1) Okay, lets just say this at the start – 3 Pub Circus has to be one of dumbest names for a beer company I’ve ever heard of. I don’t even understand what it means. Yes, the label contains all sorts of circus-related guff about how ‘‘they wanted to brew beers that were equally as unique and daring’’ as circus performers. But twisting the phrase ‘‘three ring circus’’ just doesn’t work.
And I assume the owners (pssst, it’s Liquorland) are aware of the negative connotations to the phrase ‘‘three-ring circus. My Oxford offers ‘‘a chaotic mess’’ as one definition.
2) And lets say this too – it’s not really a secret that this beer comes from Liquorland. Because they say so right on the back of the label. They don’t resort to trickery like Woolworths and create a subsidiary with a different name, nor do they just print the address and leave it up to geeks with too much time on their hands to punch it into Google Maps (hello, Woolworths).
Nope, Liquorland just put their name there in capital letters for all to see. Which is how it should be, so kudos to you Liquorland. Seems you’ve learned from the Steamrail days.
3) Even though I don’t care that much that supermarkets and bottle shops are entering the beer market, there is something shameless about calling your beer ‘‘Artisan Ale’’. Like you don’t care for being subtle and want to hit people over the head with the Obvious Stick. Calling a beer ‘‘Artisan Ale’’ is like saying ‘‘hey, we know a cool label would normally make people think this is craft beer but we want to make absolutely sure and use the word ‘artisan’ in the name.’’
Also, I hate the word ‘‘artisan’’. As much as I hate the phrase ‘‘craft beer’’.
4) By the way, ‘‘Artisan Ale’’ is the only description featured anywhere on the bottle. There’s simply no mention of what sort of beer this is. Which is a bit dopey really. You want people to think it’s craft but don’t think to tell people what it is?
5) I’m going to take a stab and say this is a golden ale. There are some nice melon-peach aromas here, but the flavour is a real letdown. There’s an odd streak of bitterness that ran right down the middle of my palate, and which returned with every sip. There are better supermarket golden ales out there – Steamrail’s for one.
Categories: Beer of the Week
BEER IS YOUR FRIEND 
Actually you should have mentioned that it was brewed for liquor land/Coles by a small craft brewery in SW Sydney called Macarthur Grange Brewery, which also sells beers under the Stockade brand, and won some decent awards for its beer…. Sadly the Artisian Ale is the only good beer from these new brands they make. The rest are pretty bland and boring.
Just FYI Macarthur Grange isn’t a small craft brewery, it’s one of the country’s biggest contract breweries, also known as Brewpack.
Out of your 5 points, 1 lists about the beers taste. Who cares where it’s from and what it’s called. In point 4 you mention how stupid it is to only have a description of “artisan” on the bottle and yet your review(?) is lacking description of the beers most important characteristic, the taste.
A number of people care where it comes from – there’s a push to have labels that disclose who actually made the beers.
There’s two reasons why this piece doesn’t describe the taste.
1) It’s not a review. Reviews are boring. I hate reading reviews of how a beer tastes.
2) If someone wants to know what a beer tastes like, they can just go and buy it. Taste is very individual – what you like and think is really hoppy, I might see as pedestrian.
Fair enough, thank you for responding
You don’t agree with what?
Na I don’t agree, taste is what we’re all wanting to know about and everyones experience is a reflection of this. Not that I’m trying to big note this beer, I stupidly bought a carton of this shite and I’m regretting it now. 😦 After the first beer I was like, its not that bad thinking ok its not as good as the likes of some the other popular pale ales but then by the third bottle I was like,I wana pour the rest of the carton down the sink!!!!!!
sorry where ever you came from.
Fortunately I bought a 6 pack of this beer for 10 dollars. I have suffered through three but will offload the other three onto alcohol;lic friends. It’s a beer with a strange unpleasant herbal aroma. The initial taste is bland and then a real bitterness runs along the sides of the tongue. it then finishes with a long lasting bitterness at the back of the tongue. It’s not nice. It’s like a home brew that’s been left too long. The bottle has a residue in it which is usually a good sign but not for this one. Maybe the bitterness is something to do with the yeast. Anyway lorry boys or steam rail is much nicer. At 50.00 you may as well buy a couple of cartons of mineral water they would be much better.
That was a 10$, when you spend 35 In 1st choice. Hairy Mary Ale:-).
I’m sure, I’ve had something like that before. James Squire?
Unlike Stefan (above), I did not find any master-offenders in my 6-pac.
No bitterness running along my tongue.
Nor along my fingers on the keypad.
Have you actually looked this product up? It has consistently won bronze awards from the AIBAs – it cant be that crap tasting if under blind tasting from beer experts it gets bronze! My guess is you drink Carlton Draught or VB and lack the mature taste of hops and flavour!
Psst Damska,
If medals are how you judge a beer, then you should know Victoria Bitter also won bronze at the AIBAs. And Carlton Draught won a silver.
So these very beers you mocked have actually been judged by professionals as good if not better than the Artisan Ale.