New Beers

Press Cellars

Swords Select

Olinda Cellars

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Mountain Goat Before The Dawn IPA

Tapped August 29th, 2012

Given their previous two black IPAs - the Thorny Goat brewed with UK's Thornbridge and the Gypsy & The Goat brewed with Mikkeller - are ensconced in the upper echelons of Ratebeer's top rated Australian beers, it's perhaps little surprise that Mountain Goat has decided to bring out another. Bigger than the Thorny and pepperberry free, it's their farewell to winter. As for how dark it is, well, over to the brewers themselves: "There's a black that's blacker than its own shadow. As black as… Read more

Style: Black IPA
ABV: 7.4%

Stockists

Mountain Goat

The Terminus

Beer DeLuxe

Beer DeLuxe Hawthorn

The Alehouse Project

Baden Powell

640ml Rare Breed bottles to follow

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Moon Dog / Yeastie Boys 7Ps

Tapped August 25th, 2012

AKA Peter Piper's Pickled Pepper Purple Peated Pale Ale AKA the beer the Moon Doggers were destined to make from the moment they discovered they shared more than a passing resemblance to the Yeastie Boys. Knocked up during Good Beer Week in May, when the Kiwis were in town, it's not your typical pale ale. For a start, it's nine per cent. Then there's the hint of purpleness from the addition of blackberries (leading to a colour grading on the label that says "15 Purpley SRM"; on the other… Read more

Style: Peated Fruit IPA
ABV: 9.0%

Stockists

Purvis Beer Richmond

Prince Wine & Spirits Essendon

Albert St food

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Mash Brewing Belgo

Tapped August 24th, 2012

Here at The Crafty Pint, we like a good story, so here's one from Mash's head brewer Charlie Hodgson: "It all started in the brewery one wintry day with the schedule a little quieter than during the madness of beer season. Winter sure has its upsides at times... I had some of our Belgian yeast sitting dry and in need of somewhere warm, worty and sugar-filled to hang out for a couple of weeks until it was required to be pitched again into our Belgian Blonde. We were feeling very much like putting… Read more

Style: US-Belgian IPA
ABV: 5.7%

Stockists

Mash Brewing (all three venues)

Sail & Anchor

Mornington Peninsula Scottish Ale

Tapped August 22nd, 2012

You have to wonder how long it will take the brewers at Mornington Peninsula Brewery to run out of beer styles to brew for their specials. In less than two years, they've banged out everything from a series of Imperials to a White IPA and much in between. Latest cab off the rank is a Scottish Ale, one which we're told is based on the 80/- (or 80 shilling style) - the sort we used to pour down our throats in Rose Street pubs when we were a lad after watching rugby at Murrayfield. Brewer AG says to… Read more

Style: Scottish Ale
ABV: 4.8%

Stockists

Woodlands Hotel

Alehouse Project, Brunswick East

The Park Hotel, Werribee

Oscar's Alehouse

Josie Bones

Junction Beer Hall

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Red Hill Temptation 2012

Tapped August 22nd, 2012

Last year's Temptation became one of a growing number of Red Hill beers to have seen the inside of a cask, this time one soaked in gin prior to being filled with their strong Belgian golden ale. The resulting beer is higher in alcohol, drier and more tart than the original. There's just a handful of bottles of the barrel-aged version take left, which means those who enjoy being tempted every year will be pleased to see a new batch rolling out from the brewery this week. As for the newly arrived 2012… Read more

Style: Belgian Golden Ale
ABV: 8.0%

Stockists

Kegs and barrel-aged bottles:

Junction Beer Hall

The Local Taphouse St Kilda

Deju Vu Bar

Beer DeLuxe

East of Everything, Camberwell

Grumpy's Green

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Burleigh Brewing Black Giraffe 2012

Tapped August 20th, 2012

Gold Coast's Burleigh Brewing has a habit for picking up trophies and medals for its beers. And when the Black Giraffe was first released a couple of years back it was no different, with the coffee lager scoring a gold medal at the World Beer Championships in the US. The 2012 release is slightly tweaked. It still rocks in at five per cent and is still brewed with 100 per cent 100% rainforest alliance coffee beans from Zarraffa's, this time sourced from Guatemala and promising "a more intense,… Read more

Style: Coffee Lager
ABV: 5.0%

Stockists: Hunt down a Giraffe here

Seven Sheds Bass Strait IPA

Tapped August 14th, 2012

With suitable company on hand, we finally plucked up the courage to crack our bottle of a beer that is unlikely to ever be brewed again. If you missed the stories about its inception, the Bass Strait IPA is a singe hop British style IPA brewed with Leggett hops grown on Seven Sheds' own farm that was placed inside two oak casks from Lark Distillery, mounted in a specially designed cradle and placed onto the Spirit of Tasmania ferry. From there, it travelled between Devonport and Melbourne back and… Read more

Style: Cask-aged IPA
ABV: 6.8%

Stockists

Seven Sheds

Just 400 numbered bottles available direct from the cellar door

Red Duck Ra #2

Tapped August 10th, 2012

OK. It's confession time. Embarrassing though it is to admit, our knowledge of Egyptian beers is pretty slender. What's more, our knowledge of Egyptian bread beers is slimmer still. And when it comes to ancient imperial Egyptian bread beers, well, doncha just know it, we come up empty. Or at least we did until now, when the generous souls at Red Duck decided to culture up some sourdough yeast from a the tiny batch of Ra they made a couple of years back and make just that: an imperial Egyptian bread… Read more

Style: Imperial Egyptian Bread Beer
ABV: 11.3%

Stockists

Press Cellars

Swords Select

Olinda Cellars

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Temple Oatmeal Stout

Tapped August 10th, 2012

Considering the array of beers Temple has unleashed in recent years, it might come as some surprise that this is their first stout. Originally it was going to be held until next winter, but with one of the brewers - an avowed stout fiend - following his partner to Tassie, it was decided to brew the Oatmeal Stout early as a send off. In a break from the norm at the Brunswick East brewery, there's is nothing out of the norm. As head brewer Ron Feruglio says: "The twist is there is no twist."… Read more

Style: Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 5.9%

Stockists

Temple

Others to follow

Red Duck The Ox 2012

Tapped August 9th, 2012

We're unashamed fans of The Ox here at The Crafty Pint with a beer fridge that's still home to a 2010 bottle (a gift from a very generous reader) and a few 2011's too. In fact, we like it so much we put it on the Crafty Curates lineup during Good Beer Week last year. It's Scott Wilson-Browne's attempt to brew a beer like Three Floyds' legendary Dark Lord, uses only first runnings and requires a 22-hour brew day. We've only had a wee sample of the new one and it was instantly apparent there had been… Read more

Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.4%

Stockists

Press Cellars

Swords Select

Olinda Cellars

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Mountain Goat The Naz

Tapped August 8th, 2012

Goat fans will be aware of The Craig, a beer made by one of the Goat brewers called, incredibly, Craig. In fact, true fans will be aware that there have been two Craigs. And now, following in The Craig's footsteps comes The Naz, a beer concocted by fellow brewer Shane, aka Naz. As The Naz is a guardian of The Crafty Pot, we probably need to say something good about his beer so he keeps being nice to her. Thankfully, that's not a problem as he's come up with a well balanced mocha porter that's had… Read more

Style: Mocha Porter
ABV: 5.2%

Stockists

Mountain Goat

Beer Cartel (growler fills)

Rockwell & Sons (opening soon)

Others TBC

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Red Duck Ragnarok

Tapped August 2nd, 2012

There's something a little disturbing about the story behind this new release from Red Duck. According to the release notes: "Ragnarok, from Norse mythology, is the final battle of the Gods, in which most are killed, and the Earth is destroyed. It would be the end of the world as we know it. But the outcome isn't all bad, as a few Gods survive, as well as 2 humans who are able to repopulate a new and cleansed world." All well and good, but as they go on to explain that the beer is a collaboration… Read more

Style: Belgian Quad
ABV: 10.6%

Stockists

Press Cellars

Swords Select

Olinda Cellars

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Red Hill Weizenbock 2012

Tapped August 1st, 2012

The brewery may have closed its bar and restaurant last month, but the beers keep on coming. This time it's the return of a style that's cropping up a little more often around the Aussie craft beer world these days - the weizenbock, aka a strong wheat beer. It's a beautiful looking beer in the glass with a fluffed up pillow like ahead atop its cloudy brown body. It's one with plenty going on too; the label might talk of its chocolate flavours, but get it young and it's those big, fruity wheat beer… Read more

Style: Weizenbock
ABV: 7.9%

Red Duck Hop Bach

Tapped July 27th, 2012

While Red Duck do have some hoppy beers in their range (the Bengal IPA, Hoppy Amber, for example), they're generally a brewery that explores the beer world in other ways, whether with malt-led numbers, experiments without hops or blending meads and strong ales. With this one beer they could be seen to redress the balance in one fell swoop. Concocted with 25 different hop varieties in conjunction with visiting Danish brewer Anders Kissmeyer earlier in the year, it's a nigh-on ten per cent Imperial… Read more

Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.8%

Stockists

Press Cellars

Swords Select

Olinda Cellars

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3 Ravens Prussian Porter

Tapped July 24th, 2012

Word on the hopbine suggests 3 Ravens will live on, despite earlier fears, with a white knight on the distant horizon. Should that not prove to be the case and were this to be the final special release from the Thornbury brewer it would be a fitting farewell. A year in the making from the time of its brewing followed by a few months in barrels also used for beers such as the Double Ale Noir, it has now been deemed ready for release, following an early taster in cask form at Good Beer Week's Bull… Read more

Style: Prussian Porter
ABV: 8%

Stockists

3 Ravens

Harvest Wine & Liquor

Others tbc

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Stone & Wood Stone Beer (2012)

Tapped July 23rd, 2012

This year saw a change in direction for the Byron brewers' annual stone beer. Sure, they still pulled out the same stones from Fiji and heated them in a wood fire on the driveway outside the brewery. And they still lifted them, when white hot, into a metal cage and lowered them into the brew to let them work their caramelising magic. But elsewhere, it was all change with an all new recipe that saw the beer become a much bigger affair. That it's a new beer is apparent from the moment it hits the glass:… Read more

Style: Stone Beer
ABV: 7.2%

Stockists: Find it here

Mornington Peninsula Russian Imperial Stout

Tapped July 18th, 2012

Things are getting dark on the peninsula. Very dark... as AG prepares to unleash the Mornington Peninsula Russian Imperial Stout around Australia. The third in the brewery's imperial range - all of which will be packaged together from August for those of you who like your beers big - it's "deep espresso in colour with a thick, tan head" says the man behind it. He add: "Enticing aromas of coffee and dark chocolate lead into a complex and moreish palate. Liquorice, cocoa and dark fruit… Read more

Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.5%

Stockists

Deja Vu (formerly Biero)

Cookie

[The Local Taphouse St Kilda

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Moo Brew Vintage Imperial Stout 2012

Tapped July 16th, 2012

Over the past week or so, we've been interviewing some of the country's leading brewers about barrel aging. We were told that one of the effects is to allow oxygen to slowly come into contact with the beer, which - in the case of beers such as stouts - can have the effect of softening the roast characters and lending the beer more caramel notes. Whether it was coincidence or not, the latest release of Moo Brew's Vintage Imperial Stout then landed in our hands and may as well have announced: "Here's… Read more

Style: Barrel-aged Imperial Stout
ABV: 8.5%

Moon Dog Black Lung II

Tapped July 14th, 2012

The original Black Lung was quite possibly the Crafty Pint's pick of the Moon Dog beers to date. The sequel sees them replace the bourbon barrel aging with whisky instead and it's instantly apparent that the beer has picked up far more character from its time spent inside wood than the previous iteration. Considering it's been blended with an unwooded batch of the beer, one can only imagine how the unblended version must have tasted - like licking the inside of the barrel itself, perhaps! The intensity… Read more

Style: Smokey Stout
ABV: 8.9%

Stockists

Purvis Beer Richmond