Beer Review Jamieson Beast IPA.
Ahh – another day in Jamieson, where the air is fresh, the atmosphere is relaxed, and the beers are plentiful. I can feel another “non-birthday” beer review coming on.
As mentioned in another post on this beer review blog, the sleepy little bush town of Jamieson is about 3 hours drive north east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 150 Years ago it was famous for gold mining. Now it is famous for, among other things, being the home of the Jamieson Brewery.
(note – I love Jamieson….it is my “happy place”. My wife’s family have a long history here. Jamieson is also famous for many other things – fishing and bushwalking for example – check out http://www.jamieson.org.au ).
My Australia Day long weekend in Jamieson with my family, and that of my friend Simon, was happily spent (partly) sitting under some trees, watching our children play and swim in the river, and sampling various amber fluids and foaming frothies.
Among these beers was the Jamieson Beast IPA.
The striking label on the Jamieson Beast bottle was the first and most obvious way to begin. The comic-style-cartoonesque picture of a muscle bound sabre toothed monster in the Aztec jungles traumatising the fair damsel in distress suggested that this was likely to be a beer that was not to be messed with….. or at least one that is likely to smack you over the back of the head if you aren’t paying attention.
First sampling of this Jamieson Beast was not as “up front” as the label would suggest – it was surprisingly and unexpectedly sweet and a little fruity.
A second mouthful brought the stronger hops flavours to the forefront for both Simon and I, and each mouthful after that tasted stronger. Overall, based on the label and the “IPA” style, I guess we were expecting something much stronger. This was not a bad thing, and in fact I doubt I would have liked it at all if it was any stronger.
A quick visit to the Jamieson Brewery website suggests that they have added “hops, hops, and more hops……we have added six hop additions” to the Jamieson Beast beer. The Jamieson Brewery / Lakeside Hotel website also has a list of stockists where their various offerings can be purchased.
As Simon mentioned in our beer review video above, the “IPA” stands for Indian Pale Ale – which is essentially a style of beer made with extra hops and extra alcohol. In the “olden days”, beer used to go off and spoil during the long ocean journey on the ships between England and India. The brewers (and the sailors too, presumably) at the time were obviously keen to stop this horrible disaster… they discovered that extra hops and extra alcohol would not only act as natural preservatives, but tasted mighty fine as well.
I enjoyed my tasting of the Jamieson Beast IPA, as did Simon. However, we both felt that this is a beer for savouring, not for swilling, and may be a case of quality over quantity. Sitting by the fire on a cool winters evening, preferably with a good meal, sipping slowly might see this beer put to better use – having several on a long, hot day during an Australian summer does not instantly spring to mind. And with a 7% alcohol content, I imagine life would get a little blurred around the edges if too many were consumed too quickly… 
All in all, a very respectable 7 out of 10 on the Forty Beers Cheers O Meter for this beer review. If you are in the area, or find yourself near a Jamieson Beast IPA, then by all means grab it and enjoy it !
Other Jamieson beers reviewed here on Fortybeers.com are:
Jamieson Pale Ale
Jamieson Beast
Thanks once again to the Special Guest of this beer review – the legendary beer connoisseur himself – Simon (thunderous applause)….. Without whom FortyBeers.com would be at least one third smaller.
And also thanks to my daughter, Kathleen, for providing the drumming in the background of the video during the triumphant opening of this beer.
Matthew and Simon
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Tags: Ale, Australian Beer, Beer Review, IPA
