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!
Fox Hat Bearded Mongrel 2020
Tapped October 13, 2020
Every year, when the temperature drops to bitterly cold, Fox Hat release their oatmeal stout, Phat Mongrel alongside an imperial version, Full Mongrel. And, just when you thought that was enough Mongrel to see you through to spring, Fox Hat decided to barrel age the latter and gave birth to Bearded Mongrel. A 10.8 percent ABV imperial stout first released at the 2019 Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival, it returns in 2020 after several months in Bearded Lady Bourbon barrels. The liquid drips with bourbon,… Read more
Black
- Style
- Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
- ABV
- 10.8%
Vale Brewing Gin Sour
Tapped October 13, 2020
There are advantages in being owned by a multi-faceted beverage company, one that makes juices, concentrates, wine, mixed spirits and gin as well as beer. So the crew at Vale and Fox Hat, part of the Bickford's group, decided to make use of their fortuitous position in concocting new releases for spring 2020. In the case of Vale – you'll find Fox Hat's Bearded Mongrel here – it's a meeting of two warm weather favourites: a light tropical sour and gin. Renmark’s 23rd Street Distillery is where… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Gin Sour
- ABV
- 4.0%
Blackman's Brewery Needs More Mosaic & Simcoe
Tapped October 13, 2020
The all-the-hops-you-can-handle Needs More series from Blackman's is already up to number four, and this time comes with a wee tweak. Rather than showcase just the one hop variety, they've taken one of the hops that's dominated the global craft beer world in recent years, Mosaic, and partnered it with a big-hitter that's been around a little longer and starred in the July release: Simcoe. As for the latest character to adorn the cans, it's someone I last saw wearing a tie-dye dress, knocking out… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- TDH IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
One Drop Brewing Harvest & Vintage 2020 & Cabernet Funk 2020
Tapped October 13, 2020
You know what’s infuriating? When people can do something really well and then they just have a crack at doing another thing and it turns out they’re really good at that too. It’s like: “Oh yeah, I know the punters are champing at the bit for our IPAs and sours, might just give some mixed ferments a go and see what happens?” How bloody dare you, One Drop? Where do you get off? It’s like, we’re all out here doing our best just trying to play the part of Jim Kurring in Magnolia, and One… Read more
Red
- Style
- Beer-Wine Hybrids
- ABV
- 7.0% & 9.5%
Cheeky Monkey East Coast IPA
Tapped October 12, 2020
The weekly sum of new 2020 releases can challenge the purchase decisions of even the most "checked in" beer fan, so the arrival of a new core range beer seems almost gleefully avant-garde or, at best, blindly optimistic, even if it’s hazy. And that would be the case here, if there wasn’t a longer story at play. Supertubes East Coast IPA, originally a collaboration with Cellarbrations Carlisle and The Dutch Trading Co, arrived just shy of Valentine’s Day this year, after considerable… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- East Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
- Stockists
-
Available from both Cheeky Monkey breweries
And Cheeky stockists
Nomad Brewing Supersonic Sonic Boom: Yuzu & Passionfruit
Tapped October 12, 2020
Nomad have gone hazy with this Supersonic IIPA, bringing a soft cloudiness to a series that’s usually bright and sparkling. But they’ve stuck to their habit of adding enough fruit to wow the senses. Each Supersonic variation has a mouth-belting bitterness doing battle with whatever fruit is in the mix. With Sonic Boom, the fruit triumphs; the bitterness is present, but on its knees, submitting to the reigning victors. Passionfruit is the dominant ruler; yuzu is her trusty advisor. But you could… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy Fruit IIPA
- ABV
- 7.8%
Hargreaves Hill & Four Pillars Gin Barrel Gose 2020
Tapped October 12, 2020
It might not command the headlines of, say, Boatrocker and Starward's annual Ramjet release, but Hargreaves Hill's ongoing partnership with Yarra Valley neighbours Four Pillars is another example of Victorian producers working together to create beers that capture elements of both collaborators. The first appearance of the Gin Barrel Gose saw it land in our Best New Victorian Beers for that year, and here it returns with a tweak yet still as enjoyable. The liquid spent time in Christmas Gin barrels,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Gin Barrel-Aged Gose
- ABV
- 5.2%
Urban Alley Alley Dangler & Dreaming Of Summer
Tapped October 12, 2020
Following on from the prior releases, Man-Goes Nowhere and Long Beach Dreamsicle, it looks like the team at Urban Alley still wishes they were elsewhere (and who can blame them) as Melbourne’s lockdown rumbles on like a question from Peta Credlin. The returning Alley Dangler, first brewed in March 2020, aims to transport us to the German town of Bamberg and the rauchbiers upon which this smoked amber lager is closely modelled. Using Australian wood-smoked malt, it’s impressive just how closely… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Rauchbier & Kveik Pale Ale
- ABV
- 5.4% & 5.2%
Helios Brewing Cyclops IPA
Tapped October 11, 2020
No, your eye is not deceiving you: Helios have finally released a year-round IPA you can buy in tinnies. In previous years, they’ve released different versions of Cyclops IPA as a wet-hopped beer at hop harvest time, but this is something different – a core range West Coast IPA they’ve been working on for some time to get the recipe just how they want it. With the malt fullness and the hop punchiness we’ve come to expect from Helios, Cyclops is a throwback to 2014, when Mash’s Copy Cat… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
Wolf of the Willows Double Vision
Tapped October 9, 2020
I'm not sure 2020 has been characterised by double vision as much as it has the one single vision over and over again, at least for those living in Melbourne. It's been as challenging a year as you could imagine, and among those for whom the roller coaster has thrown up some serious twists, turns and nosedives is the team at Wolf of the Willows. As March approached, they were all set to open their brewery venue and were busy signing up staff; here we are in October and they're still awaiting the… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy Double IPA
- ABV
- 8.1%
- Stockists
-
Find the beer here
Stone & Wood East Point
Tapped October 9, 2020
The past few years have seen mid-strengths become mainstays in many a brewery's lineup, with the growing popularity of fruity sours, which often sit in that sub-4 percent ABV space, giving drinkers wanting to keep a lid on things more options than ever before. What's more, as 2020 has progressed, despite it being the sort of year that might drive you to pick up the strongest drink in the fridge, we've seen non-alcoholic beers become very much part of the landscape. But what about the space in between:… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Lower Alcohol Mixed Ferment Beer
- ABV
- 2.7%
- Stockists
-
Find your nearest East Point here
Burnley Brewing & Carwyn Cellars Fruitful Discussion
Tapped October 9, 2020
They sure do like throwing fruit into beer at Burnley Brewing. 2020 has seen them release beers with mango, pineapple, peach, banana, blackcurrant, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, passionfruit and blackberry and the last five of those were in just one sour. In October, the brewery teamed up with one of Melbourne’s top good beer haunts, Carwyn Cellars, and headed back into the fields for Fruitful Discussion, a triple-fruited imperial Berliner Weisse. Those three fruits are raspberry, blueberry… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Imperial Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 7.0%
- Stockists
Molly Rose Spring 2020 Releases
Tapped October 9, 2020
The beers are coming so thick and fast from Molly Rose as they await the day they can reopen their brewpub we've not really got space to include the names of all five here atop the page. But if you're a fan of Belgian styles, funk or banging modern IPAs, you might like to find space for one or two in your belly. Working through them in the order they appear in my tasting notes brings us first to the biggest, Pamplemousse Bleu, a Chimay-inspired, 8 percent ABV strong Belgian that's equal parts darker… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Various styles
Ballistic Beer Bru-1 West Coast & Hazy IPAs
Tapped October 9, 2020
Ballistic have been making single hop IPAs since right back when they were still in their brewers’ nappies (please forgive that awful, awful mental image) – this video gives a bit of background into their single hop series. Now, three years in, when they decided to make a Bru-1 entrant in the series, they saw the potential of not only brewing a SHIPA on their standard West Coast base, but also brewing a hazy variant to see how the hop plays with different sub-styles of IPA. An experimental adventure… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Single Hop West Coast & Hazy IPAs
- ABV
- 6.1% & 5.9%
Tallboy & Moose & Blackhearts & Sparrows Party Cardi IPA
Tapped October 9, 2020
For this addition to their burgeoning collection of beer world collabs, Blackhearts & Sparrows didn't venture too far from their Fitzroy HQ. They invited Tallboy & Moose to work with them on a hazy IPA, with Party Cardi stepping up the liveliness of the Preston brewer's bold approach to label artwork another notch. Since they settled in as a permanent fixture in craft beer circles, the trend kicked off by NEIPAs has broadened into a wider collection of IPAs under the "hazy" banner.… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 5.7%
- Stockists
-
Blackhearts & Sparrows Braddon
Blackhearts & Sparrows North Hobart
And other Blackhearts stores
More stockists...
Gage Roads The Bay XPA
Tapped October 9, 2020
Three things should be clear from this release. Firstly, Gage Roads like XPAs. Secondly, Sabro hops have a strong personality. And thirdly, judging by the label, surfing may give you green hair. Alas, one of these things is not true, and it’s not the first two. For this release, Gage Roads have partnered with SurfVisuals, which will see part of the proceeds from sales of The Bay go to the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI), a Taronga Blue not for profit program which focuses on marine waste,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- XPA
- ABV
- 5.0%
- Stockists
-
Making its way around the nation in October
Young Henrys Dark Sour Of The Moon
Tapped October 8, 2020
If, like me, you look at this can and think it looks sexy and new but also somewhat familiar, there’s a reason for that. Young Henrys brewers have been exploring alternative styles in their Brewers B-Sides series for a while but, until now, the B-Sides have been packaged in longneck bottles. Now the series has moved into tinnies, Dark Sour Of The Moon is the first to show off the new packaging. The experience of drinking this beer isn’t all that different from listening to the song that inspired… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Dark Blueberry Sour
- ABV
- 5.3%
White Bay Beer Co Stack Up
Tapped October 8, 2020
The White Bay team use their IPA series to have fun with hops, and Stack Up is no exception. Five different hop varieties, added in a few different formats, make this beer the tropical medley it is. In this new world of hazy IPAs, we’re constantly talking about dry-hopping, but before the multiple rounds of dry-hopping this beer received – with Vic Secret, Calypso, Cashmere Cryo and Citra – the stage was already set with enough Mosaic to make your head spin. As well as more traditional pellets,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 6.7%
Sanctus Brewing Spooks Ember Ale
Tapped October 7, 2020
Just south of the Clarence River, off the southern point of Spooky Beach, there’s a dangerous little reef break known as Spooks. It's the kind of spot a young grom could get into trouble, but the local surfers all know how to navigate Spooks so they don’t get ripped to shreds. And this same kind of knowledge is necessary for Spooks Ember Ale. It seems safe enough – an Irish red ale presenting sweet toffee and biscuit on the nose, along with a waft of stone fruit hoppiness. A soft, silky body… Read more
Red
- Style
- Irish Red Ale
- ABV
- 6.5%
Endeavour Reserve Amber Ale 2020
Tapped October 7, 2020
Remember when beers could be sweet without using lactose? Me either, but apparently that used to be a thing. How very quaint! If anyone was going to remember, it was always going to be one of the two Colonial-esque breweries tucked away in The Rocks in Sydney. Endeavour Brewing Co, despite mostly being known these days for their light, hoppy pale ales in cans, regularly have English-inspired beer pouring at their cozy little Tap Rooms and have been brewing this Reserve Amber Ale for bloody ages and,… Read more
Red
- Style
- Amber Ale
- ABV
- 5.2%
