Hargreaves Hill’s Phoenix has risen once again in 2022, with the imperial red ale returning for autumn in its elegant, wax-dipped, curved 750ml bottles. The beer was first released back in 2010, just as the brewery was coming back after the original Yarra Valley site was destroyed during the Black Saturday fires, and has since become a sought after release from the brewery, with only 500 individually-labelled bottles available.
Phoenix is built on myriad specialty malts and a heavy dose of Warrior hops from America, with 2022’s iteration blending a swirl of toffee, caramel and raisins alongside a chewy mix of resinous, piney and bitter grapefruit. While there is a warming element from the level of booze and a lot of different lines of flavour to chase down, this Phoenix seems to particularly balance hops and malt flavours – and we’d be keen to see how it develops when left in a cellar as certain aspects fade and others develop.
Will Ziebell
Published April 7, 2022 2022-04-07 00:00:00
