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Pirate Life Brewing Cans (IPA, Throwback IPA, Pale Ale) 355ml 2x 6 Pack for $40 @ Dan Murphy's

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I was looking around for some good deals on craft beer and came up with this one from the latest Dan Murphy's catalogue.

The IPA is the real deal out of the three beers as it's normally $28.99 for a 6 pack and $96.90 for a case of 24.

The Pale Ale is also a nice drop and a pretty good price as it's normally $25.95 for a 6 pack and $89.90 for a case of 24.

The Throwback IPA I don't rate at all but could be a good entry point if you're not used to heavily-hopped beers, although only a small saving over the regular price (normally $23.95 for a 6 pack and $76.90 for a case of 24).

I'm aware that Pirate Life is now owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev so the craft beer tag is less applicable, however it still tastes the same as it did before they sold out. I'm also aware that some people still consider the sale price on this stuff to be expensive for beer, however as I've been cursed with taste buds I'm rarely able to spend under $90 for a case of 24 beers. As a result, $3.33 a can is hard to pass up.

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  • +2

    The IPA is the real deal out of the three beers

    Based on the reviews on the site, I might have to try this…

    Have you tried the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA?

    • +1

      Have you tried the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA?

      Yeah, for my tastes it's a better beer than the Pirate Life IPA but also a bit stronger (7.2 vs. 6.8 ABV if I recall correctly). The Yanks on the US West Coast have been at the hoppy beer game a lot longer than us and it shows.

      • The SN IPA and Pirate Life IPA are both average beers imo blehhhhhh
        Especially if comparing to other 'craft beer' that are out there.
        Pirate Life was one of the first craft beers I ever tried…. and I've never gone back.
        Much MUCH nicer IPA's going around than those.
        It's a deal none the less.

        • +5

          It's a deal none the less.

          Yeah, that's pretty much the bottom line.

          On the scale of things they're not as good as many IPAs you can get, however they are a lot better than the slightly cheaper IPAs like Gage Roads' Sleeping Giant, stuff from Little Creatures, Cricketer's Arms etc.

          I'll go out and drop $25 on a four pack of good local (Canberra) stuff like Bentspoke or Pact, or get something a little more fancy for $20-$30 for two 500mL cans, but I always like having something decent in the fridge that I can crack without feeling like I need a special occasion to do so.

          For me the Pirate Life IPA fits the bill when the price is right but there's no way I'd buy it at normal price for nearly $30 a sixer. Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA is the same. The last time I bought it was when Dan Murphy's had a 20% eBay sale and I scored a case for $89.89 delivered which is pretty good for 24x 473mL cans of 7.2% ABV beer.

          • @Pantagonist: Agree Nevada tropedo is amazing (have you tried SN hop hunter? Even better imo). Surprised you'd rate cricketer's or little creatures. Pirate life is amazing, especially their double IPA and mosaic IPA.

            • +2

              @ViperAMD: Heh, I don't rate Little Creatures or Cricketer's IPAs, I was just using those as examples to illustrate where Pirate Life's IPA sits on the scale of quality for me.

              Little Creatures IPA is $84.99 for a 24 pack at DM for 330mL bottles. With this deal you can get a 24 pack of Pirate Life IPA 355mL cans for $80. In other words, you can get a better IPA for a cheaper price and get more of it.

          • @Pantagonist: Everyone needs there go to middle range beer… almost a fridge filler but not quite.
            I might have to give it another go.

        • +2

          Strongly disagree. When fresh, Pirate Life IPA is up there with the best of the US west coast IPAs.

          • +2

            @prhino: Good call - large variation on the best before dates stamped on the cans in my Dan's store - always check!

            • @Qbagger: Great idea if you have that luxury. My local DM had 11 cans of the IPA left but one of the employees was kind enough to let me add another single can from another brand and put it through as the $40 deal. BB on the ones I picked up was 04/06/2019.

              Most brewers who care about freshness mark their cans with a packaged / canned date (like the Akasha Korben D IPAs I just finished which were canned on 23/10/2018).

              • @Pantagonist: IIRC the Four Pines 'In Season IPA' stamp a brewed-on date. Only problem is their last couple of releases haven't lived up to the earlier highs! Still worth checking out though in a low-risk 4 pack. Just a bit pricey IMO.
                https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_622797/4-pines-in-s…

                • @Qbagger: I tried Four Pines new mid strength pale when it was DM members price of $16 a sixer the other week.

                  Was pretty decent, would happily drink it at a bbq or something civil if it stayed that price!

                  I’ve just got back from a few years overseas and before I left there was Rogers and not much else for mid strengths so if anyone knows any other decent ones let me know please!

              • @Pantagonist: Where did you find Korben D? I just finished my last can and didn't think they were still brewing. I'm not too far from the brewery so guess I can go check on the weekend.

                • @chriise: Good bottleshops in Canberra have it. Akasha canned a new batch just over a week ago so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

                  • @Pantagonist: Awesome - i will definitely try and stock up on a few more of those

          • @prhino: Ya reckon!? Fair enough. I just never rated it after trying other IPA's, maybe it wasn't fresh enough I wonder. Had $8 pints of it a month or so ago, which was fecking good for Perth and thought it wasn't bad. Have had cans from Dans too.
            I've tried beer like Garage Project Los Lobos, Cheeky Monkey IIPA, Garage Project Endo IPA, Dainton IIPA, Hop Nation The Chop IPA… and well yeah, I just don't they compare but they would cost more too.

        • +1

          Definitely agree with this. Possibly a good gateway IPA. But when tasted beside other IPAs its really generic and boring.

      • +2

        The last buy
        http://i68.tinypic.com/14ifzsw.jpg
        Chop IPA is my standard go to IPA now.

      • +3

        Balter, and Kaiju (especially the Aftermath double IPA) are as good as anything I've tried out of the US.

        • +3

          Both good drops, no arguments there. I think the issue we have with beers sent over here from the US is that they're not as fresh as the stuff that's made and canned in Australia so it's hard to compare. The wet hop stuff you get in the taprooms on the US West Coast tastes amazing.

          I guess what I'm saying is that the Americans have been doing the heavily-hopped thing for a while now so they tend to push the envelope a bit more than Australian brewers when it comes to experimentation in that space.

        • So got to try Aftermath

    • +5

      Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter IPA is the real winner

      • +2

        Haven't tried that yet. Will add it to my 'Beer Bucket' list…

      • Have Hop Hunters in the fridge at the moment and their definately up there . Not a huge fan of the Torpedo IPA , It's nice but not a go to for me.
        Piratelife generally for me is a little subtle for my taste buds .
        So many nice beers these days .

        • So many nice beers these days

          So what do you recommend?

    • Stockade 8bit or Mr Fruju, two great IPAs

  • +2

    The pale ale is also 2 for $40 at BWS while the throwback IPA is 2 for $35. No deal on the IPA

  • +1

    love the Pirate Life, worthy of sailing the seven seas for this decent drop.

  • +1

    Don’t mean to hijack the thread Nomadesque, but if you don’t want to spend $90 per case, like it was costing me, get into home brewing. You will find plenty of clone recipes for all the top craft beers around….Better for you, fun to experiment with different grains and hops and 1/4 of the price. Started back up this year and forgot how good it is.

    • It's definitely something I'd like to have more of a go at. I was living in Darwin before Canberra which is possibly the worst place to try to home brew as you need to have a 24/7 temperature-controlled room so that the fermentation doesn't go haywire. There are a couple of craft brewers up there but I don't think their stuff gets close to competing with most brewers down south. I don't think there are any notable breweries in the tropics, come to think of it.

      • Even in a cooler climate the way to go is to set up a heat pad and a temp controller in an old fridge for fermenting.

      • Buy a second hand fridge and a Keg King temperature controller.

        I picked up a decent full size (pidgeon pair) fridge off Gumtree for $200 delivered and the temp controller was $80 at my LHBS.

        Even down south in Wollongong I needed that in summer to brew properly. Now I live near Townsville and brew beer just as good as when down south.

        Drinking lagers is now often so damn boring for me and I like experimenting with the various already that I can brew….

        EDIT: Oh and given Canberra now, buy a heat belt too for winter

    • My mate went this route to save money . He now has a shed filled with enormous stainless steal tubs , fridges , plastic cubes and cultures etc . It looks like an industrial drug lab . The back room has a 5ft long chest freezer housing 16 kegs with 16 taps .
      I'm not sold that he's saving a whole lot of money but he certainly has a lot of friends and hosts some most excellent "get togethers"

  • +1

    Beer lovers, do yourself a favour and buy a 2L growler and start checking which local bottle shops have taps and fill up on some special release.
    www.nowtapped.come.au is pretty useful.

    • +3
      • +1

        Not sure what I was doing there…. haha… thanks JV.
        Wow, can't believe I just said that lol

        • +2

          Don't Drink and Post…

          • +1

            @jv: Any idea how much a growler costs to buy and fill? Haven't heard of the app before…

            • @JuryWheel: No idea. Maybe OneMoreTune knows…

            • @JuryWheel: I haven't heard of any bottle shops around Canberra doing it. Bentspoke have their own version which they call "travellers" but last time I checked the price wasn't much different to actually having a beer in the pub; plus the initial outlay for the vessel itself. The main advantage seems to be the ability to take home the beers they make that aren't canned.

              • @Pantagonist: How long until the beer goes stale in one of those things?

                • @serpserpserp: Not sure, but I think the idea of selling in 2L vessels is to get you to drink it sooner rather than later. 2L of beer would be lucky to last 3 days in my house. ;)

                  • @Pantagonist: Yeah only lasts 3 - 5 days if you're opening and closing it. But alot of it can be special release stuff that doesn't get canned/bottled also.

            • @JuryWheel: In WA most of the places that have taps sell growlers also and do a deal for the growler on your first fill. Works out abotu $10 - $15 for a cheap 2L glass growler. I fill up with beer that range from $25 - $40 for 2L, just depends what they have on at the time.

    • I’ve been thinking of this. How long does the beer stay good to drink in the growler?

      • +1

        Seen some folks say 2 days, i'd wanna finish within 24 hrs myself…

  • +6

    Pirate Life Pale Ale is a fine beer, but I do find it difficult to justify the price……

    …so I only buy it each November with my AMEX shop small!

    $16.95, or thereabouts, for a six pack (after cashback) from a participating small bottle shop.

    • Good tip…

      • $16.95 is an excellent tip

        • +2

          It beats the $12 crap that Dan's has been dishing out lately…

          • @jv: Pilsner Urquell is under $50 a carton at Dan's atm. Excellent beer. (But yeah, haven't seen a good monthly deal there for a while.)

  • Pirate Life is pretty good, great find.. But.. If I had to buy a case of craft beer at full price, I'll have to say Bentspoke is my favourite, Morts Gold and Crankshaft.

    • I went through an embarrassing amount of Bentspoke's Red Nut this past winter.

      Did you manage to get your hands on any of the limited release Cluster 8 Double IPA? I've heard whispers that it might become part of the regular lineup.

  • Standard price is $85 a carton at Liqourland.

    https://www.liquorland.com.au/Beer/pirate-life-pale-ale-5-4-…

    not sure that $5 off is a bargain?

  • +1

    I've had this beer and yeah it's nice but it's not worth $100 a slab.

    • +1

      it's not worth $100 a slab

      This is $40 for half a slab.

  • Cheers OP, will grab a couple of IPA 6 packs.

  • -6

    I hate to say it mate, but Pirate Life is not a craft beer. It is owned and brewed by Carlton and United Breweries.

    It is pretty much the definition of big corporate beer trying to cash in on the craft beer trend.

    • +2

      I suggest that you read the OP more closely.

      Also, Pirate Life is not owned and brewed by CUB. CUB and Pirate Life are owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev.

      Pirate Life were their own thing prior to be acquired. Flavour-wise their beers haven't changed since they were acquired. It's a fair way from a cash in and more a big multinational beverage company trying to stay ahead of trends after craft brewers started taking a larger slice of the beer market pie.

      I do wish they hadn't sold out and I tend to direct my money towards smaller craft brewers since this acquisition trend started, however when the price is right I buy their stuff without hesitation as it's still a good product.

      • I lot of big corps learned quickly that beer drinkers aren't attached to brands, they're attached to the taste. Which is why some early brands went to crap, but more recently they're not interested in changing the beer at all if they can help it. What they want to do is use their massive distribution networks to lower prices.

        AB InBev can get bottles cheaper, labels cheaper, can negotiate with Dan's and all the big retailers, can lower shipping costs and can supply capital to increase volumes. All without changing the beer. That's why they buy these companies up now.

  • +1

    Yeah Pirate Life although it's owned by a multinational now is still on the 'ok' scale, the dowuble IPA in the 500ml can is the pick for me.

    My IPA of choice(and many others) is Colonial Brewing's IPA in the 375ml can with the nifty full top lid(ring pull takes the entire top of the can off and you drink as though it's a glass).
    It's $75 a slab and beats Dan's pirate life 355ml deal hands down but of course you have to find where you can buy it.

    Up here(Northern Rivers Far North Coast NSW)it's a long way from Melb but it's actually cheaper here than anywhere I found it on a recent trip to Melb a few weeks back. 6.5%,375ml cans and a delish hoppy sweetness.

    Link. https://www.colonialbrewingco.com.au/news-events/ipa-pale-al…

    Thanks OP for the heads up and will look at the local Dan's for it.

    • I agree. Colonial is the best bang for buck IPA around imo.

    • I'll have to try it again at some stage. I bought a four pack a while ago at the same time as some Extra-Hop Sauce tinnies and it didn't really blow me away in comparison to those but I can't remember why exactly.

    • colonial is getting everything right.

  • Wild yak Pacific ale for $10 on Woolies / Coles voucher deals is a good alternative.

    • +5

      Not really in the same ballpark as any of these in my opinion.

      Granted, it's beer, so if that's your sole criterion then it's a good choice.

      • To be honest I brew my own beer and have only tried the piratelife in an orange can (not sure if this is it). I found the wild yak similar in terms of hops, but a better balance with citrus notes. Punk IPA I had in Scotland last year was the closest. I find a metallic after taste in piratelife (sorry boys) and it's made around the corner from me! James squires hop thief has a similar after taste to me (again $11 for 6 at Dans).

        • The orange can Pirate Life is the Throwback IPA which is essentially a mid-strength session beer (3.5%). As I mentioned in the OP, I don't rate it at all. Up-front there are hints of hops but I find there's no body or follow-through of that flavour.

          Wild Yak is a less bitter beer than any of the Pirate Life beers on the IBU (International Bittering Units) scale so maybe that's just more pleasing to your palate? I'd say the "metallic" taste you perceive might be as a result of the bitterness.

          In IBUs:

          Wild Yak Pacific Ale: 18 IBU
          Brewdog Punk IPA: 35 IBU
          James Squire Hop Thief 8: 35 IBU
          Pirate Life Throwback IPA: 35 IBU
          Pirate Life Pale Ale: 50 IBU
          Pirate Life IPA: 60 IBU
          Pirate Life IIPA: 120 IBU ;)

          I haven't tried the Hop Thief 9 but reviews I've read seem to suggest that the returns are diminishing as the numbers increase. 7 was certainly better than 8.

    • Can't say it is - that's a 'summer day and I don't care what I'm drinking as long as it's vaguely like beer' beer. Pirate Life isn't the best going around but it's a long way ahead of the Yak Pac Ale.

  • philter XPA is my current go to aussie beer. absolute belter of a beer. colonial pale is up there as well..

    Cant beat homebrew for value for money (and after 10 years brewing, its a nice drop too).

    Easily my fave, Blackmans brewery (from Torquay Vic). These lads can not brew bad beer. Highly recommend you chase down their delicious cans.

    Quiet Deeds - Juice Train is a great NEIPA.

  • +1

    For good current deals, I'd recommend Holgate Mt Macedon Pale for $60 a carton at First Choice: https://www.firstchoiceliquor.com.au/Beer/holgate-mt-macedon…

    Or even better, wait for the Booze Bet 2 x 24 cartons of Hawkers Rover Henty St Ale for $99 delivered that is going live tomorrow ;)

    • +1

      The Rover's a great beer for $50 a carton. Pretty mild but a great session brew. Anyone in Adelaide, the Ed Cellars always have it for sale at $50 (At least they used to. Haven't been there for a little while.)

  • My recommendation for Ale of the Week (available through Dan's) is Nail Brewing VPA - 4 pack for $16.95
    https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_622795/nail-brewing…

    Great summery, citrus hopped pale ale. Something a little different with a nice sweet pineapple tinge and good carbonation/mouth-feel with a decent alcohol warmth.
    Try it if you can get it!

    • whats with some craft beers and pineapple/passionfruit…. if i wanted to drink passiona i would ffs

      • +1

        Generally those flavours are imparted by combinations of the various hops used. There aren't too many brews that use actual pineapple or passionfruit for flavouring.

        If you look at this chart it gives you some indication of the flavours that certain hops impart. If you don't like that heavy fruit / citrus flavour then you can stay away from beers that contain those hops.

  • At my local Dan's, all the hoppy ales are far too old…(3 months +)

  • My top 5 drinks currently in no particular order:

    Balter XPA
    Pirate Life IPA
    Ballast Point IPA
    Pirate Life Pale Ale
    Big Shed Fruit Tingle

  • Thanks OP.
    These shall go down well while I watch the new realease films I just downloaded for free ;)

  • My usual drinking beer is bentspoke crankshaft, but this is a good 14% cheaper for only 5% less volume in the can. This is also an excellent beer, a bargain for sure. I bought 2. Cases.

    • +1

      Also 17% higher ABV. ;)

      • +1

        Only 11% more in the pirate counting for the volume difference ;) (355ml vs 375ml for bentspoke)

  • Bought it at $35 for 2 6-packs at BWS (Mascot Station). Didn't like the taste at all :(

    • I'm guessing that's the Throwback IPA in the orange cans? It's not a great beer so I'm not surprised you didn't like it.

      • You are correct. Good that I am not the one with such opinion

  • IPA is nice but for the pale ale I prefer the new zealand hopco version. These are in green cans and are very easy drinking. Shame Dan's dont sell them.

    • Totally agree! Hard to find the green tins

  • Unless one beer is at least $15, I'm not interested

  • Which one out of the 3 is the fruitiest???? My favourite beer is the beechworth pale ale, any of these 3 similar??

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