Richly flavoured, idiosyncratic beers

In late October, the Craft Beer Industry Association announced the winners of its 2015 Craft Beer Awards, a judging event open to Australia’s craft brewers.

The champion beer, Feral Brewing Co’s Watermelon Warhead, led a diverse line up of medal winners from the 468 beers entered by 92 brewers.

While mainstream beer drinking remains dominated by lagers, the craft show fielded mainly ales. They contributed 86 per cent of entries, compared to lagers, which made up just 14 per cent.

Richly flavoured and idiosyncratic brews filled the tasting benches, covering in descending order of entry numbers, pale ales (147), specialty ales (73), porters and stouts (49), IPAs (49), amber and dark ales (43), French and Belgian styles (21) and wheat ales (19).

The full catalogue of results, which makes a mouth-watering shopping list, is available at australiacraftbeer.org.au.

Reviews

Hop Dog Beer Works Cosmic Way 330ml $4.90
South Nowra brewer Hop Dog makes this in the American pale ale style, with hops as the main feature. In this case, New Zealand Motueka hops give an appealing aroma of tropical fruit. A sweet, toasty malty character complements the hops flavour on the palate, then hops flavour and bitterness take over the finish.

Cavalier Brewing Baltic Porter 330ml $9.50
Cavalier’s one-off, inky black, 7.7 per cent alcohol porter delivers the flavour intensity of vegemite, without the salt. The powerful flavours of roasted grains permeate a surprisingly light, fresh palate, completel subduing the high alcohol content, which can at times take over strong beers. The porter finishes pleasantly tart, tangy and bitter.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 10 and 11 November 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Beck’s $US20m settlement highlights beer paradox:
locally brewed version likely  better than the German import

A US class action over deceptive packaging of US-brewed Beck’s beer has resulted in a US$20mllion settlement. Americans who thought they were buying a German import will be able to get cash payments.

Beck’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, agreed to the settlement and changed its packaging. But under the settlement did not admit any wrongdoing.

In Australia, Lion brews Beck’s, though Woolworths imports the German original. The two bear identical front labels, except the word “Imported” appears on the German neck label and “330ml on the Australian label. Only on the back label does the Australian brew declare its origin.

In a triple blind tasting, the fresh Australian Beck’s outclassed our stale German bottle, bearing a September use-by date, but purchased on 21 October from BWS.

The benefits of local brewing, including freshness, are many. But drinkers deserve a prominent statement of origin. Shouldn’t it be on the front label?

Reviews

Mornington Pale 330ml can $4.40
Like a genie rising from the bottle, the aroma of lavish, citrus-like hops gush out with the hiss of the can’s tab. The hops flow through as a spikey, tart sensation on the rich, malty, vigorous palate. Resiny, citrusy hops flavours rise through the malt and subside partially as their bitterness takes over and lingers.

Sint Canarus Tripel 330ml bottle $8.20
Sint Canarus, a small craft brewer in the Belgium village of Gottem, makes this strong ale (7.5 per cent alcohol) in a style developed originally by Trappist Monks. Its deep golden colour, sturdy white head and intensely fruity aroma whet the appetite for the opulent, malt-sweet, spicy, creamy palate that follows.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 3 and 4 November in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Blizzard hits Vic ski fields

Brewer and ski enthusiast Chuck Hahn will no doubt look with excitement at the new Blizzard Brewery, located on the Victorian ski fields.

Hahn, founder of Hahn, James Squire and one-time head brewer for the Lion group, in 2009 established his own alpine brewery, Kosciuszko Brewing, at Jindabyne.

The town, gateway to the NSW ski fields, sits below the snow line at around 920 metres. Blizzard Brewing, however, lies right in the middle of the white stuff, 1550 metres above sea level.

A Linkedin notice from the company says the brewery, due to open in April 2016, is just 50 metres from the Cobungra ski lift and 10 kilometres from the Mount Hotham ski lifts.

Blizzard claims to be the “only brewer in Australia to adopt the Rocky Mountains craft brewing model that is based on ski resorts and their visitors”.

Beer reviews

Brewcult Spoiler Alert Pale Lager 330ml $4.90
Brewcult of Derimutt, Victoria, urges drinkers to embrace a simple refreshing beer and not to “hate on lager”. Their pale lager appeals for it herbal, hoppy aroma and crisp, fresh palate. However, the hops bitterness, though pleasant at first sip, quickly becomes astringent and takes over the beer.

Sierra Nevada 2015 Oktoberfest Festival Lager 355ml $5.50
America’s Sierra Nevada made this lager in collaboration with Germany’s Brauhaus Kiegele. Made in the mould of “festbier”, the beer served at Oktoberfest, it offers a rich, warm, malty flavour with a creamy, soft palate. Harmonious hops flavour and bitterness perfectly balance the malt sweetness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 27 and 28 October 2015 in goodfood.com.au  and the Canberra Times

What’s new

Canberra’s brewers generally greet spring with a slew of new brews.

BentSpoke, Braddon, offers Farrer’s Wheat, its first wheat beer, and Reflector, a malty, hoppy beer made by a bunch of dads on Father’s day.

The Wig and Pen, Llewellyn Hall, offers Aviator Bock, a strong beer for heroes, alongside mid-strength Aqua Amandi wheat ale for the lunch crowd; English Brown Ale and London Porter for cooler days; and Grassy Eider, a hand-pumped, high alcohol (6.6 per cent) variant of Irish red ale.

Pact Beer Co is launching 42.2 Summer Ale at the Old Canberra Inn on 5 November, as part of Canberra Beer Week. “It’s a refreshing lawn-mowing beer with enough hops to keep the beer nerds happy”, says brewer Kevin Hingston.

Christoph Zierholz offers Old Fashioned Bohemian Lager and a Burragorang Bock, both contract brewed for George IV Inn, Picton, but available also at Zierholz Fyshwick and Canberra University outlets.

Beer reviews

Green King Abbot Ale 500ml $7.99
Suffolk-based Greene King brews beer runs pubs, restaurants and hotels across the UK. Their mid-amber coloured Abbot Ale offers fruity and malty aromas and flavours on a generous, warm palate. After a few sips, a refreshing bitterness begins to build, offsetting the malt sweetness delciously.

Konig Ludwig Weissbier 330ml $4.90
Konig Ludwig, an outstanding example of the Bavarian, bottle-conditioned wheat style, comes from the Warsteiner brewery. Be seduced by its cloudy, pale golden colour; abundant white head; sweet, fruity aroma and rich, creamy palate with a zesty, ultra-fresh finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 14 October 2015 in the Canberra Times

Tickets now available

Tickets are now available for Beer Day Out, Canberra’s annual celebration of beer and cider. The event runs from 4pm to 9pm on Friday 6 November and noon til 6pm, Saturday 7 November at the former transport depot, Wentworth Avenue, Kingston.

Organisers expect over 30 craft breweries to attend and sell their products, though beerdayout.com.au lists 22 brewers and one cider maker at present.

Three of Canberra’s four brewers – BentSpoke, Zierholz, and Pact Beer Co – will be there, but not our original brewpub, the Wig and Pen. A spokeswoman for the Wig and Pen said they’d be offering in-house events as part of Canberra Beer Week, the broader craft beer festival that includes Beer Day Out.

Beer Day Out will include food offerings from local restaurants and producers and live entertainment. For details and ticket purchases via Moshtix see beerdayout.com.au.

Beer reviews

4 Pines West Coast Red Rye IPA 500ml $9
4 Pines’ latest jaw-dropper combines turbo hopping (around three times the bitterness of VB) and high alcohol (7.3 per cent) in a distinctive brew made from equal portions of rye and barley malt. The brew starts with powerful, resiny, citrusy hops aroma. These flow through to the brisk, spicy-malty palate and give a lingering, bitter–sweet finish.

Bright Brewery Hellfire Amber Ale 330ml $4.30
Bright’s Hellfire emulates full-bodied English ale styles, using English crystal malt to deliver the caramel- and toffee-like characters displayed in the aroma and on the palate. After the initial hit of smooth, sweet, caramel flavours, hops kick in with a mild bitterness that offsets the malty sweetness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 6 and 7 October 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Flat sales spur consolidation

Spurred by flat beer sales in major markets, the world’s biggest brewer, Belgium’s Anheuser-Busch InBev, confirmed in mid-September it would make a bid for the second biggest brewer (and owner of Foster’s since 2011), Britain’s SABMiller.

“The combined firm would earn roughly half the industry’s profits and sell one in every three pints of beer quaffed worldwide”, wrote The Economist on 19 September.

With a combined output in 2014 of around 600 million hectolitres, the new entity would produce roughly 12 times as much as Japan’s Kirin, owner of Australia’s market leader, Lion.

Lion holds about 48 per cent of the Australian beer market, followed by Foster’s at 42 per cent. Cooper’s, the largest Australian-owned brewer, claims five per cent, leaving the other five per cent to around 150 craft brewers.

Cooper’s boss, Dr Tim Cooper, says the merger would put pressure on industry suppliers and “result in a further loss of diversity”.

Beer reviews

4 Pines Oaked Baltic Porter 500ml $9
The high alcohol content (7.5 per cent) adds body and warmth to 4 Pines robust, oak-matured porter. The brewer’s description of “gooey chocolate syrup” colourfully reflects the slurpy appeal of its roasted- malt-derived flavours. A touch of vanillin from oak maturation completes a complex, very bitter dark ale.

Bright Brewery Staircase Porter 330ml $5.20
The first sniff of Bright Brewery’s strong, dark porter is reminiscent of espresso coffee. The coffee- and chocolate-like flavours, derived from roasted malt, persist on a generous, warming, bitter–sweet palate. The bitterness of roasted grain and hops ultimately triumphs over the sweet malty flavours, giving a dry, firm grip to the finish.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 29 and 30 September 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Albo bender

Like so many craft brewers, the blokes behind Tempe’s Willie the Boatman Brewery, rose from the ranks of home brewing.

They named the brewery after William Kerr, a boatman and local character of the 1830s, as a statement, they say, of the strong community spirit they believe in. Their beers, too, carry the names of local characters, living and dead.

In a stroke of genius, owners Pat McInerney and Nick Newey named their latest brew after their Federal member, Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese. Albo’s Corn Ale captured Mr Albanese’s imagination, and he attended the Sydney and Canberra launches.

Pat McInerney based the beer on American corn ales, brewed by farmers during the prohibition and war periods. A small portion of corn in the brew gives it a lively freshness and softness, though it’s no wuss at 5.5 per cent alcohol.

Reviews

Willie the Boatman Brewery Albo Corn Ale 640ml $9.90
Pat McInerney and Nick Newey named their new brew after local Federal member, Anthony “Albo” Albanese. Albo attended the Sydney launch and now Canberrans can buy it at King O’Malleys and Plonk. It’s full-bodied, soft beer, with a tease of galaxy hops in the aroma and clean, fresh, mildly bitter finish.

Bright Brewery Fainters Dubbel 330ml $6.20
Named for nearby Mount Fainter, Bright’s Belgian abbey-style ale tastes like the beer equivalent of Rutherglen’s luscious fortified wines, albeit at around half the alcohol content (8.5 per cent). It combines lush raisin-like flavours with distinctive clove-like character, with a sweet but tangy finish, reminiscent of liquorice.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 22 and 23 September 2015 in goodfood.com.au  and the Canberra Times

New beer book

For an eclectic look at the world of beer over two millennia, grab a copy of Strange Tales of Ale by British beer author, historian and blogger, Martyn Cornell.

Cornell’s new book kicks off with the tragic tale of London’s great beer flood of 1814. He writes, “A huge vat filled with maturing porter fell apart at Henry Meux’s Horse Shoe brewery. More than 570 tons of beer crashed through the brewery’s back wall and out into the slums behind in a vast wave at least 15 feet high”. Eight women and children died and others were injured.

On a happier note, Cornell details how RAF Spitfire pilots, with tacit approval of the Air Ministry, flew beer in “jettison tanks” to the troops in Normandy in the weeks following D-Day.

The book is available in electronic and print format from Amazon and Google Books.

Beer reviews

Bright Brewery Smoko Rauchbier 330ml $5
Smoko emulates the beechwood-smoked beers (rauchbier) of Bamberg, Germany, where it makes delicious company, as I found out firsthand, for liver dumpling soup. So it’s a forceful beer to enjoy with rich food, not quinoa. Smoko reeks of campfire clothing and bacon, combining rich malt and bitter hops with meaty, smoky flavours.

Bright Brewery Alpine Ale 330ml $3.95
Craft brewers explore every corner of the beer world, at times challenging our senses with powerful flavour combinations. But they also make simpler brews for everyday quaffing. Bright Brewery succeeds in this area with its single malt, single hop Alpine Ale. It’s malty, tasty, fresh and finishes with a balanced, lingering hops bitterness.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 15 and 16 September in goodfood.com.au  and the Canberra Times

Bright, on a cold weekday night

Bright, Victoria, on a cold weekday night and diners spread sparsely through the town’s eateries. Culinary landmark, Simone’s, hunkers opaque against the winter chill, hiding and nourishing an unknown number of diners.

Nearby, the brilliant, glass-walled, Japanese-inspired Tani restaurant, bares its innards to passers by, revealing a less than half-full house – in contrast, apparently, to the sell-out weekends.

But across the road, locals pack into brightly lit Bright Brewery. The tiny start-up of nine years ago is today a spacious, buzzing social hub for the town, busy even on a cold night out of tourist season.

Local bed-and-breakfast operator, Graham Badrock, says the brewery and eatery, founded by the late Fiona Reddaway and husband Scott Brandon, earned its wide community appeal as much for its inviting ambience and decent, fresh food as for its excellent beers, brewed on site.

Lobethal Bierhaus Bohemian Pilsner 330ml $5.90
On weekends, Lobethal Bierhaus, in the Adelaide Hills, comes to life as a family watering hole, with singles, mums, dads and kids spilling from the beer hall onto the large outdoor area. On a hot day, the Bierhaus’s pilsner refreshes with its full, clean, malty palate and assertive hops bitterness.

Stone and Wood Forefathers Phil Sexton English Brown Ale 500ml $8–$10
Forefather for fathers day? Corny as Kansas, for sure, but who cares when the beer’s this good. A glowing mid-brown colour it offers deep malty flavours and a dry finish, with a pervasive and lingering bitterness, totally in harmony with the malt. The beer salutes craft beer pioneer, Phil Sexton.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 8 and 9 September 2015 in goodfood.com.au and the Canberra Times

Packaged beer drives volume growth

The Australian Beer Company, a joint venture between Coca Cola Amatil and Casella Wines, launched its Yenda draft beer range in October last year and bottled versions in March 2015.

The company began its push into beer under former Group Managing Director, Terry Davis. Releasing the company’s half-year results on 21 August, Davis’s successor, Alison Watkins, said Yenda, “is now on target to become a top-five craft beer brand”.

She said beer and cider volumes almost doubled in a year, “primarily driven by the successful launch of Yenda in packaged format in March”.

At the March launch, CCA explained its optimism for the crafter beer segment. It pointed to a 25-per-cent growth rate in consumption of craft beer and its comparatively small share of total beer sales – 3.9 per cent, compared with over ten per cent in the UK and US.

Beer reviews

Anchor Brewing Co Liberty Ale 355ml $4.50
First brewed in 1975 to commemorate Paul Revere’s historic ride 200 years earlier, San Francisco’s Liberty Ale impresses from the start with its brimming freshness and rich, creamy head. The delicate, fruity, malty palate, complete with intense but delicate and lingering hops flavour and bitterness complete a perfect ale.

Southern Bay Australian Lager 330ml $4.50
The bottle, bearing a best-before date of May 2016 and purchased in a Canberra retail outlet, had clearly seen better days. The head faded and died quickly, the aroma and flavour failed to show the freshness and briskness of lager and indeed tasted flabby and tired. Still drinkable if unexciting, the beer perhaps suffered from a packaging failure.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2015
First published 1 and 2 September in goodfood.com.au and the canberratimes.com.au