MOLLY ROSE SPOTLIGHT
Two red telephones, one in the White House, the other in the Kremlin, allowed Kennedy and Khrushchev to talk each other down from the brink of nuclear war! Perhaps now during such critical times, the best way to divert a crisis is to pick up the phone and check in on a mate over this ‘virtual’ cold craft.
Origin – Collingwood, Victoria
ABV- 6%
Size- 375mL can
Style- Indian Pale Ale
Grandmothers just rock. Mine sure did! They let you get away with just about anything. They can fix things better than MacGyver. They don’t care too much anymore about what others might think of them. They are honest, humble, hospitable, and hardworking. While we all long to pay homage to those nanas, nonnas and grannies that played such an important role in our lives, Nic Sandery actually did, naming his brewing venture after each of his - Molly and Rose.
And while many nan’s might frown upon their grandchild’s chemist degree getting put to use brewing beer in the backstreets of Melbourne, Nick’s couldn’t be prouder. Taking his science degree, Nic first entered the world of beer by pursuing a graduate diploma in brewing following his undergraduate studies. After university, he picked up some work at few of Australia’s best-known craft breweries including Little Creatures and Stone & Wood, then went on a world tour covering Japan, the UK and beyond, to learn more about brewing practices. Upon returning to Australia, he spent two vintages working in wineries. Nic then took those later learnings about wild fermentation, flavour extraction and working with barrels, combined it with his earlier tuition on beer, and Molly Rose was born.
It started with an online-only release of a Foundation Series – six small-batch handcrafted beers, ranging from a fresh IPA to a Japanese dark lager and a strawberry Berliner weisse, all conditioned in 750ml bottles. Not wanting to give away majority stake, given it is a company that comes from the heart – ‘it’s my grandmothers names' Nic shares – the limited funding resulted in a serious of small steps from that first release in late 2017, to the opening of his humble brewery in mid- 2019, to now. Rather than any sort of core range, Nic continues to focus on deliberate, thoughtful and creative beers, all released in limited editions, albeit in slightly larger quantities than the original 300 litres batches.
One of those is this incredible SpotLight Galaxy IPA. Far from loving the spotlight himself, this beer is about putting the hop on centre stage. Brewed using dry hop additions of Galaxy at multiple stages, the result is a delicious single-hop IPA that perfectly balances zingy, dry and crisp. Both nose and mouth resound with citrus, peach and passionfruit, which sit atop of a lean malty base. The finish itself is light and dry, with perhaps the masterstroke being found in the assertive lingering bitterness.
It’s almost as good as my own grandma’s rice puddling…almost!
