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!
Bad Shepherd Gin Fizz Sour
Tapped September 24, 2021
It goes without saying, there’s plenty of negatives to be found in 2021 turning out to be rather too much like 2020 for many Victorians. But for some there will be a certain comfort to be found in seeing a beer series return for another summer. In Bad Shepherd's case, their return to sunnier climes takes the shape of their Summer Sour Series, kicking off in September with Gin Fizz Sour. The first release in the 2021 series is a collaboration with the distillers at That Spirited Lot – who, like… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Cocktail Sour
- ABV
- 4.8%
Akasha Projects DDH IPA
Tapped September 24, 2021
OK, I’m just going to put this out there at the start – just get it out of the way, early doors. I’m a big dumb goose. Akasha very kindly sent me a couple of these DDH IPAs and, instead of eliciting any kind of excitement like an Akasha beer usually would, I made the grave error of treating the drinking of this fine beverage as work. “Double dry-hopped, they reckon? Oh yeah, sure. Whatever.” Let me confess to you now, dear reader. I could not drink this beer fast enough. Maybe it’s because… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- DDH IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
Modus Operandi Lost In The Fog 2.0
Tapped September 24, 2021
In 2020, the year of disorientation, Modus released the fittingly named Lost in the Fog. Between the GABS festival mixed packs, the volume poured at Modus’ Mona Vale headquarters, and the subsequent tinnie re-release due to popular demand, this hazy XPA had plenty of people clamouring to Modus to bring it back. Since many of us have found ourselves in a fog again in 2021, Modus have answered the call. But rather than simply brew the same beer again, they’ve responded with Lost in the Fog 2.0… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 5.8%
Helios Brewing Zephyrus & Oaked ESB
Tapped September 23, 2021
It’s not often I get introduced to a new concept from Greek mythology,† but Zephyrus I didn’t know. Apparently he’s the god of the west wind, and the messenger of spring. Since Zephyrus Session Red IPA is out in cans just as spring has sprung, it’s a fitting namesake. When I heard "session red IPA", I expected a zippy little thing, like the winged Zephyrus would be a red finch flitting about on the wind. Instead I got a falcon, gliding in slowly, its reddish brown feathers carrying… Read more
Red
- Style
- Session Red IPA & Oaked ESB
- ABV
- 4.5% 5.6%
- Bitterness
- 25 & 45 IBU
3 Ravens Lime Creamsicle & Pineapple Juicy
Tapped September 23, 2021
For many on the east coast of Australia, there’s going to be a lot of making up for lost time over summer. The simple pleasure of picnics is already a key part of many weekends and welcoming the warmer weather are 3 Ravens with their returning Summer of Creamsicle. Similar to the first iteration, from September 2021 to January 2022 they’ll be releasing three new Creamsicle flavours, all based on their Acid sour ale and all focused on nostalgic flavours. There's also a range of prizes that can… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Fruited Sour & NEIPA
- ABV
- 3.5% & 6.0%
Future Mountain Fortune Telling Lady (2021)
Tapped September 23, 2021
As much as cans are dominant these days, there are some beers that feel far more appropriate when they come in a big bottle. Future Mountain’s Fortune Telling Lady is exactly that, not just because the beer seems like one that needs to be shared but because the clear glass 750ml bottles really let you know there's some fruit coming your way. That's not by accident either, with the brewery making the switch earlier in 2021 as part of a drive to showcase the fresh local fruit they were using - you… Read more
Red
- Style
- Golden Sour Beer With Morello Cherries
- ABV
- 5.8% ABV
Black Hops & Chur Brewing Hop Swap
Tapped September 22, 2021
With travel between Australia and New Zealand still off the cards, Queensland’s Black Hops and New Zealand’s Chur Brewing have found another way to collaborate by using a cannon to shoot some hops across the stretch of water that is the Tasman sea. Okay so maybe that’s not how the hops were actually transported but it is sure how the beer's artwork makes it look. What did occur is a bit of a hop collaboration, with Black Hops sending over one of Australia’s newest cool kids in the form of… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 7.0%
Burnley Brewing Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl Part One
Tapped September 22, 2021
Oktoberfest is always a busy time for Burnley Brewing, with the Richmond brewpub transforming into a slice of Bavaria in honour of the land where head brewer Michael Stanzel and head of sales Chloe Hoiberg first dipped their toes into the professional beer world. It's month-long celebration that’s heavy on the pork knuckle, schnitzel and Reinheitsgebot, or Germany Purity Law, with the brewery’s 14 taps given over to beers from across Germany. The constant twist and turns of 2021 mean the brewery… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Various
- ABV
- Various
- Stockists
-
Still available from the Burnley taproom at time of writing.
Heads Of Noosa Pilsner
Tapped September 22, 2021
For anyone familiar with Heads of Noosa Brewing Co’s ethos of lager first, life second, the addition of a pilsner to their core range should come as absolutely no surprise at all. While it’s been available on tap at the Sunshine Coast taphouse for a little while, the brewery is now bottling up the pilsner and adding it to its stable of award-winning lagers. They take their lagers seriously at Heads of Noosa and this pilsner is no exception. It’s a close-as-you-can-get take on the Bavarian style,… Read more
Golden
- Style
- German Pilsner
- ABV
- 5.0%
Two Rupees Not Your Average Pilsner, Red Ale & Directors Cut NEIPA
Tapped September 21, 2021
With a canning line installed and a home city nearing the world record for lockdowns, Two Rupees have been busy getting beer into tins, releasing three at once for September 2021. Not Your Average Pilsner is one that looks to Europe on one hand and closer to home with the other, using yeast from Melbourne-based Bluestone Yeast along with Saaz hops and German pilsner malt. It makes for a beer steeped in tradition, pouring incredibly clear with a fluffy white head, and in which a slight grainy or bready… Read more
Red
- Style
- Pilsner, Red Ale & NEIPA
- ABV
- 5.2% & 5.4% & 5.5%
- Stockists
-
Two Rupees
Independent Melbourne bottleshops
And, soon, their online store
More stockists...
Holgate Brewhouse Explorer
Tapped September 20, 2021
Given they launched in 1999, Holgate Brewhouse have been lagering longer than many of Australia’s breweries, and September 2021 saw a new member join the Woodend brewery's core range. Known simply as a “crisp, refreshing beer”, Explorer is one inspired by classic premium Euro lagers and seems destined to be enjoyed in the great outdoors, while at 4.0 percent ABV, it’s a just a touch lighter than their longstanding Draught Lager, which was first released as Norton Lager in 2015. Those couple… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Lager
- ABV
- 4.0%
Little Bang Brewing Lupulus Verde & Zero Kelvin
Tapped September 20, 2021
Two spring releases from Little Bang are again a reminder of the brewery’s devotion to design (which is pretty fitting given they were released almost exactly a year on from the brewery winning the inaugural GABS Can Design Awards). Lupulus Verde is a dry-hopped sour created for the season, and it’s not just the zippy sourness from Philly Sour yeast or Amarillo and Citrus hops providing those vibes. The kaleidoscopic design features botanical drawings of hops and barley and, in total, the brewery… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Dry-Hopped Sour & Cold IPA
- ABV
- 4.4% & 7.1%
Jervis Bay Rainbird Dark Lager
Tapped September 18, 2021
When the days start growing longer and warmer, many Aussie brewers pack away their roasted malts and won’t pull them out again until the following winter. So, if you’re partial to a dark beer, you’ve got to appreciate a brewery that brings out a crisp dark lager in the lead up to summer. While it’s almost black, showing just a glint of maple syrup red around the edges, this beer has the lightness you’re looking for on a hot day. It offers up roast and coffee notes and an earthiness like… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Dark Lager
- ABV
- 4.5%
- Bitterness
- 23 IBU
Jervis Bay The Beacon Lager
Tapped September 18, 2021
Don’t let the simple word "lager" in the name of this beer stir up expectations of a bright yellow drink. The Beacon isn’t a pale lager but a Vienna lager, shining with malty flavours and vibrant colour. I beseech you to hold it up to the light and bask in its rusty sunset vibe before you even think about tasting this beer – behold it with the slow contemplation of Indiana Jones gazing upon a golden idol (hopefully without the following consequences).† Then, and only then, can you… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Vienna Lager
- ABV
- 5.0%
- Bitterness
- 23 IBU
Tumut River Brewing Bubba Gum Sour, Ripe Cherries Dark Ale & Voodoo Child Amber Ale
Tapped September 17, 2021
Did anyone else ever eat Bubble Tape as a kid? No, it’s not a packaging material – it’s a six foot strip of bubblegum that comes in a round plastic container. Before you eat it, you can pretend it’s a measuring tape, and use it while your dad is using his measuring tape to measure spare tires or power drills or whatever it is that dads measure with measuring tape. (Does it show that I’m not a very handy person?) Anyway, when I poured a glass of Bubba Gum Sour, it may have looked exactly… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Fruit Sour, Dark Ale & Amber Ale
- ABV
- 5.0% & 5.2% & 5.0%
Bright Tank Mid
Tapped September 17, 2021
Operating in the lower ABV realm can present all sorts of challenges for brewers and punters alike; however, while it can be fraught with compromise, there's also a vastness of opportunity for Bright Tank to wander in with their economically named, modern offering. Mid opens with mango aromas, before shifting to lemon / lime, with a pleasant hop character for stature. Bitterness rises through subtle haze, while minerality provides body and refreshment. This is a beer that not only services Bright… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Mid-Strength Pale
- ABV
- 3.5%
- Stockists
-
Available from the brewery
And WA stockists
Slow Lane Brewing Classic Dark Haze, Liquid Bread & Return Walker
Tapped September 17, 2021
For most breweries, Oktoberfest is their one opportunity to bang out a classic crisp lager or a revitalising weissbier. The cops may not be able to stop a brewery releasing a Märzen in February, but few seem willing to risk it anyway. For Slow Lane, Oktoberfest is just September. The beauty of releasing classic Euro styles all year round means celebrating the wonder of German beer is business as usual. And, thusly, the Botany brewery’s newest triple release consists of a dunkelweizen, doppelbock… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Dunkelweizen, Doppelbock & Hazy Pale
- ABV
- 5.6% & 8.5% & 4.0%
Boston Brewing NZ IPL & Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
Tapped September 17, 2021
As winter ebbs away, Boston deliver a pair with one foot warming next to a cast iron fire, the other dusted in beach sand and sunlight. At the time of writing, wistful longing for the latter takes priority, so we begin with New Zealand India Pale Lager which fizzes with Nelson Sauvin, Wakatu and Motueka hops. Perfumed tropical aromas herald thoughts of warm air, which extend through orange notes and NZ grassy hoppiness on the tongue towards the clean, bitter and lengthy dry close. Meanwhile, the… Read more
Black
- Style
- NZ IPL & Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
- ABV
- 5.7% & 11.0%
- Stockists
-
Available from the Denmark brewery
Boston's Victoria Park venue
And WA Boston stockists
More stockists...
Dainton Beer D5
Tapped September 16, 2021
Their story might go back a little further, but September 2021 marks five years since Dainton Beer opened their Carrum Downs taproom. To celebrate, they've created a fitting anniversary ale. They might brew practically any beer style under the sun but their hazy IPAs attract no shortage of attention – which is pretty understandable given the era we're in. So, to mark five years they’ve brewed an 8.5 percent ABV NEIPA featuring five of the coolest kids in the hop world: El Dorado, Galaxy, Citra,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- NEIPA
- ABV
- 8.5%
Brewmanity Mouth Of The South Draught
Tapped September 16, 2021
Just a couple of months on from locking in their brewpub home in South Melbourne, Brewmanity have decided to create a tribute to that home with Mouth of the South. Designed as a classic Australian draught, the beer’s a straightforward and arguably no-nonsense one but it launched with a campaign featuring no shortage of nonsense, thanks largely to the inclusion of some of the biggest celebrities south of the Yarra. The beer itself is designed with all Australian ingredients and aims to pay tribute… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Australian Draught
- ABV
- 4.2%
