6 December 2016 - Best Beer HQ
Murray’s Whale Ale Beer Review
‘Whale Ale’ is a real cool name for a beer. Why has no-one name their beer this before now? Maybe someone has; perhaps there are other ‘Whale Ales’ in the world. Is there a beer name registry somewhere to ensure this doesn’t happen? Who is Murray? I like his motto: ‘no boring beer’.
I had all these thoughts and more while I drank a bottle of Murray’s Whale Ale beer in blissful sunshine at a campground in Byron Bay, Australia. Suffice it to say, I was a little bit drunk. But that’s what summer holidays are for, right? Trying new and interesting craft beers, and then writing about it.
This will be the first in a new series of Australian beer reviews, as I recount all the interesting beers I had on holiday in Byron Bay, and on the Gold Coast.
ABV: 4.5%
Blurb on the bottle: A refreshing wheat beer with a twist. Whale Ale’s high percentage of malted and unmalted wheat and aromatic late hop profile gives a unique take on a session strength ale. A classic light body, creamy mouthfeel and refreshing citrus flavour. This is balanced with assertive late hopping, giving a fresh, light tropical fruit aroma and cleansing dry finish.
Murray’s Whale Ale is light gold in colour and lightly filtered to give it a sparkling appearance.
Tastes like: My taste buds must have stayed behind in New Zealand, because I can’t discern any “assertive late hopping”. Unless this is what they consider a hoppy wheat beer in Straya? To me, this tastes like your classic stereotypical wheat beer.
But that’s perfectly okay, I grabbed a bottle of Murray’s Whale Ale because I wanted something mellow to drink in the severe mid-afternoon sunshine, and also because the whale on the bottle caught my eye. I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for well-designed labels and punny beer names.
As for the beer itself, well, I’m struggling for words to describe it adequately, which is why I’ve been blathering on about everything except the taste. It’s crisp, dry, smooth, with a spicy finish. There’s a hint of banana and sour grapefruit on the palate – not too much though – with a pleasant bread-malt backbone. There, that’ll do it.
The verdict: Murray’s Whale Ale isn’t anything to write home about, which funnily enough is kind of what I’m doing now. It is a perfectly decent beer, though, and I’m sure most fans of wheat ales would approve. Just don’t buy into the “assertive late hopping” jargon on the side of the bottle and you won’t be disappointed.
Beer/movie combination: I’m feeling way too good and/or lazy right now to look up who this Murray character is or recommend a film to go with this beer. Instead, I’m going to assume that it’s Murray Hewitt from the HBO comedy Flight of the Conchords and I’m going to recommend the same show.
These are a few of Murray’s best bits (because I’m never too lazy for some comedy gold)…