Hailing from Ballarat in Victoria, Scott Wilson-Browne operates a brewery that is not quite like any other brewery in the state, nor the country for that matter.
Scott produces his core range of beers as well as some 50+ small batch seasonal rarities that vary from licorice lagers to ancient Egyptian sourdough yeast ales.
I’m always keen to try the Red Duck seasonals, but with the sheer number of different offerings it’s difficult to catch them all.
Last year Scott collaborated with Denmark’s Anders Kissmeyer to produce one of the most gorgeous Double IPAs that I had all year, so when I found out that he was producing another as a seasonal this year I knew I had to snap a couple up.
Red Duck’s Sabre Tooth is a 9.0% (although it drinks very easily for this strength. Danger…) Double India Pale Ale brewed with lashings of American hops that are ever present in all elements of this beer.
It pours pale with an orange hue and retains a strong, fluffy white head.
This fella is crammed with C hops (Centennial, Chinook and Columbus) and gives a pungent, fruity aroma that is so enjoyable.
As you might guess, at 9.0% it’s a syrupy, thick beer that’s very smooth across the tongue.
This is where malt dominance ends though, as even though it offers a little sweetness to cut through the hops it is very much playing second fiddle to the delicious citrus fruit, piney bitterness that is the star of this show. It is quite bitter too, with it creeping up the back of your tongue and hanging around for a while.
Differing significantly from the other IPAs that Red Duck have given us, this is an indulgence for the hop lover.
With some spicy Indian curry or something salty like fried chicken this would gain a whole other element.
Well, this had made me hungry.
Adios muchachos.
