Besides forcing me to fight the urge to put on The Grid's novelty-techno earworm of the same name [don't fight it, feel it, James], the arrival of Swamp Thing from Sailors Grave offers another chance to see how the brewers fare when tackling a more-normal-than-their-standard-fare, hop-driven beer. Past experience has shown that, while they favour the esoteric, the East Gippsland crew tend to do such things with aplomb.
In this case, you have a black IPA with the appearance of a robust porter and the character of, well, not that. Mint chocolate is the overriding impression; seemingly the dark malts have taken hold of the fruitier desires of the Strata, Centennial, Chinook and Citra hops and bundled them into the weeds, leaving their danker elements to swirl amid the dusty dark chocolate. Smooth and velvety on the palate, with the fullness a 6.5 percent ABV beer can bring, there's a touch of drying bitterness in place to pull it from the swamp.
With Sunken Bounty, they've fired up the nitro booster once more so make sure you give your can a good shake before pouring (try not to spray as much around the room as I did, would be my advice). The name and the beer itself – a coconut stout – also seem designed to take my mind back to more youthful days in the UK – although I'd happily listen to Swamp Thing on repeat more than eat a bar of Bounty. See, I'm no great fan of coconut outside South East Asian dishes – sorry, Lamingtons – but if you are then get ready to be sunken as toasted coconut explodes from its thick head. It's voluptuous and chocolaty too, but mainly this is about getting your coconut fix in.
James Smith
Published September 30, 2022 2022-09-30 00:00:00
