Beer CoConspirators Brewing & Fizz and Hop The Architect

Both the brewers at CoConspirators and the team at the Moonee Ponds bottleshop Fizz and Hop have been busy building of late. Work is still being done on the former’s Brunswick brewpub while, at the latter, they've spent two Melbourne lockdowns getting their bar and restaurant Holmes Hall ready to welcome people inside. Like any beer, a good idea needs good design and the two operations have teamed up to recognise that via oat cream IPA, The Architect.

With flaked oats in the malt bill and additional lactose, it’s a beer with a body that’s as soft and melodic as The Decemberist track with which it shares a similar name, though it shares none of the narrator's love for angles and corners. The hops come in a trifecta of El Dorado, Azacca and Sabro and provide a mix of sweet citrus that moves between mandarin and orange, along with peach, mango and coconut, all barrelling along together in an incredibly juicy and well-designed IPA.

Will Ziebell