ROCKS BREWING CO HANGMAN
Nothing pairs better with freshly cut grass than beer. So next time you shut off your Victor grab a neighbour and enjoy this cracking cold craft together over a convo.
Origin – Alexandria. New South Wales
ABV – 4.9%
Size – 375mL can
Style – Pale Ale
200 years ago back in mother England, you could be flogged till you bled for a minor misdemeanour and sent off to the other side of the world for stealing a slice of cheese. Upon arrival, you were likely to be chained by the feet and made to carve roads through sandstone cliffs with a hand pick! In the 80 years following settlement in 1788, over 165,000 convicts made the arduous journey to the land we now call Australia. Many of those people settled in The Rocks, a small waterfront area of Sydney. Some did alright for themselves, such as the budding young brewer James Squire, who was famously sent down under for stealing five hens. Squire went on to become the colony’s first and most sought-after brewer.
200 years on, it was another brewery making a name itself less than a block from Squires old stomping ground, one formerly associated with drunkenness, prostitution, filth, and thieving. Founded in 2008, for the first five years of its life, the Rocks Brewery was located at Harts Pub in the heart of The Rocks. However, with little room to grow, in 2014, Rocks moved to an industrial estate in Alexandria. In their new home they built a custom glass and stainless-steel brewery, tap house and top-notch kitchen. Though it was a bold move, slowly but surely, the proudly independent brewery owned by Simon & Rachel Osborn grew into the space.
Today over a million litres of the amber ale flows in to cans filled for local brewers and their own range of approachable beers that capture historical Sydney personalities, such as the Governor Golden Ale and this Hangman Pale. The Hangman, head brewer Adreac Fitter’s take on a classic American pale, does precisely what you'd expect, balancing caramel malt characteristics with citrus and stone fruit hop aromas and flavours. The hops used are American varieties, Cascade and Liberty, which, having been added late in the ferment, serves up maximum aroma and flavour impact without lending the beer anything more than a cleansing bitterness.
I'm unlikely to steal a hen or a slice of cheese, though, given a chance, I wouldn't hesitate to snatch a few of these from a mates esky!
