Hightail Ale

The Goat classic. A full flavoured English style real ale, it’s deep amber in colour, packed to the hilt with malt flavour and topped off with an enticing floral hop aroma. It’s the beer that made their name all those years ago and, more than a decade later, a guaranteed gem whenever you spot the bright red goat head on the taps calling you to the bar.

Style: Amber Ale
Strength: 4.5%

Organic Steam Ale

Introduced in 2009 as a replacement for their Pale Ale, this most accessible of Mountain Goat’s beers became an overnight hit with drinkers won over by its subtle floral aroma and crisp, lightly hopped taste. A great session beer and gentle introduction to the world of craft beer for newcomers.

Style: Steam Beer
Strength: 4.5%
Bitterness: 20 IBU

Mountain Goat Black Pepperberry IPA

Danish brewing genius Mikkel Borg Bjergsø was in Australia last month and, while here, starred at The Gypsy & The Goat event that we ran at Mountain Goat’s brewery. It featured a rather special brewery floor degustation while a collaborative brew was created by Mikkel, Dave Bonighton and the Goat brewing team. The result is this, the Black Pepperberry IPA, a lusciously rich beast with a seriously powerful hop aroma and plenty of hop flavour (thanks to “aggressive” dry hopping with Galaxy, Citra and Cascade), a wee bit of rich, chocolatey malt and plenty of bitterness too. We detected a little berry flavour prior to the fruity hops racing in like a horde of wailing banshees, while Dave reckons it adds a little peppery spice to the bitterness too “to create a different kind of back palate sensation”. He also describes it as “big, black, bitter” which is probably all you need to know, other than the fact The Crafty Pint makes an appearance on the label. It’s in Danish, so we’ll leave it up to you to work out what it says. Hopefully, it’s something nice… EDIT Having revisited the beer on draught and again in bottles, the pepperberry is far more prominent throughout the beer than it appeared on first sampling, especially on tap. It adds another dimension to what is a genuinely unique beer.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Josie Bones
And other good beer bars and bottleshops TBC

Style: Black IPA
Strength: 7.3%
Bitterness: 70 IBU

Mountain Goat Saison

Tis the year of the saison, it seems. Where once there was hardly an Aussie take on the farmhouse style to be found outside Beechworth, the Otways and wherever Ron from Temple was laying his hat at any particular time, now it’s all the rage, whether as the launch beer from newcomer La Sirène, a seasonal from Moo, in various forms from Murray’s or now as a potential regular from Mountain Goat. Their first version leans to the fruity, citrusy end of things, although has been poured through the likes of coriander in the brewery’s Randall too for a witbiery type effect. Word is a second batch may well feature a tweaked recipe; tis Melbourne after all (four saisons in one day, etc. No? OK, sorry.)

Available:

Mountain Goat
Atticus Finch
Beer DeLuxe

Style: Saison
Strength: 5.2%

Mountain Goat Return of The Craig

Guess who’s back? Back again? Craig is back. Back again. etc. Yes, a beer from the man himself, Craig. If you don’t recall its first appearance, we had this to say: So, there’s a brewer at Mountain Goat called Craig. Craig was tasked to create a beer. He chose to brew a pale ale, using Willamette hops to stand out from the herd. When the time came to tap the beer, it needed a name. “What shall we call it?” said the Goats. “How about The Craig?” came the reply. “No. We’re not calling it The Craig,” said Craig. “Tough. It’s The Craig,” came the reply. This time around it’s been beefed up a little or, as The Craig’s boss The Dave says: “The 2012 version is a nitrogen-powered English Red Ale. Brewed with British Crystal malts, and US Willamette & Cascade hops, then carbonated with nitrogen (rather than CO2), it’s smooth, rich and mellow. Just like Craig himself. Only Craigier.”

Available:

Mountain Goat

Style: Irish Red Ale
Strength: 5.1%
Bitterness: 22 IBU

Mountain Goat The Hoeff

Goat’s annual Hefe-cum-Hasselhoff is back for the summer. It’s a true to style take on the hefes you find in Southern Germany – think clove and banana aromas, a touch of bubblegum sweetness and a somewhat dry finish in a cloudy beer with minimal bitterness designed for maximum hot weather refreshment. That, or designed for washing down bucketloads of weisswurst for breakfast if you want to be a traditionalist. Mind you, start down that road and you’ll soon be wearing lederhosen, putting feathers in your cap and calling your children Rolf and Olga. Mind you, you might end up owning a massive Schloss too, so go hard.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Josie Bones
Beer DeLuxe

Style: Hefeweizen
Strength: 5.3%

Mountain Goat Goldilocks (2012)

Another of the summer specials from Goat that debuted last year is back, the Styrian Goldings hopped Goldilocks. As the name suggests, it’s a golden ale (summer ale if you like) with one aim and one aim only – being quaffed. Light floral hops and an easy-going malt character make it reminiscent of the sort of ales consumed by the gallon in British beer gardens in the two weeks that constitutes a British summer, while it seems to us (if memory serves us correctly) that the bitterness has been reined in from last year’s model, making it more approachable still.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Others tbc

Style: Golden Ale
Strength: 5.0%

Mountain Goat Imperial Pilsner (2011)

Or more accurately, an Imperial Keller Pilsner, apparently. In other words, unfiltered and designed to be tapped and quaffed asap. It’s the second stab at a big ol' pilsner from the Richmond crew, one head brewer Dave Bonighton described as “a Black Forest Wolf in Western Districts sheep’s clothing?”, a comment that can possibly be ascribed to the fact he came up with it on the day of the brewery’s Christmas party. The beer is a strong, unfiltered, cold conditioned “forever”, spicy, malty, hoppy lager with an aroma Dave says is “slightly yeasty/spicy, but subtle, with no hint of the booze.” It’s packed with German Pilsener and Light Munich malts and Czech Saaz Hops and is only going to be appearing at a handful of places outside the brewery. We’ll let you know where once they’re out there.

Available:

Mountain Goat
More tbc

Style: Imperial Pilsner
Strength: 7.5%
Bitterness: 50 IBU

Mountain Goat Skipping Girl (Andy'd Remix)

Anyone who’s been to Mountain Goat in the past couple of years will know Randy, the glass cylinder that allows them to add hops, spices, coffee beans and the like to their beers just before they leave the tap and hit your glass. Now they’ve added Andy, Randy’s cousin, who is “a late hopping device for pre-packed bottles and kegs; in other words the beer gets Andy’d in tank, not just before your glass.” Skipping Girl first reared her head last summer and was Crafty’s pick of the one-off summer releases from Goat. Back then, we said it was a: “light yellow coloured hazy number that throws up plenty of lovely light tropical fruits from the inclusion of mucho Kiwi hops, has a delicate, spritzy palate and cuts off nice and dry (thanks to the 30% wheat malt) with a decent dose of bitterness”. With more Kiwi Motueka thrown into Andy, expect mucho mucho Kiwi hoppiness this time around.

Available:

Mountain Goat

Style: Summer Ale
Strength: 4.7%

Mountain Goat Helles To The Yeah

On the day they took the wrapping paper off their brand spanking new brewery and set about buffing it to the shiniest of finishes, Goat also unveiled a new lager. Helles To The Yeah is a bock, aka strong, version of a hell, aka pale German lager. It’s not often the Goats stray from ales into lager territory, but this is a welcome detour. Malt led, with sweet, almost honeyed aromas and biscuity, toffee flavours, it’s a sneakily potent brew, one that’s nicely balanced in such a manner that the Nelson Sauvin hops are happy to remain in the background.

Available:

Beer DeLuxe
Mountain Goat

Style: Helles Bock
Strength: 6.3%

Mountain Goat RIPA (2011)

The fifth IPA variant to exit the Goat stable in 2011, this one uses rye to make up a significant portion of the malt bill. They first released a Rye IPA (aka RIPA) last year, a beer made in collaboration with the Australian National Homebrewers Conference that was in effect a scaled up version of a winning homebrewer’s recipe. This time around, they’ve boosted the amount of rye and added some wheat malt, resulting in a lengthy brew that took more than twice as long as normal. The result is a beer with a luscious mouthfeel that’s somewhat nuttier than their straight IPA.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Beer DeLuxe
Biero

Style: Rye IPA
Strength: 5.8%
Bitterness: 50 IBU

Mountain Goat DIPA (2011)

Hot on the heels of the Seedy Goat Coffee IPA comes the return of Mountain Goat’s Double IPA that first rolled out of the brewery last year. A bigger brother to the delicious Rare Breed IPA – and bigger even than last year’s debut, with the 2011 model rocking it two fat ladies style at 8.8%, with the alcohol well hidden. Given we seem to recall the 2010 version was so full of hops it threatened to block the pipes at the brewery, that’s quite an achievement. Expect plenty of malty sweetness and a solid thwack of hops on the back palate. On the other hand, don’t expect it to be around for long. For now, other than a keg heading some hop fiends in SA, it’s only available over the brewery bar as there ain’t a great deal to go around.

Available:

Mountain Goat
The Wheaty

Style: Double IPA
Strength: 8.8%

Mountain Goat Bigfoot (2011)

There was mourning in parts of the craft beer community last year when it was announced there would be no Bigfoot. Given the previous year’s batch had played a large role in an embarrassing evening at the brewery for The Crafty Pint, it might have been for the best. However, the big brother of the brewery’s always lovely Surefoot Stout has been brought back out of retirement for 2011. It’s pretty much the Surefoot but condensed, the result as rich and creamy as you could wish for in an imperial stout. We’ve only had this year’s batch from the tank thus far, at which time it was giving off some vanilla aromas among the cocoa and roastiness. Smooth and, quite frankly, luxuriant in the mouth, it’s a hearty, hefty, malty treat that is being launched with oysters at the brewery tonight (August 5). Well, sort of launched – it’s been available on a couple of taps already, but don’t shoot the messenger, OK?

Available:

Mountain Goat
The Local Taphouse St Kilda

Style: Imperial Stout
Strength: 8.0%

Mountain Goat Coffee IPA

It’s not that unusual to find coffee in a beer, although in Australia at least it has tended to be found in dark ales, porters or stouts, beers that often have some coffee like aromas or flavours from their malt bill. It is pretty unusual to find coffee in an IPA, which is the case in this collaborative effort from Mountain Goat and roasters Seven Seeds. After playing around on the pilot brewery, this is the first batch to make it into the public realm. Hold it to your nose and there’s little to distinguish it from the brewery’s straight IPA; the coffee appears late on the palate, gently building alongside the hop bitterness. It’s more coffee bean than coffee cuppa, blending elegantly with the hops and lending the beer a drier finish than the sweetness of the nose would have you expect. Highly reminiscent of The Kernel’s Suke Quto IPA The Crafty Pint was lucky enough to sample with its brewer on a recent trip to London – and that’s no bad thing. UPDATE for bottle release: The coffee seems more prominent, still in the fruity, perfume, green bean sense, but unlike the trial batch on tap, it’s to be found on the nose as well as playing its role with the bitterness.

Available:

The Local Taphouse St Kilda
Mountain Goat
Kelly’s Bar & Kitchen

Style: Coffee IPA

Mt Goat Rare Beer IPA (Winter 2011)

Well, is there anything that needs to be said about this beer? Here at Crafty Towers, we’ve not held back in our praise for previous batches of the Goat’s Rare Breed IPA, which in its last incarnation was our most regular go to beer during the summer. We’ve not tasted the latest batch but assume that, having nailed it the past few times, they’ll have got it right this time too. So what does that mean to the uninitiated? Well, it’s what we’d imagine a beer would want to drink if a beer ever wanted to drink a beer: lots of rich, slightly sweet caramel malts and plenty of big aromatic hops, all living together Wonder and McCartney-like and rounded off with a satisfyingly solid body and hearty bitterness. Shame it’s draft only this time around as there’s a big space in the Crafty fridge crying out for fresh supplies…

Available:

Mountain Goat
Royston
The Terminus
The Local Taphouse St Kilda

Style: US IPA
Strength: 6.3%

Mt Goat Surefoot Stout 2011

The return of an old favourite and a beer that needs little introduction, as it’s one that the Goat guys had right a long time ago, back when it was part of their year range and well before the Rare Breed concept was even a twinkle in its daddy’s eye. Always a beautifully balanced example of the style, equal parts rich, almost sweet, chocolate characters and bitter roastiness with a hint of coffee. Smooth in the mouth and deepest dark brown in the glass, it’s a beer that never lets you down and a welcome arrival as winter sets in.

Available:

Mountain Goat

Style: Sweet Stout
Strength: 4.9%

Mountain Goat Winter Oaky Porter

You might remember a few months back when the guys and gals at Goat did something of an in-house stock clearance and compiled a beer that utilised much of the grain and hops they had lying around. Seems it’s that time again, with the aforementioned “Bubble ‘n’ Squeak” concept returning with a wintry twist. The result is the brewery’s first ever porter, one which features six malts: Australian Ale, UK Marris Otter, German Rye malt, UK Crystal, UK Chocolate, and German Chocolate Wheat and is lightly hopped with American Willamette. If that wasn’t enough, they then fermented it with French Oak chips. We’re told to expect “a medium palate, with soft chocolate and roasty characters” in a beer that “finishes with a delicate oaky sweetness”.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Beer DeLuxe
Royston
The Terminus
Biero
Courthouse Hotel
Josie Bones
Baden Powell

Style: Oaked Porter
Strength: 5.2%
Bitterness: 25 IBU

Mountain Goat Oak-Aged Rapunzel

A beer that is effectively outgoing head brewer Jayne Lewis' parting gift to the brewery, this is a project that began around 18 months ago and ended with a little blending. When Goat brewed their 2009 Rapunzel – a Belgian golden ale – some was transferred into an old oak chardonnay barrel, then released nine months later at the same time as the beer was being poured through the brewery’s hopinator, allowing you to sample it three ways. It turns out that when 2010’s batch was made, out came the barrels again, this time given 15 months to play with the beer. Just before release, a small percentage of the Three Golden Goats was added to the tank to give it a bit of spritz (if memory serves well, spritz was lacking in the previous barrel-aged version) and the result, when sampled from the tank, was rather spiffing. At first, it comes across very dry and winey, with some oak on the nose. Then it gets funky – in a good way – before sweetening up and giving your palate plenty to work with. NB There’s not much of it.

Available:

Mountain Goat

Mountain Goat Three Golden Goats

What a lovely story this is, the tale of trans-Tasman beery love that saw Melbourne’s Goats offer to help those affected by the Christchurch earthquakes by making one of Three Boys' beers and donating all profits to the recovery fund. You can read more about it here or instead save time, head out and drink a pint to do your bit for humanity. The beer was supposed to be an exact match for the Kiwi brewery’s golden ale, but in the end features slightly different malts and a different yeast (due to availability issues) but does have the same hops. The end result is a beer to make you think of summer in winter, light and lifted in the mouth in a manner that metaphorically parts the clouds (although funnily enough, it has been pretty sunny since they released it…) and with a suitably tropical kiwi fruit / lychee type aroma from the Nelson Sauvin hops, which give it a more punchy bitterness than one might expect too. A quality quaffer they should bring back in six months time. (Please)

Available:

Mountain Goat
The Terminus
Beer DeLuxe
Cookie
Gasometer Hotel
Great Britain Hotel Atticus Finch

Style: Golden Ale
Strength: 4.9%

Mountain Goat Fancy Pants (2011)

One of the Goat’s most popular limited releases is back. The Fancy Pants was originally described by Goat founder Dave Bonighton as “what Hightail would be if there were no budget constraints” – and this is its fourth appearance. We’ve not tasted this year’s batch yet, but it’s been tapped at the brewery this week which means it’ll be hitting taps at bars soon. Loads of fresh hop flowers are added post-boil in the hopback with a heap more thrown into the fermenter to create what we described last time out as “an overwhelming and enticing passionfruit aroma that begs you to dive in. A rich malt backbone ensures balance is maintained but, really, it’s all about the hops.” It’s a great session beer for those who like a lot of flavour in their beer.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Blackhearts & Sparrows (Growlers when available)

Style: Amber Ale
Strength: 4.9%

The Thorny Goat

You could have some fun with this one. Grab a mate, pour them a glass and offer it up without warning. Practically black, shot through with blood red tints if held to the light, and with a hint of tan in its head, they’ll be certain they’re about to tuck into a porter or lighter bodied stout. At this point, we should point out that this will work better if said mate has no sense of smell or a bad cold at the time, as otherwise the pretense will collapse well before the drink enters their mouth thanks to the heady aroma of tropical fruits and resiny hops flying off in all directions. That’s because this Mountain Goat / Thornbridge (UK) collaboration has captured the Black IPA style with real panache. Totally hop led – using Southern Hemisphere varieties to try and create a New World version of Thornbridge’s Raven beer – but not at the expense of balance, the only time the flavours you’d associate with such a dark beer appear is right at the end, where a touch of roasty bitterness assimilates itself with that from the hops in a beer that deserves to excite craft beer lovers across Australia.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Slowbeer
Purvis Beer Richmond
Corner Hotel, Richmond
McCoppins, Fitzroy and Abbotsford
Church St Cellars
Vaucluse Hotel
Purvis Beer
Cookie
Royston
The Terminus
Oscar’s Alehouse
Beer DeLuxe
Biero
Great Northern
Courthouse Hotel
The Wheaty (keg)
The Local Taphouse Darlo (keg)
The Local Taphouse St Kilda (keg)
Carwyn Cellars
Blackhearts & Sparrows

Style: Black IPA
Strength: 6.8%

Mountain Goat The Craig

So, there’s a brewer at Mountain Goat called Craig. Craig was tasked to create a beer. He chose to brew a US-style Pale Ale, using Willamette hops to stand out from the herd. When the time came to tap the beer, it needed a name. “What shall we call it?” said the Goats. “How about The Craig?” came the reply. “No. We’re not calling it The Craig,” said Craig. “Tough. It’s The Craig,” came the reply. And so The Craig was tapped on the day the brewery flooded. It’s a beer blessed with fruity hop aromas that’s darker in colour than most pales of its ilk you’ll see floating around and makes for a rather lovely, well-balanced debut from, erm, whatshisname. You know – that brewer at the Goat.

Available:

Mountain Goat

Style: US Pale Ale
Strength: 4.4%

Mountain Goat Skipping Girl

Despite the continuing rainfall, the Goat team is manfully pursuing its mission to bring summer into our lives with another one-off summery release. We’d heard they were concocting an American Wheat but, when this was raised with head Goat Dave at the brewery his reaction suggested that, once more, it’s more of a mixed bag rather than anything too definable. What it is, then, is a light yellow coloured hazy number that throws up plenty of lovely light tropical fruits from the inclusion of mucho Kiwi hops (Nelson Sauvin and Motueka for those that care about such things), has a delicate, spritzy palate and cuts off nice and dry (thanks to the 30% wheat malt) with a decent dose of bitterness. She’s named after the famous neon sign just up the road from the brewery, has been put into 60 kegs and is another welcome addition to the brewery’s canon of summertime quaffers.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Royston

Style: Summer Ale
Strength: 4.7%
Bitterness: 30IBU

Mountain Goat's The Hoeff

Bloody hell! Not sure what they’re feeding the brewers in Richmond these days but, when it comes to limited release beers, it’s a case of blink and you’ll miss it. Latest to be tapped at the Goat brewery is The Hoeff, a southern Bavarian wheat beer (hefeweizen) that comes with a little nod to everyone’s favourite lifeguard. Altered from last year’s version thanks to the use of a yeast brought in specially from Germany, it’s cloudy enough for a supporting role in The Fog and something of a tease too: the nose is subdued – hints of lemon, some doughy yeast aromas if you really get stuck in – leaving you ill-prepared for the bags of zesty flavour that follow. There’s plenty of the banana you’d expect from the style along with some creamy fruit salad flavours that took Crafty back to short pants and chewy sweets days. The merest hint of bitterness completes the picture in a beer tasty enough to have the real Hoff chasing burgers across his floor again.

Available:

Mountain Goat

Style: Hefeweizen
Strength: 5.0%
Bitterness: 18 IBUs

Mountain Goat IPA (Summer 2010)

The beer chosen to launch Mountain Goat’s Rare Breed limited release longneck range is back. First time out it was a big yet beautifully balanced blend of powerful, aromatic hops and rich malts backed up by a firm bitterness and this time it’s no different. Pouring a shade of amber that positively glows in the glass, it’s got thick clouds of citrusy, piney goodness heading straight for your nostrils from the moment it’s poured backed up by some lovely, chewy caramels and a welcoming, mouth-coating bitterness that warms you gently. The first Rare Breed IPA was possibly the best Goat beer Crafty had ever tasted and this, batch three, suggests it’s a beer they’ve absolutely nailed.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Biero
The Terminus
The Local Taphouse St Kilda
Courthouse Hotel
Pinnacle
GB

Style: IPA
Strength: 5.7%

Mountain Goat Goldilocks

A rewarding quaffer, this is the Goat’s take on an English summer ale that borrows its name from the single hop used in its production, the Styrian Golding variety. It could almost take its name from the colour too – at least if Goldilocks was at the ranga end of the blonde spectrum… Designed to be the kind of beer you’d session in British pub gardens, it has a gentle “herby, spicy” nose (according to the brewer – Crafty’s hayfever put paid to any sniff test). The carbonation gives it more zing than traditional English summer ales, with some biscuity flavours giving way to a bitterness more substantial than you might expect, although not so much that you won’t be coming back for more.

Available:

Mountain Goat
Released at the brewery 17/11. Kegs to appear elsewhere later…

Style: Summer Ale
Strength: 5% (TBC)
Bitterness: 32 IBU

Mountain Goat RIPA

A new brew created for this weekend’s second Australian National Homebrewing Conference, sneak peeks of this Rye IPA (India Pale Ale) will be on offer at tonight’s Goat tasting (Oct 28) at the Terminus Hotel in Clifton Hill / North Fitzroy. The beer uses the same recipe as the brewery’s normal IPA but with 20% rye malt added. According to head brewer Jayne Lewis, the result is an added “smoothness and roundness to the palate while all the usual IPA goodness remains. We also used wheat and crystal malts for body and a biscuity character and it’s hopped with Citra and Galaxy to give tropical and citrus aroma and flavour. It’s bitter, hoppy, malty. Good” See the EVENTS page for info on the Terminus tasting.

Available:

The Terminus
Mountain Goat Brewery
ANHC
More bars may get the beer – watch this space!

Style: Rye IPA
Strength: 5.7%
Bitterness: 50 IBU

Mt Goat Bubble and Squeak

We’ve all been there. Got a hunger, open the cupboards and fridge and there’s next to bugger all there. Although, with a bit of creativity, a large pot and some careful seasoning, something comes from nothing. And so it was – sort of – at the Goat recently. The brewers found they had heaps of odds and sods lying around so did a stock check, sat down and did some complicated algebra (maybe) and came up with a new, once only brew called Bubble and Squeak after the classic leftovers dish. Containing eight malts plus four hops (Topaz for bittering, Galaxy late in the kettle, hopbacked with Sauvin and dry-hopped with Citra) it is, according to head brewer Jayne Lewis “kinda Paley Ambery”. Gee, thanks! She also adds that “it’s fruity and dangerously drinkable so forget putting everything in a box and enjoy.” Which Crafty did when it was tapped this week. The hops lend it massive wafts of aroma and plenty of lifted fruitiness while the malts combine rather nicely in the background and let them do their work.

Available:

Mountain Goat Brewery
Grumpy’s Green
Courthouse Hotel
Beer DeLuxe

Style: Hybrid!
Strength: 5.3%
Bitterness: 20 IBU

Mountain Goat Imperial Pilsner

It wasn’t too long ago that the Mountain Goat brewery seemed to be a lager-free zone, with even it’s lightest beer – the Steam Ale – being made with an ale yeast. Then along came Richard III, the full-blooded malty Doppelbock and now this, the brewery’s first Imperial Pilsner. OK, so neither is a bog standard lager by any means, with this registering a sizable 7.5% alcohol and packing a solid punch of bitterness too. According to head brewer Jayne Lewis, it’s “brewed with Pilsner and Light Munich malts, is deep golden in colour with big malt aroma, was hopped with Czech Saaz hops and has a palate that’s smooth and malty with a warming alcohol kick”. Crafty looks forward to trying it out soon.

Available:

Local Taphouse St Kilda
Beer DeLuxe
Mountain Goat Brewery
Cookie

Style: Imperial Pilsner
Strength: 7.5%
Bitterness: 45 IBUs

Mountain Goat Double Hightail (bottled)

First brewed to celebrate the Goat’s 10th birthday, the Double Hightail returned in draft form in August as the brewery prepared to become a teenager. If the Fancy Pants is what the Hightail would be if there were no financial constraints, this is what it becomes when there are no constraints full stop. Another batch has just been produced to become the brewery’s third Rare Breed longneck release. And if you know the Hightail, you’ll agree this is indeed a Double Hightail. The Galaxy hop and caramel aroma is there but bigger. Similarly, the rich caramel malt flavour remains, but with a thicker, creamier mouthfeel than the model on which it’s based, finishing with a firm, but not overbearing bitterness. And, unsurprisingly given the 7.2% booze content, it’ll warm your cockles from the head down before you know it. Nice!

Available:

Slowbeer
Carwyn Cellars
Purvis Beer
Blackhearts & Sparrows
Smith Street Cellars
McCoppin's
Royston
The Terminus
Beer DeLuxe
Oscar’s Alehouse
Atticus Finch

Style: Imperial Amber Ale
Strength: 7.2%

Mountain Goat IPA

The beer chosen to launch Mountain Goat’s Rare Breed limited release longneck range is back. First time out it was a big yet beautifully balanced blend of powerful, aromatic hops and rich malts backed up by a firm bitterness. There are no bottles this time around (at least not yet) but it’ll be hitting a handful of taps around Melbourne this week. No bad thing as, while it was a tasty drop out of the longnecks last time around, when Crafty sampled it in draught form at the brewery it was quite possibly the best Goat drop ever to pass its lips; one of the brewers even said it was the best beer he’d made – and no one’s as critical of beer as the person who brewed it.

Available:

Mountain Goat Brewery
The Terminus
Beer DeLuxe
Grumpy’s Green
Courthouse Hotel
Cookie

Style: American India Pale Ale
Strength: 5.7%

Double Hightail

First brewed to celebrate the Goat’s 10th birthday, the Double Hightail has returned as the brewery prepares to become a teenager. If the Fancy Pants is what the Hightail would be if there were no financial constraints, this is what it becomes when there are no constraints full stop. Crammed with chewy malt goodness and a fierce, driving bitterness, it also comes in around the 7% mark, making it bigger in every sense.

Available:

Mountain Goat Brewery
Local Taphouse St Kilda

Style: Imperial Amber Ale
Strength: 7%

Fancy Pants

The beer originally described by Goat founder Dave Bonighton as “what Hightail would be if there were no budget constraints”. This is the third appearance of a beer that once tasted is never forgotten. Loads of fresh hop flowers are added post-boil in the hopback with a heap more thrown into the fermenter to create an overwhelming and enticing passionfruit aroma that begs you to dive in. A rich malt backbone ensures balance is maintained but, really, it’s all about the hops. In The Crafty Pint’s eyes, this is the ultimate session beer for those who like their beer big.

Available:

Mountain Goat Brewery
Grumpy’s Green
Cookie
Beer DeLuxe
Royston
Terminus, Clifton Hill
Courthouse Hotel
Local Taphouse St Kilda
Lambsgo Bar

Style: Amber Ale
Strength: 4.9%

Two Champs Kolsch

A one-off collaboration between the two winners of the 2010 Australian Homebrewing Championships, Ross Mitchell and Barry Cranston, this German style light-coloured ale that originated in Cologne is a subtle delight. At first, the special yeast variety used produces a taste reminiscent of a full-bodied white wine (The Crafty Pint thought Chardonnay, Barry says Semillon) before giving way to a short, dry finish. Only one batch has been made so get in fast.

Available:

Local Taphouse St Kilda
Mountain Goat Brewery

Style: Kolsch
Strength: 5%

Richard III

The third bock produced by Mountain Goat, this is a collaborative effort with award-winning brewer Richard Watkins of Canberra’s Wig and Pen Brewery. Dark amber in colour, this has a powerful, almost liqueur-like sweet malt aroma and displays rich, biscuit and caramel flavours. A German style Doppelbock (or double strength dark lager), it’s thick of body, full of flavour and a great winter beer thanks to its gently warming alcohol.

Available:

Mountain Goat Brewery

Style: Doppelbock
Strength: 7.4%

Double IPA (DIPA)

The beefed up big brother of Goat’s Rare Breed IPA. A huge piney and tropical hop aroma familiar to lovers of West Coast US IPAs lead to a palate-coating bright amber beer that practically glows in the glass. Big sweet caramel and toffee flavours arrive first before the bitterness caused by huge hopping levels comes riding over the hill to ensure this is one beer that’s not for the fainthearted.

Available:

Mountain Goat Brewery

Style: Double IPA
Strength: 8.3%