You often hear talk of gateway beers, the sort that can smooth a beer drinker’s transition from the mainstream to the wonders of the craft beer world. So how about a gateway venue? If ever you were to sit down and design one, chances are you’d come up with something similar to the Portland Hotel. Slap bang in the heart of Melbourne, it’s mixes bar, brewery and restaurant within one venue in such a way that those looking for an easy-drinking beer in a traditional pub environment can feel just as at home as a craft beer lover venturing in to try out the latest limited release from the wood-clad onsite brewhouse.
Located inside one of Melbourne’s most historic hotels – a building with a long history both as a pub and, prior to the James Squire Brewhouse being installed in 2001, as one of Melbourne’s original “gentlemen’s clubs”, Santa Fe – its taps offer the full James Squire range plus limited release Mad Brewers beers and others brewed in house. In 2010, the onsite brewery knocked out its 200th beer, an excellent Double IPA called Two Centurions, while year round it mixes regular seasonals, such as the ever popular Speculator, with occasional experimental brews. Visitors can join brewery tours from the Brewhouse Bar where there is live entertainment throughout the week.
Newcomers can work their way through the taps with one of the six-beer tasting paddles, while staff are happy to answer questions about their beers too. The Portland also hosts regular beer events, from pairing dinners to new beer launches. The latter are usually free of charge and open to anyone who is signed up to their mailing list. It’s also a key venue during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, during which time it becomes filled with comics and their crowds, while those after a laid back meal can head to the Portland Lane restaurant across the corridor.
NB: Year round, you’ll find the full range of James Squire beers on tap at the Portland. Those listed below are those that are brewed on the onsite brewhouse.
Portland Hotel Beers
The Regulars
Regulars
Portland Pale
One of the beers brewed when the Brewhouse opened at the Portland Hotel and an ever present since. An American Pale Ale with citrus and and passionfruit hop aromas, biscuity malt flavours and a solid bitterness to finish
Style: American Pale Ale
Portland Hotel Speculator
An annual release from the Portland and one of the favourites among regulars, this is a beefed up take on the US Pale Ale style. A big, robust, hop-heavy beer packed with Cascade, Amarillo and a touch of Kiwi Nelson Sauvin set against a full-flavoured maly backbone comprising pale, Munich and dark crystal malts that give the beer a full body and deep amber colour.
Style: American Pale Ale
Portland Hotel The Craic
Another regular at the Portland bar is The Craic, an Irish-style stout that always rears its head in time for the onset of the colder months in Melbourne – and occasionally pops up at other times too. Black in colour, it’s a creamy, chocolatey number with a dry finish that, as it warms, revealing layers of roasted malts, dark fruits and even some nuttiness created by a blend of roast barley, crystal and Munich malts.
Style: Irish Stout
Strength: 4.3%
Portland Hotel Highwayman
The big boy of the Portland’s regular lineup, the Highwayman is a “thrice-hopped” red ale. As such, it pours a deep amber colour with an off white head and plenty of citrusy, grassy hop aromas alongside some sweet caramel and nutty malt characters. Smooth and creamy in the mouth, like a traditional Irish red, with the malt flavours to the fore in the mouth, it all finishes with a solid bitterness, making for a big, hearty, fulsome ale.
Style: Irish Red
Specials
Mad Brewers Wee Highlander
It’s been a while – six months, in fact – since the last release from Malt Shovel’s Mad Brewers label, which is a shame as they’ve knocked out some crackers in the past year or two, such as the deeply unusual Scribbly Gum lager and the rather fulsome Hoppy Hefe. Now, they’re back with a beer inspired by Crafty’s homeland. The Wee Highlander is a Scotch Ale designed by the brewery’s own ‘wee’ highlander Hamish McArthur. “The style and name of this brew originates from Scotland and my Scottish heritage,” says Hamish, “a Scotch strong Ale (or Wee Heavy) that we have dubbed Wee Highlander.” In keeping with the style, it’s a "rich, full-bodied, Scottish Ale brewed using a small portion of peated malt to add a slight smokiness and malted oats to add depth of character.”
“Just like traditionally brewed Scotch Ales, this brew undergoes an extended boil which, along with the use of crystal malts, gives a high degree of caramelisation of the brewhouse wort. The result is a brew that has a deep red hue and a much more pronounced malty caramel and roasted malt flavour,” says Hamish. At 6.7 per cent, it should also make for a suitable transition beer as we head into winter. Enjoy from a thistle glass (of course).
Available:
Nationwide from April 19
Style: Scotch Ale
Strength: 6.7%
Portland Hotel Colonial Wheat
The eagle-eyed may have spotted that in the past week, the Portland Hotel’s popular brewer Dan Dainton has left his first commercial brewing role at the Melbourne CBD brewpub to join the ever-growing brewing crew at Holgate. Before he set sail for Woodend, Dan brought one of the venue’s rarer brews back out of retirement, with the Colonial Wheat making an appearance on the taps for the first time in two years. It’s a German-style hefeweizen, brewed from a blend of fresh wheat, malted wheat and pale malted barley. According to the chaps at the hotel, expect “subtle notes of tropical fruit and spicy clove.” And be warned there’s only a limited amount available…
Available:
Style: Hefeweizen
James Squire Hop Thief IV
The Hop Thief, or should we say Hop Thieves, are a series of beers released sporadically by James Squire whenever they feel like going on a hop splurge. Each one has featured a different blend of hops, often newly released, and this is no different. Based around the American Pale Ale style, the hops are a blend of the powerful Aussie variety Stella and Americans Citra and Falconer’s Flight, itself a blend of several punchy hop varieties. The latter two are used for some serious dry-hopping action to impart plenty of citrus and grapefruit aromas over what the brewers tell us is a “rich deep amber malt base”. Delicious with a big steak too, apparently.
Available:
Portland Hotel
And at James Squire Brewhouses across the land (draught only)
Style: American Pale Ale
Strength: 5.0%
Bitterness: 35 IBU
Mad Brewers Hoppy Hefe
They’ve been having fun at the Malt Shovel brewery in recent times, throwing liquorice at a stout and everything bar the kitchen sink at their Scribbly Gum Lager. Now they’re taking a couple of styles, popping them in the kettle together and seeing what pops out at the end. One is the German hefeweizen style, the other the hoppier American wheat style, wrapped up together and finished with a Kiwi ribbon in the form of some Motueka hops. Don’t head into the bottle expecting to find much in the way of the banana or clove characters associated with a hefe, however. Instead enjoy a clean, full bodied, fluffy-headed beer that’s more about the hops – in particular the tropical lychee and passionfruit flavours of the Motueka – in much the same way that 8 Wired’s Saison Sauvin was more sauvin than saison.
Available:
Portland Hotel
For other venues click here
Style: Hoppy Hefeweizen
Strength: 7.0%
Portland Hotel Dan's Debut
The answer’s in the question here, with the latest seasonal to hit the taps at Melbourne’s Portland Hotel the first ever commercially released brew from new head brewer Dan Dainton. A self-confessed hop fiend, Dan’s conjured up a hoppy IPA sure to find favour in the current lupulin-loving climate. “It’s a well bittered and well hopped IPA,” he says, “but not over the top and very sessionable. It uses a hatrick of flavour and aroma hops: fresh Simcoe and Centennial from the states and Australia’s own Galaxy as well.” There’s a hefty malt backbone to keep everything in place too – go check it for yourselves to see how well the new boy’s done!
Available:
Style: IPA
Strength: 5.9%
Bitterness: 50 IBU
Portland Hotel Spear Tackle
Technically, The Crafty Pint helped brew this beer, although quite how much credit we can take for pouring in some grain and hops and assisting with the clean up afterwards is debatable… The beer is a one-off created by the venue to mark the 2011 Rugby World Cup, a hoppy US style pale ale given a Kiwi twist at the end with the addition of some New Zealand grown Motueka hops on top of the American combo of Centennial, Simcoe, Chinook and a splash of Cascade. The result is a beer with a faintly fruity hop aroma, plenty of citrus and tropical flavours and a solid bitterness – solid enough to provide a good match for the brutal action on the pitches.
Available:
Style: US Pale Ale
Strength: 6.1%
Mad Brewers Noir Stout
A second outing here for the Mad Brewers dark winter number that first appeared last year. It’s not quite as out there as their last release, the smoky Scribbly Gum Lager, but does throw some powdered liquorice root into the kettle for something of a unique twist. The liquorice joins all manner of darker malts in the mix – pale chocolate, dark crystal barley malts and roasted black wheat malt – in a thick, nigh on black beer that’s smooth and creamy in the mouth. Once in there, there’s a lovely jumble of dark cocoa, caramel, burnt treacle and roast flavours, while there are aromas of mocha and a hint of liquorice on the nose. There’s a fair bit of alcohol on the nose too (at least in the bottled version Crafty sampled), with the alcohol reappearing to tingle the lips at the end.
Available:
Portland Hotel
James Squire Brewhouses
Blackhearts & Sparrows
Style: Stout
Strength: 7.0%
