Little Creatures Shepherd's Delight Released on 21/03/13

They took the Aussie beer world a little by surprise with this release did Little Creatures. Bottles arrived at Crafty Towers before we even knew the was another Single Batch on the way and it seems plenty of others were unaware too. Still, following in the footsteps of the likes of the Big Dipper, Dreadnought and Quiet American, there’s always a frisson of excitement to see what the team at Freo comes up with when given free rein to have a play in the brewery. This time around, they’ve brewed a Red IPA, one into which they tell us they’ve lobbed their “most lavish hopping regime to date”. It’s a regime that has cast its net far and wide, featuring British, American, Kiwi and new Aussie varieties. The multinational approach doesn’t hit you up front, however, with the aroma defined as much by the sweet, caramel malts as anything hoppy. They go to work on the gleaming, blood orange coloured ale once in your mouth instead, particularly as it warms and allows the layers of malt and hops to come out to play. The hops also ensure that, despite the initial sweetness, it finishes pretty dry, with the distinct earthiness of what one assumes is the East Kent Goldings lingering at the end. It’s not an IPA that’ll knock you sideways, rather a well-balanced, decidedly drinkable one.

Young Henrys The Real Thang Released on 20/03/13

The Real Thang, the latest release from Young Henrys, is a Cola-inspired Spiced Black Koelsch. Better read that again… The Real Thang is a Cola-inspired Spiced Black Koelsch. The first question is where would one find inspiration for such a creation? Being 2013, the answer is of course: they found it on the Internet. But being 2013, we’re equally within our rights to respond with: ‘WTF?’. Apparently the Young Henrys crew stumbled across the open source recipe for Open Cola and figured it was worth a shot trying to translate it into a beer. Cue the caramel malts and three dark malts for the required colour, sweetness and general mouthfeel. Next comes the (now not so secret) herbs and spices; bitter orange peel, kaffir lime leaves, lemon myrtle, coriander seeds, cassia bark, lavender, vanilla, coffee and nutmeg. Throw in some light hops, chuck in a Koelsch yeast and – hey presto – Cola Beer! The boys at the brewery imagine this to be something along the lines of what the original cola elixirs might’ve been – “minus the cocaine like effects”.

Australian Brewery Breakfast Ale Released on 20/03/13

“We wanted to see whether we could generate enough orangey character from US Cascade hops to make a beer that was like having a beer and orange juice together,” says brewer Neal Cameron. “In other words like a normal breakfast but in one glass. Whether we succeeded or not doesn’t matter: it’s hoppy.”

Mornington Peninsula / Ale Stars Bonzer IPA Released on 19/03/13

The crew at the Local Taphouse Ale Stars clearly got a taste for the brewing lifestyle when they created their 13 Hours On A Bus beer with Bridge Road Brewers a few months back. Because they’ve been at it again, with the St Kilda crew heading down to Mornington Peninsula Brewery for a brew day and the Darlinghurst mob trotting along to Hunter Beer Co in the Hunter Valley to create another. First to hit the taps was the Bonzer IPA created by the St Kilda Ale Stars. The Bonzer is a Belgian IPA, of which Mornington’s head brewer AG says: “It weighs in at 7.7 per cent and uses all Pacific Rim hops – Amarillo, Nelson Sauvin and Galaxy – including a heavy dose of dry-hopping to compete with fruity and spicy Belgian yeast esters.” It was tapped for the first time at March’s St Kilda Ale Stars session and will be a feature beer at the Mornington Peninsula Brewery’s Hopulence showcase from March 21.

4 Pines Keller Door Series 2013: St Pat's Stouts Released on 14/03/13

Despite having a flash new brewery in Brookvale, the brewing team at 4 Pines are making sure they still get time to play with the old set-up back in Manly by continuing to knock out their Keller Door releases. This latest release coincides with St Patrick’s Day – surely of of the stoutiest times of the year – and the St Pat’s Stout series. Where last year they served up four new stouts, this time they’ve gone for just the two; one big and one small. The small one is a Milk Stout which, at just 4.3 per cent abv, makes for a light and easy-drinker. With its coffee aromas, the brewers reckon this is one that’ll tempting enough to make you put down your latte. At the other end of the spectrum is the Black Forest Imperial Stout which clocks in at eight per cent abv. The brewers say this one’s an “experimental take on a high alcohol Russian Imperial Stout. Big and bold and infused with cocoa and cherries during maturation”. It might be one to sip on towards the end of the night – “a dessert in a glass that comes to life as it warms”. NO

HopDog Redrum Released on 14/03/13

Sometimes a beer comes along where you suspect that the brewer compiled a long list of ingredients and items that could be used to make beer, cut the list into little squares, drew a circle on the ground and threw the little squares of paper high into the air. Once they settled, those that landed inside the circle would form the basis of a beer. Then there are beers where you suspect the brewer instead collects up all the pieces of paper that fall outside the circle and uses them as the basis of their beer. Usually said beers come from breweries with the word “dog” in the title, such as the latest Shining-themed release from New South Wales' HopDog. It’s a Rum Barrel Aged Raspberry Wheat Beer tipping the scales at 6.2 per cent ABV. The barrels are 20 year old ones from the same source as those used by a handful of other NSW breweries. The raspberries (a “butt load” of them apparently) spent two months in the beer, which we’re told has “picked up some of the sourness from the micro flora in the barrels and hanging out on the fruit, so it’s a bit tart, it’s got a bit of fruitiness, and some vanilla and a touch of rumminess as well.” So are you in or out?

Bridge Road / EDGE Waldo Released on 12/03/13

You may recall a story fairly recently about a new collaborative brewing effort that crosses hemispheres. It told the tale of how Australian importer and brewer Adam Betts, from Northdown Beer, had hooked up with Christian Skovdal Andersen of Beer Here to create a series of brews. You may even have tasted the beers they put out under the joint Northdown/Bere Here banner, such as the Cool Hops lager and Victoria’s Secret wheat beer. Now the pair have launched EDGE Brewing Project, a new brewing company that will release all their future beers. And, to confuse matters a little, their first release under the EDGE banner is a collaboration, this time with Bridge Road Brewers. The Waldo, which takes its name from the Waldoberry fruit that is one of around half a dozen fresh berries including mulberries and Loch Ness berries added to the beer, is a twist on Bridge Road’s much loved Saison, featuring the aforementioned berries, picked fresh on the brew day, and a tweaked hop profile. The result is a fruity pink affair, with the whitest of heads, that has tonnes of berry aromas upfront, the familiar Bridge Road malt flavour to follow, although little in the way of tartness or funk. As such, it’s an extremely light and approachable, summery beer, one that even has echoes of a fruity rosé wine about it. Look out for a story on The Crafty Pint later in the week about EDGE’s plans for the future.

Red Duck Dude, Where's My Cherry? Released on 7/03/13

We’d imagine there are plenty out there who have become rather concerned for the well-being of Red Duck brewer Scott Wilson-Browne in recent weeks. Having released seemingly three new beers a day for a period last year, there’s been radio silence recently. We’re delighted to report that all is well, however, with the first limited release beer from the Ballarat brewery winging its way to shelves right now. Dude, Where’s My Cherry? is described as something of a sister to the brewery’s White Garden although to us it seems a little more straightforward. Whereas the White Garden had a degree of tartness to it, this is a more simple fruity wheat beer, with the addition of Montmorency cherries adding a touch of pink to the colour and a little cherry fruitiness to the base beer. Light, refreshing and ideal for this extended Victorian summer, it heralds what promises to be another rash of releases from Red Duck. We chatted with Scott at the opening weekend of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival and his increasingly madcap journey down the rabbit hole of beer is showing no sign of letting up. Quite the opposite in fact…

Forrest Brewing Pobblebonk Saison Released on 4/03/13

Forrest’s first seasonal of 2013 was also its first dabble in the world of French / Belgian style beers. The saison style is becoming ever more popular in Australia – unsurprising given its refreshing, zesty nature – with Forrest’s take also featuring locally sourced Strawberry Orange Clover Honey. The result is a complex beer that citrus, spice, honey and peppery elements.

Indi Pilsener Released on 4/03/13

The first seasonal of 2013 for the Indi brew crew is this Pilsener. They describe it as a Bohemian style Pilsener: “Golden with huge grassy hop aroma , big, assertive malt on the palate and (another) big, dry, bitter finish.”

Holgate Millennium Falcon Released on 1/03/13

There has been no holding back for the 1000th brew by Victoria’s Holgate Brewhouse. Taking the millennium as the starting point, they spun a Star Wars-inspired tale and followed it through to the nth degree by throwing as many references as possible into the beer. It features Millennium, Falconer’s Flight and Galaxy hops, is subtitled an “Empirial IPA” and was launched at the Village Brasserie with the entire brewery crew dressed as Star Wars characters, including a rather dashing Hans Solo… As for the beer, it’s a 10 per cent, 100 IBU (a measure of bitterness) affair brewed with nothing but pale malt to allow the hops to take centre stage. The result is an impeccably pale ale that surprises, mainly because the hop character is apparent more in the flavours than on the nose, which is surprisingly subtle and leans more towards light, sweet malt / alcohol. The body is unsurprisingly full and resinous, although far from the chewy beasts such beers can be, with the finish also remarkably contained – no runaway bitterness here despite the massive hopping. A refined rather than boisterous affair, in keeping with the polishing that’s been going on throughout the Holgate range in recent months. (Go try the Mt Macedon on tap to see what we’re on about if you’ve not had it in a while – easily one of the country’s best session beers.)

Young Henrys / Mountain Goat The Kid Released on 28/02/13

Having a kid isn’t something to be rushed into. It’s a serious commitment requiring planning, timing and a bit of luck. Richard Adamson from Young Henrys and Dave Bonighton from Mountain Goat are a model of responsible parenting. They talked about making a beer last year, thought very seriously through all the implications, then talked about it some more over the New Year – this wasn’t going to be some awkward one night stand. So what happened when they did eventually get together? The Kid was born.

As you might expect with such parentage, The Kid is an English style ale with an Aussie twist. And what would the proud parents be most likely to be cooing over with this beer baby? Probably the dark brown colour, creamy head, smooth bitterness and chocolate flavours. They’d probably admire the English heritage while boasting about its strong Aussie hops. They’d also be proud to know their Kid isn’t ordinary, it’s super. Or rather, a 5.5 per cent Super Mild. NO

Illawarra Apocalypso Released on 28/02/13

The boys at Illawarra Brewing have released what they’re tentatively referring to as a ‘Summer IPA’. It’s an interesting moniker considering it was released only three days before summer officially ended, but let’s not get bogged down in the small details. The point we think they’re making is that this is an IPA with something different. Perhaps reasoning that we’ve become like a pack of Pavlov’s dogs when it comes to IPAs – where ‘IPA’ is mentioned our palates automatically go into some sort of anticipatory hop overdrive – they’ve released something ever so slightly gentler. It’s made from all pale malt and hop varieties from the east and west coast of the USA; Mosaic, Belma and Calypso. It’s the latter which perhaps shows through the most (and gives rise to the beer’s name) by dominating with tropical fruits – the likes of tangerines, citrus, grapefruit and lychee. While Shaun Blissett (one half of the brewing duo) says “we weren’t really keen on it being too bitter”, hops were added the whole way through the brew process and at 51 IBUs it’s unmistakably an IPA. The thing is, it just feels a bit lighter and softer – a Summer IPA that’ll do you nicely this Autumn. NO

Australian Brewery The Smoked IPA Released on 27/02/13

According to the team at AB, this beer was brewed “to celebrate the historically warm relationship between the English and the Germans over the decades. This is a Rauchbier/IPA hydrid. A striking smoky bacon aroma seasoned with spicy English challenger and Target hops; rich dark malt flavour and oodles of hoppy bitterness to finish.”

Bright Brewery MIA IPA 2013 Released on 25/02/13

This was a beer that really excited us here at Crafty Towers when it first appeared, being the beer that announced Bright’s then new brewer Jon Seltin as one to watch (and watch out for overhead if strapped to his paraglider…). He’s backed it up with many a fine release since and now is back with the latest take on the hoppy-as-hell IPA. It’s not quite the same beer as last time around. Why? Because Jon “couldn’t help ratcheting it up a couple of notches”. Ah, good old temptation got the better of him, which is nice. That means you can expect a slightly higher ABV at 7.4 per cent and even more hop aroma thanks to a “slightly higher dry hopping rate”. This batch is keg only but they’re planning on a packaged release in 750ml in the near future now that the have the ability to do so with their spanking new brewery.