Whale Ale - The Flying Horse Bar & Brewery

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.48/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Cheers to @laituegonflable for the Xmas present.

Pours a deep coppery golden colour, with a loose bubbled head of filmy off-white. Carbonation streams like anything. Head is a bit disappointing, and the clarity in the body makes it more reminiscent of an Aussie macro than I'd like, but it's not a bad look. Just a bit average.

Nose is a melange of butterscotchy caramel malts and a rather sweet fruit hoppiness. It's rather lacklustre all up, although the characters are stylistically acceptable. It's too sweet, to my mind, though. And again, I'd have to call it pretty average.

Taste is a little better, although here the hops take on a slight earthy tannin character that suggests a bit more in the way of English varieties. Still, the palate is crisp and bitter, enough to cleanse and to give some liveliness to the beer. Feel is clear and bright, with crispness on the back.

Decent enough. Not something I'm particularly impressed with, nor something that makes a good case for the Aussie beer scene, but a relatively drinkable pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

01-03-2011 03:54:22 | More by lacqueredmouse

CrazyDavros

Australia

3.43/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours hazy dark amber.
Loads of juicy hops form the aroma, with tropical fruit, pine and resin. Faint caramel malt along with sweet confectionery notes.
Similar flavours but not as clean. Lots of resin and pine, some grassy notes.
Too much carbonation, just like their wheat beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-27-2010 11:39:14 | More by CrazyDavros

laituegonflable

Australia

3.2/5  rDev -5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a golden colour with a little bit of straw, dense head, sinks pretty quickly but leaves decent trails of white lace behind. Very light, slow bead. Pretty average.

Nose is very sweet and imparts a fair quantity of fruit. Hints of banana, bubble gum and vanilla pods. Some aroma of crème Anglaise from the malt and a little hint of mint. Not a huge amount of hop sadly, but smells sweet and quite pleasant.

Taste begins with slight citric flavour, then kicked over by more of that banana character, quite prominent on the mid, and blends with some light hoppy phenols that give off a slight mediciney bitterness. Breadiness on the back, with a slightly cloying raw dough flavour, dissipates to a lingering sweetness. Not unpleasant, but it's a little unclear what the intention is here, lacks the fruity complexity and the crisp finish - or bitter finish - that I expect from a Pale Ale.

Feels a little thin at the front of the mouth, mildly sticky towards the back, not a lot going on, but doesn't feel weak or watery.

Fairly pleasant drinking, if a little confused.

Serving type: on-tap

12-01-2009 01:02:24 | More by laituegonflable