Our Sydney beer scout, Mr Malty, drew our attention to Six String Brewing Co, of Erina on the NSW central coast. “These blokes are good”, he said, “especially the Pale Ale and Dark Red IPA”.
We found cans at Plonk Fyshwick. Shell shocked at paying $99.90 and $123.90 respectively for a slab of each, we threw in a can each of Hefeweizen and Gold Ale and headed down the coast.
Hefeweizen, a wheat beer in the southern German style offers banana-like fruity aroma, lively, zesty flavours, low bitterness and characteristic lemony bite in the finish. It’s a fair rendition of the style (three-and-a-half star rating.
The mid-strength (3.5 per cent alcohol) Six Strings Golden Ale really steps up to the mark for this style, using rich malt and hops to fill the gap left by the low alcohol content (four-star rating).
Six String Brewing Co Pale Ale 375ml can $4.16
The brewer calls this “a hybrid between American and Australian pale ales”. That’s a fair description of an opulent, pale golden beer, with a beautiful, persistent head and intense, citrus-like hops aroma. The hops also give a strong, lingering bitterness to a very pleasing example of the style.
Six String Brewing Co Dark Red IPA 375ml can $5.16
Six String’s powerful IPA pours dark, almost black with a distinct red hue, topped by a luxurious white head. The head concentrates the hop oils and bitterness, so it takes a few sips of the smooth, malty liquid below to see the great harmony of this very malty, very bitter beer – a triumph of the brewer’s art.
Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published:
- 13 January in goodfood.com.au and other Fairfax digital media
- 14 January in the Canberra Times