Paradox

[Reviled]

Renaissance's seasonal release, Paradox, is just awesome IMO... It reminds me of some of the really hoppy refreshing Pale Ales that I like to brew, just not as bitter :oP lol

If you see it around, you should most definately try it! Chock full of Riwaka hops, nice balance between the hops and the malt, good body, all round a really good beer! An awesome quaffer for a hot summers day, my bottle didnt last very long thats for sure... :o)

IMO it kicks Perfections ass, which was previously my favourite Renaissance beer...

[Greig McGill]

I knew it! You know as your manager, I'm supposed to get a cut... Lucky for you I accept barley wine.

[Stu McKinlay]

That's good news. I'm not knocking it, I just tried the tap beer and thought it was a batch or two away from getting the balance just right.

[Reviled]

lol, it looks like 12 pages, but a good whack of em was us just talking about getting beer from the US :o) haha

[denimglen]

Had a bottle of this last night. Didn't think it was that flash to be honest. Seemed to be a lot of vegetal from the hops in the aroma but the flavour wasn't too bad.

Also had a bottle of their APA too, was hardly any hop character in the aroma or flavour. I've had a couple bottles of their EPA and they were duds too.

Maybe just bad luck with their beers, or they're not my thing. Although their Scottish and Porter were awesome.

[Reviled]

Vegetal you reckon? All I got was passionfruit, it reminded me of Emersons Pilsner...

And yeah, discovery's definately their most boring, but it really sucks that you got some dud EPA's cos thats one of my favourite beers!

Was in Browns Bay New World the other day at lunch and the assistant brewer was there offering tasting samples, I could have stayed there for hours lol

[denimglen]

Yeah, like if when you steep hops in just boiling water, the vegetal character you get from that.

Sucks cause I was looking forward to it. Everything else about it was nice though.

[Kempicus]

I had a bottle of their APA too (i'm assuming we're talking about renaissance)...completely agree, hardly any hop character in the flavour or aroma...really disappointed.
Tried the paradox finally....i give it a 'meh'...little bit sweet, some fruity flavours/aroma i won't get it again

[JoKing]

My take on Paradox is that I was disappointed. I got a bottle from New World Vic Park on Friday dated to expire in Dec 2009. I assume it was fresh. I kind of got a fair amount of polyphenols on the nose - it was virging in unpleasant.

It seemed like there was a massive dose of dry hopping in there to try cover up a really grainy tasting brew. It was a shame - because I was hoping for a bit of saving grace, as I'm not a fan of the beer at the best of times. I have only ever liked their Porter, and it looks like I'll be sticking to that opinion.

[Kempicus]

I love their stonecutter and the porter i'm going to stick to them

[Greig McGill]

Seems there is a huge amount of variation with this beer. I've had it quite a bit now, with reactions ranging from WOW to "meh". Nothing bad yet, certainly not the astringency problems being described here.

Anyone from the brewery care to comment? If it was something from Epic, Luke would have been all up in this bitch by now! ;)

[Reviled]

I was going to get a bottle yesterday but I was only allowed one so I just had to get Perfection, it went down so damn bloody well I reckon, creamy and awesome!

Wierd about the variation, ive had two bottles of Paradox so far and they both seemed the same to me.

[BeerNZ]

I know there has been (at least) two batches made but just as to whether both were bottled I'm not sure. I've followed up with Brian and will try and get some comment from him.