MORNINGTON PENINSULA BREWERY BROWN
Nothing says love like a mixtape! Unfortunately, those days are long gone. Perhaps the next best way to show you care is sharing one or two of these ‘liquid I love you’s’ with a mate instead?
Origin – Mornington, Victoria
ABV- 5.0%
Size- 640mL
Style- Brown Ale
He sang about 'feeling nice like sugar and spice', yet I'm sure the Godfather of soul James Brown, wouldn't have been 'walking on sunshine' had he known that following his death, a family feud over his estate would see his body remaining on ice for more than two months before he was finally laid to rest!
Fortunately, there was no such feud when Tribe Breweries, the family-owned operation behind Stockade Brewing Co, acquired the maker of this Brown Ale and brought a close to Matt Bebe's ownership of Mornington Peninsular Brewery. Notwithstanding there was no bad blood, it was a bittersweet moment for the founder, who in October 2010, together with mate Mal McLean, followed through on a beer-fuelled proposition made while celebrating Hawthorn's 2008 Premiership, and opened the first craft brewery on the peninsular. Though not hopping off the bus, (Matt's continuing his role as CEO) like every founder he would have loved to have continued to bang out more trophy-winning specialty beers, whether that be in their solid core range or one of the many small-batch specialty runs. Yet as Matt shared with me 'you have to be realistic; it's a fascinating new phase with lots of opportunities. Tribe just wants us to do more of what we are good at – more barrels, more new beers'.
While both the new and the barrel-aged beers are amazing, such as The Farm, a Saison matured in French Oak, it's the old favourites like this Brown that just keeps on giving. Brewed using classic imported English ale malts, it's an ale that displays all the wonderfully rich and toffee characters associated with these malts. A close resemblance to what you'd likely find in the north of England, the pour is deep golden brown with a nose of toffee, brown sugar and raisins. The palate follows the nose, offering up more toffee and raisins, with a supporting cast of chocolate and nuts. Much like the progenitor of funky himself during his heyday, this Brown is both rich and smooth.
With its somewhat sessional nature, when I'm done with one, I often feel the calling to ‘Get up offa that thing' I'm sitting on and head to the fridge for another!