Re-release: Romeo & Juliet IIPA
May 25, 2022
But soft, what beer through yonder window pours? A brazenly tropical, fruit-forward elixir free of lingering sweetness, with a golden haze like young Leo’s hair, that’s what – a balanced yet powerful coupling ‘twixt East and West styles that’s anything but star-crossed!
Among the many things that Shakespeare was good at was 1) drinking ale, 2) re-inventing the English language and 3) remounting hit plays. As such, in the spirit of the inescapable Bard, we’re bringing back our blockbusting study in opposites, the Romeo + Juliet IIPA!
As the doyens of craft beer at Crafty Pint described it on its initial release, “Akasha, reaching the very height of audacity, have endeavoured to bring West and East together in holy matrimony.” Audacious? Perhaps. Accurate? Indubitably.
Indeed, Romeo + Juliet is a marriage of two distinct IPA styles, the classic West Coast IPA that’s so near and dear to our hearts, and its equally popular East Coast counterpart. And a cracking tale it is, too; an ode, to two of the world’s great beer styles, a sonnet of sumptuousness.
But don’t take it from us; take it from Shakespeare himself, who in a recently discovered draft Folio retrieved from a library of rare papers from a Five Dock estate, foresaw this Akasha Project. In it, he describes this great brew-nion, in words that will outlive us all:
Two ale styles, both alike in awesomeness,
From fair Akasha where we brew our beer,
From ancient grudge break to new unity,
Where hoppy styles give hoppy tastes new cheer.
From forth the radiant notes of these two brews
A pair of coastal legends take new life;
Who in their adventurous flavour throes
Do with their union rise and soar in flight.
The brilliant passage of their tasty love,
And th’ inventiveness of brewer’s art
Which in the end of things our fans must prove,
Is now the latest Project of our age;
To which, if you with thirsty tongue attend,
Will taste of bliss, our toil once more befriend.
The Cliff Notes version? This is an unashamedly tropical fruit-forward double IPA without lingering residual sweetness or discernible bitterness, its light golden haze and 8% ABV packs flavours that droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven on the tongue, where malt takes a back seat to let the hops sing.
Fruity, flavourful and with a finish as smooth as iambic pentameter, drink it in a cosy bar. Drink it on a balcony as you pine for your love. Drink it as you fire up Baz Lurhmann’s R+J and revel in its trashy timelessness… but dwell not overlong, as stock is in limited supply – buy some for your personal collection here before it recedes once again into the history books!
NSW Stockists
Page Bottler, Page
Loftus Liquor, Loftus
Barnys Fine Wine, Rosebery
Liquor Emporium, St Peters
Liquor Emporium, Alexandria
The Mill, Milperra
Crown West Cellars, Wollongong
Cringila Cellars, Cringila
Brew Nation, Canberra
Prohibition Bottle Shop, Kingston
Charlie’s Liquor Barn, Tahmoor
Brew Nation, Canberra
Huntsbury Hotel, Petersham
Candamber Liquor, Weston
Thirsty Cellars, Picton
Red Bottle, Alexandria
Plonk Fyshwick
Steves Cool Booze, Kingsford
Coledale Fine Wine, Coledale
Camperdown Cellars, Kingston Rd
Enmore Fine Wine, Enmore
Surry Hills Fine Wine, Surry Hills
Union Hotel, Newtown
Liquor Legends, Ashfield
Bomaderry Supercellars, Bomaderry
Lugarno Cellars, Lugarno
Native Drops, Bondi
His Boy Elroy, Wollongong
Mr Liquor, Cronulla
Little Bottler, Bellambi
Bellambi Hotel, Bellambi
Beer Deluxe, Darling Harbour
Old Canberra Inn, Canberra
Red Bottle, Sussex Street
Bar Cleveland, Surry Hills
The Bottlo, Narellan Vale
Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee
Coogee Bay Cellars, Coogee
Sapphire Cellars, Merimbula
Gladstone Hotel, Dulwich Hill
Bamvino Cellars, Green Point
Berkeley Vale Cellars, Berkeley Vale
Blaxland Bottlemart, Blaxland
Blue Gum Hotel, Hornsby
Bottlemart The Dam, Hamlyn Terrace
Bottlemart, Winston Hills
Cellarbrations Drummoyne, Drummoyne
Craft Cartel, Wentworthville
D’vine Cellars, Wentworth Falls
Georgetown Cellarbrations, Georgetown
IGA Xpress, Warriewood
Le Pont, Clareville
Leura Cellars, Leura
Lock Stock & Bottle, Abbotsford
Midway Cellars, Denistone East
Mingarra Recreational Club, Mingarra
Mr Liquor, Drummoyne
Murray’s Glenbrook Cellars, Glenbrook
Northmead Cellars, Northmead
Oldfield Cellars, West Gosford
Parkhouse, Mona Vale
Porters Liquor, Glebe
Prince of Wales Bottle Shop, Merewether
Sackville Hotel Bottle Shop, Balmain
Tamworth Hotel Bottle shop, Tamworth
The Bottle O, Lambton
The Oaks Bottle shop, Neutral Bay
Tighes Hill Cellars, Tighes Hill
Tom’s Cellars, North Turramurra
Warners at the Bay Bottle Shop, Warners Bay
VIC Stockists
A Point of Difference Liquor, Mitcham
Beermash, Fitzroy
Cellarbrations, Somerville
Cellarbrations, Tottenham
Cellars Bentleigh
Far Side Beers, Hawthorn East
Grape & Grain, Moorabbin
Hop Supply Co, Bendigo
Hopheads, Altona, Point Cook, Yarraville
McCoppins, Abbotsford
Parkhill Cellars, North Melbourne
Ritchies IGA Carrum Downs
Ritchies IGA Wantirna
Seddon Wine Store, Seddon
Swords Wine, South Melbourne Market
The Goods Shed, Wodonga
The Otter’s Promise, Armadale
Union Wine Store, Ascot Vale
Village Vineyard, Fitzroy North
QLD Stockists
Cellarbrations Treetops Tavern, Burleigh Waters
Craft Wine Store, Red Hill
Craft Wine Store, Coorparoo
Cellarbrations Buderim, Buderim
Cellarbrations, Birtinya
Saccharomyces Bottle shop, Taringa
Harry Brown’s Eatons Hill, Eatons Hill
Liquor Legends, Carina
Bottlemart Boondall, Sue’s Corner, Boondall
Vine Liquor Mart, Cleveland
Cellarbrations, Camp Hill
Yandina Hotel, Yandina
Mill Cellars, Mudgeeraba
Bar 951
Black Sheep, The Gap
Cellarbrations, Tingalpa
Cellarbrations Gumdale Tavern, Gumdale
Liquor Legends Stafford Tavern, Stafford
Cooly Liquor, Coolangatta
Cellarbrations, Greenslopes
Cellarbrations, Hawthorne
