James Squire Pale Ale - New Beer

[waggastew]

Went to a James Squire tasting session last night hosted by Chuck Hahn. They were launching the 40 Lashes Pale Ale, hopped with NS, Amarillo and Galaxy. Was not a bad drop, alot more flavour than the Kosi Pale Ale with a touch of acidity to make it a good summer quencher. Its more of an Aussie PA style but seemed pretty popular with the beer snobs.

 

[bignath]

I was at one those tastings last week, and thought that pale ale was fantastic.

I love JS beers, the only one i don't like is the sundowner lager.

Am on the waiting list for the pale, cant wait for release day to get me some.

Was a good night too. Mine was hosted by Michael Jackson - seriously, that's his name. And yes, he did prefer to be called Jacko. Was a pretty good bloke too.

 

[pbrosnan]

I tried this at a tasting a couple of months ago in Perth and thought was a bit bland. However the beer was served very cold, lager temp, so may be that destroyed the taste and my buds.

 

[argon]

Inhad this a month or so back at the fox in south Brisbane. 'twas ok, nothing to write home about. Certanly better than all the other selections. Dey and very sessionable though, with a very subtle hop finish. But as above it was served fizzy and very cold. Maybe should have let it warm a touch.

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

Sipping on the JS "one fifty" lashes Pale Ale.

Obviously a different beer to the 40 lashes. IMO it's a JS Golden Ale without the Amarillo aroma. Pretty unimpressed.

 

[waggastew]

Interesting feedback. Maybe they kegged a 'freshy' for the night as I picked up the Amarillo and NS from the aroma. Chuck filled me in on the Galaxy. Its no hop bomb but is a damn sight better than the Koscuisko PA if you ask me. Do you think they would up the hops for the promos to get you in and then 'water it down' for bottling/mass production?

PS. Chatted to a mate the other day about the JS night I went to. They kicked onto another pub around the corner with Chuck Hahn. Apparently he threw the corporate card behind the bar and they all had a very merry time indeed! Bummer I pulled the pin earlier due to it being a work night. Still, fair play to a bloke who has plenty of dough in the bank to want to go out on the sauce with a bunch of strangers. Must be on a tight leash at home and likes to cut loose when on the road?

 

[mckenry]

I had the one fifty pale ale at the AB in Glebe last night. I am a fan of th JS beers and always defend the Golden Ale, when others have gone off it. Anyway, my bro & I had a jug of it. Fairly underwhelmed. Back to the Golden Ales. Was hoping for a big hop punch, but no.

 

[Pollux]

Grabbed a six pack today at the bottle shop. Have tried it now both poured into a glass and straight from the bottle. It's sessionable, but nothing to write home about....

And the bullshit on the bottle.....

"A clean-finishing Australian-style cloudy pale ale for cracking refreshment. Malted wheat adds to its refreshing character and a concoction of hops creates fruity aroma with hints of passionfruit, grapefruit and citrus"


Please........concoction of hops? I'd be shocked if the hops actually ever touched the kettle or were just waved over the top....

It's sad to see JS lose it's way so badly, I can remember my first ever JS beer, it was the 2006 Hop Thief and it was freaking fantastic.....

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Never Forsake Flavour...
indeed.

 

[ged]

Schooner at the Norman today. Pretty average. Very similar to Kosciuszko - probably the same recipe. A bit cloudy, slightly grainy malt, barest hint of Galaxy. For something to drink with an incorrectly cooked steak, it's better than VB.

 

[eamonnfoley]

All their regular beers are macro swill nowadays. Only ones worth buying in my opinion are the mad brewers range. I loved the smoked weizen.

 

[bignath]

Wow, this is disappointing about these comments.

I had this a few weeks ago as it was unveiled at a tasting night i attended with Jacko, and i loved it.

Saw it advertised in the junk mail at Dans and thought, Cool, gotta go get me some. Sounds like it may not live up to the hype.

FWIW, everybody who attended the night went home raving about this beer - some attendees were CUB employees, and other's were local winery/pub owners.

Seems like a shame, but i'll still go get me a sixer to try.

 

[waggastew]

Wow, this is disappointing about these comments.

I had this a few weeks ago as it was unveiled at a tasting night i attended with Jacko, and i loved it.


FWIW, everybody who attended the night went home raving about this beer - some attendees were CUB employees, and other's were local winery/pub owners.

Exactly my experience as stated above. Do you think they bunged on 'Special Batch' beer for the promo night or it was just fresh?

Kinda like the 'Special' wines some winemakers have been caught doing for competitions

 

[OzMemphis]

I had a couple of these @ Sydney Airport with some mates and we loved it.
Certainly hope its not that bad out of the bottle, picking up a case on Friday!

 

[kevo]

Had one tonight, remined me of a stone & wood, just turned down several notches.
Not bad, not great, won't rush, but would have another.

Kev

 

[andreic]

Bought a sixpack last night and had a few.

I quite like it. Its not very hoppy for those of you that have tuned your palates to full on APA hopmonster beers but I got the slightest pleasant whiff of hop aroma. There's a slight refreshing tartness to it. Its a light, refreshing easy drinking beer. It'd work well for a session.

cheers, Andrei

 

[probablynathan]

Had this one a few times now. First tasting was on tap I was unimpressed by it but it was the first release and I think they may have tweaked it a bit since then. second tasting was at a James squire dinner and I enjoyed it, and talking to a few other people there I was not alone in having revised my opinion of this beer.

So if you tried it and didn't like it when it first came out give it another chance you might be surprised.

Personally I prefer it over Sundowner, Pilsner and Golden but not as much as the IPA, Amber and Porter. and at 4.2% It will make a good summer session beer.

 

[.DJ.]

Had one last night...

Where are the hops? Tasted like Tooheys...

 

[ekul]

I was at the bottlo last night buying some coopers yeast so thought i should splash out and try one of the 150 lashes.

I didn't think the 150 lashes was a bad beer, but i expect more from this brewery. I really wish they would start making the golden ale with hops in it again. This current golden ale they make is not a patch on the original recipe.

It seems to me that they are putting lass hops in all their beers to appeal to a larger market. Their sundowner was an 'alright' drop in a pinch, but i tasted one the other day and it may as well have been a tooheys.

 

[ledgenko]

I am in agreeance with Pollox here ... The hop Thief .. is James Squires best yet beer ... bring it back !!!!