BEER: Malt Shovel New Norcia Abbey Ale

BEER: Malt Shovel New Norcia 'Abbey Ale' (Sydney, NSW)
7.0%

This is brewed by the Malt Shovel Brewery, producers of  the James Squire range (amongst others), with this beer an authentic Abbey Ale (having been brewed for the New Norcia monks of Western Australia. The intention with this one is to craft a Belgian style, full flavoured golden ale with the emphasis on richness and power.

If anything the result is about as close to an 'Abbey style' golden ale as Australia gets, however the reality is that that is still a fair step behind the Belgian examples it's trying to imitate. The problem, that I can see, is simply that it is too clean - there is none of that funky, yeasty, bottle age complexity through the back palate, with none of the length or finish that the Belgian gear (Hoegaarden Grand Cru and Duvel for example) carries.

It's actually not a bad beer, but I can't help but feel that it's like a dulled down, filtered version of what it should/could be. I'd still drink it if handed a bottle, but I can't say I'd be bothering to buy it again.