After the better part of a decade on the market and a steady string of awards, McLeod’s flagship beer has well and truly achieved classic status. It’s also one of those rare beers that seems to live equally in the hearts of both judges and the wider drinking populace, being a massive crowd favourite as well as an award winner. Though brewed in the modern US pattern of clean malt and bright, fruity hop flavours, Paradise isn’t reliant on any American hops. Instead it gets what it needs from a mix of local and Australian varieties.
Aromas of apricot, mango and pawpaw adorn the nose with just a splash of juicy malt. The palate meanwhile shows more stone fruit, resin and green garden herbs, along with a surprisingly full and complex malt character that carries into the robustly bitter finish.
It’s easy to see why this one is such a crowd-pleaser, this is just such an all-rounder of a pale ale. There’s heaps of green character for hop-heads, that surprising malt complexity for pale ale traditionalists, and a big bitter finish for drinkers like me who like a bit more bite.
