Category Archives: Beer review

Cascade’s all-Tassie brew

30 May 2012Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Two months after Tasmania’s hop harvest, Cascade Brewery rationed 2,850 cases of First Harvest 2012 to retailers across the country and a small number of kegs to a handful of venues in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.

Anglo-African brewer SABmiller owns Foster’s Group and, through it, Tasmania’s Cascade Brewery. But in a sign of the growing importance of upmarket beer brands, Cascade retains its regional identity in fact as well as in name.

Cascade’s eleventh First Harvest ale retains its Tasmanian origins, giving the beer a sense of time and place. The time is the annual hop harvest – in this case three varieties of hops handpicked and delivered fresh to brewer Mike Unsworth on 14 March.

And the place is Bushy Park Estate in the Derwent Valley. Even the malted barley comes from Tasmania. The result – a full-bodied malty ale cut with ultra-fresh hops.

Cascade First Harvest 375ml 4-pack $18.99
Mmmmm mmmm, what a fine, winter warming brew Mike Unsworth made this year. It’s slightly more alcoholic than Premium Lager (below), deeper coloured (amber versus gold) and more luxuriantly malty – and cut through with pungent hops aroma and flavour. The assertive, lingering, resiny bitter hops offset the sweet, malt opulence.

Beer review — Cascade

23 May 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Cascade Pale Ale 375ml 6-pack $15.99
Dating from the 1830s, Cascade Pale really stands out among Australia’s non-premium brews. The stunning freshness of our sample bottle helped – always does with beer. Then the rich, smooth malt and lovely balance of delicate, herbal hops flavour and lingering, clean bitterness completed the experience.

Beer review — Stone & Wood and Little Creatures

9 May 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

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

Little Creatures Pale Ale 330ml 6pack $18.99
While hops play a dominant role in Little Creatures, it’s not in the eye-popping, palate wrenching, malt-versus-hops arm wrestle we see in some hops-focused brews. A fresh, orange-zest-like aroma, derived from fresh hops flowers, sets the tone for a distinctively rich, aromatic, refreshing brew that’s easy to love, hop-head or not.

Beer review – Grand Ridge and Lord Nelson

2 May 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Grand Ridge Yarra Valley Gold 330ml $3.35
Yarra in name, but brewed in Gippsland, Victoria, Yarra Gold is a deep amber ale offering sweet, golden-syrup-like, malty aroma, cut with resiny hops. The palate reflects the aroma with its generously, smoothly malty fullness, balanced by a delicious, clean, lingering, bitter hoppiness.

Lord Nelson Three Sheets Pale Ale 330ml $3.50
Three Sheets is brewed at the historic Lord Nelson hotel in Sydney’s Rocks area. The colour’s a mid gold and the aroma combines sweet maltiness with fresh, citrusy hops character. On the brisk palate, the sweet malt and citrus hops harmonise beautifully, inviting another sip as the lingering hops bitterness cleans off the finish.

Beer review — Brewboys and Wigram Brewing Co

25 April 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Brewboys Maiden Ale 330ml $4.42
South Australia’s Brewboys makes its beers and offers them for tasting at its cellar door, Regency Road, Croydon Park Adelaide. Their deep-amber Maiden Ale appeals for its luxurious head, lovely, citrus-like hops aroma, smooth, malty palate and tart, citrusy, moderately bitter finish. A resiny hops flavour dominates after a few glasses.

Wigram Brewing Co Bristol Best Bitter 500ml $8.08
No, not from England, but Christchurch, New Zealand – though brewed in the English ‘best bitter’ style, a branch of the pale ale family. This one’s deep amber in colour with a big, malt-sweet, opulent palate. And just when it seems a little too malt sweet, layers of countervailing hops bitterness flood the palate.

Beer review — McLaren Vale Beer Company and Bootleg Brewery

11 April 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Vale India Pale Ale (IPA) 330ml 4-pack $14.99
The McLaren Vale Beer Company operates the Vale Inn Taphouse and Kitchen in McLaren Vale and a brewery at nearby Willunga. Their IPA tones down the style a little, but still delivers a big hit of resiny hops aromas and flavours, support by a full, round, rich maltiness. Available at Dan Murphy, BWS and Woolworths Liquor.

Bootleg Brewery Settler’s Pale Ale 330ml $4.15
“An oasis of beer in a desert of wine” trumpets the website of Bootleg Brewery, located in the heart of Margaret River. We’ve washed away our cabernet overload there in the past, but found this bottle at Plonk, Fyshwick. It’s a pale colour with a pungent hops aroma, full, fruity palate and lingering, bitter hops finish.

Beer review — Murray’s and Fullers

4 April 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Murray’s Punch and Judy’s Ale 330ml $5.00
Punch and Judy’s ale, sub-titled “Ain’t no one pulling our strings”, puts heaps of flavour into mid-strength (3.9 per cent) beer. Lose the alcohol and lose the flavour, brewers say. But Murray’s uses dark malts and assertive bitter hops to close the gap – producing an intense, dry, lingeringly bitter brew of real interest.

Fullers Golden Pride Superior Strength Ale 500ml $8.40
Fuller’s luxurious ale carries its 8.5 per cent alcohol with grace and style. High alcohol tends to dominate beer flavour, but here it’s absorbed by the plush maltiness (pale-ale and crystal malts) and balanced by richly flavoured, bitter northdown, challenger and harvest hop varieties. It’s a sumptuous ale to savour with food.

Beer review — Sunner and Wychwood

28 March 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Sunner Kolsch 500ml $4.98
Kolsch – a protected name and a brewing specialty of Cologne, Germany – combines warm, top fermentation (like ale) with cold conditioning, like lager. Sunner is an excellent example of the style – pale lemon coloured with a dense, persistent head and ultra-fresh dry palate, cut by fine, delicious bitter hops.

Wychwood Brewery Goliath 500ml $6.24
Goliath, a deep amber English ale, bills itself as the “the beer to slay a mighty thirst”. But if that’s the aim, shouldn’t it be called David? Whatever we call it, it’s simply delicious – a silk-smooth, mild beer, balancing fruitiness, toffee-like malt flavour and clean, dry, refreshing bitterness.

Beer review — Schneider Weiss

21 March 2012Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Schneider Weiss Mein Grunes 500ml $7.85
This is a strong (6.2 per cent alcohol), bottle-conditioned summer wheat beer from the Schneider brewery, Bavaria. The abundant head and intense, spicey-clovey aroma are classic wheat beer. Alcohol boosts the body and lends a gentle sweetness to the refreshingly tart palate with its appealing clove-like flavour.

Beechworth-Nogne brewing collaboration

21 March 2012Beer, Beer review, PeopleChris Shanahan

Before heading off to Europe last year, Australian brewer Ben Kraus contacted Nogne Brewery, Norway, and organised a joint brewing session.

Kraus airfreighted fresh Australian galaxy and stella hops to Nogne, and with brewer Kjetil Jikiun made 5,000 litres of India Saison. Nogne marketed the co-branded beer in Europe and shipped some in 500ml bottles to Australia.

Returning to Australia, Kraus made a batch to the same recipe at Bridge Road Brewers, Beechworth. So successful was it that he brewed a second batch and has a third in the making.

His Norwegian mate enjoyed similar same success, and is now into his seventh batch, says Kraus.

Kraus says Jikian’s visiting Melbourne for good beer week in May and will visit Beechworth to collaborate on another brew. Kraus also plans to work with a visiting Danish brewer.

Nogne and Bridge Road Brewery India Saison 330ml $5.50
Hops, hops, hops and more hops – glorious, fresh, pungent and resiny – drive this collaboration between Norway’s Nogne brewery and Bridge Road Brewers, Beechworth. They’re Australian galaxy and stella varieties, says brewer Ben Kraus. They dominate the aroma, push through the full, malty palate and linger, bitter and tart on the palate.