Beer of the Month

Sleeping Giant IPA

It's been a while since we added an IPA to our impressive Beer of the Month archive. I've been drinking a lot of robust stouts, and porters of late; and the other guys in the office have been busy dealing with a surplus of cleanskean ales — a consequence of Pete's over-eager Christmas barbecue preparations and inability to perform basic sums.

The first India Pale Ales (IPAs to us cool kids) were brewed back in the late 18th Century for merchant ships headed to India. (Yes! Hence the name! Well done, you clever little bastards.) A higher volume of alcohol and increased "hopping" in the brewing process meant the beer could be preserved for longer periods than other, earlier pale ales, which helped to alleviate some of the stress on exporters. It also meant the birth of a stronger, hoppier, more bitter beer that breweries the world over (particulary in the UK and US) continue to emulate today.

I'm not about to go into the complexities and nuances of the various types of modern IPAs (Imperial, American, double IPAs etc.) as that would mean wading way out of my depth, and the last time that happened I was nearly stung by an electric ray. I had to flail about in the water screaming and sobbing and splashing about until I realized my would be assassin was actually a plastic shopping bag with a thong in it, but my point remains valid, and you shouldn't take me any less seriously just because I peed in my board-shorts.

All you really need to know if you're new to IPAs is that, these days, the sub-class encompasses a range of higher ABV (alcohol by volume) beers with pleasing bitterness and floral aromas. Unless you're in England where the ABV seems to have diminished over recent years, due, speculatively, to changes in licensing or taxation. Or Thatcher. It was probably Thatcher...

Thankfully we're not in England, and Australian IPAs take their cue more from the American style, which is probably now closer to the original English type than contemporary English IPAs. Take our January Beer of the Month, Gage Roads excellent Sleeping Giant. This is a beer that delivers on everything it promises: lovely dark stone fruit and citrus flavours, loads of hoppiness, and a strong dry finish. It's as clean and crisp as the rest of the Gage Roads beers (the brewery now boasts six offerings altogether, with the Premium Lager and Wahoo Premium Ale being standouts) but has a higher alcohol volume (5.4%) than all of them, bar the Blue Angel Cider which contains a whopping %7 (go easy, girls).

Why am I harping on about ABV percentages and the like? Well the thing is that, although there's unquestionably more to a beer's quality and strength of character than its ability to shroud you in the warm and fuzzy cloak of drunken invincibility good 'n' quick, IPAs with their extra bit of "kick" are very appealing to seasoned beer drinkers, or drinkers who are accustomed to fuller bodied ales, like Yours Truly here. If given a choice, I'll always opt for a good IPA over a regular Pale Ale or Pilsner. Many smaller craft breweries are offering specialty IPAs now, but the fact that Sleeping Giant is a) a truly impressive beer, and b) readily available from any Woolworths, BWS and Dan Murphy's makes it an especially appealing option when you find your fridge bereft of refreshment over the coming Summer months.

Gage Roads do really good beer — they always have — and in a sextet (he-he... "sex") of exceptional products, the Sleeping Giant IPA may well be the best of the bunch. I can't reccommend it highly enough. Hell, I'm up to my third for the day and we only just hit afternoon. Invincibility: activate.

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