Beer: Black Wattle Superior Wattle Seed Ale

I've fallen hard for a dandy new beer, Black Wattle Superior Wattle Seed Ale from Barons Brewing of Sydney, Australia. What, you may ask, is wattle seed? Well, wattle "is a native Australian tree found in abundance around Australia," and wattle seed is now used as "an innovative flavoring agent."

When I bought the beer, I hoped that it would introduce me to a new and interesting flavor; but that the flavor would be subtly employed, not in a gimmicky or overpowering way. And guess what? I got exactly what I hoped for! The only problem is, the wattle seed flavor is so new to me that I don't know quite how to describe it (and I'm not one of those people who has great aptitude for the precise description of flavors in beer or wine to begin with). I'll just have to say that the wattle seed adds a lovely "je ne sais quoi" to a beer that would probably be smashing even without it. So if you see this beer on your local liquor shelves, by all means grab it.

UPDATE (5/1/2009): My local beer emporium is discontinuing all its Barons beers, and the Wattle Seed Ale was the first to entirely disappear, darn it!