We’ve been cellaring beer at Schloss Shanahan since Cooper’s released its first vintage ale in 1998 – and still hold a single stubby each of every vintage. They’re right next to the Grange, in the coolest corner, of course.

What these vintage ales show is that beer that’s high in alcohol, high in hops and bottled with live yeast dismisses the old adage that all beer should be drunk young and fresh.

As Cooper’s brewer, Nick Sterenberg says, ‘Ales which undergo secondary fermentation… are bottled with live yeast that converts sugar to alcohol and mops up dissolved oxygen, extending the shelf life to around two years’.

That’s normal bottle-conditioned ale. But what are we to make of a cache uncovered at Burton-on-Trent, England, by Worthington White Shield Brewery recently?

Reports say that ales dating back to 1869 proved potable, albeit tasting more like aged fortified wines than beer.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

Skunky beer? That’s how some describe the smell of a light-struck brew – that garlicky, devil-fart smell hovering over sun-drenched beer gardens. It’s not pleasant.

It seems that when light strikes beer, it triggers a reaction in hop-derived iso-alpha acids and amino acids to form mercaptans – a particularly smelly family of sulphur compounds found in everything from decaying vegetable matter to skunk secretions.

Clearly, mercaptan has no place in beer. The trouble is, though, that for aesthetic reasons, much of the beer sold today comes in clear or green glass bottles. And these offer far less light protection than brown glass or the perfectly dark inside of a keg.

If they could, brewers might use nothing but kegs and brown glass. But that’s not on. So many now employ modified hop extracts – proprietary products like ‘tetrahop gold’ — that provide light resistance and, in so doing, keep the skunk out of our beer.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

Are brewers Max Burslem and Chuck Hahn trying to out-hop each other? I reckon they are. In March Chuck released James Squire Hop Thief Ale, a bitter, delicious statement about hops from the USA.

And this month sees the release of Max’s Cascade First Harvest 2007 Ale, another celebration of hops, in this instance freshly harvested from the Derwent Valley.

Max’s new brew uses three hops varieties – the experimental Explorer and Leggett as well as Galaxy, used in earlier versions of First Harvest. The combination gives assertive herbal and resiny aromas and flavours to the beer and a robust bitterness to counter the ale’s sweet malt character.

After a few sips the herbal, resiny hops bitterness outweighs the malt and becomes, increasingly, the main focus of the beer. But that’s what its name suggests.

Cascade claims that  ‘First Harvest is the only brew of its kind in Australia brewed using fresh green hops’.

Cascade First Harvest Ale 2007
This is a serious celebration of humulus lupus – several varieties of it, in fact, fresh harvested from Tasmania’s Derwent Valley. It’s a fruity, light-amber ale with the full malty body to carry the assertive aroma, flavour and exquisite, lingering herbal bitterness of the three hops varieties. The best of this series yet, I believe.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

Foster’s and Lion Nathan dominate Australia’s beer market. Despite this, booming premium beers sales are creating opportunities for scores of tiny brewers, importers, and sizeable craft brewers.

As well we have two ‘virtual’ brewers in Coles and Woolworths. The sheer scale of their premium beer imports and their direct-to-consumer approach pits them squarely against every brewer and importer in Australia.

While this could mean higher margins, much of the direct-import advantage appears to be competed away, putting a lid on premium beer prices nationally.

And now there’s another formidable player in the premium beer market – Coca-Cola Amatil, under Terry Davis, former head of Cellarmaster Wines and Beringer Blass.

Last August Coke formed a joint venture to distribute SABMiller’s international brands, Miller, Peroni Nastro Azzuro and Pilsen Urquell.

Reports this week say that Coke plans to brew these brands locally and to rate third in size behind Foster’s and Lion Nathan by 2012.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

For a free and impartial beer shopping list, compiled by experts, visit www.beerawards.com.au and download the 2007 Australian International Beer Awards catalogue of results.

The University of Ballarat and the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria run the event jointly since the early nineties, engaging top-notch beer palates to judge both packaged and draught beers. In 2007 these experts tasted 941 entries from 189 exhibitors.

That’s a lot of beer covering a tremendous diversity of styles – from the lovely, light, fresh ‘Grand Champion’ — Bavaria’s Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissbier — to Oregon’s deep, dark, trophy-winning Deschutes Brewery Obsidian Stout.

The winner’s list includes both exotic hard-to-gets and find-em-anywhere local favourites, like the Little Creatures Pale Ale, reviewed below.

And Canberra’s tiny Wig & Pen Brewery & Tavern turned in yet another blinder performance with a trophy (Mr Natural, champion reduced alcohol beer), top-of-section (Ballyragett Irish Red), 3 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals.

Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier 500ml $4.99
I couldn’t make the International Beer Awards judging this year, but having recently tasted the 2007 Grand Champion – Weihenstephaner Kristall (clear) — alongside the bottle-conditioned version (Hefe) still have a preference for the latter. Whichever you prefer these are superb examples of Bavarian wheat ale from a millennium-old brewery. See www.internationalbeershop.com.au
*****

Little Creatures Pale Ale 330ml 6-pack $17.99
The AIBA’s ‘Champion Ale’, comes from a Fremantle operation in which Lion Nathan holds a major interest. Nevertheless, it’s a genuine craft brewer, making complex beers, albeit in sufficient volume for national distribution. Its original creation, Pale Ale, stimulates the senses deliciously with its passionfruit-like hops-led aroma and flavour.
*****

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

Late last year I reviewed two excellent beers from this fairly new Sydney brewer, founded by long-time, beer-loving mates Scott Garnett and Richard Adamson.

Their range began with the high-alcohol Black Wattle Ale seasoned with ground wattle seed, and the very convincing Extra Special Bitter, brewed in the UK’s ‘best bitter’ style.

Six months on, the two say they’ve struck a $30million deal to export one million cases to the USA over five years. They say that it was the Wattle Seed Ale that excited one of America’s biggest beer importers.

That sort of volume propels Adamson and Garnett away from the micro-brew category, but still leaves scope for craft brewing – just as James Squire, Little Creatures and Matilda Bay have succeeded in doing.

The rash of craft brewing, volume producers now underway will test the depth of Australia’s growing demand for top-end beers – or perhaps reinforce it.

Barons Lager 330ml 6-pack $15
This dark golden lager uses Czech Saaz and New Zealand hops and Australian and German malts. It starts with an inviting burst of hops aroma, backed by sweet malt. The creamy textured palate, too, shows real malt depth, nicely balanced with hops flavour and refreshing bitterness.

Barons Pale Ale 330ml 6-pack $15
This is a pleasant, balanced, fruity drop but it has neither the turbo-hopped character of American Pale Ale styles nor the harmonious, bitter, more-ish subtlety of English styles like Bass.  But it does have delicate fruity notes and appealing aromas and flavours derived from Pacific Hallertau and Nelson Sauvin hops.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

Canberra brewer Richard Watkins says that if you can appreciate the difference between dried and fresh coriander, then you can understand why fresh hops flowers have an advantage over the pelletised version in brewing.

Hops is the brewer’s only spice in most beers and plays a crucial role — through its aroma, flavour and bitterness  — in countering the sweetness of malted barley, beer’s seminal component.
Richard has just returned from a trip to Tasmania where he learned that small brewers don’t have to rely on mainland middlemen to source hops.

He says he’s found an independent hops grower on the upper Derwent with the capacity to produce small quantities to order of classic hops varieties including Saaz, Goldings, Hallertau, Fuggles, Amarillo and Chinook – and even selective crosses thereof.

Richard says that hops flowers dried to about eight per cent moisture content can be stored from one hops season to the next in good condition

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

Wikipedia says that Germany’s wealthiest men, Theo and Karl Albrecht, retired founders of Aldi supermarkets, earn an estimated 1.5 billion Euro a year from their 5000 outlets.

And their winning formula – small groupings of popular household items at low prices – includes a couple of treats for Aussie beer drinkers.

Buying in large volume and selling direct to consumers allows Aldi to offer two very good German beers – Schloss Pils and Wernesgrüner Pils — at prices that must annoy the hell out of the big brewers and rival importers.

$40 a slab for the Schloss Pils pits it squarely against big volume locally brewed premiums and the German imports of Coles and Woolies, and below the price of fair-dinkum boutique products.

This creates a conundrum for craft brewers. They simply cannot compete on price even if they win on individuality.

But for those seeking a cold drink on a hot day, who can argue?

Schloss Pils 330ml 6-pack $11.99. Wernesgrüner Pils 335ml 6-pack $11.99
These Aldi imports sit squarely in the German Pilsen-style mould – bright, light golden lagers with dry finish and pronounced hop bitterness. The Schloss is a little darker in colour and not as stunningly fresh as the Wernesgrüner. Both offer outstanding value for money and were purchased at Aldi, Holt, Canberra.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

Canberra’s Wig & Pen brewpub can’t long stay out of the beer news. Highly distinctive specialties come and go with the seasons. While it’s a little later for one of the two summer brews — the raspberry flavoured lambic-style Rich’s Summer Frenzy ran out recently — the delicious Summer Dark reviewed below remains on tap.

And with the hops harvest in full swing brewer Richard Watkins plans to bring back the randall – a sealed glass container filled with fresh hops flowers — that sits on the bar as specially-brewed ale flows through it en route to the taps.

In their brief contact with the beer the flowers infuse it with an exciting, bracing aroma and aftertaste. Last year’s highly successful brew was a brown ale with a rich, creamy texture designed to match the piquancy of the fresh hops.

Watch this space for a review of the 2007 ale when it hits the bar.

Wig & Pen Summer Dark Star Lager middy $4.20
The Wig’s latest, charismatic seasonal specialty looks dark and brooding like a warming winter ale – an impression furthered by the rich, dark-chocolate aroma. Though the dark chocolate flavour fills the palate, it’s foiled by the most refreshing, assertive and delicious hops bitterness that turns winter to summer in a few sips.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007

If you’re not a bar fly you won’t have tasted St Arnou beer. Though founded in 2001 it was available only as a draft beer until the recent launch of Premium Blonde in bottle.

It’s one of five St Arnou brews and all of them — including cellar mates, Pils, St Cloud Wheat Ale (reviewed last week) and Pale Ale – are available on tap in Canberra and around Australia.

Co-founder Matthew Beggs says the company originally brewed its own beers in Queensland and New South Wales, but now uses Damien Silk’s Australian Independent Brewers of Smeaton Grange, near Sydney.

Unlike so many smaller brewers St Arnou appears to have established wide distribution and to have survived for six years in very difficult draft market – the domain of the two big brewers, Lion Nathan and Fosters.

The launch of bottled St Arnou will bring the label to retail land and a wider audience than it currently enjoys in bars.

St Arnou Premium Blonde 330ml 6-pack $17
Managing Director Matthew Beggs says that this is the beer ‘to get people comfortable with St Arnou’. It’s the biggest selling of five in the range, a pale, crisp, easy drinking, and not-too-bitter style with a distinct clove-like note, courtesy of wheat malt. A bottled version recently joined the draft.

Copyright © Chris Shanahan 2007