It's all getting a little weird, as it seems that, recently, pretty much every single beer being released in Australia reminds us of one song or another. We had Mountain Goat's Little Girl sparking renditions of Billy Idol's White Wedding followed by Holgate's Millennium Falcon bringing back memories of Carter. This one, however, could well be our favourite. The Great American Challenge, to the uninitiated (which we are glad to confirm includes the residents of Crafty Towers), is the name of the world's largest dildo. Upon being informed of this, it brought to mind the rather splendid Bobby Brown Goes Down by Frank Zappa. This tale of an America preppie's descent into sexual depravity includes a wonderful line about the protagonist being able "to take about an hour on the Tower of Power", which we assume is a similar item to the Great American Challenge. Anyway, you're here for the beer, which in this case is a "Shiraz Barrel-Aged Funko-Trappist" ale. So what does that mean in practice? To the Crafty nose and palate, it means some berry fruitiness and a hint of funk on the nose (there's some Brett in there, wild fans) combined with some soft, dark fruit and sweet malt flavours in what is a rather smooth, warming affair. Having cracked a first bottle before it was ready, we were nonplussed; having revisited since, it may well be one of the Abbotsford loons' finest to date.
Published January 19, 2013 2013-01-19 00:00:00
