The craft beer world is something of a global community these days, with friendships formed across the planet. And one such friendship has led to this double dose of collabs between Hargreaves Hill in the Yarra Valley and Celestial Beerworks in Dallas, Texas. The former's national sales manager, Andrew Pretty, studied at college, played competition tennis and met his now wife in Texas and, more recently, has formed a relationship with Matt and Molly, the co-founders of the latter.
Now that relationship has been turned into beer(s), each bearing artwork designed by the American brewers and with names that reflect the difference in timezones. Midday is the lighter and sunnier of the two: a double hazy IPA featuring pineapple, passionfruit and peaches. You may well read that lineup of fruits and see the appearance of the beer in your glass and figure you're in for a smoothie-esque punch, yet the aromas come across more as natural and hop-derived (it helps the hops of choice are as fruit-forward as Idaho 7 and Eclipse) with a grassiness accompanying the smorgasbord of soft, creamily juicy fruitiness. A touch of rind-like bitterness looks to puncture that juiciness a little more too in what’s a throwback to the sort of beers that were dominating Beerstagram a few years back.
Hargreaves Hill haven't been averse to throwing adjuncts at beers on occasion, although when it comes to stouts they're best known for their more traditional offerings, whether straight or imperial stout. Here, however, they've gone a little nuts – literally – in adding pecans, cinnamon and vanilla bean to a 12 percenter.
Witching Hour has a head so dense each bubble is like a mini ball bearing with a meniscus so thick that watching the head slowly fall in on itself is a little like one of those bubble-popping games that pops up in your social feeds. You could probably make yourself a hot dessert from scratch to accompany it in the time it takes to completely collapse.
Knock it back (figuratively, at least) and there's heaps of gnarly roasted barley bringing a spiralling, viscous bitterness that sets in like underlay upon which the vanilla and pecans do their best to make their presence known. They do so more in the manner they might if swirled through a dense ganache mousse, while the cinnamon adds a little spice and, presumably, a drying edge to counter the voluptuous nature of the booze and the oiliness of the roasted malts. Definitely a sharer or a beer to take one’s time over when there’s nothing left in the day but relaxed contemplation.
James Smith
Published August 16, 2024 2024-08-16 00:00:00
