Stoke Gold

So here I am, venturing back to the land of Paleo Water. The term sounds like something they would sell at the Jurassic Park cafeteria, to help wash down your jam filled Diplodonuts. After the somewhat underwhelming experience of Stoke's Amber offering, I went in to this one anticipating much of the same.

The beer pours a hazy golden hue with a fluffy head. Encouraging visuals so far. While not taking the sledgehammer approach of the Amber, there is little subtelty here either. To say this beer is balanced, would be akin to calling politicians honest. From what I can make out there are some sharp malts, before a a mild floral and hopped finish. There is about as much harmony here as a Grade 4 orchestra's first attempt at playing Mozart's Requiem. Stoke's snarling attitude perhaps lands an inch closer to the bulls eye with the Gold as opposed to the Amber, as some Golden Ales can feel a little bit flimsy in their attempts to be clean, summer beers.

The body/feel of the beer is actually refreshing. It has a moderate weight, but goes down quite easily despite the off kilter flavours. It isn't a bad beer, but it still really feels like a beta version... Stoke Gold 0.65. You don't get the feeling of a complete product. Was this rushed to market? I'm not sure, but in my opinion there is still work to be done to shave off some of the edges.

6/10