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!
Innate Brewers Neverland Mango Milkshake Ale
Tapped December 13th, 2018
There are few things that scream Australian summer more than fresh mangoes. Well, maybe prawns, test matches, accidental sunburn, music and beer countdowns… Hmmm… let’s just say for the purpose of this review that it’s fresh mangoes. Besides, no one really wants a prawn milkshake ale do they?! As it pours from the tap, a ribbon of vibrant sunshine orange hits the glass and the perfumed scent of green mango fills the bar area as Neverland's lurid, pulp-like appearance becomes crested with… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Mango Milkshake Ale
- ABV
- 5.2%
- Bitterness
- 30 IBU
- Stockists
-
Check Innate's Facebook page for other WA stockists
Sauce Brewing 12 Hayz of Xmas
Tapped December 13th, 2018
Pursuing the mantra that too much of a good thing is folly, Sauce is ushering in Christmas with a mini celebration of a form of beer for which it’s becoming increasingly known, which is to say: hazy. Indeed, they began the week in which the celebration is launched with their Bubble & Squeak taking top spot in The Crafty Pint’s Blind Tasting of New England IPAs and, as if on cue, a couple of days later a third of their taps were pouring hazy beer. And how very, very hazy they are. It’s… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPAs
- ABV
- 7.0%
- Stockists
-
And a very select number of other crafty venues
More stockists...
Beerfarm Save The Harvest Strawberry Sour
Tapped December 12th, 2018
The Beerfarm’s "Established For the Future" ethos is expressed through many endeavours, in this case via the saving perfectly good fruit from landfill. Early in 2018, The Pineapple was created after tonnes of rescued overripe fruit was reincarnated as a Berliner Weisse whose cans were tasteful adorned with head brewer Josh Thomas’ noble profile on a crisp $50 note. Fast forward to the tail end of the year and a nationwide needle contamination issue forced many strawberry growers to… Read more
Red
- Style
- Fruited Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 4.6%
- Stockists
-
Available in limited release from the brewery and select WA stockists
Newstead & Brewski & The Mill V
Tapped December 11th, 2018
Newstead Brewing, Brewski, and The Mill on Constance reached five years of operating as 2018 was drawing to a close, and a big part of the birthday celebrations was a trio of collaboration brews and events. You can read more about it and their thoughts on the Brisbane beer scene here. In five years, they’ve caused plenty of mischief together so it’s only fitting they’d occasionally brew some beer together to make up for it. V - Brewski is a ruby grapefruit grisette, weighing in at 4.5 percent… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Various styles
Stomping Ground La Boca Pilsner
Tapped December 11th, 2018
They love a partnership at Stomping Ground, especially when it gives them a chance to put their beers – and craft beer generally – in front of a new audience. For summer 2018, that's led the Collingwood operation to hook up with Arts Centre Melbourne to host a pop-up bar on the forecourt while Evita takes up residency inside. And, as well as stacking a couple of colourful containers atop each other from which to service theatre-goers and passers-by, they've create a beer. La Boca is a pilsner,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Pilsner
- ABV
- 4.5%
Cheeky Monkey Jungle Juice NEIPA
Tapped December 11th, 2018
For Ross Terlick’s final beer with Cheeky Monkey before heading to pastures new it seemed appropriate to create something that celebrated his tenure with the jovial macacas; well, that’s what he intended until the crushing demand for a Cheeky Monkey NEIPA steered brew day in a slightly different direction. Thus, along with new brewing monkey Dylan Hunter, the pair waded into the murky waters of the style de jour to create a hazy send off. Although their NEIPA expression is not as full as some,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- NEIPA
- ABV
- 6.3%
- Stockists
-
Available in limited release from the brewery and at select WA locations
O'Brien Beer Gluten Free Pale Ale
Tapped December 11th, 2018
If you've only every come across one gluten free beer in your time, there's a good chance it will be this one. The bright green-liveried pale ale can be found in fridges and on shelves of retailers across the country and, if a venue's only going to offer up one gluten free beer, it often plumps for this one. Pouring a bright, pale golden, and, from the cans launched for summer 2018/19, you'll pick up a pretty punchy sweet citrus and pine character on the nose, followed by some pleasant peachy and… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Gluten Free Pale Ale
- ABV
- 4.5%
O'Brien Gluten Free Premium Lager
Tapped December 11th, 2018
The Premium Lager is the O'Brien beer that's becoming as ubiquitous as the flagship Pale, found on shelves and fridges at major retailers across the country as well as turning up as the GF offering on many bar and restaurant drinks menus. Golden in colour, the hops deliver the sort of spicy and floral aromas found in traditional European lagers and a herbal character on the palate, where you'll detect a little smokiness too, which comes from the O'Brien team roasting some of the sorghum grains to… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Gluten Free Lager
- ABV
- 4.5%
Nomad Brewing Co Supersonic Gold Rush DIPA
Tapped December 10th, 2018
It’s been near enough four years since Nomad’s Supersonic double IPA first landed on the scene, though it’s only relatively recently the beer seems to have really discovered its wings. In 2018, the Brookvale brewery has resurrected and reinvigorated the original concept by releasing the beer in an expanding collection of one-off editions that explore new hops, native ingredients and even a collaboration with one of their favourites American brewers, Stone. The latest in the Supersonic family… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Desert Lime Double IPA
- ABV
- 7.8%
Wildflower Noel 2018
Tapped December 10th, 2018
Christmas has come to Wildflower in the form of their first Noel, a beer conceived to channel and complement the spirit of warmth and spice that washes over much of Europe at this time of year. But, unlike a great many Christmas beers, Noel isn’t actually spiced. Instead it relies on malt, yeast and the not-so-secret ingredient of Muscat barrels to do the job. The malt base is all-important and comes courtesy of Voyager Craft Malt in NSW, their Munich variant accounting for 99 percent of the load… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Christmas Ale
- ABV
- 8.0%
Six String Brewing On Tour
Tapped December 10th, 2018
Miraculously timed for the arrival of the warmer weather, the Six String Brewing Company has ventured into the mid-strength market with On Tour, a beer to take with you wherever you venture this summer. This is a category that was once frowned upon by a hardcore craft beer crowd determined to be defined by anything other than the kinds of beers the big brewers would generally make. But, over the years, a degree of pragmatism has taken hold. It turns out quite a lot of people quite like drinking… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Mid-Strength
- ABV
- 3.5%
Otherside Brewing Co Scotch Ale
Tapped December 8th, 2018
Otherside’s first barrel release builds on the classic yet little seen Scotch ale style with a little help from Woodford Reserve and Heaven Hill bourbon barrels. The spirituous match is well considered and teases at future releases but, for now, this refined sipper released in time for Christmas 2018 should fortify the more contemplative moments of the tail end of the year. The dark copper beer’s tight cappuccino-coloured head holds aromas of caramel jubes, bourbon vanilla and muted oak. The… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Bourbon Barrel-Aged Scotch Ale
- ABV
- 8.2%
BentSpoke Brewing Co Easy
Tapped December 7th, 2018
As the first days of summer 2018/19 tick by, another hoppy mid-strength – this time one that veers close to light beer territory in terms of ABV, serving up just one standard drink per 375ml flip top can – lands. It's BentSpoke's turn to throw their hat into this ever busier area of the local beer landscape – see our article on the rise of mid-strengths here – with Easy creating a vibe before you've even put the beer to your lips thanks to its sea-meets-sand colour scheme and the line drawings… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Mid-Strength
- ABV
- 3.2%
- Bitterness
- 22 IBU
Sauce Brewing DIPApotamus
Tapped December 7th, 2018
It could be that the most notable thing about the new double IPA from Sauce Brewing is that there’s really nothing unusual about it. Indeed, it brings to mind a comparatively quaint time within the Aussie craft beer boom, before all the haze and the fruity sours, when the default way for a brewer to make an impact with drinkers was to concoct some sort of IPA recipe then throw as many hops as possible at it. And that’s pretty much what they’ve done here as DIPApotamus is the hoppiest beer… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast Double IPA
- ABV
- 8.2%
KAIJU! Paradise Pils
Tapped December 6th, 2018
A lager from KAIJU!?! Look, we know the beer world is twisting itself into every weirder contortions, but, seriously? Well, yes. And, as with many things lager-related, you can blame the Czechs. It was on a trip to Europe that notorious US hop fiend Nat Reeves, one of the founders and head brewer at the Dandenong brewery, had an epiphany drinking unfiltered kellerbiers at the likes of Pilsner Urquell and returned to Australia set upon developing such a beer, albeit with a KAIJU! twist. Various trials… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- New World Pilsner
- ABV
- 4.7%
KAIJU! Mutation Series: Main Squeeze
Tapped December 6th, 2018
Now their pilot brewery is up and running, KAIJU! has launched the Mutation Program, a series of 300 and 600 litre batches of beers that may or may come back in greater volume down the line. Initially, however, they'll only see the light in tiny runs of 30 or less cases plus a few kegs dotted around the country. Or, in the case of the first one, Main Squeeze, inside the Carwyn Cellars advent calendar too. Recipients of the calendars will have cracked theirs at the weekend. For anyone else who can… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Tropical Session Ale
- ABV
- 3.2%
Fury & Son Long Hot Days
Tapped December 6th, 2018
For their 2017/18 summer seasonal, Fury & Son put out the mid-strength Citra Sour. A year on, as every man and his dog looks to release some sort of lower ABV fruity sour, the Keilor Park team has decided to follow a more traditional path with a water, malt, hops and yeast summer ale. So, while the cans are funky to look at, what's inside is rather more straightforward. It's tagged a "hoppy kolsch" and, while there are some ripe tropical fruits at play, there's a pretty full, bready,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Summer Ale
- ABV
- 4.4%
Batch Brewing Co 2 Strainz Triticale Sour
Tapped December 6th, 2018
Fruited sours have become quite the thing at the Batch Brewing Company. They usually have at least one pouring at any given time, often more – especially in summer. In the past they’ve added everything from passionfruit to raspberries to currants, but this latest one’s a little different. Why? It’s got no added fruit at all. 2 Strainz is a triticale sour, so named for the triticale strain of grain which is a hybrid of wheat and rye. The beer itself is pale, slightly hazy and, for something… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Sour Ale
- ABV
- 4.0%
Batch Brewing Co Tasman Tango Session IPA
Tapped December 6th, 2018
Is the Tasman Tango one beer done two ways or two totally different beers? Well, kind of both. Batch’s new Session IPA experiment involves taking one recipe but brewing it using two distinct sets of ingredients, each sourced from a different country. The Gold version is a showcase of Australian malt and hops while its Silver dance partner represents New Zealand grown ingredients. Flipping the coin and starting with the Kiwi version, the Gladfield malts do the subtle but important work of giving… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Session IPAs
- ABV
- 4.0%
Little Rivers Brewing Sour Series: Berrylicious & Passion Fruit Sour
Tapped December 6th, 2018
The brewing team at Little Rivers has embraced the lacto life with the launch of its Sour Series. Kicking things off is a pair of kettle sours that may have started out in roughly the same place but end up as rather different beasts. With Berrylicious, the label might suggest a need to pucker up, but it's laden with so many berries the tangy, acidic side of the beer is very much playing second fiddle. You're given fair warning too: emptying a bottle into the glass is a stop-you-in-your-tracks moment,… Read more
Red
- Style
- Fruit Sours
- ABV
- 4.8%
