Travel back just a few years and you'd have struggled to line up a collaboration brew between Gippsland brewers; Loch and their trad English styles and Bullant with their Bruthen brewpub were pretty much the brewing scene for this vast swathe of Victoria. It's a very different situation now, one that's been celebrated by Traralgon-based Good Land Brewing on the occasion of their first birthday.
As part of the festival they hosted at their brewpub, they invited the team at Sailors Grave to join them for a birthday brew. It's a collaboration that feels like it has a bit more of the latter's DNA running through it too, and not just because it was brought to life by the Orbost brewery's in-house saison yeast: Good To The Grave is a dark rye saison that also features pink peppercorn and dry-hopping (fruiting?) with pink grapefruit.
For all that's gone into its creation, it lands with restraint. An aromatic bouquet of pepper and anise-y spices lead the way into an experience that reminds of equal parts small batch cola and sarsaparilla. Add in a gently building, farmhouse-tinged drying bitterness and – bringing the references back to the beer world – you've got an easy-going bière de garde.
James Smith
Published August 1, 2022 2022-08-01 00:00:00
