RECKLESS BREWERY CO SUMMER IPA
Unlike the Corona advert, life’s not one long summer - particularly not right now! Here’s the perfect beer to share honestly between mates about where you're both at…and, where you'd rather be!
Origin – Sydney, New South Wales
ABV – 6.5%
Size – 375mL can
Style – Indian Pale Ale
Robert Falcon Scott set off to become the first man to reach the South Pole. He reached it only to discover that Roald Amundsen had just beaten him to it. After a 3,000 km round trip, he died only kilometres from his return base camp of dehydration and hyperthermia. Explorers Burke and Wills were the first to navigate Australia from south to north. They died on the return trip of dehydration and starvation, remarkably camped by a tree that they had buried provisions under only months prior on the journey north. Both events are referenced in the Australian Crawl classic, Reckless, a song that speaks of a man that needs to 'throw down' the sort of macho, and reckless behaviour that left Scott, Wills and Burke, thirsty and ultimately dead.
In a round-about sort of way, it was a similar message to the one that Grace Flower, Jarrod Moore and Alice Wilson wanted to share when founding a brewing of their own late last year. While sitting around thinking about names that surmised their beer philosophy of ‘take chances, be adventurous, but not stupid’ along with a mission to ‘hydrate the local community by openly sharing beer and life together', a particular James Reyne hit began to play! So began the tale of Reckless, and a trio that based on early demand is off to a great start.
But to get the backstory, you have to turn back to clock to a beer journey that started with Jarrod's bathtub, some bad homebrew, and a desire to drink the cheapest beer possible. But it was when they took an adventure of their own across America in 2012 that it all changed. In the brewpubs of Portland, they all fell madly in love with flavoursome beer. Upon return to Sydney, Jarrod and Alice set about making good use of their science degrees, home brewing from grain, while by chance Grace found herself working for the now-defunct Icon Brewing. There she developed her knowledge before joining the team at Akasha where she still works.
Itching to make her own beer, and with Jarrod and Alice having similar thoughts, one Sunday breakfast meeting resulted in the trio now working two jobs and spending every waking hour obsessed with building the dream. And it's that obsession and determination that is poured into each of their beers. It took 17 trials to perfect the recipe for Reckless' first release, a pale ale, and not many less to deliver the second, this superb Summer IPA. Filled to the brim with Mosaic and Galaxy hops, it packs a citrusy punch on the nose before those delicate tropical flavours mellow in the mouth. While it's undoubtedly perfect for summer, it's the sort of IPA that's ideal all year round.
Dare I say ‘throw down your guns, and pick up a Reckless!'
