Category Archives: Beer review

Beer and cider review — Batlow and Holgate

30 January 2013Beer review, CiderChris Shanahan

Batlow Premium Cider 330ml 4-pack $16
What a contrast between the sweet, bland, mass-produced ciders and the crisp, crunchy apple-in-a-bottle taste of Batlow Premium – an off-dry, tart, cider made from apples grown within a 30 kilometre radius of Batlow. The company says it uses only freshly crushed apples, not concentrate, and adds no sugar. And it tastes like it.

Holgate Brewhouse Temptress Chocolate Porter 330ml $6.50
It’s not a heatwave brew, but at a tad over six per cent alcohol, Chocolate Porter suits those cool Canberra nights. It’s a porter, made from seven different malts, boosted by the addition of cocoa and vanilla beans. The vanilla sits well in the background. But the cocoa adds luxurious chocolate flavours and texture.

Beer review — Grand Ridge and Matilda Bay

23 January 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Grand Ridge Brewery Brewer’s Pilsner 330m 6-pack $18
Grand Ridge’s original beer, first tasted years ago at the brewery in Mirboo North, Gippsland Victoria, retains its original style. It’s an assertive Czech-inspired brew, big on malt, with a caramel-like richness, and cut through with the bracing, pungent aroma, flavour and lingering bitterness of Saaz hops – a robust and distinctive style.

Matilda Bay Minimum Chips Golden Lager 330ml 6-pack $19.99
Foster’s-owned Matilda Bay launched Minimum Chips in November through the various Woolworths-owned Dan Murphy, BWS and Woolworths Liquor; and on tap at its Port Melbourne Brewery and Bar. It’s a pleasing, full-bodied lager, mid-golden in colour with rich malt and a firm, assertive hops bitterness.

Beer review — William Bull

16 January 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

William Bull William’s Pale Ale 330ml $18
De Bortoli makes this complex, quaffable brew at their William Bull brewery in Griffith, New South Wales. It’s pale lemon coloured and highly aromatic with a light but tasty and very brisk palate. Lively carbonation and terrifically clean, lingering hops bitterness give it a delicious tangy freshness.

William Bull Brewing Co William’s Pilsener 330ml $18
De Bortoli’s new beer stretches the endlessly elastic word “Pilsener” even further. What was originally a richly malty brew, featuring the exciting flavour and lingering bitterness of Saaz hops, now includes the fresh acidity of wheat malt and the teasing tartness of lactic acid, against a quite rich, malty background.

Beer review — Moondog

5 December 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Moon Dog Freaks and Geeks Farmhouse Ale 330ml $6.90
This Farmhouse ale results from collaboration between Danish brewer, Beerhere, and Moon Dog Brewery, Abbotsford, Victoria. The colour’s a dense, dark tan, the alcohol hits 7.6 per cent and the range of malts (including barley, rye, wheat and oats) gives exotic, tart, sweet and sour, savoury flavours. A Christmas pudding beer.

Moon Dog Wet Nurse Tonic Milk Stout 330ml $7.50
Moon Dog’s voluptuous milk stout trowels strong chocolate and roasted coffee bean flavours onto the palate. The slippery, creamy, fluffy texture adds to the overall opulence of a sweet but also bitter and seductive brew. Could be a great companion to Christmas chocolates and nuts.

Beer review — Temple Brewing Company and Sierra Nevada

28 November 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Temple Brewing Company Extra Special Bitter 330ml $4.90
The brilliant mid-amber, red-tinged colour and abundant head create great expectations for this brew from Brunswick East, Victoria. And the palate delivers – warm, malty and smooth with a lingering, delicious hops bitterness. Full marks to the marketers, too. The QR code scans to brief but detailed information about the beer.

Sierra Nevada Hoptimum Whole-cone Imperial IPA 355ml $7.70
Hoptimum pole-vaults to the hoppiest of hoppy heights, measuring 100 on the international bitterness scale – roughly five times as much as the typical Australian lager. Opulent, sweet malt and a heady 10.4 per cent alcohol distract momentarily from the hops. But nothing can stop the resiny, bitter, citrusy hops deluge. It’s love or hate.

Smoke and mirrors for Sail and Anchor beer launch

21 November 2012Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

A press release launching four Sail and Anchor beers, says, “the heritage listed Sail and Anchor Hotel in Fremantle was one of Australia’s first pub breweries”. But the smoke-and-mirrors press release tells us little about Sail and Anchor beers.

For starters the beers aren’t brewed there and the brand’s connection with the famous pub seems tenuous at best. It’s just a brand to be distributed exclusively through Woolworths’ liquor outlets – Woolworths Liquor, Safeway Liquor, BWS and Dan Murphy – and available on tap at hotels in the Woolworths’ controlled ALH Group. The Sail and Anchor Hotel is one of these.

The beers are made by Bill Hoedemaker at Gage Road Brewing Co Ltd. Woolworths is its biggest shareholder (23 per cent) and largest customer.

All of this is perfectly legitimate and good for competition in the beer market. But why not treat us as adults and tell the whole story?

Sail and Anchor Cat’s Shank Kolsch 330ml 4-pack $14
Kolsch originates in Cologne – a mild, bright refreshing beer straddling the boundary between ale and lager. Cat’s Shank’s pale lemon colour, zesty, medium-bodied palate and refreshing, mildly bitter palate do the job nicely – a decent beer at a reasonable price. May be subject to discounting among the Woolies’ retail brands, so watch out.

Sail and Anchor Boa’s Bind Amber Ale 330ml 4-pack $14
At five per cent alcohol, Boa’s Bind is the strongest of the new Sail and Anchor range. The medium amber colour seems to fit the rich but dry palate with its slightly bitter, roasted malt flavour. The latter dovetails pleasantly with the assertive hops bitterness that further dries out the finish.

Beer review — Stone & Wood and Sierra Nevada

14 November 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Stone and Wood Jasper Ale 500ml $6
Byron Bay’s Stone and Wood Brewery earlier this years released its third beer, a beautiful red-coloured ale, inspired, say the partners by “German alt, American amber ale and English brown ale styles”. It’s a full-bodied, smooth, malty style cut with a delicious herbal, hoppy flavour and lingering bitterness.

Sierra Nevada Porter 350ml $6.90
What a beaut porter this is from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California. The aroma and palate reveal rich, roasted malt character – reminiscent of dark chocolate and toffee. It weighs in at a solid 5.6 per cent alcohol, but it’s lively and balanced on the palate with a refreshing chocolaty, bitter finish.

Beer and cider review — Bulmers and 2 Brothers

7 November 2012Beer review, CiderChris Shanahan

Bulmers Ginger Apple Cider 500ml $6.50
Bulmers say their new brew contains fermented ginger. Certainly ginger dominates the aroma and flavour – and even provides a little ginger heat in the aftertaste. The apple flavour, however, disappears beneath the ginger, leaving the impression more of ginger beer than cider, complete with a cloying, sweet aftertaste.

2 Brothers Taxi Pilsner 330ml $4.90
The website claims a silver medal for 2 Brothers Pilsner at the Australian International Beer Awards 2008, but the Schloss Shanahan bottle doesn’t rate as highly. As a German-style pilsner it’s a bit plump, lacking the tightness and bitterness of hops. I suspect the bottle’s a little old even though purchased retail only recently.

Beer review — Grand Ridge and Holgate Brewhouse

17 October 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Grand Ridge Yarra Valley Gold 330ml $3.90
Grand Ridge of Mirboo North, Gippsland, dedicates this dark, bottle-conditioned ale to the food of the Yarra Valley. It’s a full-bodied ale, leading with molasses-like malt flavour but cut with intense hops bitterness. The bitterness overrides the sweetness of the malt, creating a savoury, bitter, clean dry finish.

Holgate Brewhouse Pilsner 330ml $3.50
Travelling to or from Melbourne it’s worth the detour to Holgate Brewhouse in Keating’s Hotel, Woodend. The atmosphere and beers, including this pilsner, are excellent. It’s a light golden, mildly malty lager featuring the distinctive aroma, flavour and clean fresh bitterness of Saaz hops – liberally applied but in harmony with the malt.

Better with brett — the Wig and Pen’s new brews

3 October 2012Beer, Beer review, PeopleChris Shanahan

The Wig and Pen currently offers four beers fermented with the spoilage yeast brettanomyces (brett) – some in conjunction with the bacteria lactobacillus and pediococcus – and one aged, post ferment, in barrels with a brett population.

These normally unwelcome microbes add exotic aromas and flavours to the beers, well removed from the pure malty, fruity, hoppy characters we find in standard lagers and ales.

But the Wig’s customers, me included, love the sharp, pungent, sweet and sour character of these beers. That’s no different, I suppose, than learning to enjoy sherry’s distinctive, pungent flavour caused by aldehyde compounds – the product of intentionally oxidised alcohol.

The almost-sold-out, delightfully fruity, tart but gentle Brett, an English pale ale style, is to be replaced by Sour Blonde, Bob’s Armpit, LPG and Rye of the Liger – a wonderfully diverse and adventurous range of beers.

Wig and Pen Rye of the Liger Lager half pint $7
Brewer Richard Watkins wonders is this the only brettanomyces brewed lager in the world? It’s a medium amber colour, with an abundant head, cereal-like aroma (rye comprises 25 per cent of the malt) and rich, caramel-like flavours. There’s a slight, exotic funkiness to the aroma and a mild, pleasant sourness in the finish.

Wig and Pen Sour Blonde 200ml $7
Sour Blonde combines wheat beers of various ages (18 months barrel aged, 18 weeks and 18 days), all fermented with brettanomyces yeast. The flavour’s vibrant and lemony, with wheat beer’s distinctive brisk acidity. Barrel ageing adds to the creamy, soft texture. And brett provides an exotic sweaty and sour note to a most refreshing brew.