TAPCHAT

On Board the Juice Train

Summer has hit full swing and ice-cold froths barely touch the sides of my pint glass these days – so perhaps it’s time we took a closer look at (paid cult-like, religious homage to) some of the beautiful creations on the pour.

Enter the Quiet Deeds Juice Train IPA. If you’re looking for this beer its picture can be found in the dictionary alongside the definition of ‘silky’.

Juice Train debuted at GABS 2017 intending to have a fleeting season, meeting as many suitors as it could and then dancing out of our lives and leaving us all broken-hearted and dateless. Thankfully, it turns out that’s not to be the case (so I guess I’m just dateless).

Its production has increased in size from 600 litres to 8,000 litres per batch – hopefully not just from my consumption. It’s now a part of the Deeds core range and will continue to grow in deliciousness thanks to their ever-continuing refinement of their products.

What’s it made of?

The aforementioned silkiness comes to you through the use of oats. Oats as well as heaps of wheat are added to a base of pale malt (Pilsner) which gives us that dense and weighty mouthfeel (as well as the 6.5% ABV).

Cascade, Centennial and Mosaic hops are added to this delicious eddy relatively late in the piece which lets all of concentrated aromatics come through without adding too much bitterness. The medium intensity of the Cascade hops offers a beautiful citrus character and perfectly offsets the sweetness of the malt.

What we like best

The whole attitude behind the Juice Train is really one we can get behind. They had a bit of a rough go while brewing their Batch 003 but didn’t let it stop them; or indeed, even slow down the Train. Some problems post-fermentation (damn you, oxygen) almost relegated the Train to the ‘Beers of Christmas Past’. However, when faced with murky-brown goop, the team simply flexed their fingers and got right back to work, and after honing their process came to us with the (now pouring) Batch 004, and we couldn’t be more grateful.

Justin Corbitt, Head Brewer at Deeds summed it up perfectly in his exposition of the Juice Train’s evolution:

“Craft brewing is fundamentally about experimentation and the constant development of new and innovative flavours. They don’t always hit the mark. In fact, if you don’t have a few misses up your sleeve you are doing it wrong!”

We owe a massive shout-out to the crew of beer creatives out in Glen Iris who are working their proverbials off to bring us this delicious, perfect-for-smashing-in-the-summertime brew. You can get your mouth around it while it’s on tap here, and keep your eyes on our website for updates about our next dance with the Train.