Category Archives: Beer review

Beer and cider review — Australian Brewery and Samuel Smith

12 March 2014Beer review, CiderChris Shanahan

Australian Brewery The Fresh Press Cider 4-pack 355ml cans $14.99
The Australian Brewery of Rouse Hill, Sydney, say they ferment their cider from freshly crushed apples. It’s a pale coloured, low-gas cider with a pleasing, clean, apple-like aroma and flavour and a slight sweetness just outweighing the acidity.

Samuel Smith’s India Pale Ale 550ml $8.50
Smith’s says it uses water from a well sunk in 1758 top ferments their beer in traditional Yorkshire stone fermenters. True to the traditional India Pale style, it’s intensely bitter, thanks to a mother load of hops (originally a 19th century preservative for the long voyage to India).

Brews from Byron Bay and Okinawa

19 February 2014Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Two contrasting summer brews landed on the tasting bench this week – one from Stone and Wood Brewing Company, Byron Bay, the other from Orion Brewery, Okinawa, Japan.

They could be metaphors for the national stereotypes. Loud and cheery Stone and Wood Garden Ale, slaps you on the back, calls you maaaate, and pounds your palate with exuberant, brash (and delicious) hoppiness. And a comparatively low 3.8 per cent alcohol invites perhaps just one more stubby, maaate.

Orion bows discretely, lightly and politely onto the palate. Belying its five per cent alcohol, it offers delicate, refreshing flavours and softness – suggesting a fair slug of rice malt in the brew. It finishes bone dry and refreshing in the distinctive Japanese style. (It’s available at asianbeeronline.com.au).

Stone and Wood Limited Release Garden Ale 500ml
Reduce beer’s alcohol content and the flavour falls away; increase it and everything rises with it. In 3.8 per-cent-alcohol Garden Ale, the brewers very cleverly use Tasmanian Ella hops to fill the low-alcohol flavour gap. The hops add a striking citrus flavour and bitterness to accompany the lovely malt and dry finish.

Orion Premium Draft Beer 24-344ml bottles $74.90
Orion “is sure to satisfy Australian pallets this summer”, crows the press release. From Okinawa, Orion is light coloured and light bodied in the crisp, delicate, dry Japanese style. The low bitterness may surprise drinkers of mainstream lager, but it’s part and parcel of the style and well suited to delicate Japanese cuisine.

Beer review — Lord Nelson and Bootleg Brewery

5 February 2014Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Lord Nelson Brewery Three Sheets Ale 330ml $4
In January, Three Sheets met garfish fillets at Narooma’s waterside Quarterdeck restaurant. It proved to be a happy meeting in a gorgeous setting. Three Sheets, with its pronounced fruity, tangy, citrus-hoppy aroma and smooth, rich, refreshing palate, contrasted with the delicate fillets without overwhelming them.

Bootleg Brewery Wils Pils 330ml $3.75
Margaret River’s Bootleg Brewery (a must visit) makes excellent ales, doesn’t quite match the standard with its lager, Wils Pils, in my opinion. It’s a pleasant enough brew – clean and fresh and well balanced, but I looked in vain for a little more punch, especially in the hops department.

Beer review — Murray’s and Samuel Smith’s

29 January 2014Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Murray’s Angry Man Pale Ale 330ml 4-pack $15
Murray’s website calls it a cross between the mild English pale ale style and massively malty-hoppy American style. That’s a fair call based on the bottle we enjoyed down the south coast recently – not as fresh as the draft version tasted in Newcastle last April, but lovely to the last drop nevertheless.

Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Pale Ale 550ml $8.50
Brewed in old, shallow square stone vats at Tadcaster, England, Smith’s entices with a warm, sweet, fruity-malty aroma, seasoned with herbal hops. The smooth, rich palate matches the aroma and because it’s only lightly carbonated the luxurious malt flavour, with its subtle, bitter, hops edge, remains at centre stage. A cool weather beer.

Beer review — Australian Brewery and Weihenstephaner

15 January 2014Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Australian Brewery Extra hoppy Ale 355ml can 4-pack $14.99
This American-inspired beer – packed in an elegant, slimline can – combines masses of hops aromas, flavours and bitterness with opulent, sweet malt and 5.8 per cent alcohol. It won’t appeal to those seeking a cold drink on a hot day. But it’ll fascinate the hop-obsessed, though the malt–hops harmony needs some work.

Weihenstephaner Pilsner 500ml $5–$6
In a world where pilsner means a thousand different things, Bavaria’s Weihenstephan remains the standout – complex and subtle, featuring lovely hops aroma and flavour, smooth, rich malt and a lingering, dry, perfectly balanced bitter finish. We abstained from it for most of 2013, but returned to it before Christmas. Perfection is hard to beat.

A feast of Christmas beers

18 December 2013Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

The global explosion of craft brewing, aided by our strong dollar, gives us an amazing choice of Christmas beer styles – ranging from merely cold and wet, to complex, or even challenging.

Over the year I’ve tasted many outstanding beers. Some were seasonal offerings, now sold out. But the five-star brews recommended below should still be available at specialist outlets, like Plonk, Fyshwick markets.

For an irresistible American take on the classic, malty, bitter Czech Pilsen style, savour Samuel Adams Noble Pils (355ml $8.40). Also from America, and pole-vaulting to the hoppiest of hoppy heights, is Sierra Nevada Hoptimum Whole-cone IPA (355ml $7.70).

Fullers Golden Pride (500ml $8.40) offers sumptuous maltiness and satisfying bitterness, while fellow Englishman, Taddy Porter (550ml $7.40), provides robust, velvet smooth, sensuous drinking. And below, find one favourite each from Australia and New Zealand.

Coopers Thomas Cooper’s Selection Celebration Ale 355ml 6-pack $18–$20
The party goes on. The commemorative ale Tim and Glenn Cooper released last year to mark Cooper’s 150th anniversary has become a regular offering. The ale is reddish coloured, fruity, with citrusy hops high notes, generously flavoured and finishing hoppy and lingeringly bitter.

8 Wired Brew Co Saison Sauvin 500ml $10
This is a Kiwi take, from the heart of Marlborough sauvignon blanc country, on a traditional Belgian seasonal brew. Pungent, spicy sauvin hops from Nelson, to the west of Marlborough, permeates the rich, smooth, high-alcohol palate, leaving a lingeringly bitter, spicy, hoppy aftertaste. What a classy beer – big and assertive but well balanced.

Beer review — Weihenstephaner and Shepherd Neame

11 December 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel 500ml $5–$6.00
Bavaria’s 1000-year-old Weihenstephan brewery makes delicious, complex, traditional beers including this glorious bottle-fermented dark wheat beer. It’s got the dense, abundant head of the style and a harmonious, malty, rich-but-not-heavy palate with the brisk, acidic, dry wheat-ale palate. The strong dollar seems to keeping the price down – the sample bottle cost $5 on special.

Shepherd Neame Premium Spitfire Kentish Ale 500ml $9.00
This is a lovely, satisfying, full flavoured ale weighing in at a modest 4.5 per cent alcohol. The focus is on incredibly rich, silky, treacly malt flavours nicely offset by quite bitter, lingering hops flavours. Serve it at about ten degrees as an attractive cool-summer-evening ale.

Beer review — Little Creatures and James Squire

27 November 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Little Creatures India Pale Ale (IPA) 330ml 4-pack $18
Anyone familiar with Little Creatures Pale Ale will immediately feel at home with the new IPA. It’s unusual for a beer three times more bitter than most, and weighing in at 6.4 per cent alcohol, to drink so easily. But in IPA, the pronounced hop flavour and intense bitterness give individuality and increase the drinking pleasure.

James Squire The Constable Copper Ale 345ml 6-pack $19.99
James Squire brewer, Jeff Potter, brewed The Constable in the English pale ale style. Munich and Crystal malts give it a burnished copper colour and rich, sweet, malty mid-palate. A modest level of hopping offsets the malt sweetness, giving a mild, slightly bitter finish.

Vintage beers – Coopers takes the crown

20 November 2013Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Ten thousand individually boxed bottles of Australia’s most expensive beer hit Australian retail shelves last week. Crown Ambassador Reserve Lager 2013, the sixth vintage produced by CUB, has a recommend retail price of $99 for a 750ml bottle.

CUB produces the beer just once a year, coinciding with the Myrtleford, Victoria, hop harvest. Galaxy hops from the region, hand harvested and added to the kettle within 24-hours, add to the brew’s distinctive character.

The 2013 vintage was brewed from 100 per cent Australian malt and hops. A portion of it was matured in seasoned French oak barrels, and the final product weighs in at a chubby 9.6 per cent alcohol. The high alcohol content and significant level of hops both add to the beer’s cellaring ability.

Brewers make most beers for current drinking. But the two reviewed today – Crown Ambassador and Cooper’s Extra Strong Vintage Ale – have the capacity to evolve with bottle age.

Crown Ambassador Reserve Lager 2013 750ml $99
Crown Ambassador pours into the glass cloudy and caramel–amber, topped by a dense, persistent foam. It’s fruity and pungently, florally hoppy, with deep, sweet, malty notes. The opulent, malt-sweet palate finishes hop-bitter with alcohol sweetness and warmth – the alcohol at present taking over the finish.

Coopers Strong Vintage Ale 2013 355ml 6-pack $25
Cooper’s vintage ale lurches strongly towards hops in 2013, their pungent aromas leap from the fresh-poured glass; their flavours dominate the palate; and their lingering bitterness complete the hoppiest vintage to date. However, the high alcohol (7.5 per cent) and rich, sweet malt largely offset the hops, suggesting a long flavour evolution in bottle.

Beer review — Balmain Brewing Company and Stone and Wood

13 November 2013Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Balmain Brewing Company Original Pale Ale 330ml $4.00
Formerly 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. Tasted twice now and becoming a favourite.

Stone and Wood Mash Collective The Old Persuader 500ml $10
The third Mash Collective beer hits the palate at a big, sweet 6.6 per cent alcohol. It’s fruity for a lager, malty, subtly bitter and hoppy. The design collective comprised graphic designers Sonny Day and Biddy Moroney, photographer, Ingvar Kenne, architect Stuart Vokes and author, John Birmingham. (Stockists at themashcollective.com.au).