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!
Bright Brewery Hop BLEVE
Published March 19, 2016
Living in the Victorian High Country has its advantages – lots of them. It's a beautiful part of the world, there's a full four seasons of cool stuff to do, particularly if you're of an active bent, there's a bunch of breweries, wineries and other local producers and, of course, it's one of Australia's key hop growing regions. It's the last of these that's now celebrated each March with the High Country Hop festival, launched in 2015 by Bridge Road Brewers and attended by all of the region's small… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
- Stockists
-
Bright Brewery
High Country Hops
Others TBC
More stockists...
Riverside Brewing Harvester of Sour
Published March 18, 2016
It’s fair to say that 2015 was a fairly quiet year for the Riverside Brewing Company. After their co-founder and head brewer departed just before the beginning of the year, the business more or less concentrated on keeping things ticking over, bedding in a new brewing team, making slight tweaks to the core recipes and rereleasing a couple of old favourites. In terms of brand new beers, there was only the Tzar imperial red ale to report on. But 2016 already seems set to be a bigger year for the… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Sour Ale
- ABV
- 5.0%
- Stockists
-
Select beer venues in NSW
Newstead Brewing Tracks: Roggenbier
Published March 18, 2016
They've gone a little fancy with their latest small batch release at Newstead. Not just with the beer but with the way you'll spy it on one of the handful of bars upon which you'll find it. Their policy is to name such releases after old Brisbane clubs and venues, with the Tracks here one that existed in the 1980s. Thus there's a nod to the decade in its decals, which have been quite the mission... "I bought 20 brand spanking new white cassette tapes from Melbourne and had the label art designed… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Roggenbier
- ABV
- 6.2%
- Bitterness
- 42 IBU
- Stockists
-
Newstead Brewery
Tippler's Tap
Mill on Constance
Hopster
Others TBC
More stockists...
Modus Operandi Escobar Stout
Published March 18, 2016
After a couple of years dazzling people with their straight up hoppy IPAs, Modus Operandi has been quietly following a more esoteric path of late. First there was the Earthless-inspired Sonic Prayer IPA, then the Powcohicora-influenced Drupey One, now comes a stout made with yerba mate and named after everyone’s favourite pre-nineties moustachioed purveyor of illicit narcotics, Pablo Escobar. The beer is built on a traditional British oatmeal milk stout base of crystal and chocolate malts, but… Read more
Black
- Style
- Oatmeal Stout
- ABV
- 6.0%
- Stockists
-
Modus Operandi Brewery
Others TBC
Murray's & Bloodhound Bar Get Rich Or Die Ryeing
Published March 17, 2016
For Brewsvegas 2016 the team at Brisbane’s Bloodhound Bar decided to resurrect Hopfields, an event they’d held once before, towards the end of 2015, during which they dispensed a huge range of very hoppy beers over the course of a weekend. For round two they teamed up with the hop fiends at Murray’s to add a collaborative beer to proceedings. The recipe development was a joint back and forth effort, with the Bloodhounds deciding on a Red Rye IPA, the Murray’s team taking ownership of the… Read more
Red
- Style
- Red Rye IPA
- ABV
- 5.8%
- Stockists
-
And select craft beer venues around SE QLD
More stockists...
Wolf Of The Willows & Bloodhound Bar Wolf Blood
Published March 17, 2016
Now happily ensconced at the brewery they share with Bad Shepherd in Cheltenham, we can expect to see more beer and beers from Wolf of the Willows, including one-offs such as this. Scott and Renae McKinnon has collaborated with the team at Bloodhound Bar in Brisbane for the Hopfields event it's hosting as part of Brewsvegas. Wolf Blood is one of the collaborations to be launched on the night and is a punchy West Coast style red IPA. The brewers tell us it's all about "hops, hops and more hops… Read more
Red
- Style
- Red IPA
- ABV
- 7.1%
- Stockists
-
More stockists to follow
More stockists...
Nomad Brewing Myrtle's Summer Fling
Published March 9, 2016
In Myrtle’s Summer Fling, the team at Nomad has released its first dedicated summer ale. However, being the slightly and deliberately off-centre brewery they are, it’s got two things to differentiate it from your average summer ale release. The first is that, at just 2.8 percent ABV, it’s a bona-fide light beer. The other is that it’s been released in autumn. To be entirely accurate, the beer has made the odd appearance at the brewery and one or two other venues in the past month or so, but… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Summer Light Beer
- ABV
- 2.8%
- Stockists
-
Stockists TBC
Hargreaves Hill Cherry Harvest 2016
Published March 7, 2016
It wasn't too long ago that many of the limited releases coming out of Hargreaves Hill in the Yarra Valley were experiments with hops: a series of fine IPAs, the occasional pilsner. These days, more often than not, when a short run beer leaves the brewery it's as likely to have spent time conversing with oak and / or been dosed up with some form of bacteria or funky yeast. The first such release was last year's Cherry Harvest Sour, a beer that began as the run off from last year's Phoenix Imperial… Read more
Red
- Style
- Cherry Sour
- ABV
- 4.3%
- Stockists
-
More stockists...
Hargreaves Hill, Yarra Glen
Cheeky Monkey & The DTC Dark Secret
Published March 4, 2016
They do love a venue / brewery collaboration in the west. Latest to join forces are the guys from The Dutch Trading Co (The DTC) and Margaret River's Cheeky Monkey. Originally brewed for last month's South West Craft Beer Festival in the region, a full batch was brewed meaning there was enough left over to head to a few bars and bottleshop to fill glasses and growlers. According to Cheeky brewer Ross: "The DTC crew was originally thinking along the lines of an Aussie hopped and dry hopped pilsner.… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Black Pilsner
- ABV
- 4.8%
- Bitterness
- 34 IBU
Modus Operandi The Drupey One
Published March 3, 2016
The first new beer for Modus Operandi in 2016 is a bonafide autumn seasonal release, although not one directly inspired by the Australian version of autumn. Rather, its roots lie in the fall of the northern hemisphere which marks the onset of the pecan nut harvest. MO brewer Dennis, an American whom we can trust for such tidbits, says pecans are synonymous with autumn in the states and that the pecan is the only nut native to the USA; it was purportedly a major autumnal food source for Native Americans,… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Nut Brown Ale
- ABV
- 4.5%
Australian Brewery Holy Union
Published March 3, 2016
Have you ever wondered what it would taste like if you mixed the All Star IPA with the Saison D’Heretique? The brewers at The Australian Brewery did, so they did. The result is a draught-only release called the Holy Union. It uses the exact same strain of French/Belgian saison yeast the Rouse Hill brewery uses to such great effect in its Saison D’Heretique and combines it with the generous hopping regime of their session IPA. While there’s yeast spiciness on the nose, it’s the latter hop… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Belgian Session IPA
- ABV
- 4.5%
- Bitterness
- 36 IBU
- Stockists
-
Australian Brewery
Other venues TBC
Newstead Brewing Drought Relief Autumn Lager
Published March 2, 2016
Four times a year, Brisbane's Newstead Brewing releases a lager – a different one each time. Their most recent summer version was Cyclone Season, a hoppy, bitter take on the pale lagers out of Dortmund. For autumn, they've cranked up the malt and hop profile to create Drought Relief, which they're calling an American red lager. That means lots of caramel and biscuit malts to lend the beer its darker colour and some sweeter malt flavours, as well as a sizeable load of hops to create a "solid… Read more
Red
- Style
- Red Lager
- ABV
- 5.5%
- Bitterness
- 56 IBU
- Stockists
-
Newstead Brewing
The Mill on Constance
And a handful of other beer venues
More stockists...
Ocho Beer Barrel Saison
Published March 1, 2016
If your intention is to stand out from the crowd, even in today's incredibly and increasingly diverse craft beer landscape in Australia, a beer such as this is the sort to do the trick. As the name suggests, Barrel Saison is a saison style ale that was fermented in oak, spending a month there before being dry-hopped then bottle conditioned for another three months. The outcome is a very pale and spritzy beer, high in carbonation and light on the palate. There's a hint of lemon and oak in the aroma,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Barrel Aged Saison
- ABV
- 5.5%
Nomad Brewing Brookvaler Weisse
Published March 1, 2016
The team at Nomad has long been fond of a sour mash. It was a noted feature when their saison first came out through to the release of Freshie, the salt & pepper gose which earned a place in our best new NSW beers of 2015. But 2016 has seen them hit puckering new heights when it comes to sour beers. Most recently there has been the Wild Mongrel sour ale made with Shiraz grapes and Without A Paddle, their grape laden GABS entry and punny take on the Belgian kriek style. This beer is, if you couldn’t… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 3.6%
Indian Ocean Export Lager
Published March 1, 2016
Brewer's notes: Pale-straw in colour, this beer is an example of a Dortmund Style Lager. Spicy/herbal hop character on the nose. Slightly sweet malt balanced with a German noble hop character with a crisp finish on the palate.… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Dortmunder Lager
- ABV
- 5.0%
- Bitterness
- 25 IBU
Indian Ocean Pale Ale
Published March 1, 2016
Brewer's notes: Gold in colour. Lifted tropical fruit (mango, passionfruit) and citrus (blood orange and grapefruit) with hints of pine and floral notes are present on both the nose and palate. Clean, medium bitterness.… Read more
Golden
- Style
- American Pale Ale
- ABV
- 5.2%
- Bitterness
- 40 IBU
Indian Ocean Street Beer
Published March 1, 2016
Brewer's notes: This beer is an inspiration of a Vietnamese style Bia Hoi (gas beer!), traditionally served on the streets fresh by pop up beer vendors. Street Beer experiments with different hops each batch and the finest sushi rice to achieve an interesting full body and almost rice pudding character.… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Rice Lager
- ABV
- 3.8%
- Bitterness
- 18 IBU
Indian Ocean Hazy Pucker
Published March 1, 2016
Brewer's notes: Hazy Pucker is an apple cider: not too sweet, not too dry, well balanced with a crisp tart finish.… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Apple Cider
Grifter Brewing Co Fresh & Clean IPL
Published February 29, 2016
If you pay attention next time you head into the Grifter’s Marrickville brewery, you might see a sign above the entrance that reads "Fresh & Clean". It’s the name of the old industrial dry cleaning business that occupied the site for 25 years and was responsible for the approximately three inches of lint caking the roof of the building when Grifter moved in, which took them three full weeks to scrape off. Yet, despite this somewhat dusty start to the relationship, they decided not… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- India Pale Lager
- ABV
- 5.8%
- Stockists
-
Grifter Brewery Bar
Select venues in NSW
Boatrocker & Beer DeLuxe Summer in Bruges
Published February 29, 2016
Following in the footsteps of last years' Splice of Heaven with Moon Dog and the tasty red IPA they conceived with Bridge Road, the staff at Beer DeLuxe continue to have the pick of Victoria's top breweries for their occasional collaborations, with their latest joint venture taking place at Boatrocker's Braeside home. The aim was to create a beer appropriate for the hotter months which led them to the Belgian witbier style popularised by Hoegaarden, a wise move given Boatrocker's love of all things… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Witbier
- ABV
- 4.4%
