Category Archives: Beer

Fosters heads offshore

13 October 2011BeerChris Shanahan

The coming acquisition of Foster’s by London-based SAB Miller, two years after Japan’s Kirin acquired Lion Nathan, will put the vast majority of Australia’s brewing capacity in foreign hands.

In the short term this should mean little noticeable change for Australian drinkers. But it does open the way for SAB Miller to expand distribution of its international brands in Australia and to brew larger volumes of them in Australia.

The Foster’s deal will also trigger SAB Miller’s purchase of Coca Cola Amatil’s stake in their jointly owned Pacific Beverages – including the 50-million-litre capacity Bluetongue Brewery at Warnervale, New South Wales. Coca Cola Amatil, in turn, will have the right to buy all or some of Foster’s spirits and RTD brands.

The change will leave Adelaide’s Coopers, with just a few percent market share, as the largest Australian-owned brewer.

Wig & Pen’s great new brews, business still on the market

10 August 2011Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

In May Lachie McOmish put Canberra’s unique Wig and Pen brewpub on the market. There’s been no sale yet, though we understand there’s at least on suitor in the wings.

So it’s business as usual, as we learned one busy Friday lunch time as patrons picked through the impressive range of brews, all made on site.

Behind the bar McOmish dispensed brimming glasses and lengthy opinions, while Richard Watkins took time out from the brewery to show the ales reviewed below.

We didn’t have time to taste the delicate Knocker’s Perry, made from Packham pears, nor the spiced ale, infused with fresh local truffles.

Watkins said his cherry-chocolate stout was due for release in the last week of July. And he’ll soon be releasing his 2000th brew – a hoppy, Belgian golden strong ale style, now ageing in barrel in the cellar.

Wig and Pen Dubbel Trubble 355ml $9
The brilliant mahogany colour and luxuriant head on the Wig’s Belgian ‘double’ style point to the amazingly good beer that follows. How can ale of this calibre come from such an unassuming place. It’s sheer brilliance. And at five months’ really delivers on this unique, opulent, velvet-textured style.

Wig and Pen Russian Imperial Stout 355ml $9
There’s a rasp of Rasputin’s beard in the Wig’s black and brooding Russian Imperial — a massive, 10 per-cent alcohol brew, pitting malt sweetness and syrupy, smooth texture against bitterness derived from hops and strongly roasted grains. It’s an impressive brew to sniff and savour — wisely served in 355ml brandy balloons.

Costco beer offering — limited but very keen prices

3 August 2011BeerChris Shanahan

There’s little excitement in store at Costco for adventurous beer drinkers. But the limited offer seems keenly priced and pitched mainly at drinkers of mainstream premium imported beers.

Just four of the eleven beers on display (all in case lots only) are Australian brands – XXXX Summer Bright Lager 330ml ($36.69, Dan Murphy $36.95), Hahn Premium Light 375ml ($28.79, Dan Murphy’s $31.99), Bighead No Carb Beer 330ml ($43.99), and Tooheys Extra Dry 345ml ($35.99, Dan Murphy’s $39.99).

Prices on six of the seven imported brands undercut Dan Murphy by varying amounts: Heineken 5-litre keg ($28.99, Dan Murphy $29.95), Asahi Super Dry 330ml ($48.99, Dan Murphy 54.99), Stella Artois 330ml ($38.49, Dan Murphy $39.45), Budweiser 355ml ($41.49, Dan Murphy $45.95), Calrsberg Green 330ml ($38.98, Dan Murphy 442.99), And Beck’s 330ml ($38.98, Dan Murphy $39.85)). However, Costco needs to sharpen its pencil to beat Dan Murphy on Guinness Draft Cans 440ml, priced at $55.99 versus Dan Murphy’s $49.90.

Boom in the gloom — US craft beers

27 July 2011BeerChris Shanahan

Despite all the gloomy news from America, craft beers continue to boom as total beer sales decline, according to the Brewers Association.

The association’s website, www.brewersassoication.org, says craft beers grew 11 per cent by volume and 12 per cent by value in calendar 2010. This came on top of 7.2 per cent volume growth and 10.3 per cent value growth in 2009. Overall beer sales in the USA declined by an estimated one per cent by volume in 2010 and 2.2 per cent in 2009.

The association says craft brews accounted for 4.9 per cent by volume and 7.6 per cent by value of US beer sales in 2010. In a massive market like the USA, that’s not small beer – translating to around 1.164 billion litres and $7.6 billion.

Australian Brews News (www.brewsnews.com.au) laments the lack of a similar “active and unified voice representing the interests of small brewers.

A vertical of Cooper’s vintage ales — and an Asahi chaser

20 July 2011Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Most beer drinks best soon after release – brewers having provided appropriate ageing in their cellars. But some styles, like Cooper’s vintage ale, age well, the flavours altering gradually over time.

To see the changes, we put the new Cooper’s Extra Strong Vintage Ale 2011 to the test alongside the 2010 and 2009 vintages, supplied by Coopers, and the 2008 and 2007 from Schloss Shanahan.

The tasting revealed significant changes from youngest to oldest. The brisk, just-released 2011 leads with an assertive hoppy aroma and flavour hovering over the deep, sweet malt – a balanced but big, bold style.

The slightly deeper coloured 2007, still fresh and gassy, tells the malt story – toffee and caramel aroma and a rich, smooth, palate that brings in golden syrup as well. The hops, barely detectable in the aroma by now, show up in the bitter finish.

The other vintages sat between this hops-dominant to malt-dominant spectrum – all in great shape, particularly the exuberant 2008.

Cooper’s Extra Strong Vintage Ale 2011 375ml 6-pack $20
This is a classy drop – big, bold and idiosyncratic but not over the top. Pungent, resiny hops lead the flavour charge, backed by deep, sweet, generous malt and luxurious, smooth texture – finishing with a delicious, assertive, hops bitterness. It’s easy to drink now, but from experience the flavour evolves with age.

Asahi Super Dry 330ml 6-pack $18.99
What a contrast Asahi is to the big, bitter, malty Coopers vintage ale. It combines delicacy, flavour and lingering hops bitterness and suits both delicate and spiced food – the beer equivalent of dry young riesling. It’s imported by Foster’s and therefore widely distributed – a positive for a style that’s best consumed young and fresh.

Cooper’s launches 2011 vintage ale

13 July 2011BeerChris Shanahan

While Tim and Glen Cooper spruik the cellaring ability of Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale 2011, I suspect, with only 15 thousand cases to go round, most if it will be enjoyed during release over the next few months.

If it’s anything like the preceding vintages (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010) it’ll be tremendously enjoyable on release – a robust, malty, bitter 7.5 per cent alcohol winter warmer.

But all that flavour, hops and alcohol preserve this bottle-fermented beer for years. And from experience, the flavour evolves in pleasing ways over time.

Tim Cooper says the new release is made from Clare Valley barley and a variety of hops – “including Styrian Golding, Magnum and Perle from Europe, Amarillo from the USA and Nelson Sauvin from New Zealand”.

We’ll review the 2011 shortly, alongside older vintages from Schloss Shanahan.

Barons re-releases bush-tucker beers

6 July 2011Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Barons Brewing of Sydney recently relaunched two beers seasoned with native Australian ingredients – Lemon Myrtle Witbier and Blackwattle Original Ale.

The beers are part of Barons varied portfolio that includes a lager, pale ale and extra special bitter. Barons also distributes other brands, including Belgian lager, 88 Balls, Czech lager, Bakalar and Australian brews, Razorback Red Ale and Charlotte’s Hefeweizen.

Baron’s introduced Blackwattle Original Ale back in 2005 and the Lemon Myrtle Witbier in 2008. As the names suggest, they’re seasoned with lemon myrtle and roasted black wattle seed. They claim to be the only brewery using native ingredients. Perhaps they are now. I don’t know. But in 2008 Chuck Hahn released a one-off winter ale, seasoned with native pepperberries.

Where Hahn’s beer was a potent, idiosyncratic style to either love or hate, Baron’s two brews flow like water – so watch out.

Barons Black Wattle Original Ale 330ml 6-pack $20
This dark amber brew weighs in at 5.8 per cent alcohol. The alcohol boosts the opulent malt flavour, giving the palate great warmth and appeal. The dominant flavours are caramel and golden syrup-like with a touch of roasted grain (this may be the wattle seed) and mildly bitter, balanced finish.

Barons Lemon Myrtle Witbier 330ml 6-pack $20
Modelled on Belgian wheat beer styles, like Hoegaarden, Barons is a particularly brisk ale with wheat beer’s natural high acidity, light body and smooth texture. A distinct and pleasant lemony note adds to the beer’s zest and freshness. It’s bottle conditioned and therefore cloudy.

James Squire gets a new suit

29 June 2011Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Oh dear, oh dear – Lion Nathan’s Malt Shovel Brewery recently revamped the labels on its popular James Squire range. Apparently the old labels looked too similar, confusing the brand’s poor, loyal drinkers. “They often weren’t sure which beer in the range they were drinking”, writes brand director, Ralph Simpson. Perhaps they conducted market research at 3 am.

Brand directors love leaving their mark. But as Australia’s wine industry learned to its detriment, radical label changes can undermine a brand – alienating existing followers and creating confusion about what it stands for.

Fortunately the six brews in the range haven’t changed – leaving the heart of James Squire brand intact. However, my first reaction to the new labels was that they’d introduced new beers – and then a doubt, “maybe they’ve dumbed them down?’ Labels should reassure us, not create doubts or suspicions.

James Squire Four Wives Pilsener 345ml 6-pack $18.99
This is made by Tony Jones at the Lion Nathan owned Malt Shovel brewery. It’s a world-class interpretation of the Bohemian model, delivering the tremendous malt richness of the style (pale and Munich malts) as well as the distinctive aromatics and intense, lingering bitterness of Saaz hops.

James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 345ml 6-pack $18.99
Original Amber Ale was the first off the James Squire production line under Chuck Hahn in 1998. Now renamed as Nine Tales, it retains the original style: a deep copper colour with slightly citrusy hops aromas hovering over the fruit and malt. The fruit, malt and hops continue on a warming, supple, gently appealing palate.

Cascade’s nifty iPhone app

22 June 2011BeerChris Shanahan

Cascade Brewing, part of the Foster’s Group, recently released a nifty, free iPhone app, The Brewer’s Nose.

While the app helps users link with other beer lovers via a Facebook site, the real appeal is access to a database of 600 beers.

The database describes alcohol, bitterness, sweetness and fullness, provides a brief, reliable tasting note and offers food-matching suggestions.

You access the database by tapping in key words – or, far, far cooler, by touching the “scan” button and letting the iPhone read the barcode on the bottle or stubby in your hand.

It worked quickly and well in our tests, provided, of course, the beer was in the database.

The database isn’t nearly as Foster’s-biased as you might think. It features a good range of competitor and craft brews, but falls short on exotic imports. Presumably this will change over time.

Declining beer consumption hides shift to quality

15 June 2011BeerChris Shanahan

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on 3 June suggest little change in Australia’s per capita consumption of alcohol between 2005 (10.31 litres) and 2010 (10.37 litres).

But the figures, expressed in litres of pure alcohol available for consumption per person over 15 years, indicate a slight decline in beer from 4.62 litres to 4.56 litres, an increase in wine from 3.53 litres to 3.81 litres, an increase in spirits from 1.21 litres to 1.30 litres and a decrease in ready-to-drinks from 0.94 litres to 0.70 litres.

The slight decline in volume of beer consumed, however, reveals nothing of the dramatic qualitative change over the last decade or so.

We get a glimpse of this in the ‘The Local Taphouse’s Hottest 100 Craft Beers of 2010″, published on Australia Day, 2011. Voters nominated nearly 500 different Australian craft beers – a figure that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.