Three Boys Golden is an absolute favourite of mine. So after the heartbreak that was the Hopinated version of  Twisted Hop’s ‘Sauvin’ Pils — another beer whose deliciousness is closely-tied to its simplicity — I was a little nervous to try this. Especially after Martin had some and found it a little sweaty.

But this modification wasn’t as extreme as biffing in a whole buttload of some superfluous flavour, this was a difference in delivery method — upping the temperature a tad, and losing almost all of the bubbles. The effect wasn’t as jarring, and I thought it moved the beer into the sort of very-pale English-style bitter territory occupied by Galbraith’s charming ‘Bob Hudson’s’.

Verbatim: Three Boys Golden Ale – Handpulled 5/10/10 on tap @ MH Another slightly-varied old favourite, so after Hopinated Sauvin Pils, I was pretty nervous. But I like this more. I think it winds up like a golden Bitter, like Bob Hudsons from Galbraith’s, maybe.

By “blonde”, here, they mean “golden ale”. You can see I’ve developed an obsession. It’s a great bright gold with lively racing bubbles that make a fine head which lasts all the way down the glass and make for an notably (but enjoyably) fizzy feel. It’s perhaps not as aromatic as billed — the text on the bottle is full of zesty and bursty and exclamatory tone that makes me want to counsel them to just calm down and embrace the nature of the lovely mild ale instead. (As I mentioned with the previous beer, some people expect too much of golden ales — it’s just odd that, here, it seems to be the people marketing one that miss the point a touch. But I forgive them.)

It does have a definite zing, and is brilliantly refreshing. There’s a solid passionfruitiness to it, which is apparently a hallmark of the Riwaka hops used — and probably accounts for the label’s colour scheme, too.

Verbatim: Renaissance ‘Paradox’ Blonde. 21/1/09 $7 at Kirks. 500ml 4%. Further adventures in golden ale. Nice bright gold with lively racing bubbles + fine head. Not as aromatic as billed, maybe — the pitch is over-enthused; embrace the mild ale, boys. Definite zing in the flavour. Very refreshing. Solid passionfruitiness; apparently a Riwaka hop hallmark. The bubbles stay around and dominate the feel a bit.

Afterthoughts, November 2010: “Blonde” is one of those abused / overused words in the beer world where you really have to ask someone exactly what they mean by it before you can talk to them if they strike up a conversation / ask a question. If you’re European, it’s Belgian-ish boozy light-ish ale; if you’re American, it’s wheat beer, usually more Belgian-ish than German-ish; if you’re Australian, it’s low-carb lager. It does get confusing.

“Draught” is a similar word, but worse still.

I’m increasingly certain that my nomination for Under-rated Beer Style is golden ale. I’ve got a few more sitting on my bookcase ready to try soon, but I’d also never gotten around to trying this one that we’ve had at work for ages. And it’s pretty bloody lovely, really. Compared against the Three Boys Golden Ale, it’s conspicuously more honeyish, with a fizzier, ‘larger’ liveliness to it. They’ve added some wheat malt to the mix, here, so doubtless that’s where the extra complexity and more numerous fruity notes come from.

Verbatim: Invercargill Wasp. 10/1/09 $8 @ work 4.2%. Another Golden Ale; my vote for underrated style. More honeyish, with a fizzyer feel. Like ‘larger’ liveliness. Some wheat malt, so more complex, slightly hazy.

Afterthoughts, November 2010: Invercargill, a generally damn-good and under-rated brewery, have never quite been sure what to do with this beer. Originally, I believe it was a crystal (filtered) wheat, then (as here) it was a golden ale, and as at the time I’m writing, it’s now a pilsner. Always with the honeyishness, but with the ‘base’ constantly and inexplicably changing. By all accounts, my timing was right; this was it at its best.