Given one of our longest-running writers also works at Copper & Oak, I did wonder if a disclaimer was needed at the start of this write-up of a collab he's coordinated between the Perth retailers and another WA brewery. The main reason is that I have no choice but to be fulsome in my praise of the endeavour brought together by Guy Southern with the team at King Road.
From the can design (by the ever-excellent Zendoke), which is both striking and let's you know exactly what to expect in terms of mood and liquid, through to the liquid itself, it's a real tour de force. Anyone who lives in WA, reads these pages regularly, or follows beer awards knows that King Road make consistently great beers that tend to stick close to classic style guidelines, with their IPA the one that has become their calling card. So, what happens when they create another IPA that looks to hove even more closely to the style's American roots?
In the case of Old School, you get a beer that feels like another backwards step along the path that led to hazies and juicy IPAs. As a reaction of sorts to the wall-to-wall hazies, a number of brewers, retailers and drinkers started clamouring for IPAs to go clear again; more recently, some have been getting darker too, ratcheting up the specialty malts in the mix to be more akin to the early US IPAs.
This example could pass for amber ale from a distance. That said, it’s the lovely, rich, ripe citrus aromas that take hold from the off, fattened and given depth by the sticky caramel-coated biscuit malts and broad, blackcurrant-meets-light liquorice flavoured bitterness.
When classic US IPAs are done this well, it’s easy to start pondering why there was ever the need to take the style in a million other directions. It's not so much old school as grown up.
James Smith
Published December 8, 2023 2023-12-08 00:00:00
