MISMATCH BREWING CO PALE
A day at the beach isn’t always a watercolour painting – sometimes we get burnt! The same can be said for life's journey. Fortunately, applied correctly (i.e. consumed over a conversation with a mate) this cold craft can be a soothing lotion, helping ease the pain.
Origin –Hay Valley, South Australia
ABV- 5.0%
Size- 375mL can
Style- Pale Ale
Putting two mismatched people together can be awkward, which isn't so bad when you're watching it from the comfort of your own lounge room. Take Channel Seven's hit show First Dates. It's a voyeur's delight because the entire premise means we have permission to sticky-beak into would-be couples' oft-excruciating first dates. Sometimes they're awkward enough to make you take a vow of singleness, like the time when one lad took the half-empty drink he had purchased for his date out of her hands so he could give it to another woman he wanted to chat up at the bar next to them! You’d think then bringing together a bunch of seemingly mismatched people to start a business might not seem the smartest of ideas. But take a look at where Mismatch Brewing Company sits today, and you'd have to conclude the founders were onto a good thing.
Mismatched they might have been in some ways, but the folks that came together back in 2013 had one crucial thing in common: they were all industry professionals, drawn from different corners of the beverage industry. Like many, they spent years using other breweries' facilities before securing a SA state government grant that allowed Mismatch, along with Hills Cider, ADL Hills Distillery and Ashton Valley Juices to build a unique venue in the Adelaide Hills. Opened to the public in 2018, Lot 100 isn’t your typical cellar door venue – out the back is a vast shed that houses Mismatch’s 35hL brewhouse, fermenters and a lab, alongside Adelaide Hills Distillery’s still and spirit making equipment. With Mismatch it’s also not just a case of who you, but a what you know, as evidenced by a series of trophies – not least Champion Independent Beer for their Lager at the 2018 Indies and a medal for this Pale the following year.
Brewed using a blend of Rikau, Mosaic and Blanc and hop varieties, this is a pale that's artfully brewed to sit on the hoppy side of the traditional type. Pouring a brilliant pale yellow with a faint white head, it serves up subtle aromas of tropical sweetness along with hints of passionfruit, pine and spicy botanicals. The mouth follows the nose before finishing with a lingering but moderate bitterness.
Notwithstanding it’s full-flavour, at 5% ABV you'll always be sharp enough to pull the trigger on the exit plan should your date end up look nothing like their profile photo, or they can't stop talking about their ex!