BEER REVIEW: 309

BREWER: Williams Bros. Brewing Co., Clackmannanshire, Scotland

STYLE: IPA

ABV: 5.1%

VESSEL: 500ml brown bottle 

DATE OF POST: 8th September 2023

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Let’s get the elephant out of the room.  Well, on this occasion, let’s get the giraffe out of the room.  Naming a beer with the number seven in it because it’s been brewed with seven malted barleys, best mean you can notice that this is prevalent in the brew. The fact of the matter is, it makes no difference at all that Seven Giraffes has been brewed with seven malted barleys.

As a beer, it’s pretty wishy washy.  To try and pull it off as an IPA, it just ain’t hoppy enough.  Seven Giraffes is insipid.  The slight hint of hops needs a massive whoosh to elevate the drinking experience.

But while Seven Giraffes is not packing much of anything, it’s actually quite easy to drink.  It’s not offensive.  But not being offensive, is not close to a definition of being good.

Although unlikely to offend, Seven Giraffes is definitely not one to seek out.

Sammy’s Rating: 45%

 

JYMI SAY’S…

So, the first question is this…

What is the link between Giraffes and Malted Barley?

Odd question I know, but it is one that needs to be asked.

Why?

Well our beer today is named Seven Giraffes and we’re told that it is brewed using 7 varieties of Malted Barley. So there has to be a link, there just has to be.

So I took myself off to the British Library on Euston Road in London. Nothing.

Next stop was my local library about 5 min walk from my house (probably should have tried there first), but again, nothing.

Next stop was a mobile library that rolls up a few miles from me every month. Nothing.

It was then that Nigel in the Muse On Booze IT department (MOBITD) told be about something called INTERNET?

So on to that I went (this thing could be a game changer), using something called the google I typed in…

Giraffe Malted Barley. Nothing.

Malted Barley Giraffe. Nothing.

What’s the link between Giraffes and Malted Barley? Nothing.

I then found a thing called Spotify and got side tracked for 7 hours.

But returning to my task, I concluded that there was no link between Giraffes and Malted Barley.

So, even though Seven Giraffes is quite a cool name for a brew, it’s also a bit odd all things considered.

Second question…

Why label your beer with the tag, EXTRAORDINARY IPA?

You’re kinda setting yourself up for a fall and the drinker up for disappointment with moves like this, unless the IPA you have produced is extraordinary of course. Which this brew I’m afraid to say, is not.

However, it is alright, but alright is a fair few rungs down from extraordinary which equals… Disappointment.

Look, SG as mentioned isn’t too bad. The mouthfeel is fantastic to be fair (think we probably have our 7 giraffes, sorry, malted barleys to thank for this). It’s very drinkable and certainly moreish. There are tones of pine, grass and lemon but those tones are lacking a bit of intensity. There also needs to be more of a hop bite bitter smack to help this brew along. It’s supposed to be an IPA for crying out loud!

I think with a bigger bitter finale SG could have maybe at least approached the greatness we were promised.

But it does not reach such a crescendo. Which frankly, is a shame.

Jymi’s Rating: 56%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 50.5%

MOB review next weekend: WATERLOO by ANTHONY MARTIN

 Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

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M O B 2023