Still Brewed by Zeelandt Brewing Co in the style of an English Pale Ale and they still do that in Napier, New Zealand.
A classic pale ale that delivers a glass full of hoppy flavour. This bright, copper coloured beer has a malty backbone, wonderfully balanced with citrus hop flavour and a clean, refreshing finish.I've noted that I've done this before as Beer - #151 - in a bottle, wherein I was not overly impressed and the Pdubyah-o-meter rated it a 7 (good) and a B- must try harder.
Having had a tempter in the store I was taken by the hoppiness that this has, which was absent in the bottle that I had previously. So in I went. Time may have cured all that ails me with this. Fair to say that I'm keen to like this more, as it did show a lot of promise.
I didn't get a burst of hop on popping the swing top, but it poured ok with a head that settled back but didn't totally dissipate.
Is it better? Whilst there is more hop bitterness in the front this meanders to a bit soapy and sweet finish. It's still very pleasant and enjoyable, and I have a whole litre to get through - and at 5% ABV that's about 3.95 drink units. 5% ABV is around and about the strength of an imported lager beer, such as Stella Artois, Heineken, Becks, Corona, and locally Steinlager.
Given that list I know that I've done the right thing and this is going to give me so much more enjoyment than they would. A session beer of the first order then.
They've done a bit better, but it's not a leap an bound better than it was in the bottle. It isn't full of hoppy flavour, nor will it ever be, but it is a competent and well presented beer. Using this as a baseline the brewery should be able to build some success and produce some great beers,
The pdubyah-o-meter still only gets to the 7 it got to before. Being the case I rest my case. Something you should never go back to, this possibly isn't one of those things, I'm enjoying drinking this and I shall enjoy the next couple of glasses equally as much.
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