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!
Newstead Brewing Westerlies Black Lager
Published June 8, 2016
Amid the punishing schedule of one-offs, collabs and experiments to which they treat their brewpub setup, Newstead Brewing always finds room for four seasonal lagers each year. So, as winter 2016 opens across Australia in quite ferocious manner, it's time for their latest. Suiting the mood of many who've suffered at the hands of the weather since the start of June, it's black, with brewer Mark Howes taking inspiration from the Schwarzbiers of Germany this time around. Thus, alongside the pilsner,… Read more
Black
- Style
- Schwarzbier
- ABV
- 5.4%
- Bitterness
- 36 IBU
- Stockists
-
Newstead Brewery
Others TBC
More stockists...
Murray's Coffee Wild Thing
Published June 7, 2016
They've brewed a lot of big stouts over the years at Murray's – plenty of damn good ones too. There was the Belgio style Heart of Darkness (and its incredible oak-aged sibling back in the day when barrel ageing was still a rarity), the huge Seasons in the Abyss and the smoked imperial Belgian mussel and oyster stout we somehow ended up brewing with them. Yet first and longest lived is Wild Thing, their 10 percent ABV take on the style that sets a wall of hops into battle with a mountain of dark… Read more
Black
- Style
- Coffee Imperial Stout
- ABV
- 10.0%
Murray's Hell of the North
Published June 7, 2016
They've been blessed with head brewers at Murray's. Since launching, one or both of Graeme Mahy and Shawn Sherlock (now at Foghorn Brewhouse) has been running things in the brewery, both of them highly innovative brewers with a penchant for big and Belgian beers. Among the many beers Shawn created before Graeme returned from New Zealand was Hell of the North, a massive Belgian-inspired strong dark ale that, at its release, he told us he rated as one of the best three beers he'd ever brewed. As part… Read more
Red
- Style
- Belgian Strong Dark Ale
- ABV
- 11.5%
Boatrocker Brewery Yvonne
Published June 6, 2016
He's an old romantic is Boatrocker main man Matt Houghton. Well, not that old, but certainly romantic. Not just in the sense of being keen to pay homage as respectfully as possible to the European brewers from whom he takes inspiration, but sometimes in the naming of his beers too*. Case in point is Gaston, the Chardonnay barrel aged, gently soured, 9 percent ABV saison that's become something of a sleeper hit for the brewery. The beer is named after one of Matt's late, great uncles, and now Gaston's… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Barrel Ages Saison
- ABV
- 6.5%
Boatrocker Brewery Elderweisse
Published June 6, 2016
As if it wasn't bad enough living in a house in which their attendance at the musical in Melbourne recently has brought with it relentless renditions of The Sound of Music from wife and daughter, now Boatrocker has gone and released a beer with a name that on first glance (and second and third given the current predicament) looks rather like Edelweiss. As a result, that bloomin' saccharine waltz keeps floating into the Crafty cranium. The beer best be good... What it is is another Berliner weisse… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Elderflower Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 4.0%
- Stockists
-
Boatrocker Barrel Room
More stockists...
Hobart Brewing Co Chestnut Ale & Tascadian Dark Ale
Published June 4, 2016
With their brewery venue up and running, the focus at Hobart Brewing Co now is very much about filling all their taps with tasty beer. They've got three winter seasonals planned, with two of them hitting taps on the very first Saturday of winter. One is a Chestnut Brown (pictured left) brewed with freshly harvested Tasmanian grown chestnuts. Described as "an English style sessionable 4.5 percent ABV, light to medium bodied dark ale", look out for "subtle nutty and caramel notes",… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Dark Ales
- ABV
- 4.5% & 6.8%
New England Brewing Co Dark Farmhouse
Published June 2, 2016
Each year, New England Brewing releases two farmhouse style beers, one for summer and one for winter. These non-identical twins are somewhat more in tune with European saisons than your typical Aussie version, due in main to the brewery’s open top fermenters which leave them at the mercy of mother nature and the conditions she provides on brew day and beyond. The summer version is born in a warm temperature, has a warmer fermentation, more yeast action and ends up being a lighter coloured beer… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Dark Saison
- ABV
- 5.5%
- Bitterness
- 26 IBU
- Stockists
-
New England Brewery
Select outlets on the East Coast
Grifter Brewing Co Super Mild
Published June 2, 2016
If there was one style of beer (well, one other than a lager) that’s not going to have Aussie beer geeks dropping everything to seek out a new release, mild ale would probably be up there. Low in alcohol and malt dominant, they’re just so old fashioned and, well, English when compared with the golden explosion of a thousand Aussie hop bombs. Which is a bit of a shame really because a well made mild truly is a beautiful piece of craft, its lightweight nature belying its depth of flavour. It’s… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- English Mild
- ABV
- 2.9%
- Bitterness
- 20 IBU
- Stockists
-
Grifter Brewery Bar
Rogue Wave Ink Stout
Published June 1, 2016
When you've got both a brewery and a coffee roaster onsite, you've got to combine the two, right? And that's what the Rogue Wave team has done with its seasonal Ink Stout: added some cold drip coffee brewed onsite into a beer. The coffee aromas are really quite lovely, with the extract drawing out the sweeter side of the beans and lending the beer an after dinner liqueur like character. There's heaps of chocolate amid its opaque black body too, with a restrained bitterness finishing things off.… Read more
Black
- Style
- Coffee Stout
- ABV
- 5.8%
Ocho Beer Fruit Punch
Published June 1, 2016
Just as Ocho's second release took advantage of brewer Stu's home state's bounty, so does beer three. This time, instead of locally grown hops, it's wine grapes that are brought into the brewery. Fruit Punch started out as a hoppy pale ale featuring fruity Mosaic hops from the States; then it was poured into a barrel and aged with 15kg of fresh Chardonnay grapes before packaging. It pours a cloudy, rusty copper colour and delivers some spicy Chardonnay and oak on the nose alongside grape and peach… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Chardonnay Barrel Aged Pale Ale
- ABV
- 6.1%
Moo Brew & Willie Smith's Apple Saison
Published June 1, 2016
As a rule, we don't write about cider or those that make it on The Crafty Pint. It's a site about Australian craft beer, after all, and we're busy enough trying to stay on top of everything that's going on in that world without added distractions. That said, if we did, Willie Smith's would be top of the list. Since they started producing cider, this fourth generation farming family in Tasmania's Huon Valley has been leading the way for craft cider in Australia, not just in the quality of their product… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Apple Saison
- ABV
- 6.0%
- Stockists
-
The Local Taphouse Darlinghurst
More stockists...MONA
The Apple Shed
Tas:
MONA
The Apple Shed
Brewski
The Mill on Constance
Brisbane Brewhouse
KAIJU! Beer Compendium
Published June 1, 2016
A compendium is a collection of things. And, in the case of KAIJU!'s 2016 GABS beer, it's a collection of many of the things they love: hops, malt (seven varieties) and booze. But this time there's a new (at least for them in the commercial sense) thing too: the addition of a Belgian Abbey yeast for added fruitiness. As a result, they're calling it a Monastic Red IPA and have slapped a robot monk on the label (becoming the second hero, as opposed to kaiju, to appear on a KAIJU! label). As with their… Read more
Red
- Style
- Belgian Red IPA
- ABV
- 7.2%
Fury & Son Pilsner
Published June 1, 2016
There's been a swing back towards brewing lagers in the craftier realm of Australia's broad beer spectrum in recent times. Yet there's still not too many small brewers who've put one front and centre of their core range. However, this New World Pilsner is one of Fury & Son's two launch beers, alongside an American style Pale Ale. New World pilsners – particularly those popularised in New Zealand – can be relatively full on; a step or two above where the new-to-craft beer drinkers that Fury… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- New World Pilsner
- ABV
- 4.8%
- Bitterness
- 18 IBU
Fury & Son Pale Ale
Published June 1, 2016
Before returning east to take up the post at Fury & Son, brewer Craig Eulenstein won the title of Champion Small Brewery at the Craft Beer Awards while at The Monk in Fremantle. Clearly, the judges like what he does as this beer – the first brewed at his new Keilor Park workplace – collected a gold medal at the 2016 awards. As hinted at by the Jaguar Racing Green livery it's sporting, it's a pale ale with a fair bit under the hood, an American style pale ale that wanders close to amber territory… Read more
Golden
- Style
- American Pale Ale
- ABV
- 5.2%
- Bitterness
- 30 IBU
Fury & Son Scotch Ale
Published June 1, 2016
Having worked together to come up with a core twosome to represent Fury & Son, Andrew and Reno Georgiou let their brewer decide where he wanted to go for his first seasonal. As they were coming into winter, it was always likely to be something bigger and darker. And, if you know Craig Eulenstein, there was always a good chance it would end up something like this. In his time at Mountain Goat, he brewed a few beers going under the name The Craig and all, in one way or another, put malt front and… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Scotch Ale
- ABV
- 7.5%
- Bitterness
- 35 IBU
Exit Brewing Saison
Published May 31, 2016
We've made little secret of our fondness for the saisons brewed by Frase and Grum of Exit Brewing. While they've proved to be adept at brewing across a range of styles, we held a particular affinity for their #001 and #006 releases, the first a tribute to the roots of their brewing adventure in Belgium, the second a tweak on that. So, as they've steadily unveiled the four beers that will form their permanent range – first an IPA, then a hoppy Amber, then the Milk Stout – we've been on tenterhooks.… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Saison
- ABV
- 6.2%
- Stockists
-
Look out for it at good beer outlets on the East Coast
Hargreaves Hill Barrique Bruin 2016
Published May 30, 2016
They've been playing with barrels again at Hargreaves Hill. Less than 18 months after the brewery released its first soured ale, the brewers are back with another, this time a beer aged Yarra Valley Syrah barriques for two months and styled upon the Flanders brown ales from Belgium. They sent a handful of kegs out for Good Beer Week and have more set to hit taps in the weeks following the festival. The beer that's resulted from the three stages of fermentation (kettle, fermenters and oak) is a hazy,… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Flanders Style Brown Ale
- ABV
- 5.4%
- Stockists
-
Hargreaves Hill, Yarra Glen
Others TBC
More stockists...
Dainton Family Brewery Bad Daughter Choc Orange Porter
Published May 29, 2016
If British wood products company Ronseal were to lend their well worn tagline to a brewery for a beer, they'd no doubt give this new draught only release from Dainton lengthy consideration. While they liked to declare that their wood stain "does exactly what it says on the tin", it's fair to say that this beer "does exactly what it says on the decal". Well, the bit about Choc Orange, at least. It's fair to say that the rich, dark brown drop is eminently chocolatey and even more… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Chocolate Orange Porter
- ABV
- 5.7%
- Bitterness
- 40 IBU
- Stockists
-
More stockists to come...
More stockists...
New England Brewing Frederick India Red Ale
Published May 27, 2016
Australians seem to have an inherent captivation with bushrangers, that naughty but loveable band of criminal escapees living free of the law and beholden only to the call of the wild and the occasional illegitimately procured gold coin. One of the best of them was Frederick Ward – aka Captain Thunderbolt – who, having been provided lodgings on Cockatoo Island thanks to his role in a horse stealing ring, decided he’d prefer to swap his harbour view and hard labour for the beautiful scenery… Read more
Red
- Style
- India Red Ale
- ABV
- 6.9%
- Bitterness
- 60 IBU
- Stockists
-
New England Brewing
DRAUGHT
The Dock
More stockists...The Little Guy
Staves Brewery
Trinity Bar
BOTTLES
Top Pub
Georgetown Cellars
Bottle-O Lambton
Camperdown Cellars Parramatta Rd
Tudor Hotel
Elton’s
Railway Hotel
BYO Cellars
Tamworth Hotel Bottleshop
Nambucca River Coop Bottleshop
AIBA 2015 Champions Saison à Trois
Published May 27, 2016
For the past few years, the organisers of the Australian International Beer Awards have invited their Australian Champion Brewers to collaborate on a beer to be debuted at the subsequent year's awards. In 2015, the three champs were 4 Pines (Large), Thunder Road (Medium) and Boatrocker (Small), so earlier this year their brewers gathered at Boatrocker to unite their brewing talents. The trio – Chris Willcock of 4 Pines, Marcus Cox of Thunder Road, and Matt Houghton of Boatrocker – decided to… Read more
Red
- Style
- Amber Saison
- ABV
- 6.5%
