Beers - The Crafty Pint

Homestead Brewery IPL

Tapped April 12th, 2019

India pale lager is a style of beer that's been making a bit of a surge to prominence in Western Australia, with some breweries adding one to their core range. Justin Bishop, head brewer at Homestead, feels it's a beer that will appeal to the Perth locals looking for something offering a bit more than a lager yet retaining some familiarity too. Fresh is the first word that springs to mind after taking the first sip of his creation. The aromas wake the senses with candied orange, mango, melon, passionfruit… Read more

Style: India Pale Lager
ABV: 5.2%

Eagle Bay & Rocky Ridge & Dunsborough Cellars Eagle Rock

Tapped April 12th, 2019

Collab names don’t come much more obvious than this; however, for the Rocky Ridge team, this one has been nearly two years in the making. Brewery owner Hamish Coates says: “We’ve wanted to do something with the crew from Eagle Bay since the beginning. They helped us a lot when starting up, so a collaboration has always been on the cards. Making a beer from all WA hops and malts with two other advocates of the WA beer industry has been really special.” That "special" beer is a 100… Read more

Style: Wet Hop Sour
ABV: 4.5%

Stockists

Mane Liquor

Launched at Dunsborough Cellars on April 12

Cans launched at Mane Liquor on April 18

Then hitting other WA retailers

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Colonial Brewing Co Sweet 16 Milkshake IPA

Tapped April 12th, 2019

The increasingly popular milkshake IPA substyle is rapidly becoming commonplace in many Australian brewers' recipe files, but that isn't to say that all vanilla and lactose loaded IPAs are created equal. Here, Colonial have given us their take on the soft and supple IPA variant with their latest Project beer, and they've made sure it's a standout in a saturated market by loading it up with an experimental hop variety from Hop Products Australia. The yet to be named hop, which is grown in Tasmania,… Read more

Style: Milkshake IPA
ABV: 5.0%

Young Henrys double down on their flagship Newtowner

Tapped April 12th, 2019

Of all Young Henrys’ beers, Newtowner is not only the most popular, but it’s the one that’s developed an identity all of its own. It’s entered the bloodstream of Newtown: you'll find it in the dark corners of live music venues, on tap in the old pubs, and in the six-packs people carry home to their terraced apartments. But, of course, it hasn’t just stayed in Newtown. Though it was originally brewed in the suburb that accepts everyone, it’s now spread across the country. So, when the… Read more

Style: Double Pale Ale
ABV: 7.5%
Bitterness: 40 IBU

Sydney Brewery Single Hop Blonde

Tapped April 12th, 2019

What looks like a wine, smells like a wine, tastes like a wine, but isn’t a wine? An American blonde ale hopped with Hallertau Blanc. The Single Hop Blonde from Sydney Brewery pours a pale, almost powder yellow, suggesting the wine characteristics of the Hallertau Blanc hops. Swirl and sniff, and get those white wine aromatics of lemongrass, citrus, and green grapes. Take a sip, and the low body and crisp finish could almost have you fooled into thinking you were tasting a dry riesling. But the… Read more

Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 4.6%

Wayward Brewing Dead Dingo Brut IPA

Tapped April 10th, 2019

For some reason, the can design for this autumnal release from Wayward brought back an unlikely memory. The combination of white SUV making its way through the Red Centre, the thoughts of dry dustiness and the title's reference to a deceased native animal reminded me of the day when, cruising the Outback on a quad bike alongside the farmers who were then my employers, I was first informed just how well suited a roo's scrotum was for use as a purse or wallet. (Admittedly, the large example next to… Read more

Style: Brut IPA
ABV: 6.2%
Bitterness: 40 IBU

Pikes Beer Company Passionfruit Belgian Witbier

Tapped April 10th, 2019

Pikes' second limited release for 2019 sticks to many of the themes of their first, adding fruit (and many other things) to a beer with roots in Europe. The Belgian witbier was inspired by the Hurricane cocktail and uses passionfruit pulp in generous quantities alongside Riverland-sourced orange and lemon zest, vanilla beans, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. As is typical for the style, it pours a very pale and hazy yellow, with a solid, bright white and fluffy head and a quite sprightly carbonation.… Read more

Style: Passionfruit Witbier
ABV: 6.0%

Bodriggy Brewing Twin Harvest: Sun Buzz & Zooter Doozy

Tapped April 9th, 2019

March and April might be two months that are inherently connected with picking hops in the Southern Hemisphere's beer world but, for winemakers, it’s also the tailend of their own harvest. It’s a fact Bodriggy has decided to showcase through their Twin Harvest releases, featuring two colourful 500ml tinnies filled with liquids brewed with hops straight from the bine and grapes right off the vine. The first of those is Sun Buzz, featuring some 60kg of Hop Product Australia’s Enigma hops, shipped… Read more

Style: Harvest Beers
ABV: 5.4% & 5.1%

Moon Dog Edie's IPA

Tapped April 9th, 2019

If there's one thing the team at Moon Dog loves as much as beer, it's dogs. There's one in the brewery name, usually at least one hanging around the brewery, heaps of them in various events they sponsor and, now, a whole series of IPAs dedicated to them. Well, to the brewery dogs specifically. Edie is the first to get both name and visage on a tinnie, one the label declares as "bursting with Eureka, Centennial and Citra hops". That said, don't go expecting a burst of juiciness as tends… Read more

Style: IPA
ABV: 5.8%

Eagle Bay West Coast IPA

Tapped April 9th, 2019

This autumnal limited release from the crew at Eagle Bay is possibly their juiciest to date. Although still slotting well within the brewery's reputation for brewing classic styles, this West Coast IPA has been fermented with Saccharomyces Trois, a Belgian strain that adds big juicy esters of pineapple and lychee, along with a touch of funk for good – and contemporary – measure. The specialty yeast can't claim to be responsible for all of the juice factor in this easy-to-crush IPA, however. A… Read more

Style: West Coast IPA
ABV: 6.6%
Bitterness: 23 IBU

Rocky Ridge Bob's Your Aunty

Tapped April 9th, 2019

Take one part Rocky Ridge Brewing, one part South Fremantle Brewing, add a dash of blood orange juice and Bob's your... ermm... aunty? The latest collab between the two WA brewing companies is a spritzy Berliner Weisse brewed with 30 litres of freshly squeezed blood orange juice sourced in the South West and fermented with Rocky Ridge's house strain of lactobacillus and kveik yeast. Pouring a hazy straw colour with a pillowy white head, Bob's Your Aunty is as easy on the eye as it is on the nose,… Read more

Style: Blood Orange Berliner Weisse
ABV: 3.4%
Bitterness: 5 IBU

Mr Banks Wheeze The Juice Hazy IPA

Tapped April 8th, 2019

Chris Farmer and his team at Mr Banks have played around in the ever-growing realm of IPAs more than most in their relatively short existence to date, with a visit to the brewery in Seaford likely to give drinkers the chance to sample a couple of hazy drops, a milkshake IPA and more besides. Wheeze The Juice is the best known of the hazy IPAs to leave the brewery, however, and was one of the earlier local examples to make waves too. Now back for another run out in autumn 2019 and still bearing the… Read more

Style: Hazy IPA
ABV: 6.1%

Mr Banks Melon Berry Gose

Tapped April 8th, 2019

Unless we're missing something subtle, this is a rather atypical limited release from Mr Banks. Sure, it's not their first gose and they've played with fruit before, but where's the pun or pop culture reference in the title?!? At least you know what you're getting from the off here: melon (watermelon, to be specific) and berries (of the rasp variety) in a gently soured, lightly salted beer. And that is just what you get, with a soft, rounded nature to the fruit aromas, as if you're tucking into a… Read more

Style: Fruit Gose
ABV: 3.8%

Innate Brewers Cosmos Raspberry & Cranberry Sour

Tapped April 8th, 2019

I couldn’t help but wonder, was Joel Nash a secret Sex and the City fan? And, if so, was Cosmos a typo? Before things get too pop culture meta, Innate’s new canned release is most certainly named Cosmos. According to the can, it’s brewed by rocket scientists, contains a starburst of raspberry and cranberries which deliver a universe of flavour on a zippy Berliner Weisse base. It certainly sounds celestial, however it’s hard to separate the pink can’s equally vivid contents from SATC’s… Read more

Style: Raspberry & Cranberry Berliner Weisse
ABV: 3.8%

Stockists: In limited release from select WA retailers

Newstead Brewing & KAIJU! Butterfly Effect

Tapped April 7th, 2019

KAIJU! were the first of many collaborative partners for Brisbane's Newstead and have been at it again, this time using the former's Milton site for the first time to create the heavily hop-driven Butterfly Effect. While labelled a double IPA, it's based on an American wheat ale, albeit one that's been ratcheted up to 8.5 percent ABV and had Simcoe, Citra, Cascade, Mosaic and Enigma hops "jammed in all over the place". The resultant character brings a dank and grassy vibe, one that’s… Read more

Style: Double IPA
ABV: 8.5%
Bitterness: 80 IBU

Newstead Brewing & Brisbane Powerhouse Transducer

Tapped April 7th, 2019

Newstead continue to forge partnerships with a diverse range of Queensland organisations, with Transducer brewed with the Brisbane Powerhouse and coming on the back of collaborations with the likes of Queensland Rugby Union, the Brisbane Comedy Festival, Alliance Airlines and Surf Life Saving Queensland. In partnering with an iconic Queensland venue, the brewers opted for an iconic local beer style, the sparkling ale, one with a flavour profile that presents Nottingham yeast as the hero. Without… Read more

Style: Sparkling Ale
ABV: 4.2%
Bitterness: 12 IBU

Newstead Brewing Eleanor Reloaded Harvest IPL

Tapped April 7th, 2019

Harvest time gives brewers a once-in-a-year opportunity to use freshly picked, wet hops in their beers. In doing so again in 2019, Newstead have come up with brew that nods to local history through both the name and the can design. The Eleanor of the title is Dr Eleanor Schonell, after whom Brisbane's Green Bridge is named. The original Eleanor (in beer form) was born last year in Milton and featured 100kg of Galaxy hops. This year, two brewers flew to Victoria to collect the same amount (driving… Read more

Style: Fresh Hop IPL
ABV: 5.2%
Bitterness: 12 IBU

Mash Brewing Dark & Stormy

Tapped April 7th, 2019

The brewers at Mash here pay homage to the classic rum cocktail Dark & Stormy with a beer mimicking the flavours of the ginger and lime inspired beverage. The base is a golden ale, one they've hit with plenty of fresh ginger and lime before finishing things off with oak chips soaked in rum to add spice and depth. The ginger and lime flavours take the starring role, so much so, in fact, that at first you might think you've picked up a ginger ale before the lime comes slicing through. Spiced rum… Read more

Style: Ginger & Lime Golden Ale
ABV: 4.2%

Stockists: Available for a limited time from both Mash venues & leading liquor stores in Perth

Hawkers & Bale Breaker Tom Needs More Friends IPA

Tapped April 5th, 2019

As these words are being typed, the Hawkers crew are making their way around the US collaborating on beers with American friends. Before they departed for this year's Craft Brewers Conference, however, they laid down another Trans-Pacific collab with Bale Breaker, the brewing arm of Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) when they were in Australia for hop harvest with Cryer Malt. Tom Needs More Friends, named for Cryer's Tom Madams (more than the MySpace Tom), is an IPA brewed with Oregon malts not used in Australia… Read more

Style: IPA
ABV: 6.5%

Bad Shepherd Brew Crew Series 8: Rose & Hibiscus Gose

Tapped April 5th, 2019

As they close in on double figured in their Brew Crew Series, Bad Shepherd passed the baton to barman Ben, the "Beer Nerd", who set about conceiving a beer that tied together the places he's called home. That saw him combine rose – a nose to the flower emblem of his home county of North Yorkshire, hibiscus – a nod to the Hibiscus Coast of New Zealand, and seawater from Melbourne's Bayside. They were put to work in a gose that's as red as you could wish for and comes with a creamy yet… Read more

Style: Rose & Hibiscus Gose
ABV: 4.2%
Bitterness: 7.4 IBU

Stockists

A Point of Difference Liquor

Blackhearts & Sparrows

Carwyn Cellars

Cherry Tree Hotel

Fiftyfive

Grape & Grain Liquor Cellars

Grosvenor Hotel

Harvest Cellars

More stockists...