Grand Ridge Gippsland Gold
Grand Ridge Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

Bottle: good 330mL brown bottle, decent label - refined and somewhat classy.

Appearance: a dark copper-brown colour with moderate fine carbonation. A one-finger head with good retention and some lacing.

Aroma: very spice- and caramel-driven, with some off-ripe fruits. Very much a stronger version of the Light.

Taste: some heavy bread malts with plenty of caramel and some of those ripe fruits. Fairly well combined, pretty decent.

Aftertaste: quite bitter on the finish. Nothing much else though.

Mouth feel: typical Grand Ridge - medium in body with a moderate carbonation suited to carry just enough flavour through.

Overall: seriously, this is about 99% the same as the Lager and the Bitter. Slightly stronger than the Lager, slightly weaker than the Bitter. Not always a bad thing, but don't label them as different beers when they are so similar. That said, this is a decent caramel-driven pale ale.

 

Three beers in to a Grand Ridge Brewery gift pack and I have absolutely no idea how they could be, in their words; "The World's Most Awarded Brewery". It really begs the question - are these gift packs just their crap/light-struck batches or is it real easy to win these awards that they have been competing in? My money is on the first but I hope for the sake of being a consumer who paid good money for the gift pack it's the second.

Poured from a 330ml bottle into a nonic pint.

A: The body is a slight cloudy brown-tinged orange with a minimal white lacing for a head.

S: Straight away you can notice that honey sweetness that all the Grand Ridge beers I've tried so far have. Aside from that the malt hits heavy with that malted milk drink powered barley aroma, and throw in the usual suspects; bread yeast, toasted biscuit, along with a hint of rye and you've got a very malt flavoured brew... hardly a pale ale in any sense of the style (who names these beers at Grand Ridge anyway?).

T: The flavour of pure malt, and honey, it's quite interesting in the respect that I've never tried a beer that is this malty and at the same time it is lacking much else. Toasted biscuit and hints of molasses with a flavourless hop bitterness finish. Interesting bad or good is the next question... I'm leaning towards good because I've never had like it but I can see why it might not be a popular choice.

M: Mid to light bodied with flat carbonation (again!).

D: Well it's the best of the Grand Ridge brews I've tried so far - let's hope the trend continues with the remaining two. Again the price is almost prohibitive, come on Grand Ridge - why is your beer so expensive? Other than that I might drink it again, too bad Grand Ridge, too bad.

Food match: Malt biscuits and milk with Milo (malted of course). Roast chicken with gravy, mash and Brussels sprouts would work well with this.

 

On tap at the Brewery.

A: Pours a dark copper color with a decent head that fades to some lacing.

S: Aroma of pine, some malt sweetness and a bit of fruit.

T: Tatse of malt with a bit of caramel, some fruit and trace of grain. Easy bitterness and a dry finish.

F: Fairly medium body, mild crispness, smooth with a nice balance.

O: Nice beer for the style that goes down easy. Worth a try.

hmm, I read the reviews and decided to pour from fridge. May be a mistake - seemm more EPA than Aus PA that other reviews suggest.

Pours a one finger head over a gold body. Head recedes. Clear body, and little bubbling. Some lacing.

Aromas are malt driven - quite restrained.

Taste is more English, with a fair hop bitterness, and not a great amount of malt profile.

Mouthfeel is light/medium bodied, fair carbonation, but oddly a little creamy.

At end of bottle now - and yes this is to me an EPA, and quite good attempt. Caramel and toffee now come through, and signicant earthy bitterness is now present. Not a whole lot of malt tho to be a true EPA. The joys of serving temp!

 

Nice burnt - dark orange, Very inviting. Fruity nose, good lift and somewhat malty. More malty notes in the mouth, almost gives the palate a milky smoothness, kinda creamy. Good fizz and some firmness in the back palate keeps the beer tight. Pretty good but I reckon I’ve had better bottles. Certainly better from the tap for mine.

Appearance - 4.0
Pours two centimetres of cream coloured head that quickly receded over a hazy body somewhere between dark orange and light copper.

Smell - 3.5
Malt and yeast dominate the nose, with aromas of caramel, hard toffees and stone fruit.

Taste - 3.5
Big malty backbone with lots of caramel, raw honey and stone fruit, reminding of the syrup from tinned fruits. Considerable sweetness is perfectly balanced with hoppy bitterness, slightly metallic with a definite yeasty tartness that suggests the bottle is not as fresh as it could be.

Mouthfeel - 4.0
Fuller in body than most pale ales, moderately carbonated and a little syrupy.

Overall - 3.5
I remember liking this beer more the first time I tried it, so it is certainly possible that this bottle is past its best. Regardless, an enjoyable beer, though very different from pretty much everything else labeled pale ale.

Pours a beautiful, thick looking, honey golden colour. One finger head quickly settles to a collar leaving some lacing.

Nose is abundant in sweet caramel malts, and honey. Not much hops to speak of. Smells enticing nonetheless.

Taste is more sweet biscuity malts, with a strong honey character. Somewhat cloying, however a nice hop bitterness balances the sweetness quite well. Aftertaste is honey and bitter hops.

Carbonation is perfect, medium bodied, with a nice thick creamy feel to complement the sweetness.

Not what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed this beer. Could do with some more hop character, and a bit less sweetness and it would be fantastic.

After reading the last review, I am proud to say that I also had this in Singapore, in another the same little cozy bar called The Prince of Wales. But this time, we're looking at the one in Boat Quay.

Beer pours a nice dark gold, with a nice little head to protect my pint. Plenty of lacing for a pale ale too.

This is nicely hoppy on the nose, but its not that dry when I take my first swig from the pint glass. Another thing to note, this one reminded me of cured meats... Hmmm. Ham?

A second smell to the beer after having a bite on my OMG spicy burrito (folks, there’s a nice Taco Bar here too!), sweet. And the next mouthful tasted like honey. Oh am I glad to drink this! Put the fire outta my mouth baby!

A well balanced and tasty beer.

Goes great with what I was eating, and I love it. Would order a second one, but I'm opting for something else next!

I had this beer in the only place in Asia that serves it on tap, The Prince of Wales, a tiny little pub in Little India, Singapore.

A: A rich brown colour with a generous 3cm head that dissipates quickly leaving some lace.

S: The smell was rich in caramel and lots of sweet esters, some barbecued meat, brown sugar. Very delightful.

T: Slightly cloying at first but over time a very sweet, rich taste but leaves a slightly unpleasant bitter taste. I would give it a 3.75 but since I can't, I have upped the rating for smell, mouthfeel and drinkability.

M: Nice rich, fll bodied mouthfeel. It almost feels a bit chewy like other good ales of this kind.

D: Very drinkable on most days, goes down real easy, although having a rich, full taste. Very tasty beer.

Overall, a very tasty beer that goes perfectly with a good, juicy hamburger or steak. Very fruity and flavourful with lots of nice smells and tastes.

M:

Brown 330ml bottle, best before June 2011, drank 1st June 2010. Poured into a Batemans half pint tumbler.

Good old gold, rusty amber colour the head a dirty yellowed smokers fingered nicotine colour.

The smell was all malt, fairly sweet malts at that, caramel and molasses. A yeast aroma becomes apparent as the beer warms in the glass, but no hop esters at all.

The sweetness from the smell isn't allowed to take over the taste, a hop bitterness sees to that, so no aroma hops, just bitter acid producing plants used?

The best Aussie beer I've had since arriving on BA? I think so, full bodied and interesting flavours made this a very drinkable little bottle.

Pours dark amber with a small head.
Nose is extraordinarily malty, with loads of caramel, toffee and butterscotch.
Similarly malty flavours before a challenging bitterness rolls through. Unfortunately its quite dull and almost metallic (the bitterness that is). Malt character is great though.
A bit too watery.

This pours a light copper colour with a centimetre of white head. Clear.

Some hoppy florals but nose dominated by maltiness.

Pretty much the same on the palate.

I was worried that the maltiness might prove too sweet but there is a reasonable bitterness to even it out.

Not the best pale on the market but not too bad either.

Hazy copper pour with a creamy offwhite head. Head dissipates to a thin layer that lasts well.

Lots of sweet malt and honey aromas. A few floral notes as well. Almost sickly sweet.

Sweet, sweet, sweet. This has huge honey flavours with a touch of bitterness in the finish and some fruity flavours. This is completely unbalanced and just does not work for me. Far too sweet.

Slightly above average mouthfeel with mild carbonation. This is okay but maybe a touch heavy.

This just isn't drinkable, the sweet flavour is overpowering and cloying. It isn't a drain pour but it certainly ins't going to become a regular.