New Beers
There has never been a time like now: more breweries releasing more new beers than ever before. Here, in The Crafty Cuppa, and in our weekly newsletter, we'll bring you details – and, if we've sampled them, our honest, independent take – on as many of them as possible. Enjoy!
Good Land Brewing Day Tripper & Annie's Ale
Published Today
Whether you were once overwhelmed by Beatlemania or are a fairweather fan who thinks they know everything about the band’s interpersonal relationships because you’re halfway through Get Back*, one of Good Land’s first releases for 2022 is almost certain to get a tune in your head. Day Tripper is a DDH IPA from the Victorian brewery that combines hops from America, Australia and New Zealand and is something of a bridge between West Coast and hazy IPAs. It pours with only the lightest opaque… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- DDH IPA & Kolsch
- ABV
- 6.6% & 4.6%
Tallboy & Moose Summer Sippin' & Worlds Collide
Published Yesterday
For a brewery that launched with just one core beer and only packaged into litre CANimals you filled at their bar, Tallboy & Moose sure do put out a lot of packaged beers these days. In keeping with most of their peers in these much-changed times, every month seems something colourfully-attired leave the Preston brewpub. And, for midsummer that includes their Summer Sippin' eight-packs. They're a mix of old and new, with their tangy, cola-inspired Nice Cola and year-round session-friendly Sunray… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Various Styles
- Stockists
-
NB Worlds Collide does not feature in the Summer Sippin' packs
We've run them together as they're both available now
Dainton Beer Juicetice Squad
Published Yesterday
At times, it can feel like the only movies being made are those focused on superheroes. But, while such franchises might take up a lot of attention and cultural bandwidth, a case can be made that the mixture of movies being made today are broader than they have been at any other point in history. The same can be said for hazy IPAs - take a look at Instagram and it feels like there's a constant stream of them (and indeed there is), but plenty more styles await you if you glance at a bottleshop's fridges.… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Juicy IPA
- ABV
- 6.5%
Hop Nation Plug & Play Level Up
Published January 18, 2022
On a personal level, a minor but consistently annoying part of the pandemic still being around is that every time you have to cancel socialising plans, you remember how close you were to buying a Nintendo Switch in March 2020 as a way to help pass away the hours. Given the amount of time that's since gone by, you could have plugged in and played enough of some games that you might rival your skills from those times a school holiday could disappear in an instant thanks to 64 and a TV with bunny ears. Embarking… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
3 Ravens Cola Creamsicle
Published January 17, 2022
They love a theme, or beer series, at 3 Ravens, don't they, with Juicy, Nat Rav, Wild Ravens and more alongside their CAW range. Creamsicle is perhaps one of the least likely, yet also one of the most active, with milk bar-inspired offerings pumped out a few times each summer. The Thornbury brewers sign off for summer 2021/22 with the variant that was runner-up in their public vote in the previous summer. It pours rather lighter than cola; indeed, it looks more like an amber ale and has some of… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Cola-flavoured Cream Sour
- ABV
- 3.5%
- Stockists
-
Released Jan 17
NZ Hops 2022: Uraidla & Mountain Culture
Published January 17, 2022
In the case of both Adelaide Hills-based Uraidla and Mountain Culture of the Blue Mountains you've got breweries with damn fine reputations when it comes to creating IPAs, even if such beers are just one string to their respective bows. And it's IPAs that both have created for NZ Hops' Great Brew Challenge, for which both brewers were given Nelson Sauvin to play. Uraidla's Kinetic Illusion brings a full bore hop assault to your palate, one emboldened by the meaty yet lean enough malt base, with classic… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast IPAs
- ABV
- 7.2% & 8.2%
- Stockists
-
You can order packs from Carwyn Cellars here
Then join NZ Hops for a virtual tasting with growers and brewers on February 5
NZ Hops 2022: Range & Your Mates
Published January 17, 2022
And now for something completely different. Or at least two beers following a different path to their comrades in the NZ Hops Great Brew Challenge from a couple of Queensland's most high profile breweries. Range have taken the hop formerly known as Brooklyn, Moutere, and sprinkled it (well, dry-hopped it) liberally into a lightly hazy, golden lager called No Place Like Moutere. Deep, somewhat resinous citrus aromas and flavours (grapefruit is the key characteristic according to Moutere's growers)… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Dry-Hopped Lager & DDH Sour
- ABV
- 5.5% & 4.0%
- Stockists
-
You can order packs from Carwyn Cellars here
Then join NZ Hops for a virtual tasting with growers and brewers on February 5
NZ Hops 2022: Deeds & Six String
Published January 17, 2022
If you're planning to compile a mixed pack of beers showcasing hops, Deeds are always likely to be high up your list of potential suitors. With Centre Stage the Glen Iris brewers return to the familiar territory of a hazy, 8 percent ABV IPA pouring with a solid yellow haze and a loose white head. Expect to find sweet passionfruit curd from yay to nay, a boozey touch of gooseberry, with a touch of drying bitterness there to aid drinkability. Central Coast-based Six String are best known for their… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA & Dip-Hopped DIPA
- ABV
- 8.0% & 9.0%
- Stockists
-
You can order packs from Carwyn Cellars here
Then join NZ Hops for a virtual tasting with growers and brewers on February 5
Cheeky Monkey Triple Blueberry & Boysenberry Bombe Alaska Blast
Published January 16, 2022
Cheeky Monkey aren't looking to change course in 2022; after a solid year producing insane fruited sours and hazy bois, they’ve entered the new year with what can only be assumed to be THE fruitiest beer of the year, so far. Their "call it what it is Triple Blueberry and Boysenberry Bombe Alaska Blast Imperial Pastry Sour is, as expected, loaded with as much fruit as necessary to yield a dense, rich, decadently sweet pastry sour. Pouring a deep, cherry red hue, not a great deal emanates from… Read more
Red
- Style
- Imperial Pastry Fruit Sour
- ABV
- 9.0%
Blasta Brewing Raspcherry Cheesecake
Published January 16, 2022
“I just wanted to make something different. I’d seen these kinds of beers in the US, and we’ve done marshmallow before, so why not cheesecake?” A perfectly rational response from Blasta’s Steve Russell when asked about the genesis the Burswood brewery’s first release of 2022. You see, while many in the cavernous beer hall were quaffing Blasta’s Helles over Christmas, Steve was finishing this pastry sour with 50 kilograms of pie crust, otherwise known in internet acronym land as SDPC,… Read more
Red
- Style
- Pastry Sour
- ABV
- 6.0%
- Stockists
-
Available from the brewery
And Blasta stockists
Cake forks optional
More stockists...
Bright Tank Guava Gose
Published January 16, 2022
In pleasing contrast to some of its more sedate peers, Bright Tank’s midsummer sour arrives ready to take centre stage with gleeful abandon. Head brewer Justin Bishop has confidently added character to the low pH realm with Guava Gose, which features a plump addition of guava – a fruit that tastes like a floral cross between a strawberry and a pear, balancing bright zippiness, and enough surreptitious minerality to aid body and refreshment without overwhelming the fun. The new label’s splash… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Fruit Gose
- ABV
- 3.8%
- Stockists
-
Guava Gose is available from the brewery
And Bright Tank's WA stockists
NZ Hops 2022: Molly Rose & Sailors Grave
Published January 14, 2022
Scroll down for links to more NZ Hops beers There's a risk inherent in a project like this – inviting a stack of brewers to create beers showcasing hops first and foremost – that you'll end up with a parade of IPAs. You can also assume that when it comes to Molly Rose they'll follow a different path; not this time, however, as the Collingwood brewers contribute one of eight IPAs within the dozen beers. That said, we know how diverse the world of IPA is these days, and here Molly Rose use a strain… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Kveik IPA & Belgian Pale Ale
- ABV
- 6.2% & 5.8%
- Stockists
-
You can order packs from Carwyn Cellars here
Then join NZ Hops for a virtual tasting with growers and brewers on February 5
NZ Hops 2022: Hemingway's & Working Title
Published January 14, 2022
Two Queensland brewers, two entries in the NZ Hops Great Brew Challenge featuring Nectaron, but two rather different beers. From the north, Hemingway's have sent out Nectaron Hazy Pale, complete with welcoming pink bird on its pastel-shaded cans. It's beyond hazy and as creamy on the palate as it looks; imagine peaches and cream mixed with a whipped tropical curd – plus a little added bite – from the hops and you're in FNQ with them. Working Title earned the Breakthrough Brewery tag in our Best… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy Pale & Double IPA
- ABV
- 5.3% & 8.5%
- Stockists
-
You can order packs from Carwyn Cellars here
Then join NZ Hops for a virtual tasting with growers and brewers on February 5
NZ Hops 2022: CoConspirators & Mismatch
Published January 14, 2022
Several years ago, if you were learning about craft beer, you may have discovered that IPA was a style of beer. Well, that lesson would look somewhat different today: IPA is no longer a style but an ever-broader and diverse category all of its own. You could even argue IPA is more of a hoppy approach or a state of mind. Take these two beers from The Great Brew Challenge as clear evidence, both featuring Wa-iti hops from New Zealand. In the case of CoConspirators, the Melbourne brewers haven’t… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Double Cold IPA & Oat Cream IPA
- ABV
- 7.8% & 8.0%
- Stockists
-
You can order packs from Carwyn Cellars here
Then join NZ Hops for a virtual tasting with growers and brewers on February 5
Akasha Project Lime Zest Gose
Published January 14, 2022
In Australia, what we label as limes are actually Persian limes, sometimes called Tahitian limes. They’re the most widely cultivated lime variety in the world, beating out the makrut and key lime varieties. The origins of the humble Persian lime aren’t known for certain, but they appear to be a cross between the key lime and either a citron or lemon. Although the Persian lime's origins aren’t known, what we do know for sure is that they were first cultivated on a large scale in Iran and used… Read more
Pale Yellow
- Style
- Lime Gose
- ABV
- 4.5%
Feral Brewing Tropical Disco Sour
Published January 13, 2022
Having released one of the earliest sours in Australia to really go off, in the shape of Watermelon Warhead back at the turn of the 20Teens, Feral are no strangers to the puckering side of beer. Indeed, they'd been playing with wild ferments and other funky blends at their brewpub long before that too. Nor is Tropical Disco Sour a new beer, either, as it’s sashayed in and out of venues, draught-only, for the past few years. But it’s this literally eye-catching can which will likely cement lower… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Tropical Sour
- ABV
- 4.2%
- Stockists
-
Launching Jan 14 at Servo Leederville
Then across WA from Jan 17
Black Brewing Hazy Pale & Strata IPA
Published January 13, 2022
To get things started for 2022, Black Brewing decided to drop two summer-friendly, hop forward beers to ease punters through the holiday season: a hazy pale ale and 100 percent Strata-hopped IPA. Hazy Pale is light 'n' breezy with gentle tropical characters dominating: ripe pineapple and mango feature with a touch of passionfruit and zesty citrus, all carried by a light body that emanates a hazy, golden hue below a fluffy white head. Though light in style, it's built around firm, hop-derived flavours… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy Pale & Single Hop IPA
- ABV
- 5.0% & 6.0%
Rocky Ridge & Perth Home Brew Share Rockyfort Quad
Published January 12, 2022
Although we’re still in the very early days of 2022, Rocky Ridge have set the standard and expectations for the year ahead with an unrelenting 11.4 percent ABV quad which is, in typical RR fashion, a collab, and comes out at the same time as an even bigger IIPA. Brewed in partnership with Perth Home Brew Share, Rockyfort was created according to the recipe drawn up by Jim Pizey, who won the opportunity to have his beer scaled up and packaged for the general public. Rockyfort is a complex quad that… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Quadrupel
- ABV
- 11.4%
Frenchies & Hopsters New Kids vs Old Kids IPAs
Published January 12, 2022
Intergenerational warfare. You absolutely love to see it. Young vs old, youthful exuberance vs wisdom, cyber bullying vs a swift kick up the arse, who will reign supreme? Playing the different generations off each other: just a bit of fun or is it an unnecessary distraction from the only war that actually matters (class war)? Who could possibly say? Here, Frenchies have continued their hop-focused experimental collaboration with the Hopsters Coop Brewery and weighed in on the old vs new debate with… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy IPA & West Coast IPA
- ABV
- Both 7.0%
Rocky Ridge Danny's Home IIPA
Published January 11, 2022
Danny’s Home is not a beer to be taken lightly. If intimidating acronyms like TDH weren’t enough, the 12 percent ABV lurking withing this exceptionally hopped up IIPA might warn the drinker to take this one slow – a not-so-simple feat given the surprising drinkability of such an enormous beer... Pouring a striking burnt hazy orange hue, Danny’s Home immediately emits lip-smacking notes of guava and ripened stonefruit. On sipping, a dense body coats the mouth with a slightly sticky, moderately… Read more
Golden
- Style
- TDH IIPA
- ABV
- 12.0%
