Shepherd Neame Whitstable Bay Organic Ale 500ml $8.90
It’s billed as ‘a modern ale from Britain’s oldest brewer’, presumably a reference to its zesty, easy-drinking freshness – achieved without losing ale’s hallmark fruitiness and complexity. It’s moderately alcoholic at 4.5 per cent and a refreshing, drying thread of hops bitterness. Brewed using organic ingredients in Kent, England.

Morland Hen’s Tooth Strong Ale $8.70
There’s an appealing, sweet, fruity richness to Morland’s gold-amber, bottle-conditioned ale, boosted and made even headier by its 6.5 per cent alcohol content. However, it’s well balanced, the malt and alcohol sweetness being tempered by a lingering hops bitterness. It’s made in Suffolk, England.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

3 Ravens 55 American Pale Ale 330ml $4.50
Apologies to Edgar Allan Poe – Once upon a midnight drear, I snapped the cap of this beaut beer, from the Ravens Brewing Co of Thornbury, Victoria: Dense white foam, typical of fresh, bottle-conditioned beer; high-toned, citrus-like hops aroma; opulent, malty, fruity palate cut with zesty, fresh, bitter hops.

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar 650ml $16.50
I’m blockading an Aldi hazelnut chocolate addiction with Rogue’s idiosyncratic brew. It’s luxuriously malty and chocolaty with an echo of hazelnut, a lick of sweetness, a bitter hops twist and a care-banishing alcohol content of 6.2 per cent. It’s from Newport, Oregon, USA, and available from Plonk, Fyshwick.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 350ml $6.10
Sierra Nevada, from Chico, California, is in the classic American pale ale style – big on aromatic, citrus-like hops aroma and flavour and backed by generous sweet malt. In some, the malt and hops can be in overdrive. But this one struts the style without snapping your head off.

St Peter’s Suffolk Ale 500ml $8.00
The water’s drawn from the chalk layer deep below the brewery, in St Peter’s Hall, and the hops and malt are Suffolk-grown. The result is a fruity-malty ale with an assertive hops bitterness – a bitterness that comes without the high-toned citrus character seen in American style pale ale.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Samuel Smith Organic Best Ale 550ml $9.40
This very fruity, piquant ale comes from Tadcaster, Yorkshire. The colour’s mid amber-gold; it has a luxurious, long-lasting head; and the palate, though rich and malty, is cut with tangy acidity and well-balanced hops. There’s an overall impression of richness and complexity without heaviness.

Cooper’s 62 Pilsner 355ml 6-pack $16.99
In 1862, as Abe Lincoln grappled with the rebellion, Cooper’s founded its wonderful ale empire. They perfected ale making but made occasional rebellious forays into lager land. Alas, the latest raid, a fresh but tepid shot at Bohemia’s pilsner style, lacks the palate weight or bitterness of this classic style.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Flying Dog Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale (4.7% alcohol) 355ml
This is ‘classic’ American pale ale – very malty; very hoppy. It’s a deep amber colour and its big, warm malty flavour is cut with bracing, pungent hops aroma, flavour and bitterness. Maintaining harmony can be a challenge when brewers pack this much into a beer. But doggy style seems just right.

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter 355ml (8.7% alcohol)
Steadman’s label drawing of Thompson, captioned “OK! Let’s Party!!”, sets the tone for this big, strong, dark porter. Powerful dark-chocolate flavours, derived from roasted malt, drive the opulent, silk-smooth palate; alcohol lends a heady note; and an assertive, lingering hops bitterness counters the malt and alcohol sweetness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout 330ml 6-pack $19.99
Guinness began brewing ales on its Dublin site in 1759, sold dark beers as ‘porter’ from 1778 and first used the term ‘stout’ in the 1840s. The 250th anniversary brew is smooth and easy drinking, the key flavour being a lovely, sweet maltiness matched by a mild, balancing hops bitterness.

Wig & Pen Russian Imperial Stout half-pint $9
The Wig’s popular seasonal stout tastes like liquid, liqueur, bitter, dark chocolate, charged with heady alcohol. It’s opulent, unctuous, slippery smooth and with underlying sweet molasses-like flavours offsetting the bittersweet charry-chocolaty roasted malt flavours. There are hops in there, too, adding to the complex flavours and bitterness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009

Crown Ambassador 2009 Reserve Lager 750ml $69.99
You can sense Crown Ambassador’s luxurious flavours as soon as you see its shimmering, burnished-bronze/caramel colour – an impression that grows as you sniff the rich, high-toned fruit and sweet underlying caramel/malt sweetness. The palate is complex and creamy textured, the opulent malt and alcohol offset by delicious hops bitterness.

Thomas Hardy’s Ale 250ml $14.90
Another Thomas Hardy, in The Trumpet-Major, penned a note apt for this 11.7% alcohol, bottle conditioned ale: “It was of the most beautiful colour that the eye of an artist in beer could desire; full in body yet brisk as a volcano; piquant yet without a twang; luminous as an autumn sunset.”

Moo Brew Hefeweizen 330ml $5.50
This is brewed at Moorilla Estate, Tasmania, and it’s as good now as the first brews were a few years back. It’s bottle conditioned and in the Bavarian style – big on banana-like aromas, with a soft, very fresh palate, finishing with crisp acidity rather than hops bitterness.

Schwelmer Pils 500ml swing-top $5.95
This was probably a lovely beer once. Even though it’s stale and cloudy now, there’s ¬ a residue of malty richness and hearty, tangy hops. But there it was in the fridge at Canberra Cellars Braddon. Silly me didn’t see the ‘best before 08 07 09’ tag, did I.

Wig & Pen Spies’d Old Ale half-pint $4.50
Before seeping through the Modus Hoperandus (see above) the ale is malty and alcoholic but mild. Post seeping, the aroma, flavour and texture volume rise dramatically but harmoniously. It’s plush, silky textured and wine like in its complexity, with notes of molasses, then finishing fresh and clean with a delicious aftertaste of hops and truffle.

Kosciuszko Brewing Company Pale Ale – schooner $4.50
The Banjo Paterson Inn, Jindabyne, now has on tap (and in bottle from next month) its first Kosciuszko Pale Ale, brewed on site by Lion Nathan’s Chuck Hahn. It’s a deep golden colour, with a beautifully fresh, aromatic hops aroma. The palate’s malt-rich, smooth, ultra fresh and cut through with those tasty, bitter hops.

Napoleone & Co Yarra Valley Apple Cider 330ml $5
This is the second batch of cider from Yarra Valley orchards established in 1948 by the Napoleone family, owners of Punt Road Winery. It combines several varieties – including granny smith, pink lady and Johnny gold. It’s pale coloured and fresh with a zesty, refreshing acidic bite in the finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2009