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!
Rocky Ridge & Blasta Blasta Creag Kveik XIPA
Tapped October 1st, 2019
Returning the favour from their recent Blasta x Rocky Ridge collaboration, Incan Saison this time around the pair’s brew at the latter's farm brewery continues the theme of using interesting yeast, in this case kveik. Somewhat tenuously, and more than a little tongue in cheek, Rocky Ridge’s Hamish Coates says the Norwegian strain is on its third generation and, as such, could now be known as an Australian kveik strain. Smirks aside, the yeast is the dominant factor here. Hamish says all of Blast… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Kveik IPA
- ABV
- 8.4%
- Stockists
-
Available from the Rocky Ridge cellar door, Darleen's Busselton, Blasta Brewing Co and Rocky Ridge stockists
Newstead Brewing Polar Opposite
Tapped October 1st, 2019
In true Newstead tradition, the inspiration for this beer is all about Brisbane, this time drawing from local history folklore and Paul’s Polar Perfections, the dairy company that "revolutionised cold milk and yoghurt in the warm subtropics of South Brisbane." Leading the way with lactobacillus, this tropical sour marries the "polar opposites" of tangy sourness and sweet tropical fruits. As you pop the can there’s an immediate dose of passionfruit on the nose that continues… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Tropical Sour
- ABV
- 3.8%
Woolshed Brewery Hort 9909
Tapped September 30th, 2019
Ahead of BrewCon 2019, hop supplier HopCo enlisted breweries across Australia to help them showcase a lineup of experimental hops, among them two varieties from New Zealand: HORT 4337 and HORT 9909. The latter was shipped to the South Australian Riverland where head brewer Jackson Beavis at Woolshed Brewery figured they'd sit well in a New World single hop pale lager. The end result is a refreshing beer, straw to light yellow in colour, with a perfectly white persistent head. It definitely earns… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- New World Lager
- ABV
- 4.8%
Woolshed Brewery Amazon X
Tapped September 30th, 2019
September 2019 saw the Woolshed Brewery celebrate ten years of brewing beer on the Murray River in the Riverland region of South Australia. To commemorate the decade as a family-owned, independent brewery, they threw a huge party and brewed a beer. Amazon X takes the favourite parts of their beloved Amazon Ale, tweaks things slightly, and turns it into an Extra Pale Ale, one that's full of Aussie hops and glows like a Murray River sunset. Gentle floral aromas combine with a touch of breadiness in… Read more
Golden
- Style
- XPA
- ABV
- 5.2%
One Drop Kellogg's Cornflakes Nitro Milkshake IPA
Tapped September 28th, 2019
This is One Drop’s first IPA in a can, and first nitro beer in a can - significant milestones for a young brewery. It’s also their first collab - and what a collab! One Drop teamed up with Kellogg’s, who are also based in Botany, to make a beer loaded with cornflakes. According to Bruno Madonna, director of research and technology at Kellogg: “We’ve always had a love of combining innovation with great tasting product at Kellogg. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes has been a catalyst to many amazing… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Nitro Milkshake IPA
- ABV
- 6.4%
- Stockists
-
If you're reading this in time, you can join them for the beer's launch on September 28.
Aside from on tap at the brewery, the only place to buy the beer is online here.
Sauce Brewing Mosarillo Juicy IIPA
Tapped September 27th, 2019
They may have won Champion Session Beer at the 2019 Indies awards, but the team at Sauce Brewing sure knows how to make a beer with oomph. For their second birthday, they’ve brewed a beer they’re describing as a “Double-hop, Double Dry-hopped, Juicy Double IPA”, one that brings together two of their favourite hops - Mosaic and Amarillo, in case you hadn’t figured it out. Sauce threw the biggest dry hop they’ve ever carried out into this beer, and it shows - the hop aromas leap up at you… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- IIPA
- ABV
- 8.0%
Murray's Frother Late Sesh Newcastle India Pale Lager
Tapped September 27th, 2019
It’s not overstating things to call Newcastle a surf city. It has prime surfing spots, surf shops, a surf school, and even a surf festival. Makes sense for it to have a surf beer. Hence, the Murray’s crew have collaborated with their friends at Sanbah Surf Shop to make an India pale lager for long days and long beaches. While its name may be hard to get your mouth around - Frother Late Sesh “Newcastle” India Pale Lager - the beer inside the can certainly isn’t. Sweet aromas of grain, flowers… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- India Pale Lager
- ABV
- 4.5%
4 Pines Keller Door: Schwarzbier
Tapped September 27th, 2019
We don’t see too many Schwarzbiers in Australia and, when we do, we rarely seem to think much of them. But it’s hard not to take notice of this one by 4 Pines. Originally brewed as part of their Keller Door Black Box in 2016, the Schwarzbier was the most subtle of the box, but was surprisingly flavourful and complex, a worthy inclusion alongside its brawnier black siblings. In 2019, the brewing team knocked up another batch - just ten kegs - in their Manly brewpub, and entered it in the AIBAs,… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Schwarzbier
- ABV
- 5.2%
Young Henrys IPA
Tapped September 27th, 2019
Young Henrys’ slogan is “Serve The People”, and it appears the people have been calling to be served with an IPA that’s available all year round. The YH team has been been teasing for quite some time with bigger, hoppier beers as limited releases: Summer Hop Ales, Winter Hop Ales, Brut IPAs, rye IPAs, double pale ales… all supporting the core lineup, but never hanging around. Finally, as of September 2019, there’s an IPA that’s here to stay. It’s a variation on an IPA made by the… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
Burleigh Brewing Wild Berry IPA
Tapped September 27th, 2019
It started as a Burleigh Brewing Taphouse exclusive beer… and the people there loved it. So it made its way to Crafted Festival and Beer InCider… where it sold out. The Burleigh Brewing crew can take a hint, so they went and brewed more of this people pleaser, and now the pink stuff is available in a limited run of four-packs of tinnies. I say "pink", but it looks almost exactly like a light red wine - the low carbonation even has the head dissipating quickly to maintain the illusion.… Read more
Red
- Style
- Berry IPA
- ABV
- 6.8%
Smiling Samoyed Heart Breaker Red IPA
Tapped September 27th, 2019
The team at the Myponga brewhouse were clearly feeling amorous when creating this small batch limited release, cranking out a red IPA called Heart Breaker. Flirting with a mix of malt and hops, the Smiling Samoyed team also added hugs, kisses and a whole lotta love. Complete with a heart-shaped sunglass-wearing Samoyed on the label, this red IPA swaggers onto the scene close to imperial territory, weighing in at 7.3 percent ABV. Heart Breaker pours a deep dark red, and leans more towards the malty… Read more
Red
- Style
- Red IPA
- ABV
- 7.3%
Quiet Deeds Survivor Type Hazy TIPA
Tapped September 26th, 2019
Since firing up their Glen Iris brewery, Deeds Brewing have been on an absolute tear when it comes to hazy releases. The OG, Juice Train, is now part of the brewery’s core range and head brewer Justin Corbitt has been spending his time exploring the wider hazy IPA arena in various ways: through tweaks to malt bases, the use of different hops, when those hops are added to the beer, and by dialling up the ABV. Survivor Type is the brewery’s biggest to date, out in yellow and black cans ahead… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy Triple IPA
- ABV
- 10.5%
Urban Alley Blush
Tapped September 26th, 2019
When the crew at Urban Alley opened the doors to their Docklands brewery doors a year ago, one of the limited release beers they sent into the world was Blush. The wheat ale came packed with raspberry goodness and, though only a small number of kegs were brewed at the time, the brewery say it’s been one of their best-received beers to date. So, when the brewery venue's first birthday came around, they decided to re-release the beer, this time canning it and sending it a little wider. Pouring with… Read more
Red
- Style
- Raspberry Wheat Ale
- ABV
- 5.3%
- Bitterness
- 21 IBU
Blackman's Brewery OG XPA
Tapped September 26th, 2019
How can a brewery, even one as good as Blackman's, claim an XPA as the OG when there are so many around these days? When OG refers to their latest venture: a new beer and burger bar in Ocean Grove, just a few kilometres down the road from their OG brewery in Torquay. They pour a bunch of Blackman's beers there but the brewery team felt it also deserved one of its own. It's a beer that slots neatly into the part of the beer spectrum that increasingly appears to be where craft brewers aim when designing… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- XPA
- ABV
- 4.4%
Blackman's Brewery Milk Choc Dark Lager & Hop Smash
Tapped September 26th, 2019
Two limited releases at once for Blackman's as spring starts to warm up. One continues their fondness for lagers, and indeed darker ones, with Milk Choc Dark Lager sitting somewhere between a Schwarzbier and a chocolate porter in character. It's fuller in body than the former; indeed it comes across bigger than its 4.8 percent ABV would suggest, which allows for a richer chocolaty experience, with a drying roastiness there to add balance. As for Hop Smash, it's one of many collabs that first appeared… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Dark Lager & XPA
- ABV
- 4.8% / 4.4%
La Sirène The Beginning
Tapped September 25th, 2019
Anyone who’s spent a moment with Costa Nikias will likely have heard him speak about his love for La Sirène’s home in Alphington. It's in a small industrial pocket nestled by parklands and the Darebin Creek, making for a warehouse and surrounds where unique natural microbes tie the La Sirène beers to a physical space. Now, nearly a decade on from the brewery’s conception, La Sirène have launched a new series that aims to capture those environs and moment in time in the sort of elegant package… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Spontaneously Fermented Ale
- ABV
- 5.5%
Great Ocean Road Australian Lager
Tapped September 25th, 2019
On September 19, 1919, the then Premier of Victoria, Harry Lawson, set off an explosive charge in an area just outside the small and isolated town of Lorne. With a bang, work had begun on what would become the 243 kilometre long Great Ocean Road. It wouldn’t be until 1932 that the road would be completed after some 3,000 veterans of World War I turned the rough terrain into a war memorial - the world’s largest - for the fallen. A century later and the road is one of the most travelled in Victoria… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Australian Lager
- ABV
- 5.2%
- Stockists
One Drop Brewing Blueberry Sour
Tapped September 24th, 2019
Almost immediately after opening, One Drop sent off some of their first batches of beer to be judged at the Australian International Beer Awards… and scored a clutch of gold medals for their troubles. They were the only Australian brewery to win a gold medal in the Fruit Beer category, for their limited release Blueberry Sour. Of course, that batch didn’t last long - can you blame anyone? - so One Drop has done us all a favour by brewing it again. It sits in the glass a deep crimson tinged with… Read more
Red
- Style
- Blueberry Sour
- ABV
- 5.5%
Moon Dog Tiger's IPA
Tapped September 23rd, 2019
A spot of serendipity for the team at Moon Dog. Their Doggo IPA series celebrates dogs owned by various members of their staff and one of them just happens to have a dog called Tiger, perfect timing as the Tigers set out to try and claim a second AFL flag in three seasons. The beer was launched at the brewery as Richmond achieved a turnaround victory over Geelong and is in stores in time for Tigers fans to stock up before they run out against the Giants. The beer itself is an all Kiwi hop affair,… Read more
Golden
- Style
- NZ IPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
Big Shed Indie IPA
Tapped September 23rd, 2019
At BrewCon 2019, a number of brewers were invited to create beers with new and/or experimental hop varieties. Among them was Big Shed, who went to work with a rarely seen (as yet) Kiwi hop going by the name HORT 4337. The Royal Park team kept the malt bill relatively simple – a base of pale, some oats and wheat for body and a touch of light crystal to balance the bitterness – with the intention of allowing Indie IPA's single hop to unveil its full potential. Pouring a bright orange, the aromas… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Single Hop IPA
- ABV
- 6.4%
- Bitterness
- 35 IBU
