New Beers
There has never been a time like now: more breweries releasing more new beers than ever before. Here, in The Crafty Cuppa, and in our weekly newsletter, we'll bring you details – and, if we've sampled them, our honest, independent take – on as many of them as possible. Enjoy!
Hawkers Bottomless Pith, Read Between The Limes & Downside Up
Published November 23, 2022
One advantage of hosting an event for Crafty Cabal members at Hawkers was being able to grab a couple of upcoming releases before they hit retail. Obviously, tucking into cellar stock of years-old barrel-aged beers was pretty high on the "advantage" front too, but let's stick with the program. Bottomless Pith sees them playing with a couple of their favourite things: IPAs and rye. Here, however, the rye arguably plays second fiddle to the ingredient that lends the beer its name: blood orange.… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Blood Orange IPA, Lime Berliner Weisse & Hazy DIPA
- ABV
- 6.0% & 4.5% & 8.0%
Bright Brewery Lemonade Shandy & Big Jolly Boi
Published November 22, 2022
Christmas in Australia tends to confound our pals in the Northern Hemisphere and helping make life more confusing are these two beers from Bright Brewery. They might be radically different but both really feel like Christmas beers and in the case of Lemonade Shandy, particularly if the sun’s out and backyard cricket is the order of the day. Sure, the can might feature lawn bowls but it feels like its 3.5 percent ABV and lemonade stylings, which are akin to Pub Squash with extra zest, would be perfect… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Shandy & Christmas Ale
- ABV
- 3.5% & 7.0%
Beerfarm Botanical Citrus Gose
Published November 21, 2022
Beerfarm's collaboration with Sydney-based distillers Archie Rose and Perth retailer Mane Liquor is a refreshingly light citrus gose that leans heavily into the realm of gin and tonic disguised as beer. Pouring a pale yellow with a quickly dissipating, loosely-beaded head, Botanical Citrus Gose gives off lime peel and freshly juiced lemon on the nose, with a touch of herbaceous character following closely. To taste, a sweet-sour profile carries layers of mixed citrus juice and zest with no pithy… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Gin Gose
- ABV
- 4.0%
Dainton Beer Refreshing Alcoholic Ginger Beer
Published November 21, 2022
Here’s something a little different from Dainton Beer - ginger. OK so surely in among the many releases, the Melbourne brewers have ensured the root spice has made its way into a least one beer* but Refreshing Alcohol Ginger Beer isn’t about adjuncts - it’s about refreshment. Released as 2022 is on its way out, the 3.0 percent ABV beer certainly has a summer of sun on its mind. While some ginger beers can go down a spiced route, Dainton’s is more light and zesty rather than straight-up tangy… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Ginger Beer
- ABV
- 3.0%
One Drop Lucky Old You & It's All Gravy
Published November 21, 2022
How’s this for a One Drop one-two punch combo? You open with lighting fast left jab in the form of a NZ hopped IPA then immediately follow up with the equivalent of taking a lead pipe out of your boxing trunks and just absolutely going to town on the poor bloke opposite. Ungentlemanly? Certainly. Against the spirit of the sport? Absolutely. Illegal? Well, Tyson bit a man’s ear clean off and was only suspended for a year so I don’t see any reason why One Drop can’t release a 10 percent ABV… Read more
Black
- Style
- NZ IPA & Imperial Pastry Stout
- ABV
- 6.9% & 10.0%
Aether Brewing Summer of Sour: Yuzu Sake, Royal Fruit Cup & Strawberry Creamsicle
Published November 20, 2022
Aether are well aware that in Brisbane summer arrives long before the calendar says it does (we had a 34 degree day in October), so they’ve got their Summer of Sours beers out well in advance of December. The first of this trio is Yuzu Sake. It’s a light and cloudy colour I was going to describe as "lemon yellow", but I guess "yuzu yellow" would be apt. The liquid gives off the floaty smell of lemon sherbet or lemon sorbet, but once it hits your mouth there’s a jolt of sour… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fruited Sours
- ABV
- 4.5% & 5.5% & 8.0%
- Bitterness
- 15 & 15 & 20 IBU
Ballistic Beer Keepin' It Low Cal Ginger Beer
Published November 20, 2022
Like ginger beer? Like mid-strength drinks? Like low sugar? You’re in the right place. Ballistic’s Keepin’ It Low Cal Ginger Beer is exactly what it sounds like: a ginger beer that the brewery is touting as being low in calories and carbs. In their words, “over 60 percent less carbs & sugar compared to other mainstream alcoholic ginger beers.” It’s got a tidy sweetness and a kick of spice from Buderim ginger, and each tinnie comes in at less than a standard drink. Note this is the… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Ginger Beer
- ABV
- 3.5%
- Bitterness
- 8 IBU
Ballistic & Pasteur Steet Neighbourhood Mandarin IPA & Twang Guava & Passionfruit Sour
Published November 18, 2022
It’s a fruity time at Ballistic at the moment. The second in their Neighbourhood series of international collaborations, Mandarin IPA is the joint effort of Ballistic and Vietnam’s Pasteur Street Brewing. Since the crew at Pasteur Street are known for adding ingredients that showcase the agricultural and culinary traditions of Vietnam – and have shown their love of citrus with the bangin’ Pomelo IPA – the two breweries decided to work together to make a West Coast IPA with mandarin. It’s… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Mandarin IPA & Fruit Sour
- ABV
- 6.5% & 4.6%
- Bitterness
- 55 & 5 IBU
Rocky Ridge Rock Candy
Published November 18, 2022
Amid the constant flow of limited and seasonal releases, Rocky Ridge have expanded their core range with a refreshingly tart, fruited sour in the form of Rock Candy – a beer five years in the making that should slot effortlessly into the creative lineup from the Jindong brewers. Passionfruit, kiwifruit and strawberry all feature in the beer's fruit forward palate while retaining a pleasing drinkability. A short but sharp finish cleanses the palate with each sip, further enhancing its fruity, refreshing… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Fruit Sour
- ABV
- 5.5%
Bonehead Brewing Fail Safe & Dry Hopder
Published November 18, 2022
When you’re brewing a hoppy beer and wondering what fruit to add, passionfruit feels like a bit of a fail-safe. After all, Galaxy is a hop that tends to take the mind right there, so how can more of the fruit do any harm? Bonehead Brewing’s Fail Safe certainly has it in spades, with the hazy pale featuring passionfruit nectar alongside Galaxy and New Zealand’s Nectaron. That additional fruit adds a heavy layer of juiciness to the beer and brings a slight tartness and zest you’re more likely… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Hazy Pale & IPA
- ABV
- 6.3% & 6.7%
Two Rupees Beer
Published November 18, 2022
BEER! It’s a simple name and while Two Rupees’s lager might be straightforward, there are plenty of details to sink your tastebuds into. The name stems from how beer is such a global drink, enjoyed everywhere and how generally, rather than asking someone if they’d like to grab an imperial sour, we just go, “Let’s grab a beer.” The can comes covered in beer written in different languages from across the globe, including the two most common in brewery founders Danny and Amila’s homeland,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Lager
- ABV
- 4.8%
Burnley Brewing NEIPA Rainbow & Mandarin Gose
Published November 18, 2022
There is a bit of old Burnley meets the new with these two limited-releases. Once upon a time, the brewery made few new cans and when they did, there was a calm simplicity to how they looked. These days, we have beers like NEIPA Rainbow which features a witch, an astronaut and a cowboy riding a Paddle Pop. Why? Who knows, but there is certainly a broad spectrum of flavours at play. Although it pours darker than many in the style, it certainly pops with fruits, with the likes of mango, passionfruit,… Read more
Golden
- Style
- NEIPA & Mandarin Gose
- ABV
- 6.8% & 4.2%
Sobremesa Fermentary & Blendery Soul Flower
Published November 18, 2022
Since launching in 2020, Sobremesa Fermentary & Blendery have released multiple beers that really feel destined to be shared outside but Soulflower puts the park in park beer. It was the brewery's first release in cans and after an initial release in March 2022, it became the brewery's first core range release later on in that year. So it's obviously one that stood out to beer maker and drinker alike and given its balance of complexity and drinkability, it's not hard to see why. Hopped with Saaz,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Saison
- ABV
- 5.4%
Margaret River Brewhouse & King Road Brewing Close Encounters
Published November 17, 2022
Being big fans of each other's work, Margaret River Brewhouse’s choice of partner for their debut collaboration will come as no surprise to those that know them. What's more, given they share a passion for Strata hops with their mates from up the road at King Road Brewing, neither does the inspiration behind the beer. However, what the unknown was the vehicle, which arrives as a modern West Coast IPA. NB: Modern. Those expecting a bold, full-bodied, classically-leaning West Coast IPA may miss… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 7.8%
- Stockists
-
Available from both breweries
Both Grain Cru stores
Scarborough Cellars
And select WA stockists
More stockists...
Modus Beer Cluster Pucker Sour
Published November 17, 2022
Few, if any, would argue that the past few years have been a clusterfuck, so perhaps we can view the naming of Modus' late '22 sour as something of an acknowledgement of what has been – a line in the sand, perhaps – and prepare to move into an uninterrupted summer of socialising and good times. Heaven knows, we all need it. So, what does it suggest when you give a beer such a name? In an era in which we've had drastically sour beers, pickle beers and the like, you'd be forgiven for expecting… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fruit Sour
- ABV
- 4.8%
Two Birds Bramble Bang
Published November 17, 2022
Allegedly spring is going on in Melbourne right now and while there might not be much warm weather, breweries still have sunnier days on their minds. Among them are Two Birds and their limited-release gose, Bramble Bang, which features blackberry juice, lime zest and mint. That combination immediately brings to mind mojitos and while those Cuban cocktails might traditionally be more about the rum, mint and lime, adding blackberry wouldn’t exactly make you Dr Frankenstein. But there’s no warming… Read more
Red
- Style
- Gose
- ABV
- 7.2%
Watts River 6 Celebration Ale
Published November 17, 2022
It’s been six years since Watts River opened their brewery in Healesville and they’ve celebrated that milestone with class, tradition and provenance. Their 6 Celebration Ale takes its inspiration from strong Belgian Trappist ales and is also a tribute to their region thanks to the inclusion of locally-grown black truffles from Yarra Valley Truffles. As well as including mushroom’s decadent cousin, 6 makes use of malts grown on cofounder Ben Hamilton’s family farm (as do many other Watts… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Belgian Ale
- ABV
- 9.2%
Eumundi Brewery Trinity Sour ft Pineapple, Ginger & Macadamia
Published November 17, 2022
In 2021, Eumundi ran a competition that asked people to come up with beer ideas that captured story and flavour combinations inspired by the Sunshine Coast. They then brewed the winning entrant’s beer, but that wasn’t the end of it. A recipe idea from Sunny Coast local Deb Munro captured the imaginations of the brewers, and they went on to brew Trinity Sour for GABS 2022... and now it’s out in tinnies. A pineapple, ginger and macadamia sour is about as Sunny Coast as it gets. Lifted notes of… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Fruited, Spiced Sour
- ABV
- 4.5%
- Bitterness
- 10 IBU
Stomping Ground Footloose Pale Ale
Published November 16, 2022
Whether on tap or limited-release tins, Stomping Ground always have some new beers on the go. But when it comes to adding something to their core range, or Stripes family, they like to make sure they have them dialled in. That neverending quest for perfection feels all that more necessary when you’re talking about alcohol-free beer, where a bit too much bitterness, sweetness or aromatics throws the whole thing off-kilter. So while the beer might be named Footloose, the brewery’s non-alc pale… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Alcohol-Free Pale Ale
- ABV
- >0.5%
Stomping Ground Czech Pils
Published November 16, 2022
It may be based on a style of beer that conquered the world but Stomping Ground’s plans for Czech Pils were never that ambitious. Instead, they simply brewed the beer to pour on tap at their Moorabbin Beer Hall but over time, it proved popular with locals. But it wasn’t just south-east Melburnians who fell for the beer, but some of the country’s top beer judges too, with Czech Pils winning Grand Champion Beer (and topping the lager category) at 2022’s Royal Queensland Beer Awards and securing… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Czech Pils
- ABV
- 5.1%
