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!
Grifter Brewing Co Green & Gold Hop Harvest Pilsner
Tapped April 12th, 2019
The Grifter gang love their pilsners. Not many breweries would think to put a watermelon pilsner in their core range, but Grifter won people over with it (not that they had much convincing to do) and the Grifter Pilsner at the brewery is a hit with Inner West locals. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that, when the 2019 hop harvest came around, while many people were scrambling to get their hands on wet hops to brew big stanky IPAs, head brewer Glenn decided he was going to throw his stash… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fresh Hop Pilsner
- ABV
- 4.5%
Redoak Brewery Felda's Weiss & The Trap
Tapped April 12th, 2019
The German name Felda means “from the field”, and the beer bearing its name is the sort anyone would be more than pleased to be handed at the end of the day when they came in from the field. The bright gold of the wheat crops is captured in the glass, and the clouds floating over the countryside are present in the white, fluffy head. A little natural haze hints at the yeast that makes itself known on the palate – the ester-driven banana flavours are soft and sweet, with just a touch of citrus… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hefeweizen & Belgian Table Beer
- ABV
- 4.6% & 4.2%
Homestead Brewery IPL
Tapped April 12th, 2019
India pale lager is a style of beer that's been making a bit of a surge to prominence in Western Australia, with some breweries adding one to their core range. Justin Bishop, head brewer at Homestead, feels it's a beer that will appeal to the Perth locals looking for something offering a bit more than a lager yet retaining some familiarity too. Fresh is the first word that springs to mind after taking the first sip of his creation. The aromas wake the senses with candied orange, mango, melon, passionfruit… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- India Pale Lager
- ABV
- 5.2%
Eagle Bay & Rocky Ridge & Dunsborough Cellars Eagle Rock
Tapped April 12th, 2019
Collab names don’t come much more obvious than this; however, for the Rocky Ridge team, this one has been nearly two years in the making. Brewery owner Hamish Coates says: “We’ve wanted to do something with the crew from Eagle Bay since the beginning. They helped us a lot when starting up, so a collaboration has always been on the cards. Making a beer from all WA hops and malts with two other advocates of the WA beer industry has been really special.” That "special" beer is a 100… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Wet Hop Sour
- ABV
- 4.5%
- Stockists
-
Launched at Dunsborough Cellars on April 12
Cans launched at Mane Liquor on April 18
Then hitting other WA retailers
More stockists...
Colonial Brewing Co Sweet 16 Milkshake IPA
Tapped April 12th, 2019
The increasingly popular milkshake IPA substyle is rapidly becoming commonplace in many Australian brewers' recipe files, but that isn't to say that all vanilla and lactose loaded IPAs are created equal. Here, Colonial have given us their take on the soft and supple IPA variant with their latest Project beer, and they've made sure it's a standout in a saturated market by loading it up with an experimental hop variety from Hop Products Australia. The yet to be named hop, which is grown in Tasmania,… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Milkshake IPA
- ABV
- 5.0%
Young Henrys double down on their flagship Newtowner
Tapped April 12th, 2019
Of all Young Henrys’ beers, Newtowner is not only the most popular, but it’s the one that’s developed an identity all of its own. It’s entered the bloodstream of Newtown: you'll find it in the dark corners of live music venues, on tap in the old pubs, and in the six-packs people carry home to their terraced apartments. But, of course, it hasn’t just stayed in Newtown. Though it was originally brewed in the suburb that accepts everyone, it’s now spread across the country. So, when the… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Double Pale Ale
- ABV
- 7.5%
- Bitterness
- 40 IBU
Sydney Brewery Single Hop Blonde
Tapped April 12th, 2019
What looks like a wine, smells like a wine, tastes like a wine, but isn’t a wine? An American blonde ale hopped with Hallertau Blanc. The Single Hop Blonde from Sydney Brewery pours a pale, almost powder yellow, suggesting the wine characteristics of the Hallertau Blanc hops. Swirl and sniff, and get those white wine aromatics of lemongrass, citrus, and green grapes. Take a sip, and the low body and crisp finish could almost have you fooled into thinking you were tasting a dry riesling. But the… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Blonde Ale
- ABV
- 4.6%
Wayward Brewing Dead Dingo Brut IPA
Tapped April 10th, 2019
For some reason, the can design for this autumnal release from Wayward brought back an unlikely memory. The combination of white SUV making its way through the Red Centre, the thoughts of dry dustiness and the title's reference to a deceased native animal reminded me of the day when, cruising the Outback on a quad bike alongside the farmers who were then my employers, I was first informed just how well suited a roo's scrotum was for use as a purse or wallet. (Admittedly, the large example next to… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Brut IPA
- ABV
- 6.2%
- Bitterness
- 40 IBU
Pikes Beer Company Passionfruit Belgian Witbier
Tapped April 10th, 2019
Pikes' second limited release for 2019 sticks to many of the themes of their first, adding fruit (and many other things) to a beer with roots in Europe. The Belgian witbier was inspired by the Hurricane cocktail and uses passionfruit pulp in generous quantities alongside Riverland-sourced orange and lemon zest, vanilla beans, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. As is typical for the style, it pours a very pale and hazy yellow, with a solid, bright white and fluffy head and a quite sprightly carbonation.… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Passionfruit Witbier
- ABV
- 6.0%
Bodriggy Brewing Twin Harvest: Sun Buzz & Zooter Doozy
Tapped April 9th, 2019
March and April might be two months that are inherently connected with picking hops in the Southern Hemisphere's beer world but, for winemakers, it’s also the tailend of their own harvest. It’s a fact Bodriggy has decided to showcase through their Twin Harvest releases, featuring two colourful 500ml tinnies filled with liquids brewed with hops straight from the bine and grapes right off the vine. The first of those is Sun Buzz, featuring some 60kg of Hop Product Australia’s Enigma hops, shipped… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Harvest Beers
- ABV
- 5.4% & 5.1%
Moon Dog Edie's IPA
Tapped April 9th, 2019
If there's one thing the team at Moon Dog loves as much as beer, it's dogs. There's one in the brewery name, usually at least one hanging around the brewery, heaps of them in various events they sponsor and, now, a whole series of IPAs dedicated to them. Well, to the brewery dogs specifically. Edie is the first to get both name and visage on a tinnie, one the label declares as "bursting with Eureka, Centennial and Citra hops". That said, don't go expecting a burst of juiciness as tends… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 5.8%
Eagle Bay West Coast IPA
Tapped April 9th, 2019
This autumnal limited release from the crew at Eagle Bay is possibly their juiciest to date. Although still slotting well within the brewery's reputation for brewing classic styles, this West Coast IPA has been fermented with Saccharomyces Trois, a Belgian strain that adds big juicy esters of pineapple and lychee, along with a touch of funk for good – and contemporary – measure. The specialty yeast can't claim to be responsible for all of the juice factor in this easy-to-crush IPA, however. A… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.6%
- Bitterness
- 23 IBU
Rocky Ridge Bob's Your Aunty
Tapped April 9th, 2019
Take one part Rocky Ridge Brewing, one part South Fremantle Brewing, add a dash of blood orange juice and Bob's your... ermm... aunty? The latest collab between the two WA brewing companies is a spritzy Berliner Weisse brewed with 30 litres of freshly squeezed blood orange juice sourced in the South West and fermented with Rocky Ridge's house strain of lactobacillus and kveik yeast. Pouring a hazy straw colour with a pillowy white head, Bob's Your Aunty is as easy on the eye as it is on the nose,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Blood Orange Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 3.4%
- Bitterness
- 5 IBU
Mr Banks Wheeze The Juice Hazy IPA
Tapped April 8th, 2019
Chris Farmer and his team at Mr Banks have played around in the ever-growing realm of IPAs more than most in their relatively short existence to date, with a visit to the brewery in Seaford likely to give drinkers the chance to sample a couple of hazy drops, a milkshake IPA and more besides. Wheeze The Juice is the best known of the hazy IPAs to leave the brewery, however, and was one of the earlier local examples to make waves too. Now back for another run out in autumn 2019 and still bearing the… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.1%
Mr Banks Melon Berry Gose
Tapped April 8th, 2019
Unless we're missing something subtle, this is a rather atypical limited release from Mr Banks. Sure, it's not their first gose and they've played with fruit before, but where's the pun or pop culture reference in the title?!? At least you know what you're getting from the off here: melon (watermelon, to be specific) and berries (of the rasp variety) in a gently soured, lightly salted beer. And that is just what you get, with a soft, rounded nature to the fruit aromas, as if you're tucking into a… Read more
Red
- Style
- Fruit Gose
- ABV
- 3.8%
Innate Brewers Cosmos Raspberry & Cranberry Sour
Tapped April 8th, 2019
I couldn’t help but wonder, was Joel Nash a secret Sex and the City fan? And, if so, was Cosmos a typo? Before things get too pop culture meta, Innate’s new canned release is most certainly named Cosmos. According to the can, it’s brewed by rocket scientists, contains a starburst of raspberry and cranberries which deliver a universe of flavour on a zippy Berliner Weisse base. It certainly sounds celestial, however it’s hard to separate the pink can’s equally vivid contents from SATC’s… Read more
Red
- Style
- Raspberry & Cranberry Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 3.8%
- Stockists
-
In limited release from select WA retailers
Newstead Brewing & KAIJU! Butterfly Effect
Tapped April 7th, 2019
KAIJU! were the first of many collaborative partners for Brisbane's Newstead and have been at it again, this time using the former's Milton site for the first time to create the heavily hop-driven Butterfly Effect. While labelled a double IPA, it's based on an American wheat ale, albeit one that's been ratcheted up to 8.5 percent ABV and had Simcoe, Citra, Cascade, Mosaic and Enigma hops "jammed in all over the place". The resultant character brings a dank and grassy vibe, one that’s… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Double IPA
- ABV
- 8.5%
- Bitterness
- 80 IBU
Newstead Brewing & Brisbane Powerhouse Transducer
Tapped April 7th, 2019
Newstead continue to forge partnerships with a diverse range of Queensland organisations, with Transducer brewed with the Brisbane Powerhouse and coming on the back of collaborations with the likes of Queensland Rugby Union, the Brisbane Comedy Festival, Alliance Airlines and Surf Life Saving Queensland. In partnering with an iconic Queensland venue, the brewers opted for an iconic local beer style, the sparkling ale, one with a flavour profile that presents Nottingham yeast as the hero. Without… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Sparkling Ale
- ABV
- 4.2%
- Bitterness
- 12 IBU
Newstead Brewing Eleanor Reloaded Harvest IPL
Tapped April 7th, 2019
Harvest time gives brewers a once-in-a-year opportunity to use freshly picked, wet hops in their beers. In doing so again in 2019, Newstead have come up with brew that nods to local history through both the name and the can design. The Eleanor of the title is Dr Eleanor Schonell, after whom Brisbane's Green Bridge is named. The original Eleanor (in beer form) was born last year in Milton and featured 100kg of Galaxy hops. This year, two brewers flew to Victoria to collect the same amount (driving… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fresh Hop IPL
- ABV
- 5.2%
- Bitterness
- 12 IBU
Mash Brewing Dark & Stormy
Tapped April 7th, 2019
The brewers at Mash here pay homage to the classic rum cocktail Dark & Stormy with a beer mimicking the flavours of the ginger and lime inspired beverage. The base is a golden ale, one they've hit with plenty of fresh ginger and lime before finishing things off with oak chips soaked in rum to add spice and depth. The ginger and lime flavours take the starring role, so much so, in fact, that at first you might think you've picked up a ginger ale before the lime comes slicing through. Spiced rum… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Ginger & Lime Golden Ale
- ABV
- 4.2%
- Stockists
-
Available for a limited time from both Mash venues & leading liquor stores in Perth
