Beer review — Balmain Brewing Company and Cairngorm Brewery

Beer review

Balmain Brewing Company Original Pale Ale 330ml $4.00
Working class Balmain completes its gentrification with the addition of a very good craft brewery. The golden-amber ale strokes the palate with silk-smooth texture , sweet, opulent malt and teasing, finely balanced hops flavour and bitterness. What a beautifully balanced ale it is.

Cairngorm Brewery Company Blessed Thistle 500ml $8.00
Scotland’s Cairngorm Brewery takes us back to the pre-hops days when brewers used various plants to offset malt sweetness. In this throwback, the brewers boiled thistles in the wort. However, they had a bob each way, adding hops, too. It’s a full, chocolaty, dark ale with a winey texture and mildly bitter aftertaste.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2013
First published 13 February 2013 in The Canberra Times

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