Storm Cloudy Ale
Mildura Theatre Brewery Pty Ltd

Storm Cloudy AleStorm Cloudy Ale
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From:
Mildura Theatre Brewery Pty Ltd
 
Australia
Style:
American Amber / Red Ale
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
78
Avg:
3.2 | pDev: 20.94%
Reviews:
15
Ratings:
18
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 15, 2021
Added:
Jul 28, 2006
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by aBeeraWeek:
Photo of aBeeraWeek
Reviewed by aBeeraWeek from Australia

3.33/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Orange Amber colour and it is definitely cloudy as per the name. A light head that disappears reasonably quickly.

A good sense of citrus and bitterness, but also with a yeasty bread smell that actually balances the overall smell well.

The citrus comes through in the taste and there is also a good hoppy bitter kick.

A medium body with a bit of bite to start, however sits comfortably and there would be no issues in getting through more than one or two of these.

A nice drop. Possibly overdone on the hops, although the citrus taste lingers it would be nice if there was more flavours coming through from the malts.
Sep 15, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.97 by Daneve76 from Australia

Nov 15, 2021
Photo of SmashPants
Reviewed by SmashPants from Australia

2.88/5  rDev -10%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Bottle: decent brown 330mL bottle, stylish label per the Mildura standard. A classy outfit.

Appearance: pours out a semi-cloudy orange-amber colour, with some fine carbonation visible. A one-finger head hangs about for a while with reasonable lacing.

Aroma: a very demure nose - not much too it at all frankly. Some floral hops with sweet biscuit malts. Far too light though.

Taste: again not much flavour here. Some malts with citric hops. Inoffensive but boring due to the lack of flavour intensity.

Aftertaste: very mild flavours - not much aftertaste at all.

Mouth feel: a lower, thin body with higher and prickly carbonation. Not fantastic, and really doesn't help to bring the flavour through.

Overall: a reasonably well put together beer, but far, far too weak in flavour. Certainly not worth the AU$59 a case price (2013). The second I have had from Mildura, and the second that really misses the mark.
Jul 21, 2013
 
Rated: 1 by pin from Australia

May 22, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by mungus from Australia

Jul 17, 2012
Photo of CrazyDavros
Reviewed by CrazyDavros from Australia

3.25/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Tap at Biero. Pours amber with a small fading head. Nose shows faint hops with floral and fruity characters alongside soft sweet malt. Similar flavours, herbal spicy hops first, then sweet clean malt and a mild bitterness. Carbonation is a little high.
Apr 10, 2011
Photo of shambeano
Reviewed by shambeano from Australia

3.18/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A- its definitely cloudy. kind of an off-yellowy-brown. about 2 cm of head that quickly halves and then slowly subsides. okay.

S- slight malt, a cooperslike yeastiness is pretty powerful. smells slightly hop bitter without giving up any hop specifics.

T- Sweet, followed by slightly bitter. not really much there. a bit yeasty to taste as well. bland, but nothing there that makes you hate it.

M- litlle carbonation pricks, slightly dry finish makes you want to drink a little more. feels alright.

D- pretty drinkable. bland but inoffensive, body is relatively light with prickly carbonation.
Nov 05, 2010
Photo of Macca
Reviewed by Macca from Australia

3.3/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
A good looking beer. It pours a cloudy (der) bright golden/orange colour with 2 centimetres of head that seem to want to hang around.

Nice whack from the Amarillo hops on the nose. Some nice tropical fruit aromas.

The hops are still there on the palate but a little more subdues than I thought might come through. Some good bitterness though. Not a lot of malt happening.

Really lacks body.
Sep 29, 2010
Photo of laituegonflable
Reviewed by laituegonflable from Australia

2.88/5  rDev -10%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
So far so good, slightly cloudy. Translucent appearance. Colour is yellowish, and carbonation is full and eager. Head is of a modest thickness and settles in the middle, leaving a thick lacing crown around the edge. Looks like a pretty decent ale.

Nose is pleasant. Quite APA, with a fair light hop hit generating a decent tropical fruit aroma, with passionfruit, pineapple and pawpaw coming to mind. Not quite as blossomingly fragrant as your LCPA; hops are a bit subdued, but nice all the same.

Tastes considerably more tart, with the hops releasing their acids without generating a huge amount of bright or floral characters on the palate. Front is slightly herbal, while the majority is quite tart, almost puckering, with a citric quality and a fizzy mouthfeel that gives this a consistency reminiscent of pub lemon squash. I think ultimately it's the result of a lot of only one type of hop (amarillo, according to the label), with a base grain that's underemployed, so the hop is dominant yet simple.

It's like a huge, muscular warrior trying to use a huge heavy club to pound a quick, furtive samurai-trained opponent. That is, if you're willing to cast my palate as the quick, nimble opponent who's ready for anything in this horribly tortured analogy.

It just seems a laboured effort, and the palate is too weak to carry it all. Body is thin and uninviting. Overall, a bit bland and too astringent to be hugely enjoyable. Worth a try but not a repeat.
Jun 01, 2009
Photo of joecast
Reviewed by joecast from Australia

4.1/5  rDev +28.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
330ml bottle. best before 8-07 bottle conditioned, better hurry

cloudy is right. the last bit of the pour adds a good dose of sediment from the bottle. forms a nice, inch thick foamy head which settles quickly. the cloudiness remains with very little settling to the bottom of the glass. a nice touch as that may be what turns people off bottle conditioned beer, seeing the yeast at the bottom of the glass.
"i want to drink this beer not eat it!"

fresh hoppy aroma. light citrus and earthy aroma. sort of a mix between english and american influences. works well here.

mmm, well balanced. some sips seem to give more hop bitterness, others tend towards lightly sweet malt. makes me keep wanting to go back for another sip. good hop flavor as well. basically this things got it all.

im sure i've had this before at a beer tasting, probably over a year ago. wasnt too impressed with it then, but now?? knowing how much it cost is a problem, cause the six pack wont last long.
Jul 25, 2007
Photo of brendan13
Reviewed by brendan13 from Australia

3.6/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
A - Pours a hazy dark straw colour with a thick off white head.Lacing clings all the way down
S - They got the blurb on the bottle right about this one at least...big hoppiness thats full of citrus fruitiness.
T - The hops pretty much dominate the flavour too. A bit more maltiness wouldn't have hurt.
M - A bit of a lackluster, watery mouthfeel. The hops linger.
D - Drinkable for sure but not really worth the money.
May 05, 2007
Photo of Kulrak
Reviewed by Kulrak from Australia

3.67/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5
Pours an orangish golden color with chunky white head that clings to the sides of the glass. Smells very citrusy, a bit yeasty and slightly floral. Very interesting aroma. Tastes very hoppy, cascade possibly, or new amarillo as the bottle says. Not a whole lot in the way of sweetness, but the hop flavor is refreshing. Mouthfeel is mediocre, not real creamy, not real heavy, not real anything really. Overall, it's fairly drinkable, a bit too bitter for most people probably, but I like it.
Mar 02, 2007
Photo of hefevice
Reviewed by hefevice from Australia

2.38/5  rDev -25.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
After drain pouring this beer's stable mate (the Mallee Bull), I was not expecting much. Like the Bull, it started well, cloudy (as advertised) golden straw with hardly any head.

Aroma is conflicted. The amarillo hops come through immediately, loud and clear like a tropical fruit salad. But if you swill the beer, out comes a hint of the meaty aroma that aflicted the Mallee Bull - I suspect they have lost control of their yeast.

Taste is dominated (overly so) by the hops. Again, the finish is watery and unsatisfying with virtually no malt presence. Well, at least they actually used some hops, which has to be an encouraging sign.
Feb 09, 2007
Photo of willjansen
Reviewed by willjansen from Colorado

3.57/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Appearance: Cloudy as advertised, dark orange/pumpkin, abundant carbonation leading to a large fluffy head which gives way to a persistant lace to the end
Smell - Complex citrus aromas, grapefruit, hinting towards a lot of hoppiness
Mouthfeel: Oily, somewhat heavy, heavy carbonation
Taste: Despite the appearance which may lead one to think it's a hefeweizen style, it's a dominantly hoppy experience (amarillo hops) reminiscent of some american pale ales. Undefined cirtrus throughout with a bitter, oily hops kick as an afterthough. Kept me searching for some more malt balance, but not inappropriate for the style.
Drinkability: For IPA-lovers and other hopheads looking for their next kick it's a potential session beer, but one or two will do it for most others.
Feb 03, 2007
Photo of Weizenmensch
Reviewed by Weizenmensch from Japan

3.62/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
330mL brown bottle, best before 8 0907 (I think that means Sept '07)

Appearance: Amber-gold with a dense, fluffy head. Good head retention supported by substantial carbonation - fine bubbles but a good amount for the style. Large amount of fluffy and sticky lace.

Smell: Very impressive, full and fruity. Peach, pear, plum and fresh blossom - a rich and sweet mix of aromas.

Taste: Unfortunately the pleasant odour is not backed up by the body of the beer. Rough barley malt, bitter Amarillo hops which, while refreshing, make for better fruity smells than flavours. No adjuncts and no skunkiness - this beer is fresh, but age would not improve it. The lingering bitterness is rather pleasant though.

Mouthfeel: The fine bubbles and froth make for a soft mouthfeel, but it's perhaps a bit cloying.

Drinkability: It's an expensive beer, but I could handle a trip to the Mildura brewery. It's filling, but it suits either a hot or cold day.

Overall: They've got it right in terms of how it looks, pours and smells, but need to work on the complexity of flavours.
Jan 20, 2007
Photo of Finite
Reviewed by Finite from Australia

3.07/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
A - Cloudy, orange to light amber in colour with a light head which disipates in about a minute leaving little to no head. Looks very similar to Coopers Sparkling and seems to be bottle conditioned with some yeast in the bottom of the bottle.

S - Massive fruit smells, Blueberry, strawberry and many other berry aromas. Very nice fruity aroma if not a little chemical. Sweet and toasty malts

T - Spicy, quite powerfull hop bitterness, fruit hop falvours, more berry flavours, citrus flavours too orange rine? toasty malts. sharp flavours, ok balance. Again that chemical flavour. Aftertaste is a very very good balance of toasty malts and the citrus hop.

M - reasonably sharp carbonation, but not too coarse down the troat and.

D - A little bit harder to drink than I would expect. A chemical flavour on the back of the palate downgrades what is a pretty good beer and little sweetness and bitter toasty malts seems to effect the balance and stop this from being easier to drink.
Nov 29, 2006
Photo of lacqueredmouse
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia

2.84/5  rDev -11.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
After trying (and disliking) two of the other beers brewed by this brewery, I felt slightly masochistic going in for another - fortunately, this WAS better than the Mallee Bull and the Murray Honey Wheat.

Pours cloudy (at least that's right) orange-golden golour. Good solid head, fine carbonation. Pretty good look to it, to be honest.

Pungent butterscotch nose with a int of citrus. The two don't mesh though, so it ends up smelling like a butter menthol cough lolly. It's not altogether bad, but the major elements just to work together, and it ends up being overpowering and sickening after a while.

The taste is better though, although that's probably not too difficult. Slight citrussy fruit palate, but it has a very long clinging aftertaste, which recalls the sticky slightly-off butterscotch of the nose. Not great, but it has some character to it at least, More than can be said for the other two brews of theirs I've had.

Mouthfeel smooth a suitable for the style.

Overall, it's the best Mildura Brewery beer I've had, but it's not up against much competition.
Nov 04, 2006
Photo of vancurly
Reviewed by vancurly from Australia

3.38/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Tight head, subsides to thin layer, some lace
Gold to honey colour. Maybe the slightest of haze..wouldn't call it cloudy, though...
Tropical fruity aroma, little malt noticeable on the nose....it reminds me of the truism that Europeans describe American hops as "cat's piss"... But that's the hops, not a brewing fault. It actually reminds me of NZ sauv blanc in a way, so that ain't bad....
Pawpaw, pineapple flavour, with some citrus tang, light touch of caramel.
Reasonable mouthfeel, nice bitter at the back.
Jul 28, 2006
Storm Cloudy Ale from Mildura Theatre Brewery Pty Ltd
Beer rating: 78 out of 100 with 18 ratings