@mazzle Reviews Beer - With a Guest Beer Critic! - Dainton Family Brewery

Hi Steemers!

I have a very special beer review for you for #BeerSaturday this week! Last night, I was lucky enough to visit one of my favourite breweries that I have only been to once before, and even though it is only 15 minutes from my house, I haven't had a chance to get back there for almost a year.

This brewery is Dainton Family Brewery which is located in Carrum Downs, a suburb located Southeast from Melbourne.

_{mmmm... wood fired pizza with beer}

Dainton describe themselves as;

a family of dedicated and tragic beer lovers crafting the best, freshest and most sessionable beers that we can.
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This is clear when you walk in to the brewery, you invariably see one of the family members behind the counter serving beer or chatting with the customers. These guys really do live for their beer.

One of their recent claims to fame is that they won the the trophy for Champion Australian Craft Beer 2017 with their Cherrywood Smoked Rye Baltic Porter taking out the top prize. This beer also won a gold medal and the trophy for the best Porter/Stout.

This is a fantastic achievement for one of our local craft brewers. Very conveniently, the Bayside suburbs seem to have quite a few highly skilled craft brewers. This does not bode well for the waistline of a gym owner...

The beers that I tried were the Merican Pale Ale and the Saffron in my Eye Belgian IPA.

Merican Pale Ale

The Data
Volume: 285ml pot (from the tap)
Origin: Carrum Downs, Victoria
ABV: 5.2%
Type: American Pale Ale

What did I think of this beer?
As with most American Pale's, I picked up the citrus notes on the nose immediately. The beer is a lovely deep amber colour however the head does not linger at all, and was gone in moments.

_{where's the head?}

On the palate, the carbonation is very low. This seems to be a common theme with Dainton beers unfortunately, which could be a very simple way for them to improve the standard of their beers. The pale is hoppy, with a nice balance of bitterness to compliment the hops. The strength of the hops would almost suggest that the brewers used a combination of Australian and American hops in this brew, however I haven't been able to confirm this.

The citrus notes are understated for an American Pale which was a little disappointing. I do generally enjoy the citrus flavours of American Pale Ales.

Overall however, this is a good pale ale. And I would certainly go back for more. It is a well structured beer that is extremely pleasant to drink on a hot summer day. It's mainly the lack of decent carbonation that lets the beer down.

How do I rate it?

I'd rate this beer at least 4 times better than VB.

Saffron in my Eye Belgian IPA

The Data
Volume: 285ml pot (from the tap)
Origin: Carrum Downs, Victoria
ABV: 5.8%
Type: Belgian IPA

This is one interesting beer. The brewers describe this beer as;

This beer utilizes a spicy Belgian yeast strain, which imparts cloves and bubblegum whilst the rye gives a spicey peppery note. Coriander seeds add a unique orange character which blends in with the three citrusy hops, Waimea, Summit and Azzaca. The Saffron makes it fluorescent yellow! Oh yeah!
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What did I think of this beer?
This was such an interesting beer to try. It is a very creative beer that tries to do many different things. I think the description above overstates the beer, it doesn't need to sound so complex. It's a great beer without such a diverse range of flavours.

The beer is actually a strong yellow amber. The image sadly doesn't really show the bright yellowness of the brew.

_{Turn the flash off @mazzle!}

The head on this beer lingers a little longer in comparison to the American Pale Ale, and the aroma really does give notes of coriander, citrus and hops.

Let's say what there isn't on the palate first, there is no bubblegum (thankfully) and if there were spices, they were subdued. The coriander really stands out on the palate as does the citrus flavours. Thankfully, the bitterness is low while there is a reasonably strong flavour of hops here. Oddly enough, I could actually taste the saffron in this beer, which wasn't unpleasant at all.

How do I rate it?

This doesn't sound like a beer that I would normally like however I genuinely enjoyed this beer a lot. I would have no problem saying this beer is at least 5 times better than VB.

AND NOW FOR THE GUEST BEER REVIEW!

Steemers, meet my wife. Sandra, patiently joined me at Danton's despite having a strong dislike of beer. I promised her cider and pizza. There was no cider as it turns out... oops. But there was pizza! Anyway, my amazing wife ordered herself a sour beer to drink while I told her about my relatively new obsession which is Steemit. It was at this time that I had the bright idea of having a guest beer reviewer in the form of the lovely lady sitting opposite me. Genius right? Anyway, read on!

Hey there steemers! This is @mazzle's ball and chain, you can call me Sandra.

The lovely DH (she means Dear Husband - @mazzle) is letting me guest review a beer today. Me, a non beer drinker. That's right. I hate beer. I hate the malty, grassy, yeasty beverage of gut bloating monstrosity that is beer. So it was with some trepidation that this self proclaimed lover of shiraz, champagne, vodka, Florence Fizz, gin and tonic (anything but beer) approached the front counter of Dainton Family Brewery and asked for a 'beer for a beer hater' as meekly as possible.

_{look at its glorious sourness}

Well dear reader, I was in for a pleasant surprise. Bear with me as my beer lingo is sub par, in fact non existent. I nervously took my first sip of this clear, orange tinted, oddly titled 'Granny's Cranny Gose' and was immediately relieved to find I actually LOVED the tart, crisp, cranberry sourness of this very refreshing drop - created in fact by a good dose of Lactobacillus. Carbonation = nil. Aroma: lemon, sour cherry, War Heads without the sugar. No scary old man with beer breath aftertaste. Has to be a win in my books.

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The brewery itself is relaxed and lovely - with open, casual seating space and a smattering of hipster cool with black clad spunky waitresses and a couple of louche lads serenading us with a few choice tunes on the guitar. Sour Beer. Who would have thought. I would drink this again. This scores a 3 out of 5 stars!

So there you have it Steem Team. Dainton were actually good enough to make a beer hater a beer she didn't actually hate.

If I were to rate Dainton Brewery with an overall score, I'd comfortably rate the brewery as 3.5 out of 5 Steins. If they could get their carbonation right, they'd easily be up to 4 Steins.