Little Creatures Bright Ale - Little Creatures Brewing Company

CookstLiquor

British Columbia (Canada)

3.9/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Definitely a bright yellow color. The nose is pretty subdued with some tart apple, a bit of crackery grain and hint of hops. It's not much more complex on the palate, but it's also not meek. There's just enough hoppy bite to make it interesting and very drinkable. Reminiscent of a kolsch, this is a great session beer. It's got plenty of flavour, just the right amount of body and it's absolutely refreshing.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2012 02:40:14 | More by CookstLiquor

dansmcd

Australia

2.98/5  rDev -16.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A - Light and clear with a thin quick head, no lacing whatsoever.

S - Mild citrusy hops, some grass and corn backing.

T - Follows the nose, grapefruit, lemon, slightly hoppy, corn, some grainy malt.

M - Thin light body, medium carbonation.

O - Pretty bland really, not a patch on it's more flavourful pale ale brother.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2012 06:45:31 | More by dansmcd

tbeckett

Ontario (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle from a liquor store in Melbourne. From notes.

A - Poured golden with good carbonation. Bright. No head, no retention or lace.

S - Light citrus and nice hops and some crackery malt.

T - Noble and grassy hops with some sweet malt and orange peel.

M - Nice carbonation and a light to medium body. Sweet kinda finish with an orange peel finish.

O/D - Nice and refreshing. Enough hops for flavour but not overpowering. A good EPA. Maybe lacking malt profile, so I'd call it more of a golden ale, but it's tasty and well done.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2012 12:03:37 | More by tbeckett

machalel

Australia

3.43/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Very light and clear gold colour. Small amount of white head (1 cm), quickly disappearing in around 10-15 seconds. I would have rated it higher if it wasn't for the lack of head retention.

Aroma: The first thing that hit me was passionfruit. A bit of citrus, apple, and honey afterwards. Very vibrant and pleasing.

Taste: Quite different from what I was expecting from the aroma. A slight amount of honey and very mild citrus, but the main body of it was a sweet, crisp yeasty taste, with a slightly mineral-y aftertaste. A disappointment after the vibrant and 'bright' bursts of aroma beforehand.

Mouthfeel: Light body and a bit sharp. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: Very easy to drink, although after finishing the bottle, I felt like a second wouldn't have been as pleasant. Definitely one for summer, or to help introduce macro-drinkers to other styles.

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2012 04:04:40 | More by machalel

heygeebee

Australia

2.58/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

hmmm, lets do some acronyms shall we....

LCPA? yes, you at the back of the class... - 'Little Creatures Pale Ale' is CORRECT, little Jimmy

LCBA? anyone.. anyone?

So does this sit well and truly in the shadow of it's better known sibling? yes it does sadly.

Pours a zero head, with a big pour, so yes it might be an ale, but it doesn't look good.

Sweet macro-lagerish aromas, and sadly taste to follow, sweet-ish, malt-ish, Aussie Macro-ish. Just a hint of honey. No hops.

Oh dear, mouthfeel is neither one thing nor the other, crisp nor smooth.

Sad.

Serving type: bottle

11-27-2011 07:51:42 | More by heygeebee

Stew41

Australia

2.3/5  rDev -35.4%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

If aesthetics count for anything this beer doesn’t cut the mustard. Thin rocky head disappears in a nano second. Lightish amber in colour with a orange, rusty tinge. Unremarkable and quite macro in appearance. Sweet malts on the nose, subtle and simple. Palate is essentially light and bland. Light malts, so clean and crisp I could almost accuse it of being filtered. Finishes like a golden ale, almost Coopers Pale like, with that yeasty, minerally finish. Just going. Call me un-Australian but I think these guys live off the success of the Pale Ale too much….the other beers have continually failed to match that (slightly over-rated) flagship.

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2011 13:31:25 | More by Stew41

brewymcgee

British Columbia (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Clear golden colour with barely any head remaining after it is poured.

Aroma: Dominated by honey with yeast behind it

Taste: Honey again and mild fruity malts with a hint of green apple freshness. Citrus hops come through on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Lighter body and smooth, higher carbonation but pleasant

Drinkability: A lighter beer with a bit more flavour, easily sessionable, especially on a hot day!

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2011 10:22:12 | More by brewymcgee

eric5bellies

Australia

3.83/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a clear Golden colour, with a White head that dies quickly.

S - Honey, malt and yeast aromas.

T - Quite well balanced in that it offers some malt, grain, hops and sweetness.

M - Light body and medium carbonation

O - A nice solid brew from Little Creatures, but again, its there to please the masses without pushing boundaries.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2011 13:13:15 | More by eric5bellies

doktorhops

Australia

3.48/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Little Creatures has fast become a favourite Aussie brewer of mine and befitting this accolade I now bring a review of the Little Creatures Bright Ale.

Poured from a 568ml pint bottle into a 500ml Stein glass (yes it all fits thanks to the ridiculous head room the Germans put on their glasses).

A: Purest of pure gold body. Clear. The head started out as white and 0.5cm and soon left nothing but a ring of lacing.

S: Similar to the Hop Rocker by Mac's (an NZ brewery). There is a strong presence of earthy, herbaceous hops with undertones of nutty malts... nice and suits the style well.

T: It's the same in the flavour department - nutty malt base with a nice earthy, herbaceous hop finish... good but nowhere near as interesting and complex as the Pale Ale and as a result I'm left both a) wanting, and b) wishing I had just bought a Pale Ale instead. It's almost as if this ale is their "B" grade brew to their awesome Pale Ale.

M: Ticks all the boxes of an ale; carbonation - minimal, tick, body - medium, tick, texture - slight oiliness, tick... Nothing out of place here.

D: Yeah it's drinkable, but so is the Pale Ale, which is a much better beer at the same price. I can see the niche for Roger's (which is a damn fine mid-strength ale) but I'm not sure why Little Creatures even sell this when their single batch brews kick ass over this and are only made once... go figure.

Food match: I would normally say a curry but you wouldn't taste this beer after a curry so I'll say something traditionally Australian (i.e. English): Lamb chops, roast vegetables and mint sauce.

Serving type: bottle

03-15-2011 09:55:53 | More by doktorhops

philphilphil

Australia

3.9/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Appearance is lager coloured with a cm of head which stays the whole time.
Smell is of hops, hops and maybe some hops, leads you to expect bitterness.
Taste, the hops are far less pronounced than the smell makes you expect. Well balanced.
Mouthfeel is a little thin but decent, this probs counts as style bias, but w.e.
Drinkability is good, highly available, inexpensive, good.

Serving type: bottle

02-14-2011 00:15:56 | More by philphilphil

koolk

Australia

2.9/5  rDev -18.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Tasted this blind as part of an Aussie ale experiement and was very surprised when I saw the bottle revealed. BB 18feb11

Fairly light "pils" ish look both in colour and clarity. Fat bubbles lead to a small weak head that leaves quickly. After 1 min no head/lacing to be seen at all.

Weedy nose, some what unpleasant hop pungency. Very Saaz like. Some sweeter bubble gum notes. Very strange. Not nice.

Same flavours on the palate. More Saaz and some very extract like flavours. Metallic aftertaste.

Tangy after taste that has a real Micro lick to it. Good creaminess.

Very odd. I swore this was just a badly made Pils. Bad hop aroma and flavour, odd malt characters. Not very good. This has reaffirmed my belief that they are a one trick pony.

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2010 09:53:40 | More by koolk

xylophonica

Australia

3.6/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 568ml bottle into a pint glass.

A - Good finger of head, nice golden colour.

S - Sweet honey & yeast aromas.

T - Creamy & sweet. Slightly bitter - exactly what a golden ale should be! Bit of a hoppy aftertaste. Nice & refreshing.

M - Smooth and calming but nicely bitter with a hint of sourness at the end.

D - Lovely to drink. Pleasant and soothing.

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2010 11:36:45 | More by xylophonica

rowey77

Australia

4.13/5  rDev +16%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Great beer, tried at little creatures brewery in Fremantle.. Great with food and poors a great head. Full of flavour but not to harsh on the pallet. Recommend for a beer with dinner or even just a social after work drink.. Have tried in bottle form and beer is just as good as on tap.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2010 23:04:04 | More by rowey77

dgilks

Australia

3.88/5  rDev +9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Crystal clear, pale straw colour with a thin white head. This looks okay.

Aromas of passionfruit and a light graininess are present. There is an obvious use of NZ hops.

The flavour here is well balanced with plenty of sweet, fruity hops with lots of passionfruit, stone fruits and citrus. Not too bitter and really quite tasty.

A light body and crisp carbonation make this an easy drinking refreshing beer. While I prefer the LCPA, the Bright Ale is a very good beer and I can easily see why some people will like it more.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2009 01:14:30 | More by dgilks

ADZA

Australia

3.48/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Another beer i am revisiting,it pours a pale see thru straw colour with decent carbonation and sporadic lacing pretty much exactly like a good pilsner,it has a fruity,funky hop driven aroma with a dash of stonefruit in the background,it has an average mouthfeel with a real fruity stonefruit,passionfruit taste and finishes nice,dry and crisp like a fine wine,quite an easy drinking beer that could sink alot of in the summer.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2009 13:28:42 | More by ADZA

IHasaFlavaFlav

Australia

4.28/5  rDev +20.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Golden colour when it pours, clear and inviting. Can quench thirst by appearance alone.

S - Fruity fresh aroma, sweet and pleasing.

T - Like the aroma, I taste orange colour fruits, citrus, apricot. Bitterness comes through on the back of the tongue, balancesthe flavour very well.

M - Very cleansing

D - Could drink all night long, leaves your palate excited but not abused.

At this time, I had it with some tomato and beef rissoles in a gravy made with Tooheys Old, on a potato and pea mash. Very heavy meal, the Bright Ale cut through the thick gravy flavours.

Currently trying to get this beer, in bottle at my university's bar.

Serving type: bottle

08-08-2009 10:13:46 | More by IHasaFlavaFlav

CrazyDavros

Australia

3.3/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottle @ Prince Alfred Hotel after uni.
Amber pour with a tiny head.
Aroma is of grassy hops and some sweet underlying malt.
Flavour is quite green and hoppy. Mild, slightly metallic bitterness.
Too highly carbonated.
Easy to drink but a bit boring.

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2009 05:40:17 | More by CrazyDavros

Stavage

Australia

3.33/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Average head with average retention and decent lacing. Light golden amber colour.

Smell was nice and fruity. Not a great deal of malt in the scent though. Pretty good all up.

Taste is unsurprisingly quite fruity. Not too sweet though, and the bitter hop finish tries to balance it out. The malt backbone is pretty thin though.

Fairly well carbonated, suits the style. I'd say its medium bodied but leaning towards the lighter side of things.

Drinkable enough. Personally not something I'd have as a session drink, the fruitiness this beer displays doesn't really work for me. Maybe if it had some stronger malt notes and a bigger hop bite it would have balanced out to my tastes more. The 4.5% ABV would make it ideal for some though.

Overall a decent beer. I think I'll stick to Little Creatures Pale Ale though

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2009 08:56:29 | More by Stavage

tzchandler

California

3.48/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

This is like a watered down IPA from LCBC. Why would you have one of these beer when you can have their IPA. This beer is better than most but when compared to their IPA it comes up short in every dimension.

Crisp golden color with a nice head. Similar to many light beers. If you going to have this beer, drink it before you ever experience their IPA.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2008 04:11:08 | More by tzchandler

Macca

Australia

3.8/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a clear golden colour with a nice head which drops away to some light retention and nice lacing. Fruity hoppy aromas. Citrus - lemons? Fruity flavours continue along with some maltiness. Low carbonation but a crisp mouthfeel and very easy drinking. Very sessionable.

Serving type: bottle

11-20-2008 09:22:03 | More by Macca

Cs1987

Australia

4.15/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance - Gold, 2 fingers of head which reduced.

Smell - Not as strong as LCPA, but similar characteristics, in particular the summer fruits.

Taste - Much sweeter and less bitter than LCPA. Passionfruit and orange are the standout flavours.

Mouthfeel - Carbonation level and aftertaste both very good.

Drinkability - Not much to complain about here. This will go down easily.

Overall - I wasn't expecting to give this such a high score, certainly not any higher than LCPA. However, I think this beer may actually taste better from the bottle than the tap, for some bizarre reason.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2007 12:29:17 | More by Cs1987

brendan13

Australia

3.4/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a clear golden colour with a few centimetres of white head that slowly falls away, some small lacing.
S - Citrusy, grapefruit hop notes - that's about it. Fairly refreshing though.
T - Some grainy malt comes through as well as the hoppy fruit flavours.
M - A bit on the light side in terms of body. Medium carbonation.
D - Nice enough for what it's trying to be. Personally I'd drink the LCPA or the many other better true micro pale ales before this one. It's not like 4.5%ABV is that low anyway - may as well drink a proper beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-04-2007 11:20:25 | More by brendan13

LittleCreature

Australia

3.78/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance - 4.0
Poured about 2 fingers of rocky white head that quickly settled to a thinish frothy layer. Quite golden in colour, could even be mistaken for a bold-looking lager.

Smell - 3.5
Like LCPA and Rogers, the smell is immediately strong and very nice. There is a strong fruity and floral aroma, that includes kiwi fruit and mandarin. Unlike the LCPA, the smell is greatly diminished soon after pouring, which is a disappointment. The aftertaste is fine, but nothing special.

Taste - 3.5
Extremely refreshing. At first there is a strong tanginess, followed by citrussy sweetness, ending with a dry, hoppy bitterness that leaves one wanting another sip. The aftertaste is fine, but nothing special, especially when compared to LCPA.

Mouthfeel - 4.0
Like most Little Creatures beers, it feels quite heavy in the mouth. Carbonation is moderate and it does not have nearly so much of a syruppy quality as LCPA.

Drinkability - 4.5
The lower alcohol content makes this a more sensible session drink choice than the pale ale. It goes down rather easily and is thirst-quencing. However, I actually couldn't see myself drinking this all night because in the end of the day, it is not as good as LCPA, which is available everywhere that this is.

OVERALL - 3.75
This beer is really quite similar to LCPA, which is not a bad thing. Unfortunately it costs exactly the same and doesn't taste or smell quite as good. The upside is a slightly lower ABV, but for most it is not worth it. At 5.2% LCPA is a little heavy for a session drink, and this beer is supposed to be the answer, and it is certainly not a bad effort. Very good beer, but Little Creatures Pale Ale is still king in Fremantle.

Serving type: bottle

06-25-2007 09:26:37 | More by LittleCreature

jarmby1711

Australia

3.63/5  rDev +2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Indistinct mid golden , witha moderate carboantion and a low forming head that left little lacing.
The boquet is certaining like there Pale Ale , perhaps sweeter and less flowery.
The taste is pretty unusual .It is not gob smackingly hoppy or fruity but more subtle in these areas.
The fruitines seems to change and I kept tasting a coconut quality as well as some stone fruit.
It is a bit of an in between beer Not setting the hurdle too high , which probably makes it very drinkable over a long period of time

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2007 01:49:40 | More by jarmby1711

joecast

Australia

4.05/5  rDev +13.8%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

its hot outside, had a hard day at work. need something to lighten the mood.
330ml bottle, same type of label as the pale ale. 4.5%abv. best before 05/07

pours disappointingly with no head. clear golden color with low to medium bubbleage.

nice full hoppy aroma. mostly citrus with the generic floral tendency that most "hoppy" beers seem to exhibit.

flavor has a delicate start but finishes with a decent level of bitterness that gets your attention. light hop flavor but it doesnt seem to miss anything. certainly a lighter version of the near-legendary lcpa, but lighter than that is still pretty damn good. would make for a great session brew if its bottle conditioned big brother gets a bit heavy.

i admit to having a hesitant reaction when hearing about this beer. i would now like to admit to it exceeding my mediocre expectations.
thanks to finite for sending this my way.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2006 09:43:48 | More by joecast