When that sun's blasting and the mercury's peaking, it can be a tough decision between cooling down with an icy pint of beer or a scoop of your favourite frosty treat. But now, you can have the best of both worlds, thanks to the new limited-edition, dulce de leche-flavoured Gelato Ale, which is about to hit shelves and taps across New South Wales.

This sweet beer is the result of a collaboration between Sydney's award-winning Australian Brewery and the ever-innovative dessert minds at Gelato Messina. And it's looking like it'll be the ultimate summer treat for beer-lovers and sweet-toothed folks alike.

Crafted on-site at the Rouse Hill brewery, the beer has fruity malt flavours, backed by a smooth caramel hit of dulce de leche sweetness. If you're yet to get acquainted with the latter ingredient, it's a sticky Latin American caramel made from sweetened milk.

The Messina team learned to make its own authentic dulce de leche from scratch after Australia banned imports of milk products from Argentina (because of a spate of foot and mouth disease cases), and have been whipping it up at its Rosebery HQ ever since. A long-time favourite on Messina's gelato menu and also available to purchase by the jar, the concoction now stars in this limited-edition Gelato Ale, though it complements those beer-y tones and stops short of making the drink too sweet.

The beer's set to make its grand debut with a public launch party at Surry Hills' Royal Albert Hotel this Wednesday, November 27, kicking off from 5pm. Head along to be one of the first to sample it. After that, it'll be available at select pubs across Sydney, in all Dan Murphy's and select BWS stores.

If you'd like to get your mitts on more Gelato Ale, it's hitting the taps at select Sydney pubs from December 1. It's also landing in all Dan Murphy's, select BWS stores and other leading liquor retailers across NSW.

Published on November 27, 2019 by Libby Curran