Five Barrel Brewing Ghost Creek Collection
Barrel-Aged Sour Ales
6.0%