Mornington Peninsula #tinnage003 Why So Cereal?
Mornington Peninsula Brewery

Oatmeal Pale Ale, sounds interesting hey? And I’ve been raving on for years that oats should be used in other beer styles and finally Mornington Peninsula had the gumption - a sort of grey paste used to clean things - to brew with the grain of my dreams (I literally go to sleep thinking about sheep made of rolled oats jumping over fences whilst being sprinkled with honey and cinnamon - I told you I was freaky... you didn’t believe me). The whole “#tinnage” thing, a product of our hashtag-crazed Twitter era, is about single batch beers made for canning - this being brew number 3 of said tinnage. Let’s see if Mornington can meet my bizarre oat imaginings.

Poured from a 330ml can into a nonic pint.

A: Presents a nice cloudy Jonquil shade of yellow body and a wispy thin white head which reduces down to a patchwork of lace on top. Nice looking Pale Ale overall, not spectacular but no major complaints either. 7/10.

S: Aroma is a delightful mix of tropical fruit (papaya specifically), stone fruit (peach/nectarine), hints of orange Starburst candy... add lime Starburst too for that matter, and a light floral note. As far as Pale Ales go this is right up there with the best I’ve ever laid my nose on - the amount of hop driven fragrances alone is impressive and it’s subtle whilst maintaining some complexity, the more I breathe in the more I love it. 10/10.

T: Flavour, however, is a bit of a letdown - the hops are there but in comparison to the aroma all they really add here is singular bitterness, where did all those (quite f*#king amazing tbh) aromas go? The overall flavour is slight orange bitterness with a grassy/grainy character and some malt sweetness - I don’t think I’ve ever encountered such a big disparity between an aroma and a flavour before. 5/10.

M: Borderline medium bodied with some OK oatmeal body to it and a light but dense carbonation. 7/10.

D: Another Pale Ale with awesome aroma letting down the flavour - it makes one think about how the application of hops, when they are added into the brewing process, can affect the overall quality of the flavour/aroma. I know that there different type of hops used with ‘aroma’ hops and ‘bittering’ hops that may have played against this beer. Plus, and I don’t really dwell on the fact that cans give a metallic taste anymore because: “Duh!”, but in this instance the whole canning process may have affected this brew adversely. 6/10.

Food match: The idea of a pulled pork burrito with this is making me hungry.