In any healthy team, there will always be differences of opinion, a willingness to debate, an appreciation that sometimes compromise is necessary to reach the best possible outcome. But sometimes, even a healthy team can decide that compromise can take a running jump and everyone can have their own way at the same time. Certainly, that seems to be what's happened at the Gold Coast's Burleigh Brewing, where a debate over the best hops currently available on the market - with five brewers arguing the case for five different varieties - has resulted in Hassle Hop.
It's a strong pale ale that first appeared at GABS 2013 and that unifies the favoured hop of each of the brewery's five members - "Galaxy (punchy Benny), El Dorado (sweet Mike), Citra (smoooooth Sean), Mosaic (complex Kieron), Belma (tropical Hawaiian Brennan) - and does so by striking a balance between the five of them. According to the Burleigh crew: "Striking a balance that brought out the best characteristics of each hop, without compromising the others, was about the toughest thing we've ever done." But, they tell us: "Finally, everything lined up perfectly to create this beautifully balanced, highly hoppy, strong pale ale." And who doesn't love a happy ending? Or, in this case, a happy, hoppy ending?
Published October 29, 2013 2013-10-29 00:00:00
