Hargreaves Hill Pale
Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company

 

 

 

smells like barf. not inviting.

I had a 330ml bottle. Label is a newer version than pictured.
Appearance: light copper orange. Some pale cloudiness from bottle conditioning as expected and is ok. A good white head which settles and you are left with nice even cover.
Flavour: good malty flavour up front. A very dry mouthfeel with tight bitterness but not overwhelming however missing fruitiness or other hop flavours for me. Low to medium carbonation. It drinks well and is nice and probably targeted more to the mainstream market.
Aroma: more yeast and bread aromas than florals. Not much going on on the nose really at all. A little disappointing for me.
Overall: a good beer and is very drinkable and I enjoyed the taste which is refreshing and lends itself to several in a session. For me it just lacks the aroma I'd expect for a craft pale ale.

A rather tasty beer. I like their selection of hops. There is a citrus flavor, but not overwhelming and not much grapefruit. There is a good balance between the hops and malt.

 

Certainly worth a try. Nice, easy drinking APA with a little malt and good fruit flavours. Could drink this all day and all night. One of those beers which id be confident to offer anybody looking for a decent cleansing ale. Give it a go, you won't regret it.

When it comes to drinking this beer I feel like I could do it as a full time proffession, I would like to be the Gary Ablett Jnr of drinking this beer, pure class in its consumption.

Unfortunately I am trapped into providing just a glowing review to this cracking APA from the Yarra Valley, which is known more for its wine than its great ales.

A Golden look with hit amber to its appearance, it gives off a highly infectious sweet aroma of honey and a just hint of ripened peaches.

A medium body that helped by a lighter carbonation, the front palate is met with a some strong nectar/honey like flavours easing into some crisp bitterness while maintaining a presence of stone fruit to it.

No diggity this beer has it going on, not long term drinker probably move onto something else once you get 3 to 4 beer in, but it is very easy to enjoy, I highly endorse giving this a shot!

ml bottle poured into pint glass 20/3/14

A golden orange with tiny suspended particles and a sediment swirl for a minute or two before it settles, a finger of foam quickly falls to a thin film but manages to leave a fair amount of lace

S pine, spruce, grapefruit peel, some bready malt, slightly floral and spicy, not bad at all

T some lemon and orange rind, more spicy hops then the nose, less bready notes, lots of citrus, quite tasty, flavours strong

M medium bodied, creams up in no time, very gritty, sandpaper almost but I like it, citrus and spruce with a little spice stick to your mouth

O I thought this one great start to finish and like many beers I'm trying down under I'm surprised it doesn't get more love

Only a month after bottling I'm happy to get a fresh crack on this hopped up pale, lots of flavour for under 5% I'm sure I could session this for a while

 

Bottle: a standard brown 330mL bottle with a reserved but stylish semi-macro label. I like it.

Appearance: a slightly hazy orange-copper colour with fine carbonation. A small white head rises and hangs about for a while. Decent lacing too.

Aroma: a good combination of biscuit malts and citric hops. Some spices in there too.

Taste: a fantastic pale ale - again well-combined malts and hops with some fruit esters and those spices again. One of the better pale ales I have had to date.

Aftertaste: still tastes very smooth. Such a good combination - fantastic. Mouthfeel is super smooth too

Mouth feel: a smooth feel with just enough carbonation to carry the flavour through.

Overall: fantastic pale ale. Brilliant combination of flavours, perfect mouthfeel and aroma. Brilliant beer and well worth it, even though it is AU$70 a case (2013). Definitely one of my favourite pale ales to date.

 

A: Pours a hazy copper color with a huge head that fades slowly to lots of lacing.

S: Aroma of citrus, with a bit of pine, some malt sweetness and grain.

T: Taste has a nice citrus bite with some caramel sweetness and a bit of grain and spice.

F: Medium body, crisp and refreshing. Nice balance.

O: Enjoyable beer that goes down quite easy. Worth a try.

 

 

A - Huge soapy white head, over a orange amber body alive with a column of rising bubbles rushing through the guts, brilliant bubble bath lacing.

S - Wheat, yeast, peach and lemon.

T - Earthy mild hops, orange and mandarin with a light bitter bite.

M - Juicy medium body, moderate carbonation.

O - Great session beer. One of the better APAs around.

Pours a nice copper colour. Clearish with full head on pour which subsides to a persistent, light covering.

Initial smell has distict hop presense. I get cascade in the nose but it might be something american. Smells clean if one could be so bold.

Taste provides a solid but smooth bitterness along with the good hop flavour. The bitterness lasts throughout. Flavour profile is very clean. Light to medium in mouthfeel with a beautiful level of carbonation.

Overall, a great representation of the style and at 4.9%, a dead-set quaffer.

Pours a gold / amber, slighty hazy. One finger fine white head stays nicely, lacing good.

Aromas of grapefruit, pine.

Taste is all hops up-front, grapefruit body. Full flavour.

Nicely carbonated and crisp.

My vote on the debate below.. APA not EPA ;-)

I was very enamoured with this beer when first released but the rising bar of fellow local brewers has forced me re-assess. Plus, if it makes any difference, with was brewed at the new site following the tragic destruction of the original brewery in Feb 2009. Still very clean and fruity but I found this sample a bit more lean and hoppy than previous tastings. You can drink this all day every day but as mentioned more options now for the Melbourne drinker.