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 4-Way QIPA & Azacca IPA
Published May 5, 2016
What do you get when you put four brewers with a penchant for experimentation and rule-breaking together in a brewery? In the case of the 4-Way, a beer we're told is "best enjoyed seated". Why? Mainly because this collaboration between Newstead, Craft, Dainton and Kaiju! weighs in at 11.5 percent ABV and, with heaps of hops swirling within its beastly body, it's being tagged a "Quadruple IPA". Said hops are Azacca added at 15 minutes, Riwaka at five minutes, Motueka in the whirlpool… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Massive IPAs
- ABV
- 11.5% & 7.3%
- Bitterness
- 200 IBU & 112 IBU
- Stockists
-
Brewski
The Mill on Constance
More stockists...And a handful of other craft venues
Red Duck Lord Burton's Breakfast
Published May 4, 2016
Last year, we caught up with Red Duck main man Scott Wilson-Browne for a chat about his ten years in brewing. One of Australia's genuine envelope pushers, responsible for a multitude of unique and often historically minded beers – more than 100 different releases at the time – he said he was considering reining in his wilder urges and brewing less types of beer. Admittedly, he'd brought half a dozen new beers with him at the time... A few months on and it's safe to say he's finding those urges… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- ESB with Tea
- ABV
- 6.4%
Fixation Brewing IPA
Published May 3, 2016
Fixation's Tom Delmont was responsible for taking The Crafty Pint's founder to Mountain Goat shortly after he'd moved to Australia in 2008, so can claim at least partial blame for the slippery slope that led to this site. Since that fateful Friday evening, if there's one thing this long friendship has made more than apparent, it's that Tom loves and appreciates good beer more than pretty much anyone on the planet. Especially when it's an IPA. When he was still employed at Mountain Goat before their… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.4%
- Bitterness
- 64 IBU
- Stockists
-
Available nationwide
Exit Brewing Milk Stout
Published May 1, 2016
The third beer ever released by Frase and Grum Exit, AKA #003, was a Milk Stout. And that's also the style they've opted for to make up the third beer in their core range too – following an IPA and hoppy amber – now that they've got more room to play with as house guests at Kaiju! in Melbourne's south east. For those new to such things, a milk stout is a version of the dark, roasty drops popularised by Guinness into which brewers add some lactose (milk sugar) during the boil. These sugars don't… Read more
Black
- Style
- Milk Stout
- ABV
- 5.2%
- Bitterness
- 34 IBU
- Awards
AIBA 2019 - Best Stout Trophy
Wayward Brewing Rose Kolsch
Published May 1, 2016
Before the Wayward brewery opened, founder Peter Philip was intent on making the space it occupied a part of the community. One of the ways he’d envisioned doing it was by giving back to it via a series of beers whose proceeds would go to charity. True to his word, the first of these is ready to flow and it’s a rose kölsch that’s been made to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis NSW. As the style prescribes they’ve aimed for a beer with a light and clean malt character and European hops of the… Read more
Red
- Style
- Kolsch
- ABV
- 5.1%
- Stockists
-
Wayward Brewing Co
Hop Nation The Sturm
Published May 1, 2016
It takes a fair bit to stand out in a bottleshop fridge these days, but The Sturm is the sort of beer to catch the eye of any beer hunter on the lookout for something different. For a start, the "label", if it can be called such, is stencilled on to the bottle. Then there's the wax-dipped top. And then, if you've been lured in, you'll notice the stencil features hops and grapes. Yes, here Sam and Duncan combine their two careers in one with a beer-wine hybrid. The Sturm is a collaboration… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Beer Wine Hybrid
- ABV
- 5.0%
White Rabbit Barrel Aged Red
Published April 29, 2016
Had you invited a cross-section of beer lovers to predict the direction White Rabbit would take once the Lion purchase of Little World Beverages (which owned both the then Healesville-based brewery and Little Creatures), it's unlikely many (OK, any) would have said: "Building a large barrel ageing program and turning it into an immersive visitor experience. Oh, and maybe adding a Flanders red style beer to its core range." And yet... In hindsight, if you look back at what the brewers liked… Read more
Red
- Style
- Flanders Red Style Ale
- ABV
- 4.9%
- Stockists
-
White Rabbit Brewery
Glamorama
Cookie
Father’s Office
Transport
Mt Erica Hotel
Hop Temple
More stockists...
Wolf of the Willows "Homage" IPA
Published April 27, 2016
Given their fondness for giving beers a three letter name, it was surely only a matter of time before Wolf the Willows released an IPA (or an ESB, perhaps). And this has now come to pass, with the beer subtitled "Homage" joining their XPA, ISA (India Saison) and JSP (Johnny Smoked Porter). Why "Homage"? Because it's a nod to the West Coast style of IPA that Scott and Renae love, that has laid waste to American drinkers' palates (and thus much of the country's hop industry) and… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.2%
- Bitterness
- 66 IBU
- Stockists
-
Available year round wherever Wolf of the Willows is stocked
Holgate Brewhouse Wild Red Ale
Published April 22, 2016
At March's Good Beer Week Gala Showcase, a brewer who's never shy with his opinions approached with what can only be described as the zeal of a zealot – yes, that much zeal. "Have you tried the Flanders Red yet?" he demanded. "The Boatrocker one? Yeah, it's good but pretty straight up and down compared to some of the beers they've done." "No! Holgate. They've got a few bottles under their bar. It's probably the best Australian beer I've had in a year." Seventeen seconds… Read more
Red
- Style
- Flanders Red Style Ale
- ABV
- 6.0%
- Stockists
-
More stockists...
Holgate Brewhouse
Newstead Brewing
Brewski
And select good beer outlets in VIC, NSW & QLD
Stone & Wood Big Scrub New Age Lager
Published April 21, 2016
When up in Byron Bay earlier this month, there were a few new, yet-to-come and probably-won't-be-seen-widely things to spy and sample along the way. There was Baltic porter on tap in the morning, a pilot batch Belgian tripel and new Fixation beer still in tank, the brewing of this year's Stone Beer and hints of new projects of a more physical nature. But they managed to keep Big Scrub quiet (unless we weren't listening at that point) despite the fact it was ready for release. It's the latest in their… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- India Pale Lager
- ABV
- 5.5%
- Stockists
-
Find it here
Blackman's & Barrow Boys Wet Hop Red Bock
Published April 21, 2016
The Barrow Boys' gypsy wanderings around Victoria took them on quite the trip for this collab with Blackman's. It started with Barrow Boys brewer Ash heaving north to Rostrevor Hop Farm to smuggle out 20kg of fresh Galaxy hops, at which point he hit the road for the Surf Coast. The reason being that he and Renn Blackman had pledged to brew a wet hop beer together while at Ballarat Beer Festival. Both being lager lovers, they'd come up with a recipe for a red bock and figured Galaxy would give them… Read more
Red
- Style
- Wet Hop Red Bock
- ABV
- 5.8%
- Stockists
-
Blackman's Brewery
Others TBC
More stockists...
Cheeky Monkey Southern Wailer IIPL
Published April 21, 2016
Cheeky Monkey recently installed a canning line at its Margaret River home. Up until now it had been used to send three of its core beers around WA: Old Reliable pale, Blonde Capuchin summer ale and Crooked Tales cider. Now they've used it to package one of their Southern Wailer seasonals in a bigger 500ml tinny. And, taking a lead from Pirate Life, they've decided that a bigger tin deserves a bigger beer. The IIPL is being likened to RO-SHAM-BO, a game from a South Park episode that involves contestants… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Imperial IPL
- ABV
- 8.0%
- Stockists
-
Cheeky Monkey Brewery
Select WA bottleshops
More stockists...
Hargreaves Hill Zenith 2016
Published April 21, 2016
In recent years, Hargreaves Hill founder Simon Walkenhorst has been spending time in American each year, visiting breweries and bringing back ideas to help broaden his brewery's horizons and improve its beers. Some of those learnings are poured into a beer inspired by those that have come to dominate the American craft beer scene, the West Coast IPA style Zenith. The 2016 version is the fourth Zenith to appear, this time brewed with plenty of punchy US hops – Warrior, Simcoe and Chinook – added… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
- Stockists
-
Hargreaves Hill, Yarra Glen
The Public Brewery
More stockists...The Fox Hotel
Mountain Goat The Zymurgist IPA
Published April 20, 2016
There may have been changes at Mountain Goat in the six months since Asahi moved in, but one thing that hasn't changed is their love of brewing hearty American IPAs. It's something they've done with panache since the very first Rare Breed release many moons ago, since when there have been black, red, coffee, more black, Japanese, double, black again and no doubt other IPA variants we've forgotten. And now, hot on the heels of the Japanese Cowboy, comes The Zymurgist. A glance at the ingredient list… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 7.5%
- Bitterness
- 75 IBU
- Stockists
-
Mountain Goat Brewery
Good beer stores
Eagle Bay Two Kooks IPA
Published April 18, 2016
As well as its core range and seasonally bottled Brewer's Series beers, WA's Eagle Bay has started putting out very short run, draught only beers. The second in their Single Series is Two Kooks, of which just 1,000 litres has been brewed. It is a beer for which assistant brewers Shannon and Matt were given creative control by their boss, Nick, with the duo opting to create an IPA. Described as their "tribute to our west coast counterparts in the US", we're told to look out for "stone… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
- Stockists
-
Eagle Bay Brewery
Petition
More stockists...
Murray's Brewery Spartacus Imperial IPA
Published April 17, 2016
A few years back, in the earliest days of The Crafty Pint, we were notified, rather excitedly, of a beer that was to make its debut at Beer DeLuxe in Fed Square as part of a Murray's tap takeover. The NSW brewery that had given Australia its first widely available double IPA – Icon 2IPA – was set to unleash Spartacus, a 10 per cent ABV, 100 IBU imperial IPA. Today, such beers might not raise eyebrows quite so high or drop jaws quite so low, given the hop-based armed race that has engulfed much… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Imperial IPA
- ABV
- 10.0%
- Bitterness
- 100 IBU
- Stockists
-
At good beer stockists nationwide
Hargreaves Hill Fresh Hop 2016
Published April 17, 2016
Given what we do at The Crafty Pint is based around words as much as anything else, we always look forward to information on new releases from Hargreaves Hill. Head brewer Kai Dambergs loves to get as floral as a fresh English pale ale while the direction coming from founder Simon Walkenhorst means their beer labels like to describe their beers as things like "fine ales" rather than simply beer. Thus, a doff of a writer's cap to them for the decals for this year's hop harvest beer. Once… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fresh Hop Ale
- ABV
- 5.7%
- Stockists
-
Hargreaves Hill, Yarra Glen
Others TBC
More stockists...
Bad Shepherd Oatmeal Stout
Published April 16, 2016
They're certainly not resting on their laurels at Cheltenham's Bad Shepherd. Despite only opening their brewpub late last year and pulling in big crowds (and a great review in Good Food) since, they keep banging out the limited releases. Hot on the heels of the fine recent Red IPA comes a beer with the cooler months on its mind. The Oatmeal Stout is their take on traditional English beers of the style and thus comes with lower carbonation than you expect in most Aussie brewed beers, as well as some… Read more
Black
- Style
- Oatmeal Stout
- ABV
- 5.5%
- Bitterness
- 32 IBU
- Stockists
-
Bad Shepherd Brewpub
The Public Brewery
More stockists...And select Victorian beer outlets
Pirate Life IPA
Published April 15, 2016
Given they opened their account with a session IPA, pale ale and imperial IPA, it was surely only a matter of time before Pirate Life added an IPA to their lineup. And, given how good all three of their previous hoppy releases were, it was surely a given that the IPA would be delicious when it arrived. And so it proved. In a slight sideways step from the previous three, they added a Kiwi hop variety alongside some of their favoured US hops and, at least up front, it's the Riwaka that grabs your attention,… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 6.8%
Boatrocker Brewery Ramjet 2016
Published April 13, 2016
How far, how fast? It's not much more than a couple of years ago that Matt Houghton dropped off a sample of the first ever Ramjet at Crafty Towers. Later that evening, after a planning meeting with members of the Good Beer Week team, a bottle was cracked. Someone arriving late was handed a glass without knowing what it was. "Wow. What's that? That's amazing; I could put away a pint of that," she said. "It's a new imperial stout from Boatrocker. It's more than 10 percent." "You're… Read more
Black
- Style
- Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
- ABV
- 11.4%
- Stockists
-
More stockists...
Boatrocker Barrel Room
Select other good beer stockists
