Friendships between brewers are one of the best things about the beer industry. When Charlie Hodgson mentioned to Tim Radjenovic (head brewer at BrewDog Australia) that he was taking the head brewer position at this little place on the Coffs coast called Woolgoolga Brewing, Tim said: “Woolgoolga? I went to high school there!” In the face of such a charming coincidence, what could these brewer friends do but make a beer together?
The beer is called Okaeri Friend, Okaeri being Japanese for "Welcome home", and it joins a Japanese rice lager base with generous amount of Mosaic, Simcoe and Amarillo. Clear notes of citrus skate along the surface, from sweeter tangerine through to more bitter grapefruit. Meanwhile, dry pine amplifies the moreishness alongside the far-too-drinkable crisp lager body. It’s one of those beers that’s too clean for its own good. It’s almost seven percent; it should’t go down as easily as mountain spring water.
And we can’t look past the artwork by Troy Designs. Troy does an awesome job using Japanese-style design to point to the beach (with a recreation of The Great Wave off Kanagawa) and the mountains (represented by Mt Fuji) that surround Woolgoolga.
Mick Wüst
Published April 3, 2023 2023-04-03 00:00:00
