Hot on the heels of their long-time-coming Jester King collab, Coolship With Jeff, comes another high profile booze world hook-up from La Sirène. But before we get to that – and its fruity twin – let’s start with the lightest of three releases leaving their Rezza home at the same time.
Tropicali Mango & Pineapple Table Beer is another addition to their series of oak-aged-wild-ale-in-cans. The titular fruits are present in great enough volume that, aromatically, this is the sort of beer to put wind in the sails of the “all craft beer is like Passiona” crowd, yet it wouldn’t be a La Sirène beer if things were that straightforward; lurking underneath that cloud of juice is a lean, spicy, drying table beer, which adds a very farmhouse finish to a mid with character.
Which brings us to Beer With Mac, their 2022 collab with winemaker Mac Forbes. Here, they’ve used Gewürztraminer grapes within a barrel-aged sour ale, and it looks like a gently hazed version of a white wine in the glass, aided by the low carbonation. It sits at the gentler end of the brewery’s experiments in oak too: there’s a lovely, full, vinous texture and its acidic side is kept soft and equally vinous. Add in plenty of oak mingling with the grapes on the nose and a dry-as-you-like finish and it’s one to pull out at the dinner table.
The beer has been given a second life too, as On The Vine: a single barrel of the above was spiked with passionfruit from Sunshine Coast. It hits the glass with a lively, fast-settling fizz and sits a shade or two hazier. There’s no mistaking the fruit or its added pucker, while the passionfruit's time within the liquid has added an extra shot of spritzy, lightly acidic carbonation that makes this more schmick picnic refreshment than its forebear’s refined dining option.
James Smith
Published March 15, 2024 2024-03-15 00:00:00
