Beer Cartel have been bringing the world's beers to Aussie beer lovers for more than a decade now. And, while Deeds haven't been around as long, in recent years they've been causing much excitement for many of those same beer lovers, a situation that saw them shoot up the rankings in Beer Cartel's most recent Australian Craft Beer Survey – and then some. It's a relationship of sorts that's been consummated here with a beer brewed by the latter to be sold exclusively by the former, one going by the name The Syndicate.
In a case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", the collaborators have opted for a hazy IPA, one dry-hopped with three of the most popular houblons du jour: Sabro, Mosaic and Motueka. The Syndicate looks like a Deeds hazy – pale gold with a fluffy head – and does the job aromatically: candied mango, citrus and stone fruit with a sweet, sherbety tickle and a soft underbelly.
There’s more bite than you might expect on the palate, where the resinous yet still sweet bitterness tugs away at your taste buds before Sabro makes its distinctive mark once all else has subsided; it might arrive later than expected, but is unmistakeable once it does.
James Smith
Published March 12, 2021 2021-03-12 00:00:00