What do you get when you combine pale, wheat, Vienna and Munich malts with organic Rakau, Ella, Eclipse and Motueka hops? A Galactic Gattle Yak. Yep, doesn’t make much sense to me either, but at least we know the guys at Bowden are having fun with their beer names. Apparently, this yak is on a five-year adventure to travel where no yak has traversed before: a bold mission to explore new worlds, new flavours and new beers. Galactic Gattle Yak straddles the American and NZ pale ale style, with a clean neutral yeast strain allowing the hops to impart loads of tropical fruits, such as pineapple and papaya, before the NZ hop element shines with a touch of white grape and lychee, while there's a lick of bitterness in a beer that finishes dry and crisp.
Get To The Hopper is a 7 percent ABV hazy hop assault complete with Arnie shooting hops from a grenade launcher. It's a fitting name after they loaded the hopper with Galaxy, Azacca and Eclipse hops to create a juicy fruit hop bomb. Dripping with juicy pineapple, passionfruit and a little white peach nectar on the nose, it follows through in a pulpy manner flavour wise. There's a near NEIPA haze with just a touch of bitterness in what's a limited release for now but, hopefully we'll hear Arnie announce: "I'll be back."
Bowden’s first attempt at the fruitbox sour took a juicy route and landed a mention in our Best of SA roundup for 2022 list. Now the series is back with Bing Bong Berry, loaded with blueberries, strawberries and raspberries and Mosaic hops for good measure – and the fruit really does shine, particularly the strawberry.
Completing a roundup of their March and April releases is Maurice, a 6.2 percent ABV chocolate porter brewed with a heap of different specialty malts and cocoa nibs. Everything about this beer screams chocolate, from the velvety, creamy milk chocolate mouthfeel, a balanced sweetness and a little hazelnut with no roast character in sight.
Matt King
Published April 26, 2023 2023-04-26 00:00:00
