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...

[Nolen Smith]

PIcked up a Paradox on Tuesday evening from Regional. Must say I wasn't overly impressed. It was drinkable but I found it verging on astringent... almost like a 'sting' on the tongue.

[Reviled]

Mmm, I like to think of it as a zingy ness, alot of my beers are like that, a hop kick in the teeth :o)

Each to their own tho...

[Greig McGill]

Yep, that sounds like my first experience with it. It's why I loved it so much! :)

[BeerNZ]

To clarify (or not). I talked with Brian yesterday. There has to date, only been one batch. The second is just released now and none is in bottles yet. The bottling was done from the one batch all in one run so therotically there should be no variation.

Put it down to 'personality variation'. Brian did point out that the beer has been tasted by judges, beerwriters and other peers within the industry and none have commented negatively and remember it is only 4% abv.

Opinions are what make us all different.....

[JoKing]

I feel guilty now - because I spoke poorly of it.

I have to admit, the hop flavour was well represented in this brew. I could quite definately taste the hops in the brew as the brewer had described on the label. I suppose that individual perception and preference plays a lot in ones decision to like or dislike a beer. Personally, to me, I perceived that the hopping may have been covering something up in the brew - and the bitterness wasn't as smooth as many beers of this style I have been drinking lately. So as such, I decided not to like it. And for $7.50 a bottle - I expected a lot better than what I have been making myself for $20 / 20Litres .

Appologies for not making my comments more clear.

[Greig McGill]

Possibly shelf storage issues or travelling problems then. I still think it's a lovely drop, but many seem to have bad 'uns.

[JoKing]

You could be right, but I dont know. I'll put it this way... when I make lower gravity lagers (or Ales) and I get lazy / greedy on the sparge (which is all the time) there is a harshness from the grain that I dont like. I'm being honest now... so dont take the piss!

I've done several brews that I considered tipping because of this. When it kept showing up in my brews I put it down to proceedure, and addressed the situation. It was a grainyness that wasn't working with hop flavour. Probably wasn't working at all to be fair - but hop flavour made it more harsh. It was quite tannic - husky and unpleasant. I didn't expect to tast the same flavours in a beer that stung my pocket. THEN having Ngahere gold straight after made it worse for Paradox!

Maybe it wasn't as bad as I described - but I felt let sown in a big way. Maybe too high expectations.

And I'm not saying that my Homebrew is better than Renaissance either!

[Nolen Smith]

I'm not saying it was 'bad', I just wasn't impressed. I think my expectations may have been a bit too high - maybe from this thread... :-) One thing though, I *love* lots of hop flavour and certainly don't mind having the bitterness strip away a bit of tooth enamel, but in the bottle I had, there was very little aroma and flavour... just a sting of bitterness, and not necessarily in a pleasant way. It very well may have been too cold - I opened it straight from the fridge (not the walk in) at Regional... (I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of Regional). Or, maybe there was something wrong with it - storage or travel as mentioned above, or maybe I was just expecting something different. I've thoroughly enjoyed all other Renaissance beers I've had.

[Reviled]

Did you drink it from the bottle? Cos that would account for lack or aroma...

[Nolen Smith]

Nope, poured it into an English pint glass... but thinking back now, it was bloody cold.

[Reviled]

Sounds like it didnt last long either :oP lol

[Nolen Smith]

Shit, maybe *that* was the problem!... I drank it too fast! Guess I'd better try another one and savor it a bit longer. :-)