Whether by design or otherwise, there's much about the look of Brewmanity's first new release of 2023 that reminds me of the Big Freeze, a key fundraiser for FightMND, the charity fronted by Brewmanity co-founder David Neitz's former coach, Neale Daniher. The event takes place at the MCG each year – hardly the craftiest of venues, even if some of CUB/Asahi's acquired brands pour there now. So, in combination with the words "Extra Crisp" on the label, it could easily bring to mind the "Super Crisp" and "Ultra Crisp", sex-in-a-canoe lagers that still dominate the market. The key clue, however, is in the given style: cold XPA.
Once again happy to play around with variations on a theme, Brewmanity have taken the cold IPA concept and brought it under 5 percent ABV into XPA territory. And they've done so while retaining the nature of those bigger beers: there's that distinct white wine / resin-meets-rind characters many brewers favour in cold IPAs and a not insignificant oily bitterness that cuts through any sweetness and lingers deep in the palate. In short, it's a long way from crisp macro-lagers and a sign that there will be plenty to satisfy hopheads when their South Melbourne brewpub arrives mid-2023.
James Smith
Published March 2, 2023 2023-03-02 00:00:00
