Chris Shanahan

Emerson’s Old 95 Ale 500ml $10.90
The label subtitle reads “Strong, rich, malty, hoppy ale – traditional English Old Ale”. It’s certainly strong (seven per cent alcohol), rich, malty and hoppy. The latter drives its wonderfully aromatic fruitiness. And like all good bottle-fermented ales, it’s particularly lively, with a persistent, abundant, creamy head.

Floris Passion Wheat Ale 330ml $6.50
If a beer’s to include passionfruit, better that it’s based on wheat as it in this refreshing Belgian brew. Passionfruit juice constitutes 30 per cent of the blend, providing the pure, juicy aroma and flavour. And even though it’s sweet, the tart acidity proves a perfect foil ¬– within the smooth, malty body.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Unibroue Blanche de Chambly 355ml $5.80
No, not French, but French Canadian – a fine-but-cloudy bottle fermented wheat ale. Its delicately fruity aroma leads to a zesty, flavoursome and evenly balanced palate with wheat ale’s distinctive fresh acidity counterbalancing an almost imperceptible sweetness. See www.unibroue.com for more info about this Quebec brewery.

Holgate Extra Special Bitter 330ml $4.50
This one’s brewed by Paul Holgate and Ian Morgan at Keatings Hotel, Woodend, Macedon, about an hour’s drive out of Melbourne. You can taste the beers on site or enjoy the bottled versions here in Canberra. This one’s a deep-amber English style bitter – big on fruity malt flavours offset by assertive, tasty, lingeringly bitter hops.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Red Angus Pilsner 345ml $3.50
Griffith-based winemaker, De Bortoli, launched Red Angus Pilsener in December 2007. It’s a fresh and lively European-style lager built for pleasurable, easy drinking rather than making a big statement. It leads with aromatic hops that add complexity, and then a lingering, refreshing bitterness to its generous, malty palate.

Potton Brewery Shambles Bitter $8.50
This deep-amber, mid-strength (4.3 per cent alcohol) bitter comes from Potton, Bedfordshire, a little to the north of London, about half way between Milton Keynes and Cambridge. The aroma’s warm and malty with a fruity note; but on the palate, the malt plays second fiddle to the assertive, but balanced, hops bitterness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Brunehaut Blanche Biere Biologique 330ml $9.50
There’s an appealing light, lemony freshness to Brunehaut bottle-fermented organic Belgian wheat ale – a style based on delicacy, subtle flavour (including a light dusting of spice) and refreshing acidity rather than hops bitterness. Its lightness belies its full five per cent alcohol content. This is a beautifully balanced, complex brew.

Orkney Raven Ale 500ml $9.50
From Orkney, Scotland, Raven is a full flavoured, pale-amber coloured ale weighing in at a modest 3.8 per cent alcohol. The aroma reveals rich malt, seasoned with pungent hops – a combination that carries through on the creamy-textured, complex palate. The finish is dry, with a lingering, harmonious hops bitterness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Great Divide Hercules Double IPA 355ml $11.90
“It is not for the faint of heart. It is, however, fit for the gods”, reads the label. And there’s a heavenly side to Hercules. It’s luxuriously malty, hoppy and silk smooth in an over-the-top, alcoholic, one-is-enough way. Hercules comes from the Great Divide Brewing Co, Denver, Colorado, USA.

James Squire Original Pilsener 345ml 6pack $16
The original lagers of Bohemia offer rich, pure malt flavour balanced by the striking aromatics and assertive bitterness of Saaz hops.  It’s a style emulated around the world. But few match James Squire’s interpretation, using Saaz hops from New Zealand and the Czech Republic. It’s made by Lion Nathan’s Malt Shovel Brewery, Sydney.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2010

Premium Clean Skin Beer 330ml $2.99
To borrow Michael Luscombe’s term, frugal is the operative word here – so, in my view, it’s a brew for the desperate, destitute or mean and penny pinching. My sample, purchased at 1st Choice, tasted  flat, dull and tired, albeit recognisably beer. It earns a grudging star for being cheap, wet and alcoholic.

Great Divide Brewing Company Belgica IPA 355ml $8.50
What a contrast – from a beer confronting in its ordinariness to one that stuns with tasty idiosyncrasy.  It’s an American brew, built on a British colonial style, India Pale Ale, but including Belgian (the malt) and American (hops in overdrive) influences. It’s a luxuriously malty, hoppy, alcoholic brew – but for sipping only.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Moo Brew Hefeweizen and Pilsner 330ml $5.50
The Hefeweizen, made in the Bavarian wheat-ale style, offers fruity, fermentation-derived esters and a light, tasty, delicious palate with refreshing acidity rather than the hops bitterness of barley beer. The Pilsner takes on this role. It’s based on pale crystal malt flavours, balanced by aromatic, bitter, firm Spalt hops.

Moo Brew Pale Ale and Dark Ale 330ml $5.50
These are based on the American pale and dark ale styles. The pale version is stunning – featuring high-toned hops aroma and opulently malty palate, offset by a lingering, bitter, dry hops finish. The dark version delivers caramel and chocolate malt flavours meshed with hops flavour and bitterness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Red Duck Overland Bright Ale 330ml $4.90
From the Purrumbete Brewing Company, Victoria, Red Duck is a lightly hazy, pale-coloured, easy-drinking ale. It’s moderately alcoholic at 4.2 per cent, with an emphasis on zesty freshness and refreshing hops bitterness rather than overt malt flavour. Strangely, Overland doesn’t rate a mention on the Red Duck website.

Lord Nelson Old Admiral 330ml $3.80
Sydney’s Lord Nelson, opened in 1842, claims to be Australia’s oldest continuously licensed pub. In 1987 it began brewing on site and has become one of the Rocks area’s must-visit sites. The opulent, malty, high-alcohol and generously hopped Old Admiral ale is best on tap, but the bottled version slips down easily enough.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009