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!
Uraidla Brewery Mana NZH102 IPA
Published August 5, 2022
Bract is the name of a global trial featuring hops from NZ Hops’ development program. Sixty breweries across the planet have been invited to be partners, and given there's now close to four billion brewing companies in operation, being selected as one of those 60 feels like a pretty big deal. One brewery to receive a guernsey is Uraidla. Now, the Adelaide Hills crew have a deservedly excellent reputation, which has been built in large part upon their mastery of hops in everything from low ABV beers… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 7.0%
Pint of Origin PoO-totype Global Pale
Published August 5, 2022
Back when we decided to go ahead with Pint of Origin after Good Beer Week 2022 was shelved, an idea was conceived to create the first ever PoO beer. In the end, it proved too much to pull off on top of the rebranding, building a new website, creating digital passports and so on, but having come up with the idea for the beer we decided to go ahead with it once the festival itself was done and dusted. The idea was to brew a beer that represented every Pint of Origin region in one way or another, while… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Global Pale Ale
- ABV
- 5.0%
- Stockists
-
More stockists...
Westside Ale Works
More to be added as they're delivered
Wicked Elf Mischief: Sabro Sour & Stab In The Dark 2022
Published August 4, 2022
One can get up to mischief in all manner of ways – how boring would life be otherwise? – and such a mindset seems to be at play for Wicked Elf's offshoot label Mischief. After all, you won't find two beers much further apart on the beer sphere than this pair. Since taking up the head brewer role in Port Macquarie, Ryan Nilsson-Linne has shown a fondness for releasing sours. Typically, they've been of the ubiquitous fruit-flavoured variety, but here he's chosen to showcase one of the hype hops… Read more
Black
- Style
- Berliner Weisse & Imperial Stout
- ABV
- 4.2% & 9.0%
- Bitterness
- 7 & 60 IBU
Blasta Brewing Black Swan Spontan Kriek
Published August 4, 2022
Black Swan Spontan Kriek 2021 marks the beginning of Blasta’s wild cultured beer releases, and for a brewery built on energy and pace, this has been an exercise in patience. Just over two years ago, the program began with a number of barrel-aged lambic-style Belgian ales, some of which were later blended with a portion of wort which had rested overnight in the Upper Swan Valley – collecting local yeast and bacteria in the process – as the base for this inaugural release. Pleased with the progress,… Read more
Red
- Style
- Spontan Kriek
- ABV
- 7.2%
- Stockists
-
Available from the brewery.
Helios & Catchment Harpy Double West Coast IPA
Published August 3, 2022
“No viler monstrosity than they, no pest more atrocious did ever the wrath of god conjure up out of hell's swamp. Bird-bodied, girl-faced things they are… their hands are talons, their faces haggard with hunger insatiable.” – Virgil’s Aeneid Harpies are hybrid creatures from Greek mythology – part woman, part bird of prey – known for their ugliness. I’m not sure what Helios and Catchment are saying about their brewers when they named their collaboration beer after this hideous creature,… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Double West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 7.5%
- Bitterness
- 73 IBU
Van Dieman Estate Ales: North Pole & South Pole Porters
Published August 3, 2022
Another milestone for Van Dieman here. Years on from setting out to create "estate ales" – beers made exclusively from ingredients sourced on the family farm south of Launceston, here are the first beers that not only fit that bill but also featured brewery founder Will Tatchell's first farm-made specialty malts. Will has been producing base malt from barley grown and harvested on the land for some time; here, he's taken things a little further and created Munich, Crystal, Chocolate and… Read more
Black
- Style
- Estate Baltic & Robust Porters
- ABV
- 6.2% & 5.9%
- Stockists
-
Tandy's Alehouse
Buttons Brewing
Boodle Beasley
More TBC
More stockists...
Brewmanity Coast To Coast Hazy IPA
Published August 3, 2022
After finding favour with The Big Dance West Coast IPA and introducing the beer to their core offering, Brewmanity returned to the well of IPAs for Coast To Coast. As the name suggests, it's a beer for which they've swapped West for East, lean and bitter for hazy and softly sweet. One of the first beers designed for the brewing company by Tim Miller, the head brewer who joined them from Little Creatures at the start of 2022, its solid yellow haze is crowned by a persistent white head that's reminiscent… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.4%
Bad Shepherd Imperial Stouts: 12 Month Aged & Rum Spiked
Published August 3, 2022
Bad Shepherd don’t tend to let winter pass them by without releasing some weather-ready dark beers and 2022 is no different with the arrival of the Imperial Stout twins. The names might be a little more simple than the Melbourne brewery’s penchant for naming such beers after Russian mythology but the two beers are anything but simple (and hey, Russia’s been in the news a bit lately). The cans feature a royal pairing of a queen and a king with her majesty, the Imperial Stout having spent a… Read more
Black
- Style
- Imperial Stouts
- ABV
- 9.2% & 9.6%
Cheeky Monkey Session Stout & Castle Rock IIPA
Published August 2, 2022
Although perhaps only a temporary exit from the thick, juicy and lactose-laced beers for which they’re renowned, Cheeky Monkey's 2022 winter seasonal Session Stout pointedly heads into restrained territory: no adjuncts and no, ahem, monkey business… A firm roast is the defining factor in this lacy, pitch black stout. Coffee, a black tea-like bitterness and some soft cocoa are all bolstering flavours, while there’s just a touch of malt-derived sweetness to bring some balance and increase drinkability;… Read more
Black
- Style
- Session Stout & IIPA
- ABV
- 4.7% & 10.0%
Rocky Ridge's Winter 2022 IPA & Stout Quintet
Published August 2, 2022
In the midst of a cold, wet South West winter, Rocky Ridge are doing their part to lift spirits and warm cockles with a couple of bold IPAs and a trio of luscious stouts of stature. Starting with the hoppy offerings, CTRL C/CTRL V is a Citra-dominant affair, with Citra Lupomax, Cryo and T90 pellets featuring heavily. A modest bitterness and balance underpins ripe citrus and stone fruits. Bright Direction, meanwhile, is a refreshingly clear hoppy offering, where sweet passionfruit, berry, and grapefruit… Read more
Black
- Style
- IPA x 2 & Stout x 3
- ABV
- 6.0% & 8.0% & 12.0% & 5.5% & 8.0%
Blackman's Brewery Just Another IPA: Citra & Motueka
Published August 2, 2022
Blackman’s Same Day IPA have long championed hops and freshness but in 2022, the super-fresh beer drop has been used to showcase unusual pairings too. Just in case you’ve missed the long-running series: as the name suggests, Same Day IPA sees the Victorian brewery package an IPA very early in the morning and get it to retailers straight away so hop lovers can enjoy the beer as fresh as possible. Just Another IPA meanwhile, is about hop combinations aren’t seen all that often, with the first… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
Eagle Bay Oaked Vienna Lager '22
Published August 1, 2022
If clarity is your thing, then Eagle Bay’s Oaked Vienna Lager is going to make you sit up and pay attention – and that’s before you’ve even had a sip. This year's OVL – again in partnership with Copper & Oak – spent five weeks on French oak, yielding a complex, rounded and dark(ish) lager. Pouring a rich amber with the aforementioned crystal clear clarity, the return of their popular seasonal is a step up from last year's release and features a vintage-themed design too. All is pretty,… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Oaked Vienna Lager
- ABV
- 6.2%
Good Land & Sailors Grave Good To The Grave
Published August 1, 2022
Travel back just a few years and you'd have struggled to line up a collaboration brew between Gippsland brewers; Loch and their trad English styles and Bullant with their Bruthen brewpub were pretty much the brewing scene for this vast swathe of Victoria. It's a very different situation now, one that's been celebrated by Traralgon-based Good Land Brewing on the occasion of their first birthday. As part of the festival they hosted at their brewpub, they invited the team at Sailors Grave to join them… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Dark Rye Farmhouse Ale
- ABV
- 6.0%
Pikes Beer Co & Dawn Patrol Coffee Stout
Published August 1, 2022
For Pikes' 2022 midwinter limited release, the brew team caught up with another sort of brew team, collaborating with Dawn Patrol Coffee to make a stout. After plenty of trialling, they settled on Coffee was added twice during the process too, with gold, wet-fermented Red Bourbon coffee from Colombia, which featured as a course-ground whirlpool addition then again post-ferment as cold brew. Little surprise then that the coffee exudes from the first moment the can is cracked: pungent espresso aromas… Read more
Black
- Style
- Coffee Stout
- ABV
- 5.8%
3 Ravens & Carwyn Cellars Corowa Conspiracy
Published August 1, 2022
Keeping track of most breweries' release schedules these days is tricky enough; with 3 Ravens, even staying on top of their beer series can be a challenge. Indeed, it can feel a little like trying to remember how all the parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe fit together if you're anything less than a hardcore fan of said sprawling enterprise. As their Conspiracy series with Carwyn Cellars returns, it does so with the sort of can that could even double as a magical artefact with a role to play in… Read more
Black
- Style
- Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
- ABV
- 12.7%
- Bitterness
- 52 IBU
- Stockists
Lost Palms Dreamkiller$ Imperial Stout & Dream$ellers Spiced Rum Imperial Stout
Published July 29, 2022
Lost Palms make a lot of fruity, beach-y beers, which is perfectly on brand for a brewery depicted by a pink palm tree. So when they embraced winter by releasing a pair of imperial stouts, my proverbial ears pricked up. (My literal ears just sat on the side of my head like they always do. They’re very placid.) When I poured out a glass of Dreamkiller$ and saw how dense and dark the head was, I smiled. I have a theory when it comes to stouts: the darker the head, the tastier the stout will be. So… Read more
Black
- Style
- Imperial Stouts
- ABV
- 10.0% & 10.3%
Bright Brewery Strawberry Dream
Published July 29, 2022
Bright Brewery don't tend to shy away from bringing fruit and beer together and when it comes to Strawberry Dream, the High Country brewery have taken a trip to the local milk bar too. The beer's inspired by strawberry milkshakes and has seen the brewery go quite heavy on the fruit puree, with some 800 kilograms of the stuff used in the beer. But while Strawberry Dream might be a milkshake ale, you can't help but feel there's another milk bar favourite that it best conjures, with its aroma incredibly… Read more
Red
- Style
- Milkshake Ale
- ABV
- 5.8%
Temple Brewing x Market Lane Starry Sky
Published July 29, 2022
Temple’s home of Brunswick East is a pretty good place for drinking craft beer but the Melbourne suburb does just as well when it comes to coffee. Indeed, right by the brewery sits Market Lane Coffee’s head office and roastery and the two manufacturers of delicious drinks felt it was time to work on a big beer together. That big beer is Starry Sky, an imperial Irish stout made with Brazilian coffee beans sourced by Market Lane. It might be thanks to the beans themselves, it could be the amount… Read more
Black
- Style
- Imperial Irish Stout
- ABV
- 12.0%
Stomping Ground Wattleseed Stout & Panettone
Published July 29, 2022
It's been a long and cold Melbourne winter and Stomping Ground have helped alleviate some of those chilly nights by releasing two dark beers a few weeks apart. Wattleseed Stout is a collaboration with the Torres Strait-owned and run Mabu Mabu and the independent bottleshop, Blackhearts & Sparrows. It uses native wattleseed to provide roasted nut and earthy tones that join espresso, aniseed and a soft touch of dark chocolate. Panettone meanwhile, is a pastry stout that celebrates both stout season… Read more
Black
- Style
- Wattleseed Stout & Pastry Stout
- ABV
- 4.5% & 6.5%
Stomping Ground Ginger Smash
Published July 29, 2022
Stomping Ground's Smash series have always been particularly refreshing, with the fruit-filled kettle sours bringing that combination of sweetness and tartness that really makes them a wonderful addition to any barbecue/picnic/music festival/insert-your-idea-of-a-nice-afternoon-here. Ginger Smash however, might well be the most refreshing of those refreshers, with the ginger beer ditching the sourness of others in the range and focusing instead on everyone's favourite root herb. So instead you'll… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Ginger Beer
- ABV
- 4.2%
