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

Rocky Ridge Rock Juice V5

Tapped November 13th, 2019
The Rocky Ridge team have unleashed the fifth version of their crowd-pleasing Rock Juice, reuniting with Celebrations Carlisle and Cape Cellars to create a tweaked and better-then-ever imperial NEIPA. Building on previous iterations, V5 brings with it a fresh look that’s in line with recent brand and packaging upgrades from the brewery. Throw in an increase in ABV – now up to a sizeable 10.5 percent ABV – and an all Australian hop bill, including Galaxy, Melba, Ella and Vic Secret, and you've… Read more
Style
Imperial NEIPA
ABV
10.5%
Bitterness
25 IBU
Stockists

Cellarbrations Carlisle

Darleen's Taphouse

Rocky Ridge Cellar Door

Cape Cellars

And other good beer stockists where you find Rocky Ridge beers

More stockists...

The Mill Brewery Altered Beast IPA

Tapped November 12th, 2019
Anyone who’s ever played Altered Beast will know it to be a game where a man transforms into a werewolf or dragon to battle underworld monsters. Apparently, if you get far enough you can turn into a bear too. How does it end? Who’s to say, it’s damn near impossible to finish and the game feels more like it was designed to take coins from kids in the 80s rather than being purely about fun. At Collingwood’s The Mill Brewery, they keep their Altered Beast on free play because the crew are not… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.3%
Stockists

A Point of Difference Liquor

Blackhearts & Sparrows

Carwyn Cellars

McCoppins

McCoppins Abbotsford

Beer 360

Galah

Samuel Pepys Wine Merchant

More stockists...

Beerfarm Royal Haze IPA

Tapped November 12th, 2019
They might be sauntering in late to the party yet the arrival of a hazy IPA from the Beerfarm crew feels like it had to happen. After all, such beers are designed to be easy-going, fun, low in bitterness and fruity as all hell – which is a pretty decent summation of the entire Metricup operation. With Royal Haze, they might have taken their time, but it means they've been able to put ticks in all the appropriate spots on the hazy IPA checklist, not least the one for haziness: this one's dense as,… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
5.8%
Bitterness
15 IBU

3 Ravens Pine & Lime Creamsicle

Tapped November 11th, 2019
During 2018, 3 Ravens released a series of Acid Test beers – draught only spins on their Acid sour designed to test the water for future releases. And, as we approach summer 2019, one of those Tests – the Pine & Lime Creamsicle – has returned in cans. It's not the first beer borne of such inspiration to have come from a Melbourne brewery; Moon Dog, who now have a second brewery taking shape mere minutes from 3 Ravens, have been releasing their Splice Of Heaven IPA for a number of years… Read more
Style
Fruited Cream Sour
ABV
3.5%
Bitterness
15 IBU

Hop Nation Site Fermentation Project Wine Series 2019

Tapped November 11th, 2019
The weaving of their lives past, present and future continues for Sam and Dunc at Hop Nation with the release of the 2019 Wine Series. It's made up of a quartet that all underwent a similar process: discarded grapes from wineries across Victoria were added to the brewery's foedre-fermented sour blonde ale before undergoing a period of ageing in barrels; barrels that, in a fairytale kind of manner, appear on the labels as homes surrounded by flora, bugs and fungi, presumably a reminder of how much… Read more
Style
Beer-Wine Hybrids
ABV
6.0%

Hawkers & Alchemy Distillers Antifogmatic Beertail

Tapped November 11th, 2019
It's not every day you find three men at your front door, armed with enthusiasm, cans of beer, ice, lemon, a chopping board, knife and broad smiles. But who's going to complain when they're there with the sole purpose of treating you and your wife to a glass of their latest beer-cocktail hybrid? That was the scene at Crafty Towers last Friday morning as the trio from Hawkers stopped by to tell the tale of how they'd come up with Antifogmatic, a drink they'd conceived with craft distillers Alchemy.… Read more
Style
Beertail
ABV
4.7%

Bodriggy Brewing Space Milk Vol.5

Tapped November 8th, 2019
Now that Bodriggy have opened their doors to the public, they’ve got a lot of taps to keep full for the hordes of people keen to enjoy the brewery's Abbotsford home. One unfortunate consequence of opening a bustling brewpub that struck fear into the heart of this writer is that it might spell an end to one of my favourite series, Space Milk. The lactose-laced sours have previously welcomed the likes of almond, cayenne pepper, marigold and coffee skins into their lives in a way that works surprisingly… Read more
Style
Fruit Cream Sour
ABV
3.0%

All Hands Berry Berry Sour

Tapped November 8th, 2019
This beer is not about the hops. It’s not about the malt. It’s not about the yeast. It’s not even really about the sour. This is all about the fruit. We’re not talking “enough fruit that you can justify putting it on the label”. We’re talking “enough fruit to turn the beer the colour of cartoon grapes” - two hundred kilos of blueberries and blackberries added to less than a thousand litres of beer. Even the head is a rich candy pink, which is fitting since the aroma is all musk… Read more
Style
Fruit Sour
ABV
6.2%
Bitterness
12 IBU

Pikes Beers Co IPA

Tapped November 7th, 2019
Luckily a fish has many scales, what with Pikes highlighting a different one on every limited release beer's label and sending them out with greater frequency throughout 2019. This time around, after a journey that's passed through the haze, taken in some old wine barrels, mandarin trees and more, they've arrived back in IPA territory. Eureka combines with American power hop Mosaic in a malt grist not too dissimilar to the Clare Valley brewery's core range Sparkling Ale. There's no trace of murky… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.5%
Stockists

NOLA Adelaide

Sturt Street Cellars

Clare Valley Brewery

Republic

Kings Head Hotel

The Crafers Hotel

Little Pub

Historian Hotel

More stockists...

Deeds Draught

Tapped November 7th, 2019
Since they first started brewing at their Glen Iris home in early 2019, Deeds Brewing have been releasing beers at a furious pace; and it's a brew schedule that shows no sign of slowing down. For the most part, those beers have been big and bold (not to mention hoppy) but Deeds Draught is an entirely different affair. This addition to the brewery's core range is instead a lager that's more about subtleties and refreshment, where maize in the malt bill is designed to aid the beer's easy-drinking nature.… Read more
Style
Lager
ABV
4.2%

Quiet Deeds & Merri Mashers Slenderman / Quiet Deeds & Venom Viper Pit / Dark Deeds & Froth Resting Witch Face

Tapped November 7th, 2019
Halloween’s here to stay in Australia and as much as the American-inspired holiday might annoy many Aussies, all that we can do on that front is direct you here. Deeds Brewing looked to join those celebrations in 2019 by releasing not one but three rather spooky beers, which follow closely on from their Tallboy & Moose collab, itself inspired by The Shining. The lightest of this trio is Slenderman, an IPA brewed with Merri Mashers member Rohan Lowe. Rohan took out the Deeds Brewers Choice award… Read more
Style
IPA / Hazy DIPA / Spiced Porter
ABV
5.8% / 9.0% / 6.0%

Little Creatures Return Of Anna Pavlovah

Tapped November 7th, 2019
This fruity affair began as a Pink Boots Society collab created for Fremantle BeerFest 2017 and went on to win most popular beer during that year's WA Beer Week. Now, on the eve of the 2019 BeerFest, Little Creatures have reissued the dessert-inspired pacific ale, inspired by a Russian prima Ballerina, in collaboration with the West Australian Liquor Barons group. The key here, as with the dessert’s meringue base and a ballet dancer's craft, is poise. Although it might be tempting to lunge into… Read more
Style
Pavlova Pacific Ale
ABV
5.5%
Stockists

Available from the Freo brewery and Liquor Barons stores

Eagle Bay & Old Bridge Cellars Flounders Red

Tapped November 7th, 2019
Gone are the days where a trip to Western Europe was essential for acquiring sour, complex, barrel-aged beers that carried with them notions of rarity and allure. Travelling is still an option, however modern breweries in all corners of the world are trying their hand at producing world class sour ales to rival those traditional offerings. Eagle Bay Brewing are one of those breweries and here, in collaboration with North Fremantle’s Old Bridge Cellars, they've put out what they’re calling a Sour… Read more
Style
Sour Belgian Red Ale
ABV
6.5%
Bitterness
7 IBU

Eagle Bay Brewers Series: India Pale Ale 2019

Tapped November 7th, 2019
In a growing market increasingly filled with crazy and hazy hop-centric beers, many brewers are finding room in their lineups for clean and more accessible beer styles that showcase hops over everything else, while aiming to satisfy a broader spectrum of discerning beer drinkers. Eagle Bay's spring 2019 Brewers Series release is just such a beer: their India Pale Lager a style that's existed for some time but hasn’t gained as much fame and glory as some other hoppy styles, most notably its ale… Read more
Style
India Pale Lager
ABV
5.8%
Bitterness
40 IBU

Hargreaves Hill Pursuit Of Hoppiness No.2

Tapped November 6th, 2019
As brewers play around with ever greater levels of hopping, stages of dry-hopping, and how hops behave at different times and in conjunction with different processes within each brew, it's easy to imagine them huddled over spreadsheets and graphs plotting the next experiment. Certainly, it feels like the second entry in Hargreaves Hill's Pursuit Of Hoppiness series leans more towards the latter when it comes to the oft-cited line about brewing being a case of art meets science – funky neon label… Read more
Style
Quadruple Dry-Hopped NEIPA
ABV
8.5%

Gage Roads VHA (Very Hoppy Ale)

Tapped November 6th, 2019
Gage Roads' VHA (Very Hoppy Ale) has been quietly winning medals for the best part of 2019. Kicking off with gold at May’s Australian International Beer Awards then the Sydney Royal Beer and Cider Show and, finally, the Perth Royal Beer Awards, it was easy to start to wonder if this accolade-grabbing beer would actually be made available for punters or just people in white coats faced with the arduous task of evaluating hundreds of beers each day. Well, reader, the beer with the initialised sobriquet… Read more
Style
Pale Ale
ABV
5.2%
Stockists

Available in limited release – draught and cans – from Gage Roads stockists nationally

Innate Brewers Idaho Gem Single Hop IPA

Tapped November 6th, 2019
Single hop beers can be a wonderful way to explore the nuances of a particular variety and this Single Hop series debut for Innate serves up some very intriguing characters. Idaho Gem's unknown genetic heritage only adds to the mystery although, flavour wise, the Innate team suggest "pineapple, candied fruit, cherry and spice" – quite the mix. While some of those may be present, our tasting unearthed green, unripe tropical fruit, candied lime and grapefruit peel with herbal elements… Read more
Style
Single Hop IPA
ABV
5.8%

Ballistic Beer Co Red Papaya Twang

Tapped November 5th, 2019
When we wrote up the original Twang from Ballistic, I made a reference to Wile E Coyote being shot from a giant bow. Now that Twang Red Papaya is here, I can’t stop thinking of Daffy Duck dressed as Robin Hood and tripping down a hill into a pond. Each beer in the Twang series bears a broken guitar on the label; a red papaya cut in half lengthways (as any image search of red papaya will show) looks a little like said guitar, but perhaps more like one of the guitar’s stringed ancestors: a mandolin… Read more
Style
Fruit Sour
ABV
4.6%

Ballistic Beer Co Hawaiian Haze DDH Pale Ale

Tapped November 5th, 2019
The uniform worn by most brewers is black or navy blue - the kinds of colours that hide the myriad spills and splats and splashes they face on a daily basis. The uniform of Ballistic’s brewers? Loud Hawaiian shirts in garish colours. And now Ballistic have put the fun spirit of those shirts into a beer (and onto the label of the can) with the Hawaiian Haze DDH Pale Ale. They’ve jammed in enough US and NZ hops – El Dorado, Rakau, Pacifica and Mosaic – to obscure any light trying to squeeze… Read more
Style
DDH Pale Ale
ABV
4.8%
Bitterness
30 IBU

Little Creatures Long Days Little IPA

Tapped November 5th, 2019
In the early Aughts, Little Creatures created Rogers’, one of Australia’s best-known mid-strength beers – well, almost mid-strength as it's an amber that sits at 3.8 percent ABV. Nigh on twenty years later, the brewing cherubs have unveiled their entry into the modern low ABV arena in the form of Long Days, a "Little IPA", which reflects how far the market has changed. Dry-hopped with Cryo Simcoe hops, Long Days' easy-drinking appeal shows passionfruit and citrus with a subtle pine… Read more
Style
Session IPA
ABV
3.5%
Stockists

Available nationwide through summer 2019/20

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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