February 2024 sees Otherside’s brew team touring both the familiar and abstract, sometimes at once. The beers all seem familiar enough at first yet the quirky twists separate each of quartet from the commonplace. And among them is the most expensive beer they’ve produced to date.
Case in point: during Perth’s run of 40-plus degree days many are reaching for something crisp, to which Otherside answer with Oaked Pilsner. Pilsner malt aromas are woven with vanilla that’s almost marshmallow-like before shifting towards the bourbon stave variety on the tongue. Beyond some researched floral notes, I’m not sure exactly what the Swiss lager yeast contributes other than a very clean profile from which the oak vaults.
What arrives next is a historical diversion that was launched at the State Library of Western Australia’s Liquid Gold exhibition, which charts the near 200-year history of brewing and beer culture in the state. With Gilded Ale, the Otherside team have created a modern interpretation of a 1913 Emu Brewing recipe. As such, East Kent Goldings and Saaz hops represent the history, while Eclipse and Strata reflect modernity, with the result more in line with straightforward 1913 ale: a little sweet malt balanced by light bitterness and cohesive profile that doesn’t shout of hops’ origins.
And, with the rest of Australia brewing busying itself with Mexi-vezas and rice lagers, Otherside flip the zeitgeist script with a rice West Coast IPA – because someone’s gotta add some personality into the growing macro-esque lager mix, right? Rice IPA’s sweet malt and moderate juiciness soon rips into a lean second half, where Strata passionfruit and berry meet Simcoe’s grapefruit and dank, punchy bitterness.
Terpenes have been covered recently on The Crafty Pint; however, seeing them at work is something else. I met head brewer Rhys Lopez three days out from the inaugural Hazy Days mini-festival at which this beer debuted. He showed me a container that looked like a cosmonaut’s version of a Stanley cup, and proceeded to say that he was “dry hopping” this oat cream with it that day.
Based on the Pineapple Express cannabis strain, the liquid was intensely pineapple and dank, and with a character that I described as freshly shampooed rental carpet. This intense form was curious, yet what poured shortly thereafter carried the pineapple and dank theme yet with an incredibly smooth supporting base. With minimal residual hop texture, Terpene Oatcream shows remarkable potential, despite the ingredients making it Otherside’s most expensive beer to produce.
Futuristic hop liquid aside, what’s also of interest here is the lack of lactose. Where some are seemingly contracting dairy farms for this year’s NPD schedule, Otherside aren’t using any at all, which makes this, and future versions, vegan and lactose intolerant friendly.
Guy Southern
Published February 21, 2024 2024-02-21 00:00:00
