James Squire Pale Ale - New Beer

[WSC]

There could be an issue with freshness of this beer and the hop flavour.

The kegs I have seen are very close to their best before date. But that is from a sample of one venue.

 

[MarkBastard]

What ever happened to their amber ale?
A couple of years back I thought I'd found the holy grail of shop bought beers. Now, not so much. Actually, not at all.
Something(s) missing, and my palate's to underdeveloped to detect where these things have gone.

At a guess they cut down the Willamette, enhanced the POR, use tooheys yeast and add more sugar.

 

[QldKev]

I've given up on the James Squire range, they have totally stuffed them up and gone mainstream. Pitty because the JSGA was the beer that got me to move to AG.

QldKev

 

[1975sandman]

I've given up on the James Squire range, they have totally stuffed them up and gone mainstream. Pitty because the JSGA was the beer that got me to move to AG.

QldKev

I agree with QLDKev. It was the Squires range that got me off the megaswill initially. Thought the beers were good but they have gone downhill recently.

 

[craigo]

i had this beer a few weeks ago and thought it was crap id prefer coopers pale to this any day of the week.

 

[kymba]

this beer is actually bittered with a weak lemon juice solution and contains no hops, just like all their beers now

 

[Dave70]

At a guess they cut down the Willamette, enhanced the POR, use tooheys yeast and add more sugar.

Well, I guess you cant blame a brewer for hitching their wagon to two of the ingredients found in one of the countries most popular beers in an attempt to, presumably increase the market share. Even though they dumbed down the product in the process.
But like Ice Cube changing his image to endear himself to a white audience, they both sold out.
The sold out to the man.

 

[Bribie G]

So where is it available on tap in Brisbane? Here on Bribie / Caboolture there's only VB, Carlton, Mid, XXXX gold, blonde, blond, blonnddxx, New, Old (which I usually drink), old farts 2% beer, and I actually came across some Bruers Bright which was underwhelming. Caboolture ex-shire is pretty much a no go area for JS.

 

[argon]

I had this at the Fox and it was terrible. Absolutely horrible. It was as bad as Tooheys New without exaggerating. It tasted like a filtered Coopers Pale or something. Yuck.

I agree that it is a totally forgettable beer, but not awful... however... last time i went to the fox i ordered one and they poured me a superdry when i wasn't looking. Looked at it, didn't seem right, sipped it, certainly wasn't right. returned to the bar and told them it wasn't the beer i ordered. The bar-girl had to look at the front of the taps to work out which was which. She'd poured the wrong one by mistake... any chance that happened?

 

[hsb]

Love the Ice Cube kayak fishing picture, thanks, much more interesting than JS beers. Like Ice T from copkiller to Law & Order SVU.
If JS beers ever did tote AK47's, I missed that era.

 

[MarkBastard]

I agree that it is a totally forgettable beer, but not awful... however... last time i went to the fox i ordered one and they poured me a superdry when i wasn't looking. Looked at it, didn't seem right, sipped it, certainly wasn't right. returned to the bar and told them it wasn't the beer i ordered. The bar-girl had to look at the front of the taps to work out which was which. She'd poured the wrong one by mistake... any chance that happened?

Hahaha, there is EVERY chance that happened. I sincerely hope that is what the problem was.

God that place is slack, but I can't resist those cheesy jalapeno poppers.

 

[Bribie G]

Just found out where the Fox is (didn't know it existed) - if their beer service is as accurate as their website then look out :blink:

They show a picture of the pub purporting to be from 1894 and that looks like a Leyland P76 parked outside :lol:
Or maybe it's a DeLorean which would explain it.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

I had it at the Elephant & Wheelbarrow

 

[MarkBastard]

Just found out where the Fox is (didn't know it existed) - if their beer service is as accurate as their website then look out :blink:

They show a picture of the pub purporting to be from 1894 and that looks like a Leyland P76 parked outside :lol:
Or maybe it's a DeLorean which would explain it.

Haha, I never noticed that!

Be careful with the Fox. I started going there because it's one of the few places in Brisbane that does good American BBQ. The Blue Smoke in New Farm does it too, however it's a small place with long wait times etc. The Fox is good BBQ in a pub environment at its best.

HOWEVER, it's also a really cheap and nasty uni pub some of the time. For example on Sundays they don't serve BBQ, they serve $2 steaks only. We didn't know this and even called them one Sunday night to make sure they were open for BBQ and said can we make a booking. They said no booking needed, just come on down. We got there and weren't allowed to enter via the normal entrance, had to line up with these kids out the front. Thought that was weird. Made it through to the restaurant area to find it set up like a god damn high school canteen full of little shits eating shitty steaks and cheap jugs of megaswill, with mess everywhere. It was freaking horrible, and of course no BBQ available. Was a big waste of our time. But I'll go back there again because of the lack of BBQ options in Brisbane :angry:

 

[Bribie G]

Good to see that there are heaps of students who haven't gone vegan and P.E.T.A. - did you end up trying the $2 steak?

 

[Snow]

I agree that it is a totally forgettable beer, but not awful... however... last time i went to the fox i ordered one and they poured me a superdry when i wasn't looking. Looked at it, didn't seem right, sipped it, certainly wasn't right. returned to the bar and told them it wasn't the beer i ordered. The bar-girl had to look at the front of the taps to work out which was which. She'd poured the wrong one by mistake... any chance that happened?

Jesus what are you doing at the Fox with Archive just around the corner!!??!!

 

[MarkBastard]

Good to see that there are heaps of students who haven't gone vegan and P.E.T.A. - did you end up trying the $2 steak?

haha god no, I felt like a grandpah and I'm still in my 20's.

 

[mje1980]

Some pretty bad reviews of this beer haha. I had a 6 pack a few weeks ago. I thought for a bbq beer it was pretty nice. Sure, not overly full of flavour etc, but i think its a good beer. I had it on tap a few days ago, and there was definately hop aroma and flavour. Again, not at crazy stupid US 2IPA levels, but this is after all a "commercial" craft brewer. If im heading to a BBQ etc and need to grab a 6 pack, i'd grab this again.

Much better on tap i thought. Looks like a few places in wollongong have it on tap too. Makes going to a pub a bit more bearable hahah.

For most people here, there is no way you'll ever walk into a local and find on tap your absolute fave beer. I'll never walk into my local and see a mild ale on tap. Gotta be realistic.

 

[DJR]

Sounds like the "freshies" were done at MSB Camperdown (much smaller fermenters and better availability of yeast/hops) and since then the general release of kegs/bottles is from a Lion Nathan mega brewery.

That'd explain the big difference people are talking about.

JS nowadays - meh. Since they moved production out to the mega plants the quality is pretty lacking. I'd be interested to see what beers, if any, are being brewed at MSB - probably just the Mad Brewers range.

 

[Muscovy_333]

Just found out where the Fox is (didn't know it existed) - if their beer service is as accurate as their website then look out :blink:

They show a picture of the pub purporting to be from 1894 and that looks like a Leyland P76 parked outside :lol:
Or maybe it's a DeLorean which would explain it.

No doubt another broken flux capacitor!