John Boston The Point Pale Ale - drinking with a graphic King

Ahh glorious, a weekend off. And what better way to spend an afternoon after doing not much in the morning than by doing not much in the arvo too. And after a visit to the local library so my little bloke could continue his assault on the primary school read-a-thon I also came home with some graphic novels to mentally devour.

So here we are out the back with a pale ale and Stephen King's The Stand in graphic novel form. Would the brew be as good as the comic though? Let's get in to it.



Have I read the book?: Years ago during high school. In fact I'm going to say that it was the first Stephen King novel I ever read and I loved it. I remember vague bits of it like Trash Man and one of the characters being deaf - I probably should read it again soon.

How'd the graphic novel stack up?: Pretty good. Nice and dark, brought back memories of the book. Top job there graphic novel!

Okay enough with the book, lets focus on the beer for a moment (given that it's a beer blog). Let's start with what you can smell from this one: Okay then, a hint of stone fruits. There's also wood smoke but I believe that's from some idiot down the road burning stuff in his backyard.

Initial thoughts: This thing bubbles away like hyperactive champagne. The head hangs around as long as my fortnightly pay and while the initial taste is okay, the bitter aftertaste is a little off. It's not as claggy as the effect I got last Sunday with the Endeavours but it's not exactly pleasant to have swirling around in your mouth either. Get rid of that back end and this wouldn't be a bad drop.

Excuse me, I didn't order this champagne.

Overall: It's a pity the ending is flawed on this one as it's quite drinkable right up until the point when you stop drinking it and the aftertaste takes over. With a mouth of unwanted bitter flavor, there's no appeal to grab another one straight after. There are far better examples of this kind of brew out there.

2 out of 5 Trash Can Men.

COURAGEOUS CLASH OF THE CRAFT CLANS SCORECARD

1. PIRATE LIFE (seriously this one is really proving hard to beat)
2. SINGLE FIN
3. MONTEITHS AMERICAN PALE ALE
4. BURLEIGH 28
5. MOUNTAIN GOAT STEAM ALE
6. JOHN BOSTON THE POINT PALE ALE
7. ENDEAVOUR GROWERS PALE ALE