For the most part, the beers within the 2023 GABS Australian Invitational Craft Beer 8 Pack sit a fair way from the sort of boundary-pushing, frequently "Should we really? Yeah, why not..." beers one associates with the multi-city event. Sitting either side of 5 percent ABV, they're typically session-friendly rather than designed to blow your head off via an 80mL sample.
The one beer in the packs nudging the ABV a little higher comes from Hawkers: their Citra dry-hopped yuzu and pear sour, Gratuitous Flare, which lands at 7.2 percent. Yet it also lands with the sort of balance you come to expect from the Reservoir brewers – even in most of their bigger beers – and sits in line with past fruited sours such as Beneath The Trees We Gather or Around The Orchard We Roam.
You can tell there's a bit of booze at play thanks to the density of its appearance, one akin to a heavier cider, while the fleshy pear character ensures the yuzu doesn’t dominate like it has in many other beers. Indeed, once done and dusted, it's the pear and the cleansing acidity that are the take home elements here.
James Smith
Published March 21, 2023 2023-03-21 00:00:00
