BALTER BREWING EAZY HAZY
Behind all the wisecracks was men are falling through the cracks of life. We must change that! Next time we meet with a mate rather than hiding our feelings behind the jokes, let’s share one of these and openly talk about our blackdogs.
Origin – Currumbin, Queensland
ABV – 4.0%
Size – 375mL can
Style – Pale Ale
Depending on the era you walked the fairways, your take on the greatest golfer of all time likely differs. This generation’s icon is undoubtedly Eldrick Woods. He's already amassed prize money of $127 million and walks around with a one-time bikini model on his arm! My golf-mad father-in-law argues that it’s Jack Nicklaus. Tiger has got it easy, he tells me, ‘with his fitness and relaxation coach'. On the other hand, the Golden Bear, he says, 'did a few push-ups on game day and smoked a cigarette to relax after each hole'. There is, however, far less debate over the man of honour. That title falls to Ernie Els. The Big Easy is so noble that he recently overruled his own eagle.
Back in the club, with a beer in hand, Big Easy told the Channel 7 reporter he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he hadn't called a two-shot penalty after inadvertently moving the placement of his ball. Perhaps the gentlemen of the gentlemen’s game was sipping on this gentleman of the hazy beer world? It certainly would have been fitting, as not only is head brewer Scott Hargrave and the four most prominent names in the world of surfing - that were behind the founding of Balter - all avid golfers, but it was a beer named after their favourite course hazard that led to this big Eazy.
First put into our hands as a one-off in early 2021 and recently added to the full-time Balter roster, the Eazy Hazy is a follow on from the experimental 4.5% abv Bunker Buster release. With a sand wedge in hand, Hargrave then sliced off half a per cent of abv to create, using his words, 'a hop-driven release that has been brewed to keep you sipping with a full-flavoured yet easy-to-drink beer.' The final result, low alcohol, low bitterness, full-flavoured, crushable hazy pale ale - a hole in one! An opaque yellow drop, the Eazy Hazy is fruity but gentle and just right for sipping on to wind down after a day on the course, post surfer or off the back of just another hard day in the office. Succulent Sabro hops deliver lime, passionfruit and hints of coconut around a creamy, rolled-wheat base to balance the zesty bitter finish.
I'll let others line up to share one with Tiger, The Golden Bear or Big Easy. I'd be enjoying my Eazy with Shooter McGavin!
