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!
Holgate Brewhouse Millennium Falcon 2021
Tapped Today
If you're a regular reader of this site you probably won't need an introduction to Holgate's Millennium Falcon, given in contemporary craft beer years it debuted a long time ago in a galaxy far from the one we inhabit today. If you've not come across it before, however, it's an imperial – or "Empirial" – IPA they release ahead of May the 4th each year. The brewers like to play around with the hops each year too, with their 2021 selection contributing to what I reckon is the best MF… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Imperial IPA
- ABV
- 9.0%
Akasha Project Triple Hazy & Wooden Leg IIIPA
Tapped Yesterday
No messing from Akasha as they turned six (even if things could get messy in the wrong hands). Not just one limited release, but two – one making its debut, the other making one of its occasional comebacks. The new beer is Triple Hazy, which is, um, a triple hazy IPA that comes across like a fruit forward IPA reduction, with a glowing yellow hue that seems to possess a little of the label's lurid green (maybe a trick of the mind). The hop character – with limey citrus to the fore – is most… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy IIIPA & IIIPA
- ABV
- 10.0% & 10.5%
Moon Dog Breaker Of Chains & Watcher On The Wall
Tapped April 17, 2021
Not content with having a lagoon at their brewery venue in Preston, Moon Dog installed the throne from Game of Thrones at Moon Dog World as part of the show's tenth anniversary celebrations. If you're a fan of the show (or at least its first seven series) and can't make it along for a happy snap, you can enjoy the other element of the official partnership at home via two beers – both imperial, of course. Breaker Of Chains, so called presumably because "Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen,… Read more
Black
- Style
- Chilli & Vanilla Imperial Stout & White Chocolate Imperial White Ale
- ABV
- 7.7% & 9.0%
Local Brewing Co & Burnley Brewing Fruits Of Our Labour: Mango Nectar Sour
Tapped April 15, 2021
The ongoing bread-saving collaboration between Local Brewing Co and Burnley Brewing reached its third iteration in April 2021 with Mango Nectar Sour. The Fruits of Our Labour series utlizes bread destined for the bin, in this case from three separate bakeries, and fresh fruit and like all Local Brewing beers, each pack sold provides a meal for someone in need through SecondBite. It might be a sour but really the keyword in the beer’s name is “nectar” with the mango oozing out quite sweet… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Mango Sour
- ABV
- 3.5%
Stone & Wood Counter Culture: Peachy Cheeks
Tapped April 15, 2021
The eleventh release in Stone & Wood’s Culture Culture series is a collaboration between the brewery and Northern Rivers neighbours, the LGBTQIA+ organisation, Queer Family Inc. Peachy Cheeks is a Bellini-inspired peach sour that features artwork from Nina Hurr, with profits from the beer heading to the charity that works to build a community for LGBTQIA+ people in the Northern Rivers. The beer inside the glorious can pours with smooth layers of peach, mango and apricot, a combination that… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Peach Bellini Sour
- ABV
- 6.69%
Dainton Beer Bright-er Daze
Tapped April 14, 2021
With the hop harvest only occurring once a year, it's a true time for celebration and for their wet-hopped hazy IPA, Dainton Beer are celebrating where they got their fresh hops from, Victoria’s High Country. Brighter-er Daze is a salute to the region’s resilience in the face of bushfires and no tourism for much of last year, with the can not only featuring hops enjoying the destination’s beauty but also featuring a QR code (side note: are they here to stay now?) to takes you to the High Country’s… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Wet-Hop Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6%
Westside Ale Works Wet Hop American Summer & Ryes N'Shine
Tapped April 14, 2021
Summer may feel like a fleeting memory in Melbourne but for 2021’s hop harvest, Westside Ale Works have brewed the IPA, Wet Hop American Summer. Inspired by West Coast American IPAs as much as American movies, the beer uses fresh Centennial and Chinook hops from AC Hops, which is a small family-run farm located a short distance from Ballarat. The 7.9 percent ABV imperial IPA pours with a dull haze and an incredibly aromatic and mix of pine, spruce and fresh-cut grass. Those distinct notes are joined… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Wet Hop Imperial IPA & Oatmeal Rye Stout
- ABV
- 6.5% & 7.9%
Range Brewing Full Circle #2, Crisp & Note To Self
Tapped April 13, 2021
They don’t do things by halves at Range Brewing, releasing a trio of fresh beers at once on April 9. It's the second time they've brewed the pale ale Full Circle; a charity beer initially brewed in 2020 to support Melbourne hospitality workers impacted by the second wave of COVID lockdowns. Profits from number two are being donated to the Melanoma Institute Australia, after a close friend of the brewery was diagnosed with Stage Four Melanoma. Brewed with Galaxy, Australian Cascade, Vic Secret and… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Pale Ale, Lager & DDH IPA
- ABV
- 5.2% & 5.5% & 7.6%
Margaret River Brewhouse Sour Of Power IPA
Tapped April 13, 2021
Margaret River Brewhouse’s Sour Of Power IPA is the latest in a long line of one-off releases from the South West brewers. In this case, their penchant for both crushable sours and fresh IPAs culminates in a single tin. Brewed with Citra and Eclipse hops, and soured with Lallemand's WildBrew Helveticus, Sour Of Power is a winning combination of fresh, zesty, citrus hop characters and a clean, long-lasting sourness. The 6.5 percent ABV might limit the crushable factor, but only if driving or following-day-dustiness… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Sour IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
- Bitterness
- 11 IBU
Bad Shepherd Aries ESB
Tapped April 13, 2021
Now here’s a style of beer that's no longer a common sight: Extra Special Bitter. Bad Shepherd's was originally brewed in 2016 as the very first release in the Melbourne's brewery's Brew Crew Series for their British bartender Dan. For autumn 2021, ESB has returned with the name Aries, as both a nod to Bad Shepherd's own name and logo and the Zodiac sign that ends on April 19 and symbolises change. Considering the rollercoaster of 2020, change, in this case, could be considered more to a return… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- ESB
- ABV
- 4.9%
- Bitterness
- 34 IBU
Sailors Grave In The Rip, Honey Bush Braggot & Rhubarb Harvest Ale
Tapped April 13, 2021
Three separate autumn 2021 releases from Sailors Grave really capture the Orbost brewers love for harvesting and collaborating. In the Rip is a Belgian pale ale made with Centenniel hops from the family-run Ryefield (who you can read more about here). Both the Belgian yeast notes and the fresh hops provide quite punchy fruit notes so it’s a little hard to tell what’s causing which flavour dive in and find honey, light stonefruit and lemon or lime rind in a beer that has overall herbaceous notes… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Various
- ABV
- 4.5%, 5.6% & 5%
CoConspirators Brewing & Carwyn Cellars The Spy
Tapped April 12, 2021
Well before we knew what a novel coronavirus was, CoConspirators Brewing and Carwyn Cellars began harbouring a secret beer across several barrels. The Spy is an imperial rye beer that's been aged in aquavit, sherry and port barrels and after spending two years aging in wood, the conspirators blended their secret together, put it in bottles and dipped his head in wax for release in 2021 just as Melbourne hit its first cold snap of the year. It’s a fitting beer for a cold night too, with the 12.5… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Imperial Rye
- ABV
- 12.5%
Beerfarm Double IPL 2021
Tapped April 12, 2021
The return of Beerfarm’s Double IPL – a beer last brewed in 2018 alongside a double-sized take on their IPA – is a welcome one, appearing in 2021 in a smaller tin with fresh, simplified graphics and a tweaked recipe. Brewed to 7.8 percent ABV and 50 IBU, this version might be boosted when it comes to booze but remains surprisingly drinkable, and delivered unfiltered, with the brewers instead implementing a longer period of cold maturation for clarity and a clean flavour profile. Dry, crisp… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Double IPL
- ABV
- 7.8%
- Bitterness
- 50 IBU
Burnley Brewing Doppelbock (With Mr West) & Main Character
Tapped April 9, 2021
It’s not all that often a locally brewed doppelbock is released and, while Burnley Brewing make them more often than most, theirs isn’t normally brewed until their Richmond brewpub is preparing to transform into Bavaria for a celebration of all things Oktoberfest. But there’s a good reason Burnley have brewed Doppelbock early in 2021: it’s to celebrate dogs. Two dogs in particular – the beer is a collaboration with Mr West and the can's artwork features both Burnley's brew dog Harry and… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Doppelbock & Fruited Lager
- ABV
- 7.2% & 4.2%
Six String Brewing Sleight Of Hand White Chocolate Stout
Tapped April 9, 2021
It could be a line from an epic rock song: "Sip from the can Before you pour this Sleight of Hand." Six String Brewing's April limited release offering is a magnificent, creamy, sweet stout masquerading as a "white" ale. Sleight of Hand refers to manipulation and entertaining, and that's where the team at Erina step in: what Six String have done is manipulate the meaning of the name Sleight of Hand, coupled with their own "Easter egg", to perhaps point their loyal followers… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- White Chocolate Stout
- ABV
- 6.8%
- Bitterness
- 18 IBU
Colonial Brewing Hazy IPA
Tapped April 9, 2021
In a few short years, hazy IPAs have gone from being a rarity to a fixture in the Australian beer landscape, with some breweries devoting most of their brew schedule to them and others regularly rebrewing them or exploring different recipes. Colonial Brewing's Hazy IPA is one such beer that keeps coming back, first brewed at Colonial's Port Melbourne home in late 2019 (which is why it features Port Melbourne Football Club's home of The Borough on the can) then returning each year since with slight… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.7%
Sailors Grave #Fuckenthing
Tapped April 9, 2021
Close to two years ago, Chris and Gab Moore at Sailors Grave lost a close friend. In 2021, as a celebration of his life, they've created a beer in his honour. Andrew King was a rep for Genovese Coffee while the Moores were running a restaurant in Sydney and the beer, #Fuckenthing, features Ethiopian Kedamai from that roastery, with each can in the four-pack covered different artwork and phrases from Andrew’s Instagram. As for the beer, while many brewers making beer with coffee opt for a stout… Read more
Red
- Style
- Raspberry, Coffee & Cream Gose
- ABV
- 5.4%
Gage Roads Rock Dance IPA
Tapped April 8, 2021
Building upon 2020’s well received limited release Loop The Lupe, Gage Roads' Rock Dance IPA – a core range release in their home state of WA, a seasonal in the eastern states – captures the coastal vibe of Injidup’s natural spa, a location that’s become an West Australian Instagram hotspot. As summer in WA endures, the baked ancient ochre forms offer no respite for the unprepared: it’s a rock dance to reach the alluring the turquoise water, the ballet of which is all movement, energy… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
Holgate Brewhouse Hazy IPA (2021)
Tapped April 8, 2021
The evolution of Holgate’s regularly released but limited Hazy IPA continues in 2021. The beer’s origins go back to GABS 2017, when the brewery made Cloudy With A Chance Of Mangoes. Since then, Holgate have given it a wider release in kegs, then it appeared in 440ml cans in 2020 before arriving at the present day in a 375ml can. The beer itself, on the other hand, hasn’t changed so much. And, while mango might have been in the original name, it’s not fruit steering things here. Instead,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.8%
Mismatch Brewing Hazy IPA (Batch 2) & Strawberry Sour
Tapped April 8, 2021
South Australia’s Mismatch Brewing have two returning beers out in tins for April 2021. Well, in the case of one of them, it’s not quite a returning beer and more a variation on a theme, with Hazy IPA following a similar release in 2020. The idea for the IPA series is to let Mismatch's brewers explore different ingredients, alcohol levels and tweak other aspects of the recipe, with Batch 2 coming in at 6 percent ABV and using Galaxy, Sabro, Citra plus experimental Kiwi hop NZ-107. Pouring a very… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA & Strawberry Sour
- ABV
- 6.0% & 3.0%
