The aim with Hard Road's core range has always been to fill gaps in the Aussie beer landscape, and it's a toss-up for me whether the Belgian Pale Ale or this beer represents the beer filling the bigger gap. Chestnut brown ales were pretty regular sights in the earlier years of craft beer's rise in the US, less so on these shores.
This take on the style pours with a lovely, ruddy chestnut hue and has the light-on-its-feet feel of a brown ale. The chocolate is on the sweeter side, the nuttiness possesses a hint of almond, and there's a drying, toasted character wrapping itself around the central sweetness, not to mention some vanilla that reminds me a little of nougat. All in all, think of a Wagon Wheel without the jam and you're on the right track.
James Smith
