James Squire Malt Runner
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Malt Runner is the latest beer in a long line of limited releases by the acclaimed Malt Shovel Brewery which produces the well-known James Squire range.
This seasonal brew was released nationally last month, and is said to be ‘the perfect companion on a winter’s night’. Well here I am on such ‘a winter’s night’, its 15°C outside and this brew is going down exceptionally well. Malt Runner has similar stylings to a German Bock, which traditionally is a strong dark lager with light hop bitterness and an alcohol content somewhere between 6.3% to 7.2% by volume. This brew however, has a lighter alcohol content of 5.2%, making it a dark lager rather than a German Bock. The important ingredient used in this brew is cherry juice, which has been added to balance the malt flavours.
Malt Runner pours a lovely thick creamy head with tightly packed bubbles. Although this isn’t evident in the above picture, I assure you it does. The beer itself has a smokey chocolate taste along with a caramel-like malt finish, which makes it quite warming on a cold night. I personally can also taste the cherry juice within and it reminds me of one of my all-time favourites, Belle-Vue Kriek. The aroma is sweet, fruity and pleasant and its appearance is copper-like in colour.
James Squire ambassador chef Matt Kemp has created the perfect accompaniment to this limited brew, Bitter Chocolate and Roasted Macadamia Brownies. Once I saw the recipe posted here I couldn’t resist but make them myself. These brownies are indeed the perfect pairing for this brew but they are also sinfully good regardless of what they are served with. They are so good in fact that I woke up this morning to the sound of my girlfriend eating one next to me in bed!
Malt Runner can be found at any of these locations. I picked my 6-pack up from my local 1st Choice for $15 where the whole James Squire range is currently on special.
Other limited release brews by James Squire that we have reviewed are Mad Brewers Orchard Ale and Sundown Lager, feel free to check them out also. Sundown Lager was so popular that it was permanently made part of the James Squire range.
To conclude, this beer was a unique taste experience for me and I would happily try it again. I would highly recommend you try it for yourself before stocks run out. After all, it is limited to 9,000 cartons nationally.
Rating (out of five):
Category : Beer Reviews, Lager