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

Bright Tank Hazy Pale

Tapped October 7, 2020
Bright Tank’s run into lupulin brume was assured with Chalkface Killah, now confidently core range and available in printed cans. As such, many will be interested in Hazy Pale. As is often the case with siblings sat in the shadow of a bigger personality, one can retreat into a corner or present a point of difference; Hazy Pale chooses the latter option. Pouring opaque lemon, there’s similar citrus tones to Chalkface Killah throughout joined by tropical touches which are lighter on the tongue,… Read more
Style
Hazy Pale Ale
ABV
5.0%
Stockists

Available from the brewery

And WA stockists

Temple Brewing Trident Tropical Sour

Tapped October 6, 2020
Melburnians might still be waiting to enjoy the city’s beer gardens once more but, if scenes from the weekend are anything to go by, park beers are very much the order of the day. And Temple Brewing’s spring seasonal release – a sour with generous dry-hopping – is designed with those situations very much in mind. That dry-hopping features Trident, a hop blend out of America made up of three different hops grown in the Pacific Northwest. It’s a fitting blend for a kettle sour too, as it’s… Read more
Style
Tropical Sour
ABV
5.5%

Akasha Projects Double Queen Red IPA

Tapped October 6, 2020
I think it was sometime at the end of 2012 I had my first red IPA. It was Brewtal’s Jack The RIIPA at the original Tippler’s Tap in Brisbane and I was instantly enamoured. To this day, if I ever see a red IPA on a tap list it’s going to be the first beer I get 100 percent of the time. Unfortunately, red IPAs are about as popular as the Reinheitsgebot at a GABS festival so it’s not exactly a common occurrence in 2020. If there’s one brewery I’d trust to keep the flame alive, however, it’s… Read more
Style
Double Red IPA
ABV
8.0%

Rocky Ridge Next Episode & New Currency

Tapped October 6, 2020
This limited pair join a new series of large format, big on booze and increasingly sought-after releases from Rocky Ridge. It's a series that recently included one of the most opulent WA beers released this year – Impossible View, a maple bourbon barrel-aged quad with vanilla and dates clocking in at 11 percent ABV. Yes, excess seems to be the intent here. And why not? For every crushable, seemingly forward in every sense West Coast IPA, doesn’t everyone want to really be enjoying a double digit… Read more
Style
TDH West Coast Triple IPA & Mango & Vanilla Oat Cream IPA
ABV
11.0% & 8.5%
Stockists

Available from the Rocky Ridge cellar door and online

And in super limited release from WA stockists

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 12: Bayside Golden Strong

Tapped October 5, 2020
For the first eleven entries in their Brew Crew Series, the Bad Shepherd gave their team members the chance to design a beer with the brewers. It's an approach that's led to some interesting results, from dessert beers to a purple unicorn-inspired release; here, as they notch up a dozen, the doors were (sort of) thrown open to outsiders. They decided to bring in members of their Black Sheep club, kicking things off with a Zoom call back in May then, thanks to ongoing restrictions, being forced to… Read more
Style
Belgian Golden Strong Ale
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
30 IBU

3 Ravens Mango Creamsicle

Tapped October 2, 2020
It seems remarkable it's only three-and-a-half years since Sailors Grave released Australia's first cream sour as we prepare for a spring a summer laced with them. 3 Ravens even have a series dedicated to them, with this Mango offering already their second of the latter half of 2020. Less daft than the Thiccc Milkshake IPA that preceded it by a week, but still in the realm of shark-jumping complete with triple salchow, this fruit cream twist on their Acid sour sits amidships in mango’s sweet and… Read more
Style
Mango Cream Sour
ABV
3.5%

Stomping Ground Nitro Raspberry Smash

Tapped October 2, 2020
Stomping Ground's Smash series has been one characterised by colourful beers in equally colourful cans and, more than two years after it kicked off, the brewers have started looking beyond finding new fruits to champion. In the middle of winter 2020, they released their first nitro sour in the shape of Cherry Smash and now they welcome back Raspberry Smash but this time giving it the nitro treatment too. Along with those tiny bubbles, the brewers have added lactose to create a beer with a soft body… Read more
Style
Nitro Sour
ABV
4.4%

Boatrocker Ramjet 2020

Tapped October 2, 2020
You know the routine by now: Boatrocker take delivery of freshly disgorged whisky barrels from Starward, fill them with imperial stout, wait a few months 'til the time is right, empty the barrels, blend, package, release to acclaim. In recent years, there's also been a Ramjet Day dedicated to the beer's arrival, although, thanks to COVID-19, in 2020 that's been replaced by Ramjet Day at home boxes, filled with treats, a detailed guide on how best to enjoy them, and something a little extra we won't… Read more
Style
Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
11.8%

Modus Operandi Hazy Series 07: Mixed Berry Smoothie

Tapped October 2, 2020
Modus Operandi's Hazy Series seems to have very quickly turned into a showcase for fruit as much as haze, with number 7 featuring a mix of berries. Yet, despite its name, it’s not actually that hazy or indeed smoothie looking in appearance, especially when compared to some fruit cream IPAs that wear their berries on their sleeve like a frozen berry slushie. Maybe there's the a faintest hint of lavender to the orange haze, but it could just be trick of the mind. For Brits or French folks, however,… Read more
Style
Fruit Cream IPA
ABV
7.0%

Burnley Brewing Take It Ezaa Mango & Pineapple Lager

Tapped October 2, 2020
Just what would Michael Stanzel’s former teachers think of him now? There they are, the German brewers who taught him the intricacies involved in brewing subtle, crisp, classic lagers. And here he is, head brewer at Burnley Brewing and launching a lager series in a pastel-coloured can, complete with a pun and not one but two tropical fruits thrown in. German Purity Law be damned. That’s not to say Take It Ezaa isn’t still grounded in brewing tradition, for the mango and pineapple lager is… Read more
Style
Mango Pineapple Lager
ABV
5%

Holgate Brewhouse Hopinator 2020

Tapped October 2, 2020
Holgate's Hopinator was one of the first double IPAs I ever came across. There had been a couple when in the US while reporting on a double murder for a UK newspaper at a time when I had no idea what double IPA meant, then Murray's Icon 2IPA after moving to Australia, but that was it. Then again, there weren't many around when Holgate first released theirs. IPAs of all shapes and sizes are here, there and everywhere today, however, yet those like Hopinator have become almost like historical artefacts;… Read more
Style
Double IPA
ABV
7.5%
Bitterness
100 IBU

Blackman's Brewery Tiramisu Imperial Milk Stout

Tapped October 2, 2020
Blackman's close out their Bakehouse trilogy with a bit of a blast from the past: a beer inspired by Tiramisu. If, somehow, you've never come across the Italian staple, it's a coffee-flavoured affair featuring ladyfingers, a whole lot of fluffiness and no little cocoa. So when you're welcomed by a fair hit of coffee as you crack the can you know they're on the right track. Once you've got to the key part of the process (drinking the beer) you find a streak of filter coffee riding through the middle… Read more
Style
Imperial Coffee Milk Stout
ABV
7.5%

Beerfarm & Fervor Native Series Woolya Wah Red Ale

Tapped October 2, 2020
Beerfarm and Fervor have notched up seven releases in their Native Series with Woolya Wah, a beer infused with Western Australian cyclops wattleseeds (Acacia cyclops) and Wattah wattle (Acacia decurrens). They've been added to a malt-driven red ale brewed with an array of specialty malts, Ahtanum hops and a generous addition of the two wattleseed varieties, grown locally in WA at Roelands Village. Woolya Wah is purposefully robust; designed to showcase and integrate the unique character of the WA… Read more
Style
Wattleseed Red Ale
ABV
6.2%
Bitterness
30 IBU
Stockists

On tap at Beerfarm

And at select stockists

White Bay & The Little Marionette Blend 26 Coffee Porter

Tapped October 1, 2020
White Bay are in bed with their neighbours, The Little Marionette coffee roasters, again but this time it’s less about the complexity and more about the intensity. This is the second time the two businesses at 26 Mansfield Street have blended their expertise. Their previous collab - a Baltic porter with Ethiopian coffee beans - was like the fruity filter coffee you order and discuss with your barista as you explore the intriguing nuances of flavour. Blend 26 is more like the extra strong cappuccino… Read more
Style
Coffee Porter
ABV
8.2%

Mr Banks Dawn Patrol

Tapped October 1, 2020
The team at Mr Banks have picked up many fans with hazy release after hazy release so how do you think the brewery might approach a West Coast IPA? With a healthy helping of haze of course. To be fair, Dawn Patrol isn’t any ordinary West Coast, it’s a DDH West Coast DIPA and, when you've got that many letters, no style guide should dictate how your beer looks. Embark on your own Dawn Patrol and within the yellow and opaque liquid, you'll discover a smooth mouthfeel which lands the beer within… Read more
Style
DDH West Coast DIPA
ABV
8.1%

Big Shed Mega Golden Stout Time

Tapped September 30, 2020
Big Shed's original Golden Stout Time shot to fame after it rated highly in the People's Choice at GABS 2015 and has gone on to become one of their most popular beers [One of the most viewed beers on our site, according to the check we did for one of our ten year anniversary features – Editor]. Here, it's received an injection of steroids to boost it to 8 percent ABV and become Mega Golden Stout Time. Its original release actually predates this post – when GABS 2020 was postponed, the festival… Read more
Style
Dessert Stout
ABV
8.0%

Big Shed & Franklin Hotel Double West Coast IPA

Tapped September 30, 2020
Big Shed have a pretty diverse range of beers, one that's spread across their core range, seasonals, limited releases and the Brewers Series. To those can now be added a new line as they team up with the crew from the Franklin Hotel under the "Hotel Series" banner. The end result is a 9.5 percent, 90 IBU double West Coast IPA that's loaded with hops, hops and more hops, and is set to be the first of many venue collabs. The Franklin Hotel is a 19th century hotel in Adelaide's CBD which… Read more
Style
West Coast DIPA
ABV
9.0%
Bitterness
90 IBU

Mismatch Brewing Negroni IPA

Tapped September 29, 2020
When it comes to collaborating outside the beer world, it doesn't hurt when you share a home with a few other drinks producers. At Lot 100 in the Adelaide Hills, you find Mismatch alongside Hills Cider, Vinteloper winers, Adelaide Hills Distillery and Ashton Valley Fresh, and for this in-house collaboration the brewers have partnered with the distiller. It's seen them bring back an old favourite, resurrecting the Negroni IPA that first made an appearance at GABS in 2016; a red IPA base is the starting… Read more
Style
Negroni IPA
ABV
7.0%

Tallboy & Moose 2 Solid 2 Gold & Jungle Berry Fresca

Tapped September 29, 2020
In the first month of spring, Tallboy & Moose have returned to some of the brewpub’s favourite releases. First up there’s 2 Solid 2 Gold, a sequel to the hazy IPA Solid Gold released in kegs (and crowlers) during the brief time Melbourne’s pubs were open between lockdowns. If there are tweaks to the recipe, they're minor ones, for it comes in at the same 6.5 percent ABV and contains the American hop combination of Bravo, El Dorado and Centennial. Again, it makes for a beer that moves from… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA & Fruit Cream Sour
ABV
6.5% & 5.4%

Sanctus Brewing Piña Colada Smash

Tapped September 28, 2020
With so many beers around nowadays containing idiosyncratic new hop variety Sabro, coconut has become a very familiar flavour in beer. But when you get hit with a waft of real coconut, it’s a whole other thing. Piña Colada Smash brings waves of aroma of sweet, almost vanilla-y coconut - “hand roasted coconut”, which makes me wonder how many people burned their hands in the making of this beer. But, in the mouth, a tang of semi-sour acidic pineapple cuts through those waves like the fin of… Read more
Style
Piña Colada Sour
ABV
4.5%
Stockists

Sanctus have launched their Pathfinder memberships – see here

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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