It's a Second Christmas Holiday Beer Review!

I'm using the Christmas Holidays as an excuse to drink a lot of beer. So here's my second beer review for the week! I've discovered that virtually every bar that I went to while living in Adelaide 12 years ago has either been revamped into some big new amazing high class thing, or it has shut down and being replaced with some funky little craft beer or fine wine place.

NOLA, however, is just some new bar that has opened up on a street that was once filled with garbage bins and used needles. They specialise in craft beers and whiskey, which suited my wife and I down to a tee. Weirdly, many of the beers were from Victoria. I wasn't about to complain.

The bar is quite funky, and offers a wide selection of drinks. I was also extremely happy to see some of the Bridge Road Christmas beers on their list, as I was a little annoyed that I didn't get to try these before heading over to Adelaide from Melbourne.

_{mmmm beer}

Once again, I had three beers here, and each of them were again very different from one another. The beers I tried were The Doctors Orders Tonic - Witbier, Bridge Road Brewing's Magical Christmas Unicorn - Ice Cream Ale, and Bridge Road Brewing's Fat Man, Red Suit, Big Sack - Red IPA.

Thankfully, I didn't get quite as tipsy as I did in my previous review. And made some reasonably coherent notes this time. However I did continue to down a few more ales and wines later in the evening that led to quite the hangover the next day... I think I need to take a month off drinking after this trip (fat chance).

All beer data and ratings out of 5 are in the table at the end of this review.

The Doctors Orders Tonic

I don't often drink witbier, or a beer that's meant to taste like tonic and even be mixed with gin for that matter. Check out what Doctor's Orders Brewing have to say about this beer:

Tonic is ambidextrous. You can drink it straight up as a refreshing Summer Witbier with its array of botanicals (orange peel, juniper berries, lemon myrtle, coriander and cinchona bark) or as we prefer; use it as a Tonic Mixer by adding a shot of Gin. _source

I'm sorry Doctor's Orders... but that statement offends me deeply. Beer isn't for use as a mixer, and this beer was just plain weird.

It poured a very pale amber, had a small and moderately lasting head. There were no notes of botanicals in the aroma, just very mild notes of hops, perhaps the subtlest hint of citrus. The beer was well carbonated and I could tell that it was a well crafted beer, however everything about it was just wrong. Beer should not taste like tonic, it shouldn't be so damn watery, and while it was extremely refreshing, I may as well have had... funnily enough... a glass of tonic water.

Bridge Road Brewing's Magical Christmas Unicorn

Bridge Road Brewing's Magical Christmas Unicorn Ice Cream Ale is meant to have notes of vanilla ice cream in it. It is apparently a cream ale, excuse my ignorance however I've never encountered a cream ale before.

The beer pours a lovely pale amber, more pale than the tonic water thankfully, and has a reasonable head that lasts for a decent time. On the nose there are hints of hops, and a strange sweetness. The carbonation is well balanced and not overpowering.

This is actually quite a pleasant beer to drink, and perfect for the hot weather we had this day. There is a definite sweetness there, which I'm assuming is meant to represent the vanilla ice cream, however it isn't overpowering. I really didn't get any notes of vanilla or ice cream but maybe my palate was off today. The beer has mild flavours of hops and a very subtle bitterness, and has a nice and creamy finish. My only negative about this beer is that it really doesn't match what it's advertised to be.

Bridge Road Brewing's Fat Man, Red Suit, Big Sack

This is much closer to what I would expect a Christmas beer to be like. This Red IPA pours a lovely deep red with a good and long lasting head. There's definite notes of dark fruits and hops on the nose and possibly some subtle hints of chocolate. The beer is nicely carbonated and the aroma transfers well onto the palate. The hops and malts are quite strong on the palate and it has a moderate bitterness that suits this beer well. The fruit flavours didn't come out on the palate which I found interesting.

This would be my beer of choice for the day. I could comfortably have a couple of these in a sitting.

The Beer Data

Beer	Type	Origin	ABV	Rating
Dr Tonic	Witbier	NSW	4.5%	2
Christmas Unicorn Ice Cream Ale	Cream Ale	Victoria	7.3%	3.5
Fat Man, Red Suit, Big Sack	Red IPA	Victoria	7.5%	4

_{All ratings are out of 5}

Concluding Remarks

In summary, Bridge Road Brewing clearly do some decent beers. Their Christmas beers are a limited release every year, so make sure you get in early if you want to try them out.

Doctor's Orders obviously use a lot of creativity when making their brews, so I'd be curious to try their other beers however really wouldn't recommend their Tonic, unless you're really after something bizarre. Or want to use it as a mixer?? Just don't invite me over if you mix your beer with other things...