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!
Pirate Life Easy Ale
Tapped December 13th, 2019
They've brewed many, many beers in various shades of pale and with various complexions of hop expression, both in terms of potency and character but, as summer 2019/20 kicks in, Pirate Life have made room for one more in their core lineup. Easy Ale is, as the name suggests, designed for easy-going drinking. Yet don't go imagining a light, summer ale style beer, as this sits more in the space set aside for Australian interpretations of American pale ales. "But they've already got an American… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Cream Ale
- ABV
- 4.5%
- Bitterness
- 22 IBU
Ballistic Beer Co Follow Your Passion Brut IPA
Tapped December 12th, 2019
“In honour of my daughter and all students graduating this year. As you go out and make your mark on the world, be true to yourself and follow your passion.” - David Kitchen, founder of Ballistic. The Aussie beer industry generally doesn’t take itself too seriously, often turning to jokes and puns and parodies for beer designs. But once in a while someone introduces some sentimentality. Ballistic founder David Kitchen has just watched his daughter graduate from university, and so the brewery… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Passionfruit Brut IPA
- ABV
- 5.9%
- Bitterness
- 25 IBU
- Stockists
-
And other Ballistic stockists
More stockists...
Burleigh Brewing All Ways Hopped Hazy IPA
Tapped December 12th, 2019
So, in an era when highly hopped beers are de rigeur, what does "All Ways Hopped" mean? In the case of Burleigh Brewing's brewmaster Brennan Fielding: "We utilised our hopback, multiple dry hopping methods at numerous stages and our own in-house specialty hopping techniques." In doing so, they've created a beer that isn't that hazy when measured against many hazies on the market today and in which the aromas don't explode out of the glass as you might expect. What all those hops… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.7%
3 Ravens Peach Juicy
Tapped December 11th, 2019
The 3 Ravens Juicy train rolls on apace, with a return to fruit additions after a couple of tinnies that switched their focus to highlighting single hop varieties. The introduction of peach purée, along with suitably fruity hops Galaxy and Amarillo, sees Peach Juicy land as one of the most deeply hazy of the series to date – and it's a lively affair on the palate too. Despite the cloudy, almost creamy appearance, there's a prickly acidic side to the fruit aromas, which turns out to be a precursor… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Peach NEIPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
- Bitterness
- 11 IBU
3 Ravens Nat Rav Yarra Glen Riesling & Yarra Valley Merlot
Tapped December 11th, 2019
It took a while for all the moving parts to fall into place for 3 Ravens' Nat Rav series but now they're here it's quite clear that, despite the constancy in concept through the range, they're turning out to be rather different beasts. You can read more about the ethos in our write up on the first two – Grampians Pinot Gris and Heathcote Muscat – but, in the most basic sense, the beers are a blend of typically barrel-aged, mixed ferment beers with used wine grapes, all released in clear bottles. Following… Read more
Red
- Style
- Beer-Wine Hybrids
- ABV
- 6.3% & 8.3%
- Bitterness
- 16 & 24 IBU
Bodriggy Brewing Thundercloud Sour IPA
Tapped December 11th, 2019
Different approaches to sours and IPAs have been floating across Bodriggy's taps since the doors of their brewpub opened in August and, to see out the year, the Abbotsford brewers have combined those two passions to create Thundercloud. The apricot and peach sour IPA tinnie aims to strike the palate with a mix of tropical hop flavours from Simcoe, El Dorado and Rakau and follow up with a rolling thunder in the shape of tartness. Pouring it, my first thought first thought was: “This is definitely… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Sour IPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
Mismatch Brewing White IPA
Tapped December 10th, 2019
Alongside their very consistent and frequently award-winning core range, the team at Mismatch also punch out a long list of limited release beers over the year, many of which are rarely poured outside their home base at Lot 100 in the Adelaide Hills. Now, however, thanks to the installation of a labelling machine at the brewery, these limited releases are set to be packaged and sent further afield. First up is not one for the traditionalist; instead, it's a merging of two styles into one only seen… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- White IPA
- ABV
- 6.8%
Batch Brewing Co Chapeau! 2019
Tapped December 10th, 2019
It’s Chapeau! 2019 time everyone and you know what that means?! Time to put on your most offensively idiotic French accent and wish Batch Brewing Co a bon anniversaire then do a whole lot of “oh hoh hoh” French grunting. It’s OK – it’s all for a good cause and you can’t be cancelled for being racist towards the French, it’s the law. Chapeau! is Batch’s annual birthday beer, a raspberry kettle sour. A fruited sour beer isn’t quite as crazy in 2019 as it was six years ago, but you’d… Read more
Red
- Style
- Raspberry Sour
- ABV
- 6.9%
Catchment Brewing Bublé Brut IPA
Tapped December 6th, 2019
What do you think of when you think Christmas? Bubbly? Baubles? Michael Bublé singing Christmas songs on your nanna’s favourite Christmas CD? Well, Catchment have got you covered with Bublé, a seasonal release Brut IPA brewed especially with the southern hemisphere Christmas - and all three of the aforementioned Christmassy things - in mind. In a can adorned with baubles and Christmas colours, this Brut IPA was fermented on champagne yeast and used a metric Santa-load of Nelson Sauvin for its… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Brut IPA
- ABV
- 8.5%
Catchment Brewing & Chop Chop Chang Juno Yuzu Summer Ale
Tapped December 6th, 2019
A lot of good things are named Juno, like the Ellen Page movie, the NASA mission to Jupiter, and now this beer. Drawing its name from the scientific name for yuzu, Citrus junos, Catchment’s Juno Yuzu Summer Ale was produced in collaboration with Chop Chop Chang’s, a pan-Asian restaurant serving up delicious plates across the street from Catchment’s West End home. The yuzu is a citrus fruit originating in China, introduced to both Japan and Korea during the Tang dynasty that has become a firm… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Yuzu Summer Ale
- ABV
- 4.2%
Cheeky Monkey & South West Craft Beer Bogans Nek Minnut IPL
Tapped December 6th, 2019
Poor Loki. He left his scooter outside the brewery and nek minnut… Perhaps his problems started when WA Facebook beer group South West Craft Beer Bogans rolled up at Cheeky Monkey's Vasse brewery for a summer collab. Using all New Zealand hops – Riwaka, Motueka, Wai-iti and HORT 4337 - the collaborators wanted a forward expression while maintaining the maximum drinkability that six weeks of lagering provides. As a result, Nek Minnut’s clean, dry length is touched with grass, lemon–lime citrus,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- NZ IPL
- ABV
- 5.7%
Bad Shepherd Red IPA & South Island Sour & Double Choc Hazelnut Brown
Tapped December 5th, 2019
They're never shy when it comes to releasing new beers but, for their fourth birthday, Bad Shepherd went on a little splurge. The Red IPA was the official birthday beer, with the style voted for by their fans. Pouring a rusty deep orange, it mixes floral and berry hop aromas with toffee and a deep, broad, toasted bitterness. Indeed, it's a bitterness that packs a punch, one bigger than the restrained aromatics might lead you to expect. The South Island Sour comes with the "session IPA"… Read more
Red
- Style
- Various styles
Tallboy & Moose Hey Presto & Kokomo IPA & Black Parade
Tapped December 5th, 2019
Since securing a few extra tanks, Preston’s Tallboy & Moose have been focusing on getting more of their beers out onto the road. The latest of their monthly releases is Hey Presto, a crispy and clean summer lager that reminded us a little of a turned up version of the brewery’s cream ale, The Cream. Pouring a cloudy light gold and dry-hopped with Motueka and Mandarina Bavaria, within its lean body look out for flavours of lime, mandarin and a little stone fruit. Make your way to the brewpub… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Various Styles
Otherside Brewing Co Indie XPA
Tapped December 5th, 2019
I first heard the term "indie" in 1991. Nirvana were breaking and Sonic Youth were between releasing a pair of overground albums that would influence the 90s American sound and resonate globally. Both had capitalised on hard fought yet building awareness, partly due to a deal with a major label, Geffen Records, which for purists were sell out moves. But how would I have known? Before hearing the term, the notion there was any other option for a band was foreign to my teenage self, but once… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- XPA
- ABV
- 5.2%
- Stockists
-
Otherside Brewery
And Otherside stockists nationally
More stockists...
Otherside Brewing Co DDH Hazy IPA & Catharina Sour
Tapped December 5th, 2019
If there was ever a chance to release a beer of the moment, this is it. As 2019 ebbs towards a new decade, the density of haze surrounding most drinkers is only increasing so, in an accidentally anarchic response, this limited release is actually relatively clear. The DDH Hazy IPA wasn’t supposed to be; however, the Otherside team happily owned the moment of unexpected clarity and released it anyway as a reminder that visuals are but one of many elements of experience. Kohatu, Mosaic, Denali and… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IPA & Fruit Sour
- ABV
- 6.8% & 5.2%
- Stockists
-
Otherside's Myaree brewery
And Otherside stockists nationally.
More stockists...
Coldstream Brewery NEIPA
Tapped December 4th, 2019
Coldstream’s limited released Shivering Man Series features beers that take inspiration from the brewery’s logo of a man taking a cold plunge. The beers only tend to make it into bars and bottleshops around Melbourne and the Yarra Valley and aim to explore territory which the brewery’s accessible and down-the-line core range doesn’t. The fourth of these is this a New England IPA, hopped with Citra, Amarillo and Mosaic. It pours with an orange golden haze and brings forward a juicy mix of… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- NEIPA
- ABV
- 7.0%
Coldstream Brewery Pale Gin Sour
Tapped December 4th, 2019
As well as producing more seasonals, Coldstream have been hard at work in recent times brewing collaborations with local breweries and other producers. In the case of Pale Gin Sour, the beer was brewed with both LittleBrew and Tiny Bear Distillery, both of whom operate in Melbourne’s outer east. Starting out with a hop forward pale, the beer was kettle soured before being infused with a navy strength gin. Upfront the botanical hit is clearest, with a distinct hit of juniper and then lime following… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Gin Sour
- ABV
- 7.6%
Moo Brew NEIPA
Tapped December 4th, 2019
Earlier in 2019, Moo Brew kicked off a roster of new releases every few months – a first for a brewery best known for its focus on a largely traditional core range. To welcome summer and close out the year, the Tasmanian brewers have gone for a style far from traditional and one few might have seen Moo brewing until recently too: a New England IPA. Like the recent Belgian pale launch, the beer comes with its own model too, only rather than finding the palest Belgian male, the Moo team has gone… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- NEIPA
- ABV
- 6.2%
- Bitterness
- 30 IBU
Murray's Kick! Passionfruit
Tapped December 3rd, 2019
When people first taste Stone & Wood’s Pacific Ale (a nostalgic time for many of us), the common descriptor is “passionfruit” - and some are surprised to hear that there’s no actual fruit in the easy-drinking beer and that the passionfruit characters are all derived from the now iconic Galaxy hops. In 2019, however, seeing the word “passionfruit” attached to a beer generally means you can expect full-on tartness, as brewers now use fruit additions in sour beers for a tangy and refreshing… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Passionfruit Wheat Ale
- ABV
- 4.2%
KAIJU! & Blackhearts & Sparrows Signal Sun IPA
Tapped December 3rd, 2019
Blackhearts & Sparrows are having quite the time when it comes to creating collabs with local brewers. For the most part, they've had something a little funky or sour about them, but the team behind the ever-growing indie retail empire have been known to play with hops too, and that's where they head here in the company of KAIJU!, a brewery that knows a thing or two about the little green treasures. Signal Sun is tagged a session or "sessionable" IPA yet sits a little above many beers… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Session IPA
- ABV
- 5.5%
