SHIFTY LIZARD BREWING ENGLISH IPA
Share an honest convo over these GorBEERchevs rather than denying and diverting and offering excuses until we're all thoroughly cooked, and only the cockroaches survive!
Origin – Willunga, South Australia
ABV- 6.5%
Size- 375mL can
Style- Indian Pale Ale
Since colonial times, Australians have been brilliant at coming up with great nicknames for people. Anyone who's ever spent a little time in the pub would have known a 'Whisper' – a bloke who's never been known to shout. Our own friendships groups are full of wonderfully apt putdowns in the form of a personal moniker. I cycle with a friend we call 'Pothole' because everyone avoids him, and my soccer team striker is known as 'Jigsaw' because he went through a spell where every time he got in the box, he fell to pieces. Then there's my mate Charlie whose byname is 'Showbags', as he is full of crap!
Lee Stone, the founder and head brewer of Shifty Lizard, gained the nickname that his brewery is assigned while installing beer equipment in London. Though Stone's tight-lipped on its origins, co-founder and Shifty Lizard marketing man Danny Straps let slip that his co-workers gave him the label after catching him 'testing the taps' on an install. Word is he was discovered at 11am drinking like a lizard – that shifty bugger! True to form, Stone has been flat out like a lizard drinking ever since.
Having returned home to SA he joined with Straps in early 2017 and the duo launched Shifty Lizard with a Pale Ale and IPA. Initially, Stone worked by day and brewed each night in his back shed. Though with demand outstripping supply, the pair were soon gypsy brewing larger batches at Vale Brewing, with Stone continuing to use his backyard setup to develop trial batches to be launched when opening a taphouse sometime down the track. However, 'sometime' came much sooner than expected when both launch beers received a bronze medal at the Royal Adelaide Beer Awards.
With the label’s profile in the headlines, the new Shifty Lizard microbrewery swung open the doors on its first anniversary. Located in a former butcher's shop in the centre of the prestigious wine region of McLaren Vale, the cosy space is far from shifty. The atmosphere is less like a lizard drinking and more akin to one soaking up the sun on a rock. It’s a place where you find locals and travellers alike sitting down to this well-balanced English style IPA. The use of a blend of traditional English hops and toffee-like malts creates a golden amber ale that delivers sweet aromas of caramel, some earthy and floral hops and soft yet assertive bitterness.
At a solid 6.5% abv I'll be sure to be reminded of my buddy Pete who’s dubbed ‘Autumn Leaves’, as he's always falling to the ground after a few, to stop at two!
