Gage Roads Atomic Pale Ale

Reasonably priced handcrafted Pale Ales. The curvy brunettes of beer, in my humble opinion. The newest beer that I have sampled is from a Western Australian brewery, Gage Roads. I picked up a sixer of these for a very acceptable sounding $16, under the premise that I was about to willingly unleash Hiroshima on my tastebuds. Branding your Pale Ale, 'Atomic', is really sticking your neck out. Given the competition in this space nowadays, you'd better resemble a great big fuck off diplodocus.

The Atomic Ale pours a darkish orange colour with some slight copper tones. Somewhere in between midlife crisis Brighton mother and Snooki. An attention seeking head of bubbles appears only momentarily before quickly receding back from whence it came, not unlike the career of Chumbawumba. The body and feel is quite light, with a fleeting sting to it's carbonation. The flavours are dark malts and citrus, with the main lives of the party being orange and citrus. The hops are present, but not nearly enough. There's a slight tease, and a moment of allure, but you never quite leave the friendzone.

 In an Australian summer this would be a smashingly drinkable ale. The citrus and the soft biting carbonation would work an absolute treat. However when lining up the 'Atomic' Ale against all the other Pale Ales out there, and in this country in particular, it proves itself to be a beer of Cold War proportions. Chests are puffed, claims are made, but when push comes to shove not a single shot is fired. It's a good beer. This is by no means a negative review. I was just hoping for a little bit more from what I would call an ambitously titled beer. False flags are flown to divert attention, and in this case, the mission was a success. My eye was caught.

6/10

Wingwalker American Pale Ale

After completing the challenge I took a break from tirelessly searching for strange beers, and spent some time just drinking whatever I felt like drinking at the time. Recently though after a trip to Dan Murphy's to pick up some bottles of liquor, I wandered past the beer aisle to see if there was a not-too-expensive six pack of something interesting. I saw a label that I'd never seen before (with a tempting $17 price tag), depicting a dude hanging upside down from an old school plane on some next level aeronautical acrobatics. Somewhat reminiscent of a scene from a Michael Bay movie, had he been born in 1875. It turned out to be a New York brewery called Wingwalker, there were a couple of varieties but I picked up the American Pale Ale. The beer pours as an APA does... but does have a bit of a 'watered down' appearance to it. Without casting too strong a judgement, as some soft looking ales still conceal a weapon in the belt. The appearance is a light copper colour, deep in tone but clear through. The body is also fairly light and spritely, but thirst quenchingly refreshing. The initial flavours are bready and biscuity, with a moderately sweet caramel tone trailed by a soft, but not insignificant, hopped finish. It's all there. All the stock standard elements are present for a run of the mill American Pale Ale. The execution... is not bad, but it's just not at all that exciting. It just doesn't feel sturdy. It's almost like the grade A tools were given to the unlicensed builder. That being said, for an imported $17 Pale Ale six pack it's not that bad of a purchase. American style Pale Ales are right up there amongst my favourite beers, and while this far from being earth shattering, it was a refreshing and affordable drop. 6/10