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!
Otherside Brewing Co No-Fi
Published March 29, 2023
Otherside’s nomenclature suggests that fidelity levels are amplified by ABV: Lo-Fi is a core range citrusy mid-strength while the limited release Hi-Fi pushed toward IPA levels. This, of course, leaves room at the bottom of the naming bandwidth for No-Fi, a non-alc lager. Pouring the slightest tinge of clear orange, No-Fi is a clean, light-bodied lager with a breath of Galaxy hop passionfruit flavour, a lick of soft supporting bitterness, and a short length. Guy Southern… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Non-Alc Lager
- ABV
- <0.5%
Heads Of Noosa Imperial German Lager
Published March 28, 2023
After releasing their Imperial Japanese Lager in late 2022, Heads of Noosa are back with an Imperial German Lager. They’ve given the beer this friendly name to communicates a few things to anyone not steeped in beer nerdery: this is a lager; it’s a German lager, so you may expect it to be different from your standard Aussie lager (in this case, darker and maltier); it’s imperial, so it will be stronger in flavour and alcohol. For anyone more interested in beer lingo: this is a doppelbock. To… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- Doppelbock
- ABV
- 7.8%
Lost Palms Get Together & Blue Skies
Published March 27, 2023
Get Together is one of the tamer limited releases Lost Palms have brought out in some time: a hazy pale designed for easy drinking with mellow juiciness. The translucent pour has the same effect as peeling open a tin of crushed pineapple, filling the air with that sweet smell as well as a waft of citrus. These fruits make their way into the mouth with low carbonation to give you that satisfied smile, then Get Together's mellow grain flavour and light bitterness show up in the finish to keep it real… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy Pale & Oat Cream IPA
- ABV
- 4.5% & 7.0%
King Road Brewing Co Strata IPL
Published March 27, 2023
Some creators have such a synthesis with the tools of their trade that it’s hard to separate them, especially as the relationship develops over time. Hendrix’s Stratocaster, Dilla’s MPC3000, Jordan’s Nikes, Serena William’s Wilson racket... on it goes. And while it may be something of a stretch, West Australians are witnessing a similar relationship take shape in semi-rural Oldbury: one between King Road’s Steve Wearing and the US hop Strata. Not only has the brewery’s Strata-led IPA… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- India Pale Lager
- ABV
- 5.2%
Reckless Brewing Double IPA
Published March 24, 2023
Reckless are big on making approachable beers. It’s their thing. “Whatever we produce has to be easy to drink, no matter how complex,” co-owner Jarrod says. “There is a way to give people these flavours from the outset without being in your face.” So… what does that look like in their eight percent ABV Double IPA? It looks like a thick aroma of sweet resin luring you in. It looks like potent hop flavours of savoury dankness with citrus oils in the background, but with a malt foundation… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Double IPA
- ABV
- 8.0%
New England Brewing Co Hop Buzz Honey Hazy IPA
Published March 24, 2023
Up front, I’m just going to say this: please appreciate how hard I’m working to not fill this write-up with bee puns. Buzz, sweet, sticky, hive, wax, queen, worker, drone… I’m not annoying you with wordplay on ANY of them, and I think I deserve some credit for that. New England love working with other producers in their local area, so it was only a matter of time before they brought in some Spring Valley Honey to use in a beer. That it would be a hazy IPA packed with whole Galaxy and Eclipse… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Hazy IPA with Honey
- ABV
- 6.5%
- Bitterness
- 45 IBU
Rocky Ridge Polskie Pivo, Ra Ra Raspberry, Tropicale & Ice Ranga
Published March 24, 2023
In the month of March, Rocky Ridge have thrown down a couple of freshies alongside reboots of past favourites – all dropping just a couple of weeks on from the brewery's last seven limiteds. Where do they find the time...? Fresh takes on old favourites include Polskie Pivo, the Champion Beer of 2022 at the Perth Royal Beer Awards. It's undergone some slight adjustments but still boasts its famed taint of smoke and a light body with a spritzy carbonation. Ra Ra Raspberry is also back in tallboy… Read more
Red
- Style
- Various Styles As Indicated
- ABV
- 4.5% & 8.5% & 3.5% & 5.2%
Prickly Moses Mango Guava Sour
Published March 22, 2023
Once he'd become settled in at the Queenscliff Brewhouse – part of the Otway Drinks Group that also owns Prickly Moses – brewer Mattias Isaksson started to introduce drinkers at the brewpub on the Bellarine Peninsula to something a little different to the play-it-safe beers associated with the brand to that point. He did so most impressively with Swede & Sour: a heavily fruited mid-strength Berliner Weisse that went on to claim gold at the Australian International Beer Awards. And, as summer… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Fruited Berliner Weisse
- ABV
- 3.5%
Ocean Reach x Free 3D Hands Kinetic
Published March 22, 2023
Ocean Reach and Free 3D Hands have again joined forces to deliver a hoppy hit for an important cause. Their joint fundraiser has already helped raise some $22,000 for the charity, whose story you can read here. And now the two Phillip Island outfits want to raise further funds and have gone back to the deep well that is delicious hops to do so. Once again, all profits are going straight to helping those in need, with the focus this time on kinetic arms to assist with mobility. Like its predecessor,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 6.25%
Heroes and Villains Cosmo Nova Cocktail Sour
Published March 21, 2023
Heroes and Villains founder Shannon Mizen’s previous cocktail-inspired sour took inspiration from Scandinavia; as he returns to the concept, however, his eyes are set on straight-up NYC with Cosmo Nova. While the origins of the cranberry juice-based Cosmopolitan are disputed, there's little doubt that a Y2K HBO series about four single New York women helped make it iconic. Semi-industrial Osbourne Park is a far cry from New York's bars, yet that hasn't stopped the Villains muddling, shaking and… Read more
Golden
- Style
- Cocktail Sour
- ABV
- 5.7%
Mismatch Brewing Peach Sour
Published March 21, 2023
Just as the sun sets on summer, Mismatch aim to hold on to the last flickers of warmth by releasing the Peach Sour that debuted at NOLA’s Acid Trip sour beer festival in cans. Drawing upon fruit from their home base in the Adelaide Hills, the brew team used purée to infuse the peach flavour into a kettle sour base beer created with a typically simple malt bill of pale and wheat. It's an approach designed to allow the fruit to shine unencumbered while keeping the beer light and easy to drink. Aroma… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Peach Sour
- ABV
- 4.0%
Hawkers Beer Gratuitous Flare
Published March 21, 2023
For the most part, the beers within the 2023 GABS Australian Invitational Craft Beer 8 Pack sit a fair way from the sort of boundary-pushing, frequently "Should we really? Yeah, why not..." beers one associates with the multi-city event. Sitting either side of 5 percent ABV, they're typically session-friendly rather than designed to blow your head off via an 80mL sample. The one beer in the packs nudging the ABV a little higher comes from Hawkers: their Citra dry-hopped yuzu and pear sour,… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Dry-Hopped Fruit Sour
- ABV
- 7.2%
- Stockists
-
Available in the GABS Invitational Packs
Bright Tank Don Giacomo IPA & Oat Cream IPA
Published March 20, 2023
Bright Tank’s one-two punch for March leads with a formidable collab with Perth-born MMA fighter and UFC Rookie of the Year, Jack Della Maddalena. Borrowing Jack’s nickname, Don Giacomo presents a winning streak of Galaxy and Citra LUPOMAX’s sweet citrus and tropical tones across a smooth arc, with Idaho 7 weaving in more citrus and pineapple. Jack’s reputation has elicited requests for the beer from MMA fans across the planet, and there’s more in the works from this craft beer-loving talent. In… Read more
Golden
- Style
- DDH Hazy IPA & Oat Cream IPA
- ABV
- 6.5% & 7.0%
Philter West Coast IPA
Published March 20, 2023
West Coast IPAs were of the cornerstone brews upon which much of the excitement in craft beer scenes across the world was built. And while the sweeter, softer and fruitier charms of their hazy siblings have stolen much of the thunder in recent years, when done well they're the sort of bold and beloved style that deserves to be celebrated. And here, via a can that makes synthwave play in your head, Philter are writing their entry in the sticky, hoppy book of WCIPA. Pouring unctuous and close to amber… Read more
Rich Brown
- Style
- West Coast IPA
- ABV
- 6.0%
Matilda Bay Hazy Lager
Published March 20, 2023
In this most out there of brewing eras, the word hazy brings to mind descriptors such as "opaque" and "juicy". Yet creating such of-the-moment beers doesn’t feel like the Matilda Bay way, especially since the pioneering brand was reborn in the Yarra Vallery via a partnership between original co-founder Phil Sexton and CUB/Asahi. One imagines the team at the brewpub were thinking more of the unfiltered kellerbiers of Europe than the IPAs of New England when conceiving Hazy Lager.… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Unfiltered Lager
- ABV
- 4.2%
- Bitterness
- 12 IBU
Six String Brewing Stout
Published March 20, 2023
Just in time for the clocks going back, as and as the mercury starts to fall, Six String have released their winter seasonal: Stout. Dark malts dominate the flavour, conjuring up a melody of caramel and chocolate which dances across the palate, while a lovely, lingering bitterness is enticed from the Columbus and EKG hops. Oats give the beer a fuller mouthfeel, which amplifies the roasty bitterness and malty sweetness in what's an easy-drinking stout. Think chestnuts roasting on open fires, a comfortable… Read more
Black
- Style
- Stout
- ABV
- 4.4%
- Bitterness
- 24 IBU
Good Land Brewing Delirious, Something Something Vic Secret & Tiki Juice
Published March 19, 2023
The good beer from Good Land Brewing for the good people of Gippsland keeps coming, with three hoppy releases out in quick succession. Delirious is a DDH Crisp Pale where the “crisp” is courtesy of a light malt base, Huell Melon and Enigma hops and the “DDH” is all about Citra and HBC630. The result is a delightful treat for the senses with vibrant white wine characteristics - think gooseberry and pear - fresh mango, melon and a lean dry finish. If a classic Kolsch and a modern hazy had a… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- DDH Clean Pale Ale, Single Hop DIPA & Hazy IPA
- ABV
- 5.6%, 7.7% & 6.0%
Noodledoof BC Oat Cream IPA
Published March 19, 2023
Since the start of 2023, Koroit-based Noodledoof have been on a run of lower ABV, tidily put-together beers. And maybe keeping a lid on things booze-wise has proven too much for Sam and Alex to do for too long and they've just had to let it all out in one hearty exhale. The average ABV of their limited releases this year to date might have been a mere 4 percent; here, they more than double it with BC Oat Cream IPA. The BC refers to the hops – Bru-1 and Citra – while, for me, there's as much of… Read more
Golden Yellow
- Style
- Oat Cream IPA
- ABV
- 8.8%
Stomping Ground Hallion
Published March 17, 2023
2022 was a bog year for Oktoberfest beers and celebrations in Australia, is 2023 the year of St Paddy’s Day? Maybe, or maybe it’ll be 2024 with just a small number of craft breweries ensuring there is the goodness of a locally-made option when anyone walks into a pub asking for a big black pint.* Stomping Ground’s nod to the classic seems a little extra cheeky with the Hallion name literally being Irish slang for rascal or scoundrel. The Irish dry stout is dosed with nitro and watching it… Read more
Black
- Style
- Irish Dry Stout
- ABV
- 4.2%
Banks Brewing Follow The Festoons, Blackberry Parfait & Good Times
Published March 17, 2023
As a general rule in this country, if you see festoon lighting in the distance, you know you’re near one of two things: a brewery or a wedding. If you’re really lucky, you might even be at a wedding in a brewery and drinking a West Coast IPA. Banks Brewing’s Follow The Festoons is a tribute to the omnipresent lighting and features the American hop trio of Simcoe, Columbus and Mosaic. Together, they bring deep berry flavours, sweet ruby grapefruit and light pine while the yellow colour has shades… Read more
Golden
- Style
- West Coast IPA, Blackberry Cream Sour & Hazy Pale
- ABV
- 7.4%, 6.5% & 4.7%
