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!
Eagle Bay Summer Ale
Tapped February 2, 2013
It's summer so it's time for summer beers. And at Eagle Bay that means a Summer Ale that's their interpretation of the Australian Pale Ale style. Brewed with pale malt and Galaxy hops, it's designed as a thirst quencher "especially for hot sunny days and warm summer evenings", say the brewers. And given they're knocking out beers in the middle of a South West WA summer, they should know what's going to quench one's thirst in such conditions. It has "a bright golden hue" is "well… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Australian Pale Ale
- ABV
- 4.4%
- Bitterness
- 27 IBU
- Stockists
-
Eagle Bay Brewery
The Pourhouse, Dunsborough
Prickly Moses / Odyssey Tavern Hop Series
Tapped January 31, 2013
All being well, in the near future the Odyssey Tavern & Brewery will become fully what it says on the tin: a tavern and a brewery. In the meantime, as work continues to get the in-house brewery up and running, the team there are having a bit of fun with one of the region's brewers, Prickly Moses. Taking advantage of the venue's hand pump, Prickly's head brewer Luke Scott has been playing around with his Otway Ale and a few hop varieties to deliver a range of tiny batch beers. Thus far, the Otway… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Various
- Stockists
Bridge Road / Nogne O Aurora Borealis
Tapped January 25, 2013
We promised we were going to sample this beer on the eve of its launch so we could pop a listing up before it is poured at Slowbeer. But then we thought: "This is the kind of beer that needs to be enjoyed in the right place at the right time and not necessarily on a Thursday evening watching the tennis." Why? Well, how many beers do you know with the sort of genesis enjoyed by the Aurora Borealis? Along with its sibling, the Aurora Australis, it has been months in the making, months that… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Barrel and Ocean-Aged Quadrupel
- ABV
- 14.9%
- Stockists
-
Others TBC
More stockists...
Bright Brewery Pilot Light
Tapped January 24, 2013
With the expansion complete and brewing operations back up and running again at Bright Brewery, the new beers are starting to flow from Jon Seltin. The first one to grace the taps of the brand spanking new Alpine set up is the Pilot Light, a sessionable English IPA. John tells us: "The Pilot IPA is a single batch release [at] 2.9 per cent crafted to taste like something much bigger. It was actually a really fun beer to brew, and quite a balancing act - it can be difficult to make a really full… Read more
Golden
- Style
- English IPA
- ABV
- 2.9%
- Stockists
Moon Dog Great American Challenge
Tapped January 19, 2013
It's all getting a little weird, as it seems that, recently, pretty much every single beer being released in Australia reminds us of one song or another. We had Mountain Goat's Little Girl sparking renditions of Billy Idol's White Wedding followed by Holgate's Millennium Falcon bringing back memories of Carter. This one, however, could well be our favourite. The Great American Challenge, to the uninitiated (which we are glad to confirm includes the residents of Crafty Towers), is the name of the… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Trappist Ale
- ABV
- 8.9%
- Bitterness
- 35 IBU
Van Dieman Geronimo
Tapped January 18, 2013
Tasmania's Van Dieman Brewing is releasing an extremely short run beer this weekend. Created in conjunction with Meander Valley Berries, the beer is based upon a Belgian wheat beer style, with the intention being to provide a summer refresher as well as showcasing as much of the fruit flavour as possible. A rather sizeable 120kg of fresh strawberries were added to the beer, where they spent 14 days in the tank. At that point, the beer was transferred to another vessel along with a further 80kg of… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Fruit Wheat Beer
- ABV
- 4.3%
- Stockists
-
Tamar Valley Beer Festival
Festivale
Mountain Goat Little Sister
Tapped January 10, 2013
We're really not sure any beer that brings to mind Billy Idol singing 'White Wedding is a good thing. However, when it's a new beer from Mountain Goat, perhaps we can be a little forgiving. Little Sister is, of course, the little sister to another of their beers, in this case Rapunzel, the brewery's regular annual release that takes the form of a Strong Belgian Golden Ale. No prizes for guessing what Little Sister is then... According to Eggborough Dave Brighton, the beer uses the same basic grist,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Belgian Golden Ale
- ABV
- 4.3%
- Bitterness
- 28 IBU
- Stockists
-
Others tbc
Moon Dog Dasher's Envy
Tapped December 24, 2012
Apparently this is a "Fancy Christmas Ale". We're not sure what that means, to be honest. Does it mean that there are brewers out there producing beers for the festive period that aren't fancy? Or have the Moon Doggers done something particularly out there for this one - perhaps swimming in the mash tun again? Perhaps the fact that they seem to have emptied the majority of the contents of their malt cupboard and spice rack into it has something to do with its elevated status - with a little… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Christmas Ale
- ABV
- 8.1%
Hargreaves Hill The Phoenix
Tapped December 23, 2012
The first Phoenix was brewed back in 2010 to mark Hargreaves Hill's return to brewing after the original brewery was destroyed in Victoria's Black Saturday fires. A luxurious Imperial Red Ale that has stood the test of time quite magnificently, as we discovered in a tasting alongside the new batch recently, it has been brought back just in time for Christmas. Once again presented in a number of wax-sealed, limited edition (350) 750ml bottles, it's a beer you can set down for years to come. Alternatively,… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Imperial Red Ale
- ABV
- 9.8%
- Stockists
-
Hargreaves Hill (keg and bottle)
Slowbeer (keg and bottle)
Purvis Cellars (bottle)
More stockists...
Bridge Road / Local Taphouse 13 Hours On A Bus
Tapped December 21, 2012
It worked for the Yeastie Boys with their awesome Gunnamatta IPA, so why not invoke the spirit of Paul Kelly for another beer. With the sixth beer in the Bridge Road Bar Series featuring staff from the Local Taphouse venues in St Kilda and Darlinghurst, they decided to borrow a line from the singer's classic From St Kilda to Kings Cross for their Black India Saison that uses 13 ingredients, including spices in the form of juniper, nutmeg and cloves plus hops in the shape of Nelson Sauvin, Falconers… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Black India Saison
- ABV
- 7.2%
- Bitterness
- 30ish IBU
- Stockists
-
Norfolk Hotel ( Fremantle)
Archive (Brisbane)
[The Wheaty](/beer/ba
More stockists...
4 Pines Christmas Ale 2012
Tapped December 19, 2012
There's something undeniably comforting about a winter Christmas: the glow of an open fire, snow outside the window and a warming festive ale in hand. But in Australia - where Christmas is generally spent increasing one's quota of sun, sand and surf - the last thing on most people's wish list is a strong dark spiced ale. What would be far more suited to the climate is something like a Summer Saison, and that's exactly what 4 Pines have delivered in time for Christmas 2012. This 'highly sessionableâ?… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Spiced Saison
- ABV
- 5.2%
- Stockists
-
VIC
Young and Jacksons
Gertrude Hotel
QLD
The Villager
Tippler's Tap
More stockists...[The Scratch](/beer/bar/the-scratch-
Mornington Peninsula Czech Pilsner
Tapped December 12, 2012
With the mercury rising and holiday season on the way, the Mornington Peninsula boys are serving up a pilsner for your delectation. Their latest seasonal is the brainchild of brewer Matt Inchley, designed to be as true to style as possible: all Saaz hops, pilsner malt, unfiltered. According to the man behind it, the beer is: "Deep burnished gold in colour ... with a dense, snow white head. Rich and complex aromas of grass and soft spice interweave with bready yeast notes. A spicy hop presence… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Czech Pilsner
- ABV
- 5.9%
- Stockists
-
Young & Jackson's
Oscars
Fitzroy Pinnacle
[Wo
More stockists...
Murray's Anniversary Ale 7
Tapped December 7, 2012
Among Australia's craft beer cognoscenti, Murray's annual anniversary releases are one of the year's most anticipated releases. The beers have generally followed a few common traits: big and barrel-aged for a start, with each vintage usually an evolution on the previous year. Last year's was a 15 per cent Belgian style barleywine featuring a handful of different yeasts and made from a blend of French and American oak-aged versions. This one follows a similar line but with the addition of cherry wood… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Smoked, Barrel-Aged Belgian Barleywine
- ABV
- 15%
- Stockists
-
Murray's - online shop and Cellar Door
Colonial Kottbusser
Tapped December 6, 2012
Mal Secourable, head brewer at Margaret River's Colonial Brewing Company, loves to brew German-inspired styles. It seems that he loves brewing them so much that it's impossible for us to get him to take the time out to tell us about any specials he's brewed. Thankfully, with Girl+Beer now calling the region her home, we have Crafty spies on the ground... Which means we know about the Kottbusser, a summer seasonal from Mal, which follows hot on the heels of the brewery's popular Baltic Porter. It's… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Kottbusser
- Stockists
Red Duck Topaz
Tapped December 5, 2012
Another day, another dollar. Or, in this case, another Red Duck beer. Latest cab off the rank is another that falls inside their bulging collection of strong pale ales as the Ballarat brewery continues what could be cast as a hop series of sorts. Inspiration for this single hop beer, which uses the Aussie hop Topaz, came about when brewing Hop Bach with Anders Kissmeyer earlier in the year. Among the 25 hops that went into that beer was this, a variety that has found a new lease of life as an aroma… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Strong Pale Ale
- ABV
- 5.2%
- Bitterness
- 40 IBU
- Stockists
-
Press Cellars
Swords Select
Olinda Cellars
More stockists...
Cowaramup Lightsign 2012
Tapped December 5, 2012
When The Crafty Pint last called into Cowaramup, it was the height of summer and this beer, named by brewer Jeremy Good's daughter and only just brewed for the first time, was the one we kept going back to more than any other. A beautifully hopped, summery ale, it's been brought out of retirement in time for summer again. Crafty contributor Pia Poynton wasted little time getting a taste of the new batch, describing it as "perfect in the beer garden under a shady umbrella". She adds it's:… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Summer Ale
- ABV
- 4.5%
- Stockists
Moon Dog Artisan Pouseuré
Tapped December 3, 2012
The words "Moon Dog" and "pumpkin", when used in tandem, send a shudder down the Crafty spine. Before the brewery launched, we were given a sample bottle of a trial Pumpkin Ale as a taster of what was to come. It miraculously disappeared one AFL Grand Final Day with nobody in attendance able to recall what could have happened to it. The mystery remains unsolved; our guilt unassuaged. Still, there have been subsequent chances to sample other Moon Dog pumpkin beers, including a… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Spiced Pumpkin Ale
- ABV
- 7.5%
- Bitterness
- 32 IBU
- Stockists
-
Deja Vu
[The Local Taphouse St Kilda](/beer/bar/local-taphouse-st-kild
More stockists...
Bridge Road / Archive Tennessee Stud
Tapped December 3, 2012
We're a little late posting this one as it slipped out of Beechworth unnoticed at Crafty Towers, so we can't be sure what's left where. But for the sake of completeness, here's the fifth in the fast-moving Bar Series, this time featuring the input of the crew at Brisbane's Archive. They tell us: "We wanted to create something that reflects our varied backgrounds, collective love of our industry and that of delicious beer. Malty and hoppy, bold but beguiling, flavoursome but still sessionable,… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Oaked Brown Ale
- ABV
- 5.5%
- Bitterness
- 40ish IBUs
- Stockists
-
Norfolk Hotel ( Fremantle)
Archive (Brisbane)
[The Wheaty](/beer/ba
More stockists...
Moon Dog Love Tap – Retired
Tapped November 30, 2012
Standards must be slipping at Moon Dog. I mean, seriously, when you've offered up buxom nurses holding breast-shaped cupcakes and cigar-smoking skulls on your labels, who's going to be satisfied with a pig in lime green bow tie and top hat? Next thing you know, they'll be brewing a lager. Thankfully, this is nothing of the sort, but instead the equivalent of drinking fresh hop goo, goo that's an amalgam of German, Aussie and Kiwi hops, an amalgam in which the New World hops carry out an almighty… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Strong hoppy lager
- ABV
- 7.1%
- Bitterness
- 34 IBU
4 Pines Keller Door Series 2012: Wee Heavy
Tapped November 30, 2012
We seem to recall that, back in the depths of time when GABS was merely the Great Australian Beer Spectapular held at the Local Taphouses rather than the behemoth that now bestrides the Royal Exhibition Building, one of the highlights was a rich, multi-layered malty number from 4 Pines going by the name Wee Heavy. So this, we assume, can be taken as some sort of relation of said beer. Its big, musclebound older brother perhaps, as while we remember the previous one rocking in at around seven per… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Wee Heavy
- ABV
- 9.5%
- Bitterness
- 22 IBU
- Stockists
