New Beers
Barely a day goes by without another seasonal or one-off special flying out of an Australian brewery (if not ten). Here and in our weekly newsletter, we'll bring you news and, if we've sampled them, our take on as many of them as possible. Happy hunting!
Wildflower & Balter Dime A Dozen
Tapped Today
The origins of Dime a Dozen go all the way back to July 2019 when Wildflower’s Topher Boehm got together with Scotty Hargrave of the little indie brewery that could, Balter, to lay down a lager together. As far as I’m aware, absolutely nothing significant has occurred to either of these collaborators in the intervening 20 months and I will not be investigating further. Balter’s half of this beer was aged in oak and released at their Gold Coast taproom in early December 2019 and, once again,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fruited Barrel-Aged Lager
- ABV
- 5.0%
Two Birds Brewing Warrior Woman 2021: Juicy Pale Ale
Tapped Today
It's not hard to work out why Two Birds call their annual International Women's Day release Warrior Woman. But it is the sort of name that suggests any beer under the banner should have a little fire in its belly. So, what of 2021's release, one that's very much in a style du jour? It's tagged a Juicy Pale Ale – one of the terms that floats in a similar space to hazy pale or East Coast pale, as we addressed recently here and here. And this one certainly has a little fire in its belly, pumping heaps… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Juicy Pale Ale with Pineapple Juice
- ABV
- 4.9%
- Stockists
- More stockists...
Frenchies & Hopsters The Cool Kids: Cashmere & Eclipse
Tapped Yesterday
With so many new, frequently fascinating, hop varieties around, little wonder a number of brewers have reverted to something we first saw on these shores from the likes of Mikkeller and Bridge Road around a decade ago: single hop series. Designed to give the drinker an idea of the differences (and similarities) to be found when you switch Simcoe for Sabro or Mosaic for Motueka (pretty sure I've made variations on knowing your Saaz from your Eclipse enough over the years now), said brewers have never… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Single Hop Hazy IPAs
- ABV
- Both 6.5%
Venom Brewing Her Ghost In The Fog
Tapped Yesterday
As sources for beer names go, a song whose lyrics detail the rape and murder of a woman by priests, and their subsequent murder by her vengeful lover, is, it's fair to say, uncommon. But it does herald a new theme from Venom as brewing company founder Joel Drysdale has decided to combine some of the musical passions of his past with the brewing passions of his present. The first track to be honoured in liquid form is Her Ghost In The Fog by Cradle of Filth; the lyrical content might suggest a chilli-laden,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 7.0%
- Bitterness
- 35 IBU
- Stockists
-
And select retailers around Melbourne
SA & TAS may follow
More stockists...
Cheeky Monkey Lefties ECIPA & Tropical Impact Pale
Tapped Yesterday
Cheeky Monkey’s Surf Break series was a well-received and frequent feature for WA's craft drinkers throughout 2020 and, just two months into 2021, we’re seeing the first of the year's releases with an East Coast IPA brewed in honour of famous Gracetown surf break, Lefties (or Lefthanders). Lefties pours with a moderate haze, muting an otherwise vibrant orange hue. A dense but short-lived head dissipates with aromas of orange, mango and lemonade, leaving behind a fine effervescent carbonation.… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- East Coast IPA & Tropical Pale
- ABV
- 7.5% &
- Bitterness
- 42 IBU
Ballistic Beer Hawaiian Haze IPA
Tapped Yesterday
Hawaiian Haze - now with more Hawaiian shirt! With their DDH pale ale coming in at number six in the 2020 GABS Hottest 100, Ballistic have listened to their adoring public and brought them more Hawaiian Haze, this time in IPA form. This double dry-hopped hazy has held onto Mosaic and Pacific hops but brought in Azacca and Eclipse to boost the citrus side of things, while Verdant IPA yeast amps up the tropical aromas like adding a $2 lei helps complete the outfit just so. And, as siblings in a family… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
- Bitterness
- 30 IBU
Dainton Brewing Vienneipa
Tapped March 3, 2021
Is there anything on Earth fancier than a Viennetta cake? Most things, probably. Yet, as someone who grew up in the 90s [Or in the UK in the 80s – Editor], there’s something particularly alluring about a beer built to replicate the ice cream cake that appeared at so many birthday parties [Or dinner parties in the UK in the 80s! – Editor], often billed as being a little bit fancy despite being a rock hard slab of pale vanilla you’d pull from the freezer five minutes before serving. McDonald’s… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fancy Ice Cream Cake IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
Swell Brewing Feathering Peaks Hazy IPA
Tapped March 3, 2021
Swell’s surf-referencing series continues with Feathering Peaks, an ode to the next set of white caps on the horizon, getting closer as you float atop your board, anticipation and adrenaline building. The McLaren Vale crew have decided such an experience is best represented in beer form as a hazy IPA, one that makes a feature of Idaho 7 and Simcoe hops, themselves floating atop ale and Vienna malts with some rolled oats and wheat in the mix as well. The beer pours a quite cloudy light orange with… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 7.4%
- Stockists
-
Available direct from Swell [online] now
Hitting SA retailers w/c March 8
Rocky Ridge Rock Juice V8 & Karl's Date Turns Sour
Tapped March 3, 2021
Rocky Ridge’s eighth Rock Juice, the heavily hopped DIPA whose every release is hotly anticipated, has very much split the room, instigating a heated debate among hopheads. Some have lauded the beer as a complex, ambitious and trend-setting interpretation of the double IPA style. Others, however, are touting it as the least impressive Rock Juice since it debuted four years ago. The division doesn’t come down to a quality issue, however: the wedge seems to be the "avant-garde" way the… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Double IPA with Terpenes & Citrus Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 10.0% & 3.2%
- Bitterness
- 30 & 10 IBU
Heroes and Villains Attention Seeker Oat Loaded IPA
Tapped March 2, 2021
Oat loaded IPA, you say? Well, that’s what Heroes and Villains’ main man Shannon Mizen has to say, although this latest entry in their limited release Villains series could just as well be considered in the oat cream IPA realm, and, despite the name, Attention Seeker does almost the opposite for the much-hyped style. Instead, there's a calmer approach here that focuses on balance and drinkability, as evidenced by the considerably restrained-for-style, six grams per litre dry-hopping – a 50/50… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Oat Cream IPA
- ABV
- 6.8%
- Stockists
-
Available from the brewery
And WA stockists
Boatrocker & Crittenden Estate Jaune
Tapped March 2, 2021
God knows how many thousands of different beers have crossed my palate since the idea for a beer website first popped into my noggin, yet still there's plenty to learn. Case in point: I'm not sure I remember ever having a wine featuring savagnin grapes (not to be confused with sauvignon blanc). To be fair, I still haven't, but I am at least aware of such things now; also that Crittenden Estate on the Mornington Peninsula is one of the largest growers of the variety in Australia. Given they're relatively… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Wild Ale with Grapes
- ABV
- 9.4%
Green Beacon Ditch Hopper NZ Lager
Tapped March 1, 2021
For Green Beacon’s Eight Years of Beers celebrations, they released eight beers, six of which were keg-only releases at their brewpub. But it didn’t take long for one of those six to break the banks of the Helen Street headquarters and flow out to the rest of the country in tinnies. It’s called Ditch Hopper, and it’s a lager that lets Kiwi hop variety Nelson Sauvin come to play. While travel between Australia and New Zealand is restricted at the time of release, this beer is a shining symbol… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- NZ Lager
- ABV
- 5.3%
- Bitterness
- 26 IBU
Moo Brew & Forty Spotted Boilermaker – Pilsner X Pink Gin
Tapped February 28, 2021
In October 2020, Moo Brew created a boilermaker-in-can with Lark, blending their IPA with the latter's single malt whisky; now, they've done it again, combining pilsner and pink gin with Lark's gin offshoot Forty Spotted. The fact it contains “pink gin” (not to mention the colour of the cans) might have you expecting a beer with a blush, but it looks just like their standard pilsner: perfectly clear and golden. Move it close to your face, however, and the fruits – or should that be flowers… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Pink Gin Pilsner
- ABV
- 5.5%
Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 13: Lychee & Green Tea Lager
Tapped February 27, 2021
The past few years have seen a steady resurgence of lagers within the craft beer landscape. Some brewers have opted for macro-mimicking Aussie styles to sate more mainstream drinkers, others have looked to hone versions of classics such as Munich's helles and Bohemian pilsners, and then there are those with a New World twist. Then there's the thirteenth entry in the oft-colourful Brew Crew Series from Bad Shepherd; as Dorothy might say if she was a Northern European lager-drinking purist, we're not… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Spiced Lager
- ABV
- 4.0%
- Bitterness
- 15 IBU
Moon Dog Black Lung X
Tapped February 26, 2021
When Moon Dog surrounded the lagoon at Moon Dog World with long tables and guests for a degustation dinner on February 23, it was a strangely comforting moment (and not just because of the relaxing effects you feel when three of the five beer pairings weigh in above 12 percent ABV). Coming shortly after Victoria's third lockdown (the last one, admittedly, over in the blink of an eye), it felt like a return to normality; indeed, I can't recall the last time I attended such an event. It was the occasion… Read more
Black
- Style
- Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
- ABV
- 12.0%
Holgate & Umberto Tivo Orange Sour
Tapped February 26, 2021
It's funny how some things stick with you. I don't really know what TiVo is, yet as soon as I heard about Holgate's beer of the same name, Tropic Thunder came to mind. Which, much like the film, is a red herring as the beer has nothing to do with that kind of TiVo and everything to do with recreating an aperitivo. It's a collab with Umberto Espresso Bar – an Italian joint in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury – designed to mimic a spritz. Brewed with oranges and orange-esque German hop variety… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Orange Sour Ale
- ABV
- 4.0%
Mismatch Brewing Triple Crush
Tapped February 26, 2021
It's not as if Mismatch haven't released big beers before. The SA brewer's Bourbon Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout, for example, was one of the very best dark beers of 2020. Yet, when it comes to their hop forward beers – both core and one-offs – I tend to think of them as masters of delivering flavours and aromas in a crystalline, finely-honed manner, not as purveyors of double figure booze content hazies – beers that typically make a play of their voluptuousness and olfactory-obliterating… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IIIPA
- ABV
- 10.0%
Bright Brewery Pineapple Dream & Penicillin Cocktail Sour
Tapped February 25, 2021
UPDATE (01/03/21): Pineapple Dream cans have been recalled by the brewery. They have found some cans are experiencing secondary fermentation, leading to bulging, potential rupture, and potentially increased ABV. These issues are only affecting cans not kept in cold storage, but they are recalling all cans to be safe. Kegs are unaffected. At the current rate, it shouldn't take too much longer for Reid Stratton to have touched upon every flavour, aroma, texture and concept possible since taking up… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Milkshake Ale & Cocktail Sour
- ABV
- 6.2% & 7.0%
Moon Dog Drew Berrymore
Tapped February 25, 2021
It's anniversary week at Moon Dog. On Tuesday evening they lined long tables in the shadow of the brewery at their World in Preston for a dinner marking the tenth release of Black Lung (of which more soon); now here comes the tenth beer in their Magnificent Mullet series. As much as anything, Drew Berrymore is testament to their ability to find enough famous people with mullets (or, in this case, longish hair at the back) and names that can be punned (punneted?) into something fruity. In Drew's case,… Read more
Red
- Style
- Sour Berry Ale
- ABV
- 4.5%
Stomping Ground & Hector's Deli Lunchtime Lager
Tapped February 25, 2021
Picture the scene. The sun’s shining, you’ve escaped the office for your lunchbreak and right now, going back inside is the last thing on your mind. You’ve got a tuna melt in one hand, warm enough for the cheese to slowly oozes out in an escape but cool enough that you can enjoy large mouthfuls without each bite scalding the roof of your mouth. In your other hand, is a beer. But what’s the perfect beer? It’s a question that Stomping Ground and Hector’s Deli have tried to answer with their… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Lager
- ABV
- 3.6%
