Category Archives: Beer review

Beer review — Robinsons and Moon Dog

3 April 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Robinsons Old Tom Strong Ale with Ginger 330ml $5.85
The back label says this is a blend of respected UK brands, Old Tom Strong Ale and Fentiman’s Ginger Beer. The luxurious, six-per-cent alcohol, deep mahogany ale leads with a seductive earthy, spicy, gingery aroma. The generous, warm, piquant, gingery palate matches the aroma precisely.

Moon Dog Love Tap Double Lager 330ml $5.32
From Abbotsford, Victoria, Moon Dog Double Lager combines four malts (pilsner, carared, carapils and chocolate) with three hops varieties (galaxy, motueka and tettenang). This produces a deep-golden colour, a rich, sweet, malty palate, balanced by layers of bitterness and citrus-like flavours from the hops.

Beer review — Brewboys and Billabong Brewing

27 March 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Brewboys Maiden Ale 330ml $4.15
This bottle conditioned amber ale, from Brewboys of Adelaide, combines malted barley from several counties, including the UK, Germany and Australia, and fresh hop flowers from Nelson, New Zealand. The pungency of the hops cuts through the rich, smooth caramel-like malt flavours, providing a clean, fresh, drying finish.

Billabong Brewing Nelson Sauvin Ale 330ml $3.98
Western Australia’s Billabong Brewing uses New Zealand Nelson Sauvin hop variety in an attempt to capture its distinctive gooseberry-like character. The beer may have displayed that character when first bottled. But it’s now more of a tartness cutting through and slightly overwhelming the background malt flavour.

Aldi attracts Woolworths attention

20 March 2013Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Attempting to deflect criticism of its market power last week, Woolworths drew attention to its fast-growing competitor, Aldi. Woolworths highlighted the 95 per cent market share of private labels in Aldi, compared to just six per cent in its own stores.

Aldi remains a minnow compared to Woolies. But it’s growing rapidly and its strategy of offering mainly private labels makes it a difficult devil to grapple with – especially on price. How can you undercut a competitor that sells so few mainstream brands?

Aldi does private labels particularly well. The packaging looks good, often resembling market leaders. And the quality generally exceeds the “no better than it needs to be” values of old-time generics.

The beers reviewed this week, for example, sell on special for around the price of mainstream Australian brews, but offer more, in my view, than, say VB.

Hopper Whitman Belgian White Ale 355ml 6-pack $9.99–$12.99
Aldi’s Hopper Whitman white ale, brewed by World Beers, New York, emulates Belgian styles like Hoegaarden. The lemon colour and cloudy appearance look similar to the original, although the aroma seems fruitier and the palate a little rounder and sweeter. It’s a tasty, clean, refreshing wheat ale and true to style.

Hopper Whitman Summer Brew Pale Ale 330ml 6-pack $9.99–$12.99
At first glance I thought this might be in the bright, aromatically hoppy style of Little Creatures Pale Ale. There’s an element of aromatic hops, but the character leaned more to the herbal than floral and on the palate, hops bitterness seemed more important than hops flavour. It’s an easy drinking, well-balanced style.

Beer review — Wig and Pen and Prickly Moses

13 March 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Wig and Pen Gueuze 355ml balloon $10
Gueuze, part of Belgium’s lambic beer family, combines barrel-conditioned ales of various ages – in the Wig’s version, one, two and three years old. The microbial tag-team in the barrels produces an intensely fruity beer (pineapple-like) of tart, grapefruit-like acidity with underlying earthy, farmyard characters. It’s not a session beer, but a remarkable one to linger over.

Prickly Moses Organic Pilsner 330ml $3.82
Prickly Moses, from Barongarook, Victoria, combines Otway rainwater and pilsner malts with New Zealand hops, fermented by “one of the world’s original yeast strains from Germany”. The slightly cloudy, pale lemon colour and persistent white head appeal strongly, as does the fresh, brisk, herbal-hoppy palate. It stands out among all the me-too pilsners.

Beer review — The Little Brewing Company

6 March 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

The Little Brewing Company Wicked Elf Pilsner 330ml $4.40
Wicked Elf Pilsner comes from The Little Brewing Company, Port Macquarie, NSW. It’s a local expression of the classic Bohemian style, brewed from European pilsner malt and the classic Saaz hops from the Czech republic. The deep lemon-gold colour and full malty body appeal, but the hops proved a little tough and hard for my palate.

Wig and Pen brews Canberra centenary ale

6 March 2013Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Canberra’s centenary celebrations kicked off early at the Wig and Pen. In January, the popular Civic brewpub released Centenary Ale, brewed from malted barley, raw wheat, oats and cane sugar.

Brewer Richard Watkins says this recipe – in tandem with fairly high fermentation temperatures – reflects brewing ingredients and styles of a century ago, before refrigeration reached today’s sophistication.

“Four Seasons Ale” might suit as an alternative name as Watkins intends tweaking the style during the year. The current, light-lemon coloured, summer brew will give way to autumn leaf colours and richer malt; then beef up to pudding-like richness in winter; take on hoppy floral character in spring; then finish back on the original summer ale.

They’ll be gradual changes, he says, as he subtly alters each of the 26 brews planned for 2013.

Wig and Pen Centenary Ale half-pint $6The Wig’s carbonated, unfiltered beer presents with a cloudy, light-lemon colour and dense, pure-white head. The aroma’s intensely fruity and pleasantly seasoned with spicy hops. The lively palate, fresh as bread from the oven, refreshes and thrills with its brisk acidity – a complex but easy drinking ale.

Beer review — Byron Bay and Emerson’s

27 February 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Byron Bay Pale Lager 330ml
The brewery is “Located in Skinners Shoot Road in Byron Bay”, declares the less-than-honest back label – omitting a crucial fact: CUB brews Pale Lager elsewhere and under licence. Don’t expect too much from the beer either. It’s a clean, fresh, fault-free quaffer with little to distinguish it from the pack.

Emerson’s London Porter 500ml $8.85
Emerson’s sits on the dark side of porter – black and brooding, its strong roasted-malt aroma reflected on a lively, malt-sweet palate that descends into an ash-dry finish and short-black coffee-like bitterness. It’s a beer for cold nights and hot food – perfect then for Canberra and Dunedin, New Zealand, where it’s made.

Beer review — Coopers and Wigram Brewing Company

20 February 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Coopers Thomas Cooper’s Selection Celebration Ale 355ml 6-pack $20
The party kicks on. The commemorative ale Tim and Glenn Cooper released last year marking Cooper’s 150th anniversary is to join the company’s regular offerings. The ale’s reddish coloured, fruity, with citrusy hops high notes, generously flavoured and finishing hoppy and lingeringly bitter.

Wigram Brewing Co Bristol Best Bitter 500ml $4.60
Wigram Brewing, from Christchurch, New Zealand, nailed the English best bitter style with this delicious ale. The alcohol’s modest at 4.5 per cent, but the flavour’s big and beautiful – round, sweet and rich, with caramel-like maltiness. Beautifully judged hops add flavour and a persistent bitterness to offset the malt sweetness.

Beer review — Balmain Brewing Company and Cairngorm Brewery

13 February 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Balmain Brewing Company Original Pale Ale 330ml $4.00
Working class Balmain completes its gentrification with the addition of a very good craft brewery. The golden-amber ale strokes the palate with silk-smooth texture , sweet, opulent malt and teasing, finely balanced hops flavour and bitterness. What a beautifully balanced ale it is.

Cairngorm Brewery Company Blessed Thistle 500ml $8.00
Scotland’s Cairngorm Brewery takes us back to the pre-hops days when brewers used various plants to offset malt sweetness. In this throwback, the brewers boiled thistles in the wort. However, they had a bob each way, adding hops, too. It’s a full, chocolaty, dark ale with a winey texture and mildly bitter aftertaste.

Beer review — Townshend Brewery and Duke

6 February 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Townshend Brewery Dinner Ale 500ml $6.58
Townshend comes from Upper Moutere, Nelson – the beautiful heart of New Zealand’s hop industry. The ale’s wussy four per cent alcohol is well and truly made up for by its attractive fruitiness and spicy, lightly pungent hops character. Natural carbonation adds to the overall gentleness and freshness of a distinctive brew.

Duke Premium Lager 330ml $4.98
Duke’s, from Burleigh Heads, Queensland, joins the increasingly crowded premium lager market with a decent but hardly distinctive brew. The lively, abundant white head, bright medium-golden colour; pleasant herbal, hoppy aroma and mildly bitter palate offer good refreshment, if not a new interpretation of the much-abused term, “premium lager”.