Have you ever wondered what it would taste like if you mixed the All Star IPA with the Saison D’Heretique? The brewers at The Australian Brewery did, so they did. The result is a draught-only release called the Holy Union.
It uses the exact same strain of French/Belgian saison yeast the Rouse Hill brewery uses to such great effect in its Saison D’Heretique and combines it with the generous hopping regime of their session IPA. While there’s yeast spiciness on the nose, it’s the latter hop component – comprised of Mosaic, Centennial, Columbus, Cascade and Amarillo varieties – that tends to dominate proceedings, contributing to an earthy character that’s accentuated by the malt which offers up some strong flavours, not to mention giving it a beautiful deep copper colour.
It’s closer to the All Star’s sessionable nature when it comes to ABV, with the modest 4.5 precent ABV belying what’s a pretty strong flavour profile. In terms of style, Holy Union’s Belgian and IPA influences naturally suggest it should be a Belgian IPA, though it’s really just a case of melding two beers together to see what would happen. So, best not to get too fussy with the style guidelines and just enjoy it. [Let's go with Belgian session IPA and annoy the purists – Ed.]
Nick O
Published March 3, 2016 2016-03-03 00:00:00
