BREW CLUE

FROM the Land of the Long White Cloud comes another offering from South Island brewer Monteith, the XPA Railroad Crossing.

Having been a fan of Monteith for many years (too many), I was eager to sample the new contender.

But, sometimes you shouldn’t put high expectation on things — especially beer.

Monteith’s XPA was not what I was expecting.

As an XPA, it did deliver the initial fragrant fruity/citrus nose, raising my hopes and offering up a golden amber colour with frothy white head.

But I found that the initial mouthful left me wanting — it was missing the fruitiness that the nose promised and the hop nature was very subtle. This brew is a decent thirst quencher, better suited to the warmer months. It’s reasonably priced at around $19 per 330ml six pack at Dan Murphys.

There was far more maltbitterness. It has a medium body and, fortunately, the bitterness lingers in the aftertaste. I found this brew had far more in common with mainstream bitter ales (although admittedly more refined) than an XPA. While there’s nothing wrong with that, it wasn’t what I was expecting.

This brew will certainly satisfy a thirst when the warmer weather hits. While it’s full XPA RAILROAD CROSSING MONTEITHS, GREYMOUTH, SOUTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Extra pale ale

STYLE:

strength at 4.8 per cent, it has good sessionability.

That feature makes it quite a social beer, well-suited to grilled meats and a welcome guest at barbecues.