Beer Ballistic Beer Pale (2020 onwards)

Some pale ales are a wolf in sheep’s clothing - or rather, an IPA in pale ale’s clothing. And some pale ales do exactly what they say on the can.

Ballistic’s core pale is the latter. It pours a light gold bordering on sappy orange, coincidentally matching the orange colour of the text on the label. Ballistic have packed a respectable amount of fresh hop character into a modest 4.6 percent ABV, with a blend of tropical, citrus and spice in the aroma. Once it hits the tongue, it’s hard to tell where the spice of the hops ends and the spice of the malt begins.

This pale ale manages to be light, lean and more-ish without lacking in taste or feeling like anything’s missing.

Mick Wust