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!
Boston Brewing Squeeze New England IPA
Tapped November 21st, 2019
Boston’s Squeeze returns in cans, well timed for the transition into warmer weather. The Denmark brewer’s New England IPA has been appearing in limited release for more than a year and this release shows the strength of Squeeze's appeal, not the Great Southern team need convincing, as head brewer Tyson Addy notes: “It’s what the brewers drink most days after work.” While not as visually dense as some, Amarillo, Azacca, Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado deliver bright tropical hop aromas which… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- New England IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
- Stockists
-
Squeeze is available from the brewery and select WA retailers in limited release.
Gage Roads Small Batch Lager
Tapped November 21st, 2019
West Coast brewers Gage Roads celebrate their crystal brewing anniversary with a throwback to their debut beer from 2004. They've released many lagers over the years; however, this return offers a window into Australia’s early Y2K beer landscape, one in which Euro-inspired lagers dominated consumption and which might be something of a curiosity for many recent converts to craftier drinking: wait, there’s no lactose in this? No DDH? No fruit? Nope, but that might be a nice change … and it does… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Vienna Lager
- ABV
- 4.7%
Molly Rose Brewing Shoulders Of Giants
Tapped November 19th, 2019
Having spent several months travelling through various global beer cultures while refining his plans for Molly Rose, there was little doubt Nic Sandery would be someone eager to doff his cap to those who inspired him. Or, in this case, those who inspired a generation of brewers and drinkers. Shoulders Of Giants is his homage to the big IPAs from the West Coast of the US that helped kickstart the style's eminence within the craft beer revolution. As such, it's brewed with the classic "three Cs"… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 7.4%
- Bitterness
- 85 IBU
Molly Rose Brewing When Life Gives You Lemons
Tapped November 19th, 2019
Many beers can give a drinker lemons, whether it's the citric tang of some kettle sours or hop-derived. Not too many come loaded with actual lemons, however. Or, to be more accurate in the case of this Molly Rose beer, "dry-lemoned". But that's one of the steps Nic Sandery took with this farmhouse ale, one that features a colourful hop combo (Loral, Cascade, Amarillo, Centennial and Ahtanum) plus some specialty malts, with the aim of creating a lemon slice like character. You'll not be… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Farmhouse Ale with Lemons
- ABV
- 5.2%
Molly Rose Brewing Beaming
Tapped November 19th, 2019
Why Beaming? Because, according to the man behind the beer, this is an IPA designed to be drunk from an esky in the sunshine in a park or at the beach. Smaller, paler and leaner than the Shoulders Of Giants IPA released at the same time, it features local hop Ella alongside a quintet of popular (and, for the most part, fruity and citrusy) American varieties. It reminds me of IPAs of the Thornbridge Jaipur / 3 Ravens New World IPA ilk: light and lean, with plenty of bitey, pithy, and champagne like… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 5.7%
Grifter Brewing Co Pilsner
Tapped November 19th, 2019
The Grifter crew love brewing all kinds of beers with all kinds of flavours. But you know what else they love? Pilsners. They can’t get enough of them. So late 2019 has seen them finally get around to adding a yellow-tinned pilsner to their core lineup. Nope, I’m not talking about Serpent’s Kiss, their watermelon pilsner that’s got fruit for days. Nope, I’m not talking about a renewal of the 6.2 percent pilsner they brewed when they first moved into their own brewery in 2013. Nope, I’m… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Pilsner
- ABV
- 4.4%
Nomad Brewing Budgy Smuggler Pale Ale
Tapped November 18th, 2019
This beer is beautiful inside and out - a series of eye-catching label designs on a deliciously drinkable beer. You might even say this beer’s got the whole package. [And you had the gall to accuse me of making dad jokes earlier - Editor] For context, this beer is the collaboration between Nomad and Budgy Smuggler Swimwear in Manly. Both are family-owned businesses; both began in the Northern Beaches and export to the rest of the world; both enjoy loud patterns and having a laugh. The beer itself… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Pale Ale
- ABV
- 5.0%
- Stockists
-
Join them for a launch at Manly Wine on Nov 23 – details here
Wolf Of The Willows XXXPA
Tapped November 17th, 2019
It's been a big few weeks for Scott and Renae from Wolf Of The Willows, what with securing their own brewery site that's set to open in 2020 and marking a half decade of beers. And they've celebrated the latter with a suitably big beer, one that takes their debut XPA and ratchets it up to double the size and throws in a triple dry-hop with Mosaic, Galaxy, Kahatu and Nelson Sauvin for good measure. Oh, and it's in big black cans too, complete with bold red lettering, the XXX perhaps intended as a… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Imperial XPA
- ABV
- 9.2%
Little Bang Brewing Schwangermelon
Tapped November 17th, 2019
The Little Bang crew have utilised loads of different fruit in their beers to date, largely across their sNEIPA and Schwang range. In the past, it's mainly been berries and citrus fruits but here it's watermelon’s chance to shine within the aptly named Schwangermelon kettle sour. The schwangermelon takes on a perfectly clear, extremely light-yellow appearance, gaining little in the way of colour from the fruit additions. Certainly, the watermelon is dominant in the aroma, but it also brings with… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Watermelon Sour
- ABV
- 3.0%
Little Bang Brewing Rabbit Hole #1: Gin/Shiraz Barrel Saison
Tapped November 17th, 2019
Rabbit Hole #1 begins a barrel-ageing adventure for the Little Bang crew, this time in conjunction with Adelaide spirit gurus Prohibition Liquor. Ever since their new venue was opened, a large display of barrels has graced the brewery, but with little communication as to what lay inside. A clever ploy, one might say, amping up the hype of their barrel-aged brand. Rabbit Hole #1 is the first release an experimental series that will never see a beer repeated. They started with a barrel that originally… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Saison
- ABV
- 4.4%
Blasta Brewing Rampant Raspberry
Tapped November 17th, 2019
What began as a beer for GABS 2019 has returned plumper than ever. It’s no secret Blasta’s owner Steve Russell has an affinity for fruited beer but this takes things to a new level. Four fruit additions were made throughout Rampant Raspberry’s creation and it shows. The gloriously hot pink beer leads with raspberry, masses of it, before being joined by passionfruit and suggestions of cranberry from the hibiscus addition. Although brightly acetic, there’s a whipped fruit smoothie creaminess… Read more
Red
- Style
- Fruited Kettle Sour Wild Ale
- ABV
- 4.7%
- Stockists
-
Available in limited release from the brewery and Blasta stockists nationally.
Rocks Brewing Short Session IPA
Tapped November 17th, 2019
Short Session started life as a small batch trial as a session IPA, bringing fruity punch but with a little less oomph than most IPAs. Butm as it started to win people over - not least the brewers - it got re-brewed on a larger volume, with an extra blast of hops, and a jump in ABV, bringing it from its original 4.6 to up to 5.8 percent. So, what can you expect from a session IPA that’s no longer a session IPA? It’s managed to keep its clean profile and approachability. Its flavours are citrus-forward,… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 5.8%
Seasonal Brewing Co Gourdgeous Gose
Tapped November 17th, 2019
To celebrate the 2019 Maylands Street Festival, the Seasonal team brewed a beer that was perfectly timed for weather in the mid-30s: a watermelon and cucumber gose. Having attended on the day, head brewer Brody Watts' prescience for this level of refreshment was both welcome and quite astonishing. Juice from both fruits was added to the lightly kettle soured base, which translates initially as something almost lolly-like in its vibrant expression before the acid and light spritz provides balance.… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Watermelon & Cucumber Gose
- ABV
- 4.2%
Wildflower St Henry 2019 – White Peach
Tapped November 15th, 2019
St Henry is to be the last of the Saint series of Wildflower fruited beers for 2019. In devastating news for the beer lovers who can only experience joy through vertical tastings, 2019 is unfortunately substantially different to 2018. For starters, it’s a completely different fruit. A hailstorm in late 2018 destroyed the apricots at the Thornbrook Orchard in Orange and partially damaged a good proportion of peaches. So, in keeping with the Wildflower ethos of sustainability, 400kg of otherwise… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Australian Wild Ale with Peaches
- ABV
- 5.6%
Bright Brewery M.I.A. IPA (2019 onwards)
Tapped November 15th, 2019
Way back in the Paleozoic era (well, something like 2012, anyway), the first release of M.I.A. was the moment that tipped us off that Jon Seltin was a brewer to watch. He'd not long been plucked from homebrewing and put straight into the head brewer role at Bright and this IPA – named after an incident that saw him crash land his paraglider and go missing in action the day before it was being launched – was a real statement of intent. The beer, brewer and brewery have all undergone change since… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
- Bitterness
- 50 IBU
Bright Brewery Spring Fling Tropical Pale
Tapped November 15th, 2019
Passionfruit is a potent little bugger, isn't it? And Bright's head brewer Reid Stratton has got his hands on some and isn't afraid to us it. Here, it's been added to a pale ale base beer, thus boosting its tropical fruit juice aromas. More than that, the fruit addition also gives the beer a really distinct tang; if you didn't know better, you'd swear you were drinking a fruited lacto sour. James Smith… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Pale Ale with Passionfruit
- ABV
- 4.7%
3 Ravens Wild Ravens Methode Ravens 2018 & Pastry Sour: Strawberry & Rhubarb
Tapped November 15th, 2019
The Wild Ravens series has been kicking around the Thornbury brewery for a few years now, but is back as the decade nears its denouement with a new look and a seemingly even broader palette with which the brewers can create. Methode Ravens is their "homage to the great lambic blenders of Belgium" – a blend of liquids with an average age of 22 months and, arguably, the purest expression of the Wild Ravens ethos. Built upon a base beer of a wild ale from 2017 that was the brewers' favourite… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Mixed Culture Beers
- ABV
- 6.0% / 7.1%
- Bitterness
- 16 IBU / 11 IBU
- Stockists
-
More stockists...
3 Ravens Brewery
The Vin
Section 8
Fredericks Bottleshop Richmond
Regent Cellars
Dexter
Ferdydurke
The Great Beyond
Plus a small amount of the pastry went to WA stockists
3 Ravens Nat Rav Series: Grampians Pinot Gris & Heathcote Muscat
Tapped November 15th, 2019
The brewers at 3 Ravens love pretty much all booze that's interesting, not to mention anything fermented. But they're particularly fond of natural wines and have been working on developing a line of beers of that ilk. After a lengthy gestation and a few small batch trials, the Nat Rav series made its official debut late in 2019, complete with bottles that aren't just decorated with violently appealing labels that would make them welcome additions to the funkier wine sections of a high end bottleshop… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Beer-Wine Hybrids
- ABV
- 7.0% / 7.8%
- Bitterness
- 12 IBU / 25 IBU
- Stockists
-
More stockists...
3 Ravens Brewery
The Vin
Fredericks Bottleshop Richmond
Green Mans Arms
BentSpoke Brewing Co How's It Gosen?
Tapped November 15th, 2019
For a brewery (and brewer) that's put out some of the most complex and, on occasion, confronting sour beers to grace Australia palates, BentSpoke's punsome How's It Gosen? is something of a surprise. It's a beer that's been a popular drop on tap at the Braddon brewpub for some time and here becomes their latest Drifter can release in time for summer 2019/20. And why is it a surprise? Well, mainly because it's so straight down the line, clean and easy-going (which, presumably, was the aim). The fruit… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Tropical Gose
- ABV
- 4.0%
- Stockists
-
Blackhearts & Sparrows Braddon
More stockists...BentSpoke Brewpub
And heaps more here
Blackman's Brewery Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time Hazy IPA
Tapped November 15th, 2019
They've released plenty of IPAs over the years, launching with Reg, souping him up to Angry Reg, popping out a sour NEIPA under their Barrel Farm offshoot, creating the delightful Superhop and more. But this is their first hazy IPA, one they tell us comes loaded with "copious amounts" of US hops Mosaic, Simcoe, El Dorado and newcomer Strata. It sits at the sweeter, stickier end of the burgeoning hazy world, with sweetness a trait we've noticed in a couple of the early adopters of Strata.… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 7.0%
