The Motherlode
Australian Hotel & Brewery

From Beer Cartel. No BB.

Pours a deep copper. Head is off white and frothy. A little lace.

Aromas of Mother England. Toffees, caramels, earthy hops, tho really in Malt territory.

Taste is somewhat another matter, it's not bad, it's just not really English. And this morphs Into mouthfeel, which is too sweet and almost cloying. Yes it's true ish to style but does not really get there.

It's not bad, it's just not really good, and the pivot of that may be that I have drunk a lot of well made English beers recently, and this does not stack up.

Australia's first craft-beer-in-a-can. Let's see how it goes down.

Pours a vibrant red colour, quite clear. Head is off-white, decent thickness with again, decent lacing left behind. Decent English bitter look.

Smells hoppy, in an English way. Slightly spicy but mostly malty; caramel with vanilla, notes of toasted grain and quinoa as well. Malty, and very English. Hops are there but subtle.

Taste is OK; fairly standard English notes with malty caramel, touch of English toffee on there with Bramling X-esque herbal notes. Touch of lemon and some light woody characters on the back. It's fairly standard, like a lot of Neal Cameron's beers, but there's decent balance to it and a welcome sprucey hop character. Certainly well-made, and refreshing enough.

A little bit foamy in the mouth, not bad.

These scores could have gone up half a mark each, if this were really my kind of beer. I think it's well made but it just doesn't excite me very much, and I think one could pack a lot more flavour and attitude into a can than this beer represents.

Pours copper with a small head.
Nose shows banana, grainy malt, caramel, nutty notes and toffee.
Pretty similar flavours. Nutty malt and toffee along with some grainy notes.
The banana seems totally out of place and the grainy character is unfortunate but not bad otherwise.

I had this in a can earlier in Sydney Craft Beer Week, but when it popped up again on tap at Harts Pub's event, I thought it was worth trying there to make the comparison.

It pours a clear, reddish amber hue with minimal weight to the body. Head is a fine and solid beige foam that forms nice small bubbles. It laces the glass with streaky, tight rings as it goes down. Carbonation is mild. Looks pretty good.

Nose is robust but not violent with earth, herbal hops, giving a woody, English character. I'm guessing East Kent Goldings are prominent, but it could be others in that herbal, earthy style. Slight pepper comes through as well. Missing some weight and depth, but otherwise solid enough.

More on the herbs side of thing on the palate as well: green, crushed fragrance on the front, before a rather gritty character comes in part way through. I recall toffee on the canned version, but there's not much of that here: just a mild husky grain note to balance. It also feels a little thin, suggesting that a bit more malt body would help it in more ways than one. Finish has a hint of crushed mint to it, and a mild astringency.

Some creaminess in the mouthfeel would help a lot, as would a little more sweetness.

It's nice enough. It's tasty, rather English in genesis, and with a fair whack of hop character. I think the main difference between the can and the on-tap version came from the serving temperature. The can had some odd fruity esters as it warmed, but I think the on-tap one probably suffered a thinness from being a bit too cold. Otherwise, the two seem to back each other up pretty well.