Storm Iron Stout

I'm just going to come right out and say it - best beer in Bali, hands down.

Storm have delibered a very respectable effort with this one mark my words. It's a 5.2% light stout, on the watery side of the spectrum but again justifiably so. Where this delivers is in producing a nice round experience in both the aroma and flavours, which speak of a pleasant valley stocked with roast coffee, bitter hops, and balanced toasty chocolate.

Sometimes lighter beers from this field can go overboard in trying to hide the emptiness and come out feeling artificial, but this comes across as balanced and not overly sweet.

It even looks better in person than in the photo .. perhaps it's camera shy? Regardless, make sure you pick this one up if encountered on your Balinese travels. It will both soothe your lager-ravaged palate, and support a brewer clearly doing some good things. 7.0

Storm Golden Ale

Number two from Storm, who with a bronze ale and a lager of some description from memory seem heavily stacked in the mid-range light drinking beer genre.

Bit more substance in the head as compared to their pale ale but still a bit weak in colouring. Visible aeration.

It's a something-nothing sort of beer this one.. there's a slightly golden (ie caramel / sweet malt) nose but not a lot else going on. Taste-wise it's much the same story, the elements of a golden ale have been assembled here to an extent but it's as if you're squinting at it from a distance, it's all rather indistinct and as a result, unsatisfying.

This is not a failure of a beer but I'd like to see them step up the malt presence to give it some heart and differentiate it from the pale ale and the rest of the stable further also.  4.0

Storm Pale Ale

The first encounter with Bali's self professed craft brewer Storm.
 

It comes at an Italian restaurant and the waitress, flush with success with all the pasta names, insists this one's pronounced "pah-ley ah-ley".. who am I to argue with the locals?

This is a pale ale true enough and pours a light amber colour with a fizzy unsatisfying cap. It sports an aroma in line with a light American Pale Ale with a couple of citrus lemony sour notes.

It's pretty light to drink but you get the feeling that a) it's on purpose and b) that's probably a good thing in a place where you're almost constantly sweating. The label informs that it's made with pilsner malt and that explains a lot about the characteristics displayed. Starian golding hops also come through to lend an earthy grassy character, balanced with a tinge of wider sweeter malt.

I'm actually pretty pleasantly surprised with this beer. It's not a delicious beer per se but a highly drinkable, deliberate stab at a relevant local pale. Deserving of respect.  5.5