Sunday, July 28, 2013

Boundary Road - Jack the Sipper


Its still winter, while Auckland's been blessed with a few non-raining weekends I have been blessed with working Sundays. Today's post work beer is a hasty grab from the supermarket. A Boundary Road offering. While I haven't been blown away by any of their beers yet I remain hopeful.

I flip the cap and am greeted with a thin little aroma, hints of hops and dark caramelised sugar and maybe a smidge of roasted malt, I breathe and its gone. Minimal carbonation and very thin almost non existent head. It looks dark but when you hold it up to the light its got a lot of lovely red.

The first sip is fairly refreshing, after all I've been at work all day, by myself, bent over a bunsen burner, inhaling paraffin fumes, cutting my thumb on the device that has no name but is kinda like a hot plate crossed with a serrated knife and listening Hauraki so maybe at this point anything will do. I pause and try reflect over the flavours instead of downing the bottle in one go try to wash the pain of work away.

Concentrating over the second glass I get all sorts of strange flavours, It really reminds me of a golden syrup sultana cake my granny used to make. Frutiness from the yeast maybe, sweet malt and a bit of diacetyl giving me a buttery cake flavour? Top notes are a little lacking, theres a nice but brief  roastiness on the finish and a slight burnt sugar note but its fleeting and replaced by some cloying syrupy malts.

Overall its inoffensive, easily washed down and easily forgotten.