The KAIJU! Tasting Paddle
- intouch Magazine
- Dec 1, 2020
- 2 min read
“Unashamedly intense, devastatingly good craft beer and cider.”
It’s a pretty big claim from the makers of new craft beer brand Kaiju! And one we thought we’d put to the test this month with a taste-test of their four top-sellers. Here’s what we found…
MAIN SQUEEZE
If there’s one thing we need this coming Summer, it’s a Passion Guava Session Ale! Originally sold as a limited release, Main Squeeze Passion Guava Session Ale was received so well at the time that KAIJU! decided to make it a permanent part of the range. At 3.2% it is a smaller beer, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make a big impact. A refined malt profile complimented by a bright fruit bomb of passionfruit and guava, give this mid-strength the kind of full taste and aroma you can go back to. Kind of like your main squeeze.
KAIJU KRUSH!
The first thing that grabbed us with KAIJU Krush! was the artwork on the can – a giant pineapple creature rising out of the sand, looking super cool, while a boatload of tropical fruit heads in to feed him! Pouring it into a glass, we were hit with aromas of tropical fruit and stone fruit. On the palate, that tropical flavour hits you with those juicy, Summery vibes carrying the kind of bitterness that you would expect from a good craft beer. Released in 2016, Krush was the pioneer of the tropical pale ale style, and it’s still Krushing it now.
GOLDEN AXE CIDER
We’ve noticed that so many ciders have a sweet or super sweet flavour profile which is nice for a few sips, but it gets to be too much, and we tend to stop there. We were so glad when we tasted Golden Axe and found a well-balanced cider with a medium to dry flavour profile that you can have more than one of. Made from freshly crushed Australian apples, (not from concentrate) Golden Axe Crisp Apple Cider carries an aroma of fresh-cut apples and blossom. It’s vegan friendly and is registered as gluten-free by Coeliac Australia.
METAMORPHOSIS IPA
This IPA’s hop aroma hits you as soon as you pour it into the glass, it was obvious the brewers used an absolute stack of hops, but that’s what IPA’s are all about isn’t it? KAIJU! have again delivered on the artwork, with that hop creature on the front of the can giving us a hint of what was to come. At a relatively high 6.7% alcohol, Metamorphosis IPA carries the flavour really well, isn’t at all overwhelming, and keeps its hefty malt profile perfectly balanced by that refreshing hop bitterness.
Local stockists include: The Happy Wombat, Warners at the Bay, Tighes Hill Cellars, The Bottle-O Lambton, Cellarbrations at Adamstown and The Prince of Wales in Merewether.
