Beer – #111 – Liberty – High Carb Ale

Liberty Brewing Co – High Carb Ale, a New Zealand Strong Ale. Brewed by the Liberty Brewing in the style of a English Strong Ale and they do that in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

This 2011 seasonal release showcases an extremely rare hop variety: whole NZ grown Chinook flowers. The flavour of these hops blend nicely with the ridiculous amount of carbohydrates put to use in this limited release ale.

A Bottle of 750ml, @ 7.3% ABV (about 4.3 standard drinks) and listed as being 70 IBU and it has 45g of carbohydrate!

Intriguing what? Comes with a completely unnecessary ZORK closure. However once you wrestle that contraption off it does have a pleasant hissy carbonation.

A fruity aroma, hiding what seems to be an overly yeasty base but it is somewhat sweetly pleasant, more malts than hops. It’s a dark rich english beer colour too, I was expecting pale, this is the opposite. Also has a pleasant head on the pour.

Slightly bitter but really really pleasantly sweet with a lovely balance of malts. The second mouthful reveals it’s bitterness, but also how it carries the fruits.

This is shapes to be a mildly bitter, creamy smooth ale, with bitterness that does not overshadow the delivery of tastes. And I would invite mates around and session on this without any problems at all.

As a showpiece beer this is quite clever, and brings a smile to my face. It’s understated and yet also has a presence. I’d easily go this again, and the pdubyah-o-meter gets to a 9.4 arbitrarily on its scale of arbitrary. Top work.