Elora Australis
Elora Brewing Co.

Picked up a 500 mL bottle no date indicated so hope it is fresh - great freshness grid on side of bottle just not stamped :(. Poured into a tulip and pours sunset gold with fair collar and effervesence. Nose is very mild offering wisps of fruit. Do smell the apricot as advertised but subtle. Taste was disappointing. Definitely clean and fresh but not at all complex for an IPA. A simple fruit blend here. Not bad if you are new to IPAs or looking for one with low IBU. Pair with ice cream on a hot summer day.

 

 

Hazy and yellowish in colour. Taste is tropical, grapefruit flavours, bitter but not too much, I believe this is my first beer with Australian and/or New Zealand hops. Not bad
February 6 2020

 

 

500 ml bottle served cold into a pint glass. LCBO purchase for $4.50 or so. Bottled Oct 7, 2019.

Appearance - Hazy golden straw color, topped with two fingers of decadent fluffy white head. Good staying power and lots of streaky lacing at the edges of the glass.

Smell - Love this hop combo of Nelson Sauvin and Galaxy as it gives off a pineapple, lychee, and kiwi combo. Super tropical and sweet aromatics.

Taste - Some mild bitterness initially which gives way to kiwi and lychee flavors. A hint of tangerine thrown in and some honeydew melon in the background as well. Steady wheaty backbone shines through in the back half of each sip as well.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, drying finish, carbonation is moderate but on the softer side. Some acidity but less than most IPA's.

Overall - Wow, what a beer. Very surprising, delicious and hits a beautiful combo of tropical notes. Stacks up well against even Great Lakes and Collective Arts, I think Elora Australis might be even better than some of those breweries stronger offerings. Well worth the price of consumption.

500 mL bottle from the LCBO; dated Sept 24 2019 and served barely chilled.

Pours a cloudy, translucent pale golden-yellow colour, generating an inch of fluffy, sparkling white head that gradually erodes over the next ten minutes or so. A lumpy, half-inch cap of soapy foam remains in place, with plenty of sticky lace having been splattered against the glass in the meantime; very visually appealing. On the nose, I'm getting notes of grape, orange, mango and peach, as well as minor suggestions of grapefruit and pine.

Tasty stuff - almost sorta along the lines of an old school East Coast IPA, as it's undoubtedly hop-forward, but not quite achieving the intense juicy qualities I've associated with more modern NEIPAs. Stone fruit, gooseberry, grape and mandarin orange come to mind, with hints of melon and mango coming forward towards the finish; light pine resin-y bitterness crops up briefly, but the profile defaults back to tropical/stone/citrus fruitiness in the aftertaste, with little in the way of lingering bitterness. Light-ish in body, with relatively low carbonation levels that weakly brush against the palate, resulting in a smooth, soft-textured pale ale with good drinkability. No real complaints to report - this is just a pleasant, well-balanced hoppy pale ale.

Final Grade: 4.06, an A-. Elora Australis is a fruity, flavourful, delightful brew that gets good mileage out of its joint Aussie/Kiwi hop bill. I tried a bottle of their Elora Borealis right after this for comparison's sake, and while the quality of each beer was similar, I'd have to say I prefer this southern hemisphere variant over the original. I haven't tried all that many Elora beers, but I have enjoyed every single one so far - this is one SW Ontario brewer worth keeping tabs on. If you can find it, then I'd encourage you to try it ASAP.