New Beers
There has never been a time like now: more breweries releasing more new beers than ever before. Here, in The Crafty Cuppa, and in our weekly newsletter, we'll bring you details – and, if we've sampled them, our honest, independent take – on as many of them as possible. Enjoy!
Felons & Sofles Hazy Pale
Published May 9, 2022
It's been one heck of a year to date for the crew at Felons, whether taking into account the impromptu rescue operation as Brisbane River flooded or the work that's been going on to bring the Barrel Hall side of the brewery to life. With this Hazy Pale, however, it's more a case of business as usual: creating a collaboration brew with a local artist to celebrate one of the growing number of festivals they support. The beer was brewed for the launch of the Brisbane Street Art Festival in partnership… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy Pale
- ABV
- 5.5%
- Bitterness
- 45 IBU
- Stockists
-
Find Hazy Pale here
Sailors Grave In The Rip 2022 & Silver King
Published May 9, 2022
Cast your minds back to summer and, were you one of those who tucked into the Great Brew Challenge boxes from NZ Hops, you'll have tried Sailors Grave's Bitter Bitter Bitter – their take on De Ranke's classic XXX Bitter. When invited to take part in a more recent celebration of hops – Bridge Road Brewers' High Country Hop festival – they returned to similar territory, this time using fresh organic Centennial hops from Ryefield Hops within a Belgian IPA. Similarities between the two beers pretty… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Wet Hop Belgian IPA & Corn Lagerq
- ABV
- 5.8% & 5.2%
Barossa Valley Brewing Belgian Strong Ale
Published May 7, 2022
When it came to marking his 50th birthday with a beer, Barossa Valley Brewing founder Denham D'Silva decided to head back to the early years of his beer journey: back to those he enjoyed while living in Brussels as an 18-year-old. The style he landed upon is one any visitor to the Belgian capital simply has to enjoy at least once from a goblet at one of the city's cafĂ©s: a golden strong ale. As with many classics from the old world, they're beers that on paper look simple enough: good malt, hops… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Belgian Golden Strong Ale
- ABV
- 8.5%
Blackman's Brewery Super Hop
Published May 6, 2022
They never seem short of new IPA ideas at Blackman’s Brewery but even with beer drinkers and brewers constantly on a quest for the latest and greatest hoppy beers, it can be good to return to an old favourite. Super Hop is a West Coast IPA that was the first beer released under the brewery’s “Same Day IPA” banner in 2019 which saw kegs and cans delivered to Victorian venues and bottleshops the same day they were packaged. It's a release that certainly impressed too, securing a gold medal… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 7.2%
Braeside Brewing Medulla Oblongata & Pushin' P
Published May 6, 2022
We might need to check in with Braeside Brewing – there seems to be some kind of generational clash occurring at the Melbourne brewery. Medulla Oblongata is a hazy IPA featuring all Australian hops and malts and, given the crocodile on the can, the beer’s name is quite clearly inspired by the pinnacle of comedy for many Millennials, 1998's Waterboy. Featuring the twin combination of Galaxy and Eclipse, the hazy IPA produces quite a sweet aroma of peach juice while the flavour leans more towards… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy IPA& Double IPA
- ABV
- 7.0% & 8.5%
Dainton Beer Burnout & RRAWWWGGR
Published May 6, 2022
The overall IPA category can at times feel like it’s getting paler and paler but if it’s malt and hops combined that interest you, Dainton might have just what you seek. Burnout is a Black IPA that’s heavy on the malt flavours of freshly roasted coffee and bitter dark chocolate, with the mix of hops providing some quite resinous pine, aniseed and further herbal qualities. Stepping things up in terms of ABV but a little lighter on the colour front is RRAWWWGGR, a Big Chewy Red IPA that’s… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Black IPA & Red DIPA
- ABV
- 6.5% & 10.0%
Bodriggy Brewing Bonza Fontana & Stout
Published May 5, 2022
This pair of releases from Bodriggy might be quite different from a conceptual point of view but on drinking them, it’s hard not to think of them as falling under the banner of “pint beers for pubs.” If you’re in a place still warm enough to enjoy a sunny beer garden, Bonza Fontana is ready to welcome you (on second thoughts, even if it's cold, just rug up). The Italian pilsner was first brewed for Stomping Ground’s Lagerland Festival and pours crystal clear with a golden straw hue and… Read more
Black
- Style
- Italian Pilsner & Stout
- ABV
- Both 5.6%
Stone & Wood Counter Culture: Who Really Is Wayne Dubois?
Published May 5, 2022
The Crafty clan has a close family friend with whom we go camping several times each year. And she is the only person for whom I've yet to find a beer she enjoys. I've tried everything I can think of, all manner of styles and many an occasion, but she knows what she likes, and she's good at it too. For the most part, it's a pinot noir or a shiraz, either (or both) of which she'll happily sit on late into the night, only to rise the following morning as if she's not touched a drop – fresh as a daisy… Read more
Red
- Style
- Sparkling Shiraz Sour
- ABV
- 7.0%
- Stockists
-
Find the beer here
Five Barrel Pulp Wave, General Hazy IPA & Extension DIPA
Published May 4, 2022
Yikes. Pulp Wave is so easy to drink, I’m tempted to describe it as halfway between a fruited sour and a seltzer. Big passionfruit tartness up front, then a cruuuuuisy centre, with some residual notes of guava (minus the sweetness) sticking around at the end when all else has vanished into the ether. I know there are heaps of fruited sours that go down easy, but Pulp Wave sinks like a submarine with fly screens. When it comes to General Hazy IPA and Extension Double IPA, I have to give a huge hats… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Fruit Sour, Hazy IPA & Double IPA
- ABV
- 4.0% & 7.2% & 8.2%
- Bitterness
- 0 & 22 & 80 IBU
New England Brewing Co Japanese Rice Lager
Published May 4, 2022
When I first tasted this beer, I knew it contained Buddha’s Hand, but since I’d never tasted Buddha’s Hand before I wanted to discern what kind of flavour that added to the rice lager. I was definitely getting a citrus flavour, but what kind of citrus flavour? I went through in my head. Lemon? Orange? Lime? Mandarin? Grapefruit? As I thought of each one, my brain kept telling me: “Yeah, I think that’s it!” Stupid power of suggestion. Then I had a look at the description New England Brewing… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Japanese Rice Lager
- ABV
- 5.4%
- Bitterness
- 22 IBU
Stockade Brew Co & Innes Brewing All Day Breakfast
Published May 4, 2022
Craft breweries like to add all manner of fruits, lollies and other adjuncts to beer but when it comes to classics, it’s hard to go past coffee and stout. All Day Breakfast Stout is a beer committed to that wonderful pairing by releasing a collaboration between Stockade Brewing and Innes Brewing, with the second of those a nomadic brewing company by longtime homebrewer turned pro-brewer, Michael Hodge. The stout makes use of beans from The Stockade Barrel Room’s Marrickville neighbours at Black… Read more
Black
- Style
- Coffee Stout
- ABV
- 6.4%
Heroes & Villains, Impi, Phat Brew Club & MCC Labels Resist
Published May 4, 2022
The year to date has brought challenges for many, but nothing compares to the level of suffering unleashed on those living in or forced to flee from Ukraine. As the Russian invasion continues, the Drinkers For Ukraine campaign has offered brewers around the world an open source beer recipe, designed by Ukrainian brewers, with which to show their support: brew and sell the beer, then donate all proceeds to the Red Cross humanitarian relief in the country. The borscht-inspired Anti-Imperial Stout pours… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Anti-Imperial Stout with Beetroot
- ABV
- 8.4%
- Stockists
-
Available in limited release from Heroes & Villains
And their WA stockists
Rocky Ridge's Fifth Birthday Collaborations
Published May 3, 2022
Rocky Ridge turned five in April and could we have expected them to do anything less than release five entirely unique collaborative beers that span the spectrum of craft beer styles from around Australia – even squeezing in a trip across the Pacific Ocean to little old America. With five years of experiences and plenty of trial and error, the Rocky Ridge team and their respective collaborators didn’t hold back, either. In true celebratory style, all five feature excess of some description, from… Read more
Black
- Style
- Various Styles
- ABV
- ABVs as indicated
Temple Brewing Thongs & Jandals
Published May 3, 2022
Russell Crowe. Keith Urban. Barnaby Joyce. Some of Australia’s biggest celebrities are actually New Zealanders and it’s not something that ever seems to bother us too much (well, except when issues involving the last person in that last came before the High Court). If you were being kind, you might say it’s because the close bond between the two countries makes such differences meaningless but arguably, it’s more likely due to a desire from Australians to take credit for some of New Zealand’s… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- DDH Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.2%
Burleigh Brewing Razzle Dazzle
Published May 3, 2022
There can’t be too many Australian brewers who were brewing in the 1980s but Burleigh Brewing’s cofounder certainly was. Back then, Brennan Fielding was making beer in America and in those days, fruit wheat beer was as popular as The Breakfast Club and neon lighting. Given neon lighting has made such a comeback on craft beer cans, it seems fitting for those American wheats should return too. Burleigh have looked back to those halcyon days with Razzle Dazzle, a raspberry wheat beer that uses fresh… Read more
Red
- Style
- Fruit Weat Beer
- ABV
- 5.8%
Mash Brewing Donut Beer
Published May 2, 2022
Typically, beer is made from milled grain mashed in hot water before hops are added, some while the liquid is hot, some later when things are cooler, along with yeast and other stuff if you’re feeling creative. Many fermented products follow the same path to deliciousness, and that includes donuts. Water, milled grains, yeast and some resting lead to sprinkled, glazed and cinnamon sugared hoops. So, beer and donuts are practically cousins, right? Umm… sort of. For Mash and local food waste endeavour… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Donut NEIPA
- ABV
- 6.2%
- Stockists
-
Mash Swan Valley
Copper & Oak
Cellarbrations at The Market Place Ballajura
Cellarbrations at Clarkson
The Wine Box South Perth
Thirsty Camel Maddington
And other WA stockists TBC
More stockists...
Helios Perseus White IPA & Medusa Black IPA 2022
Published May 1, 2022
Speak, O Fates! Of Perseus The hero young, though sharp and bold. With slender muscles, like the yew, Who dares to face gorgon of old. Gold rays shine through misty dawn; He creeps toward the monster’s lair. His body lithe, and soft, and smooth His footsteps stealthy, swift feet bare. Approaches he the darkest cave, The yellow sand beneath his feet Reminds him of that spiky fruit: "ananas", juicy flesh and sweet. Inside the mouth of cavern deep— Its ceiling like a vaulted hall— He… Read more
Black
- Style
- White & Black IPAs
- ABV
- 7.0% & 7.5%
- Bitterness
- 48 & 45 IBU
Frenchies Oak Vienna Lager & Cool Kids Talus & The Big C's
Published April 30, 2022
Almost every day, someone stops me in the street and asks: “Judd, pray tell... I simply have to know, what would you say is Sydney’s premier French brewery?” And every single time my answer is the same. Disgusted with the shameless display of audacity, I pull a cartoonishly large ACME-branded mallet from my trousers and turn their body into an accordion with one powerful blow. However, if I were to answer truthfully without extreme Warner Brothers style violence, you simply cannot go past Frenchies. Not… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Oaked Vienna Lager, Hazy IPA & West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 5.2% & 6.5% & 6.5%
Six String Urban Bohemia & Wet Wet Wet Hop Pale Ale
Published April 29, 2022
I quaffed Urban Bohemia from Six String after a 10km trail run and it was a perfect post-run rehydration pilsner that didn't touch the sides and will most certainly be stocked in the fridge come next summer. The crew call it a beer that's reminiscent of 90s music festivals with their epic lineups; however, it could clearly become a favourite of the ultra-marathon running set. A traditional pilsner brewed with a long lagering period in the Bohemian style while showcasing German malts, it’s certainly… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Pilsner & Fresh Hop Pale Ale
- ABV
- 5.2% & 4.6%
- Bitterness
- 35 & 40 IBUs
Ocean Reach Artist Series: The Ninch & Gippy
Published April 29, 2022
Ocean Reach’s Artist Series sees the Phillip Island brewery let different artists take control of how a beer releases will look, with these two the work of Jake Ross. Both beers in the series have been inspired by two parts of Victoria that hold a special place in Jake’s heart, The Ninch (Mornington Peninsula) and Gippy (Gippsland). Each release in the series comes in 500ml cans too which not only gives each artist quite a large canvas to showcase their talents but also means there’s more beer… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy Triple IPA & Chocolate Fudge Stout
- ABV
- 9.3% & 7.9%
