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!

Hopco

One Drop West Coast IPA & Liquid Citra IPA & Oni Citrus IPA & DDH Oat Cream DIPA

Tapped December 24, 2020
I is for Intricate, because of the art That sets Venom West Coast IPA apart. A tattoo artist drew a great snake With fangs that’ll give your nerves a shake. The beer in the can is thick and bitter – 120 IBU makes it a hard hitter. With resin and hefty malt coating your teeth, You can bite back and crush this snake underneath. P is for passion, for passionfruit sweet Is what Liquid Citra makes me want to eat. Caramel malts and lemon to boot Accompany that juicy passionfruit. The bitterness… Read more
Style
IPA Variants
ABV
7.1% & 6.9% & 7.1% & 6.8%

Exit Brewing Session Ale

Tapped December 24, 2020
If you were to measure the size of operation to awards and trophies ratio of the country's brewers, Melbourne-based Exit Brewing must be up there with one of the best. They've won AIBA trophies for their Amber and Stout, recently claimed Stout Brewery Of The Year at the Melbourne International Beer Competition, and have notched many other golds along the way. Among the latter was an AIBA gold for beer #021 in their limited release series, AKA SXPA, and that's been the starting point for this addition… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength Pale
ABV
3.5%

Temple Brewing Blackberry Rhubarb Gose

Tapped December 23, 2020
Every time I visit my parents in South Gippsland, I can’t leave without my dad offering me some rhubarb. Sometimes it’s a few stalks of the stuff, often it’s part of the plant’s crown; with the assertion being that I should really be growing it in my own garden. It’s not often I’ll leave with any because while I quite the stuff, I rarely know what to do with it. Sure, put it with apples and make a crumble but I did that twice during Melbourne’s endless lockdowns and that was quite enough.… Read more
Style
Gose
ABV
4.2%

Molly Rose & Blackhearts & Sparrows Blue Skies & Local Horizons 2020

Tapped December 23, 2020
On Christmas Day 2019, Mrs Pint and I decided to recreate something of a cheesy British tradition and make ourselves some Bucks Fizz. Armed with a huge sack of Mildura oranges, a small juicer, and some decent Aussie bubbles, the 50/50 mix of the two proved a revelation once we returned from a couple of hours at the beach: uber-refreshing and delicious in its simplicity. Fast forward the best part of a year and memories of the day came flooding back as I put a glass of Molly Rose's Blue Skies –… Read more
Style
Citrus Sour & Spiced Red Saison
ABV
5.0% & 5.6%
Stockists

Blackhearts & Sparrows

Blackhearts & Sparrows Braddon

Blackhearts & Sparrows North Hobart

Molly Rose Brewpub and online

And other Blackhearts stores

More stockists...

Barossa Valley Brewing NEIPA: Mosaic

Tapped December 21, 2020
The arrival of Barossa Valley Brewing’s NEIPA also signifies the launch of a new series of beers. Each release will focus on a specific hop, invited to show off their aromas and flavours atop a NEIPA base, with Mosaic the first variety to be given the royal treatment, and the beer's arrival coinciding the brewery's 15th birthday. Hip hop hooray. Pouring with an appealing heavy haze and a bright orange colour, Mosaic's tropical and stone fruit aromas announce themselves boldly: a blend of mango… Read more
Style
Single Hop NEIPA
ABV
6.3%

Cheeky Monkey Santa's Secret Spot East Coast IIPA

Tapped December 21, 2020
Santa’s Secret Spot is the final instalment for2020 in Cheeky’s Surf Break Series, and it’s by far the biggest; as national sales manager Brendan Day puts it: “The beer is something that we wanted to do for a while” before adding with a laugh: “And I love a big, dumb hazy.” And that's what it is, but one with technique underpinned by incoming head brewer Ryan "Knobbsy" Knobs' growing prowess on the Vasse kit; Brendan again: “It’s the most different of what we’ve done… Read more
Style
East Coast IIPA
ABV
10.0%

Little Bang Brewing Zingibeer

Tapped December 20, 2020
It's a well known fact that Little Bang aren’t afraid to have a crack at different styles, even other types of booze. To complement the beer, they have their gin range, a few different wines of their own, and also a ginger beer. Zingibeer first surfaced in summer 2019 but previously had only been poured on tap at their venue. Now, in summer 2020, this 4.4 percent ABV alcoholic ginger beer can be enjoyed in can format, as well as on site, as it becomes a welcome – and typically eye-catching –… Read more
Style
Ginger Beer
ABV
4.4%

Future Mountain Blinking Lights 2020

Tapped December 18, 2020
It’s only the second Christmas Future Mountain's brewery and blendery has existed and already they have a festive tradition: using bourbon barrels to create a light but complex amber sour beer. Last year, Blinking Lights featured apricots and cinnamon; this time around, it’s nectarines from the Yarra Valley and a small dose of lemon myrtle which are destined for the Christmas table. After six months of maturation in Future Mountain’s puncheons, the beer was added to Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels… Read more
Style
Amber Sour Beer
ABV
6.0%

Akasha Project The Shape Of Hops To Come Hazy IPA

Tapped December 18, 2020
As their Project series continues its beer-a-fortnight schedule, it's clear the team at Akasha aren't in a hurry to confound expectations or throw curveballs. On the back of the Eclipse single hop IPA, Cloud 9 Hazy IPA, and Endless Haze hazy pale, comes another hop driven beer: an IPA with the hazy tag and much of a hazy's character, even if it doesn't actually bring much in the way of haze. Whether it's a trick of the mind caused by the colour of the cans or not, the triple dry-hopped addition of… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.5%
Stockists

A Point of Difference Liquor

Beer Cartel

Blackhearts & Sparrows

Blackhearts & Sparrows Braddon

Blackhearts & Sparrows North Hobart

Bottle House Balaclava

Bottle House South Yarra

Carwyn Cellars

More stockists...

Sauce Brewing Simples Lager

Tapped December 18, 2020
While Sauce Brewing’s hoppy beers go far and wide in cans, their Saucy Pils always had a stronger following as a keg beer. So, when the brewery wanted to add a refreshing lager to their regular lineup, it went with keg only: first in Cairns, and now in the Sydney taproom (as well as a few other venues around the city). This is a beer made for beer gardens and burgers. It’s called Simples for a reason, so let’s not make this more complicated than it needs to be. It’s a crisp, dry lager. It… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
4.2%

Sauce Brewing Frisson Hard Seltzer

Tapped December 18, 2020
If you’re finding yourself in search of fizzy refreshment that isn’t beer this summer, take note – Sauce have entered the hard seltzer game with their Frisson range. Sauce brews their seltzer through the same brewhouse as their beer, puts it on tap next to their beer, and puts it in cans just like their beer. But, unlike their beers that push for maximum flavour, their Frisson is all about light natural fruit flavours, high carbonation, and low sugar and carb. Since Sauce’s Frisson range… Read more
Style
Raspberry Seltzer
ABV
4.0%

Brick Lane Backyarder

Tapped December 18, 2020
For all the eye-catching craziness that has come to represent much of the new release space in 2020, as the year draws to a close and summer sessions loom there's been a mini-flurry of rather more straightforward beers coming our way: uncomplicated lagers with the mainstream more than outer realms in mind. Among them is Backyarder from Brick Lane, a brewery that already has Base and Fine Line Lager in its oeuvre. This time around it's a mid-strength, and you don't need to be a genius to deduce what… Read more
Style
Mid-Strength Lager
ABV
3.5%

Willie The Boatman People Be Triflin & Sugar Baby

Tapped December 18, 2020
The more I make friends with people who come from other countries, the more I discover what's peculiar about Australian culture and traditions. For example, my friends from overseas might find it odd that in Australia it's totally normal to have lunch as the biggest meal on Christmas Day, and only a small dinner. Or they might think it strange when Christmas festivities include a drunk koala, an emu asleep under the table, a kangaroo throwing handfuls of trifle, and a crazed echidna trampling… Read more
Style
Christmas Dessert Beers
ABV
4.7% & 5.7%

Burnley Brewing It Is What It Is, Raspberry Sherbet Gelato & Julebryg

Tapped December 18, 2020
As diverse as the modern craft beer landscape is, it’s still not often we receive two very non-traditional lagers and one fruit-filled kettle sour at once from one brewery. Melbourne’s Burnley have managed to do just that, however, and let’s start by introducing what may well be the most straightforward of the trio: a session peach lager (yes, that's the most straightforward). It Is What It Is is a lager made with, you guessed it, peach, with a name chosen to sum up the year we've been through;… Read more
Style
Lagers & Berliner Weisse
ABV
4.0% & 3.2% & 5.0%

Homestead Brewery Sunset Dream

Tapped December 18, 2020
As the expansive lawns at Homestead fill this summer, drinkers at the multi-disciplined Swan Valley location are very likely to be slaking the hot days with an increasing range of kettle sours, of which Sunset Dream is the debutant. That said, those expecting a breezy and tart experience a may be in for a surprise – the "Hoppy Sour" tag is apt. As they say, always read the label. Sitting in territory akin to a fruited session IPA, Sunset Dream lays on the bitterness early and, while it’s… Read more
Style
Hoppy Passionfruit Sour
ABV
4.6%
Stockists

Available from the brewery

And in limited keg release at WA venues

Willie The Boatman Rise & Shine & No Way Jose, Gose

Tapped December 17, 2020
They say you shouldn't play with your food, but when it's this much fun... While breakfast stouts seem to focus on coffee and maple syrup, in the case of Willie The Boatman's Rise & Shine Oat Cream Breakfast IPA, it sets itself up as a bowl of cereal in a glass. Add the cereal – rolled oats and honey malt play that role here. Chop up some fruit – in this case, 100kg of apricot, peach, mango, passionfruit and guava – to set off the already fruity character of the Galaxy, Citra and Sabro… Read more
Style
Oat Cream IPA & Mezcal Gose
ABV
6.6% & 5.7%

Wheaty Brewing Corps Team Australia 2020

Tapped December 17, 2020
The Team Australia IPA isn't a new beer: it was first brewed way back in 2014. However, the recipe was then put on the shelf, making way for the plethora of other styles and collaborations from the Wheaty Brewing Corps team. However, when the COVID-19 lockdown arrived, Jade and the Wheaty team figured it was time for a Team Australia resurgence. It might have something to do with the large stack of Aussie hops they had in storage, and a temporary inability to obtain some ingredients for others recipes;… Read more
Style
Aussie IPA
ABV
7.0%
Stockists

The Wheaty

Dainton Brewing Flamingo

Tapped December 17, 2020
Here we are, right at the end of an exhausting year, and the bloody award-winners at Dainton release a beer that makes me think of one thing and one thing only: The Sup'. For anyone unaware (that's unlikely to be anyone in Melbourne's beer industry judging by faces you see in the crowd and who you run into when lining up for the loos), Meredith Music Festival and the associated Golden Plains at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre are truly among Australia’s, if not the world’s, great festivals,… Read more
Style
Pink Lemonade Sour
ABV
4.5%

Woolshed Brewery Tropical Sour

Tapped December 17, 2020
Riverland-based Woolshed Brewery don’t tend to go overboard with their limited releases but instead are a little more calculated, considering the season when developing a new beer. To welcome the summer months, they have released a 4.1 percent ABV tropical sour packed to the brim with juicy fruit: 120kg plunged into 1200 litres of beer, two-thirds of it mango, one-third passionfruit. Mango absolutely oozes from the can; it's so dominant, in fact, it reminds me of being elbow deep in ripe, sticky… Read more
Style
Tropical Sour
ABV
4.1%

Otherside Brewing Co West Coast IIPA

Tapped December 17, 2020
Otherside close out 2020 with a big old IIPA plush with dankness, bitterness and clarity. A final "F you!" to a turbulent twelve months. Well, it would be if there wasn’t something else big and hazy arriving before the man in the red suit does, but as we do our best to cover new releases while they are, well, new, for now here’s the bitter beast. A quartet of classic and modern American hops flex here, and you can smell the bag. There’s plenty of grapefruit and pithy citrus, pine,… Read more
Style
West Coast IIPA
ABV
8.7%
Stockists

Available from the brewery – in person and online

And Otherside stockists

The Crafty Pint is an independent online magazine and resource for anyone interested in craft beer in Australia. We bring an honest, old-fashioned journalistic approach to beer's brave new world, telling stories because they're worth telling not because someone is paying us to write them.

Like many of the people who have changed the face of beer in Australia, we believe in authenticity, integrity, enjoyment and love. We hope to play a role in helping good beer, brewed by good people, find its way into the hands of more drinkers.

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