The Phoenix is one of the most significant releases in the Hargreaves Hill roster. The beer leaves the Yarra Valley brewery each year to commemorate the brewery’s rebirth following the Black Saturday bushfires that destroyed the original brew shed in Steels Creek back in 2009. The imperial red ale comes in an incredibly limited run of wax-sealed 750ml bottles that tend to make fleeting appearances on bottleshop shelves.
The beer inside is as decadent as the wax adornment suggests, pouring auburn and with rich, jam-meets-fortified-wine flavours coming from the malts. The hops contribute pine and spicy aromas as well as a grippy bitterness that will likely aid cellaring – if you can resist the temptation to slice off the seal and tuck in straight away, that is.
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