Cinnamon Girl
St. Peters Brewery (Australia)

Very odd, murky mud-brown colour, very much like melted chocolate mixed with the bottom of a pond, crowned with an exorbitantly excessive chunky beige head. Quite opaque in the body, but some light gets in revealing the beer's true colour. A very unusual and unique looking beer.

Huge spicy notes on the nose - lots of cinnamon, sugar, a little piquant clove and a sweet vanilla bean note all rolled into one. Smells like a baked cinnamon scroll, very sweet and spicy.

Also lots of spice on the palate, with a very smooth and creamy mouthfeel that reminds me of vanilla custard. Fair bit of cinnamon still, a mid-palate burst of something slightly bitter - reminds me a little of anise and wormwood, before the silky vanilla character, and dry cinnamon spice make a reprise on the back, cleaning up, and readying my palate for the next sip. Very good indeed.

A very pleasant and extremely enjoyable spiced ale. The spice is very well done - very pleasant, not over the top, and just lending character to the beer, which accepts the lift of the spice well. Very smooth and drinkable.

Pours a very cloudy dusky brown with slight yellow tinge. Beige head is very voluminous, sinks like a fluffy cloud, quite large, visible bubbles. Leaves specks of lacing. Looks pretty darned nice, I'm just not sure about that much head on this style of beer.

Nose is quite pleasant, sour with a definite cinnamon hit on that, quite sweet but with an organic, funky spice character to it as well, almost meaty in places to be honest, but yeah, mostly a sweet, brown sugar undertone with cinnamon spice overlaying it. Delivers what it promises, and more. A lot more nuance that I expected.

Taste is reasonable sour, with a meaty and smokey hint around the edges, subtle though. Palate has a lot of sweetness to it, with hints of some plum and maybe some blood orange or other citrus. Cinnamon is a little more subdued here, comes on as a brief flavour on the mid and then resurfaces on the finish, after a slight bite of - I think - English style hops.

Mouthfeel is a bit thin although you can feel the sediment particles throughout. Not bad but not great.

A good idea for a beer this, because the slightly sweet, organic spice of cinnamon is a very good flavour pair with the bitter hops and the caramelly malt. They've handled it well here as well, without going overboard. Nice flavours, nice balance.