Tagged Vale IPA, it was first poured from the taps at the company's "hospitality venue" (I think that means restaurant) in August 2011.

So it's coming onto about a year old. But what is new, is that the South Australian company has put the stuff in bottles and sent them around Australia. So you should be able to spot them in your local Dan Murphy's, alongside the company's Vale Ale and Vale Dry.

I'm a bit of a fan of the Vale Ale and the feeling's the same when it comes to this latest addition to the stable. It's not a strong IPA, designed more to appeal to what head brewer Jeff Wright calls "emerging flavour seekers" than your dedicated hopheads.

"Our IPA was brewed to offer an approachable interpretation whilst still packing a punch with flavour and maintaining that distinctive hop character," Wright says.

None of which should be taken to mean that this is a watered-down IPA.

Sure it doesn't possess the instant mouth-puckering astringency of some craft beer IPAs but I reckon that's an advantage. Those hop-heavy IPAs are great, but jeez it wears your tongue out trying to drink more than a couple.

That's where the Vale IPA wins out. It has a lower level of that piney astringency - enough to let you know it's most definitely an IPA but not so much that you have to stop at one bottle.

As a plus, it has some nice aromas of citrus, passionfruit and pine. Think of it as a sessionable IPA.