Yeastie Boys Gunnamatta IPA

Well. no sign of the heating pad but that's fine because it means I can continue to drink and talk about other people's beers. Today's candidate is the Yeastie Boys Gunnamatta IPA. This beer is the winner of a few awards. People's choice at the Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular 2012 (for which it was specifically created) and Hashigo Zake's Beer of 2012. The twist on this one is that as a part of the brewing process they imbue it with Earl Grey Tea. I have tried beer imbued with tea before so I was interested to see how this one tasted.

The colour was a nice middle brown. It looked nice and smooth. Even though it is an IPA the taste was actually maltier than hoppy. It tasted good, but when you are drinking ale you want a bit more hoppyness. The tea taste was also much subtler than I expected it to be. That was shame as it could have enhanced the hoppy bitterness. It was a smooth drink and I did enjoy it but maybe it was a bit of a lesson in leaving your expectations at the door.