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!
Cupitt's Estate Anniversary Ale 2020
Tapped February 24, 2021
What's the difference between a viscous tawny port and this barleywine from Cupitt’s Estate? Not much. This beer is classy decadence in a wax-dipped bottle. In 2019’s barleywine, we noted vanilla custard and dark chocolate notes, but the 2020 Anniversary Ale is really all about boozy dried fruit. The fumes are more pruney than fingertips that have been soaking in the bathtub for two hours, and more figgy than a pudding in a Christmas song. Unrefined sugar, smooth molasses and a hint of honey… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Barley Wine
- ABV
- 11.3%
Margaret River Brewhouse Drifter Blood Orange Gose
Tapped February 24, 2021
Margaret River Brewhouse’s blood orange gose has been released just in time for 2021’s South West Craft Beer Festival. With the region lucky enough to be in a position to host a festival of this scale, the Brewhouse team have knocked up something a little special with limited availability in tins at select WA outlets and the brewery itself. Drifter is a full-flavoured, kettle-soured gose brewed with a stack of local blood oranges. It’s uber-clean and emanates vibrant orange peel and tangy citrus… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Blood Orange Gose
- ABV
- 4.7%
- Bitterness
- 18 IBU
Blackman's Brewery Needs More Amarillo
Tapped February 23, 2021
We quickly became big fans of Blackman's Needs More... IPA series in 2020, even plugging it as part of our end of year review for Victoria, so it feels like we've given the Torquay crew something to live up to. Clearly, they have every intention of doing so as they've already got three new versions of their hop showcase lined up for the early months of 2021 – we're putting on an event for Crafty Cabal members focusing on their hoppy beers in March too. The new year's run kicks off with a hop variety… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Single Hop IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
Cupitt's Estate Hibiscus Wit & Coconut IPA
Tapped February 23, 2021
Cupitt’s Estate is an idyllic picture of agriculture, with sweeping views of vineyards and green fields, and just a glimpse of water in the form of Stony Creek. But the folk there also have imaginations that stretch further than the fields before them, and they’ve brought out a couple of releases that dream of life on a Pacific island. The Hibiscus Wit is one of their seasonals that keeps coming back, and it’s easy to see why – it shines like a rosé, smells of delicate nectar, and tastes… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hibiscus Wit & Coconut IPA
- ABV
- 5.0% & 6.2%
- Bitterness
- 12 & 30 IBU
4 Pines Keller Door: Nectaron Double IPA
Tapped February 23, 2021
4 Pines have released some wonderful Keller Door beers over the years, and this DIPA featuring Nectaron hops is up there with the best of them. Spruiked for its pungent aroma of ripe stonefruit and tropical fruits, Nectaron is a hop variety launched by NZ Hops in 2020 (apparently its previous name, HORT 4337, wasn’t catchy enough). It certainly brings peach and nectarine to this DIPA, in enough concentration you’d swear you left a box of them in the car on a hot day. But there’s also big grapefruit… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Double IPA
- ABV
- 8.5%
- Bitterness
- 70 IBU
Wolf Of The Willows Inner Vision
Tapped February 22, 2021
When all of Victoria was forced into its third, albeit just five-day, lockdown, there was a pretty glum feeling of déjà vu circulating in the air. We’d seen all this before haven’t we? How long’s this one going to go for? Fortunately, it was as short as promised and, for some, the five days at home were a good time to look inside, reflect, and maybe return to one of those favourite isolation projects of 2020. For Wolf of the Willows, their first release of 2021 was already set to be a return… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- DDH Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.6%
Deeds Brewing Fiery Gate Of Helles, No Ticket, Tropicana & Lament Configuration
Tapped February 22, 2021
Ask a Deeds fan what sort of beers they enjoy most from the Glen Iris brewery and I doubt you'd find many going with "their classic lagers". Yet of their final quintet of specialties in 2020 it was their Czech style pilsner Na Zdravi I enjoyed the most. Here, they return to lager with Fiery Gates Of Helles, but hop across the border to seek inspiration from Munich helles, and again it's a move they carry off with a clarity like the pale gold liquid that pours from the cans. Soft floral… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Helles, DIPA, Imperial Cream Sour & Wheat DIPA
- ABV
- 5.0% & 8.0% & 7.
Nomad Brewing Champers In Paradise
Tapped February 21, 2021
It may share a common element with Nomad’s Champers Brut IPA from a couple of prior, but the difference between that sparkly hop juice and this pink popper released early in 2021 is stark. Champers in Paradise doesn’t try to hide the fact it’s all about the fruit – the bright rose flush is loud and proud in announcing its dragonfruit and guava additions. Sticky red liquorice, floral guava notes and thick passionfruit all rush the nose and then welcome the flood of sour that hits as Champers… Read more
Red
- Style
- Brut Sour Ale
- ABV
- 5.5%
- Bitterness
- 10 IBU
Burnley Brewing & Hops To Home Danker IPA
Tapped February 19, 2021
In 2020 Burnley Brewing and the team at Hops To Home teamed up to brew Dank and in 2021, they're back with an IPA that's even danker and called, um, Danker IPA. The series is a showcase of the flavours that were more commonly found in IPAs during an earlier time in the craft beer revolution, when America's "Three Cs" were brewers favourite hops. Danker doesn't just taste like a beer out of time but looks like one too with its dark orange, borderline red colour isn't a sight you'll often… Read more
Red
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 7.0%
- Bitterness
- 85 IBU
Moffat Beach Hazed & Confused
Tapped February 19, 2021
When Matt Wilson fell in love with IPAs years ago, they were always bitter – it’s one of the things he loved about them. So the recent movement of hazy IPAs being low in bitterness didn’t appeal to him at all, and he resisted making one for a long time. But, on a research trip to the States in 2019, he found that he enjoyed a number of the hazy IPAs he tried, so when he returned home he finally gave in and brewed one. Hazed & Confused is stuffed with Mosaic, Galaxy, Amarillo, Strata and… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 5.9%
- Bitterness
- 80 IBU
Bridge Road Brewers Very Berry Sour
Tapped February 19, 2021
To bid summer 2020/21 farewell, Bridge Road have packed 500 kilograms into a beer to create a Very Berry Sour. Released in a bright purple and pink tin, the beer itself isn't quite as brightly coloured in the glass though its red and pink tint isn't far off - and probably as close to bright purple as you’d want something you put in your mouth to be. Those kilos of fruit that were thrown in are a blend of boysenberry, blackberry, raspberry and strawberry that sit atop a gose base and while Very… Read more
Red
- Style
- Berry Gose
- ABV
- 4.3%
Rocks Brewing Alexandria Lager
Tapped February 19, 2021
Yikes. Even compared to other lagers, this is impressively easy to drink. The aroma of Alexandria Lager gives off subtle banana bread vibes, like the cafe up the road is baking a loaf and there’s a gentle breeze bringing the smell your way. While this beer is made in the style of a German pilsner, there’s a little more malt sweetness here than many pilsners carry, but somehow it still has a clean character to rival the trickling water of a mountain stream. It’s soft and slinky like silk pyjamas,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- German Pilsner
- ABV
- 4.5% ABV
- Bitterness
- 20 IBU
Rocks Brewing Holey Dollar IPA
Tapped February 19, 2021
Holey Dollar, Batman! This West Coast IPA just bit me! Rocks’ Holey Dollar is dank, dry and affronting in the same way as the first time you tried ginger ale as a kid. Piney resin saturates your senses, followed by a savoury bitter bite that carries a touch of spice. But don’t expect the bitterness to hang around - the dryness of this IPA whips it off your tongue before you’re done with it. It’s intense but soon gone, like a slap in the face. Pair Holey Dollar with a pie and mash potato (or… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 6.3% ABV
- Bitterness
- 57 IBU
Local Brewing Co Runaway DIPA
Tapped February 18, 2021
February 2021 is the two-year mark since the team behind Local Brewing Co launched and plenty has changed in that time. For one, they used to be called A Local Beer and only had a single beer too but in 2020 their name change saw the team expand the core range to become Sunset XPA, Pacific Paradise and Runaway IPA. To celebrate turning two, the brewing company has doubled down on the last of those to brew a double version of Runaway. The DIPA contains the same hop combination of Simcoe, Ekuanot,… Read more
Golden
Otherside Brewing Co Distortion 2021: Sabro Sour & DDH Oat Cream Pale Ale
Tapped February 18, 2021
Otherside’s late summer 2021 pair play to the moment, and the more adventurous may even consider blending the duo in an inspired rush of warm air, sunshine and tropically-infused hedonism. This year's Distortion delivers a zippy Sabro-coco-mandarin-mint vibe, which makes a whole lot of sense in refreshing summery cocktails, and yet appears polarising for many in beer. Why Sabro haters gotta hate? If nothing else, here it helps deliver a sour with character and flavour. Personality isn’t missing… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Sabro Sour & DDH Oat Cream Pale
- ABV
- 6.0% & 5.4%
- Stockists
-
Otherside brewery & online
And Otherside stockists nationally
More stockists...
Brick Lane Avalanche Hazy IPA – Summer 2021
Tapped February 17, 2021
Given it took me three full weeks to stop listening to We Will Always Love You on repeat (no word of a lie – ask Mrs Pint), I'm pretty invested in anything referencing the ground-breaking Melbourne artists. Thankfully, Brick Lane's brewers are pretty invested in their Avalanche Hazy IPA series, as evidenced by their decision to host a Zoom chat to talk about their plans for the beer as number two – a showcase for freshly-landed Northern Hemisphere hops – heads out across Australia. It was a… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.7%
Bad Shepherd Berry Parfait
Tapped February 17, 2021
For Bad Shepherd – like pretty much everyone in Victoria – Valentine's Day 2021 didn't go quite as planned, with another COVID outbreak forcing them to close their brewpub for five days. While it might have scuppered plans to give patrons on the day a mini-tub of berry sorbet when they bought some Berry Parfait, the beer itself remains as a suitably pink nod to the occasion. The raspberry- and blackberry-laced cream sour pours the colour of a very pink berry sponge, and tastes rather like a gently… Read more
Red
- Style
- Berry Cream Sour
- ABV
- 5.5%
- Bitterness
- 10 IBU
Dainton Beer Kong Juice
Tapped February 16, 2021
They love making big, hazy beers at Dainton, have won many a trophy for them, and their tropical-themed hazy IPA Jungle Juice is a deservedly popular core range release. So, much like the release of Godzilla vs Kong later this year, Kong Juice has been a long time coming – and there's an air of inevitability about its rise too. Dainton have dubbed the double hazy IPA the "8% Wonder of the World" and it’s a beer that takes the spirit of Jungle Juice and loads it up not just with more… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Double Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 8.0%
Wild Hop New Releases – February 2021
Tapped February 16, 2021
Since launching in 2019, Wild Hop Brewery have concocted an ever-changing beer list that could well be on its way to featuring every recognisable style of beer on the planet. Their list features 11 original (in style and name) Wild Hop beers and a cider from George The Fox, all available for in-house consumption and takeaway growler fills. The months of January and February saw hops and thirst crushers well represented on the tap list, with eight of the beers featuring coming in at under 5.5 percent… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Various styles
Colonial Brewing Co Gone Green IIPA
Tapped February 15, 2021
To celebrate the installation of 100kW of solar power on the roof of their Port Melbourne brewery (which, having dropped in for the first time since lockdown 1.0 last week, is becoming exceedingly full of brewing and packaging gear that needs powering), Colonial challenged their team to an in-house brew-off. The winning beer would be scaled up and released in honour of going green. The beer that came out on top is appropriate for such a moment too: Gone Green has been given the heaviest hop dose… Read more
Golden
- Style
- DDH IIPA
- ABV
- 8.2%
- Bitterness
- 80 IBU
- Stockists
-
More stockists...
Both Colonial breweries
And other retailers here
