New Beers
Barely a day goes by without another seasonal or one-off special flying out of an Australian brewery (if not ten). Here and in our weekly newsletter, we'll bring you news and, if we've sampled them, our take on as many of them as possible. Happy hunting!
Five Barrel Brewing Sour Ale Variety Pack
Tapped Yesterday
There are four-in-one additional reasons to poke your head into the Five Barrel tap room as the Wollongong brewery has ventured for the first time into the world of exploratory variety packs. And, as far as experiments go, it’s an interesting one as they’ve essentially taken one sour style ale and presenting it four different ways: unbastardised, hopped, berried and fruited. The logical starting point on the tasting trip is the unadulterated Berliner Weisse, which dishes up lots of lemon character… Read more
Red
- Style
- Sour Ale Series
- Strength
- 3.5% to 4.5%
Nowhereman & Clarences Tommy Gose Nowhere
Tapped Yesterday
Kicking off Nowhereman’s small bar series, Tommy Gose Nowhere brings out the tropical heart of their Mt Lawley collaborators with a sessionable riff on the Tommy’s Margarita. For the uninitiated, the International Bartenders Association describes Tommy’s as a New Era iteration of the classic margarita, one that replaces orange liqueur with agave syrup. In this case, agave liqueur was used to season the beer, with lime peel and juice completing the homage. Pouring a hazy, magic-hour sunshine… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Margarita Gose
- Strength
- 3.2%
- Stockists
-
Available from the brewery and Clarences
Cheeky Monkey & Petition Treat Yo Self
Tapped Yesterday
Cheeky Monkey’s latest celebration of state sales manager Brendan Day’s love of "big dumb beers" started out as a Maple Blueberry Pancake Barleywine concept with the team from Petition Beer Corner. With the beer progressing well, the proposed final addition of a ludicrous amount of maple syrup was narrowly avoided thanks to the common sense of head brewer Ross Terlick who judged the beer to be fine just the way it was. That’s not to say Treat Yo Self isn’t big or dumb; 60 kilograms… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Blueberry Barleywine
- Strength
- 11%
- Stockists
-
Available from the brewery, Petition Beer Corner and select WA venues.
Beerland Brewing Brutal IPA
Tapped Yesterday
The reveal of the new Beerland Brut IPA during August's Beer Club blind tasting highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of this most nascent of styles. While Brutal IPA was celebrated by all for its white wine like characters, refined poise and drinkability, unfortunately the same couldn't be said of some of its stylistic peers. Whereas hazy New England style IPAs offer visual cues of quality to discerning drinkers, typically losing their brightness and developing a tired, murky look, it seems that… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Brut IPA
- Strength
- 6.6%
- Stockists
-
And select WA venues
More stockists...
La Sirène Farmhouse Noir
Tapped August 17th, 2018
As winter 2018 draws to a close, La Sirène has added another beer to its core lineup. It's one with a suitably wintry hue that's the closest the brewery has come to its much-loved Praline in terms of colour. Any similarities with that decadent stout pretty much end there, however, as this sits within their farmhouse lineage as the next step along from their delightful, vinous Farmhouse Red. The label suggests serving at 7C but it seems to benefit from being allowed to get warmer still; it maybe… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Dark Farmhouse Ale
- Strength
- 6.0%
Woolshed Brewery Double Destructor Double IPA
Tapped August 17th, 2018
There are few animals on the planet with a better scientific name than the common yabby. Cherax destructor. It opens up all manner of possibilities. For the brewers at Woolshed, it's the name given to their core range IPA. And, now that they've decided to give it a bigger sibling, they've gone with Double Destructor. It's built with a blend of US and Aussie hops (Cascade, Galaxy, Ella and Amarillo) but with the balancing malt bill ramped up too so that it presents more as a big, boozy and bitter… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Double IPA
- Strength
- 8.3%
Bright Brewery Stubborn Russian & Black Diamond 2018
Tapped August 17th, 2018
There appears to have been a particularly large delivery of roasted and other specialty malts to an address in Bright in recent months as the brewery has put together no less than half a dozen dark beers of varying ilks. Four of them are only available at the venue or via their Mash Club (more on them later), but two are available more widely. One is the latest entry in their annual Stubborn Russian series of imperial stouts that's moved around stylistically over the years although is settled into… Read more
Black
- Style
- Various styles
Blasta Unleash The Beast NEIPA
Tapped August 17th, 2018
The first limited release from Blasta Brewing dives straight into the murky world of NEIPAs. Informed by a trip Steven Russell took to the UK shortly before brew day, Unleash the Beast is the largest beer to date from the Burswood brewery and ably delivers the tropical breakfast juice vibe that drinkers have come to expect from the style. The name refers to the expansive ingredients for style – three yeasts, five grains and four hops – as well as the massive aroma that filled the venue side… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- NEIPA
- Strength
- 6.8%
- Stockists
-
On limited release from Blasta and select WA venues
Red Hill Brewery Truffled Scotch Ale
Tapped August 16th, 2018
One of the benefits of the cooler months on the Mornington Peninsula this year was a bumper crop of truffles. So Red Hill Brewery decided to take advantage, joining their local truffiere at Red Hill Truffles and gathering a few "huge" specimens – $3,000 worth, apparently – to add to a batch of their longrunning staple, Scotch Ale, via a truffle-infused vodka. The original beer is already one with a soft, full and rounded body and here the addition of the truffles seems to have made… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Truffle Infused Scotch Ale
- Strength
- 5.8%
3 Ravens Galaxy Juicy
Tapped August 15th, 2018
As they prepare to launch another IPA series in cans (the rather less obviously IPA like Milkshake series, of which more when the Salted Caramel tinnies appear), the Juicy series rolls on at 3 Ravens. This time around, it's another single hop variant based around the darling of the Australian hop growing program, Galaxy. You'll no doubt have had about 1500 beers featuring the Galaxy hop in the past few years but, it has to be said, if you can get your hands on one of these fresh (which is the whole… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Single Hop NEIPA
- Strength
- 6.0%
- Stockists
-
More stockists...
Grape and Grain Liquor Cellars
Porters Liquor Ryde (Midway Cellars)
3 Ravens Brewery
Tippler's Tap
Brisbane Brewing Co
And other good beer outlets in VIC, TAS, ACT, WA & NSW
Bodriggy Brewing Staunch Pilsner
Tapped August 15th, 2018
Staunch Pilsner is Bodriggy’s first release in what the Abbotsford brewery is calling its Pub Series; beers where it seems both the recipe and the can artwork is designed to just feel right when they are cracked over the bar at any number of classic old Melbourne watering holes. Staunch eschews the look of many of Bodriggy’s other tinnies, which can more closely resemble a shoegaze album sleeve than a beer label, and is instead wrapped in mostly black from top to bottom. Even the psychedelic… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Pilsner
- Strength
- 4.3%
O'Brien Beer Gluten Free Stout
Tapped August 15th, 2018
As awareness and understanding around Coeliac disease and associated intolerances grows, we're seeing more focus on gluten free alternatives in all walks of life, not least beers. The pioneer in this field in Australia is O'Brien, the Ballarat brewer that's been releasing a range of beers typically based around millet and sorghum grain bills since 2005. Thirteen years on from the release of Australia's first GF beer, they've put out this Stout as their winter seasonal. Dark brown more than pitch… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Gluten Free Stout
- Strength
- 5.3%
Little Bang Ira
Tapped August 14th, 2018
There might be debate as to whether the Little Bang duo, a pair that moved from designing video game characters to beers, are nerds or geeks, but a desire to put Ira on a can suggests they know where they sit. According to the label, the bespectacled redhead "doesn't go for sports, he's not interested in the school disco, but you should see his collection of vintage Spiderman." It's their inimitable way of saying an India red ale might not be the coolest beer style around, "but beyond… Read more
Red
- Style
- India Red Ale
- Strength
- 6.0%
Little Bang Galactopus Barleywine
Tapped August 14th, 2018
They may have Little as part of their brewery name, but it was with a rather large bang that Ryan and Fil launched Little Bang back in 2014. It was a 10 percent ABV bang that's returned for just the second time in cans for winter 2018. And it's name is Galactopus, the creature that adorns one wall at their Stepney brewery. The beer is a barleywine and first impressions will have you expecting the sort of high octane, malt forward beer that originated in England. But it doesn't take long, once liquid… Read more
Golden
- Style
- American Barleywine
- Strength
- 10.1%
Rocky Ridge Kenny Wagon Wild Zebra
Tapped August 14th, 2018
Rocky Ridge's first charity beer, Kenny Wagon Wild Zebra, is one very close to the brewery’s heart. McKenzie Spalding – aka Kenny Wagon - is the daughter of one of the Rocky Ridge team and is currently undergoing treatment for Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that affects the bones and connective tissue, including muscles and fat. The full 100 percent of proceeds will be donated to Sock it to Sarcoma!, a group that supports and raises awareness for those affected by the disease. Ambassadors Chris… Read more
Dark Brown
- Style
- Milk Stout
- Strength
- 5.0%
- Stockists
-
Launched on Aug 15 at a charity dinner at new Perth burger & beer venue, Big Bopper
A limited release will follow via select WA retailers
More stockists...
Two Birds Brewing Uncharted IPA
Tapped August 13th, 2018
Given the multiverse of IPA variants to have appeared in recent years, you'd think there would be little left uncharted. Heck, Two Birds even released a glitter IPA in tribute to David Bowie earlier in the year. Still, for the latest IPA in an IPA-heavy year for the Spotswood brewery, Uncharted it is. That said, we're not into a new IPA category here; it's a case of playing around with new ingredients. On the hop front, that means utilising one of Hop Products Australia's experimental varieties,… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- IPA
- Strength
- 6.2%
- Bitterness
- 60 IBU
- Stockists
-
Grape and Grain Liquor Cellars
More stockists...And other good beer retailers in VIC & NSW
Nowhereman Brewing Rhapsody XPA
Tapped August 13th, 2018
New brewer Eddie Still’s first beer for the inner Perth brewery leaves West Leederville’s urban grit behind for more tropical climes. Perhaps it's the illusion of summer during the slow crawl out of the cooler months but, if Rhapsody’s opening weekend is anything to go by, this looks set to become Nowhereman’s best-selling beer. The light orange hue in the glass the echoes the sunshine in glass that waits as tropical aromas, notably passionfruit, and some citrus work in concert with sweet… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- XPA
- Strength
- 5.0%
Newstead Brewing Nineteen 09 Coastal Ale
Tapped August 12th, 2018
Newstead Brewing continues to forge partnerships with iconic Queensland organisations, with the Nineteen 09 Coastal Ale a beer that joins the Ballymore Lager, created with Queensland Rugby Union, and other joint ventures with the likes of Queensland Rail and Alliance Airlines. This time around, their collaborators are Surf Life Saving Queensland, hence the bold and familiar yellow and red on the cans and decals. The name refers to the first recorded rescue in Queensland on February 21, 1909, when… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Summer Ale
- Strength
- 4.2%
- Stockists
-
You can order via Newstead's online store
Or look for it at at participating surf clubs, liquor retailers and outlets across Queensland.
Clifton Hill Brewpub IPA
Tapped August 12th, 2018
This American IPA first hit taps at the Clifton Hill Brewpub in 2016 and has been one of the handful of beers that's stuck around since, surviving the regular rotations. And it's done do by changing little over that time and staying true to the classic US IPA template. The hefty late addition of US hops go to work serving you with fruity, piney hop aromas and flavours, not to mention a resinous bitterness. Balance comes in the form of a toffee like malt backbone to create an enjoyable IPA that sits… Read more
Golden
- Style
- American IPA
- Strength
- 6.4%
- Stockists
Clifton Hill Brewpub Lager
Tapped August 12th, 2018
Since taking the decision to fill pretty much all of their 16 taps with their own beers, the brewers at the Clifton Hill Brewpub have been filling them with all manner of beers: malty reds, big IPAs, sour stouts, barrel aged stock ales, fruit sours and so on. But pubs still need a lager for those who don't want to take their palate on an adventure, and this is theirs. One of three core beers to be canned in winter 2018, it eschews the experimentation oft found elsewhere in their lineup for something… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Munich Helles
- Strength
- 4.7%
- Stockists
