They've already got the 2022 Australian Champion Beer title in the back for their core range Lager and put out arguably the best Czech style pilsner in Australia in the shape of Gantry Crane, but for the brewers at White Bay there's a real fondness for Bendy. The backstory is that the "tiny pilsner" was brewed in honour of Bendy the crane and her operator John, who helped get all of their tanks into place, and also that it was an attempt to create a lower ABV version of the aforementioned Gantry Crane without reining in the impact of the hops.
As with its bigger sibling, the beer underwent a lengthy brewing and conditioning process, and the proof of the pudding is in the drinking. It's no less awash with Czech hops – albeit just Saaz here, which seems to deliver a more rounded hop character – and if anything Bendy is more perceptibly bitter and hop forward, presumably as there's less ballast to hold the hops in check.
A fine sidekick for the bigger of their Czech style pilsners.
James Smith
Published February 1, 2023 2023-02-01 00:00:00
