Beer Uraidla Brewery Enchanted Delirium

The relative and oscillating importance of core range beers versus limited releases has been one of the more fascinating elements of the beer industry to monitor over the past half decade, not least since COVID arrived on these shores. And here the brewers at Uraidla have decided to plough a furrow that sits somewhere between the two: Enchanted Delirium is their first seasonal pale ale, with a new one to be released every three months in place of a permanent pale ale offering.

To launch the series, they've used oats and Verdant ale yeast to concoct a soft, cloudy platform upon which Citra, Sabro, Nelson Sauvin and Motueka hops go to work. That said, such is the distinctively orange crême character running right through it, I wouldn't have been surprised to learn there was some of HPA's mandarin-y Eclipse in the mix. However, it turns out that all the citrusy goodness has been extracted from that quartet in a beer that's equally pillowy on the palate: the experience brings to mind freshly-squeezed Jaffa juice whisked through a thick, sweetened cream.

Another delicious hazy from the Adelaide Hills crew.

James Smith