Late 2010s, amidst the chaotic December retail hum, I walked into an equally energetic bottleshop, scanned the beer doors and noticed an unfamiliar new beer. Bottled and lime green-stickered, this was Eagle Bay’s IPL – and within an hour I was smitten.
Others were playing with the style, one which has always felt particularly West Australian – it's a dry heat-slaker, after all – but this felt like a revelatory house style. There were elements of Knappstein’s ahead-of-its-time Reserve Lager from a decade earlier, muddled with mojito-esque hoppy NZ freshness and generous ABV oompft. Climate, situation and food appropriateness, it just made sense. I bought cartons – in bottles.
Then came cans. More joy, and with portability to boot, but for head brewer Keegan Steinbacher it wasn’t quite right. The beer itself was more than fine, but there was something else he was chasing and this notion is intrinsic to Eagle Bay’s new core range beer.
Hops and such can be listed, but this misses the point, it’s the intent of the thing: a tight, focused, yet unassuming team tinkering with West Coast Pilsner for a couple of years with no other purpose than "better", while everyone else was imbibing an existing, wildly agreeable core range hoppy lager.
This almost Japanese-style of ongoing questioning and refinement now sees the leanest breath of local malt supporting a dynamic hop forward push that snaps dry as quickly as the sound of the next can opening. Smart looking tinnies complete the vibe, and maybe, just maybe, the brew team might pause and celebrate with some fresh WC Pils. If not, you’ll likely be a couple ahead of them.
Guy Southern
Published November 14, 2024 2024-11-14 00:00:00
