What are we drinking this month?

Each month we’ll highlight what we’re liking with a quick rundown about why. There’s nothing really special here, it’s just what we happen to be drinking. It might be old, it might be new, it might be hard to get, it might be easy.

Take a look at previous beers of the month.

Panhead Super Charger APA (American Pale Ale)

Beer of the Month – June 2016

Panhead got a lot of news late in May due to its sale to Lion, so it seemed fitting to make one of its beers the Beer of the Month for June. Panhead Custom Ales make some great beers and, with or without their recent attention, one of their beers is going to make it hear one day.

However, deciding on which Panhead beer should be Beer of the Month was a bit more difficult. A personal favourite is their Vandal New Zealand Pale Ale, and as one would know on our article on sour beer, a few of us have a soft spot for their Fruit Loop. However, these two beers aren’t part of Panhead’s core range and, while this isn’t necessary for beer of the month, since we’re talking about Panhead Custom Ales due to their recent news, it seemed more fitting to use a beer that’s in their core range.

So we’re naming the Panhead Custom Ales Super Charger APA as beer of the month!

As one of New Zealand’s larger craft breweries, Panhead Custom Ales have a relatively large selection of both core and non-core beers, but the cornerstone of every good range of beers needs to be the humble pale ale. At 5.7%, this isn’t a big beer, but it’s not a small one either; it’s about right where it needs to be for the style and to have fun with. With that, the flavour and body of the beer isn’t so much that it needs to go slow, nor is it one to knock back quickly.

All that being said, the Super Charger is very typically American. It has Centennial, Citra, and Simcoe hops in it. All this beer needs is some Chinook or Cascade and this one would be about as American as apple pie (although those may in there too!). So, as said by Panhead themselves “what it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in lack of subtlety.”

That’s not to say that this is a loud beer, it’s just to say that the Super Charger knows what it wants to be and accomplishes it.

The Super Charger is renowned for its aroma, full of citrus, pines, and resin. While there’s plenty more to this beer, it’s really what carries it. So hopefully it goes without saying, but drink this one out of a glass (drink all beers out of a glass for that matter).

Other than that, there’s not a lot to say about this beer. It is, quite simply, well rounded and an easy drink while still being a whole lot of fun. It’s a New Zealand version of a very American flavour, and Panhead’s interpretation puts their own little spin on the classic style.

Thankfully, this beer is pretty easy to find and now, with the extra support from a larger company, it should be even easier. Let’s just hope the recipe stays the same.

This review was part of our regular beer of the month series, but we also have general craft beer reviews. We also have plenty of American Pale Ale reviews.