Murray's Anniversary Ale 4 (2009)
Murray's Craft Brewing Co.

Murray's Anniversary Ale 4 (2009)Murray's Anniversary Ale 4 (2009)
Beer Geek Stats
From:
Murray's Craft Brewing Co.
 
Australia
Style:
American Barleywine
ABV:
10%
Score:
+8 ratings needed
Avg:
4.14 | pDev: 2.17%
Ratings:
2 | reviews: 2
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Feb 22, 2013
Added:
Jul 17, 2012
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
Each year’s there’s a twist on the base recipe. For the first time, this year half the batch was transferred to American Oak casks for extended maturation. This ale was then blended with the second half and fermented, before being bottled and corked in champagne bottles. As with previous years Murray’s Anniversary Ale 4 is an intense mix of sweet, nutty caramel malt flavours and an aggressive hop bitterness and flavour from the New Zealand Cascade and Pacific Hallertau hops.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of MrKennedy
Reviewed by MrKennedy from Australia

4.05/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
750ml bottle from Platinum Liquor, split 6 ways and into a Fantome tulip.

The younger vintages looked the best. This was a nice dark amber brown with a touch of ruby around it into the light. Nice creamy foam on top. Decent lacing.

More of a hop aroma coming through, notable spiciness. Still the underlying theme of caramel and fig and even raisins remained.

Started to get more fruity through this vertical. Decent oak presence remained and worked well with the dark fruit and caramel. Nice spice helped too.

The hoppiness helped lift this a touch, giving it a bit more general appeal with a solid size body and sweetness. Very enjoyable and warming.

I don't recall being as fond of this when i had it fresh. Time seemed to have helped quell the influence of the NZ hops. While still influential, it was more complimentary and less aggressive. Still drinking very well.
Feb 22, 2013
Photo of lacqueredmouse
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia

4.24/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a lovely dark red-brown, with a huge rocky and frothy head of off-white bubbles. Lacing and retention are excellent. Body looks slightly thin, but not overtly. Still looks very similar to its brethren. And that's no bad thing.

Absolutely delicious nose. Big fruity, luscious hops and rich toffee sweetness keeping it honest. Light acidity and slight metallic notes leaven the otherwise thick and heavy characters.

Very nice rich toffee and booze notes on the nose, with a spike of hoppy bitterness through the centre to ensure it doesn't get too thick or heavy. Mouthfeel is a little too prickly, but it doesn't detract. A year of age would probably help it.

It's a little raw this young - I found a year or two of age on the AAs really makes them blend better and cohere more spectacularly, but it's hard to deny this is a worthy beer young as well. My recommendation: buy six, or twelve, and try one a year as long as they hold out. It's a fulfilling experience.
Aug 05, 2012