Derwent Real Ale

This week's beer is the Derwent Real Ale from the Two Meter Tall brewery (the name comes from the height of the brew master). This is a small batch brew made entirely from ingredients grown in the Derwent river valley in Tasmania. This particular batch was brewed on March 24 2011, and I tasted bottle number 1274.

The label says they are experimenting this time with some locally grown spelt. Unfortunately I don't think it was a very successful experiment.

The beer has an orange colour that I associate with fruity Belgian beers, but it isn't particularly fruity. The initial sip is inoffensive, but the aftertaste is where we run into trouble. It leaves some kind of coating (spelty?) in your mouth, which really isn't what you're looking for in a beer.

While I definitely applaud their beer making philosophy, and I'm glad they tried the spelt experiment,  I don't think it needs to be repeated in the future. Sometimes you need to be happy with a null result.

I give this two and half out seven thumbs up.