Category Archives: Beer

Beer’s Aussie future — Coke is it

13 February 2008BeerChris Shanahan

If I had to make one prediction about Australia’s beer future, it’s that Coca Cola Amatil will hit its target of being our number three brewer within five years, if not earlier.

They say you can tell a lot about people by the company they keep. And it applies to corporations, too. So, when dominant Australian beverage business, Coke, teams up with major global company, SABMiller plc, you know that something’s brewing on a large scale.

And in this case, starting in August 2006, it was a 50:50 joint venture in Pacific Beverages, established to ‘sell and distribute imported premium beers in Australia’, says Coke’s website.

Originally the venture saw Coca Cola Amatil handling SABMiller’s international beer brands, Peroni Nastro Azzuro (Italy), Pilsner Urquell (Czech Republic) and Miller Genuine Draft and Miller Chill (USA).

Then in December 2007, Coke announced its acquisition, through Pacific Beverages, of Hunter-based Blue Tongue Brewery at an estimated (by The Australian Financial Review) $15–$20million.

Blue Tongue’s products – Premium Lager, Traditional Pilsener, Alcoholic Ginger Beer and Premium Light – are all positioned, like SABMiller’s brands, in the rapidly growing, highly profitably premium end of the market.

And with a $100million brewery yet to be built you can bet that this is page one of the story.

Lion swallows Boag

8 February 2008BeerChris Shanahan

Who is James Boag? Well you might ask. Until recently, this much-loved Aussie beer belonged to Philippines-based San Miguel Corporation. But under a deal announced last November, ownership of J Boag & Sons Pty Ltd, and with it James Boag Premium Lager, passed to Lion Nathan Limited in January.

Lion also negotiated in January the termination of a Carlton & United Beverages’ mainland distribution contract for Boag – leaving the way free for Lion to control distribution of its new brand.

The question for drinkers is what affect the change of ownership might have on the Boag beer brands. Will the beers or brewery change? Will there be new products?

Figures released by Lion when it announced the acquisition suggest no reason for wholesale change. Boag’s sales in financial 2006 of $92million, and profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $17.9million, suggest a robust business driven by strong brands.

In a phone interview on 30 January, Lion chief brewer, Bill Taylor, said that while there’d be early back-office investment in computerised systems at Boag, the opportunity for Lion lay more in understanding the brewery’s history and in finding new opportunities for its successful beers than in rushing into changes. It’ll be interesting to revisit Boag next year.

Snowy brew seeks home

24 January 2008Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Kevin and Alison O’Neill created the Snowy Mountains Brewery brand in 2004 and had their first beer – Snowy Mountains Pale Ale – brewed under contract, to Kevin’s specification, by Hunter-based Blue Tongue Brewery in 2005.

In 2006 the O’Neill’s shifted production to contract brewer AIB, near Camden on Sydney’s southwestern outskirts, a move that marked an expansion to a range that now includes a southern German style wheat ale, a Czech inspired pilsener and a unique red ale.

The beers are all named for Snowy Mountain heroes or landmarks (Charlotte’s Hefeweizen, Bullocks Pilsner, Crackenback Pale Ale and Razorback Red Ale). But if the connection to the Snowies seems tenuous at present, the O’Neill’s website says they’ve plans to build a brewery in Jindabyne.

As well as providing a captive market and regional connection to the brews (do skiers drink?), having their own brewery gives the O’Neills an opportunity to tweak quality a few notches higher.
In my view that’s essential in an increasingly crowded market where the big brewers, with their distribution and cost advantages, turn out distinctive beers like James Squire and Matilda Bay that match or surpass in quality what many craft brewers produce.

Snowy Mountains Brewery Crackenback Pale Ale 330ml $3.50
This a toned-down but attractive version of the American pale ale style – ie, not quite as malty or hoppy as the originals but still with enough oomph to lift it above the pack. There’s an appealing citrus note to the hops aroma but a little more body might better offset the bitter finish.

Snowy Mountains Brewery Bullocks Pilsner 330ml $3.50
Bullocks is modelled on the Czech Pilzen style, but like Crackenback above, it mutes the keynotes of the style without going too far to the bland centre. It has attractive, fragrant, herbal hops aroma and rich but lively, fresh palate that finishes dry and moderately bitter, leaving the mouth ready for the next sip.

Monteith’s — a treat from NZ’s west coast

16 January 2008BeerChris Shanahan

‘Plonk’ is a postage-stamp-sized liquor store squished into the southern end of Palmerston Lane, Manuka. When I first saw it, thirty years’ liquor retailing experience rated it too small to be viable.
But it’s still going. And the racks of bottle-your-own liqueurs seem to be giving way to an expanding, carefully chosen selection – driven, I’m told, by Dan Rayner, archaeologist and local amateur brewing champ.

Dan wasn’t there for the Schloss Shanahan pre-Christmas raid. But the haul, including today’s line up of six Monteith’s beers, should keep this column going for a few months. It’s worth a visit.
Like Australia’s Matilda Bay (Fosters) and James Squire (Lion Nathan) Monteith’s belongs to a large brewer but still makes outstanding and idiosyncratic styles from its breweries in Greymouth, Timaru and Auckland.

We found six Monteith’s brews at Plonk and paid a fair price of $3.15 for each 330ml bottle.

Radler smells and tastes like shandy, thanks to a dash of lemon juice, but it’s an undiluted 5 per cent alcohol and, though sweet, tastes zesty and fresh. Summer Ale, a spiced beer has a distinct note of ginger, offset by touch of honey.

Pilsner, a beautifully balanced lager, is roughly in the ‘Bohemian’ style with similar aromatic hops, if not as overtly bitter. The gentle, caramel-and- malt Original Ale with its mild hops bitterness is a treat.
-Celtic Red attacks pleasantly with strong, roasted-malt and smoky flavours – a good warm up for the deep, opulent, warm Doppelbock Winter Ale. Rich, chocolaty Hearty Black Beer completes the range.

Celtic Red attacks pleasantly with strong, roasted-malt and smoky flavours – a good warm up for the deep, opulent, warm Doppelbock Winter Ale. Rich, chocolaty Hearty Black Beer completes the range.

Gippsland’s little gem

1 January 2008Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

If you’re motoring through Gippsland, Victoria, chances are you’ll be on the Princes Highway – just a skip over the mountains from Cooma via the Snowy Mountains and Cann River Highways.

Continue west past Lakes Entrance and Bairnsdale and it’s not far to Morwell – and from there it’s only half an hour south, on the Strzlecki Highway, to the village of Mirboo North, home of the Grand Ridge Brewery.

This is one of our great and enduring microbreweries, founded as the Strzlecki Brewery before taking on its current name after Eric Walters and others bought it from the receivers in the late eighties.

Beginning with a high hops Pilsen style, Eric and the team developed, over time, a wide spectrum of beer style from low alcohol lager to11-per-cent alcohol ales, modelled on Belgian classics.

While you can buy bottled versions of the beer, it’s at its best from tap in the brewery bar (open 7 days) or attached restaurant (lunch and dinner Thursday to Monday).

On our flying visit we opted for the ‘paddle’ – a timber serving tray with inset shot glasses of six of the key brews: Natural Blonde, Mighty Light, Brewers Pilsner, Gippsland Gold, Moonlight and Black and Tan – a classy line up to be reviewed over the next few weeks.

Grand Ridge Brewery Natural Blonde Wheat Beer 330ml $3.50
Grand Ridge natural blonde has an advantage over the original Belgian coriander and orange-peel infused wheat ales. Being locally brewed it’s fresher – especially from tap at the Gippsland brewery. It’s a delight — from the pale lemon, cloudy colour to the stiff, fine head to the creamy texture to the bracing, lemon-fresh tang.

Grand Ridge Brewery Moonlight Midstrength Ale 330ml $3.50
With beer flavour tends to rise and fall with the alcohol content, making it difficult to brew tasty low and mid-strength products. This English nut-brown ale style meets the challenge with its plush toffee and malt flavours, creamy, soft mid palate and beautifully judged Golding hops that provide subtle flavour and a balancing bitterness.

Oz Berliner Weisse — tastes like it should be good for you

12 December 2007Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

The Germans call Berliner Weisse ‘arbeiter sekt’, the workingman’s champagne. And a few months back I lamented not having seen the style in Australia.

But Wig & Pen brewer, Richard Watkins, reminded me (over a glass of his locally brewed version) that he’d offered it on tap about two years ago.

That batch, he said, had been a pure, challengingly sour beer with fresh mango or blackcurrant added at the tap to offset the sourness. A few die-hards tried it straight, he recalls, but invariably came back for the fruit.

In Berlin, it’s found in many bars, typically flavoured with woodruff or raspberry, giving an alarmingly green or red hue.

It’s a wheat ale made sour by the addition of a lactobacillus culture that produces lactic acid. And it’s this interplay between sourness of the beer and sweetness of the fruit seasoning that makes Berliner Weiss unique and refreshing.

Watkins’ new expression of the style is a fifty-fifty malted wheat, malted barley blend with the fruit incorporated into the brew rather than mixed in at the tap.

Richard says that he added Italian filtered, pureed elderberry (hence, no pips, no skins) early in the brew to encourage the ferment and dryness and after the ferment to add a touch of sweetness.

And rather than use a lactic culture, he simply added the desired amount of lactic acid.

The result is an idiosyncratic take on a traditional German regional beer style. As visiting beer author Willie Simpson said, ‘It tastes like it should be good for you.’

Dan Rayner’s Beer Ape (Australopithecus Cerevesiae) pint $7.50
Archaeologist Dan Rayner won the local amateur brewing comp with a robust American pale ale style. And the Wig & Pen now offers a one-off batch brewed to Dan’s recipe. It’s a terrific expression of this in-your-face style with rich malt and aromatic, citrusy/resiny hops aroma, flavour and bitterness.

Wig & Pen Berliner Weisse pint $7.50
‘God, that’s not what we’re getting?’, a nervous drinker asked, eyeing three ruby-red, crimson-frothed beers. What he saw was the Wig’s new Berliner Weisse – a sour, tart, brew, mollified by elderberry’s startling colour, intense berry flavour and just enough countervailing sweetness. It’s a seasonal specialty that tastes like it should be good for you.

Coals to Newcastle — Aussie rauchbier earns German gong

5 December 2007BeerChris Shanahan

A note from Helen Hollyoak, of Redoak Beer Café, Sydney, tells a coal-to-Newcastle story.
Siblings Janet and David Hollyoak established their Clarence Street brew café in 2004. And, as reported in this column some months back, produced what they claim to be Australia’s first rauch bier. (In fact, Canberra’s Wig & Pen brewed Wobbly Boot Smoked Hefeweizen several years back).

Rauchbier’s an idiosyncratic style that originated centuries ago in Bamberg, Germany. ‘Rauch’ means ‘smoked’ and refers to beechwood smoking of barley during the malting process.

The smoked barley gives the beer a distinct, smoked-meat character, reminiscent, to me, of the wonderful German-style garlic metwurst still made in the Barossa Valley. It sounds peculiar, but consumed with local food in Bamberg, it’s delicious.

It’s a niche style, of course. So the Germans may have been surprised when Aussie upstart, Redoak Rauch, earned a silver medal at the European Beer Star Awards, held in Nuremberg in November.

Redoak Rauch’s German silver medal came on top of gold medals won in the beer World Cup 2006 and Australian International Beer Awards 2005.

Brewer David Hollyoak described his beer as, ‘a rich copper colour lager with a dense caramel head and a sweet, smoked malt aroma and flavour… made of the finest Munich malts, beechwood smoked malt, Redoak smoked malt and subtle hopping.’

See www.redoak.com.au for more information about the beer and where to find it. Or to source an original from Bamberg for comparison with the Aussie version, search ‘smoked beer’ at www.internationalbeershop.com. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen is a fine example of the style.

Half a century from Mudgee mud to true brew

28 November 2007BeerChris Shanahan

It may seem hard to believe now but in post world-war-two Australia beer was rationed. My father still recalls ‘Mudgee mud’, a brew that he and other returned Sydney diggers tolerated during the shortage.

According to mudgeebrewery.com.au, the Federal Brewing Company’s beer deteriorated – earning the ‘Mudgee mud’ tag – after switching from well water to town water. But the name lives on fifty-one years after the brewery closed.

These days Mudgee’s a prosperous looking town with dozens of wineries plus the Mudgee Brewing Co founded recently by two locals, Peter Shiells and Gary Leonard.

You can visit the brewery on Saturdays in the century-old wool store in Church Street. But there’s no reason to go dry from Sunday to Friday as the beers enjoy strong support from local pubs, motels and restaurants.

Indeed, we discovered the excellent Mudgee Brewing Company Pale Ale over pizza at Elton’s Restaurant. What could be better after the five-hour drive from Canberra?

This was no Mudgee mud — just top-notch beer, pale coloured, tremendously fresh and with the wonderful interplay of floral/citrus Saaz hops and rich malt flavours. Alas, we missed the brewery’s opening hours but ordered a few samples for review here in the next few weeks.

A Barossa brew

21 November 2007Beer, Beer reviewChris Shanahan

Grape and grain seem to cohabit peacefully in many of our wine regions, with small breweries popping up, in recent years, in the Hunter, Mudgee, Yarra, Beechworth, Gippsland, Bright, Macedon, Rutherglen, Mornington Peninsula, Tasmania, Mildura, Clare and the Barossa.

These are probably many more. And some that’ve made this column to date have direct wine industry connections. At Rutherglen’s Bintara Brewery, for example, grape grower Michael Murtagh, doubles as brewer. And Tasmania’s Moorilla Estate Brewery sits alongside the winery of the same name.

And one that’s recently hit our radar, the Barossa Brewing Company, is connected to the Trinne family, suppliers of stainless steel equipment to the wine industry since the 1970s.

Darryl Trinne operates the business from an old wheat store in Greenock, a quiet little village on the western side of the Barossa. It’s a little off the main tourist trail, but very close to some of the very best vineyards.

I’ve enjoyed the beers on tap at the Greenock Pub (a must-try if you’re in the Barossa). But the bottled versions scrub up well, too, and might eventually reach the east.

Like the best small-maker wines, these are hand-made, small-quantity, highly individual products that give real drinking satisfaction.

Natural beers like these add welcome colour and depth to regional tourism and can even put a smile on our faces here in Canberra. See www.barossabrewingcompany.com for interesting details or to order The Miller’s Lager reviewed last week or the two brews below.

The Barossa Brewing Company Wheat Store Ale 330ml 6-pack $20
This is modelled on the southern German wheat beer style and starts well with distinctive banana-like esters. The palate appears a little fuller and rounder than the German style. While it seems lower in acidity, it’s still a tasty, characterful and refreshing drop. It’s a 50:50 blend of floor-malted wheat and barley.

The Barossa Brewing Company Greenock Dark Ale 330ml 6-pack $20
Greenock Dark Ale packs huge flavour without the high alcohol that often accompanies it. It’s 4.4 per cent alcohol and in the English porter mould: dark and attractively aromatic with a flavour sitting somewhere between dark chocolate and coffee. English Fuggles hops balance the malt richness with a refreshing bitterness.

Bubbling interest in amateur brewing

14 November 2007BeerChris Shanahan

There’s a perception that home brewers are cheapskates, spending hours to save pennies on beer that not even their mothers would drink. But bubbling away beneath our mainstream lager culture there’s an amazing world of amateur brewers, doing it all from scratch to emulate the great beer styles of the world.

Last week Canberra’s amateur brewers fielded one hundred and fifty three beers in its annual championship. And from this field they put forward thirteen extraordinary category winners for a best-of-show taste off.

I was one of five judges assessing the amazingly diverse champions: three wheat beers (light wheat, German weizen and Belgian blonde), Australian lager, classic American pilsener, Californian common, American pale ale, schwarz bier, bock, robust porter, dry stout, Scottish heavy ale and English barley wine.

They were terrific beers. But how do you compare such contrasting, sometimes idiosyncratic, styles? Well, in beer world we judge each against its style specification.

And in a tight battle, the winner was Dan Rayner’s appropriately rich, hoppy American Pale Ale, brewed on the balcony of his small apartment.

You’ll be able to taste it soon as the Wig & Pen sponsors the trophy and brews the winning recipe each year in a one-off salute to local beer nuts.