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!

Bright Brewery

Swell Brewery NEIPA

Tapped September 28, 2020
Swell continue to ride the rolling wave, pumping out limited releases in rapid succession. Here, after dipping their toes into the world of haze with their NE XPA and Tropical Hazy IPA, they've delivered their first NEIPA, with rolled oats and wheat added for haze and body and Vic Secret, Mosaic and Simcoe the hops of choice. It's lightly hazy rather than heavy in the glass, with burnt orange glow and the aromas ready to lure the drinker in with a medley of sweet stone – namely apricot, peach… Read more
Style
NEIPA
ABV
7.0%

Hargreaves Hill Pursuit Of Hoppiness No.6 & No.7

Tapped September 28, 2020
It would appear Hargreaves Hill's Pursuit Of Hoppiness is accelerating; how else to explain the dropping of not one but two of their one-time-only celebrations of hops? Both feature 20 grams of hops per litre of beer: one is a homegrown showcase, the other puts US varieties to work (while both have me thinking of early tracks by The Orb...). No.6 in the series is the Single Hop Galaxy IPA, which in its uber-pale appearance looks like a Belgian witbier yet is so chock full of Galaxy there’s even… Read more
Style
Single Hop IPA & Oat Cream IPA
ABV
7.0% & 8.0%

Moon Dog Jimmy & Lawson's IPA

Tapped September 28, 2020
It's the week for long-running IPA series to hit the button marked "DDH" in Victoria, it seems. Just days after Hargreaves Hill dropped No.6 and No.7 in their Pursuit Of Hoppiness series, Moon Dog's Doggo IPA series also hits number seven. And it's a double-header too, at least in the sense of the doggos to which they're paying tribute: brewery rep Jared Fita's blue heelers Jimmy and Lawson. Double doggo means double dry hop. And Aussie dogs means Aussie hops, with Galaxy and Vic Secret… Read more
Style
DDH NEIPA
ABV
7.2%

Cupitt's Estate Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout 2020 & East Coast Low TIPA

Tapped September 25, 2020
“I think I have to admit that I like big beers. I'd generally rather sit and sip on a big beer or two than smash a bunch of light and bright beers.” So says Liam Jackson, head brewer at Cupitt’s Estate, after releasing another vintage of imperial stout (an entire two barrels’ worth this year) and a triple IPA. This year’s version of the recently rebranded Cupitt’s Barrel Aged Imperial Stout is a big, slow, savoury number. When you stare into the impenetrable black of this lumbering beast,… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout & Triple IPA
ABV
9.4% & 11.1%

Helios Brewing Classic Series: Belgian Double Dübbel

Tapped September 25, 2020
Helios have kicked off their Classic Series with a can design that wouldn’t look out of place next to old Carlton Draught tinnies. But the stuff within is half a world away from an Aussie lager - a Belgian dubbel. “I love brewing traditional,” says brewer Charlie Hodgson. “I love brewing history… It’s important for me to maintain the integrity of the past several decades and centuries of what’s gone before me.” Charlie actually dubbed this beer a "double dübbel", since… Read more
Style
Belgian Dubbel
ABV
8.5%

Akasha Projects The Eagle IIIIPA

Tapped September 25, 2020
After a makeover and core range shakeup mere weeks ago, Sydney’s Akasha Brewing Co have eased into their snazzy new duds with aplomb. And what better way to really announced your new self to the world than with something that should be utterly absurd but is actually grouse? Everything about The Eagle is so obscene, I almost feel compelled to write to ABAC and tell them that not only is this beer completely unsafe for the eyes of children, I’m not even entirely sure it’s appropriate to be consumed… Read more
Style
Quadruple IPA
ABV
12.0%
Stockists

A Point of Difference Liquor

Beer Cartel

Brewski

Carwyn Cellars

Cromer Cellars

Far Side Beers

Grape & Grain Liquor Cellars

Harvest Cellars

More stockists...

3 Ravens Nitro Nilla Thicccshake

Tapped September 25, 2020
They're a remarkably diverse operation are 3 Ravens. There's a tight core range of "normal" craft beers, augmented by their flagship Juicy IPAs. Then there's the barrel-aged, mixed ferment Wild Ravens lineup and wine hybrid Nat Ravs that come accompanied by novellas from the brewers. And then there's nonsense like Nitro Nilla Thicccshake, a nitro-dosed, vanilla- and lactose-laden, milkshake double IPA. If you've ever wanted to know what it would look like if you carbonated the Yarra, give… Read more
Style
Milkshake Double IPA
ABV
8.0%
Bitterness
24 IBU

CoConspirators Brewing The Agent

Tapped September 25, 2020
I’m old enough to remember when the characters created by CoConspirators Brewing were merely getaway drivers and money launderers; now here we are in 2020 and they’ve got a secret agent on their hands. Well, The Agent might hold secrets but, if she does, they likely wouldn't be kept inside the clear orange beer (I’ll show myself out). What The Agent certainly holds, however, is a hop combination in the shape of Cashmere, Amarillo and Mosaic. Those detonate with a serious explosion of peach,… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
7.0%
Stockists

A Point of Difference Liquor

Beermash

Bottle House Balaclava

Bottle House South Yarra

Brewski

Camperdown Cellars

Carwyn Cellars

District Bottle Store

More stockists...

Molly Rose Brewing Embellished, Resolved & Tretti Tre II

Tapped September 25, 2020
While much of the beer world, at least when measured by decibels, seems to be chasing bigger, hazier, juicier, sweeter, it's reassuring to know there are plenty following their own path (OK, Molly Rose did release a Mosaic heavy juicy IPA around the same time as this trio, but you get what I mean). With these three tins, brewer Nic Sandery looks to the northern reaches of Europe in three different ways. One sniff and sip of Embellished and I was back enjoying a strong Belgian golden ale with Yves… Read more
Style
Belgian Blonde, Saison & Kveik Pale
ABV
5.9% & 5.8% & 5.0%

Dainton Brewing Bloodzilla

Tapped September 24, 2020
Dainton have enjoyed success with blood oranges in the past, with their Blood Orange New England Rye IPA (now just Blood Orange NEIPA) winning fans and a trophy along the way. And here they take that template and, in a fashion typical of the brewery, pump it full of steroids. In doing so, they've ended up with a beer in which the fruit character takes on the intensity of a cocktail adorned with twisted rind, an intensity that's likely heightened by the extra booze and contributes a welcome tartness… Read more
Style
Blood Orange Double NEIPA
ABV
8.0%
Stockists

Available in special mixed packs with the OG Blood Orange NEIPA too.

Slow Lane Brewing Mango & Passionfruit / Apricot Botany Weisse

Tapped September 24, 2020
For a brewery named Slow Lane, there’s been no meandering when it’s come to new beer releases. Since opening earlier in 2020, Alex and Yvonne Jarman have been steadily putting out more of the all too rare yeast-driven European styles that have already won them plenty of fans in Sydney and beyond. While locals wait for the much anticipated tasting room, Slow Lane have released four new beers many months in the making: two fruited versions of the Botany Weisse, plus a barrel-aged Belgian sour brown… Read more
Style
Fruited Berliner Weisse
ABV
3.4% & 4.2%

Slow Lane Brewing Old Russet & Cellar Worthy

Tapped September 24, 2020
In the weeks leading up to the opening of their tasting room, Slow Lane released a quartet of specialties. You can read about the fruited spins on their Botany Weisse here and tuck into a pair of rather heftier beasts here. Old Russet started life as a Belgian Dubbel which, honestly, would have been a joy in and of itself. But a straight up Dubbel could have been ready for release in like a month and that is simply not Slow Lane’s jam. So instead they whacked it into a barrel for six months with… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Belgian Dubbel & English Barleywine
ABV
8.4% & 14.0%

Pirate Life DDDH Cryo NEIPA (It's A Beer)

Tapped September 23, 2020
It's become harder to predict where Pirate Life will turn next over the past year or so, whether in terms of beers, such as light sours with unlikely ingredients, or partners; as I type these words, they've just unveiled a collaboration with Dilmah. That beer is the Tea & Biccies Brown Ale with which the SA brewers "are planning to push the boundaries on what tea and beer can be." For all that, there's been a steady stream of the sort of beers with which they rose to prominence, a spot… Read more
Style
Cryo Hopped NEIPA
ABV
7.2%

Burnley Brewing Radler

Tapped September 23, 2020
As much as Germany is responsible for styling much of the beer we drink today, there are beers from the country's traditions that still seem to escape modern Australian tastes. German sours like the Berliner Weisse and gose might be everywhere (sure, an imperial one filled with passionfruit purée might be a long way from those found Goslar) but good luck trying to find a hefeweizen - as we explored in our tenth birthday coverage here. Radler, the beer and lemonade hybrid, is another that’s rarely… Read more
Style
Radler
ABV
2.4%

Innate Brewers Zappa IPA

Tapped September 23, 2020
Naming proprietary rhizomes must be a challenge. Not only do you have to contend with existing names and a world of trademark lawyers, but the name also has to somehow represent the hop itself. Originally found growing wild in the hills of New Mexico, then developed over many years, CLS Farms bestowed their newest hop release with Zappa, after rock radical Frank Zappa. It’s a bold naming choice, but one which plays out in this Innate single hop IPA with creative similarities: it’s punchy, a little… Read more
Style
Single Hop IPA
ABV
6.5%
Bitterness
55 IBU
Stockists

Available from WA Innate stockists in limited release.

Bodriggy Brewing Indoor Plant Sale

Tapped September 22, 2020
Like keeping your Devil's Ivy in direct sunlight or overwatering a Zanziber Gem, Boddriggy have paid little attention to the rules with the release of Indoor Plant Sale, a hazy West Coast IPA. The name might be an oxymoron but the aim is a simple one: combining the soft mouthfeel and tropical flavours found in so many hazies with the dank and piney whack more commonly found in a West Coast. It combines one of the classic “Three Cs” – Centennial – with the younger American Strata in an opaque… Read more
Style
Hazy WCIPA
ABV
6.2%

Fixation Brewing Freshly Hatched #3: Danker Things

Tapped September 21, 2020
Since the nationwide shutdown in March, it's not as if Fixation have been holding back when it comes to releasing beer in tinnies. Like pretty much everyone else who'd lost much of their traditional means of reaching customers, the need to put as much IPA into package as possible saw a steady stream of 500ml cans leave the Collingwood Incubator. But their Freshly Hatched beers are those they deem worthy of a wider release. And this is number three. Danker Things comes with label artwork by local… Read more
Style
TDH Hazy IPA
ABV
7.0%

Bad Shepherd Piña Colada Sour

Tapped September 19, 2020
Now, I have to admit, when it comes to choosing cocktails, piña colada is not my thing. Gimme something intense and smoky, bitter and citrusy, lively and rummy, look, pretty much anything else other than a piña colada and I'll be happy. That said, we're objective observers here at Crafty Towers, not allowing personal preferences to get in the way of storytelling and describing. So, to the launch beer in Bad Shepherd's Summer Sour Series... In simple terms, it's a case of piña colada is as piña… Read more
Style
Piña Colada Sour
ABV
4.0%
Bitterness
8.5 IBU

The Welder's Dog Native Orange Sour

Tapped September 19, 2020
Since launching their first bar in 2014, The Welder’s Dog team has focused intently on connecting with their community. Whether it’s the two welcoming bars in Tamworth and Armidale or the Bunker Boxes they launched during COVID, the brewery and bar staff work with myriad producers in the New England region to get better beer and good times to locals. When it comes to brewing, they source barley from a family farm in Wee Waa, which brings us to the spring 2020 release, Native Orange Beer, where… Read more
Style
Native Orange Sour Ale
ABV
5.0%

Two Birds Dolly Sour & Kenny Porter

Tapped September 18, 2020
Technically, the participants in this duet from Two Birds don't rely on each other (ah ha). But, should you do with them what the brewers suggest, they will end up as one. The Islands In The Stream pairing of Dolly and Kenny start out as two separate beers. Dolly Sour is a raspberry sour with a peachy blush hue that, thanks to the grounding, lavender musk, lacto sourness holding its own in its duet with the berries, has an aroma that's as much sour cherry as raspberries. The sweet-tartness you’d… Read more
Style
Raspberry Sour & Porter
ABV
4.0% & 5.8%

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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