Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers

Regular readers of The Crafty Pint will know all about Boatrocker already. Launched as a brewing company back in 2009, with its beers brewed at Southern Bay, its co-founder Matt Houghton has written a series of features about the trials, tribulations and excitement of starting a brewery (read them here). Today, he and wife Andrea are owners of their own brewery in Melbourne's south east.

The story started with the launch of Alpha Queen, a hoppy American inspired ale with an old world malt backbone, that set out Boatrocker's stall as a brewer of beers with character. When the brewery's second beer, Hoppbier - a New World pilsner inspired by Matt's time living in Northern Germany, promptly won a gold medal at the Australian International Beer Awards, it was clear it was a story worth following.

And so it has proved, with the opening of the Braeside brewery allowing Boatrocker to pursue Matt's passion for Belgian style ales and barrel ageing.

Prior to launching Boatrocker, Matt had made multiple visits to Belgium to visit breweries large and small in an attempt to learn the tricks of the trade. So, once he had his own brewery and space in which to play, he set about creating Australian versions of lambics, Berliner Weisse, Flanders red style ales and beyond. Before he'd even put the first test brew through his brewery, he was already the proud owner of 60 wine barrels and, towards the end of 2015 and with help from an injection of funds from Made By HAND, a group made up of the team that launched Little Creatures/Little World Beverages, opened the doors of a dedicated Barrel Room with its own bar in which he has working towards a goal of 70,000 litres of beer ageing in oak at any one time.

Even before the Barrel Room opened, all manner of barrel-aged beers had appeared, from the low ABV chardonnay barrel aged, trophy winning Berliner Weisse Mitte to the all-conquering whisky barrel aged Ramjet imperial stout, Banshee barley wine, a brett saison and more as the Houghtons – aided by their new business partners – establish Boatrocker as one of the most exciting breweries to watch in Australia.

In 2017, the brewery became "Brewers and Distillers" as Hippocampus, an award-winning distillery from Perth founded by Made By HAND, moved to the Barrel Room. As well as continuing with its spirit production, the plan is to blur the boundaries between the two sides of the operation to create even more new and unique Australian beers.

As for the beers, the success continues, with Boatrocker taking out Champion Medium Brewery at The Indies 2018, where its Daddy Koel and Ramjet were also major trophy winners.

Name
Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers
Address

34 & 51 Macbeth Street
Braeside
VIC 3195

Phone
0438 394 972
Open Hours

Thursday: 4pm to 10pm
Friday: 2pm to 11pm
Saturday: midday to 11pm
Sunday: midday to 6pm

Tours

By appointment


This is a directory listing. To find out more, head here

The Specials

Boatrocker Flux Capacitor, Wildeberry 2022 & Mojo
Boatrocker Ramjet 2022
Boatrocker Double Barrel & Demi-Jaune (with Crittenden Estate)
Boatrocker Straight To VHS, Hello Stranger, Oakey Dokey & Roger Ramjet '22
Boatrocker Tennessee & Kentucky Reds
Boatrocker Mojo Cherry Cola Sour
Boatrocker Conehead IPA & Faith
Boatrocker House Rosé & Friends
Boatrocker Gaston & Funky Monkey '21
Boatrocker Nordjet 2021
Boatrocker & Blackhearts & Sparrows Wildheart #2
Show 67 more

Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers Regulars

Boatrocker Big Love Hazy IPA

Published April 10, 2020
Big Love was the name under which a pale ale and sessionable red from Boatrocker appeared for a short while a few years back. And now it's been brought back, this time for a rather bigger beer and one the Braeside brewers hope will garner enough love to be a year round offering. If you've been following the progress of Boatrocker over the past year or so, perhaps the standout has been the way in which they've added a series of top notch IPAs to their other, better known qualities. Among them have… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
6.2%

Boatrocker Miss Pinky

Published November 2, 2018
Session strength sours and their fruit-flavoured siblings have become all the rage in Australia, with venue owners telling us they have customers baying for blood if there's nothing of that ilk on tap these days. One of the pioneers in this area is Boatrocker's Miss Pinky, the raspberry Berliner weisse that secured national distribution via Dan Murphy's. In spring 2018, the brewery launched its first three cans and Miss Pinky was one of the beers chosen. She retains her big, aromatic bouquet, refreshing… Read more
Style
Raspberry Berliner Weisse
ABV
3.5%

Boatrocker Stout

Published May 9, 2018
The sinuous evolution of the Boatrocker range continues as winter 2018 approaches, with the arrival of the previously draught-only Stout in bottles. If you've not tried the beer before, said bottle gives you a pretty good inkling of what's to come; none of the brewery's wilder flights of fancy, blends, adjuncts or barrel influences here – this is a straight down the line, no nonsense stout. If you were to place it on the sliding stout scale, it might be pegged slightly nearer the sweeter end, not… Read more
Style
Stout
ABV
5.5%

Boatrocker Alpha Queen

Alpha Queen was the beer that first set the boat rocking: an American-inspired pale ale in which the hearty character from British Maris Otter malts played as central a role as the US hops layered on top. Over time, it's moved around a little in terms of punch and weight, been packaged then draught-only and spawned a celebratory double version as the brewery has evolved into one of the most fascinating in the country. In early 2019, the beer returned to packaged form – in cans – and, while it… Read more
Style
American Pale Ale
ABV
5.0%
Bitterness
37 IBU

Boatrocker Conehead IPA

Since this IPA first appeared as a one-off in 2021, it's been elevated to core range. Here's what we had to say about it when it made its debut: It's been commented on with some regularity in 2021, not least by the "Make Beer Clear Again" gang, that West Coast IPAs have been doing their bit to push back against the wave of haze enveloping the IPA world. And Boatrocker's Conehead sits very firmly in the MBCA wheelhouse. Clear as anything and dry as anything too, aromas are of the dank, piney,… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA
ABV
6.2%

Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers Specials

Boatrocker Flux Capacitor, Wildeberry 2022 & Mojo

Published December 18, 2022
Such was the nature of the final delivery of samples from Boatrocker – both large in number and manifold in choice – there was no obvious way of deciding in what order to take them on. So this trio can be categorised as "Where Crafty's taste buds took him on Friday night." With Flux Capacitor, it's hard to think of a more honed example of seeking a target market. Sure, the Back To The Future trilogy has formed part of The Crafty Pot's ongoing movie education (this year's Christmas movie… Read more
Style
Various Styles As Indicated
ABV
9.2% & 6.2% & 4.8%

Boatrocker Ramjet 2022

Published August 30, 2022
You know you've been around the beer world a while when you realise the Ramjet in your glass is the tenth version that's come your way – and that's not including the Roger Ramjets, the Coffee Ramjets, the Dramjets (still and sparkling), the Jackjet, and on and on. So, nine years on from the beer's mind-blowing debut, where does Boatrocker's flagship sit in 2022? Well, for starters, you don't mess around with an icon, so once again the double digit base beer spent six months in barrels from Starward… Read more
Style
Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
11.1%

Boatrocker Double Barrel & Demi-Jaune (with Crittenden Estate)

Published July 4, 2022
Boatrocker may have unveiled a new look earlier in 2022, but on the beer front the mission continues on a familiar path: a steady stream of "normal" (everything is relative with Boatrocker) beers in colourfully-attired cans encompassing IPAs, malt-driven ales, fruity sours, stouts and the like on one hand; and barrel-aged, blended and rather funkier beers on the other, which appear in rather more austere bottles. After tucking into a few of the former last week, it's into the latter now,… Read more
Style
Wild Whisky Ale & Wild Italian Grape Ale
ABV
5.5% & 8.6%

Boatrocker Straight To VHS, Hello Stranger, Oakey Dokey & Roger Ramjet '22

Published June 27, 2022
Such is the swiftness and intensity with which many brewers release new beers these days, it can pose challenges for those of us covering the industry. There's the need to look after one's liver and ensure you factor in a number of AFDs each week, and also the need to work out how best to present them in cases like this, when six new releases from one brewery turn up at once. Thankfully, within this salvo from Boatrocker there's a quartet with a common theme: taking the drinker on something of a… Read more
Style
ESB, Red IPA, Oaked Stout & Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
5.5% & 6.0% & 7.5% & 10.6%

Boatrocker Tennessee & Kentucky Reds

Published February 14, 2022
When you've got barrels of all origins, ages and sizes to play with, why wouldn't you do just that? And when you have a particular fondness for brewing Flanders red styles, why not use them as your muse? Such is the diversified nature of the beer world these days, brewers are finding ways to showcase the ways in which changing one ingredient or one process can significantly alter the liquid (see Hawkers' Alter Ego IPAs released around the same time as this duo, for example). Here, Boatrocker's brewers… Read more
Style
Double Barrel-Aged Flanders Red
ABV
Both 6.4%

Boatrocker Mojo Cherry Cola Sour

Published February 11, 2022
A third cola-inspired sour from a Victorian brewery to land at Crafty Towers in 2022 – when we're just six weeks in? Yes, sirree! Admittedly, Mojo sits a few steps apart thanks to the brewer's aim to recreate cherry cola rather than the straight up version. The addition of cherries – 200kg per 2,000 litres of beer – conjure a sort of faded crimson colour and send lively, sweeter, cordial like cherry aromas your way alongside that familiar caramel-cola sweetness and a hint of the herbal. Mojo… Read more
Style
Cherry Cola Sour
ABV
4.8%
Stockists

First released in September 2021

Back for late summer 2022

Boatrocker Conehead IPA & Faith

Published December 22, 2021
It's been commented on with some regularity in 2021, not least by the "Make Beer Clear Again" gang, that West Coast IPAs have been doing their bit to push back against the wave of haze enveloping the IPA world. And Boatrocker's Conehead, brewed a second time in quick succession for Christmas, sits very firmly in the MBCA wheelhouse. Clear as anything and dry as anything too, aromas are of the dank, piney, pithy, white wine-y kind, and while the pale malts initially feign at sweetness, they… Read more
Style
West Coast IPA & Belgian Tripel
ABV
6.2% & 9.2%

Boatrocker House Rosé & Friends

Published July 6, 2021
Boatrocker have been releasing their House Red and White seasonally for a few years now, the beers evolving via the Solera method which sees the brewers remove liquid from barrels each year for blending, then topping them up with fresh wort before letting the house culture go to work for another 12 months. For winter 2021, there's a third in the series too, as House Rosé makes its debut with spent mourvèdre grapes added to a wild ale base. The third entry in the trilogy has Boatrocker’s typical… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Wild Ales
ABV
All 6.2%

Boatrocker Gaston & Funky Monkey '21

Published July 4, 2021
Hundreds of beers have left Boatrocker's brewery and Barrel Room over the years, and plenty of people have enjoyed plenty of them. One of my personal faves was Gaston, a chardonnay barrel-aged saison first released in 2015 and named after brewery founder Matt Houghton's French great uncle. He's back in 2021 after spending time in ex-fortified riesling barrels and featuring a blend of Brett Brux as well as Brett Clausenii. Matt says he's keen to see how the big beer – it's higher than 10 percent… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Brett Saison & Barrel-Fermented Wild Ale
ABV
10.6% & 6.2%

Boatrocker Nordjet 2021

Published July 2, 2021
"We LOVE licorice here at Boatrocker, and have an affinity with salted licorice from the Nordic countries." That's how Boatrocker open the description for this spin on their iconic Ramjet barrel-aged imperial stout. In truth, you needn't have read those words to get the message as it comes through loud and proud from the moment you crack the can. Nordjet came into being as a marriage of an extra aged barrel of Ramjet with macerated salted liquorice and natural liquorice extract, with the… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout with Liquorice
ABV
11.0%

Boatrocker & Blackhearts & Sparrows Wildheart #2

Published June 18, 2021
The beer lovers at Blackhearts & Sparrows do seem to have a few favourites when it comes to collaborating, with this collab featuring Boatrocker the second such venture with the Braeside producer. Around ten of the bottleshop staff headed to the brewery's Barrel Room to help bring the beer together, sampling a variety of different aged liquids from barrels before deciding on their chosen blend. And it seems the number of different voices has brought them to a point of some balance within the… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Blended Ale
Stockists

And all other Blackhearts stores

Boatrocker La Fleur, Harmonious Funk & Sterk & Donker 2020

Published March 27, 2021
The advantages of opening Australia's first brewery barrel room (then adding a distillery) must be manifold, not least when you've got a few years under your belt to amass all manner of barrels and other oak vessels while developing various house cultures – wild and otherwise – as well as base liquids with which to create. In the case of La Fleur and Harmonious Funk, Boatrocker make use of some of the wild ale that started out in their koelschip, aged for three years in a 100-year-old foeder… Read more
Style
Wild Ales & Barrel-Aged Belgian Dark
ABV
6.2% & 6.2% & 11.2%

Boatrocker & Crittenden Estate Jaune

Published March 2, 2021
God knows how many thousands of different beers have crossed my palate since the idea for a beer website first popped into my noggin, yet still there's plenty to learn. Case in point: I'm not sure I remember ever having a wine featuring savagnin grapes (not to be confused with sauvignon blanc). To be fair, I still haven't, but I am at least aware of such things now; also that Crittenden Estate on the Mornington Peninsula is one of the largest growers of the variety in Australia. Given they're relatively… Read more
Style
Wild Ale with Grapes
ABV
9.4%

Boatrocker Ramjet 2020

Published October 2, 2020
You know the routine by now: Boatrocker take delivery of freshly disgorged whisky barrels from Starward, fill them with imperial stout, wait a few months 'til the time is right, empty the barrels, blend, package, release to acclaim. In recent years, there's also been a Ramjet Day dedicated to the beer's arrival, although, thanks to COVID-19, in 2020 that's been replaced by Ramjet Day at home boxes, filled with treats, a detailed guide on how best to enjoy them, and something a little extra we won't… Read more
Style
Whisky Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
11.8%

Boatrocker & Carwyn Cellars JackJet 2020

Published July 29, 2020
I'm not sure whether this is more cruel than kind. After all, when the only two businesses selling this beer – collaborators Boatrocker and Carwyn Cellars – put their allocation of bottles up for pre-sale online they both sold out within minutes. So, as far as I'm aware, now I've consumed mine there's a grand total of something like two dozen awaiting the first people through the doors at the two venues this Friday. But part of our mission is to tell readers about new releases and when they're… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
11.3%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Boatrocker KP's & Banshee 2020 & Wildecherry 2020

Published July 22, 2020
Remember when a new release from a brewery was something of a rarity, when "seasonal release" meant one beer per season? Feels like a long time ago, no, and rather than slowing the rate of new beers COVID-19 has merely proved to be another accelerator pad. That said, Boatrocker have long been in the habit of dropping multiple beers at once and here, with a trio of 500ml bottles that left the brewery around the same time as the two tinnies we wrote about earlier in the week, they show it's… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Beers
ABV
5.0% & 11.9% & 6.5%

Boatrocker Variations On A Theme IV & Oakey Dokey Stout

Published July 20, 2020
There have been plenty of hazy IPAs from Boatrocker over the past 18 months, to the extent it seems they've given up on finding new names for them. While I've not come across Variations On A Theme I to III, I can confirm that IV†, for which head brewer Matt Houghton spent some time polishing his IPA recipes in an icy Russian wilderness, continues their habit of giving HIPA lovers what they want. From the impeccably solid haze and smooth, gently giving blankets of sweet stone fruit, cream whipped… Read more
Style
Hazy IIPA & Oaked Stout
ABV
Both 8.0%

Boatrocker Funky Acid Red & Feijoa & Rhubarb Wild Ale

Published May 19, 2020
The sour beers came in two by two... At least that seems to be Boatrocker's preferred habit these days. And given the tendency of such beers from a barrel program now seven years old to hit the mark, why the hell not? Funky Acid Red is another in the brewery's canon of Flanders red style releases and one that reaches the furthest into the depths of their barrels: the liquids here range from 12 months to six years in age so you head in expecting complexity – and that's what you get out. Pouring… Read more
Style
Flanders Red & Fruited Wild Ale
ABV
Both 6.5%

Boatrocker Roger Ramjet 2020

Published May 12, 2020
Look, it's not the fanciest or most high brow of words, but it's the one that first came to mind as I tipped my can of Roger Ramjet into a glass (yes, Roger comes in both cans and bottles in 2020, folks). And it's globular. Well, that was the starter for ten, at least. Then there was "sludgy, dense quicksand pit of boozy chocolate dessert through which no light shall pass". But globular is snappier. Yes, it's fair to say this year's Bourbon Trace barrel-aged addition to the canon of Ramjets… Read more
Style
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
10.9%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Beer 360

Bottle O Pakenham

Brighton Bay Cellars

Camberwell Cellars

Carnegie Cellars

Cork the Liquor Store

Decanters By the Bay

More stockists...

Boatrocker Life Is Peachy & Leaky Boat IIPA

Published April 8, 2020
If you're after a reminder as to how fast things have changed (yes, we know you really, really don't) then one of these two limited releases from Boatrocker should do the trick. When coming up with a name and label for their peach and bergamot sour ale, Life Is Peachy worked not only as a punny title but also a summation of life at the Braeside brewery, where they were enjoying record sales and their busiest days at the Barrel Room. Now the beer has arrived, well, let's just say the beer we'll get… Read more
Style
Peach Sour & IIPA
ABV
4.0% & 8.0%

Boatrocker Sternweisse 2020 & House Red 2020

Published March 17, 2020
The other pair within the quartet of early spring releases we received from Boatrocker – along with Saison and Double Happiness – are new iterations of popular releases from their barrel program. In the case of Sternweisse, it's a beer that could barely be more popular at Crafty Towers, where it's a much anticipated release each year. It's a "double barrel-aged Berliner Weisse" with those barrels previously hosting Starward Whisky and chardonnay. Once again in 2020 it's a delicate yet… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Sour Beers
ABV
6.0% & 6.2%

Boatrocker Saison & Double Happiness

Published March 10, 2020
Given the many elements that now sit within Boatrocker – the core range beers and hop driven limited, the annual, big name, barrel-aged beers, the sour program, the distilling, for example – it's perhaps little wonder the Braeside brewers tend to drop their beers in clutches. And, as we enter spring 2020, there's four new releases doing the rounds, so we thought we'd split them in two: the cans and the bottles. Boatrocker have released many a saison over the years, although arguably none as straightforward… Read more
Style
Saison & Raspberry Sour
ABV
6.1% & 6.8%

Boatrocker Fat Santa 2019

Published December 24, 2019
Boatrocker have released many barrel-aged imperial stouts over the years, some among the most sought-after in the country, with Fat Santa one of the more recent additions to the canon. It returns for its festive foray in 2019 with a slight change to the lineup of guest stars: the tonka, vanilla and coffee beans are all there once more but, this time, in place of local whisky barrels they opted for a first use Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel. And, boy, can you tell. The beer is distinct from its predecessors… Read more
Style
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
10.9%

Boatrocker Krieky & Super Krieky

Published December 16, 2019
Why put one kriek on the dinner table when you can have two? As 2019 draws to a close, the sour side of Boatrocker's barrel program has served up a few more treats for people who like some pucker with their supping, including a pair of barrel-aged wild ales fermented with hand-picked fresh Morello cherries. I'll admit that upon opening the delivery from the Braeside brewery I assumed Super Krieky would be an imperial version of Krieky; however, it turns out they both weigh in at 6.5 percent ABV,… Read more
Style
Krieks
ABV
6.5%

Boatrocker House White

Published December 16, 2019
Boatrocker's House Red has been out for a couple of tours of sour beer fans' glasses and fridges already, and now it's got a stablemate in the shape of, you guessed it, House White. It's a blend of 12, 18 and 24 month old barrel-aged beers from the Barrel Room, and I suspect those liquids will have appeared in, or at least be very similar to, some of the sour blonde ales upon which other Boatrocker blends have been built to date. Here, as much as anything, it's a showcase for the house culture that's… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Sour Wild Ale
ABV
6.0%

Boatrocker Dank & Juicy IPA

Published October 14, 2019
Boatrocker continue along the path of giving some of their beers names that are as much descriptors as mere titles, as Dank & Juicy IPA follows the likes of Dank & Bitter and Sterk & Donker into the fold. They've been on quite a tear with IPAs in 2019 and, if you've been following along at home, you might spot elements of Nexus here in a beer that delivers on its promise – particularly the "juicy". Densely hazy and awash with fresh citrus aromas and lovely tropical fruit flavours… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
6.2%

Boatrocker Vintage Kriek & House Red 2019 & Apricot Wild Ale 2019

Published August 23, 2019
The Boatrocker brewers have been plundering their barrel stock and blending away to create three new releases – two new vintages of past beers and one a fruited sour that's been cellared for three years. Starting with the new new beer, Vintage Kriek is a blended wild ale aged on Morello cherries from the Yarra Valley and sits a long way from the sweeter, cordial like Krieks you may have encountered from some Belgian producers. It's more pink blush in colour than lurid red, with a fizzy carbonation… Read more
Style
Blended Barrel-Aged Ales

Boatrocker Ramjet 2019

Published August 7, 2019
Of all the beers released in Australia each year, there are few that need an introduction less than Boatrocker's Ramjet. So let's cut straight to the chase with the 2019 version of the Starward barrel-aged imperial stout. On the booze front, it's been reined in from last year's 13.4 percent ABV monster to a practically sessionable 11.5; on the other hand, it also feels like they've loosened the reins a little when it comes to setting the whisky character free, allowing as much Starward character… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
11.5%

Boatrocker Coffee Brown

Published August 7, 2019
They already have plenty of stouts in their oeuvre so when adding another dark beer to their winter 2019 offering Boatrocker looked elsewhere. Their gaze landed up England, specifically the country's brown ales. They also infused the beer with whole roasted coffee beans, but it's the English hops and malts that give Coffee Brown its distinctive character, not least because you so rarely meet a beer brewed with English hops in a starring role on these shores today. Sure, there's a little fruity coffee… Read more
Style
Coffee Brown Ale
ABV
5.5%

Boatrocker Nexus IPA

Published May 13, 2019
Boatrocker have come relatively late to the world of the hazy IPA, albeit there was the Jeepers Creepers sour NEIPA towards the start of 2019. So, given the brewery's reputation – not to mention their fine recent run on the hoppy beer front – you can imagine there was some pressure to get it right. Indeed, at their 2019 Good Beer Week event, Vrolijke Boot, founder Matt Houghton admitted to trouble sleeping in the lead up to the release of Nexus IPA. Given the beer's early reception (and the fact… Read more
Style
Hazy IPA
ABV
7.7%

Boatrocker G, K & W Australian Wild Ales

Published February 27, 2019
Boatrocker co-founder Matt Houghton has doffed his cap to family members in the past and is at it again with a duo that forms part of three Australian wild ales released at the same time. The family member this time around is grandfather George Kingsley Sutton, who the labels tell us was variously an archaeologist, art collector, gastronomist and patron of the arts. The beers in his honour – G is for George and K is for Kingsley – are born of the same barrel-aged sour base beer, with George… Read more
Style
Australian Wild Ales
ABV
6.5%

Boatrocker DDH IIPA

Published February 25, 2019
We might still be in February but Boatrocker is closing in on double figures for new releases this year – or, at least, new releases and repackaged oldies. And, while there are the sort of barrel-aged beers for which the brewery has become best known among those new releases, there's a focus on hop forward releases too, with the well-received Jeepers Creepers SNEIPA joined by the DDH IIPA. For the most part, we've seen the DDH / TDH abbreviations (double or triple dry-hopped respectively) attached… Read more
Style
IIPA
ABV
8.5%

Boatrocker Jeepers Creepers TDH SNEIPA

Published February 14, 2019
If you wanted to put out a beer that ticked as many boxes as possible when it comes to current trends in the craftier parts of the beer world, you'd struggle to come up with one that outdoes this. It's not just an IPA, but a New England style hazy IPA. Not just that, it's sour too. And, completing the picture is a hefty dose of dry-hopping complete with attendant acronym TDH (triple dry-hopped). So far, so on point. But what of the resultant beer? Thankfully, it's a cracker, with the composite parts… Read more
Style
Sour NEIPA
ABV
6.1%

Boatrocker Kiwi Hop IPA

Published November 23, 2018
Boatrocker is best known these days for its Belgian style ales, big, malty beasts and fruity blends. Yet it started out with the hop driven, yet still malty, Alpha Queen and has always had the odd pale ale and IPA floating around its core range over the years. And thus it is that the fourth Boatrocker beer to go into cans is a new IPA. If you ignore NEIPAs and Brut IPAs, longer term trends in the world of IPAs have seen a move towards leaner, more tropical fruit salad style IPAs, but, as the brewery… Read more
Style
NZ IPA
ABV
7.8%

Boatrocker Pilsner (cans)

Published November 2, 2018
Pilsners have made irregular appearances in the Boatrocker lineup over the years. Hoppbier picked up an Australian International Beer Awards gold back in the brewery's earliest days and evolved into the Beer Garden Pilsner later on, so called as its inception can be traced back to brewery co-founder Matt Houghton's backpacking days in Northern Germany. As the brewery moved into cans, this beer – called, simply, Pilsner – is there with Miss Pinky and Sunshine & Rainbows. LIke its forebears,… Read more
Style
Pilsner
ABV
4.5%

Boatrocker & Pambula Oyster Co Smoked Porter

Published October 22, 2018
There's not a great deal of great beer around if you live in Pambula. But Mark McKillop, a former lineman turned award-winning oyster farmer, has found a pretty unique way of ensuring he's kept in ready supply, namely getting involved in some of the country's leading beer festivals and regularly collaborating with one of the country's leading breweries, Boatrocker. This time around, brewer and oyster farmer have gone for something a little more traditional than their last dalliance, the Auster La… Read more
Style
Smoked Oyster Porter
ABV
5.2%

Boatrocker Dramjet & Sparkling Dramjet 2018

Published October 22, 2018
Having spent years ageing beers in barrels, most famously using Starward barrels when creating the iconic Ramjet imperial stout, Boatrocker's Matt Houghton decided that 2018 was the time to go a step further. Dramjet is the result: a blend of the most recent vintage of Ramjet with some of Starward's whisky, the aim being to "push your boundaries of what is beer, and what is whisky". In the case of Dramjet, it's an intentionally still, viscous beast with the hue and glamorous glisten of… Read more
Style
Beer-Whisky Hybrids
ABV
17.6%

Boatrocker Ramjet 2018

Published August 31, 2018
Since its first appearance back in 2013, Boatrocker's flagship Ramjet has ploughed a familiar path. The imperial stout is always aged in Starward casks before blending. It picks up a combination of people's choice and beer competition awards. It causes a buzz upon release (especially since the brewery started its annual Ramjet Day). And it tends to spawn ever more variations (with Dramjet a new addition in 2018). It does change a little too, however, most notably, it seems, when it comes to its potency.… Read more
Style
Whisky Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
13.4%

Boatrocker Banshee Barleywine 2018

Published August 7, 2018
You don't tend to see a lot of barley wines/barleywines around (which is perhaps why you find brewers spelling it as both one and two words). It's understandable given their size, the cost of such boozy beers under Australia's tax system and their limited appeal in a country that, for the most part, is still waking up to hoppy pale ales. Yet winter 2018 has seen a veritable smorgasbord leave local breweries, including the latest iteration from Boatrocker. It's another of the Braeside brewer's beers… Read more
Style
Whisky Barrel Aged Barleywine
ABV
12.8%

Boatrocker Sternweisse

Published July 23, 2018
If you've paid even the slightest bit of notice to the Boatrocker story over the years, you'll be aware they've developed a close working relationship with Melbourne's Starward Whisky. Foremost among their joint efforts is the annual release of the barrel aged imperial stout Ramjet, but they've done more besides including, back in 2015, a single barrel's worth of a beer they called Sternweisse, a "double barrel aged Brett Berliner Weisse". While that tiny run won't have registered with… Read more
Style
Double Barrel Aged Berliner Weisse
ABV
6.1%

Boatrocker Daddy Koel & House Red

Published July 21, 2018
The barrel program at Boatrocker is really coming into its own now, with time, the acquisition of more oak and a growing inventory of liquids of various forms and ages giving Matt Houghton and his team an ever-broader palette from which to draw. And, if the 2018 Indies beer awards are any guide, it's one that's delivering great results too. As well as taking out the Champion Medium Brewery trophy at June's awards, the brewery also snaffled two Champion Beer trophies, one for Ramjet, the storied barrel… Read more
Style
Spontaneously Fermented Ale & Sour Blended Red
ABV
6.4% & 6.2%

Boatrocker Apricot Wild Ale 2017

Published May 12, 2018
The Apricot Wild Ale is one of a growing number of Boatrocker beers that has enjoyed quite the journey before making it into your hands. For one, there was the journey to Victoria's north east to collect the apricots from an orchard. Then there was the two months the fruit spent in the company of a blend of beers from various barrels aged between 12 and 36 months at the Barrel Room. As such, while the fruit was picked in summer 2017, the beer didn't leave the brewery until autumn 2018. And, as with… Read more
Style
Blended Apricot Wild Ale
ABV
6.5%

Boatrocker Sunshine & Rainbows

Published January 19, 2018
Any beer that conjures memories of the time it took less than two-and-a-half minutes of Fight Test for The Flaming Lips to become my new favourite band back in 2002 (and, with hindsight, change everything) is off to a good start. OK, so the lyrics there namecheck “sunbeams” and “starlight” but, in combination with a label that would make a fitting backdrop for one of the Oklahomans’ live shows, that’s where this beer started before it even landed in a glass. The beer itself is a table… Read more
Style
Table Beer
ABV
3.4%

Boatrocker & Starward Fat Santa BA Imperial Stout

Published December 19, 2017
The romance between Boatrocker and the makers of Starward whiskies shows no sign of abating. Thanks to the success of Ramjet, the collaboration between the Melbourne producers is one of the most high profile in the local beer world and, for Christmas 2017, they've returned to the style with which they began – a whisky barrel aged imperial stout – and then amped things up from there. Yes, really. Because, clearly, straight Ramjet isn't decadent enough for Christmas... Thus Fat Santa merely started… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
10.7%

Boatrocker & Pambula Oyster Co Auster La Vista

Published December 13, 2017
It's little more than a year since we first encountered Mark McKillop from Pambula Oyster Co. Initial contact via Instagram, while he was at the Royal Melbourne Show technically showcasing his gold medal winning produce but seemingly spending more time making connections with the country's brewers, led to a visit to his shed on Pambula Lake and a beer-for-oysters swap. He spoke of his love for great beer and desire to get more involved with the industry and he's certainly done that, with appearances… Read more
Style
Oyster Gose
ABV
5.5%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Other venues TBC

Boatrocker & Goose Island October Beer

Published November 8, 2017
Back in May, while in Melbourne for Good Beer Week, the man in charge of overseeing Goose Island's massive barrel program visited Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers's Barrel Room to create a beer. There, Bill Savage and Boatrocker's Matt Houghton settled upon a rarity, an October beer – something of a pre-cursor to barley wines. After all, the thinking went, when you've each got an iconic barrel aged imperial stout in your lineup (Ramjet and Bourbon County Stout), why not do something different? They… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Strong Ale
ABV
9.4%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room and from the brewery online

Boatrocker Barrel Aged Quintet

Published September 1, 2017
Why release one barrel aged beer when you can release five at the same time? Given they've got more barrels filled with liquid to play with than any other brewery in Australia, it's a luxury Boatrocker can take – so it has, with all five featuring some quite lovely new look labels. As for the beers themselves, there's Squeezebox, a barrel aged saison that spent up to 12 months in French oak barriques with the addition of Brettanomyces and pediococcus cultures to develop funk and acidity. The barrel… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Beers
ABV
Various strengths
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

NB: Check ahead with venues to see which of the five they ordered

Boatrocker Brewery Jungle Jive

Published April 28, 2017
Having relegated the Hop Bomb IPA from its core packaged range, Boatrocker has wasted little time in adding a new IPA to said lineup. In keeping with the times and, indeed, with the brewery's ethos, it comes with a funky twist. Jungle Jive is a sour IPA, a beer that started out being soured in the kettle before being joined by hops down the line – late enough to impart their fruity aromas and flavours without adding bitterness that could clash with the acidity. The result is something of a wolf… Read more
Style
Sour IPA
ABV
5.8%
Bitterness
10 IBU
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Flight Bar Bendigo

And select craft beer stockists

More stockists...

Boatrocker Brewery Roger Ramjet 2016

Published March 29, 2017
"Get the blue cheese. NOW!" Up went the cry from The Boss as the first sniff and sip of the second vintage of Boatrocker's Roger Ramjet hit home. And with good reason too. While last year's debut of the bourbon barrel take on the brewery's flagship imperial stout (the original Ramjet is aged in whisky barrels) was a good beer – and highly fancied around the beer world – here at Crafty Towers we didn't feel it hit the heights of its sibling. But this time, well... Roger Ramjet Mk II… Read more
Style
Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
11.2%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Boatrocker Brewery Orange Sherbet

Published March 1, 2017
Berliner Weisse, not to mention a few other once barely heard of sour styles, are becoming commonplace in the craftier realms of the Aussie beer world these days. Yet it's not that long ago that they were rarer than hen's teeth: just five years ago, the world was yet to meet Watermelon Warhead, for example. Among those pioneering brewers sour fans can thank for their introduction is Matt Houghton of Boatroacker. Not long after commissioning his Braeside brewery he released Mitte, the Chardonnay… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Berliner Weisse
ABV
5.5%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Harvest Cellars

More stockists...

Boatrocker Brewery Blonde

Published February 1, 2017
Oh, what fun it must be to be Boatrocker Brewery founder Matt Houghton or one of his brewers, making your way up and down aisles of barrels of varying sizes, sampling liquids of various origins and in various states of development, deciding which ones are ready for bottling, which need more time, which will need blending to make a marvellous final product, which would suit an addition of fruit or coffee. Certainly, there are worse ways to spend one's life. The latest wooden vessel to be emptied of… Read more
Style
Sour Blonde
ABV
6.1%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

And select craft beer venues

Boatrocker Brewery Coffee Ramjet 2016

Published September 10, 2016
Earlier this year, at the first Ramjet Day at Boatrocker's Barrel Room, one of the treats served up to guests was a coffee version of the brewery's much-loved barrel-aged imperial stout. And now Coffee Ramjet is being made available to a wider audience. As with straight Ramjet, the beer spent time in Starward whisky barrels before the coffee was added; whole beans were infused into the beer directly – the equivalent of an espresso shot per 330ml bottle. That might sound a lot but, if you've been… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
10.6%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Brewhouse Brisbane

Mill on Constance

More stockists...

Boatrocker Brewery Dark Saison

Published September 7, 2016
They're getting quite the collection of saison style beers under their belt at Boatrocker, from the now core range Saison Bateau to some sour varieties and now this end of Winter / start of Spring bridging release. It's something of a rarity for the Braeside experimentalists these days too: no barrel was harmed in the making of the Dark Saison. Instead, what we have here is a delicate saison yeast going to work with dark malts, topped off with the addition of some mystery spices. And it's the spices… Read more
Style
Spiced Dark Saison
ABV
7.3%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Boatrocker Brewery L.A.B.

Published August 13, 2016
Even before he started brewing in Braeside, Matt Houghton had started amassing barrels. The intention was to develop the largest and most diverse barrel-ageing program in Australia, predominantly to create Belgian inspired ales. Thus, while the Starward barrel-aged Ramjet imperial stout has garnered most attention from beer lovers, it's the barrels containing all manner of strains of bacteria and Brettanomyces that are his real passion as he looks to create lambic style ales, funky saisons, Oud Bruins… Read more
Style
Flanders Red
ABV
7.2%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Some distribution into Brisbane via Calibre

Boatrocker Brewery Pacific Stout

Published July 27, 2016
Now that Thunder Road has won its battle to call one of its beers Pacific Ale, can we expect to see a flood of beers of said nomenclature appearing on shelves? One has to assume so, although quite whether many will choose to use the word Pacific in conjunction with a hefty stout is doubtful. However, for this winter release, Boatrocker felt it was the best way to capture the essence of the beer, given it's a stout featuring Aussie hops Galaxy and Ella. Back before it had a name, it started out as… Read more
Style
Stout
ABV
7.5%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Bottles out early August 2016

More stockists...

Boatrocker Brewery Yvonne

Published June 6, 2016
He's an old romantic is Boatrocker main man Matt Houghton. Well, not that old, but certainly romantic. Not just in the sense of being keen to pay homage as respectfully as possible to the European brewers from whom he takes inspiration, but sometimes in the naming of his beers too*. Case in point is Gaston, the Chardonnay barrel aged, gently soured, 9 percent ABV saison that's become something of a sleeper hit for the brewery. The beer is named after one of Matt's late, great uncles, and now Gaston's… Read more
Style
Barrel Ages Saison
ABV
6.5%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Boatrocker Brewery Elderweisse

Published June 6, 2016
As if it wasn't bad enough living in a house in which their attendance at the musical in Melbourne recently has brought with it relentless renditions of The Sound of Music from wife and daughter, now Boatrocker has gone and released a beer with a name that on first glance (and second and third given the current predicament) looks rather like Edelweiss. As a result, that bloomin' saccharine waltz keeps floating into the Crafty cranium. The beer best be good... What it is is another Berliner weisse… Read more
Style
Elderflower Berliner Weisse
ABV
4.0%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

AIBA 2015 Champions Saison à Trois

Published May 27, 2016
For the past few years, the organisers of the Australian International Beer Awards have invited their Australian Champion Brewers to collaborate on a beer to be debuted at the subsequent year's awards. In 2015, the three champs were 4 Pines (Large), Thunder Road (Medium) and Boatrocker (Small), so earlier this year their brewers gathered at Boatrocker to unite their brewing talents. The trio – Chris Willcock of 4 Pines, Marcus Cox of Thunder Road, and Matt Houghton of Boatrocker – decided to… Read more
Style
Amber Saison
ABV
6.5%

Boatrocker Brewery Ramjet 2016

Published April 13, 2016
How far, how fast? It's not much more than a couple of years ago that Matt Houghton dropped off a sample of the first ever Ramjet at Crafty Towers. Later that evening, after a planning meeting with members of the Good Beer Week team, a bottle was cracked. Someone arriving late was handed a glass without knowing what it was. "Wow. What's that? That's amazing; I could put away a pint of that," she said. "It's a new imperial stout from Boatrocker. It's more than 10 percent." "You're… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
11.4%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Select other good beer stockists

Boatrocker Brewery Epice

Published April 4, 2016
Anyone that called into the 2016 Good Beer Week Gala Showcase and stopped by the Boatrocker stall will be aware that they've got plenty of new beers on the go in various stages of readiness. The combo of in progress beers, ready now beers and been around a while beers saw the Braeside brewery take a fourth straight People's Choice title, with the Epice one of the beers that contributed. It's another beer that looks to Matt Houghton's beloved Belgium for inspiration: a blonde ale that, like many beers… Read more
Style
Spiced Belgian Blonde
ABV
5.8%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Boatrocker & Beer DeLuxe Summer in Bruges

Published February 29, 2016
Following in the footsteps of last years' Splice of Heaven with Moon Dog and the tasty red IPA they conceived with Bridge Road, the staff at Beer DeLuxe continue to have the pick of Victoria's top breweries for their occasional collaborations, with their latest joint venture taking place at Boatrocker's Braeside home. The aim was to create a beer appropriate for the hotter months which led them to the Belgian witbier style popularised by Hoegaarden, a wise move given Boatrocker's love of all things… Read more
Style
Witbier
ABV
4.4%

Boatrocker Brewery Gaston

Published November 6, 2015
The last of the flurry of new beers released by Boatrocker around the opening of its Barrel Room is another barrel-aged beer. Like the Brambic we wrote about last week – and, we understand, all future bottled Belgian-inspired, barrel-aged beers from the brewery – it comes with a rather refined looking label, not to mention the cork and cage that's appeared on a number of their beers recently; packaging days must be lots of fun... It's also, for now at least, only available direct from the Barrel… Read more
Style
Farmhouse Ale
ABV
9.0%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Boatrocker Saison du Bateau

Published November 4, 2015
Given their growing popularity with Australian brewers and drinkers – and Boatrocker's love of all things Belgian – it's perhaps a little surprising that, two and a half years after installing his brewery in Braeside, Matt Houghton and his team still hadn't released a saison. There had been some teasers along the way – we seem to recall a brettanomyces saison making an appearance at a Good Beer Week event – but nothing on any grand scale. So now they're rectifying things with two takes on… Read more
Style
Saison
ABV
6.4%

Boatrocker Brewery Brambic

Published October 30, 2015
To mark the opening of the Barrel Room, Boatrocker has released the very first beer put through its brewery in 2013. The beer produced that day was transferred into French oak barriques from Yering Station winery since when various strains of Brettanomyces, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces have been allowed to develop. The aim was to follow as closely as possible the techniques of the traditional lambic brewers of Belgium. Given the name lambic can only technically be given to beers from… Read more
Style
Lambic Style Ale
ABV
5.5%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room

Others TBC

Boatrocker Brewery Braeside Crown Cola

Published October 22, 2015
As the opening of the Boatrocker Barrel Room nears, the number of barrel aged beers from the Braeside brewery is increasing in frequency. Following closely on the heels of Adventus and Roger Ramjet comes Braeside Crown Cola, a beer that borrows its look and, to a degree, some of its flavour characteristics from Royal Crown (or RC) Cola. The brewers started out by making what they call "a classic Scotch ale" – a big, chewy, malty style – that used a yeast from a Scottish brewery. Those… Read more
Style
Bourbon Barrel Aged Scotch Ale
ABV
8.5%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room (coming soon)

Wine Republic Northcote

Hopheads

More stockists...

Boatrocker Brewery Roger Ramjet 2015

Published October 21, 2015
Boatrocker's Ramjet is well on its way to becoming an Aussie cult classic. The Starward whisky barrel-aged imperial stout has a growing band of slavish devotees and has been named People's Choice Best Beer at three consecutive Good Beer Week Gala Showcases. The barrels that helped create the luscious 10 percent plus beer are back at Starward helping create a Ramjet whisky and we believe they will then return to the brewery to make a Ramjet squared (or whatever name they come up with) in the future. For… Read more
Style
Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
10.5%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room (opening soon)

Wine Republic Northcote

Hopheads

More stockists...

Boatrocker Brewery Adventus

Published September 21, 2015
All being well, Boatrocker will soon welcome the arrival of its Barrel Room and bar across the road from its Braeside brewery, which you can read all about here. The plan is to kickstart a massive barrel-ageing and sours program there while also opening the doors to the public so they can come and sample a wide range of trophy-winning Boatrocker beers at source. To mark said imminent arrival, the brewery has released a beer called "The Arrival" or, more specifically, Adventus. Originally… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Strong Belgian Ale
ABV
10.2%
Stockists

Boatrocker Barrel Room (when open)

Fox In The Corn

Coach House Ales

Nillumbik Cellars

Mr Beebe's

More stockists...

Boatrocker Big Love Suburban Red

Published June 5, 2015
There's been much to celebrate in the world of Boatrocker in the first half of 2015. The Braeside brewery took out the Champion Small Australian Brewery at the Australian International Beer Awards a few weeks after sweeping the People's Choice for the third time at the Good Beer Week Gala Showcase. Boatrocker also celebrated investment from Made By HAND, the business run by several of the men formerly involved in Little World Beverages (Little Creatures), which has been used to accelerate the development… Read more
Style
Amber Ale
ABV
4.5%

Boatrocker Brewery Ramjet 2014

Published April 1, 2015
The all-conquering Ramjet is back! The first vintage of the barrel-aged imperial stout from Boatrocker wowed all beer lovers whose path it crossed, won over by its luscious blend of roast characters, chocolate, vanilla, oak and whisky. And now the 2014 vintage, which was offered to punters as a sneak peak at last month's Good Beer Week Gala Showcase where it promptly won People's Choice Best Beer, is out, initially in bottles and with a seriously limited number of kegs to follow between now and Good… Read more
Style
Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
10.4%
Awards

GBW Gala Showcase People's Choice Best Beer

Stockists

Acland Cellars

More to follow...

Boatrocker Brewery Miss Pinky

Published March 10, 2015
The sour German beer style Berliner Weisse is proving rather popular with Aussie brewers these days. First released on a relatively wide scale by Feral in the guise of their Watermelon Warhead, it's been attempted with varying degrees of success by many brewers since. And it looks like Braeside's Boatrocker is making a stab at becoming something of a Berliner Weisse specialist with Miss Pinky becoming its third in March 2015 on the back of the pretty regularly released Mitte and the Orange Sherbet… Read more
Style
Raspberry Berliner Weisse
ABV
3.4%

Boatrocker Brewery Tripel

Published September 26, 2014
Boatrocker’s love of all things Belgian continues with their latest short run release. The Tripel (or Trippel as it says on the tap decals) follows in the footsteps of the strong Belgian dark ale Sterk & Donker, being almost as strong but of the fairer tripel persuasion and pouring a bright, light golden colour. It also, like many beers of its ilk, seems to bring about a spot of synaesthesia at Crafty Towers in that this viscous liquid not only looks glistening but smells glistening: its combination… Read more
Style
Tripel
ABV
9.6%
Stockists

Keg:

The Terminus

Beer DeLuxe Hawthorn

Forester’s Hall

Carwyn Cellars

Bottles:

Blackhearts & Sparrows

McCoppins

More stockists...

Boatrocker Mitte

Published October 9, 2013
One of the first and now most frequently appearing of the beers from the Boatrocker barrel beer program is this take on the Berliner Weisse style. The beer begins with a sour mash whereby the grains are left in the mash tun over a day or more to allow natural lactic acids to develop before the brewing process recommences. When it's then been through the kettle, the wort is put into former Chardonnay barrels where it is inoculated with more bugs so that more sour characteristics can develop. Once… Read more
Style
Berliner Weisse
ABV
3.5%

Boatrocker Misfit

Published September 24, 2013
Why release one Belgian style beer into the world when you can release two at the same time? Regular readers of The Crafty Pint may recall a series of travel pieces Matt Houghton from Boatrocker wrote for the site on a trip to Belgium a couple of years ago. While there, he visited a number of breweries, large and small, sampling beers but also picking brains about brewing Belgian styles. Despite having a core range based around hoppy New World styles, he's always maintained that this is where his… Read more
Style
Hoppy Belgian Golden Ale
ABV
6.0%

Boatrocker Ramjet

Published September 24, 2013
The third in Boatrocker's recent raft of limited releases is another beast of a beer - the second to tip the scales above 10 percent ABV, no less. Called Ramjet after the engines that used an extra fuel source to go further, it's an imperial stout that takes initial inspiration from the style's home by using all English ingredients. It then deviates a little from tradition in that it spent a couple of months inside former Starward whisky barrels from the New World Distillery. The brewers reckon… Read more
Style
Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
ABV
10.2%

Boatrocker Sterk & Donker

Published September 23, 2013
It might sound like a duo of techno producers who would have supported Sven Vath on his 17-hour marathon sessions in Frankfurt in the early 90s, but it turns out Sterk & Donker actually means merely Strong & Dark. One of the first raft of limited releases from Boatrocker's new brewery, it comes with a pretty involved production behind it. Before making the beer, the two Matts that brew Boatrocker beers created their own Belgian style candi syrup, using multiple heat treatments and quick temperature… Read more
Style
Belgian Quad/Abt
ABV
10.5%

Boatrocker Pale (previously SMASH & Big Love)

A beer that, in a different form, was Boatrocker's entry for the 2012 Great Australasian Beer SPecTAPular (when it stood for Single Malt And Single Hop) has since evolved. Many times, to the point that it became known as the Big Love Suburban Pale and, as of the middle of 2016 has ended up as, simply, Boatrocker Brewery Pale Ale. Tagged as a "New World hop ale", it makes full use of the brewery's custom built hopback to elicit as much stone fruit and tropical aroma as possible from Cascade,… Read more
Style
Summer Ale
ABV
4.4%
Bitterness
28 IBU

Boatrocker Hop Bomb

Long before they finally opened their own brewery, Matt and Andrea Houghton planned to add an IPA to the Boatrocker lineup. They even bounced one name, "Blind Freddy", off us at one point, a name that even we thought might be a little risky for the powers-that-be. In the end, an IPA became one of the first new beers to be brewed at their Braeside home and earned the title Hop Bomb. It's a moniker they attached to a beer based around New World hops, many of them introduced to the beer late… Read more
Style
IPA
ABV
6.5%
Bitterness
65 IBU

Boatrocker Beer Garden Pilsner

Not Boatrocker's first beer, but one that first caught the eyes of many when it secured a gold medal at the Australian International Beer Awards soon after release. The beer then was called Hoppbier, since renamed Beer Garden Pilsner, and is a New World Pilsner inspired by brewery founder Matt Houghton's earlier backpacking days in northern Germany, one that takes the beer garden memories of his youth and brings them up to date with the use of Kiwi Riwaka hops. Enticing but delicate tropical fruit… Read more
Style
New World Pilsner
ABV
4.5%
Bitterness
33 IBU