Ticket Booth Pale Ale
Sideshow Brewers

330ml bottle poured into pint glass 19/3/14

A not a very pale ale, murky dark amber with enough clarity to see plenty of bubbles that feed a light orange foam that leaves lots of random lace down the glass

S peachy, lots of orange and grapefruit, a little pine, plenty of brown sugar and caramel, vitamin c chewable comes to mind

T lots of rind and brown sugar, the fruity notes are held back a fair bit, fairly malty compared to the nose, a step backwards

M heavy side of medium, creams up quickly, a little sticky on the lips but slick on the palate, heavy rind on the finish

O curious to if this is fresh or not, tastes like the malts coming out but still plenty of fruity hops on the nose, pretty good overall I'd try it again if I saw it on tap

I'd like to try this again to see if I got a fresh bottle, the nose was there but it didn't quite follow through at every step

 

Pours dark amber with a fading head.
Super hoppy aroma, lots of peach, orange blossom, lemon, nectarine and confectionery. Also some soft biscuity malt.
Toasty malt as a flavour, along with some of the aforementioned fruit. A bit grassy.
Too much carbonation.

Pours a nice, slightly cloudy, slightly burnished copper. Good head/lacing.

Smell is an exact replica of the strawberry syrup/balsamic notes I got in HopDog Children of Darkness. Some green apple, cider and copper notes too.

Taste features more layered notes of apple, cider and copper.

Mouthfeel is fine, a tad bitter but also fruity.

A decent crack at a pale. Loads of green apple though.

From Slowbeer. No BB.

Pours an effervescent white head over a dark amber bronze hazed body. Head stays for a very long time, and does not fade to film at all.

Hop fest on nose, with citrus and apricots.

Taste is a little dull in terms of hop presence, almost earthy in an APA. Apricots and citrus in the mix, a little hint of pine. Quite full on but dry. Reasonable malt presence.

Mouthfeel medium bodied and well carbonated.

Overall, a big APA in terms of hops, but lacks some of the subtlety and finesses to stand out in a crowded market.

330ml bottle purchased from Slowbeer. It has some pretty cool branding in the label, and nice artwork. Let's see how it stands up taste-wise.

Pours a very murky and rather dark amber colour, with a minimal head of fine white bubbles that sink into a slushy film. Rather light-weight in the body, and the carbonation is loose and fast-moving. Lacing is patchy and inconsistent. I can't say I'm overly impressed.

Nose is green with hops, an oddly earthy or dank interpretation. There are hints of the brightness of the purported Citra, but no rounded fruity flavours—they mention Citra, Cascade and Amarillo on the label. This is backed up by a rather brusque, husky grain character and a hint of clipped grass. It certainly has more hop character than a standard craft knock-off "pale ale" would have, but it misses out in other ways.

Taste is light and clean, with more than a little reliance on the cracked grainy malt character again. Hop bitterness is muted, but again where it appears it feels more like the earthier varieties, despite the fact that (according to the bottle) it's not. Still, it's light and drinkable, and doesn't have anything unpleasant in its makeup.

Feel is light and clean as well: good level of carbonation to keep things sprightly, but not too much as to make it frothy or bloating.

Overall, I'm far from being blown away by this, but it's decent, and drinkable.

But (and here's the big "but") does Australia need another decent, drinkable pale ale? This really doesn't do anything out of the ordinary, and I feel unless these guys put together something else to keep people interested, this is just likely to fall by the wayside.