It used to be the case that Bridge Road's Ben Kraus would conjure up a new beer for his brewery's birthday every year. But, given how much everyone loved his B2 Bomber when it first appeared as a kind of Black Belgian IPA, it seems that it's now become the beer to mark each anniversary, albeit with a tweak year on year. And why not? It's the highest rated Australian beer on Untappd, after all, and is a beer with character that develops interest over time. That said, you may want to crack the Mach 3.0 as soon as you get your hands on it as, more than either of its predecessors, its hoppy IPA-ness is front and centre. Whereas the Belgian yeast used to hit home first, followed by a touch of roast, here you're left in no doubt that the hopping regime has been seriously upped, with a massive fruity, almost sticky aroma backed by a hint of roast as it warms. There's a bigger body underneath it's espresso-coloured head too, with the Belgian yeast characters coming to the fore in the mouth too. Bigger in every way than Mach 1 and 2, and just as good.
Published July 19, 2013 2013-07-19 00:00:00