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!

Hopco

Smiling Samoyed Double Trouble IIPA

Tapped August 2nd, 2019
The Smiling Samoyed brewing team have experimented with many styles over the years, at one point even having a chilli beer in their core range, a legacy of the previous owners of the brewery. But never has a double IPA graced their tap list, until now. Double Trouble IIPA was brewed for the 2019 Adelaide Beer and BBQ Festival and spawned from head brewer Simon’s love for a good IPA, the thinking going something like: "What’s better than a regular IPA, I know... a double." Weighing… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
8.0%

Stone & Wood Counter Culture: It'd Be Rude Not To

Tapped August 1st, 2019
Stone & Wood's Counter Culture series is proving rather popular and, following the imperial raspberry Berliner Weisse that topped our mid-year Best New Beers poll and the hazy mango IPA that followed, they're heading even further into artery-troubling territory with number three. It's called It'd Be Rude Not To and is tagged an imperial milk stout, yet is rather more than that: laden with maple syrup, vanilla beans and five kilos of cinnamon, it's the brewers' stab at recreating French toast… Read more
Style
Imperial Milk Stout
ABV
7.4%
Bitterness
40 IBU
Stockists

Find the beer here

4 Pines Nitro Stout

Tapped August 1st, 2019
It’s three years since Australia’s first crafty nitro beer in a can and a number of Aussie breweries have been toying with nitro tinnies recently… but we believe 4 Pines is the first in our fair land to give us a nitro dark beer in a bottle. Nitro Stout has the same recipe as the original Stout (unchanged since 2009), but the addition of nitro makes it a fuller bodied, creamier version, recreating the way it was originally served on tap at the Manly Brewpub. It’s replacing the Stout in the… Read more
Style
Nitro Stout
ABV
5.1%
Bitterness
40 IBU

Murray's Laguna Brut IPA

Tapped August 1st, 2019
A beer that reeks of hops but drinks like a champagne? How very on-brand for a brewery that’s spent the majority of its life in a former wine storage shed. Perhaps Laguna is haunted by the ghost of brut wines past... Brut IPAs in Australia vary wildly, so it’s hard to know exactly what the style is “supposed to be like”. Murray’s rendition seems to hit all the right descriptors, though. High carbonation shoots the hop aromas right up your nose, giving you a buzz of pine and mandarin cut… Read more
Style
Brut IPA
ABV
7.0%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Frenchies Coast Extra IPA

Tapped August 1st, 2019
What do you do if you want to make an IPA that bears some traits of an East Coast IPA and some traits of a West Coast IPA? You cheat, and make the IPA exactly as you want it to taste, and call it a Frenchies Coast Extra IPA. Five hops bring the blend of flavours that make this beer the hybrid it is - a base of Columbus and Simcoe, aromatics from Centennial and Mosaic, and a flourish of Riwaka from New Zealand. There’s no real haze to speak of, but the sticky pineapple and citrus on the nose give… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.8%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Hargreaves Hill Cocktail Series 2019

Tapped August 1st, 2019
Hargreaves Hill are welcoming a third cocktail-inspired beer to their roster for winter 2019, and releasing all three at the same time too. Fans of the brewery will likely be familiar with the Margarita Gose, with this year's version presenting a little softer and rounder than memory suggests of its predecessors, while still serving up a little funk, plenty of saltiness and, of course, the requisite lime and acid. The returning Sazerac Ale pours a wonderful colour: regal like a monarch's gown. The… Read more
Style
Cocktail Beers
ABV
3.5% & 6.0% & 6.5%
Stockists

Cans out from Aug 1; kegs launching here on Aug 9

Beerland Brewing Ugly Sweater

Tapped August 1st, 2019
Winter is here, which means it's time to bring out those ugly sweaters. For Beerland’s latest winter 2019 release, they've done exactly that – only in the form of an India brown ale. Never the most common of styles, here the brewers have given it a bit of a revamp here with the intention of keeping the punters warm in these cooler months. The grain bill of ale, Munich and brown malts and rolled wheat creates the typical malt flavours you would expect from a brown ale: toasted bread, milk chocolate… Read more
Style
India Brown Ale
ABV
5.9%
Stockists

Northbridge Brewing Co

Whitfords Brewing Co

And select WA venues and retailers

More stockists...

Ballistic Beer Co Sleep Nordic IPA

Tapped July 31st, 2019
The majority of the beers in Ballistic’s Sleep When You’re Dead series have been about the hops, the whole hops, and nothing but the hops. But, as with the India Brown Ale, one of the first SWYD beers, the Nordic IPA expects the hops to share the spotlight. Not so much with the malt this time, but with the yeast - Nordic IPA is made with kveik, which we’ve written about, and which brewers around the country are experimenting with. It’s difficult to know exactly which aromas and flavours are… Read more
Style
Kveik IPA
ABV
7.4%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Ballistic & Collective Arts Down Time Down Under

Tapped July 31st, 2019
Although they’re heavier than traditional summer smashers - crisp lagers, fruit sours, pale ales [Are fruit sours already traditional? That happened fast! – Editor] - fruity IPAs still feel like a summer beer. Good thing for Ballistic that Queensland winter’s as sunny as summer in most of the world. Down Time Down Under was made in collaboration with Collective Arts for the Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival, and bears a road trip themed label like the others in the series - it’s essentially… Read more
Style
Mandarin IPA
ABV
6.1%
Bitterness
60 IBU

Black Hops #100

Tapped July 31st, 2019
In 2014, a trio of mates released their first beer. It was an eggnog stout because, apparently, that’s what the Australian beer scene needed at the time. They went by the name Black Hops Brewing and 99 beer releases and almost five years later we have #100, an IPA continuously hopped for 100 minutes in the vein of the classic Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. They say #100 is a reflection of all they've learnt over the years; it’s sophisticated and caters to the demands of today. As you'd expect from… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
7.7%

Hawkers Cognac Barrel-Aged Barleywine & Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout 2019

Tapped July 31st, 2019
The darker, colder months are met with no little joy in Reservoir as, each year, Hawkers release a variety of dark and barrel-aged beers. Following on from this year's "straight" Imperial Stout 2019 – which you can read about here – you can now get your hands on 500ml bottles of a barleywine and an imperial stout, both of which have spent time in barrels. The Cognac Barrel-Aged Barleywine's time in oak has given the beer a rich, velvety sweetness. There’s a lot of dark fruit at play… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Barleywine & Imperial Stout
ABV
11.6% & 13.2%

Modus Operandi Pangea International IPA

Tapped July 31st, 2019
Plenty of breweries release an IPA for International IPA Day - free marketing, right? But one clever soul at Modus Operandi had a stroke of genius: when the team was discussing what kind of IPA to make, they said, “It’s International IPA Day… why don’t we make an International IPA?” So that’s exactly what they did. They used hops from all over the world - Magnum from Germany, Styrian Golding from Slovenia, Cashmere and Centennial from USA, Kohatu from New Zealand, and Galaxy from our… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.5%

Nowhereman 2Fresh 2Ridiculous IIPA

Tapped July 30th, 2019
There ain’t no party like a Nowhereman party! The West Leederville brewery decided to celebrate their second birthday with double IPA and a decal that riffs equally on the Fast and the Furious, Stranger Things, The Goonies and the So Fresh hit music compilation series – that’s a lot to take in while sipping a 8 percent ABV beer, none of which should be taken seriously. Beginning as an iteration of last years’ Fresh AF, 2Fresh 2Ridiculous could easily be labelled a hazy IIPA. The opaque orange… Read more
Style
Hazy IIPA
ABV
8.2%
Stockists

Available from the brewery from late July and select WA venues and growler filling retailers from IPA Day, Aug 1

Wolf of the Willows Lark Barrel Aged Imperial JSP 2019

Tapped July 29th, 2019
In 2018, Wolf of the Willows teamed up with Tasmania’s Lark Distillery to create a barrel-aged beer with a difference. The Cheltenham-based brewers headed to Tasmania, chose some barrels, had them shipped over as soon as they were emptied, then filled those barrels with an imperial version of their JSP (Johnny Smoked Porter). Once the whisky and oak had done their thing, the barrels were emptied, sent back to Lark and filled with a whisky to finish off the spirit. To find out more about the process,… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Smoked Porter
ABV
13.9%

Otherside Brewing Co Experimental Series: Barley Wine

Tapped July 29th, 2019
Revered by seasoned beer drinkers as the apex of beer styles – yes, yes, lambic and yes, crisp pilsner – barleywine commands respect, for alcohol content that's typically double digit even if you're not interested in its historical links to the mid-18th century. It’s also a style that's slowly gaining momentum in Australia and, more than 250 years on from the earliest iterations, Otherside’s contribution to this lineage will represent a welcome entry point for many, in a stylish modern tinny. Served… Read more
Style
Barleywine
ABV
11.3%
Stockists

Available now from the Myaree brewery and Otherside stockists

Green Beacon Fathom Barrel Aged Beers: Raspberry & Cherry Sour & Belgian Style Red

Tapped July 27th, 2019
It may have taken many months of patient waiting for Green Beacon to launch their first Fathom beers but, as winter 2019 has passed, a growing number have been winging their way further from the brewery and into the hearts of many a beer lover. The Raspberry and Cherry Sour picked up a fair few votes in our Best New Beers Of 2019 – So Far roundup (although not enough to be the Green Beacon representative in the final article) and is a mixed ferment affair made with lactobacillus and two different… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Cherry Sour & Belgian Red
ABV
4.7% & 7.0%

Cupitt Craft Brewers Barrel Aged Imperial Stout & Barley Wine 2019

Tapped July 26th, 2019
There’s great demand for barrels in the beer world, which means it’s not always easy for brewers to get their hands on them. An operation like Cupitt’s, which includes both a winery and a brewery, doesn’t have this issue. Cupitt’s Imperial Stout has spent the better part of a year in a barrel that previously held shiraz, but the character imparted is less about the wine and more about the mellowing effects of the oak. From the beginning, a thick pour and dark brown head promise this will… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout & Barleywine
ABV
9.2% & 11.4%

Cupitt Craft Brewers Arneis Co-Ferment 2019

Tapped July 26th, 2019
When hearing about co-ferments for the first time, many people ask: “Is it more like a wine, or more like a beer?” It’s a good question; co-ferments are wine-beer hybrids, in this case with the pressed grape juice and the wort fermenting together. And the answer is: it depends. It depends on the grapes, the base beer, the yeast used, whether it’s been soured, the brewer… you get the idea. Cupitt’s Arneis Co-Ferment 2019, however, is a fine example of a drink that takes after its grape… Read more
Style
Beer-Wine Hybrid Farmhouse Ale
ABV
7.7%

Cupitt Craft Brewers Oyster Stout & Smoked Porter

Tapped July 26th, 2019
The Cupitts are proud of their home region. The restaurant menu includes seasonal produce from local farmers, and even produce from the Cupitt estate itself, giving the menu a great sense of place. Their winery produces wines that showcase the distinct characteristics of the vineyards. Thus, for their brewery to make an Oyster Stout in collaboration with a local, award-winning oyster farmer makes a lot of sense. At first, the classic stout aromas of roastiness and coffee are all you can detect. But… Read more
Style
Oyster Stout & Smoked Porter
ABV
5.0% & 6.4%
Bitterness

Cupitt Craft Brewers Milton Pilsner

Tapped July 26th, 2019
This pale pilsner replaces the Kolsch that was previously in Cupitt’s core range. Apparently it’s Griff Cupitt’s knock-off drink, and it’s not hard to see why - it’s bright, it’s clean, and it’s easy-drinking, aptly dubbed a “Refreshing Lager”. Australian Ella and New Zealand Wakatu hops bring a New World dimension to proceedings, with sherbet and lemonade aromas fizzing out of the glass along with the grainy notes familiar to traditional pilsners. Note that Milton Pilsner is named… Read more
Style
Australian Pilsner
ABV
4.8%

The Crafty Pint is an independent online magazine and resource for anyone interested in craft beer in Australia. We bring an honest, old-fashioned journalistic approach to beer's brave new world, telling stories because they're worth telling not because someone is paying us to write them.

Like many of the people who have changed the face of beer in Australia, we believe in authenticity, integrity, enjoyment and love. We hope to play a role in helping good beer, brewed by good people, find its way into the hands of more drinkers.

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