Murray's Anniversary Ale 8

Every year on its birthday, which falls on New Year's Day, Murray's releases its Anniversary Ale. Always big, always oaked and always an evolution on the previous year's recipe, past years have also tended to see the beer get bigger year in, year out, with the ABV percentage climbing, the number of yeasts used on the rise and sometimes even the number of types of oak used increasing too. For number 8, however, they've decided to head back to where it all started with the first Anniversary Ale. It's a barley wine style inspired by beers from the US, the UK and Belgium that tips the scales at a mere 10 per cent. Head brewer Shawn Sherlock tells us: 'It has rich crystal malt character and assertive bitterness and hop flavour to finish. As previous vintages have shown, extensive cellaring [up to 10 years] will be well rewarded with a depth of complexity of flavour and aroma that only careful bottle ageing brings.� Just 1,000 750ml bottles are available and can be ordered direct from the brewery.

Published January 1, 2014 2014-01-01 00:00:00