Karl Strauss Tower 10 IPA

After spending the last while drinking standard ales and lagers, I started getting that itching feeling.  My skin felt like it was burning, my eyes were twitching uncontrollably...  I couldn't sleep...  I couldn't concentrate.  I needed another hit of hops.  It was time for a fix.

HOOK IT TO MY VEIN.

I picked up this at the same time as the Dundee IPA, this number was only $17 for a six pack and is an imported IPA from San Diego, California.  The story goes that in the 1980s, under Lifeguard 'Tower 10', two college grads and an old brew master drew up plans to start the first craft brewhouse in the area.  This West Coast style IPA pays homage to this moment of grandeur, so lets hope that it delivers truly.

The Tower pours an amber colour with tones of copper, bearing a lovely orange hue bursting through it with some light in the room.  It looks pretty good, a bit thin, but West Coast IPAs are generally a few kilos lighter than those from the Eastern Conference.  The first impression this beer leaves is deeper than the Chicxulub Crater.  The word bitter does not even cut the mustard.  Once it really lays the boot in, the bitterness factor of this beer is more assertive than Joseph Stalin's dominatrix.   The feel has that slick oily resin element, but it is extremely subtle for a powerful IPA.  The balance between meaty flavours and refreshing texture is quite astounding, and is something that has to be experienced.

I recommend this beer.  It does come with a warning however.  If you have never tinkered with this genre of beer before, then you may walk out of this experience looking somewhat like a napalm victim.  There are some subtle citrus fruits and sweet tones, but above all it's a gatling gun full of pine needles coated in a residue so bitter it may have been sourced from Eddie McGuire's tears after last year's Grand Final.

A solid, refreshing IPA at an affordable price.  Definitely not amongst my favourite beers, but I still give a nod of acknowledgement in it's general direction.

7.5/10

BrewBoys GT Lager

This lonely lager was sitting by itself in the corner of a fridge at The Local when it was being cleared out, during it's closing down sale.  While I was particularly on the lookout for some unique ales, I thought what the hey?  Sometimes you just want a nice, clean, refreshing beer instead of the liquid version of a Dali painting.  I'll readily admit that at times I am guilty of being a beer snob and refusing to drink anything that doesn't taste like diving head first into a barrel of hops, while wearing Steven Tyler's mouth and Charlie Sheen's nostrils.

The 'GT' Lager presents itself like a 70's V8.  The GT stripes and badging, and '35.1 bitterness units' being presented as an advertisement of cubic inches - 351.  Otherwise known as 5.8 litres in our language.  I'm a bit of a petrol head, so I 'get' what they are trying to do here, but even to me it still comes off as sitting somewhere between straight to DVD sequels and Christmas sweaters on the tackiness scale.  I likely never would have bought this on presentation, if it wasn't 40% off and one of the last bottles on the shelf.

The GT pours a surprisingly rich amber colour.  There is no head to be seen, as is to be expected, but apart from that you could be mistaken for thinking this is an amber ale, albeit a soft one.  The feeling is crisp and refreshing and sharply carbonated.  The depth is found in the flavour, a trait not commonly found in the bottom fermented version of our favourite beverage.  Nuts, caramel, malt, hops...  it has all the traits of an amber, but just wears a skimpier outfit.  It takes the bolder tastes of the beer world and makes them exceptionally easier to pound down.  Kind of like the British economy.  Get it?  Pound down?  The pound... ah forget it.

6.5/10