When the XPA pseudo-style first appeared there was little consistency in the beer from one brand to the next. For some, ‘X’ signified extra hops or extra pale, and for others, even extra booze. Cornella Brewery’s first XPA, named XPAlidocious, fit the latter of these interpretations. Circa 2016, a small Gold Coast brewery released a refreshing, dry-hopped pale ale. The beer has gone on to become ubiquitous across Australia and set expectations in the minds of consumers for what an XPA should be. Whilst not the only motivator, this ‘defining’ of what constitutes an XPA, influenced Cornella Brewery’s own redesign of its XPA. Part of their mindset was to avoid the need to educate every customer coming through the taproom on the history of XPA and why theirs differed from the most well-known example in the country.
And so in 2019, ‘Hay Bale’ was born with a lower ABV compared with the aforenoted beer. Named for its straw-coloured appearance, and hopped with Citra, Cornella Brewery’s XPA brings gentle notes of citrus and stone fruit and given the brewery's home is blanketed in grapevines, after a hard day picking, Hay Bale must be just the ticket to relax and enjoy the sunset.
Daniel Ridd
