Bandit Pale Ale
Killer Sprocket

Not sure how this, what will no doubt be a delightful, peated Pale Ale escaped my attention. Especially since it is from Killer Sprocket: One of the more exciting of the recent explosion of new Australian craft breweries. In any case this is an intriguing sounding beers currently out there: A peated brew that isn’t a Scotch Ale, but in fact done in an American Pale Ale style, you know the one with the hops... I’m curiously as to how the smoky peat flavours will blend with piney/citric hops, there’s only one way to find out and it doesn’t involve Sudoku.

Poured from a 330ml bottle into a nonic pint.

A: Fascinating cloudy caramel/copper body with a tight-packed cream coloured head on top which leaves some faint lacing on the side of the glass as it drop down. Quite a murky look for an APA, if we’re going off the BJCP style guidelines it is a bit too dark, but I don’t mind - it’s obviously due to the peating “I’ll allow it”. 7/10.

S: Smoky peat Phenols give this brew a bit of the old leather shoe aspect you would find in a glass of Ardbeg or Laphroaig - which is to say “as advertised” expectation-wise. A light caramel malt note, along with a spicy and earthy hop rounds out a decent but not “wow” aroma. 7/10.

T: Great peat characters upfront (smoke, leather, dirt) lead in to herbal/spicy/earthy hop notes, some caramel malts in the background, finishes with an odd combination of medium bitterness, smoke and a palate drying effect. This is certainly an interesting array of flavours to say the least. Aftertaste is a lingering herbal bitterness. 7/10.

M: Mid to light bodied with a nice light but dense carbonation - it’s one of those light but highly textured brews. 7/10.

D: This is a tough beer to rate - it’s great in some ways (as a Single-Malt Scotch Whiskey fan I love that nice peated taste) but the hops are too bitter with that astringent herbal bitterness that undoes all the great work the rest of the ingredients add. To put it another way - I couldn’t relax drinking this brew because the bitterness in the aftertaste was off-putting. Maybe it’s something to do with mixing peated malt into a hoppy style, I don’t know, but whatever it is this brew bounced off me a little, though I still liked parts of it. 6/10.

Food match: I feel like this is a good beer to match with a nice rare rib-eye steak, a light potato mash, asparagus and salsa verde.

 

 

330mL bottle poured into tulip glass. Has 10% peated malt , and a respectable 45 IBUs.

L - cloudy, copper, pours an off white frothy head of good size (2cm). Respectable head retention.

S - massive smoky odour - more than a rauchbier, and other phenols. Reminds me of the smell of home brew in the garage. The other smell it reminds me of is a doctor's room. Plus there is a hint of honey and english style malts in there.

T - much more complex than I expected. Pils style grassy hops, lightly roasted english style malts, toffee, and some fruity hop bitterness. then at the halfway point, the smokey bacon flavours start to rev up. But, there is still a hint of toffee/caramel all the way through as well. Short finish. Wierd English bitter/pils/rauch bier hybrid.

F - low carbonation, medium to heavy bodied, chunky texture up front, but thins out to become dryish at the finish.

O - very interesting - the 'peated' malts are just at the right level so as to not increase the smokiness too much. Otherwise I'd be thinking more rauchbier than pale ale. Bit heavy for a session ale though.