Monday, December 21st, 2009
I have been a big fan of the Baron’s beers since they first came out, although the Black Wattle Ale and Lemon Myrtle Witbier seem to be the only ones I see on a regular basis. So it came as a pleasant surprise to track down a bottle of their Lager in Vintage Cellars, I had an earlier look in Dan Murphy’s but was unable to locate it.
The Barons lager poured clear with a bright golden colour, minimal level of carbonation and a smallish white head around 1cm. On the nose, grassy and floral notes predominate straight after pouring with honey and clove notes coming through later after being allowed to stand awhile.
On the palate a light mouth feel is accompanied by grassy herbal notes, clove, pepper the beer then goes on to finish crisp with minimal after-taste. A few times I swore I tasted some slight “musty” flavors toward the back of the palate that one would expect from a Belgian but it didn’t seem constant so was very hard to pin down.
Verdict: It did strike me as a tad watery in places although this may have just been too excessive chilling, as it did grow on me the further down i got. All in all a very smooth session lager for lazy summer days.
Score: 7.2 / 10
Link: Barons Brewing
Related Beers: Barons Black Wattle Ale
Tags: Barons, lager, NSW
Posted in Beer | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Pours copper in colour with a short lived head around 2 -3 centimetres in height and average amount of carbonation. Although the level of carbonation didn’t seem to last very long and it had all but vanished by the time i had finished the beer, although the lack of bubbles near the end seemed to have minimal effect on the taste.
The aroma was pretty restrained consisting mostly of toasted grain notes although a slight nuttiness and a touch of chocolate was also detected.
On the palate this beer exhibits a mildly creamy mouth feel accompanied by sweet toasted malt oriented flavours, butterscotch, caramel, brown sugar a touch of coffee, hazelnut and pepper. The after taste was slightly sweet with a mild butterscotch sweet tang.
Verdict: When this brew first came out i was intrigued about what flavours wattle seed could lend to a beer, brought a bottle and can’t remember being overly impressed. Seems my memory didn’t do it justice though and i found this bottle easy drinking with plenty more flavour than i remembered.
Score: 7.8 / 10
Where to buy: Pretty much any bottle shop around Sydney that has room to more than the default New, VB combo.
Link: Barons Brewing
Related Beers: Barons Lager
Tags: ale, Barons, Black Wattle, NSW
Posted in Beer | No Comments »
