Wheat beers are a funny one. Sure, not too many are brewed in Australia, fewer still brewed anywhere close to the standards of the originals from southern Germany. But even when they are done well – even with those quality imports – they remain possibly the most divisive or unloved by many of styles. We know plenty of people with an honest appreciation of good beer who will happily declare, on sampling a good one: "I can tell it's a good wheat beer. I just don't like 'em."
When the Clifton Hill Brewpub opened, the fourth beer to be added to their core range was a Weizen, a beer that we rather enjoyed. Yet it failed to find the following of some of their other beers and, as of the start of 2015, has been scratched. Joining the brewery's pale ales, dark ale and Kolsch on the permanent roster instead is this New World Pilsner. It's very much a New World take on the style, with fruity hops that lean towards the tropical wafting from its hazy yellow body and lending it a lingering, slightly resinous and drying bitterness too.
Published February 26, 2015 2015-02-26 00:00:00
