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!
Big Shed & Hotel Sweeney's I Am Brut IPA
Tapped February 28th, 2019
When Big Shed owners Craig and Jason venture to Sydney, they always drop in to visit their long-time supporters at Hotel Sweeney's. They're big fans of the CBD pub's rooftop bar and figured it was about time they made a collaboration beer that was "quaffable with a boozy kick". The result is I Am Brut … a Brut IPA and Big Shed’s first crack at a style that continues to deliver pun after pun; here the name (and artwork) tips a wink to Guardians of the Galaxy favourite Groot. The bottle… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Brut IPA
- ABV
- 6.6%
- Stockists
Beerland Brewing Retro Blossom
Tapped February 28th, 2019
What do you do when your family owns and runs an organically certified fruit and vegetable farm in central western NSW and you also happen to work for a brewery? Well, first you get your hands on one tonne of pureed Lapin cherries from said farm (Cantrill Organics), of course. Then you convince Tom, the brewer at Whitfords Brewing Company, to make a Berliner Weisse with them. It sounds like a great idea, and it's one that's turned out a refreshing fruited sour that drinks like a rosé. Typical to… Read more
Red
- Style
- Cherry Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 3.8%
- Stockists
-
And select WA venues and growler stations
More stockists...
Boatrocker G, K & W Australian Wild Ales
Tapped February 27th, 2019
Boatrocker co-founder Matt Houghton has doffed his cap to family members in the past and is at it again with a duo that forms part of three Australian wild ales released at the same time. The family member this time around is grandfather George Kingsley Sutton, who the labels tell us was variously an archaeologist, art collector, gastronomist and patron of the arts. The beers in his honour – G is for George and K is for Kingsley – are born of the same barrel-aged sour base beer, with George… Read more
Red
- Style
- Australian Wild Ales
- ABV
- 6.5%
Nowhereman Aloha, F**kers Tropical Sour
Tapped February 27th, 2019
Where do you start with a beer name like this? Its aggressively playful title definitely evokes the sour yet sunshine in a glass beer, likewise the limited run of tiki glasses available at the brewery for its debut, but it could come in a little hot for the PC police. No matter, for most people it means there's a new beer to drink and multiple decals available depending on how aggressively playful the venue is. Continuing Nowhereman's theme of fruit-infused summer releases, Aloha F**ckers comes laced… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Tropical Sour
- ABV
- 5.0%
- Stockists
-
Nowhereman Brewery
Cabin 401 Bar & Grill, Bibra Lake
Canteen Pizza, Cottesloe
Cutler & Smith, Geraldton
Ezra Pound, Northbridge
More stockists...Holy Smokes, Fremantle
Island Market, Trigg
La Capannina, Scarborough
Lalla Rookh, Perth CBD
Outback Jack's, Northbridge
Palace Arcade, Northbridge
Refuge Small Bar, Subiaco
Ronnie Nights, Fremantle
Scarborough Cellars, Scarborough
The Brisbane Hotel, Highgate
The Standard, Northbridge
The Whistling Kite, Secret Harbour
Sauce Brewing Egg Hunt Chocolate Stout
Tapped February 26th, 2019
Though it pains me to say it, we’ve all come to terms with hot cross buns and chocolate eggs appearing in shops months before Easter. So it’s only fair that we should also be able to buy chocolate beers well in advance of Easter, yes? While hot cross buns bought now will go stale before Easter, and chocolate bought now will melt or bloom, Egg Hunt will only improve over the next few months. This dark beauty doesn’t contain any cocoa, but the combination of chocolate malts, vanilla and lactose… Read more
Black
- Style
- Chocolate Stout
- ABV
- 7.0%
Sauce Brewing Infrared Red IPA
Tapped February 26th, 2019
Sometimes you feel like trying an experimental beer, a new style, something that will surprise and delight you with its imaginative combination of crazy ingredients… and sometimes you want a fine version of a style you’re familiar with. Infrared isn’t an attempt to revolutionise red IPAs. Nor is it trying to be the biggest, baddest, blow-your-face-off red IPA on the block. At six-and-a-half percent, it’s weighty, without being heavy; you can have more than one, but you could never mistake… Read more
Red
- Style
- Red IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
- Bitterness
- 60 IBU
Sauce Brewing Summer Smoothie & Belgian IPA
Tapped February 26th, 2019
Remember when IPAs were new to you, and you thought they all tasted the same? At the tail end of summer, Sauce has released two IPAs that show just how broad the spectrum of IPAs can be. First up is Summer Smoothie, following in the footsteps of Bubble & Squeak, Trubble & Squeak, and last year’s Breakfast Smoothie. Sauce is no stranger to the hazy IPA, and since we keep asking for them, they keep making bangers. The name says it all for this one. The mango and the lactose team up for that… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy IPA & Belgian IPA
- ABV
- 7.2% & 6.0%
Prancing Pony E2 West Coast IPA
Tapped February 26th, 2019
While it's unlikely anyone would accuse the Prancing Pony crew of being one trick ponies, given the diversity of beers they've released over the years, there is one trick they're happy to repeat. And it comes in the shape of a West Coast IPA. The first time they performed it was in the shape of E1, a beer poured at a very select collection of venues around Adelaide in order to gain some feedback. After a few tweaks and improvements to the recipe, the second release has been launched on a larger scale… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.9%
- Bitterness
- 76 IBU
- Stockists
-
Prancing Pony Brewery
Venues across SA & WA
Blind Bear, Cronulla
Woolpack Hotel, Redfern
Leura Cellars
More stockists...
Clare Valley Brewing Co Hazy Mosaic & Mango Berliner Weisse
Tapped February 25th, 2019
Summer tropical vibes are pouring out of the Clare Valley brewery as summer prepares to transition into spring, with not one but two new limited releases taking a juicy approach to slaking your thirst: a 6.5 percent ABV single hop hazy IPA and a Berliner Weisse laced with mango. The Hazy Mosaic enters the glass a deep golden colour – hazy rather than murky – with a thin wispy white head. The Mosaic hop goes about its business well, with juicy passionfruit aromas so strong they're reminiscent… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy SHIPA & Mango Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 6.5% & 3.8%
Boatrocker DDH IIPA
Tapped February 25th, 2019
We might still be in February but Boatrocker is closing in on double figures for new releases this year – or, at least, new releases and repackaged oldies. And, while there are the sort of barrel-aged beers for which the brewery has become best known among those new releases, there's a focus on hop forward releases too, with the well-received Jeepers Creepers SNEIPA joined by the DDH IIPA. For the most part, we've seen the DDH / TDH abbreviations (double or triple dry-hopped respectively) attached… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IIPA
- ABV
- 8.5%
Pirate Life & Limeburners Barrel-Aged Stout 2018 Vintage
Tapped February 23rd, 2019
The debut Hindmarsh Collection release for Pirate Life began nearly three years ago. Clearly these things take time, however the relationship cemented between the brewery and Limeburners distillery, regarded as one of the world’s best, quickly evolved through mutual admiration and respect, and more than a few beers. The series premiere is a blend of 30, 18 and six-month-old American oak whisky barrel aged stout and arrives in an elegantly noir package that evokes a similar statement of intent… Read more
Black
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
- ABV
- 8.6%
- Stockists
-
Available across Australia and in Singapore too
Sailors Grave Summer Farmhouse 2019
Tapped February 22nd, 2019
The first of Sailors Grave's seasonal farmhouse ales for 2019 has snuck out of the Orbost brewery just in time to still be seasonally appropriate. The quartet of annual releases typically operate upon a saison-esque base from which the team launches into a flight of fancy armed with fruits, flowers, weeds and whatever they can get their hands on in Gippsland. In this case, at play are lees from Lightfoot & Sons Chardonnay, strawberries and rhubarb "from Joe's garden" and foraged fennel… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Spiced Farmhouse Ale
- ABV
- 5.2%
Indian Ocean Get Pitted
Tapped February 22nd, 2019
It’s fun to imagine the way in which the phrase “get pitted” was heard in the brewhouse when this beer was imagined. Perhaps it was said joyously at the idea of brewing a NEIPA with Belgian yeast or maybe it was said in disbelief at the idea of hand-pitting 200kg of stone fruit. Either way, the addition of Belle Saison yeast and a mix of nectarines and peaches makes for a boozy, spicy and fruity release. There’s a subtle citrus pithiness in the beer but the spotlight shines on the battle… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fruit Saison
- ABV
- 7.0%
- Stockists
-
Indian Ocean Brewery
Cellarbrations Superstore Hamilton Hill
Cellarbrations Maylands
Palace Arcade
Old Faithful
More stockists...and more to come
Otherside Brewing Co Experimental Series: Banana Shake IPA
Tapped February 22nd, 2019
Banana. The word is right there in the title of the beer. But how much banana flavour should one expect? In these hazy days of fruits and hops, when a flavour is right there in the name of the beer, it’s hard to set your expectations as to whether you’re about to experience something soft and subtle or loud and menacing. In this case, the banana is on the quieter end of the scale, the flavour carefully imparted via the use of a hefeweizen yeast. From there, the team pressed on with an IPA. Well,… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Milkshake IPA
- ABV
- 6.4%
- Stockists
-
In 375ml cans and on tap across WA then hitting the East Coast
More stockists...
Beerland Brewing Fresh as Kittens Double NEIPA
Tapped February 22nd, 2019
Beerland have gone large with this limited release. Brewer Andrew aptly named it Fresh as Kittens because kittens are always bright-eyed and ready to pounce on you at any moment (he also likes cats, but that's less relevant to the beer). The beer itself is a double NEIPA is bursting with fresh orange, pineapple and nectarine thanks to a generous dry-hopping regime featuring Azacca, Galaxy, Vic Secret and Citra. So where does the kitty come in? Well, at 8 percent ABV, it's to sneak up on you and give… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Double NEIPA
- ABV
- 8.0%
- Stockists
-
Plus select WA venues and growler stations
More stockists...
Wayward Brewing Funky Pineapple Hand Grenade Brett IPA
Tapped February 21st, 2019
Funky Pineapple Hand Grenade Brett IPA... the name alone is a mouthful but what of the beer itself, which has returned in a limited run in the latter part of summer 2019 after debuting as a GABS festival beer in 2016? Well, first up, a clarification: there's no pineapple involved, at least not in fruit form. Or, indeed, hand grenades. But it does feature Brett and is, thus, a little funky. Essentially a West Coast IPA with a twist, the beer was fermented with nothing but Wayward's favoured Brettanomyces… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Brett IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
- Bitterness
- 50 IBU
Exit Brewing #020 Raspberry Saison
Tapped February 21st, 2019
The limited release tinnies are coming thick and fast from Exit at the start of 2019, with the hazy HIPA Juice joined by a spin on their Saison within just a couple of weeks. The spin comes in the addition of pureed raspberries, with the base recipe otherwise unchanged. If you're familiar with Exit's Saison (and, for that matter, pureed raspberries), the beer has turned out just as you might imagine. There's a layer of juicy berry sweetness throughout, one that's more thinly-spread-with-a-knife than… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Raspberry Saison
- ABV
- 6.3%
- Stockists
-
Launched at Uitgang on Feb 22 with cans appearing in retailers the following week
Eagle Bay Brewing Did We Just Become Friends? IIPA
Tapped February 21st, 2019
Eagle Bay’s habit of sneaking new beers out to market has struck again. The latest Single Series beer is a Will Ferrell-referencing IIPA that draws dryness lessons from their recent IPL although, being Eagle Bay, this is only to enhance sessionability – more on how that works in an 8 percent ABV beer later. The dry-hop expressions of Citra, Amarillo and Cascade hops are somewhat subsumed by Sorachi’s lemon meringue vibe, which leads the way on the aroma front. Pineapple also appears as do… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- IIPA
- ABV
- 8.0%
- Stockists
-
Eagle Bay Brewing Co
The Goose, Busselton
The Pourhouse, Dunsborough
The Dunsborough Tavern
The Norfolk Hotel, Fremantle
The Thirsty Camel, Maddington
More stockists...
Bootleg Brewery The Hulk Festival IIPA
Tapped February 20th, 2019
Bootleg got together with the team from Buzz Media to create a beer for the 2019 South West Craft Beer Festival. In agreeing on a style, they decided a session double IPA was flavour of the month, with the Margaret River region's brewer drawing up a recipe in which a light malt body would let the hops shine, while the alcohol content would be kept at a “manageable” festival level. If you're wondering what that means in beer festival terms, they went with 7.2 percent ABV. The result is a clean… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Double IPA
- ABV
- 7.2%
- Stockists
-
Available in very limited quantity at WA retailers
Moon Dog The Magnificent Mullets 2019
Tapped February 19th, 2019
Back in the barely remembered, distant era that was beer in 2012, back when many argued that craft beer was just a fad that would fade away as it had done in the past, when you'd be told in no uncertain terms that the revolution would never take off in Brisbane and when execs at the biggest beer companies swore blind 6 percent ABV, highly hopped, bitter IPAs would never work in Australia, Moon Dog released The Magnificent Mullets. By the standards of the fledgling brewery, they might not have seemed… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fruit Sours
- ABV
- 4.5%
