Fig Jam IPA
Company info:
Burleigh Brewing Co
Burleigh Heads, Q.L.D
Bottle size sampled: 650 mL
Alcohol: 7%
Standard drinks: 3.6
Cap type: Non-twist
Cost: I picked this up for $11.99 AU
Label info: ‘A couple of centuries back, IPA was made strong and hoppy to protect it on the voyages from England to India. These days we just make it that way because it tastes great.
An intense five-stage hopping process delivers a rich, robust character, smooth flavour and an inviting aroma. So, while it has all the mighty ‘BAM’ of the original, it’s surprisingly well balanced. A bit like our skateboarding elephant.
What’s in it? Five malted barley varieties, five natural hop varieties added in five separate stages, all fermented with our well-primed, fruity ale yeast.
What’s not in it? Anything nasty of artificial, like preservatives, additives, pre-isomerised hop products, foam enhancers, animal or fish products… or anything else that’s not meant to be in beer!’
What the label really means: Wow – could they fit in any more information? Nuff said, go home. Nothing to see here.
The Hell-Cat review starts here
Label: Firstly it needs to be commented that this is a bottle printed label. This is a practice I’ve not traditionally been too warm to. But, I like this. Not only does it show a commitment to the brew (hell, you’re only going to print a label on a bottle if you are very confident the beer will work. If you have the least bit of uncertainty you’d dodgily print up some labels on the home dot matrix printer and whack them on with some UHU glue), it also feels good to hold. It’s a simple two-colour print of green and white and I love the bold font of ‘FIG JAM IPA’ but then there is so much text and images (including an unexplained elephant on a skateboard) that this ends up being one overloaded, busy and confused label. It’s hard to like a label that seems to be trying too hard.
I give it a label rating of 5 out of 10.
AROMA: Zesty, fruity and fresh. This is one good smelling beer. Sniff carefully and inhale the delicious passionfruit aroma.
Taste: GLASS – There’s a pervasive nuttiness that flows through every sip. It’s a bitter brew without being overloaded and is quite light with a huge wallop of hoppy goodness. I’m also tasting zesty fruits with every sip, and for the sheer complexity of this brew alone, I am impressed.
I give it a beer from glass rating of 8.5 out of 10.
Taste: BOTTLE – Drink this sucker from the bottle and you’ll quickly discover it’s just as delicious, cuts through the bitterness and presents itself as one very well-balanced ale. There’s a lovely earthiness that now emerges that is also a welcome development. A great drop.
I give it a taste from bottle rating of 8.5 out of 10.
Accompanying food: Chicken….I’m thinking a delicious chicken and cashews dish would suit this brew well.
Best season to appreciate: This is a Summer brew, yo.
All-nighter beer? Yes! It’s delicious all the way to the end, and at 7.0% alcohol it’s bound to be one hell of a night.
NEXT WEEK: TBC
Hell-Cat's beer blog 
The elephant appears to be explained on the label doesn’t it?
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Yessirroo it is. Second paragraph – “An intensive five-stage hopping process delivers a rich, robust character, smooth flavour, and an inviting aroma. So, while it has all the mighty ‘BAM’ of the original, it’s surprisingly well balanced. A bit like our skateboarding elephant.”
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I think the beauty of the elephant on the skateboard is that it doesn’t need to be explained.
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Today’s the day that Figjam IPA is officially available at Murphettoriums, but Diddly and I are such valued glugnauts, that when I asked a Murpheteer about the stuff on Saturday, he dug into their stash, and gave me a pre-release fooze dibs on two bottles. If I’d done that at an indy foozer, he would’ve mumbled incoherently, and then tried to sell me shares in a racing chicken.
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I got a single fig jam on Saturday and now on Monday morning I’m trying to determine where the weekend went.
Nice beer, and a shining example of a quality IPA. At $10 for a long neck it’s a little pricey however but golly does it pack a punch.
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I looked everywhere for this stuff a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of this review, but, alas, no gherkin. From the big box stores, to the indy foozers with the sounds of the previous night’s chicken tampering still echoing in their fridges, Snivins haunted them all. He was resigned to sitting this review out on the sidelines, with a bowl of low-GI porridge, and a defeated disposition, until he saw on the Murphett’s website last night that they’ve got it ‘coming soon.’ We live in dangnably exciting times.
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Fig Jam has landed! I shall report at the first possible coherency … hic
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Powerful beer, It’s possibly a tad too powerful for this Radio. Also, it didn’t taste figgy in the slightest. Unless they used intensively farmed battery figs, which have no zoot, then I reckon FIGJAM is an acronym, not an ingredient, and that no figs were harmed in the making of the stuff. So, in conclusion, It’s not for the weak of walnut, nor anyone with a fear of duodenal polyps, and fig fanciers definitely need not apply. Nine out of ten.
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Oops. I forgot my food and song match. It would go well with a chicken farouk and a theremin ballad.
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