It’s taken a week for me to go through all my notes and post on the mighty Great Australian Spectapular, Sydney. What a great day it was. 30 festival beers tried and not many I didn’t enjoy. The bar staff were too slow and there wasn’t enough by half, which meant I didn’t get to try everything I wanted to or have full glasses of my top beers, but I’m sure these issues will be ironed out for the second year at the new venue. In any case, here’s my top five beers:

5. Batch ‘A Currant State of Infusion’ (blackcurrant and coffee sour ale) – 4/5

4. La Sirene ‘Espresso Sour’ – 4/5

3. Feral ‘Dark Matter’ (porter) – 4.1/5

2. Pirate Life ‘Vanilla Malt Milkshake’ (winter ale) – 4.1/5

1. Yulli’s ‘Gilbert Pinot Grigio Wild Ale – 4.2/5

As you can see, all the scores were close and there were a few great beers just behind, but the Yulli’s beer blew my mind. A beer full of complex vinous notes, barrels and delicious sourness. I hope I can buy this beer outside of the festival so I can appreciate more than 75mL of it.