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!
Innate Brewers & Copper & Oak Good Oke IPA
Tapped October 30, 2020
After 17 years in the game, the time was right for a Copper & Oak collaboration, and there was only one beer style that was suitable: a West Coast IPA. Beloved by owners Jose and Nelio Pestana, the conversation then turned to the store’s substantial spirits collection: why not include something from there? And why not add in a stave reference? While the classic style was pulled back towards a straight-ahead IPA by Innate’s Joel Nash to allow for better oak harmony, the final expression also… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Oaked IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
- Stockists
-
Available from Copper & Oak
And WA Innate stockists
BentSpoke Brewing Co How's It Gosen? Cherry Sour
Tapped October 29, 2020
How's it gosen? Pretty good, thanks, BentSpoke, especially now those of us in the Victorian wing of the Crafty team are looking forward to pubs and travel and friends and Christmas and stuff. How's it's gosen with you guys and girls? A little sour 'n' salty, hey? Ah well, you're looking pretty in pink to me. Summer's coming, which means BentSpoke have returned to a template that worked well for them last time around, albeit with a new spin. The first How's It Gosen? featured passionfruit and mango… Read more
Red
- Style
- Cherry Gose
- ABV
- 4.0%
- Stockists
-
Available from the Braddon brewpub now
Nationwide from Nov 3
Crafty Cabal members have the chance to win a case too
More stockists...
Urban Alley Pear She Gose
Tapped October 29, 2020
Greeting Melbourne’s warmer weather and renewed freedom are Urban Alley with a fruited kettle sour named Pear She Gose. Made with both pear and ginger and pouring a hazy yellowish orange, it’s a beer that packs quite the whack of ginger too. The latter mixed with pear immediately brought to my mind a home-cooked pear cake but that's not to say the beer is in any way sweet. Quite the opposite, in fact:, it's very dry and that dryness combined with Pear She Gose's tart edge brings proceedings… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Gose
- ABV
- 5.3%
- Bitterness
- 12 IBU
White Rabbit Weisse-Ling & Sour Red
Tapped October 29, 2020
I’m sure it would have been easy for Lion to quietly shelve the wilder elements of their White Rabbit brand and stick to their popular Dark and White ales. One would think multinational breweries that value consistency and quality over all else would be terrified of having Brettanomyces-soaked barrels bubbling away in their midst. If nothing else, it’s testament to how far beer has come in Australia that White Rabbit now release their second and third mixed fermentation, barrel-aged beers in… Read more
Red
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Sour Ales
- ABV
- 4.8% & 4.9%
Blackman's Brewery Patsy Wildberry Sour
Tapped October 28, 2020
It's been a while since the original beer naming philosophy got a workout at Blackman's. Their initial core range all took names from co-founder and head brewer Renn Blackman's family members. And now it's time for great aunt Patsy to get a look in. She comes dressed in bold deep pink attire and sees a sour make its way into the year round Blackman's lineup for the first time, following many a limited release and those under side label The Barrel Farm. Remove her attire and she's more rose blush… Read more
Red
- Style
- Fruit Sour
- ABV
- 4.6%
Dainton Brewing Apocalypso II
Tapped October 28, 2020
There’s a classic trope in zombie movies and TV shows where the main character wakes up a few weeks into an apocalypse to find their world simultaneously looking quite the same and entirely different. The high school is still there, the shopping centres remain standing, and it’s still their hometown but there’s nobody wandering about, cars are left empty, and there’s all these zombies looking for brains. Anyone who’s somehow slept through the last eight months in Melbourne might equally… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Second Wave NEIPA
- ABV
- 8.0%
Bridge Road Brewers Raspberry Sour
Tapped October 27, 2020
When a brewery declares the amount of an ingredient added to a beer – hops, fruit, whatever – without putting it in the context of the size of the batch, it doesn't actually mean a great deal. That said, 500kg of raspberries sounds like a lot and as soon as you tip your can of Bridge Road's new gose-style release into a glass you're reassured that it is a lot. This isn't some liquid with a faint hint of pink; this is crimson red and almost thick enough for you to believe there’s raspberry matter… Read more
Red
- Style
- Raspberry & Lime Gose
- ABV
- 4.3%
St Andrews Beach Brewery Barrier Trial No.3: Stampede Double IPA
Tapped October 27, 2020
Maybe it was a premonition. Maybe it was wishful thinking. More likely it was just a name that fitted both the beer and the brewery's history, but St Andrews Beach Brewery's third Barrier Trials release could well sum up what Victoria's breweries, bars, cafés, wineries, distilleries and so on will be hoping for in the coming days and weeks (in a COVIDSafe manner, of course). Easily the biggest beer the Mornington Peninsula Brewery have released to date, Stampede is a double IPA based around new… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Double IPA
- ABV
- 8.6%
- Stockists
-
Find stockists here
Crafty Cabal members can save 10% online too
Holgate Brewhouse Bavarian Beer Pack
Tapped October 26, 2020
As one of the earliest of Australia's craft brewers, Paul Holgate among a tiny band of people looking to change drinkers' perceptions of what beer was and could be. Throughout the two decades and more since, there have been plenty of times the Woodend brewer has played around on contemporary beer's frontier: they were barrel-ageing beers a decade ago, releasing double IPAs well ahead of IPA's time in the sun, experimenting with bugs and blending early too. But Paul's a traditionalist at heart, whether… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hefe & Dunkel & Pilsner
- ABV
- 5.3% & 5.1% & 5.1%
Big Shed Feelin' Fine & JuNEIPA
Tapped October 26, 2020
Big Shed’s limited releases are flying out of their Port Road brewery thick and fast, with two more to add to their repertoire. The first is part of the Brewers Series, and sees brewer Bender try his luck at an oat cream IPA. Coming in at 5.9 percent ABV, Feelin Fine is brewed to be light and fluffy, which makes its cloudy appearance rather apposite, and it's evident hops drive everything about this beer. Sweet, fleshy peach, lychee, nectarines and juicy papaya combine on the aroma front while… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Oat Cream IPA & Gin-Infused NEIPA
- ABV
- 5.9% & 6.2%
- Stockists
-
You can join the brewers for a JuNEIPA launch at NOLA on October 28
Moon Dog Fizzer: Piney Limey, Tropical Punch, Coco Mango & Strawbs & Cream
Tapped October 25, 2020
We're still in the early days of hard seltzer's invasion from the other side of the Pacific, where the alcoholic flavoured water craze has gone, well, utterly crazy in the past few years. While I've not tasted every Aussie variant to arrive to date – forgive me – those that have come my way have typically shared common traits: pastel or jaunty, approachable colours, typically on a white background; names that look to conjure joy in the manner of a yoga session on the beach as the sun peeks over… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Hard Seltzers
- ABV
- All 4.0%
Feral Brewing West Coast IIPA
Tapped October 23, 2020
Feral celebrate eighteen years of brewing the only way they know how: with a massive IPA that invites you to knock back a four-pack – even though you know this is probably a really bad idea. In order words, pretty much like many an eighteenth birthday party. As the first Feral beer designed by the entire brew team – and one which features Strata, Ekuanot and HPA-016, all hop varieties not normally associated with the brewery – West Coast IIPA could have moved stylistically away from its historical… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast IIPA
- ABV
- 9.0%
- Stockists
-
Launched Oct 23 at besk and the Swan Valley brewpub
Nationwide the following week.
Wolf of the Willows Disco Of The Dead
Tapped October 23, 2020
Looks like it's disco season in the Melbourne craft beer scene (you'll see what we're on about next month...) as Wolf of the Willows return to territory they've had fun in before: taking inspiration from the cocktail world when creating a new sour. We're told Disco Of The Dead celebrates Mexican bar El Gallo Altanero in Guadalajara and Tequila Tromba, and has been created remotely with bartender Alejandra De Aguinaga. They've gone for a "Pink Guava Atole Sour", which has seen them use corn… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Pink Guava Atole Sour
- ABV
- 5.7%
Wayward Brewing W Seltzer Range
Tapped October 23, 2020
Before this year, I didn’t hear the word "seltzer" unless I was watching an American sitcom. But the arrival of hard seltzers has changed that; like "curb", "cookie", and Taco Bell, this American has come to Australian shores and is likely here to stay. Wayward have entered the hard seltzer market with a bang, introducing not one but three flavours of this brewed beverage under the sub-brand W Seltzer. The tall 330ml cans make you feel a little bit fancy and summery,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Hard Seltzers
- ABV
- All 4.3%
Moo Brew & Lark Distillery Boilermaker
Tapped October 22, 2020
Boilermakers have been increasingly commonplace around the hospo scene in recent years, and the barrel-ageing of beers takes place at many a brewery too. We've even seen whisky and beer blended as one in the past: Boatrocker's Dramjet (still and sparkling), for example; also Loch Brewery & Distillery's Boilermaker releases. The last of these remains a true rarity, however, and I'm pretty certain I've not come across a local blend of IPA and whisky – at least not one created purposefully by… Read more
Golden
- Style
- IPA/Whisky Blend
- ABV
- 7.8%
Black Hops Neverland Grapefruit IIPA
Tapped October 21, 2020
They certainly love their IPAs at Black Hops, with the Gold Coast brewery holding multiple in their core range and regularly letting new ones fly out as limited releases. Joining the fray is Neverland, a grapefruit hazy IIPA that was originally brewed as BHII taproom manager Jesse’s staff beer. Normally the Black Hops staff beers stay inside the four walls of one of the brewery’s two (about to be three) homes but Neverland proved a popular one and has been given a much wider release as a result.… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Grapefruit Hazy IIPA
- ABV
- 8.2%
Sailors Grave Hot Dram & Original Sin Snakebite
Tapped October 21, 2020
The arch-collaborators are at it again – both Sailors Grave and Blackhearts & Sparrows – with the pair joining forces once more for Hot Dram and the former also releasing a beer-cider hybrid with fellow East Gippsland producers Gurneys. Hot Dram is a whisky sour-inspired beer: a Berliner Weisse initially split in two – one portion infused with caramelised oranges, the other aged in Starward whisky barrels – then blended. It's a hazy golden pour with just a hint of apricot blush and a… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Berliner Weisse & Snakebite
- ABV
- 5.8% & 6.7%
- Stockists
-
Blackhearts & Sparrows Braddon
Blackhearts & Sparrows North Hobart
And all other Blackhearts stores
More stockists...
Tallboy And Moose Goblin Warlord and Elven Prince
Tapped October 21, 2020
For Tallboy and Moose’s twin October releases, the Preston brewpub is back exploring Cryo hops but this time around, they're facing a battle of good versus evil in the fantasy realm. We can’t provide any help on how to defeat goblins or ghouls but if you'd like to know more about Cryo hops and the flower itself, take a look at our recent story exploring all things hops. Back to the beers at hand, first up there’s the Goblin Warlord, a “dungeon boss” version of their original Cryo IPA, Goblinoid.… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Cryo IPAs
- ABV
- 7.5% & 7%
Rocky Ridge deVine Goodtimes Sparkling Saison 2019
Tapped October 20, 2020
If you're a member of our beer club, The Crafty Cabal, there's a good chance you'll have not only tasted this beer but also know everything there is to know about it following its debut as part of our second Virtua-Cabal event with Rocky Ridge. If not, you'll likely appreciate a little background. First brewed in 2018 as a collaboration between the Busselton brewers, Crafty contributor Guy Southern – AKA Goodtimes Craft Beer, and deVine Cellars, it's a chardonnay barrel-aged saison that spent several… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Barrel-Aged Brett Saison
- ABV
- 8.0%
- Stockists
-
Rocky Ridge Cellar Door
deVine Cellars
More stockists...
Slow Lane Brewing Quake Pale Ale
Tapped October 19, 2020
Returning to Slow Lane’s unorthodox beer lineup is Quake, a pale ale brewed with a strain of Norwegian kveik yeast and Kiwi Nelson Sauvin hops. One of the most prized properties of kveik is the ability to fully ferment a beer in as little as one or two days at temperatures that would usually result in some pretty unpleasant off flavours in most other beer yeasts. So, of course, Slow Lane made sure to keep Quake in tank for a month because why do anything quickly when you can take your time? One… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Kveik Pale
- ABV
- 5.4%
