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SUMMER 2017/18  3
CONTENTS
inside...
Summer 2017
FEATURES
18 Lager – It Ain’t All Bad
Luke Robertson discovers that
drinkers are slowly coming back to
lager and brewers are responding
with some new and unique
variations on the classic style
26 The Beer & Brewer Awards
With the help of an esteemed
panel of judges we are proud to
present the best of the best of
Aussie brewing
38 BBQ & Canned Beer
Once viewed as the ugly duckling
of the beer world, the humble beer
can is finally being embraced by
the craft brewing industry
46 Brewing Equipment Part Two
Whether big or small every
brewery needs quality equipment,
so in part two of his series, Luke
Robertson takes a look at all the
gear that breweries use to craft
that sweet amber ale
72 Session Ales
Craft beer and lower alcohol
percentages haven’t traditionally
been a natural pairing – but with
the rise of the session ale, there’s
more options than ever for the
discerning beer drinker
76 A Beer Lover’s Guide
to New Zealand
New Zealand’s beer scene
has undergone a dramatic
transformation in recent years,
as John Oszajca reports
4  www.beerandbrewer.com
64
HOMEBREWER
54 Welcome
55 Letters
56 Q&A
Homebrew legend John Palmer
responds to our reader queries.
Here, he takes a look at hop aroma
“It’s just an honest
and provides his recipe for a
New England IPA
beer from the west
58 New World Saison
Sure we did saison last issue but it’s
such an interesting style that we
thought we’d better have another
that’s been inspired
by the wild ones,
quick look and hit you up with some
less than traditional recipes
like us, who live
60 Recipes
A fruit-inspired homebrew recipe
for a sunny summer afternoon and
a Hazy German IPA
between the desert
and the sea”
62 No Rulz
No Rulz does lager!
64 Professor Charlie Bamforth – Taj Burrow
We catch up with the Pope of Foam
66 HopsAboard
The winners of the HopsAboard
brewing competition
68 Milling Your Grain
Homebrewer technical editor
Jake Brandish takes a look at
cracking grain and its impact on
the brewing process
98
70 Backyard Brewery
Taking backyard brewing to the
next level while sticking to a budget
 26
REGULARS
3 Editor’s Letter
6 The Brew
What’s happening and
things to do

8 News
The latest in Aus/NZ beer industry

12 World News
What’s been brewing around
the world?

14 Bits & Bobs

16 New Venues
80 Entertaining – Food
The legendary Merv Hughes,
beers and barbecued meats

84 Tasting Notes
Wheat beers, ciders and
new releases

94 Directory
98 A Pint With…
We chat with Taj Burrow about
his new collaborative brew

Check out the winners

of the 2018 Beer &
Brewer Awards!
24 38

SUMMER 2017/18  5
THE BREW

WHAT’S ON

Things to Do This Season

BALLARAT BEER FESTIVAL
Ballarat: 20 January
Held on the banks of scenic Lake Wendouree,
the Ballarat Beer Festival will return in 2018
showcasing more than 150 of the world’s finest
craft beers. Breweries in attendance include
BentSpoke, Dainton Family Brewing, Hawkers,
Pirate Life and Stomping Ground, and there’s
also an excellent lineup of local and Victorian
food stalls to keep the hunger at bay, as well as
education sessions and a dedicated ‘Kids Zone’.
The festival offers a range of ticket options,
from general admission (with or without
pre-paid tasting tokens) to the ‘Craft Beer
Lover Package’ that also includes entry to the
Friday night degustation dinner held the night
before the festival, hosted by The Beer Diva and
Professor Pilsner.
Ballaratbeerfestival.com.au

ALES ON THE OVENS

Wangaratta: 3 February
Wangaratta’s fourth annual beer festival Ales
on the Ovens will return to Apex Park in early
GREAT AUSTRALIAN BEER FESTIVAL February. Combining the talents of craft beer
Albury: 2 December and cider brewers with gourmet food and wine
Geelong: 17 February
producers from all around Victoria, the festival
Craft beer and cider lovers in two of the country’s major regional centres are in for a promises to be a culinary wonderland. Live
treat this summer, as the Great Australian Beer Festival (GABF) rolls into Albury in early entertainment will keep punters occupied and
December and Geelong in mid-February. Many of the country’s best brewers will be on
there’s plenty to keep the kids entertained as
hand, serving up hundreds of their mouth-watering beers to thirsty punters.
well, with petting zoos and a kids corner. The
The inaugural Albury GABF will take over QE11 Square in Albury’s town centre. Event
festival organisers encourage attendees to bring
organisers Michael Ward and Kieran Blood from Australian Beer Ambassadors (ABA),
the team behind GABF, said they visited many regional centres looking for the ‘ideal’ their own chair, picnic rug, sunscreen and bug
location and that Albury ticked all the boxes. spray (due to the riverside location). Pre-sale
tickets are available now to skip the queue on
“Albury’s an oasis between two of Australia’s biggest cities. There are some of the best
artisanal brewers in the country right at its doorstep,” explained Ward. the day.
Alesontheovens.com.au
Co-organiser Blood said the craft beer movement has made an indelible impression on
the palates of the region’s beer enthusiasts, with a growing number of cool bars and
restaurants now offering extensive menus of local micro-brews. Even the hotels and KOSCIUSZKO CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL
clubs are offering more craft styles and varieties. Thredbo: 10 February
While the festival will serve up countless beers and ciders for tasting, organisers are Craft beer will head for the hills in February for
promising it will stimulate more than just the taste buds. the fourth annual running of the Kosciuszko
“We’ve jam packed the day with activities and features to entertain throughout the Craft Beer Festival. While exact details haven’t
entire day,” said Ward. “There will be a variety of non-stop live entertainment featuring yet been released – in terms of which breweries
local, national and international performers delighting the audience through a will be there on the day – you could hardly ask
tantalizing array of vaudeville, cabaret and circus style acts within a Spiegel-like tent.”
for a more picturesque location, by the pool at
In mid-February, Geelong Racecourse will host its sixth annual edition of the festival, the Thredbo Alpine Hotel in the heart of the
an ideal destination event that also features free masterclasses, three stages, beer Snowy Mountains. The day will include brewing
cabaret, wacky races and the annual keg rolling competition – with a beer in hand, it’s demonstrations, a home brew competition and
everything you need for a great day out.
live entertainment. And to sweeten the deal, it’s
Gabf.com.au free entry – just be careful about the altitude.
Thredbo.com.au/events/2017/craft-beer-festival/

6  www.beerandbrewer.com
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AUS & NZ NEWS
INDEPENDENT BREWERS
ASSOCIATION (IBA) EXECUTIVE
OFFICER CHRIS MCNAMARA
DISCUSSES CHANGES TO
THE ASSOCAITION
In May of this year our
association took a big step and
nailed our colours to the mast of
independence. This caused some
angst and anguish and we lost a
number of large members, some
of whom had been instrumental
in setting up the association.
But that angst and anguish was
overshadowed by the support and
camaraderie that came from the
rest of the industry. There was an
almost palpable sense of relief
that the issue had finally been
dealt with and that we could now
move on. This is evidenced by the
fact that since the vote the IBA’s
membership has increased by
almost 20 per cent.
We always knew that wasn’t
going to be the end of the story
though. Any observer of the
beer industry knows that the
large brewers have for the last
few years been busily buying up
small brewers across the globe.
Goose Island, Wicked Weed,
Meantime, Camden Town, Birra
Del Borgo, Panhead, Tuatara.
The list goes on. And of course
we’d seen Little Creatures,
Mountain Goat and Byron Bay
Brewery go here. I think only
the most naive/hopeful of
independent brewing supporters
would have thought that would
be the extent of it in Australia.
So when the news broke that
4 Pines and Feral had been
bought it came with a sense
of resignation, some shock
(especially in Feral’s case) and
whole lot of happiness for the
shareholders in both businesses.
Unsurprisingly there has been
a great amount of discussion
about what the impacts of the
sales will be. I can’t speculate on
all areas but I think we have a
pretty good handle on how the
IBA will be affected.
8  www.beerandbrewer.com
Would I have preferred to have
both companies continue under
an independent ownership
structure? Of course. There is
no denying that 4 Pines and
Feral were high profile breweries
with great stories behind
them producing quality beer
that punters loved. They were
ornaments to our industry and of
course that is why they were so
attractive as sales targets.
Will their sales be the end of the
world as we know it? Of course
not. And they probably won’t be
the last to go but more and more
evidence is becoming available
that drinkers are actively seeking
out and supporting independently
owned breweries. Any brewery
sales open up opportunities for
Australia’s other 400+ breweries
to step up and they will.
What affect will it have on
the IBA budget? Minimal. IBA
membership dues are based on
volume and with almost every
single member growing in the
last year so does membership
income. Add to that the dramatic
increase in membership numbers
and we are on track to post a
higher income from membership
than when the large brewers
were involved.
So while it is always
disappointing to lose members
there is no reason to be
despondent for the industry. We
are on the up!
One final thought regarding
some of the social media
commentary following the
sales. It’s great that so many
people are passionate about
the industry but some of
the commentary I have seen
regarding these sales has been
appalling. Real lives are affected
by your words so please keep
it civil.
FERAL AND 4 PINES OUT
OF THE IBA
The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) held its Annual General
Meeting (AGM) at Wayward Brewing Co in Sydney in November
and saw two of its members leave the association, as well as the
appointment of two new board members.
Both Feral Brewing Co and 4Pines were recently bought by CCA and
AB InBev respectively and as IBA Executive Officer, Chris McNamara
told Beer & Brewer, they were invited to attend the meeting.
“As part of the process outlined in the IBA’s constitution, 4Pines
and Feral were given the opportunity to either attend the meeting or
send written advice to outline why they should still be members. Both
of them chose not to do that,” McNamara said.
But as the dust settled on the IBA’s AGM it became apparent that
Feral still remained hopeful it could remain as a member.
Founder Brendan Varis, said: “The first thing is, all these action are
premature because the transaction hasn’t actually taken place yet and
I am still the sole shareholder, so I certainly shouldn’t be excluded on
any basis at this stage.
“Then I’ve written to them to highlight that the area where they
thought we failed, which is that the group’s aggregate beer volume was
too high, is not the case. Even with Australian Beer Co, Fiji and ourselves
we’ve demonstrated that we are below 40 million litres per annum.
“And we have indicated having demonstrated that, that our
preference would be to continue as members until such time as we do
break that limit, and we are not far from it, as a group.
“But we’ve also indicated that we understand it may be a politically
sensitive situation for the board and the broader membership, and if
their preference was that we withdrew, then we would be adults and
we would respect those wishes.”
Varis did say that he felt at this stage that there were two camps
regarding Feral’s IBA membership, saying that some of members
understand that Feral does bring some expertise, knowledge and
abilities that very small businesses may not have access to and which,
he said, Feral has demonstrated its willingness to share with IBA
members in the past. He added that there are also those who now
simply see them as part of a big company and so they don’t fit, but
Varis said, “I don’t think there is a consensus either way”.
The AGM also saw two new members elected to the board. Peta
Fielding had already resigned for Commonwealth Games duties,
and long-term director Doug Brook also stepped down as part of the
IBA’s rotational policy. Replacing Fielding and Brook on the board
are Wayward’s Peter Phillip and Bridge Road Brewers’ Ben Kraus.
Cam Hines departs
Mountain Goat
Co-founder of Mountain Goat, Cam Hines,
has moved on from the company that he and
Dave Bonighton started 20 years ago in the
basement of a Geelong pub.
A spokesperson for Mountain Goat told
Beer & Brewer that Hines will slowly wind up
his role at Mountain Goat after two decades
at the brewery.
Mountain Goat was founded by Bonighton
and Hines in 1997. Bonighton, after a stint
studying overseas in the US and travelling
in Europe, was disappointed to return to
Melbourne to find only bland, fizzy lagers on
offer in Australia, and took up home brewing
in his backyard.
Hines experienced a similar epiphany on
a backpacking adventure around the world;
despite confessing that he didn’t really
like beer before embarking on his journey,
in Vancouver he suddenly found himself
enjoying full-flavoured, locally produced beer
– and the seeds for Mountain Goat were sown.
“There’s certainly a number of breweries
from around that time in the late 90s that
just saw a chance to change the Australian
beer category from the inspiration that
they’d found overseas,” said the Mountain
Goat spokesperson.
“The influence that Cam had in
approaching Dave and setting up the
groundwork for Mountain Goat was obviously
a huge part, and when you pair that with
other breweries across the country that were
going through their own, similar journey, it’s
pretty remarkable.”
Since being bought by Asahi in 2015, both
Bonighton and Hines’ positions shifted into
more of a consultancy role at Mountain Goat,
passing over their respective knowledge bases
in brewing and marketing to a new team.
The Mountain Goat spokesperson
confirmed to Beer & Brewer that Bonighton
will remain at the brewery for the
foreseeable future.
“Both Cam and Dave have created the
culture of Goat, and what our business
models are and where we sit today.”

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SUMMER 2017/18  9
AUS & NZ NEWS
MOUNTAIN GOAT
BEER TURNS 20
AUSSIE CRAFT PIONEERS MOUNTAIN GOAT
RECENTLY CELEBRATED THEIR 20TH BIRTHDAY.
FOUNDED BY DAVE BONIGHTON AND CAM HINES IN
1997, WE CAUGHT UP WITH BONIGHTON AND HEAD
BREWER IAN MORGAN FOR A CHINWAG
YOU RECENTLY PASSED A MAJOR MILESTONE
IN THE HISTORY OF MOUNTAIN GOAT:
THE BREWERY’S 20TH BIRTHDAY. HOW
DID YOU MARK THE OCCASION?
Ian: I hadn’t taken school holidays into account, so the 20th
anniversary found me in a caravan park in the Otway Ranges.
Fortunately, Kenny Doyle, another Goat brewer, was at the same park
so our families (well, honestly, mainly Kenny and I) celebrated with a
bottle or two of Barrel Breed Barleywine and Imperial Stout. It turns
out a Swiss army knife is the perfect implement for de-waxing and
opening these bottles.  crazy brewery up the road that was brewing the kind of beer that I
Dave: Well, we had a bit of party and took it on tour. The nights at
the Richmond brewery were a heap of fun. Getting to catch up with all
these people we’ve met along the way. Boy, sometimes the 20 years
seems to have flown by so fast. And other times, not so much!
HOW DID THE IDEA COME ABOUT FOR THE
BACK TO THE BREWER DOUBLE STEAM ALE?
I: We wanted to refer back to a beer from the Goat canon and we had
already done double and triple Hightails at past anniversaries. Given
the time of year, a beer like the Steam Ale seemed like a perfect
fit – something lighter bodied and deceptively drinkable. Plus we
were working with Dave Edney, former head brewer and now at Hop
Products Australia (HPA) – Cascade and Galaxy are what makes Steam
Ale what it is and now we had an inside line on some fresh hops. We
visited the HPA hop plantation at Rostrevor at harvest time, where
Alan Monshing and the crew showcased some amazingly juicy Galaxy
and Cascade coming off the bines. We also wanted to flip the Steam
Ale concept on its head and have a play with the California Common
yeast strain. That low flocculating strain combined with the high oil
content of the Australian Cascade and Galaxy resulted in this hazy,
juicy tribute to all the Goats who have been a part of the last 20 years.
D: We’ve been riffing on some movie theme beers this year, having
a bit of fun with it, and Back to the Brewer kind of wrote itself, and
begged to be brewed with the help of some brewers past. I think we
had just the right number of chefs in the kitchen.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN TERMS
OF FLAVOUR AND AROMA?
I: Haze, tropical fruit, moderate bitterness, and wanting for
more. Careful not to get steamrolled, though... It’s a healthy
7.3% ABV.
D: I think Ian’s nailed the description!
10  www.beerandbrewer.com
L-R: HPA’s Dave Edney, Two Birds’ Jayne Lewis,
Dave Bonighton and Ian Morgan
HOW HAS THE INDUSTRY CHANGED IN THE
TWO DECADES SINCE THAT FIRST BATCH
OF HIGHTAIL ALE WAS BREWED?
I: I moved to Melbourne from Seattle in 2000. At the time, part of my
cultural integration was learning that you had the option of heavy or
light in a pot or a pint. Given that my local in Seattle was a brewpub
that had several IPAs, a nitro tap, a hand pump, barleywines, summer
ales and everything in between... well, it was such a big wake-up call
that I had to start making my own. It turned out that there was this
missed from home, and clearly enjoying the hell out of it.  
I suppose I’m on the verge of sounding like ‘kids these days don’t
know how good they have it’, but I’m just amazed at how quickly
we’ve gone from a handful of craft breweries to the current wealth of
choice and variety. The number of breweries, the increase in skilled
brewers and quality ingredients and equipment suppliers is fantastic
for the industry and for our customers. It’s the golden age, people! I
still get a pint when I ask for a pot, though. Must be the accent.
D: It’s changed so much. When we first started there was no such
thing as craft beer, we didn’t make sense to publicans or bottle shop
owners. We weren’t ‘premium lager’, we weren’t an exotic import,
and we certainly weren’t mainstream lager. There was no established
segment that we fit into. We just had to convince people that it was
good beer, and that’s all that mattered. Now there’s great awareness,
and there’s so much choice when you front up to the bottle shop
beer section. There are so many great breweries making great beer in
Australia now, we’ve come so far especially in the last five years.
WITH 20 YEARS UNDER THE BELT, WHAT’S THE KEY
TO LONGEVITY IN THE CRAFT BEER INDUSTRY?
I: Love beer, work with good people, blaze your own trail. 
D: There’s no single key, but you have to love what you do, do it well
and do it with good people! 
HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED AT MOUNTAIN GOAT
SINCE BEING BOUGHT BY ASAHI IN 2015? 
I: We’re doing more experimental and specialty brews than ever
before. Also, the morning calisthenics really brings the team together. 
D: The biggest change I’ve seen is the increased freedom it’s given
the brewers at Richmond. They have more time to ‘play’ with single
keg brews, Rare Breeds and so on. They really are a bunch of massive
beer nerds let loose…
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www.newerabrewing.com.au
WORLD NEWS

World News WHAT’S MAKING HEADLINES

IN THE WORLD OF BEER?

12  www.beerandbrewer.com
Malaysia
BEER FESTIVAL
TERROR PLOT
Three people, including a
teenager, were arrested in Kuala
Lumpur in mid-October suspected
of planning to detonate a bomb
at an annual beer festival.
The ‘Better Beer Festival’ had
been canceled a month earlier
following objections from an
Islamist party, who claimed that
the event could lead to rape and
other crime. Around 6000 people
had been expected to attend the
festival before it was cancelled.
Two of the three are suspected to
have links to militant groups.
India
FEARS EXCISE WILL
TURN DRINKERS
TO HARD LIQUOR
Industry experts in the Indian
state of Maharashtra are
concerned that a new excise
duty hike on beer will lead more
drinkers to turn to hard liquor,
seeking a bigger bang for their
buck. The state government’s
price hike means that the pure
alcohol content in a litre of beer
now costs RS 114 per litre against
RS 53 per litre of spirits. In the
US, Europe, China and Southeast
Asia, beer taxes are kept low so
that people are discouraged from
drinking hard liquor.
United States
FREE BEERS TO
BOYCOTT NAZI
In response to white nationalist
and leading ‘alt-right’ figure
Richard Spencer’s plans to speak
at the University of Florida, a local
brewing company offered a free
drink for those who boycotted
his appearance. Taking to their
Instagram, Alligator Brewing
said in a statement: “Here at
Alligator we believe free speech
is a cornerstone of our great
nation. That said, speech that
condones, let alone promotes
racial supremacy has no home in
America”.
China
FACIAL RECOGNITION
CATCHES BEER
FESTIVAL CROOKS
Chinese police used facial
recognition technology to catch
and arrest 24 wanted criminals
at a beer festival in Qingdao.
Eighteen cameras were installed
at four entrances to the festival.
According to Qingdao police,
the system has an accuracy
rate of 98.1 per cent and works
by sounding an alarm if the
subject’s face is found in the
police database. One man who
was caught by the cameras and
arrested had been on the run for
10 years.
Germany
MAN CARRIES STEINS
INTO HISTORY
Oliver Struempfel beat his own
world record by carrying 29 beer
steins over 40 metres, setting
them down without spilling more
than 10 per cent of the beer. The
total weight of Struempfel’s load
topped more than 69 kilograms
of beer and glass; initially he
attempted 31, but two fell at the
last minute. Struempfel described
his feat as “amazing” and also
told news outlets that he had
been training at the gym three to
four times a week since February
in preparation for his attempt.
Czech Republic
CZECH’S KNOCK
BACK 300 PINTS PER
PERSON ANNUALLY
Drinkers in the Czech Republic
knocked back 146.3 litres of
beer per person in 2016 –
equivalent to nearly 300 pints
per individual – according to
statistics from Euromonitor.
The central European country
beat neighbouring Germany
and Poland in second and third
place respectively, reflecting a
broad divide between central and
eastern European countries (who
consume more beer) and western
European and Scandinavian
countries (who consume less).
UK
UK BREWERY BOOM
The number of breweries in the
UK now numbers more than
2000, with 300 new breweries
launched in the country in
2016. According to a report by
accountancy firm UHY Hacker
Young, the number of new
breweries rose by 18 per cent in
2016 to reach 1994; the trend has
continued this year too, taking
the number of breweries over
2000 for the first time since the
1930s. A spokesperson from the
firm said that smaller breweries
have benefited from a tax break
introduced in 2002.
Italy
BREWERY SLAMMED
FOR OFFENSIVE LABEL
Italian brewery Deep Beer was
slammed on social media in late
October for marketing its ‘Deep
Throat’ beer using a sexually
suggestive image of a woman
eating a corncob on the bottle. A
British beer group called ‘Ladies
That Beer’ drew attention to
the offensive image on Twitter,
tweeting that the label was one of
the “worst they had ever seen”.
Deep Beer responded: “The story
about the label of this beer you
do not know, and the meaning is
far from offensive. Do you know
what satire means?”
SUMMER 2017/18  13
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14  www.beerandbrewer.com
NEW
XXXXXXX

GET SAUCY IN
VENUES

MARRICKVILLE
Sauce Brewing Co., the
latest addition to the
Inner West brewery
scene, opened its doors
in late September.
“We started
planning for it almost
two years ago, and
then spent a long

HELSBY’S
time looking for a venue – it probably took us nine months
to find this place, so in the meantime we just started gypsy
brewing to get our name out there and get some brand

ALE HOUSE
awareness,” Clarke told Beer & Brewer.
The three core beers previously in the Sauce range – Hop
Sauce (Pale Ale), Extra Hop Sauce (IPA) and Mega Hop

OPENS IN THE Sauce (DIPA) – have set the precedent for the brewery to
deliver bold, hop-forward creations, but with 12 rotating

PINEAPPLE
taps at his disposal, Clarke aims to get more experimental.
“We’ll have a core range of maybe five-ish beers and
then just do lots of different things to mix it up – we want
to keep it interesting and keep people coming back to try
Helsby’s Ale House has opened in the front bar of Kangaroo Point icon the new stuff. I’ve got a list of things I want to do, but you
Pineapple Hotel, with a focus on pouring independent brews. can’t do them all at once.”
Local and interstate brewers are supported across the 32 taps, with a beer On tap on opening day were the Hop Sauce varieties
list that changes weekly and moves beyond standard pale ales and IPAs. and the previously-released Saucy Red and Saucy Saison
Standing firmly at the top of the list is the Helsby’s House Lager, and when seasonals, as well as a single hop XPA brewed with Eureka,
Beer & Brewer visited in October, brews from Fixation, Balter, Newstead, a hoppy Hefeweizen, a New England IPA (“because
Green Beacon, Currumbin Valley and Slipstream were all pouring. everyone has to do a NEIPA apparently these days”), a
The venue is named after long-time Pineapple Hotel resident Joe Helsby, session IPA, an American Porter and the Saucy Molé, a
who was a familiar face at the bar from 1952-2002. The refurbishment choc-chipotle spicy Porter.
has stripped the hotel back to its original pressed metal ceiling, exposed Uniquely for the Inner West breweries, there’s even a
brickwork, and leadlight windows. beer garden out the back – eventually, Sauce will even grow
“We’ve retained a lot of the old character of the bar, parts of which date its very own hops out there. “We’ve got a trellis going up,
back over 100 years. The goal was to develop a truly incredible beer bar that and we’ll be growing Columbus – there’s only about three
meshes with the tradition of the Pineapple Hotel,” said General Manager of varieties that grow in Sydney’s climate, but we’ll probably
Helsby’s, Les Riddell. have enough Columbus for one batch of wet hop beer,”
Part of Helsby’s charm lies in its thoughtful design: beer-loving guests Clarke says.
will find their every need catered to among the 32 taps, but lovers of other Conveniently located on the Inner West Ale Trail
tipples are encourage to explore the eclectic range of whisky, gin and rum – opposite Bourke St Bakery on a side street between
on the back bar. There’s also Batch and Grifter – Sauce should have no trouble with
growler and squealer bottles attracting customers as craft beer fans are increasingly
available, so you can take away drawn to the hotbed of Sydney brewing.
your pick of the bunch. The brewery’s capacity currently sits at 20 hectolitres,
Beer-friendly snacks pass over capable of producing around half a million litres a year, but
the bar from 12pm-9pm daily, Clarke also has his eye set on expansion. “We can scale up
with nibbles like yakitori skewers, the tanks and double it to a million, by changing the size of
pulled pork tacos, barbeque corn the fermenters and basically
and charcuterie boards turning growing upwards – the Sauce
into full-sized servings of brewhouse can already do that Brewing Co:
woodfired pizzas and burgers
Helsby’s Ale House: kind of volume pretty easily, it’s 1 Mitchell St,
706 Main St, Kangaroo Point Marrickville NSW
when the clock strikes 3pm. QLD 4169 just a matter of increasing the
2204
size of the tanks and off we go.”

16  www.beerandbrewer.com
We believe that craft beers
deserve crafted glasses.
PIRATE SENDS A
MESSAGE IN A CAN
WRITTEN BY JIM PLOUFFE
A new craft beer is rolling out in pubs and
bottleshops across Australia, but don’t search the
shelves for a designer bottle, it’s coming your way
in a can. Clues to the reason for shunning bottles
can be found in the brewery’s name: Pirate Life.
Owners Red and Jack, the brewers behind the
venture in South Australia, go by a single name
each and a different drum but are all business when
it comes to beer.
The pair who upped stumps from West Australia
last year first met while learning their craft beer
trade at BrewDog in Scotland. On returning to
Australia, Red found himself as the chief brewer
at Cheeky Monkey in Margaret River and Jack
working at Little Creatures. It didn’t take too long
to decide they should join forces and go it alone,
so they looked east and only had to cross the
Nullarbor to find their perfect HQ.
“Adelaide is a great little city,” says Red. “And
it’s in the middle of the country so we can dispatch
our beer in any direction. We are geared toward
national distribution.”
This ease of dispatch is also behind their decision
to put their suds into cans. “Cans are lighter to
transport,” says Red of the 8.5kg weight of a carton
of cans compared to 13.5kg for bottles. “That adds
up quickly.” “But first and foremost, cans are best
for the beer because they limit light and oxygen
exposure,” says Red. “And in any case, you should
be pouring any beer into a glass.”
Pirate Life is brewing out of a 1,000m² warehouse
in Thebarton, on the edge of the Adelaide CBD, with
three 25hL brewhouse vessels, a combined mash/
lauter tun, and separate kettle and whirlpool.
These are our
The pair launched this month with around 17,000
litres of packaged beer across three styles; 3.5% ABV
CRAFT BEER glasses.
session IPA, 5.4% ABV pale and an 8.8% ABV IIPA.
The Spiegelau Craft Beer Glasses have been approved by
an expert tasting panel of master brewers and industry
professionals. Focusing on beer enjoyment, members of
the tasting workshop tested multiple glass shapes to find
the best glass for India Pale Ale, Stout, and American
Wheat Beer.
In the experts’ opinion, the custom-shaped glasses
successfully deliver the complexity of aromas on the nose,
while demonstrating the optimum beer texture, balance,
and flavour intensity on the palate.
Staying faithful to the spirit of Bavarian artisan
craftsmanship, we have created these unique, functional
glasses to bring out the best in complex craft beers.
The Beer Classics are available at David Jones, Myer and selected
homewares stores or online at www.spiegelau.com.au
STYLE NOTES

18  www.beerandbrewer.com

Lager
– It Ain’t All Bad
SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE LAGER DEVELOPED A BIT OF A BAD RAP,
BUT AS LUKE ROBERTSON DISCOVERS, DRINKERS ARE SLOWLY COMING
BACK AND BREWERS ARE RESPONDING WITH SOME NEW AND UNIQUE
VARIATIONS ON THE CLASSIC STYLE
T
he word lager conjures all
sorts of negative images
for many drinkers. Green
bottles, big marketing
campaigns, and lifeless
pours out of dirty lines in
your local pub. The glory and the romance of
a well-crafted lager has had much of the life
sucked out and it’s synonymous with all the
things that represent the negatives of beer.
Slowly, it seems, drinkers are coming back
to lagers and brewers are trying their own
unique variations on the classic pale lager or
pilsner led styles. One such brewer is Renn
Blackman at Blackman’s Brewery in Torquay.
He’s one of Australia’s biggest champions of
the style. While he agrees it does have a bad
reputation he’s finding the pointy end of the
market still appreciate them.
“I think the real proper beer geeks, the
ones who are really into it, actually get lager.
So beer nerd-wise 80 per cent of people shun
lager a bit, but that’s because they don’t
really understand how cool it can be.”
Renn has an unfiltered lager as a staple
in his range and has started a project called
the Lager Collective, showcasing three
different versions of lager. At Hairyman
Brewery in Sydney’s southern suburbs,
brewer Andy Orrell agrees that lager is a bit
misunderstood.
“A lot of people have a bad rap on lagers,
because of the way commercial breweries
have treated them and branded them over
the years.”
STYLE NOTES
He has one lager in his three beer range. He
says his outer-Sydney location makes lager
a perfect style for a crowd that may not be
ready for bigger flavours, a comment echoed
by Viren Goundrie from Stone & Wood. He
has just completed a series of lager education
sessions around Australia, to coincide with
the relaunch of their Big Scrub Lager. They
wanted to change perceptions of lager by
showcasing not only their own take, but other
beers using lager yeast and techniques. He
says when they visit smaller towns they find
their Green Coast Lager is a good way to get
beer into peoples’ hands.
“We see that very much when we do our
local events, Pacific Ale might be too weird
and wacky for the people who have just drunk
regular lager all the time.”
A recent trip to Germany helped Goundrie
improve his own perception of lagers.
“Once you’re open to it, it’s about
perceiving the subtle difference, rather than
a big bold IPA with out there hops in it, and
the differences can be really obvious.”
Another Sydney-based brewery finding a
place for lager is Australian Brewery. They have
a New World Pilsner, which is a hoppy take on
the classic Pilsner style, and a Mexcian style
lager called Seis Hermanos Lager. Marketing
Manager David Ward says he was initially
tentative to have two core range lagers, but
says they have found a place for both of them.
Likewise for fellow Sydneysiders Willie the
Boatman. They have a straightforward pilsner-
style, called Marrickville Lager, and a corn
SUMMER 2017/18  19
STYLE NOTES
Andy Orrell from Hairyman Brewery
ale-slash-Lager called ‘Albo’ (named for Anthony
Albanese, the local politician) in their line-up. The
Marrickville Lager is their biggest selling beer.
“It’s literally just malt, water, yeast and
hops, and our approach is pretty much just a
straight lager recipe. It’s really uncomplicated
and it’s just a beautiful beer,” co-founder Pat
McInerney says, adding, “It’s an expensive
beer to make, just in terms of how long it’s in
the fermenters, it’s a real challenge.”
WHAT IS LAGER?
Most of the time when we talk about lager, we
are talking about pale lager, or pilsner, a style
that is traced to the town of Pilsen in Bohemia
(now part of the Czech Republic). The story goes
that the townsfolk were unhappy with the quality
of the local beer and in protest they tipped out a
bunch of barrels in the town square. The council
decided a new brewhouse and a Bavarian brewer
were needed. Cool fermentation with bottom
fermenting yeast (aka lager) was becoming
increasingly popular in Bavaria, and it coincided
with the invention of techniques to produce lighter
coloured malt. The brewer they recruited was Josef
Groll, and he brewed an all pale malt, bottom
fermenting beer called Pilsner Urquell. And that is
where pale lager, as we know it, was invented.
20  www.beerandbrewer.com
However the word isn’t limited to pale, easy
drinking beers. Lager is a German word that
means ‘storage’ and lager beers in Germany are
simply any beer that is stored for a long period of
time at cold temperatures. That means beers such
as Kolsch or Alt Bier, which use a top fermenting
(ale) yeast are in fact considered lagers in
Germany; but outside of Germany most consider
them ales. To make things even more confusing,
some of the people interviewed for this story
say they don’t actually lager their beer at all, but
they do use lager yeast. Brendan O’Sullivan, at 3
Ravens Brewery believes that modern processes,
such as filtering, and pressurised vessels negate
the need for a long lagering process.
“Not to say that conditioning doesn’t improve
the quality of beer, but you can speed up that
process by tweaking a whole bunch of levers. I
think the whole lagering process, historically, came
about due to the lack of pressure holding vessels.”
At Hairyman, Orrell agrees, and calls it an “old
world” technique. He says he ferments his slightly
longer than his ales “but not a hell of a lot”. At
the other end of the scale, Blackman likes to
keep all of his lagers for at least a month in tank.
At the brewery they taste the beer constantly to
check it’s developing during the cold storage.
“We really notice it, if we give a beer two weeks
Brewery food pairings
At Nowhereman, they’ve recently
added a brussel sprout pizza to
the menu which Wheadon says
works great with their Festbier. He
isn’t sure if it’s a flavour pairing,
or the memory of German food
that he likes, adding that the touch
of smoke really works with the
flavours of the pizza.
O’Sullivan at 3 Ravens has a
similar suggestion with their lager,
suggesting that cabbage-based
dishes have complementary
sulphur notes that work great with
a lager. For those less interested
in sulphur, he suggests a dessert,
and thinks Eaton mess works
with the creamy body and citrus
hop aromas.
While Ward says the Australian
Brewery Seis Hermanos is built for
Mexican food, it also works great
with the similar flavours found in
fresh Thai dishes.
 STYLE NOTES

3 Ravens’ Thornbury Lager
Also try
Two Birds Golden Ale – Golden Ales
have really taken off in Australia, with
many breweries using them as kind
of a pseudo-lager. Light malt body
and citrusy hop aromas. While there
are many so-so examples, the Two
Birds version is zingy and nimble on
the palate.
Bridge Road Biere de Garde – Biere de
Garde translates from French into Beer
for Keeping. Traditionally these beers
are kept at cellar temperatures for a
year or more, much like Germans kept
their lagers. This version from Bridge
Road is quite malty, smooth and has a
dusty aged character.
4 Pines – Kolsch – In Germany this is a
Lagerbier, everywhere else, it’s an ale.
Top fermenting yeast used at cooler
temperatures mean this is a clean, light
bodied summer classic. The kind of beer
your lager-drinking mates will happily
drink without batting an eye.
Australian Brewery’s New World Pilsner

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www.hairyman.com.au
Unit 10, 12-14 Northumberland Rd,
Caringbah NSW 2229 Subscribe to the Beer & Brewer weekly e-newsletter by going to
Tel 02 9525 4050 www.beerandbrewer.com

Find us on

SUMMER 2017/18  21
 Nowhereman in Perth

Hairyman Brewery’s
Follet’s Fable

Andy Orrell with the Hairyman range Stone & Wood’s Big Scrub Lager

cold it’s still got a rough character to it. Every day after
that two weeks cold, the flavour becomes clearer and “A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE A BAD RAP ON LAGERS, BECAUSE
those subtleties come out more.”
One of the problems, for a brewery such as his, is
OF THE WAY COMMERCIAL BREWERIES HAVE TREATED THEM
how long that ties up individual tanks compared to ales,
which only take a couple of weeks. To help, they’ve just
AND BRANDED THEM OVER THE YEARS”
added 40 per cent more volume in tank space. – ANDY ORRELL, HAIRYMAN BREWERY
VARIATIONS
For the Lager Collective, Blackman has made three
variations on the style. The latest is a Schwarzbier (black
beer) with US hops, called Citra Black Dynamite, while the
other two are India Pale Lagers called Zinger Swinger (New
Zealand hops) and Juicy Banger (US hops). Blackman
says the IPL style is a great way to showcase hop aroma
and flavour with a clean and sharp finish. Both of his use
only pilsner malt. He finds drinkers who may not enjoy
the bitterness of a Pale Ale or IPA will still enjoy his IPLs.
In Perth, Nowhereman is a relatively new brewery
who have more than one lager in their core range. Reece
Wheadon, Co-founder says in addition to a pilsner-
style, they wanted a dark lager to show that dark beer
isn’t “something to be feared”. He describes it as “really
fragrant and refreshing and spicy at the same time”.
Nowhereman also brews a California Common.
Also known as a ‘Steam’ beer, the style’s origin story
is up for debate, but essentially it’s a lager fermented
warmer than normal to encourage spicy esters from
the yeast. They also recently made a Festbier style
Lager, which is slightly maltier than a pilsner but still
easy drinking enough to be drunk in volume at beer
festivals. They use a touch of smoked malt to give it a
Renn Blackman from Blackman Brewery on the canning line
unique edge.

22  www.beerandbrewer.com
 STYLE NOTES

Another beer that straddles the divide between

ale and lager is Willie the Boatman’s Albo. It’s
listed as a Corn Ale/Lager and takes inspiration
from pre-prohibition corn beers from the USA.
Using an ale yeast, it has an extended maturation
time, similar to a lager, in the tanks. The
resulting beer is very easy drinking, to the point
where they had to dial it back.
“When we first released it, it was 6.5
per cent, and people loved it but it was like
watching a frame by frame train wreck, so we
dropped it by a percentage,” McInerney says.
Seis Hermanos from Australian Brewery uses
maize in the malt bill and citrus-led hops. The
result is a light, citrusy easy drinker, while for
GABS in 2016 they brewed an Eisbock. The style
is essentially beer that’s frozen to remove a
portion of the water, distilling the alcohol.
“It was one of the hardest seasonals we’ve
had to sell because when people are looking
for those big alcohol beers, they are looking for Ss Brew Kettle ROTATABLE
RACKING ARM
more expression of flavour than super crisp and
clean,” says Ward, with a laugh.
Brewmaster Edition & SIGHT GLASS
VALVE

304 Stainless Steel

Rotatable racking arm

Other Classic Lager Styles

Sight glass valve
Domed bottom

Dunkel – Means ‘dark’ in German, and dunkels

are usually, quite simply, dark lagers. They range (37 Litres) (75 Litres)
in colour from amber to deep brown. However 10 Gallons 20 Gallons
unlike other dark beers, roasted malt flavours
$ 459 $ 599
DOMED
are avoided and instead you’ll find flavours of BOTTOM
crusty bread, chocolate and roast nuts. INCREASES
SURFACE AREA
Bock – The name ‘bock’ is based on a BY OVER 50%
corruption of the name ‘Einbeck’ in the
Bavarian dialect, and was thus only used after
the beer came to Munich. Bock also means
‘billy-goat’ in German, and is often used in logos
and advertisements. Bocks are strong lagers,
and have a number of sub-styles including Inspired by the design and manufacture
Maibock (paler with more hops) Dopplebock
(stronger) and Eisbock (ice distilled). of professional brewing equipment
scaled down for home brewers
Helles – This German lager came after the
invention of pilsner, and has a less pronounced
hop profile and a maltier body. It’s generally
fairly easy drinking, with good examples being
slightly nutty, creamy and finishing crisp. When
the style was first produced by Spaten Brewery
in 1894, many drinkers dismissed it, because
they thought pale colour was an insult to
traditionally dark German beers.
Available from
Vienna – Mexico’s most famous beer style after
they became the unlikely bastion of the malty, www.newerabrewing.com.au
amber lager that has its roots in Vienna. While
the style died out in favour of pale lagers in
Austria, Austrian migration to Mexico in the
late 1800s meant it lived on with the most
well-known version globally being the Mexican
Negra Modelo.
1.  Mismatch Lager
A lager that rewards the
patience of time. An elegant
and clean lager, inspired by
the great Helles style beers of
Germany. Celebrating the famed
Hallertau hops and their earthy,
herbaceous tones and acclaimed
aromatics, this low alpha hop
variety creates a smooth and
drinkable beer.
FOOD MATCH
Fish and chips on the beach
ABV: 4.5%
RRP: $19.99 per six-pack
(375ml)
Mismatchbrewing.com.au
Shot At
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Pier Hotel
THERE IS NOTHING MORE
REFRESHING THAN A COLD LAGER
ON A HOT SUMMER’S DAY. HERE
ARE EIGHT TO TRY THIS SUMMER
24  www.beerandbrewer.com
2. Willie the Boatman
Albo - Corn Ale
(American Lager)
The Albo Corn Ale comes from
the American Prohibition era.
Farmhands would make a light
refreshing ale which they could
enjoy after a long day tending in
the fields. Willie’s version of this
historic beer uses corn and pale
malt as the base and it’s very
lightly hopped with Galaxy. The
nose is slightly corny and on the
palet is fresh and clean with a
great flavour length leaving the
drinker wanting more. Named after
local Federal Member Anthony
Albanese, the Albo is best enjoyed
with mates old and new.
FOOD MATCH
Smokey BBQ
ABV: 5.5%
RRP: $10 per
bottle (640ml)
Williethe
boatman.
com
3. Hawkes Lager
Under the watchful eye of Bob
Hawke, Hawke’s Brewing use
all-Australian hops – Ella, Helga,
Topaz & Cascade – to brew this
floral, delicate lager, offering
a subtle citrus aroma, light
bitterness and a gentle, dry
finish. A percentage of proceeds
from beer sales goes towards
supporting environmental charity
partner, Landcare.
FOOD MATCH
Fish and chips
ABV: 4.5%
RRP: $21.99 per six-pack
(375ml)
Hawkesbrewing.com
4. 2 Brothers Kung
Foo Lager
Kung Foo is 2 Brothers’ craft
lager with a twist. Made with
barley and rice, it is crisp, light
and incredibly clean, making it
the ultimate beer for a summer
session. It’s a perfect thirst
quencher after a hard day’s work
and will keep you cool under the
hot Aussie sun while waiting for
the sausages to sizzle. Serve ice
cold for maximum relief. Foo was
made to be drunk with anything
straight off the barbie. Think Foo
in one hand and a sausage in
bread or prawn tail clutched in
the other. Perfection.
FOOD MATCH
Anything straight off the
barbecue
ABV: 4.6%
RRP: $24.99 per six-pack
(330ml)
2brothers.com.au

5. Young Henrys
Natural Lager
A beautifully balanced beer with
a hazy, golden hue. Bursting with
Australian noble hop character,
super crisp, flavourful and
refreshing. When Young Henrys
first brewed this beer, lager was a
dirty word among anyone calling
themselves a craft brewery. Since
that day, the team are stoked to
have watched appreciation for
great tasting lagers grow. Natural
Lager is an accessible, Aussie
take on a traditional German
recipe. ‘Natural’ because it’s
unfiltered with no preservatives
and ‘Lager’ because the light
bitterness and dry finish drinks
all day, every day, especially
when the weather’s hot.
FOOD MATCH
A strong cheese
ABV: 4.2%
RRP: $19.99 per six-pack and
$64.99 per 24-pack (330ml)
Younghenrys.com
6. Hairyman Follet’s
Fable Pacific Lager
Hairyman Brewery’s Follet’s Fable
Pacific Lager, so named because
of the use of all NZ hops, (Pacific
Jade and Motueka), is a new
world lager. This beer is crisp
with a rounded caramel twist as
a result of Carahell malt. Lightly
hopped giving subtle fruit and
citrus notes, making this beer
easy drinking and mofeish.
FOOD MATCH
A good Aussie barbecue or your
lazy arvo fish and chips
ABV: 4.7%
RRP: $4.50 per bottle (330ml)
Hairyman.com.au
LAGER PROMOTION
7. Australian Brewery
Seis Hermanos Lager
Using Crystal, Mosaic and
Chinook hops with maize to give
a deliciously light, clean palate
with a hint of lemon and citrus
characters. This Mexican style
lager is perfect for a session
with friends and pairs well with
rich cheese and fried foods.
The Seis Hermanos Lager is
the perfect summer crusher
for the Australian climate and
has enough hop character and
flavour to keep it interesting.
FOOD MATCH
Rich cheese or fried food
ABV: 4.5%
RRP: $18.99 per six-pack
(375ml)
Australianbrewery.com
8. Willie the Boatman
Marrickville Lager
Marrickville Lager is Willie the
Boatman’s ‘tip of the hat’ to
our community’s rich cultural
diversity. This beer is designed to
be enjoyed with people, cultures
and food from around the world.
This hand crafted lager has subtle
spice characteristics that can be
appreciated on the nose as well as
the palate with a clean finish. This
beer is the perfect way to wash
down your day.
FOOD MATCH
Spicy Asian
ABV: 4.5 %
RRP:$10 per bottle (640ml)
Willietheboatman.com
SUMMER 2017/18  25
2018 BEER & BREWER AWARDS

THE ESTEEMED
PANEL
Tam Allenby – Editor,
BARS&clubs and Assistant
Editor, Beer & Brewer
Amelia Ball – Editor,
Halliday Magazine
Neal Cameron – Institute
of Beer
Vanessa Cavasinni – Editor,
Australian Hotelier
Tim Charody – The Beer

2018
Pilgrim
Cameron Flett – Manager,
Warners at the Bay
Brad Flowers – Owner, Hops

BEER & BREWER and More

Jacob Gawlik, Beer & Brewer
Glen Humphries – Beer Writer,
Beer Is Your Friend
Deborah Jackson – Editor,
Beer & Brewer, National Liquor
News
Ian Kingham – Beer Writer and
International Wine Judge
John Kruger – Drinks Writer,
Judge and Royal Adelaide
Beer and Cider Awards
IT’S BEEN A FEW YEARS BUT WE ARE committee member
RELAUNCHING THE BEER & BREWER Ross Lewis – Editor, The Sip
AWARDS, SO WITH THE HELP OF AN
Emily Lloyd-Tait – Food and
ESTEEMED PANEL OF JUDGES WE ARE Drink Editor, Time Out Sydney
PROUD TO PRESENT THE BEST OF
Chris McNamara – Executive
THE BEST OF AUSSIE BREWING Officer, Independent Brewers
Association

W
Tina Panoutsos – Sensory
ith the Australian around the country and Consumer Science
craft beer industry and asked them for their Manager, CUB
booming, we thought it personal favourites in each category. We then Pia Poynton – Beer Writer,
would be remiss of us tallied the scores to reveal our winners. Girl + Beer
to not celebrate all of The scoring was weighted so those at the top of Liam Pereira, General
the amazing brewing the panellists’ lists scored higher than those at Manager, Sydney Beer Week
talent we have in this country. So for the 2017/18 the bottom. and Co-owner, Dave’s Travel
Summer Issue of Beer & Brewer we are bringing We then decided to open the voting up to & Events
back the annual Beer & Brewer Awards. our readers for three special ‘Peoples’ Choice’ Luke Robertson – Beer Writer,
For the 2018 Beer & Brewer Awards we wanted categories. Some of you may have noticed a poll Ale of a Time
to make sure that we were championing players which has been live on the Beer & Brewer website Jeremy Sambrooks – Beer
from all facets of the industry. From the stalwarts for the past month. We were inundated with votes Writer and Judge
who have dedicated their lives to brewing, right for the ‘Best Beer Name’, ‘Best New Beer for 2017’ Chris Thomas – Editor,
through to the brewers working tirelessly to keep and ‘Best Beer Packaging’ categories and we are Homebrewer
our thirst quenched, the venues we visit to quench thrilled to be able to announce the winners. Kirrily Waldhorn – Beer
that thirst, and the experiences we have at those So let’s kick things off with our major award Presenter, Educator,
venues, which all play a hand in making the craft category, the Lifetime Achievement Award, which Consultant, Writer and Judge,
Beer Diva
beer industry what it is today. has been won by the godfather of craft, the legend,
We enlisted the help of 23 panellists from Chuck Hahn. Andy Young – Editor, TheShout

26  www.beerandbrewer.com
THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:
Chuck Hahn
The winner of the inaugural Beer & Brewer Lifetime Achievement Hahn went to the bank to try and broker a deal, but the bank said no
Award is the godfather of Aussie craft brewing himself, Chuck Hahn. and put the brewery into voluntary receivership. That’s when Lion
It’s been around 46 years since Hahn began working at the Coors Nathan came to the party and bought the brewery, keeping Hahn on
brewery in his hometown of Colorado in the US. as the Chief Brewer for the whole group.
In 1981 he came to Australia to work as the General Manager of From 1993 to 1998 Hahn helped to open two breweries in China,
Brewing for the Tooth and Co and Resch’s breweries. His task was to three new breweries in New Zealand and five in Australia and he was
modernise brewing techniques and consolidate production processes. responsible for the beer quality across all of them, so he spent a lot of
“I came out here and it was quite a change for me compared to time travelling. But eventually he wanted to start making his own style of
Colorado. All of a sudden I had 13 unions to deal with, any one of beer again, and that’s when he asked if he could start up a new brewery.
which could have shut down the brewery, but within a year and a half “I went to the CEO at the time and said I wanted to start the
we had brought that down to two unions,” Hahn told Beer & Brewer. Camperdown Colonial Brewery [now Malt Shovel] and I said we were
“I had my life threatened and I had a couple of strikes and here I was going to brew English style ales. He let me do it, but the condition
a 35-year-old coming across to Australia, so it was a real eye opener for was that I couldn’t lose more than $1 million in the first year. So I lost
me, but it was a good introduction to the way $960,000 in the first year, we broke even in the
some things were done.”
In 1983 Hahn wanted to start his own brewery
“IT’S NEVER BEEN JUST MYSELF second year and we made a good profit in the
third year, and we’ve just grown since then.
so he went to Munich and tried to get the WHO’S STARTED UP THESE “We started very much as an independent
contract to brew Löwenbräu, which proved to craft brewery and back then it really wasn’t
be unsuccessful. So instead he moved to New PLACES, IT’S ALWAYS A GROUP fashionable to do that. Then the GST came
Zealand to work as a consultant for Doug Myers
who had just acquired six small Lion breweries. EFFORT AND I’M JUST KEEPING in early 2000 and that completely got rid of
the heavy duty taxes and they also started
By 1987, Hahn along with three venture
capital partners, was able to get the financing
EVERYONE POINTED IN THE introducing retail licences. So we were able to do
some really innovative things.”
he needed to build the Hahn Brewery, and in RIGHT DIRECTION” Today it’s been almost 30 years since Chuck
March of 1988 they went to market with Hahn started the Hahn Brewery, it’s been almost 20
Premium Lager. years since he started James Squire, around nine years for Kosciusko
“We were the first craft brewery of that size, but back then we and this year they have brought the old Eumundi Brewery back to life.
didn’t call it ‘craft’ we called it ‘boutique’. And boutique beers made “It’s never been just myself who’s started up these places, it’s
up less than one per cent of the market. Now craft by itself is about always a group effort and I’m just keeping everyone pointed in the right
seven per cent of the total beer market. So it’s just amazing.” direction and with the right dedication,” said Hahn. “The dedication to
At that time, the taxes on beer were excruciating and it was a struggle innovate with distinctiveness plus consistent quality. And I think those
to keep the brewery going, “we just barely survived,” said Hahn. two things, innovative distinctiveness and consistent quality is what
“We were paying more than any of the large breweries because our we’re able to bring to the craft beer area that no one else is able to do.”
cost of manufacture was higher so our wholesale price was higher. So With so many milestones already under his belt, Hahn shows no
we were paying the government more and it was at that point in time signs of slowing down and says that we can expect to see more new
that we formed the Small Brewers Association of Australia with Willie breweries and innovative brews popping up under his watchful eye.
Simpson and Blair Hayden, we were the three officers,” said Hahn. So from all of us here at Beer & Brewer it is with great pride that we
In 1992, the Hahn Brewery was just barely breaking even and so offer the great Chuck Hahn the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.

SUMMER 2017/18  27
2018 BEER & BREWER AWARDS

BEST CRAFT
BEST BREWPUB: BEER VENUE:

Stomping Ground Bitter

Phew
The winner of the Beer & Brewer Best Brewpub award is Stomping Ground in
Collingwood, Victoria.
Having been open for just over 12 months, Stomping Ground has been voted in by
our esteemed panel of judges as Australia’s Best Brewpub. And that really shouldn’t
come as any huge surprise given the pedigree of its founders Guy Greenstone and
Steve Jeffares, the team behind the GABS festival and both of The Local Taphouses.
“We’re absolutely stoked to receive the award,” Greenstone told Beer & Brewer.
“It’s really exciting that people are enjoying what we’re doing.”
When asked what he thought set Stomping Ground apart from other brewpubs
around the country, Greenstone said he hopes that it’s a combination of everything.
“I hope it’s about the overall experience, which is something that’s really
important to us. So a combination of great beer but really friendly, knowledgeable
staff who really are passionate about what we do and live and breathe our beer as well
as our brand. And then of course the look and feel of the place and making it nice and
warm and welcoming, and a place that is really inclusive rather than exclusive.”
Taking the award for Best Craft Beer Venue
in the Beer & Brewer Awards is Bitter Phew in
Darlinghurst, Sydney.
Ever since Bitter Phew opened its doors it has
cemented itself as one of Sydney’s favourite craft
beer bars. The New York warehouse-inspired
venue is tucked away up a staircase from Sydney’s
bustling Oxford Street. With 12 constantly rotating
taps, it’s a little slice of beer paradise.
Owner Aaron Edwards told Beer & Brewer: “I
don’t want to sound too cliché but it’s one of those
things where you can get stuck in your own little
bubble sometimes and then you pop out the other
side and people start nominating you for things
and you just go, ‘Wow, we’re the best!’.
“On some level it is unexpected, but we have

BEST REGIONAL BEER VENUE: put in a lot of hard work. We’re here day-in and
day-out and four years down the track it’s good to

The Grain Store be getting recognition for the work that we put in.
“I’m not going to take all of the credit, our staff
definitely makes all of the difference, and these
The winner of the Beer & Brewer guys are as passionate about it as I am.”
Best Regional Beer Venue is The Edwards told Beer & Brewer that the goal for Bitter
Grain Store in Newcastle. Phew is to just continue getting better and better.
With 21 taps that rotate “I am always of the mindset that we’re always
through anywhere between 30 trying to improve and always trying to get better
to 40 different beers per week, at what we do, so I suppose it’s just that never
The Grain Store is a haven for ending goal of trying to make every week better
beer lovers. It features 100 per than the last and every year better than the last.”
cent independently-owned and
Australian brewed beers that
pair perfectly with their great
food offering and music.
Owned and operated by Kristy and Corey Crooks, Corey told Beer & Brewer that he
credits his staff for making The Grain Store what it is.
“It’s really good recognition for my team,” said Crooks. “I know they pride
themselves on providing the best service they can and on being well-informed so
that they can impart their knowledge onto our customers, so it’s really nice for those
guys to be recognised.
“And obviously myself as the owner I’m pretty chuffed about it as well, but it
really reinforces to my team that they are doing a good job.”
When Beer & Brewer asked Crooks what he thinks sets The Grain Store he said it’s
the staff’s passion for good beer.
“I suppose we try to be pretty laid back and mindful of not judging people, no
pretentiousness is tolerated here. We just try and sell good beer. We like drinking
good beer and we help people come around to our way of thinking without being too
judgmental about it.”

28  www.beerandbrewer.com
BEST BREWER:
Will Irving, Feral Brewing Co
In 2012 the Beer & Brewer Awards As far as a beer of someone else’s
named Will Irving as the Young that he wishes he had brewed he says
Brewer of the Year. For the 2018 that’s easy, pretty much anything
Awards he has been recognised again. from Firestone Walker.
Will Irving from Feral Brewing Co “Anything from Firestone Walker
has received the 2018 Beer & Brewer I try these days, it just makes you a
Best Brewer Award. better brewer. Anything from them
Irving always knew he wanted is just next level, whether it be the
to be a brewer – he even put it on Velvet Merkin, their Double Barrel
his high school careers form. “My Ale or their straight IPA, they just do
teachers kind of frowned upon that beer so well,” he told Beer & Brewer.
because they just assumed it meant I Irving’s favourite style to brew
just wanted to drink beer for a living. are barrel aged and sour beers, and
And I was a kind of a class clown as he hopes that now Feral is owned
well, so I don’t think they took it too by CCA that could open the door to
seriously,” he told Beer & Brewer. expanding their barrel room.
His journey to brewing began “It’s kind of that long wait where
right where he is today, at Feral, you put a lot of effort into it but
which was his local watering hole. you’re kind of up to the mercy of
He got to know what those bugs
Brendan Varis
and says it was
“I LIKE THE WHOLE are going to do
in your barrel,
very much a case CHALLENGE OF MAKING and you can wait
of being in the two years and
“right place at NEW AND INTERESTING have something
the right time”.
Varis gave him
BEERS AND PLEASING brilliant or you
can wait two
the opportunity
to learn the
PEOPLE WITH SOMETHING years and send it
down the drain,”
practical aspects THAT I’VE MADE” he said.
of brewing “What I
before he went on to study at the would hope for out of it [the new CCA
Institute of Brewing and Distilling. ownership] is to possibly expand the
We asked Irving a few questions barrel room. We need a few toys over in
about the beers he has brewed for our production so our consistency and
Feral. Does he have a favourite style quality is going to actually increase.
to brew? What is the best beer he’s “And maybe some really unique
ever brewed? And is there a beer that barrels coming in because they do own
he wished he had brewed. Here’s a few distilleries around the world,
what he said… so I’d like to see an expansion of our
“I guess back in the day, Hop barrel room for sour beers as well as
Hog – it sounds a bit odd but back in barrel aging for spirit-based barrels.”
the day it was really one of the first So what does the future hold for
dry hopped American style IPAs to Will Irving? “I’d just like to keep
the market, which I guess became a making good beer.”
flagship beer for the company. “I just like being creative so I
“But as far as outlandish beers, I’d like the whole challenge of making
probably say maybe our King Brown, new and interesting beers and
which was a brown ale brewed in pleasing people with something
40-year-old Cognac barrels.” that I’ve made.”

SUMMER 2017/18  29

BEST NEW BREWERY:
Wildflower Brewing
and Blending
In May 2017, Topher Boehm rolled open the
door to Wildflower Brewing and Blending in
Marrickville, Sydney, with a concept that was
a bit outside of the norm.
Wildflower brews its ales using wild and
native yeasts sourced only from New South
Wales and the feedback from the industry has
been outstanding. So it came as no surprise to
the team here at Beer & Brewer that our judges
have voted Wildflower as the Best New Brewery.
“We opened and started doing this project
that is outside the mould of what other
breweries are doing and there is a risk that’s
associated with that,” Boehm explained to
Beer & Brewer.
Boehm says the recognition he has been
receiving for Wildflower just goes to show that
the Australian beer scene is ready to really
embrace specialist breweries.
“That is a really important mark that we’ve
hit in the Australian beer market economy.
For a place like Wildflower to focus on one
thing in particular and the market to be able
to support that is a very important distinction.
“I remember in the US when these things
started to happen that was when you started
to see a lot of breweries, even existing ones,
really narrow in on their product line and
you’d get a lot of breweries opening that
would focus on a specific style of brewing –
and I think that’s a really exciting signal for
the industry.
“It’s been really exciting for us, because as
much as we had a confidence in our product,
30  www.beerandbrewer.com
“FOR A PLACE LIKE
WILDFLOWER TO FOCUS ON
ONE THING IN PARTICULAR
AND THE MARKET TO BE ABLE
TO SUPPORT THAT IS A VERY
IMPORTANT DISTINCTION.”
you’re opening a small business so you never
really know how it’s going to go and so the
fact that the industry has supported us has
been exciting but even more importantly
someone else that’s looking at the industry
or another person who is in the industry
should be seeing that and be excited about the
opportunity in that.”
Sponsored by:
Johnston Packaging would like to
congratulate Wildflower Brewing &
Blending on winning the Best New
Brewer. It’s great to see new talent and
such exciting new products coming
onto the market.
Johnston Packaging entered the
packaging market over 40 years ago,
and has been supplying the beverage
industry for a good chunk of that
time. Being a local manufacturer, we
have worked closely with many of
the independent brewers that have
emerged over that time and continue
to work with independent brewers.
We are proud of our engagement with
those emerging businesses, helping
them develop and present their
products to market. We are a family-
owned business. Fostering relationships
and collaborating with like-minded
businesses is key to the ongoing
success of our business.
Our company has grown from a
father and son run business which
operated from a small factory, into the
sophisticated and dynamic design and
manufacturing operation it is today,
with the next generation of Johnston’s
continuing to build on the excellent
reputation for creativity and customer
service we have always been known for.
Specialising in printed folding cartons,
wraps and baskets, Johnston Packaging
has established itself in the beverage
industry as a business partner to
assist bottlers and brewers in the
ideation, design and manufacturing of
specialised presentation materials.
With in-house design and production
capabilities including, a wide range of
materials, multi-colour printing, specialty
coatings, large and small format die-
cutting, embossing, foil stamping and
much more, we can facilitate all your
packaging requirements.
Coming from humble beginnings allows
us to integrate ourselves into your
business. We understand your needs,
wants and objectives. Let us handle
your package needs, thus allowing you
to focus on brewing great product.
Johnston Packaging is leading the field in
printing and packaging with Imagination.
What does your packaging say about your beer?

Printing & Packaging

with Imagination

www.johnstonpack.com.au

BEST HOMEBREW SHOP:
Grain and Grape
The winner of the Beer & Brewer Best
Homebrew Shop for 2017 is Melbourne’s
iconic Grain and Grape.
In 1990 John Preston opened a homebrew
shop in southeast Melbourne called
Southern Home Brewing with his friend
Laurie Cahir. Over the following 27 years,
Preston has become a stalwart of the
homebrewing industry.
Since 1990, not only has he opened
Grain and Grape, but he was instrumental
in starting up the Australian National
Homebrewing Conference.
But this isn’t about Preston, we’re here
to talk about Grain and Grape, so we asked
Preston what he thinks it is that makes his
the best homebrew shop in the country.
“Being named the Best Homebrew Shop
is very satisfying and I think it’s something
that my staff deserve more than anything,”
said Preston. “They are the ones who spend
most of the time in front of the customers
and they really put a lot into it and they are
very pleased.
32  www.beerandbrewer.com
“One thing that’s unique or unusual about
us is the number of our staff who have gone
on to work at breweries. So it’s sort of seen
as a bit of a career path for staff. Probably
the most notable is Dan Dainton who won
the Best Beer Award at the CBIA Awards this
year, but lots of others have come through
the place.
“From a customer service point of view,
everybody knows everybody in the industry,
so you’d be absolutely crazy not to be good
to everybody because they are going to talk
to somebody else and you’re going to end up
with a bad reputation out of it.”
Grain and Grape specialises in all grain
brewing and caters to beginner homebrewers
right through to professional craft brewers and
microbreweries. It even holds weekly brewing
demonstrations and has its own bottle shop.
“For most homebrewers it’s a hobby, it’s
a fun thing, and it could be something that
they’re going to do for the rest of their life,
so you’re going to get 30 or 40 years of sales
out of these people.”
Sponsored by:
BOC wishes to congratulate the winner of
the Best Homebrew Shop award, Grain and
Grape from Yarraville in Victoria!
Whether you’re a home brewer or working
in a craft brewery, when it comes to
the gas supply for your beer, quality is
absolutely key.
Gas provides much more than just the
bubbles in your beer. The quality of your
gas has a direct impact on the way the
beer is dispensed, as well as the freshness,
appearance and taste.
With carbon dioxide playing multiple
roles in brewing, including carbonation
and dispensing, any aromas or impurities
in the gas will have direct access to the
beer. Impurities could quickly spoil the
flavour of your beer. With this in mind, it is
important that you prioritise quality when
implementing your gas solution.
BOC’s focus on high quality includes:
ISBT carbon dioxide specification
compliance: The International Society
of Beverage Technologists formed a
dedicated carbon dioxide specification
following several globally-publicised
incidents of carbon dioxide contamination
in beverages. Their comprehensive
document outlines 20 key parameters for
beverage-use carbon dioxide.
HACCP accreditation for our Compressed
Food Fresh Carbon Dioxide: Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point, or HACCP,
is an internationally recognised risk
management methodology. It is designed
to manage contamination risks associated
with food and related industries to an
acceptable level.
Visibility and control of the entire supply
chain from source to customer site
Safety Data Sheets available anytime at
our website
With a wide variety of supply solutions
ranging from compact 6kg carbon dioxide
cylinders for your home brew set up,
to larger 3000L Cryospeed® Cryotank
vessels for your craft brewery, we have
your gas needs covered.
Contact our friendly Food & Leisure Team
on 1300 770 526 food&leisure@boc.com
today to find out more. They are always on
tap for a high quality conversation about
how to achieve the best quality beer.
Your beer
deserves
our bubbles.
We understand that high quality, reliable gas is integral
to any brew. That’s why we invest so heavily in our
supply chain. Our focus on high quality includes:
→ ISBT carbon dioxide specification compliance and
HACCP accreditation for our Compressed Food Fresh
Carbon Dioxide
→ Visibility and control of the entire carbon dioxide
supply chain from source to customer site
→ Safety Data Sheets available anytime at boc.com.au
Whether you’re a craft brewery or a home brewer, we
have a quality gas solution for you.

Our Food & Leisure team are always on tap

to help you achieve the best quality beer!
Contact them today to find out more.

1300 770 526

food&leisure@boc.com

BOC Limited ABN 95 000 029 729

10 Julius Avenue, North Ryde NSW 2113, Australia
boc.com.au | 131 262
BOC is a trading name of BOC Limited, a Member of The Linde Group. © BOC Limited 2017. MP17-0058 FD 1117
 BEST ONLINE RETAILER:
Beer Cartel
The winner of the inaugural Beer & Brewer Online Retailer of the
Year Award is Beer Cartel.
We are living in the age of technology, and as such, in 2017/18
it is more important than ever for retailers to have a strong online
presence, which is why Beer & Brewer decided to introduce the Online
Retailer of the Year category to the 2018 Beer & Brewer Awards.
Li-Mei Russell from Beer & Brewer spoke to Beer Cartel’s Co-
founder Richard Kelsey about what sets its online store apart.
“For us being online is very important, our store isn’t in a
high-traffic area so by having a website we can reach out to more
than just the few who walk past us on the street but all the beer
lovers across Australia,” says Kelsey.
BEST BREWERY The high demand for online liquor is matched with a high-

EXPERIENCE: volume of competitors for Beer Cartel.

“As far as what sets us apart, I would say it is definitely having

Colonial
the biggest online range in Australia and our diverse hand-picked
range,” Kelsey adds.
“It’s about having a mix of styles to suit all tastes, and not

Margaret River just about focusing 100 per cent on Australian craft beer but also
interesting beers from overseas.”
More than an online retailer Beer Cartel is a space for beer
enthusiast to learn more about the process and product and stay
Colonial Margaret River has been voted as Australia’s Best Brewery up-to-date with what is happening in the world of craft beer.
Experience, according to our esteemed panel of judges. “Our focus isn’t just on getting people to drink great beer but
So what is it that makes the experience at Colonial Margaret River it’s also helping them to learn about great beer,” explains Kelsey.
so extraordinary? According to Venue Manager Bill Fogg, it’s the “old On giving advice to other aspiring online retailers Kelsey
fashioned values of service”. says there are strong opportunities for growth but not
“I think being awarded the Best Brewery Experience a phenomenal without a challenge.
recognition of the hard work put in by Colonial for a number of years “It’s going to be challenging, it’s quite different to general
and through various people. retail and operating a store, you need to do overtime to start
“It’s always a team collective. You don’t get a good venue developing great logistics to help with volume,” he said.
experience without good product and you don’t get good product “But it’s all about having great systems and once people know you
without good brewers, it’s a symbiotic relationship so everything has can deliver on a really great service they will keep coming back.”
to go together.”
Colonial Margaret River is a true country brewpub that has designed
as fun for the young and the young at heart.
“We get the eight months to 80-year-old brackets in here, so I
think that tends to help a little bit.
“I suppose one of the differences here are that a lot of places
have a playground as an afterthought but it seems part of Colonial’s
original charm was that it had a big area for kids to come and explore
and play,” explained Fogg. “Since then we’ve also put in a few adult
games, so games that the adults can play with their kids. It’s just
these other layers of things that people can do down here that just add
to everything else.
“You want stability in what you’re doing and you want peoples’
experiences to be positive and solid and to just come down here and
have fun. We’re in the country so you just want people to be able to
come down here, leave all of their worries behind and just relax.
“We’re not trying to be the hippest or the coolest kid on the block, Richard Kelsey 
we’re just trying to do something different and consistently well.” and Geoff Huens

34  www.beerandbrewer.com
EST 2010
 2018
People’s Choice
Awards

BEST BEER PACKAGING:

Pirate Life
Mosaic
BEST BEER NAME: We’ve tallied your votes and the Beer

Rye ‘N
& Brewer People’s Choice Award for
Best Beer Packaging has been named
as Pirate Life Mosaic.

Gose Sling Pirate Life Co-founder Jack

When it comes to the Best Beer Name for 2017 you guys have voted
in Colonial Brewing Co’s ‘Rye ‘N Gose Sling’. And we agree that it is
certainly a handsome name for a handsome beer.
Colonial’s Head Brewer Ash Hazell told Beer & Brewer: “It was
a really fun beer to brew, starting with collecting seawater from
near our Margaret River brewery, and citrus fruits from the brewery
property. We sent it over to brew in Port Melbourne and used a
range of rye malt, spices and American hops to build a complex yet
refreshing flavour profile. Fermenting first with an acidic bacteria,
and then brewer’s yeast, gave it a sourness to balance the light
saltiness. Finally the gin lifted adding a savoury spice edge and a
little more alcohol complexity to finish it off. We think it worked
well because all these different characters came together to create a
delicate sherbet like citrus character.
“The name came from a conversation over a beer (as all the best
ideas do!) with Josh, renowned Melbourne Mixologist from Hats & Tatts.
It’s a bit of fun and also perfectly describes our handsome creation.
“We brew beer for people to enjoy it so it’s always nice to know
when we’ve done our job well.”
Cameron told Beer & Brewer that the
can design and the beer itself was
an homage to one of their favourite
hops, Mosaic.
“We use a lot of Mosaic in our Pale Ale and also our IIPA so for
our second birthday we thought we’d do a single hop Mosaic IPA.
Originally it was only going to be a one-off keg release but we kind of
loved it so much that we ended up putting it in to cans.
“The can design was kind of two minutes on the internet, then we
spoke to our graphic designer Lauren Bonkowski from Two Poles Apart
who’s based in Melbourne and she went to work with our concept of
what Mosaic should look like and that was it.
“It’s great because it’s something that we’ve been pretty strong on
from day one – we’ve always wanted to not only make good beer but also
put it into good packaging, because I think that really appeals to people
nowadays and sets us apart a little bit. We don’t really spend a lot of time
or money on our designs but I think people like it which is good!”
When asked why they decided to go for a 500ml can for the
Mosaic, Cameron said: “Mate – big beer, big can has always been our
philosophy. The first beer we made was an 8.8 per cent IIPA and we
put that in a big can, so anything plus seven per cent we like to put in
a big can.”

BEST NEW BEER FOR 2017:

Mountain Goat Back to the
Brewer Double Steam Ale
Mountain Goat Back to the Brewer Double Steam Ale was released as a part of the brewery’s 20th birthday celebrations –
and if that wasn’t celebration enough, it has now also been voted the Best New Beer for 2017.
It was a collaboration beer between Mountain Goat’s Head Brewers of past and present: current Head Brewer Ian
Morgan, Mountain Goat Co-founder Dave Bonighton, Jayne Lewis from Two Birds and HPA’s Dave Edney.
Head Brewer Morgan spoke to Beer & Brewer following the win, saying, “Thanks to all the beer lovers out there for
voting for our 20th anniversary Rare Breed as their favourite new release in 2017.
“I’m standing on the shoulders of giants here – Dave Bonighton, Jayne Lewis, Dave Edney, not to mention all the
other Goats who’ve passed through the brewery in its 20 year history. We have passionate and talented people here
who love to push the boundaries, while acknowledging the history that Mountain Goat has had with the craft brewing
culture in Australia.
“Back to the Brewer came from that place – a blend of new and old – riffing on the idea of the Steam Ale, incorporating
the freshest Australian hops and a low flocculating yeast strain.”

36  www.beerandbrewer.com
BBQ & CANNED BEER

38  www.beerandbrewer.com
 BBQ & CANNED BEER

ONCE VIEWED AS THE UGLY DUCKLING OF THE BEER WORLD, THE

HUMBLE BEER CAN IS FINALLY BEING EMBRACED BY THE CRAFT
BREWING INDUSTRY. JEREMY SAMBROOKS INVESTIGATES AND
MEETS SOME BREWERS WITH A CAN-DO ATTITUDE

‘I never buy beer in cans.’
‘Beer tastes better out of a bottle.’
‘Canned beers taste metallic.’
If you agree with any of these statements,
you’re not alone. For a long time, canned
beer has had a poor reputation, shackled
to the image of frat boys ‘shot-gunning’
tins of cheap American lager. Not helping
this was the fact that almost every canned
beer available was a cheap, fairly tasteless,
mainstream lager. For many, the mere
mention of canned beer brings up bad
memories of that last, warm mouthful of
cheap, metallic-tasting beer.
Recent market trends indicate there has
been a fundamental mind shift in drinkers’
attitudes towards canned beer. In the 2017
survey conducted by Beer Cartel, only 29
per cent of drinkers opined that bottles are
a better vessel for storing beer, down from
37 per cent in 2016. Cans are now nearly
as popular, with 24 per cent of drinkers
preferring them and 46 per cent holding a
neutral position on the issue.
In the last two years we have seen an
explosion of canned craft beers hitting
the market. Several breweries have added
canned products to their existing range,
some have switched from bottles to cans,
and some new brewers have entered the
market packaging their beer solely in kegs
and cans. Some breweries have installed
their own canning lines, while others make
use of mobile canning facilities such as
East Coast Canning or Craft Punks.
HISTORY OF THE
HUMBLE BEER CAN
While humans have been brewing beer for
millennia, it wasn’t until the 20th century
that we thought of putting it in a can. The
American Can Company realised that cans
would offer breweries advantages over
bottles – cutting shipping costs due to their
lower weight and providing the marketing
departments with a much larger surface
area for labelling. However, early in its
development the beer can came across a
major road block – prohibition. Suggesting
that breweries invest in the new type of
packaging was a big ask, considering most
of their business had been made illegal.
The first brewery to take the risk was the
Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company, who
in a 1933 experiment, filled 2000 cans
with a beer of just 3.2 per cent alcohol (the
maximum allowed at the time) and gave
them away for a taste test experiment. In
1935, after the end of prohibition, Krueger
sold the first ever can of beer, when cans of
Krueger’s Finest Beer and Krueger’s Cream
Ale went on sale in cans.
The first American craft brewery to put
their beer in cans was Oskar Blues in 2002 –

SUMMER 2017/18  39
BBQ & CANNED BEER

BEER CAN DESIGNS

Early beer cans were nothing like the
lightweight, crushable, easy to open
contraptions we have today. Read on to learn
how the beer can has evolved over time.

Flat Top
The original beer cans first sold in 1933 by
the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company had
a flat top with no opening. Flat top cans were
opened with a metal tool called a church key,
which required a fair degree of strength to
punch through the 3mm thick metal.

Cone Top
Two years later in 1935, cone top cans
entered the market. This style of can
appealed to smaller brewers because
they could be filled on existing bottling
lines. However, by 1960 the big national
brewers had driven many of the smaller
breweries out of business and the cone
top cans disappeared.

Pull Tab
First introduced in 1963, the pull tab or
Australian Brewery’s can lineup
‘pop top’ can was a revolution. Drinkers
simply put their fingers in the aluminium
truly ahead of the trend. The following decade saw an ever-increasing number of brewers ring, pulled and hey presto, the can was
making the switch to cans and it was inevitable that the trend would soon reach Australia,
open and ready to drink. While pull tabs
made opening cans much easier, they were
the only question was which brewery would be the first to do it. That honour went to The
an environmental disaster due to littering,
Australian Brewery from northwest Sydney, who canned their full range of beers in 2012. killing pets and wildlife who ingested them,
“At the time it was a pretty divisive decision and we had many conversations with customers as well as a few people who choked on them
about the benefit of cans,” recalls David Ward, Marketing Manager at The Australian after dropping them into their beer can.
Brewery. “We saw what was happening in the states and we wanted to have the best vessel Stay Tab
possible to transport our beers around the country and the world.” The brewery originally The next innovation in beer cans was the
packaged its beers in slimline 355mL cans but last year made the switch to more traditional stay tab, introduced in 1975. With a tab that
375mL cans. “We wanted to separate ourselves from the VB tinny, but as the perception of stays connected to the can, stay tab cans
solved the litter problem and are the design
cans in the market changed, we were getting feedback that the cans looked smaller than they
that remains to this day.
actually were,” says Ward. “I got sick of telling people they were bigger than most bottles!
After the change we saw a significant increase in off-premise sales.” After five years of using Removable Lid
a little Cask system, The Australian Brewery is upgrading to a Palmer canning line which will These cans were first used by Sly Fox
Brewing Company in 2013 and are the design
double their rate of production to keep up with increasing demand.
currently used by Colonial and BentSpoke.
The lid removes completely, turning the can
CRAFTY CANNERS into a more suitable drinking vessel. Unlike
Some craft breweries have taken a more cautious approach – choosing to can one of pull tab cans, the lid is large enough not to
their beers at first, while continuing to bottle the rest of their range. One of these was be a choking hazard.
Mountain Goat, who released their canned Summer Ale in 2013. “We’d been thinking Nitrogen
about it (canning) for a while but were a bit hesitant to give it a go, given the reputation of First popularised by Guinness, whose cans
canned beer at the time,” says Ian Morgan, Mountain Goat’s Head Brewer. “At the time, contain a hollow plastic sphere called a
a number of ‘Goats’ were going to a certain BYO music festival in country Victoria and we
widget, which is filled with liquid nitrogen.
The nitrogen gas is released when the can
decided it was time to take our own beer. This was a good enough excuse to finally do it.
is opened, providing the beer with a creamy
We originally intended it to be a one-off summer release, but it proved so popular we had mouthfeel similar to draught Guinness.
to do two more releases in summer alone, which gave us the confidence to keep it on all Several craft breweries are now canning
year-round. We followed this up with our Fancy Pants amber ale in 2014.” nitrogen beers without a widget, including
Victorian microbrewery, Kaiju Beer, made its first foray into canning with the release of Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.
Kaiju Krush – a 4.7 per cent ‘tropical’ pale ale – in December 2016. The beer is a cracker –

40  www.beerandbrewer.com
 CRAFTE
ND D
A
H

IA

IN L
AUSTRA

OUR GOLDEN 2017

All Star IPA - 5 x Gold
Australian Pale Ale - 2 x Gold
Seis Hermanos Lager - 2 x Gold
BBQ & CANNED BEER

full of juicy, tropical fruit flavours and has proved Colonial IPA

popular, though part of the credit must go to the

distinctive design of the can, which depicts a
one-eyed pineapple, half buried in sand, giving
a peace sign. “The major benefits (of cans) for us
are the increased amount of space for our graphics
and the different situations where cans are more
appropriate than bottles,” says Callum Reeves,
the ‘Chief Boss’ at Kaiju. “In terms of beer quality,
the type of vessel is less important than the
quality of the packaging line and the skill of the
brewing staff. We chose to go with a Codi canning
line, which is the first of its kind in Australia. It
only takes up a small amount of space, but uses an
isobaric filling technology previously only seen in
much bigger systems. This keeps dissolved oxygen
incredibly low compared to most craft fillers and
increases shelf life.” “IF THEY’RE FILLED RIGHT, CANS ARE BETTER THAN BOTTLES FOR
360 DEGREES OF A NUMBER OF REASONS. FIRSTLY, THE DOUBLE SEAM THAT SEALS
CANNED GOODNESS
Colonial Brewing Co. has been through some big
THE LID IS COMPLETELY IMPERVIOUS TO OXYGEN, SO THERE’S NO
changes since opening as a little Margaret River
brewery in 2004 – spawning the Colonial Leisure
RISK OF OXYGEN CREEPING IN OVER TIME TO STALE THE BEER.
Group which now operates venues across the ON TOP OF THIS, CANS STOP LIGHT GETTING IN, PREVENTING THE
country and overseas. For years, Colonial was
resistant to packaging its beer, preferring to sell SKUNKY FLAVOUR YOU GET WHEN UV LIGHT REACTS WITH HOPS”
it on draught and in growlers for takeaway sales.
– ASH HAZELL, COLONIAL BREWING CO
Mountain Goat Summer Ale

METAL-CLAD CRAFT
Eight local canned beers to drink this summer
1. Colonial Small Ale – impressively full-flavoured,
hoppy ale that is just 3.5 per cent alcohol.
2. Australian Brewery New World Pilsner –
German-inspired Pils with aromatic American
and NZ hops.
3. Mountain Goat Summer Ale – crisp and
refreshing with low bitterness and fruity hop
notes.
4. BentSpoke Barley Griffin – mild, cloudy
Australian pale ale with light biscuity malt
and soft fruity aromas.
5. Pirate Life Throwback IPA – mid-strength IPA
with citrus/pine hops and light backing malt.
6. Little Creatures Dog Days – crisp, clean and
refreshing with juicy, peachy hop flavours.
7. Nomad Freshie Salt & Pepper – refreshing
and different; a gose brewed with sea water
and native pepper.
8. Kaiju Krush – described as a tropical pale in
reference to its juicy, fruity, hop-driven flavour.

42  www.beerandbrewer.com
 BBQ & CANNED BEER

BBQ AND CRAFTY CANS – A

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
What could be more Australian than having a beer at a barbecue? When
it comes to bringing/providing beer for a BBQ, cans are a logical choice
due to the many natural advantages they have over bottles. They are
lighter (less effort to lug the esky around), more compact (more cans will
fit in said esky), less prone to breakage and much faster to chill. A slight
disadvantage is that your hands can quickly warm a can of beer, to which
the best solution is to bring a stubby holder, or pour it into a glass.
When it comes to choosing some cans for your next BBQ, it’s generally a
good idea to go with beers that are modest in alcohol and light in body –
let’s face it, nobody wants to share a warm squealer of imperial stout in
40-degree weather. German-style wheat beers are low in bitterness and
have a sweetness that will go nicely with seafood and salads. Pilsners
work well with grilled, marinated chicken and are robust enough to stand
up to something spicy, like a Pad Thai (assuming your BBQ has a wok
attachment). Pilsners are also suitable for pairing with greasy foods, like
sausages, ribs and burgers, though with its extra malt and hop character,
an American-style pale ale may be a better bet. Red meats like lamb
chops, steak and brisket are best paired with beers that have a bit more
malt flavour and sweetness, like an amber or brown ale.
Kaiju Krush!

Drink Responsibly

Summer Ale Fancy Pants

Once only available during the warmer
months, we soon realised this beer was to
be enjoyed all year round. Our Summer Ale
is low on bitterness and fruity up front yet
finishes crisp, dry and thirst-quenching.
Amber ales have always held a special place
for us at Mountain Goat. This beer has a
rich, toffee-like malt body with spice and
a hit of fruitiness with a toasty, slightly
bitter finish.

goatbeer.com.au

MOU795 Beer and Brewer Horizontal Half Page_FA.indd 1 10/10/2017 1:48 PM

SUMMER 2017/18  43
BBQ & CANNED BEER

CRANKSHAFT

Bentspoke cans on ice

In 2014, Colonial finally took the plunge and invested in

a canning line. For the reasons behind this decision, we “CANS ARE LIGHTER THAN GLASS. THEY’RE
speak to Colonial’s Head Brewer, Ash Hazell. “If they’re
filled right, cans are better than bottles for a number of
IMPERVIOUS TO LIGHT STRIKE, THEY CHILL DOWN
reasons,” says Hazell. “Firstly, the double seam that seals FASTER, THERE’S NO BROKEN GLASS WHEN PEOPLE
the lid is completely impervious to oxygen, so there’s
no risk of oxygen creeping in over time to stale the beer. DROP THEM AND THEY’RE 100 PER CENT RECYCLABLE”
On top of this, cans stop light getting in, preventing the
skunky flavour you get when UV light reacts with hops.” – RICHARD WATKINS, BENTSPOKE BREWING
Colonial was the first Australian brewery to adopt a new
type of beer can with a 360-degree lid that removes
completely, turning the can into an open-topped drinking
vessel, “This allows you to smell the beer as you drink it,
just like you do from a beer glass,” says Hazell.
Over in Canberra, BentSpoke Brewing has also opted
to package its beers in 360-degree cans, which first went
on sale in November 2016 – before then the only way
to try their beers was to visit the brewpub. BentSpoke’s
Co-owner and Head Brewer Richard Watkins explained
why cans were the logical choice of vessel to put his beers
in, “Cans are lighter than glass,” notes Watkins, “they’re
impervious to light strike, they chill down faster, there’s
no broken glass when people drop them and they’re
100 per cent recyclable. They (the 360 degree cans) look
cool, they sound amazing when they’re opened, but
most importantly for hoppy craft beer styles, they let
the aromas of the beer get into the nose”. BentSpoke’s
first two canned beers had great success at the 2017
International Brewing Awards in the UK, with their Barley
Griffin Pale Ale winning a gold medal and Crankshaft IPA
a silver. Australian Brewery cans: perfect for the beach

44  www.beerandbrewer.com
T

bentspokebrewing.com.au
BREWING EQUIPMENT

BREWING
EQUIPMENT:
PART 2

46  www.beerandbrewer.com Topher Boehm (left) from Wildflower Brewing & Blending
 BREWING EQUIPMENT

WHETHER BIG OR SMALL EVERY BREWERY NEEDS

QUALITY EQUIPMENT, SO IN PART TWO OF HIS BEER PACKAGING DESERVES THE BEST
SERIES, LUKE ROBERTSON TAKES A LOOK AT ALL
THE GEAR THAT BREWERIES USE TO CRAFT THAT
SWEET AMBER ALE

I
f we were talk about every piece of brewery equipment
we could fill a year’s worth of magazines with stories of
propagators and hop backs, brooms and washers. All the
gear that brewers use to get the beer into your hands.
In part one we looked at the overall brewhouse,
kegging, canning, touch screens, gas and what breweries
such as Bright Brewery in Victoria have in store for the future.
It was also hammered home by Justin Fox from Bintani that if
Electro-Pneumatic Filling Valves in Linear
and Rotary Filling Machines by GAI
breweries double the size of their tanks and boilers from the start
then upgrades will be smoother further down the track. It’s a
point that comes up again and again when talking to breweries and Patented Technology that
brewers. Sure, there are gadgets that make their day easier, but
having more hot water, more grunt in your boiler and more space
Guarantees Product Quality!
to operate, is a necessity rather than a luxury. And not only do
breweries need to get the right gear but they also need to put it in
the right place. One issue Fox regularly sees with his job at Bintani
is people unable to upgrade to bulk malt supplies. The jump from
individual grain sacks to bulk malt is a desirable one for a lot of
growing breweries but it’s not always easy.
“They’ve got a little mill in a little area and they just haven’t left
the space to put a silo or to put an auger, or to hang a bulker bag
and to put a little weigh cell in. They’re really having to completely
re-engineer a lot of stuff just to upgrade their malt,” says Fox.
Small changes in thinking when the brewery is installed could
result in big savings down the track.

TANK SIZE AND TANK SHAPE

Tanks are usually the first thing you notice when you look at a brew
kit. Fermentation, hot liquor, and cold liquor. They are the shiny
parts and they aren’t only shiny, but they all play a huge role in the
finished beer in their own unique ways.
Glenn Wignall from Grifter Brewery in Sydney says their recent
hot liquor tank upgrade is a huge help. Upgrading to a tank four-
times the capacity of their 12hl brewhouse means they have a lot
more hot water to spare on brew days.
“We can do multiple brews, clean kegs, and clean tanks all at the
same time. Before we were being held back because we would run
out of hot water.”
Depalletizers-Case Erectors- Basket Packers
- Drop Packers- Palletisers
My packaging team was impressed with the professional
manner in which Viniquip installed the GAI FE5031 BIER
and the professional training, they enjoyed the experience!
Richard Emerson - CEO
The MLE661 was producing very constant DO results at less
than 15ppb. The technology in the machine is amazing and
very user friendly.
Ben Thomas - Packaging Manager
Harrington’s Breweries cannot thank Viniquip enough for the
amazing state-of-the-art equipment that we now have and tor
the outstanding service they have provided throughout the
whole process!

Drains and Floors

Carl Harrington - CEO

Our MLE661 is running like a dream, making our beer

Every time Justin Fox from Bintani finds a good drain, he takes a
photo of it. Most people don’t realise that drains are one of the
most important parts of a brewery operation, and if a brewer has
a floor with bad drainage they are sure to tell you about it. Next
time you stop into your local brewery, ask about their drains and
floors. You’ll be surprised how passionate they are about it… or
how angry. It all depends on how well it works.
taste as good from the bottle as it does from the brewery
door .............we can change from 500ml to 330ml
mid-run with a 15 minute turn-around
Ralph Bungard - Owner
Viniquip International
Australia Freephone: 1800 209370 New Zealand Freephone: 0800 284647
e: info@viniquip.co.nz w: www.viniquip.co.nz

SUMMER 2017/18  47
BREWING EQUIPMENT
Amphora
At Melbourne’s Craft and Co, there are some unique vessels on
display. While terracotta Amphora has been used in both the
beer and wine industry for fermentation and storage historically,
it has been replaced by wood and stainless steel. However after
resurgence in the wine industry, the team at Craft and Co has been
experimenting with the product for beer. Overseas breweries like
Dogfish Head and Cantillon have also tried the vessels. Expect to
see a few more amphora beers hit the market soon.
If he was to rebuild his brewery from scratch, both that and the cold
liquor tank would definitely be bigger than were originally installed.
Especially given Sydney’s climate, where summertime extremes can
cause problems for cold water supply.
For Costa Nikias at La Sirene in Melbourne, it’s the shape of his
fermentation tanks that he’s been paying most attention to. He has
found that with their expressive saison and wild yeasts, they get
different characters across different tanks.
“For us tank geometry is really important. When we are making our
farmhouse ales I’ve got certain preferences for certain tanks that I’ve
noticed over the years. Like our ‘tank one’, it has a wider body, so it
has a larger diameter and we feel it gives a more vigorous ferment for
us so we get nicer esters coming through.”
He says they have been also been observing the diameter of their
open fermenters and are finding the wider they are the more vigorous
the ferment. A recent addition to their beer lineup, the Urban Pale,
has a more pronounced hop presence than the rest of their range and
48  www.beerandbrewer.com
Grain and Grape displaying the Spiedel Braumeister
he finds taller tanks are more suited to bringing out more hop flavours
and aromas.
At a homebrew level, Melbourne based company, Oxebar,
have designed plastic PET conical fermenters, known as the
‘Fermentasaurus’. Kee Doery, one of the co-founders, says that they
wanted something that homebrewers could use to ferment beer under
pressure, clear, carbonate and then serve from.
“We kind of had to make something that the average homebrewer
could afford… Making something which is safe, out of plastic, is the
other really difficult thing.”
The product has been five years in the making and uses ‘world first’
single-step moulding technology. Units have also been shipped to
some of the larger breweries around Australia, some of which already
use homebrew systems for pilot and test batches.
They are made on the same machine that produces their single use
kegs (discussed in part one) and they are working on more gadgets and
gear for the homebrew market.
“We’ve got a few other accessories that we are in the process of
making. We’ve got a dedicated fridge that has heating and cooling in
it, new canning machines and counter pressure fillers. That way you
can dispense your carbonated beer directly out of the fermenter and
can it.”
USING BARRELS
When many drinkers think of La Sirene brewing they probably aren’t
thinking about stainless steel, but rather wild yeast and barrels.
Nikias says he has found that his wild yeast prefers barrels when
fermenting. To keep their yeast happy he has begun using larger sized
barrels (hogsheads and barriques) that have been taken out of service
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BREWING EQUIPMENT

The canning line at Colonial

for some primary fermentation. Although, he says, it is

taking some trial and error.
“We are finding out what works best but we are
Taking A Bath
Both La Sirene and Boatrocker have started using Koelschips as part of their
finding that a larger surface area is really helping the brewing process. These are basically large baths that the hot wort (pre-
ferment to go quickly.” fermented beer) is pumped into for cooling down. The open air vessels have a
He says he likes to use barrels to create a natural large surface area which helps the beer pick up desirable yeast and bacteria
microcosm of yeast and bacteria. Every barrel has its that are floating around us in the air. Traditionally they are used in Belgium but
only during the cooler months. However Costa Nikias at La Sirene has found
own character and unique environment. Barrels are also
using them in summer months to be surprisingly effective. While brewers in
a huge part of the fermentation and long-term ageing of the Northern Hemisphere find warm weather aids development of unwanted
beer at Boatrocker. However unlike La Sirene, Boatrocker bacteria, Nikias has found great results, even on the hottest days of summer.
prefer to steam clean most of their barrels before use. Maybe global warming won’t ruin our spontaneously fermented beers after all?
Founder, Matt Houghton, uses a steam cleaning wand to
clean many of their barrels. Solar panels at Bright Brewery
“We started out not having one and we were using a
lot of hot water. We would basically bring our hot liquor
tank about 95 degrees Celsius, fill them up and leave it
overnight. Then we would drain the water, in the hope
that would really help. But we had dubious results, to say
the least.”
He says a steaming wand works for them but may not
be suitable for everyone. He cites the wand’s extreme
power usage as one drawback. The one they use requires
a 35 amp power supply. In Sydney, Wildflower Brewing
& Blending use a Total Concept barrel washer rather
than a steamer to clean all of their barrels. Founder,
Topher Boehm, says while some steam may build up in
the process, it’s designed to clean and remove tartrates
(crystallised acids) left behind by the wine. They source
their barrels entirely from the wine industry.
“What this thing is, is basically a rotating high
pressure washer ball head that you put inside the barrel.

50  www.beerandbrewer.com
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BREWING EQUIPMENT

It connects to a pressure washer and then you put in 60 or 70 degree

water and it sprays it around at 4000psi.”
Boehm encountered the product in the wine industry and likes that
it’s an Australian company who make it.
“It’s probably not as sanitary, in terms of clearing out what was
in there before bugs wise, but because I’m inoculating with finished
beer, it already has the alcohol content to stand up to small random
infection, but also I’ve already infected the beer. It’s not going to get
much funkier than what I’ve already done to it.”
Another Australian product for barrel fermentation that Boehm
swears by are Fermentation Bungs. Unlike normal silicon wine bungs,
they have a small piece of stainless steel in the top. They work similar
to a plastic airlock that many use in barrels, but are sturdier with a low
profile so they won’t be knocked off when putting barrels into racks.
“If CO2 is produced during fermentation, it’ll make enough pressure
to push the little stainless aside and escape. And that stainless will fall
back down to recreate the inert environment inside. It sounds really
complicated but it’s like a $9 piece of equipment.”
Boehm recommends anyone using barrels to invest in these bungs.
While they may seem like a tiny piece of a much larger puzzle, they
still play an important role in his finished product. And that’s what
most brewers will tell you – ingredients change with the seasons,
and beer styles come in and out of fashion, but all the seemingly
insignificant tools and devices are the one constant breweries need to
get right. Next time you’re in your local, ask your brewer about their
favourite gizmo, tank, or appliance. I bet they’d love to tell you all
about it. Frothies at Boatrocker

Malting house at Cryer Malt

52  www.beerandbrewer.com
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 54 Welcome
55 Letters
56 Q&A
58 New World Saison
60 Recipes
HOMEBREWER

62 No Rulz
64 Professor Charlie Bamforth
66 HopsAboard
68 Level Up
70 Homebrew Profile

“FUNNIEST PART WAS THE SHOCK ON MY

WIFE’S FACE WHEN WE ROCKED UP WITH Check out page 70 for the full

ALL THE GEAR” – DAVEY HENDERSON

article on building a backyard
brewery using Gumtree

Editor’s letter
Summer is my favourite season to
brew. Sure the higher temperature
presents challenges but going out
to the shed to put on a brew is
so much more inviting when the
weather is good and the sun is still
out. And so is bottling – I don’t think
anyone has ever looked forward to
bottling in the middle of winter!
Chris Thomas Here are some great recipes to
Homebrewer Editor get your brew on this summer. We
chris@beerandbrewer.com
have lagers, new world saisons,
red ale, hefeweizen and a New
England IPA! Take your pick,
they’re all great.
We welcome back No Rulz, who
gives lager his special treatment,
while John Palmer tells us how to
optimise hop aroma in our beers.
Technical Editor Jake Brandish
meets up with brewing scientist
Charlie Bamforth to talk all things
brewing. Jake also shares his
knowledge for cracking grain so
that we can take the next step to
brewing better beers.
So put on some brews now to
impress your family and friends
over the Christmas and New
Year’s break.
Happy brewing!
Chris
Homebrewer editor

54  www.beerandbrewer.com
 Letters
WRITE IN FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! TELL US WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND BY EMAILING
CHRIS@BEERANDBREWER.COM OR THROUGH OUR SOCIAL CHANNELS FACEBOOK.COM/
BEERANDBREWER OR WWW.TWITTER.COM/BEERANDBREWER

HI CHRIS,
I’m one of the many readers who have been inspired by the
Homebrewer section of Beer & Brewer to go ‘all grain’ and
have been doing this for nearly two years now. I enjoy reading
the magazine cover to cover. I love hoppy beers with lots of
hop aroma, however I don’t seem to be able to replicate the
aroma of my favourite styles in my homebrewing. I have dry
hopped with hop bags, tried muslin cloth and even thrown
the hop pellets in to infuse. I usually dry hop at about five
days into a 10 to 14 day fermentation period. Despite my best
efforts, while producing great beer, I am not happy with the
results on the hop aroma side. I bottle my beer and I know it’s
possible to get good results in bottles because the commercial
breweries can do it. Is there a secret to getting the better
results from dry hopping?
Cheers,
Michael O’Shea

A great question Michael, and I’m sure it’s one most homebrewers
have considered before. We thought we’d refer this one straight
onto John Palmer so check out Q&A for his tips on getting the best
aroma in your beers.

G’DAY CHRIS
Just prior to reading the spring 2017 edition of Beer & Brewer, I
started to discover and fall in love with Saison. So it was a wonderful
surprise and delight to find the ‘It’s Saison Season!’ article and then
some of the great examples of the style. La Sirene is definitely a
standout Australian version, as is Dusty Miner’s Saison Du Dusty in
my opinion, (source some if you haven’t tried it). Also a big thanks
for the Country Saison (La Sirene) recipe. I might be pushing my
luck a bit here, but could we please have Martin Potter (aka No Rulz),
lend his exceptional talents to create some ‘No Rulz’ Saison recipes
Both letters printed have won a copy of the Beer Buyer’s Guide
please? I would greatly appreciate it as I am sure other lovers of the
Australia & New Zealand, valued at $24.99.
style would too.
Regards, The Editor’s Choice Letter has won an Ss Brewing Technologies 26.3 litre
Steve ‘Crackle’ Cumming stainless fermenter. What sets the Brew Bucket apart are features
such as stacking during ferment, the rotatable racking arm and ball valve
Crackle, I’m glad you enjoyed Saison Season and the recipe from La spigot assembly. The BrewBucket’s conical bottom allows trub to settle
Sirene co-founder, Costa Nikias. While we can’t give Saison the No Rulz nicely in a more concentrated space and has the effect of minimising the
treatment this issue we have got three Saison recipes for you to try. Also, surface area of your beer that is in contact with the trub during ferment,
Saison got the No Rulz treatment a little while back in Issue 31 if you can
which then minimises off flavours in your beer! RRP $269
chase it up.

SUMMER 2017/18  55
 Q&A
Getting More
Hop Aroma
HOMEBREW LEGEND JOHN PALMER RESPONDS TO OUR READER QUERIES. HERE, HE TAKES A LOOK AT HOP
AROMA AND PROVIDES HIS RECIPE FOR A NEW ENGLAND IPA
Q
uestion: I love
hoppy beers with
lots of hops aroma,
however I don’t
seem to be able to
replicate the aroma
of my favourite styles
in my homebrewing. I have dry hopped
with hop bags, tried muslin cloth and
even thrown the hop pellets in to
infuse. I usually dry hop at about five
days into a 10 to 14 day fermentation
period. Despite my best efforts, while
producing great beer, I am not happy
with the results on the hop aroma
side. I bottle my beer and I know it’s
possible to get good results in bottles
because the commercial breweries can
do it. Is there a secret to getting better
results from dry hopping?
Cheers,
Michael
A: Good question Mike. Hop aroma
intensity is an elusive beast. You would think
that it would simply be a function of how
much hop oil you put into the beer, but a
University of Oregon study by Vollmer and
Shellhammer in 2014 and 2015, repeatedly
56  Home Brewer
demonstrated that the total amount of hop
oil in the beer did not directly affect the
overall hop aroma intensity. Maddening,
but true. Interestingly enough, it is the
composition and interaction of the hop oil
components, such as geraniol and linalool,
which have a more positive correlation with
overall hop aroma intensity. Further studies
on how to maximise hop aroma are ongoing.
But what does this mean to you? It means
that spending more money to put more hops
into your beer is not the answer to better hop
aroma. Which really is a good thing. The bad
news is that the original question of achieving
better hop aroma is still largely unanswered.
So, let’s review what we do know.
Hop aroma does come from hop oil, and
there are several (actually, more than 500)
chemical compounds that constitute the oils.
There are about 14 compounds that are the
most common and identifiable constituents
of hop oil, and these are: myrcene,
humulene, caryophyllene, farnesene, beta
damanscenone, beta ionone, linalool,
geraniol, nerol, citranellol, terpineol,
humulol, and 4MMP.
Hop oils vaporise easily so whenever you
smell them, they are leaving your wort and
beer. Boiling hops causes alpha acids to
isomerise, and the oils to vaporise. Short
boils are used to improve the hop flavour
and aroma, but to really get hop aroma into
a beer, we dry hop it. Dry hopping puts the
hops in at room temperatures and gives time
for the oils to diffuse into the beer.
However, it is also important not to leave
the dry hops in the beer for too long. First,
most of the hop character diffuses into the
beer within two days. Second, soaking times
of more than a week will result in more of
the hop polyphenols being absorbed into the
beer, which cause off-flavours.
The freshness of the hops is extremely
important to fresh hop aroma. This does
not mean straight off the vine. Fresh means
picked, dried, baled, and stored in a freezer to
minimise oxidation. In my opinion, hops that
are straight off the vine and un-dried have
a very grassy flavour. Dried and baled hops,
both pellet and whole cones, which have been
poorly stored and have oxidised, will have a
nutty, cheesy aroma. A beer that tastes like
an old hop pellet is very unappetising.
Let’s move onto the beer. A well-hopped
beer can also suffer from oxidation, which
results in near complete loss of hop aroma.
This can happen within a week if the bottles
are stored in warm summertime conditions.
If you are bottle priming and carbonating
your beer, the yeast will take up most of the
oxygen and reduce oxidation potential, but
not completely. After the beer is carbonated,
it is important to store it cold to minimise oxidation
reactions. Temperature is the number one factor for
minimising oxidation. Palmer’s New England IPA All Grain (BIAB) Recipe
The second best thing you can do to preserve hop
Extract Recipe Expected Brew Figures
aroma in your beer is to purge the bottle or keg with OG: 1.055
Expected Brew Figures
carbon dioxide before filling, and cap on foam. As the FG: 1.015
OG: 1.055
bottle fills, the foam will rise to the top of the bottle FG: 1.015 ABV: 5.4%
and fill the neck, pushing atmospheric air out of the ABV: 5.4% IBU: 35
IBU: 35 Volume: 22.7 litres (six gallons)
headspace. You then cap it before the foam subsides.
Volume: 21 litres
This is capping on foam. However, the top of the Ingredients
foam absorbs atmospheric air and oxygen as it rises, Ingredients 3.6kg Pale Ale malt
and if you cap on this, you will be trapping that air in 2.3kg Pale Ale Dried Malt Extract 900g Wheat malt
the bottle. Therefore, when capping on foam let the 450g Wheat Dried Malt Extract 450g Munich malt
first half-inch of foam come out and wipe this away
450g Simpsons Golden Naked Oats 450g Simpson’s Golden Naked Oats
before capping. These techniques can reduce oxygen
225g Munich Dried Malt Extract 60g Amarillo hops (10%AA)
levels to five parts per billion in the bottles, which is
typically 10 times less than most high tech bottling 60g Amarillo hops (10%AA) 60g Belma hops (10%AA)
lines achieve. 60g Belma hops (10%AA) 60g Riwaka hops (5%AA)
60g Riwaka hops (5%AA) 60g Galaxy hops (12%AA)
FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE
60g Galaxy hops (12%AA) Wyeast 1318 London Ale III or White
HOP AROMA IN OUR BEERS
Wyeast 1318 London Ale III or White Labs Labs WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast
1. Use a blend of two or more varieties to encourage
WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast
the synergy of aroma compounds.
2. Use fresh, well-packaged hops that smell fresh and Method
hoppy. Avoid cheesy smelling hops. Method 1. If using the Wyeast, break the
3. Add the hops after the boil, either as a hop steep or 1. If using the Wyeast, break the smack pack and allow it to
smack pack and allow it to expand expand
dry hop.
4. Purge the package, and/or cap on foam to reduce 2. Pour 11 litres of water into a 15-20 2. Heat 29 litres of water to 69°C
litre pot on the stove. Dissolve 1.4kg then immerse the grain bag
the oxygen levels in the package.
of the pale ale dried malt extract in the water and stir the grist
5. Store the beer cold to minimise the oxidation (grains) to ensure it is fully
(DME) while the water is still cold
reactions that rob your beer of hop aroma. wetted.
The Northeast or New England IPA (NE IPA) is a hoppy, 3. Heat the wort to 60-75°C and steep
the Golden Naked Oats for 30 3. Mash at 65°C with occasional
yet not overly bitter, fruity, slightly sweet ale. It is often stirring for one hour then lift
minutes
described as ‘juicy’, a characteristic stemming from a the grain bag out of the kettle
4. Bring the wort to a boil and boil for and allow to drain. You should
combination of low bitterness, residual sweetness, and
30 minutes have about 26.5 litres of 1.047
esters from yeast and hops. The style typically uses
5. Turn off the heat then add the wort
citrusy and tropical fruit hop varieties like Mosaic, Citra,
remaining 900g pale ale DME, 4. Boil the wort for 60 minutes
Amarillo, Galaxy, Mandarina Bavaria, etc. Any Pacific
wheat malt DME and Munich malt to just below 23 litres and then
hop varieties will work, although strongly grapefruit DME and stir to dissolve. Add 30g turn off the heat. Now steep
and piney American hop varieties are discouraged. Yeast of each of Amarillo, Belma, Riwaka 30g of each of Amarillo, Belma,
character is definitely part of the style, with moderate and Galaxy and allow to steep in Riwaka and Galaxy for 30
to strong esters and slightly lower attenuation from
the hot wort for 30 minutes minutes before chilling
medium- to high-flocculating yeast strains. Examples 6. Pour the hot wort into another 5. Chill the wort to 19°C and pitch
include Wyeast 1318 London Ale III and White Labs 11 litres of fresh cold water in the the yeast
fermenter. The total volume will
WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast. 6. Using a hop bag, dry hop with
be about 21 litres. Seal the lid and
These beers have a reputation for being hazy, but allow the fermenter to cool to 19°C 30g of each of Amarillo, Belma,
this aspect is blown out of proportion to the point before pitching the yeast Riwaka and Galaxy when
that some are hailing it as a signature of the style. fermentation is complete for
7. After fermentation has completed three to four days and then
Haze in a NE IPA comes from hop polyphenols and (after about four days) use a hop bottle or keg
the extra protein and beta glucans contributed by bag to dry hop with 30g of each
wheat and oats. It is not yeast haze, and it should not of Amarillo, Belma, Riwaka and
Galaxy. Dry hop the beer for three
be a starch haze. It is a normal protein-polyphenol
to four days before bottling or
haze that you could have in any other beer, but it is
kegging
exacerbated in this style because the hops are not
boiled and, consequently, hop polyphenols don’t get
reduced as part of the hot break.

SUMMER 2017/18  57
 RECIPES

New
World
Saisons
SURE WE DID SAISON LAST ISSUE BUT
IT’S SUCH AN INTERESTING STYLE
THAT WE THOUGHT WE’D BETTER
HAVE ANOTHER QUICK LOOK AND
HIT YOU UP WITH SOME LESS THAN
TRADITIONAL RECIPES

W
e learnt all about
saison last issue and
we provided a cracking
recipe from Costa Nikias
at La Sirene brewery
in Melbourne. If you
haven’t had the chance to brew this one yet, give it
a shot for summer.
But we didn’t have the space for new-world
saison recipes.
So here are three different recipes for brewers of
all types.
The fruit is fresh right now so have a go at the
blackberry or pomelo for a refreshing burst in your
saison. Or hop it like a BrewDog with the Electric
India – wow!

58  Home Brewer

 Blackberry Saison: Concentrate
Blackberries grow wild in my part of Australia.
They line fences and spawn nests in paddocks.
You’ve got to know which ones are ok to use as
councils often spray the bushes but if you get
to them before the birds you can take home
a handy kilo or two. Give them a good wash,
sanitise and freeze to make sure the funk from
your saison is just from the yeast!
Expected Brew Figures
OG: 1.046
FG: 1.005
IBU: 32
ABV: 5.2%
Volume: 23 litres
Ingredients
1.7kg Thomas Coopers Innkeeper’s Daughter
Sparkling Ale
1kg Light Dry Malt Extract (LDME)
500g Dextrose
25g Styrian Goldings Hop Pellets
500g of Blackberries* (see notes above or
use frozen)
Mangrove Jacks M29 French Saison Yeast
Method
1. Bring 3-4 litres of water to the boil and mix
in the can of Sparkling Ale concentrate as
well as the 1.5kg Light Dry Malt Extract. Stir
until dissolved. Cool the liquid by placing
the pot in a bath of cold water for about 15
minutes with the lid on
2. Top up with cold water to 18 litres and
stir thoroughly with your sanitised
brewing spoon
3. Check the temperature and top up to
23 litres with cold water (refrigerated if
necessary) to start the brew at 22°C
4. Sprinkle the French Saison yeast into
the fermenter and stir gently with your
sanitised brewing spoon
5. Ferment out of direct sunlight at 22-24°C
6. Ferment for 7 days before adding Styrian
Goldings hops in a sanitised hop bag. Also
mash up the blackberries to maximise
flavour impact and add to the fermenter in a
separate sanitised hop bag
7. Check gravity on day 10 and again on day 11
– if the gravity is consistent for consecutive
days and is between 1.004-1.008 then your
beer is ready to bottle. Bottle or keg as
normal then allow to condition at about 18-
22°C for about 8 weeks. This gives you time
to brew and enjoy in the hot weather!
Pomelo Saison: Extract
As with most citrus, pomelo comes
in many shapes and colours, with
some green and pear shaped, while
others are rounder, yellower and the
size of tennis balls. The pomelos I
had access to for this brew were the
latter and the rind had both lemon
and grapefruit characteristics
which makes for a delicious saison
experience.
Expected Brew Figures
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.005
IBU: 32
ABV: 5.9%
Volume: 20 litres
Ingredients
2kg Light Dried Malt Extract
450g Dextrose
25g Centennial hops (9.3%AA)
15g Mandarina Bavaria hops
(8.3%AA)
8 Small Pomelos
Yeast nutrient  2.5g Peppercorns
Lallemand Belle Saison Yeast
Method
1. Bring 4 litres of water to the boil
in a large pot, then add 1kg of
LDME and stir to dissolve and
reduce any foam. Add 25g of
9.3% AA Centennial Hops for a
40 minute boil
2. With 10 minutes remaining
in the boil add the 15g of
Mandarina Bavaria Hops, the
pomelo rind (in a hop sock),
yeast nutrient, dextrose and the
remaining LDME
3. Strain into the fermenter and
top up to 20 litres aiming for
22°C using very cold water
(refrigerated if needed), before
pitching the yeast Ferment at
22°C for 3 days
4. Bring temperature up to
28°C for 8 days at which
time fermentation should be
complete – check specific
gravity and make sure it is at,
or near 1.005 and is stable
over consecutive days. Bottle
and enjoy carefully as a
summer quaffer
BrewDog – Electric
India: All-Grain
This recipe is courtesy of BrewDog and
their DIY Dog recipes. “Re-brewed as a 2013
spring seasonal, this beer – which appeared
originally as an Equity Punk shareholder
creation – retains its trademark spicy, fruity
edge. A perfect blend of Belgian Saison and
US IPA, crushed peppercorns and heather
honey are also added to produce a genuinely
unique beer.”
Expected Brew Figures
OG: 1.045
FG: 1.005
IBU: 38
ABV: 5.2%
Volume: 20 litres
Ingredients
3.63kg Extra Pale malt
130g Munich malt
250g Wheat malt
42.5g Amarillo hops
25g Nelson Sauvin hops
8.5g Coriander Seeds
62.5g Honey
0.3g Copperfloc
Wyeast 3711 (French Saison) or Lallemand
Saison yeast
Method
1. If using Wyeast, pop the smack pack
2. Mash all malts at 65°C for 75 minutes
3. Sparge and bring to a boil for 60 minutes,
adding 25g of Amarillo for the duration of
the boil
4. With 45 minutes remaining in the boil add
the coriander seeds
5. With 30 minutes remaining add a further
5g of Amarillo, 5g of Nelson Sauvin and
the peppercorns
6. Add 0.3g of Copperfloc with 10 minutes
to go
7. At flameout add 12.5g Amarillo, 20g of
Nelson Sauvin and the honey for the
whirlpool
8. Cool to about 22°C and pitch yeast
9. Ferment at 22°C
10. Fermentation is complete when gravity
is at or near 1.005 and is stable over
consecutive days
11. Bottle or keg as usual then enjoy all
summer long

SUMMER 2017/18  59
 RECIPES

Vintner’s Lager
THE TEAM AT COOPERS HAVE DELIVERED THE PERFECT FRUIT-INSPIRED
HOMEBREW RECIPE FOR A SUNNY SUMMER AFTERNOON

Y
ou know the dilemma… it’s a beautiful sunny
Expected Brew Figures
afternoon and you just can’t work out if it’s a beer OG: 1.057
day or a wine day? Well hey, why can’t it be both? And FG: 1.012
no, we don’t mean mixing your bevvies – we mean a IBU: 12
drop of cheeky, fruit-inspired Vintner’s Lager. Highly ABV: 5.9%
Volume: 22 Litres
sought after Nelson Sauvin hops give this brew a
quirky wine character reminiscent of a crisp Sauvignon Blanc. But this Ingredients
ain’t no wine – it’s still very much a bold malty beer that uncorks a 1.7kg Thomas Coopers 86 Days Pilsner
slightly sweet biscuity backdrop for the hops to show off their white 1.5kg Light Dry Malt Extract (LDME)
wine, rockmelon, and tropical fruits traits. 250g Caramel Hell Grains (cracked)
25g Nelson Sauvin Hop Pellets
25g Enigma Hop Pellets
Saflager S-23 Dry Yeast

Method
1. The day before brew day, soak the cracked grain in a small
mesh bag in a pot with about 3 litres of cold water. Fit the lid
and sit it in the fridge overnight. If the grains have not already
been cracked, place them in a plastic zip-lock sandwich bag and
crack them using a rolling pin
2. On brew day lift the mesh bag with grains out of the pot and
allow the liquid to drain out before discarding the grains
3. Place the strained liquid onto the stovetop, bring to the boil
then add 12.5g of each of the Nelson Sauvin and Enigma Hops
and boil for 5 minutes
4. Take off flame and cool the liquid by placing the pot in a bath of
cold water for about 15mins with the lid on
5. Add all the fermentable ingredients and the cooled liquid to
your fermenter then stir to dissolve. Don’t worry if lumps of
Light Dry Malt Extract remain as they will dissolve over the
course of several hours
6. Top up with cold water to 20 litres and stir thoroughly with
your sanitised brewing spoon
7. Check the temperature and top up to 22 litres with warm or
cool water (refrigerated if necessary) to start the brew at 18°C
8. Sprinkle both the Safale S-23 and brew can yeast then fit the lid
9. Place your fermenter in a location out of direct sunlight and
ferment at 15°C. Fermentation should take around 10-14 days
10. At day 7, add the remaining hop pellets to the brew by wrapping
them in a hop bag (or a mesh cleaning cloth pulled straight
from the pack if you don’t have one) and place directly on top
of the brew then re-fit the lid
11. On day 10 check the specific gravity. The brew is ready once
the specific gravity has stabilised over a couple of days and is
between 1.006-1.010
12. Allow your beer to bottle conditions for at least 2 weeks, but it
will benefit from at least 8 weeks

60  Home Brewer

 RECIPES

Hoptoberfest Hazy
German IPA – All
Grain Recipe
Expected Brew
Figures

Hoptoberfest
OG: 1.067
FG: 1.019
ABV: 6.3%
IBU: 33
Volume: 23 litres

Hazy German
Ingredients
4.65kg Weyermann
Pale Malt
650g Weyermann

IPA
Pale Wheat
600g Rolled Oats
150g Weyermann Munich 2
200g Hallertau Blanc

WE HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE ANDREW CHILDS 125g Mandarina Bavaria

CONTRIBUTING RECIPES FROM HIS BEHEMOTH /CHUR BREWING Wyeast 1318 London Ale III
RANGE FOR SOME TIME. THIS HAZY GERMAN IPA IS ANOTHER METHOD
MOUTH-WATERING RECIPE TO FIT ANY SEASON. ENJOY! 1. Break the smack pack

W
and allow it to expand
2. Mash all malts at 69°C
e have brewed a few Hazy IPA’s this year. We love brewing
them and I love drinking them. This one is a lot different from 3. Sparge and bring to
a boil
the others as it uses a couple of new German hop varieties.
They are fruity and herbal. If this sounds a bit out there, go 4. Boil for 90 minutes
ahead and substitute a couple of US, Aussie or NZ varieties to 5. At the end of the boil
this recipe (you can then make up your own name). add 100g Hallertau Blanc
Now there is a bit of science to this haze craze but the main thing is using wheat and and 75g Mandarina
Bavaria and whirlpool for
oats, not fining or filtering, playing with water chemistry (go light on the gypsum), only
15 minutes
use hops in the whirlpool and dry hop once during ferment and once after. It uses a lot of
6. Cool to 20°C and
hops but only gets a little bit of bitterness. Which makes them juicy AF!
add yeast
This beer is nothing like a usual Oktoberfest beer but bugger it, I liked the name.
7. Ferment at 18°C
Hopfen und malz, gott erhalt’s (Hops and malts God bless them).
8. 80% through
fermentation add 50g
Hallertau Blanc and 25g
Mandarina Bavaria
9. Do a diacetyl rest at
22°C towards end of
fermentation
10. After Fermentation add
50g Hallertau Blanc and
25g Mandarina Bavaria
11. Bottle or keg as usual
then enjoy with mates!

SUMMER 2017/18  61
 RECIPES

No Rulz
Does
Lager!
IT’S A BIG WELCOME BACK TO NO RULZ (AKA MARTIN
POTTER) THIS ISSUE AS HE TACKLES LAGER (AND BENDS
A FEW RULES ALONG THE WAY)
Cascadian Lager: All-Grain Recipe

W
Estimated Brew Method
Figures 1. Mash at 66°C for 60
hen the stinking hot weather arrives, most of us OG: 1.044 minutes
want an easy drinking beer that’s not too high in FG: 1.008 2. Mash out at 75°C for
alcohol but still has plenty of flavour to satisfy. ABV: 4.6 10 minutes
Sometimes it’s dark, sometimes it’s pale and IBU: 20
Volume: 23 litres 3. Boil for 90 minutes
sometimes it’s tart and acidic. There’s no rules
4. Add the Perle Hops at
here… drink what you like. Ingredients 60 minutes
Porters can be fermented as lagers and there’s absolutely no reason why you 4.5kg Gladfield Pilsner
5. Add ½ Whirlfloc tablet
Malt
can’t have a lager with some colour, flavour and aroma. Let’s not forget some 10 minutes from end
of the tastier variants out there like Czech Pilsners, Bocks and Doppelbocks, 200g Briess Carapils of boil
traditional Rauchbier and dozens of other classics that stand a country mile 180g Briess (60L) Caramel 6. Add 12g of Cascade
Munich and 12g of Nelson
ahead of the current mainstream low flavour, high volume commercial lagers.
Many homebrewers avoid lagers because there is nowhere to hide behind 18g Perle hops Sauvin hops at flame
24g Cascade hops out and stand for
softer, more subtle flavours, or because the fermentation and conditioning
10 minutes before
process can take several weeks before the beer reaches its optimum condition 24g Nelson Sauvin hops commencing chill
for enjoyment. ½ Whirlfloc tablet 7. Transfer to fermenter
Look outside the square. You can find a shortcut with good quality Finings and pitch yeast at 16°C
thoroughbred yeast strains like Saflager S-189 that ferments quickly and Saflager S-189 Lager yeast for 7 days, then add
cleanly at 16°C or Mangrove Jacks California Lager yeast that presents well and the remaining 12g of
Water treatment –
Cascade hops and 12g
does a great job at 18-20°C. depending on your water,
Nelson Sauvin as a dry
For those kit brewers who might be looking to make something a little use about 4g of Calcium
hop addition (in a hop
different, try a small single dry hop addition of Citra, Nelson Sauvin, Huel Chloride and 6g of Calcium
bag) for 5 days
Sulphate to harden up the
Melon, Cascade, Ella, Northern Brewer, Eldorado or Mosaic hops. Use 12-15g 8. Chill and add finings.
water, drop the pH and get
per 23 litre batch of any of these hops added dry into the fermenter (preferably the hops to pop a little! Hold cold for 2 days
in a hop bag) on day seven of fermentation and allowed to sit for until FG is and transfer to keg
reached. Any of these hops will add a little something special to your summer or bottle
quaffing lagers and may well herald the start of a magnificent journey of 9. Cold condition for
discovering flavour. 3 weeks
Let’s have a look at a couple of variants with a popular hop combination.

62  Home Brewer

 Want more?
Dark Lager: Concentrate Recipe
www.beerandbrewer.com
Estimated Brew Figures
OG: 1.046
FG: 1.010
ABV: 4.1%
IBU: 22
Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients
Morgan’s Old Ale Beer Kit
1.5kg Briess CBW Pilsen Light Malt extract
24-30g Cascade hops
24-30g Nelson Sauvin hops
Saflager S-189 yeast

Method
1. Bring 2 litres of water in a pot to the boil and add the
12g-15g of both Cascade and Nelson Sauvin hops for
10 minutes
2. Pour the liquid through a sanitised strainer into the
fermenter and add the Morgan’s concentrate and the
Briess Pilsen extract
3. Stir to combine, adding extra water as needed
4. Continue to add cold water up to 18 litres and
stir thoroughly
5. Check the temperature and top up to 23 litres with cold
water (refrigerated if necessary) to start the brew at
16°C. If you have an old fridge with a temperature control
unit this will control the temperature perfectly at 16°C
for the ferment
6. Sprinkle the yeast then fit the lid
7. Aim to keep your fermenter out of direct sunlight and try
to ferment at about 16°C
8. On day 7 add 12-15g of both Cascade and Nelson Sauvin
hops to the fermenter (preferably in a hop bag) and allow
to sit there for a few days until fermentation is complete
9. Fermentation is complete once the gravity is at or near
1.010 and is consistent over consecutive days
10. Bottle or keg as normal and enjoy. This beer will be ready
to drink after 4 weeks but will improve if kept at 10-16°C
for a couple of months
 Professor Charlie Bamforth

FEATURE

The Pope
Comes to Town
RECENTLY, BREWING LEGEND AND ALL ROUND NICE GUY PROFESSOR CHARLIE BAMFORTH CAME DOWN
UNDER TO BE ONE OF THE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AT THE AUSTRALIAN CRAFT BREWERS CONFERENCE IN
ADELAIDE. HOMEBREWER TECHNICAL EDITOR JAKE BRANDISH WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO CATCH UP
WITH THE POPE OF FOAM AND CHAT ABOUT ALL THINGS BREWING

J
ake Brandish (JB): First of all,
thank you for generously giving us
your time. I am a huge fan of your
work, your knowledge and your
writing style.
Charlie Bamforth (CB): Get over it!
JB: Many of your books were referenced
during my Graduate Diploma of Brewing. I
was astounded with the amount of physics,
mathematics, chemistry and bio-chemistry
that was involved.
CB: I will never forget when I first started
at UC Davis, a guy from another department
asked what I was teaching. When I said
brewing, his lip curled. I told him that this
is where all the sciences come together,
that is why brewing classes at UC Davis are
right at the end – if you haven’t cracked the
chemistry, bio-chemistry, physics first you
will never understand brewing.
JB: How was the Australian Craft Brewers
Conference in Adelaide and what were the
highlights for you?
CB: Very good… The organisers contacted
me and asked, ‘Don’t suppose there is any
chance to do a keynote talk on foam etc?’ to
which I replied, ‘Bloody right there is! I’m
coming’. I love coming Down Under. I love
the passion, the enthusiasm, the thirst for
information, it was vibrant, well organised,
some very interesting topics, people were
very open minded, possibly a little less
bigoted than some other conferences.
JB: Aussies are a little more laid back! Can
you give us a few of your most important
messages from your presentation?
CB: Quality. Everything will survive or
fail based on quality, and for me quality is
consistency and the point I was making was
I can’t tell anybody what a good beer is, their
idea will probably be very different to mine.
The other point I was making was about

64  Home Brewer

‘people’. If you look after your people, they
will look after the product. That is what my
old boss at Bass used to say, ‘You have got
to look after the people’.
JB: Do you have much to do with
homebrewers back in the US or is
your time mostly dedicated to
professional brewers?
CB: I teach mainly academic brewing
classes, but one of those I have put online
now. I do short courses and one of those is
called ‘Introduction to Practical Brewing’,
and we do get a lot of homebrewers doing
that. It is not exactly science, but it’s
chemistry without the molecules so they
have to understand the principles. I do four
and a half days of science and they brew twice
in that time – we have a really nice brewery
– but on the Friday they bring their beers in
and they start with ‘I know I shouldn’t have
done so and so, and I know what I have done
wrong’ so we get a lot of that.
JB: How did you get your start in
the industry?
THE
NEW ZEALAND
HOME-BREWERS’
CONFERENCE
2018
MARCH 23RD–25TH 2018
FOUNDERS PARK, NELSON
Tickets available from nzhc.nz
CB: I went from a Post Doc in the North Professor Charlie Bamforth
of England, and I joined the Brewing
Research Foundation. They wanted
an Enzymologist, that’s me, and they
wanted someone to work on enzymes
in brewing.
JB: So it wasn’t your intention to get into
brewing?
CB: No, it could have been cancer
research, anything. But it was brewing and
that was in 1978.
JB: And you are still here! For you,
what is the most intriguing aspect of beer
production?
CB: Well I am not sure it is the actual
process, but it is the quality. It’s this
business of freshness and flavour stability.
The science of how to really understand
how to keep the beer fresh. It’s a very
challenging topic worldwide but it’s very
different down here.
You can read more of Jake Brandish’s
interview with Professor Charlie Bamforth in
the next edition of Beer & Brewer.
SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
ANNIE JOHNSON
2013 AHA Homebrewer of the Year.
Hop Whisperer.
BJCP National Beer Judge
DENNY CONN
Experimental brewer,
Mad Scientist,
BJCP National Beer Judge,
Ukulele Player
RANDY MOSHER
Author,
Beer Industry Consultant,
Graphic Designer,
Genuine Home-brew Legend
 FEATURE
The
Golden
Ticket
FOR A HOMEBREWER, WINNING THE HOPSABOARD COMPETITION IS LIKE FINDING A GOLDEN TICKET IN A WILLIE
WONKA CHOCOLATE BAR. BREWING BUDDIES RYAN MOLESWORTH AND DAVID FISHER, WON THAT TICKET
E
arlier this year, business
partners Jake Lindsay
and Alvaro Maz launched
HopsAboard. They wanted
to give homebrewers the
chance to show the quality of
their wares on a commercial scale.
HopsAboard was a homebrew competition
where the winning homebrewer got to make
1000 litres of his or her recipe on a commercial
system. But to get this far, HopsAboard first
needed to raise some funds to pay for the
brew and the judging party. Supporters of the
initiative received beer, t-shirts and a ticket
to the judging party. Despite a few nervous
moments, they reached their crowdfunding
goal and it was game on.
Their enthusiasm for beer and homebrew
is infectious.
“You know how homebrewed beer is
amazing?” asks HopsAboard Co-captain and
beer fan Jake Lindsay.
“Yet only our buddies get to try it? We created
a chance for homebrewers to make delicious
beer, and for all of us to try it,” he says.
And it wasn’t just about spreading the
love of beer, but also to support passionate
homebrewers.
Understandably, they received plenty of
entries. From there the lads held a big judging
party called the HopsAwards to celebrate the
winning beer.
66  Home Brewer
David Fisher (left) and Ryan Molesworth
(centre) finalising the recipe with Craft &
Co Head Brewer Heath McVeigh (seated)
“We thought we would mix it up a little with
an all-female judging panel,” explains Lindsay.
This panel included a who’s who of the beer
world with Kirrily Waldhorn, Becky Centeno,
Sarah ‘Salty’ Otton and Tiffany Waldron.
They followed the 2017 Brewers Association
Guideline to arrive at their winner.
The winning beer was a hefeweizen – a
perfect spring or summer beer made by brewing
buddies Ryan Molesworth and David Fisher.
“We were completely stunned! It was such
a surreal feeling,” says Molesworth. “We
were so humbled and proud that something
we’d created could stand up to being judged
by professional judges.”
Moleswoth started his brewing journey
like so many others – as a broke uni student
looking for cheap beer!
Even then, Molesworth had the critical
approach to be a good brewer.
“As I brewed my first few extract brews,
I wanted to be brewing something different
and experimenting with my own flavours. I
liked hearing peoples’ feedback and playing
with all the little variables that brewing has
to offer,” he explains.
While Molesworth now has 10 years of
brewing experience, he and Fisher have only
been brewing together for a couple of years.
It was Fisher who first spotted the
HopsAboard competition and the two boys Mashing  
approached it in a calculated fashion. in time
 “My brew buddy David Fisher
first pointed it out to me. We have
been brewing together over the
last 18 months. He saw it and we
imagined the judges receiving a
sea of pale ales, and discussed the
idea of doing a hefe, to stand out
from that.”
Despite having never brewed
this recipe before, they obviously
nailed it.
“Once we tasted it, we thought
it might just be tasty enough to
possibly win.”
And tasty enough it was!
The commercial brew day took
them to Craft & Co in Collingwood.
“We were guided by their
Head Brewer Heath McVeigh.
The brew day had its issues, with
a stuck mash due to the high
portion of wheat in our recipe,
something our BIAB set-up had
no issues with.
“WE WERE SO HUMBLED AND PROUD THAT
SOMETHING WE’D CREATED COULD STAND UP
TO BEING JUDGED BY PROFESSIONAL JUDGES”
– RYAN MOLESWORTH
HopsAboard Hefeweizen – All Grain
Here is the winning recipe for
the HopsAboard Hefeweizen. It
is designed to be brewed using
Brew in a Bag (BIAB) so adapt
to your system if need be. In the
glass, this Hefe presents a very
pale straw colour and carries
a faint sweetness. It has a nice
banana note from the yeast,
with a very subtle hops and
bitterness.
Expected Brew Figures
OG: 1.057
FG: 1.014
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 12
Volume: 21 litres
Ingredients
2.5kg Pilsner malt
2.5kg Wheat malt
25g Hallertau Mittlefruh hops
“It was an incredible experience
using such large volumes and
high-end equipment. There was so
much information to take in, we
learnt a bunch.”
The win could be the start of
something for the lads.
“We would love to start our
own brewery, it seems like a hard
slog, but it would be so amazing,”
exclaims Molesworth.
For homebrewers out there
keen to get their own commercial
experience, the good news is that
the HopsAboard boys are loading
up and going again.
“We are keen to try a winter
homebrew beer comp for the next
one,” says HopsAboard’s Jake
Lindsay. “We have plans on doing
two a year, and selling all of the
HopsAboard winning beer on our
website. Yet we’ll take it one step
at a time.”
The colour
looks right
Wyeast Weihenstephan Weizen
(3068) yeast
Method
1. Activate the Wyeast smack
pack
2. Bring the strike liquor
temperature to 70°C, then
add the bag of grains and
mash at 67°C for 60 minutes
3. Remove bag and bring to the
boil, adding the Hallertau
Mittlefruh hops for duration
of the 60 minute boil
4. Chill to 17°C and pitch the
yeast
5. Ferment at 17°C for 7 days
and confirm the ferment
is completed by checking
David Fisher (left),
gravity is stable over Hops Aboard co-
consecutive days founder Alvaro Maz
(centre) and Ryan
Molesworth (right)
SUMMER 2017/18  67
 EDUCATION

Milling
your grain
HOMEBREWER TECHNICAL EDITOR JAKE BRANDISH TAKES A LOOK AT CRACKING GRAIN AND ITS IMPACT ON
THE BREWING PROCESS

A
ll grain brewing is a very satisfying hobby that takes a good deal
of time. We need to get things right from the get go, so getting
the grain ready to mash in is high up there. Careful attention
should be paid to how the grain is milled.

GIVE IT A CRACK
The precious fermentable sugars in malted barley are contained
inside the husk of the kernel, and we need to expose this material for conversion.
Once malted, the barley becomes quite dry and brittle and will determine whether
the milled malt is going to provide the brewer with a successful grist (technical term
for the cracked or milled grain). This is referred to as the ‘friability’ of the malt. This
is a measurement of the moisture in the kernel, and therefore its friability, or ability
to be cracked open.
The Maltster will pay great attention to friability. Malt that contains too much
moisture will not crack open, it will simply be squashed between the rollers in the
mill which leads to reduced extract. The malt goes through a malt mill to expose the
starchy endosperm material in order to extract the fermentable sugars. There are
many ways to do this correctly, but there are also probably more ways to do it wrong.

SIZE DOES MATTER

Once milled, the size of the grist particle has a huge impact on the finished beer. We
do not want to pulverise and turn the malted barley into powder (or flour), but we
simply want to crack the grain open to allow the brewing liquor access to convert the
starchy material into fermentable sugars. Ideally, each malt kernel should be cracked
into three to six individual pieces, leaving the husk intact.
High efficiency breweries using hammer mills and mash filters require that the
malt be ground into a powder for maximum extract, but a homebrew system is not
set up for this type of grist. Not only do we need to expose the internal part of the
grain for extract purposes, but the husk of the grain should be kept intact to help
form a filter bed.

HUSK
As with most beans, vegetables, fruit, and brewer’s malt, the husk contains tannins
and harsh bitter flavour compounds that will impart a negative flavour to the
finished beer, so we do not want to extract them. One of the best ways to avoid this
is to take care and get your grist production right, and not to shred the husk. These
harsh compounds may also be extracted by a low pH but we are not talking about that
aspect here. We only want to crack the grain open into several pieces, that way we
Cracked grain can keep the husk intact which will aid in the filtration and clarity of the wort.

68  Home Brewer

 While most of the actual filtration and
removal of haze causing proteins is formed in
the top layer of the mash (this layer is the grey
proteinaceous layer on top of the mash called
the ‘Schmutzdecke’ – German for ‘dirt layer’),
the husk is crucial to the mash bed as it allows
wort and sparge liquor to flow freely through it.
This will in turn give maximum extraction and
improved clarity of the wort. If you are using
wheat or other grains that do not have a husk, it
is common practice to add rice hulls to aid in the
filtration and extraction process. The picture (left)
shows nice large pieces of malt with intact husks.

BETA GLUCANS
At a molecular level, the cell walls contain beta
glucans which are directly related to viscosity
and therefore the rate at which the wort can be
extracted, whether recirculating or transferring
to the kettle. Grinding the grain (and husk) to a
flour will break down the cell walls and increase
the viscosity of your wort, increasing the likelihood
of the dreaded ‘stuck mash’. There is absolutely
no need to shred the grain to a powder unless you Schmidling mill
with roller adjuster
are using a high efficiency mash filtration system,
but as most breweries do not employ this system I
doubt homebrewers will. Schmidling
mill showing
geared rollers
THE MILL
If you can, invest in a malt mill with adjustable
rollers, or at least a pre-set roller gap. As your
brewing gets more in-depth you will want to
change the gap settings for different grains. Most
homebrew malt mills are a two or three roller
mill. Pay attention to the rollers, and particular
attention to if they are geared, or simply spin as a
result of the malt causing a floating roller to spin.
This will lead to unnecessary ripping and shredding
of the husk. Also pay attention to the ‘knurls’ on
the roller. They should not be too raised or sharp. A
geared two roller mill is ideal. Avoid mills designed
for producing flour. Some brewers have been able
to adjust the grinding wheels to get a good grist,
but it is far too easy to get it wrong. While they may
seem like a good cheap alternative they will not
give you best results. I had one of these mills, and
used it once and once only.

THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT

When running your grain through the mill, do
a short test run first to make sure you are not
completely destroying the grain and husk. Try to
get the malt through the mill into about three to six
pieces and above all, aim to keep the husk intact.
Avoid shredding and pulverising the malt into flour
or you will run into flavour and processing issues.

SUMMER 2017/18  69
 HOMEBREW PROFILE
Matt Filkins
(left) & Davey
Henderson with
some of their haul
from Gumtree
Backyard Brewery
DAVEY HENDERSON AND MATT FILKINS TOOK THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF ‘HOME’ BREWING TO THE NEXT
LEVEL AS THEY BUILT SOMETHING MASSIVE IN THE BACKYARD. AND THEY GOT IT ALL FROM GUMTREE!
E
very homebrewer is proud of
his or her system. Many of us
have spent more than we’d
like to admit on stainless steel
and other bits and pieces over
the years. Our systems are
constantly evolving and improving.
Most of us start basic and build up, while
others just go all in from the start.
Like Davey Henderson and Matt Filkins.
Who just happened to build a brewery in
Henderson’s backyard.
The pair’s brewing bromance started when
Filkins visited Henderson in Darwin some
years back.
“I was inspired by Matt when he visited us
in Darwin. He mentioned how much he was
enjoying his homebrewing in Sydney. He told
me it tasted much better and at a much better
price and crafted from his very own hands,”
says Henderson.
Davey then went out and got a homebrew
kit and started basic extract brewing to learn
the fundamentals himself.
70  Home Brewer
The pair make a good combo for brewing,
with Henderson a marine engineer and
Filkins working in tech and finance.
Filkins is also from a family of
horticulturalists, who he was able to lean on
when he got into growing his own hops.
“I am currently growing a new set of
Australian varieties in my backyard ready
for new recipes. It is really important to me
to try and stay as local and organic as I can
with my brews,” says Filkins. “Davey’s wife
Shiree is also fantastic with her knowledge
of horticulture and has been working on
experimenting with different botanical
flavours in our brews.”
Things really kicked off when Henderson
moved back to Sydney. The lads were getting
into all-grain Brew in a Bag (BIAB) and
looking to keep developing their setup.
“We both monitored Gumtree and
discovered a complete brewery setup for sale
in Orange,” says Henderson.
“The current owner had intended to set up
a brewery but discovered another business
during the process. The guy even chucked in
250kg grain and kegs with it.
“Matt and I gladly travelled up there with
two empty vehicles and returned rather
heavily. Funniest part was the shock on my
wife’s face when we rocked up with all the gear.
It looked like something out of Breaking Bad!”
But there was more shock to come for
Henderson’s wife Shiree, because they didn’t
have a shed big enough to store or set up
their brewing equipment.
So it was back to Gumtree where Davey
found a large shed well below retail. The
only downside was that he has to dismantle
and relocate it. With the help of a couple of
neighbours, one of whom had a large truck,
they got the job done.
“Once again when I rocked up out the front
with the shed my wife Shiree fell off her seat
when she saw the size of it. Shiree now realised
that we were seriously into brewing and were
upscaling to bigger and better things.”
So what did they get?
From their initial Gumtree purchase they
 with our friends on such an
amazing day,” says Matt.
1,639
There are They are also putting on half
beer and brewing a dozen kegs for a friend’s 40th
listings on Gumtree in December.
“There’s nothing quite
like serving your beer to a
Thirty-seven per cent
hundred thirsty 40-year-olds out
of Aussies say that of a refrigerated jockey box setup
buying second out the back of my beat up old
hand reduces ex-army Land Rover,” he adds.

waste by recycling Plans are now afoot to take

Hop & Clover to market and get
useful items their beer out there.
While they do have a large
Gumtree Australia brewery in the backyard, they will
encompassesseven still need to upscale plenty more
Davey Henderson
million unique if they’re to make a go of it. Both with some of
his new brewing
are aware of the challenges ahead.
visitors per month “What it has really
equipment

highlighted is the importance

Bexley Red Ale – All Grain (BIAB)

got a 200 litre Blichmann kettle,
158 litre Blichmann fermenter
with all the associated fittings
and auxiliaries required to
brew. This came with a four ring
burner, kegs and CO² cylinders.
The lads have also managed to
pick up a grain mill, a kegerator
each and assorted kegs.
All for much, much cheaper
than they would have paid for
new equipment.
The dream wasn’t always to go
this big, it kind of just happened.
“I think the backyard brewery
is the Aussie Dream,” begins
Filkins. “Initially we had invested
in the equipment so that we could
expand and develop, but with
the opportunities that we were
able to take advantage of through
Gumtree, we have been able
to upscale and dream bigger.”
The dream continues to grow,
with Filkins and Henderson
creating their own brand Hop
& Clover.
While they are still in the
embryonic stages, Hop & Clover
put on two beers (Rockdale Pale
Ale and Bexley Red Ale) for Davey
and Shiree’s wedding.
“It was such a proud moment
to be able to share our passion
of maintaining quality and
consistency as we upscale.
We’ve both been to all
the brewery tours though
Sydney and many other great
places and the base brewing
process is identical to that of
homebrewing, but scale brings
other problems. Simple things
like getting your hands on bulk
ingredients – you can’t just
pop down to the brew shop on a
Saturday morning,”
says Henderson.
“Heating large quantities of
liquids also takes a lot longer, and
you can’t simply lift and carry
things whenever you want so you
need to have thought about every
single step, how things will work
and fit together.”
Once licenses are sorted,
Hop & Clover will contract brew
to get their beer and brand
out around Sydney. They have
already fielded interest from
hotels, restaurants and pubs
wanting to give them a go.
Keep an eye out for Hop &
Clover in the near future and if
you come across either Davey
Henderson or Matt Filkins, be
sure to have a chat. You’ll be
well entertained by the boys and
captivated by their passion.
This is one of the beers that the boys are developing for the Hop &
Clover brand, which hopefully you will be able to taste on tap in the
not too distant future. This recipe was developed for Brew in a Bag
(BIAB) so please make adaptations if required.
Expected Brew Figures
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.014
ABV: 4.7%
IBU: 18
Volume: 25 litres
Ingredients
4.2kg Maris Otter
150g Caramalt
150g Dark Crystal malt
150g Roasted Barley
40g East Kent Golding (EKG) hops
Irish Moss
Safale US-05 yeast
Method
1. Bring water to 70°C and mash grains in the bag for 60 minutes
2. Increase the temperature to 75°C for 10 minutes before
removing the bag
3. Place the bag in a second kettle (or very large pot) and pour
75°C water through the bag. Pour this liquid into your kettle.
Bring to the boil for 90 minutes, adding the 30g of EKG hops
with 60 minutes remaining in the boil
4. With 10 minutes remaining, add 10g of EKG hops and the Irish
Moss
5. Whirlpool for 10 minutes then chill to 20°C
6. Transfer wort to the fermenter and pitch the yeast
7. Ferment at 18°C for 7-10 days and confirm the ferment is
completed by checking gravity is stable over consecutive days

SUMMER 2017/18  71
SESSION ALES
Steady As
She Goes
CRAFT BEER AND LOWER ALCOHOL PERCENTAGES HAVEN’T TRADITIONALLY BEEN A
NATURAL PAIRING – BUT WITH THE RISE OF THE SESSION ALE, THERE ARE MORE OPTIONS
THAN EVER FOR THE DISCERNING BEER DRINKER, WRITES TAM ALLENBY
M
id-strength beers
have been a part of
the beer landscape in
Australia for years,
and according to the
ALSA-IRI State of
the Industry Report released in March, they
were the second fastest growing segment
in the liquor market in 2016. However, it’s
only in recent times that Australian craft
brewers have also released mid-strength
(or thereabouts) ‘session beers’ that also
incorporate the craft world’s dedication
to flavour. But what actually constitutes a
session beer?
In Session Beers: Brewing for Flavor (sic) and
Balance, author Jennifer Talley writes that
the term ‘session beer’ is a modern one that
has only been in circulation in America since
1982. However, session beers themselves – as
defined by their alcohol percentage that must
not exceed five per cent ABV – have been
produced for hundreds of years. What makes
session beers different is the fact that they’re
not a separate style in and of themselves –
like, say, an IPA or a porter.
“Many folks will continue to argue the
exact amount of alcohol that can exist in a
beer termed a session beer,” writes Talley.
“What is indisputably not up for debate is
that session beer must be enjoyable to drink
multiple pints of in a single sitting and
be relatively low in alcohol. In addition, it
must be unequivocally made of high-quality
72  www.beerandbrewer.com
ingredients; low alcohol alone does not make
a session beer.”
Paving the way for the session beer style
in the US were beers such as the Founders All
Day IPA, Lagunitas DayTime Ale, and Oskar
Blues Pinner Throwback IPA, but it’s only in
the last couple of years here in Australia that
the term has entered the average craft beer
drinker’s vocabulary.
DOWN UNDER
Bridge Road Brewers’ Ben Kraus was one
of the first in Australia to brew a beer that
fits the parameters of the session category,
releasing Little Bling mid-strength IPA in
early 2015.
“The idea behind Little Bling was to
offer a mid-strength option, at around
one standard drink per bottle, that could
provide an experience [so] that we as beer
lovers wouldn’t feel like we were missing
out,” Kraus explains. “We wanted to create
something that we were excited to drink and
enjoy rather than have as a compromise.
“Obviously moderation in drinking
in Australia is a macro trend, along with
health and wellbeing. I think within the
craft beer market in which we operate there
was a strong need for craft, mid-strength
alternatives. The macro-brewers options
have not at all been interesting options, and
have no appeal to a consumer who enjoys new
experiences and flavour driven beers.”
However, as Kraus explains, retaining a full
flavour profile when brewing a beer with lower
alcohol percentage can be a bit of a headache.
“The obvious challenge in making a full-
flavoured, mid-strength beer is retaining
body in the flavour profile. Without giving
too much away we really focus heavily on the
blend of specialty malts we use, combined
with high mashing temps in order to leave us
with a high final gravity to provide the body
in Little Bling.”
A GROWING SEGMENT?
“There has really seemed to be a constant
increase of lower alcohol session beers over
the last two years which I think consumers
have really started to get behind,” Richard
Kelsey from Beer Cartel told Beer & Brewer.
“There are a few reasons behind this: lower
alcohol beers mean you can enjoy more than a
couple in a night and still feel great the next day
– this has always been a reason why XXXX Gold
is such a great seller in mainstream beer. Aside
from that, session beers are also cheaper when
you consider the unfavourable taxes that are
applied based on the alcohol strength of a beer.
“Plus, brewers have learnt more about the
art of brewing session beers that are lower
in alcohol but still have lots of flavour. Three
great examples are Bridge Road Little Bling,
Pirate Life Throwback IPA and Mornington
Hop Culture Session IPA. For each of these
beers we have seen strong sales in our store,
and are often requested by customers who
want a lower alcohol alternative.”

However, The Oak Barrel’s Ian Chainey
presents an interesting (and differing)
opinion, saying that ‘session’ as a term
is detrimental to the actual product that
brewers are proucing.
“I’ve never had one person coming
to me saying, ‘what’s your best session
IPA?’ Nobody asks for it, but they feel
that they have to… it’s the suppliers or
the breweries feeling that they have to
put something on the product to say hey,
this is something that you can drink more
than one of, because normally craft beers
are that high in alcohol percentage, that’s
why they’ve come up with the term – but
to me it downgrades the craft.
“It’s a marketing thing, they’re trying to
distinguish their product and trying to say
hey, this is a lower alcohol, easier drinking
style or whatever. But you never have
customers coming into the store physically
asking for session IPAs.”
BIG BREWERIES JUMP ON
Taking notice of the growing session beer
trend in the craft space, it’s not only the
smaller breweries who have released
session beers in recent times; in 2017,
Coopers, James Squire and Cricketers
Arms all jumped on the session beer train.
The most recent to do so was Coopers,
who released its Session Ale in October.
Brewed as a refreshing, summer-style
beer with tropical fruit notes and an
aromatic hop character – thanks to the
addition of Galaxy and Melba hop varieties
into the brew – Cam Pearce, Coopers’
National Sales and Marketing Director,
said the Session Ale fills a niche in
Coopers’ range.
“Session Ale is brewed using Coopers’
traditional secondary fermentation
process that eliminates the need
for additives or preservatives. Being
secondary fermented, the beer will also
have the slightly cloudy appearance of our
unique traditional ales.  • Mikkeller Green Gold Gluten Reduced
“The hops have been added late in the
brewing process for bitterness and then
dry hopped to extract flavour and aroma.
This gives a moderate level of after-palate
dry-hopped bitterness to balance the
estery flavours produced by the famous
Coopers Ale yeast.”
Already popular with punters, don’t be
surprised if the distinctive blue rondel –
designed as an obvious and distinct member
of the Coopers family alongside Sparkling
SESSION ALES
Gluten Free
A growing trend in the wider food and beverage
market in recent years has been gluten free
products – a phenomenon that has started
to spill over into the beer world. According to
Ian Chainey from the Oak Barrel, one growing
segment in his store is gluten-free beers. “A lot
of people are interested in gluten free but the
problem is, it’s a very hard beer to make,” he told
Beer & Brewer. “There’s a couple of them on the
Australian market and we carry them, and one of
them is particularly good – I won’t mention labels
– but one’s a particularly good beer, and actually
tastes like beer. It’s definitely an expanding
market and it’s a regular question on the floor.”
Low to no-gluten options:
• To Ol Reparationsbajer Gluten Reduced
• Glutenberg Gluten Free India Pale Ale,
White, Blonde
• Wilde Gluten Free Pale Ale
• BentSpoke Gluten Friendly Ginger Beer
• O’Brien Gluten Free Lager 3.5, Premium Lager
and Pale Ale
• Green’s Naturally Gluten Free Grand India
Pale Ale
• Vonu Export Pure Lager
SUMMER 2017/18  73
SESSION ALES

Session Brewing
Little Bling on tap alongside Bling
If you’re a homebrewer looking to start brewing some session beers yourself,
IPA at the Bridge Road brewpub look no further than Session Beers: Brewing for Flavor and Balance. The book’s
author Jennifer Talley shares her knowledge and experience from a 27 year career
in the brewing industry, exploring the history behind some of the world’s great
Ale and Pale Ale – becomes as familiar a sight as its red session beers, the brewing processes and ingredients needed to master recipe
and green cousins in watering holes around the country. development, and provides 24 popular session beer recipes from the likes of Stone
James Squire’s Cabin Fever Session IPA fills a similar Brewing, Russian River Brewing and Allagash Brewing Company. If that sounds like
niche; at the time of the beer’s release, Malt Shovel your cup of session ale, you can purchase a copy from BrewersPublications.com
Brewer Chris Sheehan, said: “We’ve been hearing for a
while that hop-lovers are asking for a more modern IPA Cricketers Arms
Session Ale cans
from James Squire. That’s why we’ve introduced James
Squire Cabin Fever – an American style session IPA.
The beer’s initial malt sweetness gives way to a vibrant
tropical hop hit and a clean finish that will leave you
craving more.”
Richard Hollingworth, National Technical Manager
at Asahi, worked closely with Master Brewer Dermot
O’Donnell and Cricketers Arms Brewer Hamish McArthur
to brew the Cricketers Arms Session Ale. He says that the
growing popularity of this kind of beer goes beyond being
able to “drink two and still be able to drive”.
“I think we’re going through a bit of a revolution in
beer drinking where we’ve explored the high alcohol,
high bitterness IPAs, which aren’t to everybody’s taste
and quite often aren’t very sessionable – you can have
one or two but might find it harder to drink a six-pack.
“So I think there’s a general moved to a more
sessionable, 3.5 per cent level of alcohol – and the task
for us has really been to match the flavour with the
lower alcohol and to get that balanced.”
With a range of options to choose from – whether it
be from the smallest independent brewery to the larger
commercial operations – there’s never been a better
time for a session.

74  www.beerandbrewer.com
 SESSION ALES

Aussie Session Bridge Rd Brewers’

Beer Hit List: Ben Kraus

Pirate Life
Throwback IPA
Bridge Road Brewers
Little Bling IPA
Nomad Brewing
Easy As IPA
Modus Operandi
Session IPA
Colonial Brewing Co
Small Ale
Australian Brewery All
Star Session IPA
Stone & Wood Garden Ale
Mornington Peninsula Hop
Culture Session IPA
Mismatch Brewing Co
Session Ale
Newstead 3 Quarter Time
Session Ale
Dainton Extra
Coopers’ new Session Session Ale
Ale rondel

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TRAVEL
A Craft Beer L ver’s
Guide to New Zealand
NEW ZEALAND’S BEER SCENE
HAS UNDERGONE A DRAMATIC
TRANSFORMATION IN RECENT YEARS,
AS JOHN OSZAJCA REPORTS
N
ew Zealand’s first beer
was brewed in 1773 by
none other than Captain
James Cook, when he
arrived in the South
Island’s ‘Dusky Sound’.
Always concerned about the risk of scurvy,
one of his first orders of business was to brew
up a batch of ‘spruce beer’. Short on spruce,
it is believed that they relied mostly on Rimu
and a few other species of Dacryds to lend
bitterness and antiscorbutic properties to
the beer. They then infused this makeshift
‘spruce tea’ with molasses, pitched some
yeast they had on board their ship, and soon
they had produced a beer that was by all
accounts, well… palatable.
It’s safe to say that New Zealand beer has
come a long way since Captain Cook’s first
experimental brew on those distant South
Island shores. While New Zealand’s beer
landscape has historically been dominated
by a uniquely Kiwi (though arguably
unexciting) style of amber lager, known as
New Zealand Draught, recent years have
seen New Zealand’s beer scene undergo a
dramatic transformation. This is not only
due to the overwhelming number of craft
beer companies that have emerged over the
last few years, but also due to the reputation
76  www.beerandbrewer.com
that has been bestowed upon the country for
it’s unique – and much sought after – hop
varieties, such as Nelson Sauvin, Riwaka and
Motueka, among others.
For a nation with a reputation as being
tiny, planning a Beercation in New Zealand
represents a few more challenges than one
might expect. To begin with, the country just
isn’t that small. New Zealand is long and
narrow. It is separated into two main islands
and hundreds of smaller ones, with many
remote and meandering roads and ferries
stringing the country together. None of this
is to say that there is not much to see, do, and
sample, but it is simply to point out that to
experience all that New Zealand has to offer
is not as straight forward as it might seem.
THE BEER
Before discussing a potential itinerary, it’s
worth mentioning the styles of beer that
New Zealand is best known for, as well as a
few styles on the rise. Prior to New Zealand’s
recent craft beer renaissance, the country was
(and still is to a large extent) dominated by
the aforementioned New Zealand Draught, a
malty amber lager that was largely the result
of a uniquely Kiwi brewing process known as
‘continuous fermentation’. Examples of this
classic New Zealand style are DB Draught, Lion
Red, and, despite its ale-centric nomenclature,
Speights Gold Medal Ale. While these (and
other) mainstream lagers do represent the
vast majority of what is being consumed in
New Zealand, it is New Zealand’s craft beer
that is making headlines and earning it a
reputation as a world class beer destination.
With Nelson being the sole growing area
of some of the more in-demand hops in
the world, it should be no surprise that New
Zealand breweries tend to excel at brewing
IPAs. While many brewers embrace the unique
(often tropical) qualities of New Zealand hops,
others find them to be too intense on their
own, and instead choose to use them as accent
hops. Still others prefer to emulate classic
American West Coast (and more recently
East Coast) IPAs and omit them altogether.
While there are many delicious IPAs to
choose from, a few must-try examples would
be Liberty Brewing Company’s The Kush
(Winner of the 2017 West Coast Challenge), 8
Wired’s Hopwired (one of the first IPAs made
exclusively with NZ hops), and Epic Brewing
Company’s Armageddon IPA (New Zealand’s
most awarded beer).
However, it is the emerging style known
simply as New Zealand Pilsner that seems
to be gaining recognition as New Zealand’s
contribution to the global pantheon of

unique beer styles. The New
Zealand Pilsner is similar to a
German Pilsner, though it tends to
be softer, maltier, and it showcases
the tropical, citrusy, often white
wine-like character of New
Zealand hop varieties. The style
was largely defined by Emerson’s
NZ Pilsner in the mid-1990s, but
has since expanded in character
as many new breweries now brew
their own versions of the style,
using the ever expanding varieties
of New Zealand hops.
BEER DESTINATIONS
With somewhere in the
neighbourhood of 160 brewing
companies currently operating
in New Zealand – a few with
more than a century’s worth of
history behind them – there are
no shortage of breweries to visit
and tasty beers to sample when
traveling throughout the country.
However, there are a few standout
beer destinations worth adding to
any beer-centric itinerary. Here
they are from North to South…
NORTHLAND
New Zealand’s first brewery
was founded by Joel Polack in
Kororareka (Now Russell). The
brewery was destroyed in 1845
when the town was attacked by
Hōne Heke, but one can still visit
the nearby Duke of Marlborough
Hotel (New Zealand’s first licensed
bar and restaurant). While there,
you can order a pint of New Zealand
Pilsner from Kainui Brew Co, a
small farmhouse brewery located in
the nearby town of Kerikeri.
As you make your way south,
a stop in Waipu to visit Mcleod’s
Brewery and Pizza Barn is a must.
This surf-happy historical Scottish
settlement is the proud home of
what is currently Northland’s only
brewpub. Mcleod’s recently took
home the trophy for New Zealand’s
‘Best International Lager’ with
their ‘Longboard Lager’, as well
as a number of other medals for
their wide range of beer styles,
ranging from Hoppy IPAs to funky
sour beers coming out of their
burgeoning barrel program.
TRAVEL
AUCKLAND
Not long before you hit Auckland it’s
worth veering off course to explore
the Warkworth and Matakana area.
Warkworth’s 8 Wired Brewing
New Zealand’s
Best In Class
Company is New Zealand’s highest
rated brewery on the popular beer
for 2017
review site Ratebeer.com, and they
boast the largest barrel program
in the Southern Hemisphere. They
International Lager:
are not open to the public for tours Longboarder Lager
or tastings, but you never know from McLeod’s
where a friendly phone call might Brewery
lead. Be sure to try their iStout (New New Zealand Lager:
Zealand’s highest rated beer on Dry Hopped Pilsner,
Ratebeer.com), or any of their highly from Eagle Brewing
regarded sour beers. If nothing British Ale: Speight’s
else, take a quick trip around the 5 Malt Old Dark,
corner to the craft beer bar Tahi Bar from Lion Beverage
Company
where you are almost certain to find
several of 8 Wired’s beers on tap. European Ale: Tripel
Barrel, from Tuatara
Head a few minutes east, into the
Brewing Co
midst of Matakana wine country,
where you’ll find the beautiful (and
US Ale: Clifford, from
Brave Brewing Co
award winning) Sawmill Brewery,
restaurant, and tasting room. At Pale Ale: Aotearoa
Pale Ale, Tuatara
any given time it’s likely you’ll find
Brewing Co
more than a dozen beers on tap,
Strong Pale Ale:
including beers from their core
ApeHanger IPA, from
Bootleg Brewery
Stout & Porter:
Baltic Porter, from
Sawmill Brewery
Wheat & Other
Grain: Sawmill\Good
George Weizenbock,
from Sawmill Brewery
Flavoured: Cabbages
& Kings, from Garage
Project Brewery
Specialty,
Experimental, Aged,
Barrel & Wood-Aged:
Prohibition, from
Liberty Brewing
Company
Cider or Perry:
Isaac’s Cider Original,
from Lion Brewing
Company
Fruit or Flavoured
Cider or Perry: Apple
Crumble Cider, from
Zeffer Cider Co
Pete Gillespie and Jos Ruffell
from Garage Project, which
was recently named New
Zealand’s Champion Brewery
SUMMER 2017/18  77
TRAVEL
range (such as their gold medal-winning
Weizenbock and IPA) or one of their
regularly released seasonals.
Once in Auckland, there is much
for craft beer fans to see and do. Brew
pubs worth visiting include Galbraith’s
Ale House (an English-style brewpub),
Dr Rudi’s Rooftop Brewing Company,
Hallertau Brewery & Biergarten, and the
historic Shakespeare Brewpub and Hotel
(originally established in 1898). Brothers
Beer is also a noteworthy brewpub and
bottle shop (regularly stocked with more
than 200 different bottles of craft beer),
and Vulture’s Lane, arguably the city’s
pre-eminent craft beer bar.
TARANAKI
There are a few notable stops worth
making as you travel south towards the
bottom of the South Island. The first
would have to be Mike’s Brewery in
the rural town of Urenui, located in the
Taranaki region. Mike’s Brewery is New
Zealand’s oldest continuously operated
craft brewery. The family run brewery’s
focus has always been on using organic
ingredients and being environmentally
conscious. When visiting their tasting
room and cafe, be sure to try Mike’s Mild
Ale, a traditional English Dark Mild that
was first produced back in 1989 when the
company was founded, and which they
continue to brew to this day.
78  www.beerandbrewer.com
The McLeod’s Team Garage Project’s,
Chateau Aro is a dark
ale, conditioned on pinot
noir grapes, then aged
in French Oak Barrels
WELLINGTON
While Nelsonians might beg to differ,
it’s become fairly well accepted that
Wellington is the craft beer capital
of New Zealand. With new breweries
and brew pubs opening all the time,
this trendy North Island city is home
to more breweries than one can even
keep track of. A few breweries to visit
while in the city are Fork and Brewer,
Choice Bros, and Parrot Dog; each with
its own brewpub or tasting room. But
the brewery not to be missed while
visiting Wellington would have to be
Garage Project. Recently named ‘New
Zealand’s Champion Brewer’, Garage
Project has made a name for themselves
by producing an enormous array of
unusual lagers and ales. You can visit
their tap room or cellar door and sample
off-centred beers such as their Beyond
the Pale – B Carotene (a carrot, orange,
and ginger infused pale ale), or The
Aardvark (a sour beer aged on…. gulp….
lemongrass ants). And not to worry, they
produce a number of highly regarded
beer-flavoured beers to boot.
For those keen to travel a little
further out of the CBD, the Upper
Hutt has become home to a number
of breweries and brew pubs including
Kereru, Boneface, Panhead, and Te
Aro, all located in close proximity to “Cookies and Cream” from Garage Project. One of
one another. Still a little further afield their show stoppers at last year’s Beervana Festival

Gailbraiths Alehouse beer taps, Auckland
is the Tuatara Brewing Company (last year’s
Champion Brewery), which is located in
Paraparaumu. Or, if you prefer to try as many
of New Zealand’s finest beers as possible in one
location, then be sure to visit Hashigo Zake and
the Malt House, two of the finest craft beer bars
the country has to offer.
NELSON
After taking a three hour ferry ride from
Wellington to Picton, you’ll find yourself at
the top of the vast, but famously picturesque,
South Island. From here, any self-respecting
beer fan should know to head straight to
Nelson, New Zealand’s sole hop growing region
and home to some of New Zealand’s oldest and
most iconic brewing companies.
Noteworthy craft breweries to visit in the
broader Nelson area would be Hop Federation,
Golden Bear Brewery, the Mussel Inn,
McCashin’s Brewery, or any of the Sprig and
Fern brew pubs located throughout the region.
If you are lucky enough to visit Nelson in
March, you’ll certainly want to attend March
Fest, an annual beer festival that coincides with
New Zealand’s hop harvest.
CHRISTCHURCH
In the wake of the devastating 2011 earthquake,
Christchurch has emerged as a city with a
vibrant (and rapidly growing) craft beer scene.
Plan to visit Harrington’s, Wigram, Three Boys,
Twisted Hop, and Eagle Brewing Company, just
to name a few.
WANAKA
Approximately one hour outside of
Queenstown, this tiny South Island town is
said to be home to more breweries per capita
than anywhere else in New Zealand. Both
Wanaka Beerworks and Rhyme and Reason
8 Wired Brewing Company
boasts the largest
barrel program in the
Southern Hemisphere
Brewery are worth visiting, but also be sure
to look out for B.Effect Brewing Company.
B.Effect is an up and coming brewing company
who recently won a Gold medal for their
Pop’n Pils NZ Pilsner and who has received
attention for the use of wine yeast in many
of their beers; a nod to the wine country that
surrounds them.
OAMARU
While not exactly the beer mecca of New
Zealand, Oamaru makes the list because
it is home to one of the most idiosyncratic
breweries in New Zealand. Craftwork Brewery
is a tiny basement brewery that specialises
in brewing hand crafted, Belgian-style ales.
Lee-Ann Scotti and Michael O’Brien brew on
a tiny 50L brewing system, age many of their
beers in wine barrels, and produce some of
their sour beers by hand-bucketing wort into
their tiny coolship that resides in Lee-Ann’s
garden. Craftwork epitomises the romantic
image that many have of a craft brewery and
they are worth seeking out when traveling
through the south Island. They don’t offer any
official tours or have a tasting room, but they
are friendly people, always willing to welcome
a curious craft beer fan traveling through.
INVERCARGILL
The last and southern most stop on this
amazing craft beer journey is Invercargill
Brewing Company. The brewery began as a
hobby shared between father and son, but soon
grew into the successful (and much-loved)
brewery that it is today. They offer brewery
tours or you can visit their cellar door. Be sure
to try their popular Stanley Green Pale Ale
(named after the founder’s grandfather, Lance
Corporal Stanley Green) and their Pitch Black
Stout a classic Kiwi black ale.
TRAVEL
Other Places to Visit
If you are not in a rush to make your
way to Nelson the moment you step
off the ferry then you might also
consider taking a look around the
Marlborough Region, located at the
northeastern tip of the South Island.
While Marlborough is primarily known
for producing some of New Zealand’s
best wines, it also happens to be home
to two of the country’s most highly
regarded craft breweries: Moa and
Renaissance Brewing Company.
Moa Brewing Company was founded
in 2003 by Josh Scott, the son of
winemaker Allan Scott. In 2007, Scott
hired David Nicholls (ex-Heineken
head brewer) and the brewery has
made waves with both their core
range (Original Lager, Session Pale
Ale) as well as their more recent sour
beer series.
You can visit their cellar door at
258 Jacksons Road in Blenheim, but
finding them in bars, restaurants, and
bottle shops won’t be difficult as they
are one of the more widely distributed
craft beers in New Zealand.
Another Marlborough Brewery worth
mentioning is Renaissance Brewing
Company. Renaissance is not only the
2013 New Zealand Champion Brewery,
they are also a brewery that employed
and trained a number of brewers
that would go on to become some
of New Zealand’s finest, including 8
Wired’s Søren Eriksen, Mcleod’s Jason
Bathgate, and BoneFace Brewing
Company’s Matt Dainty.
While they don’t have a brewpub or
cellar door that you can visit, their beer
is widely available in the region and
elsewhere across New Zealand. Beers
to watch for might be their Stonecutter
Scotch Ale, and their Elemental Porter
(once rated the 15th best Porter in the
world by Ratebeer.com).
Another stop worth trying to fit into
your beer tour of New Zealand is
Emerson’s Brewery located in the
Southern city of Dunedin. While the
brewery was purchased by Lion in
2012 (arguably losing some of its
independent charm), the brewery
remains a quintessentially classic
New Zealand Brewing Company, who’s
founder, Richard Emerson, is an iconic
figure on the country’s craft beer
scene. Visit the brewery for tours and
tastings at 70 Anzac Ave, in Dunedin.
SUMMER 2017/18  79
ENTERTAINING – FOOD

BOWLED
OVER
THE LEGENDARY MERV HUGHES, BEERS AND BARBECUED
MEATS ARE A SUMMER MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

L
arrikin fast bowler and Australian sporting legend Merv Hughes
cooks up a collection of his most wanted barbecue recipes along with
a side of cricket anecdotes and beer adventures in his new cookbook,
BBQ Beer & B.S.: Food to Bowl You Over.
“The simple act of cooking steaks on the barbecue gives you a
good excuse to get outside, stand around, make some noise with the
tongs and enjoy a couple of beers,” says Hughes.
“Barbecues have come a long way since I was a boy growing up in Euroa
[Victoria]. I really don’t remember having too many steaks back then. We just used
to eat sausages and rissoles – and a lot of them – at our house in Apollo Bay.
“Ironically Dad didn’t like to barbecue so I didn’t pick up my love for barbequing
from him, although he did love to cook up some rissoles. They were quick, easy and
all you really needed was a loaf of fresh bread and tomato sauce. Old school all the
way. Mum’s contribution was the salads. Her specialty was coleslaw but we mostly
kept to the basics – lettuce and tomato. How times have changed!
“I picked up a few of my barbecue skills from my mates, but most blokes like me
are self-taught. It all comes down to experience. You learn from your mistakes and
you watch and you learn from others. All in all, as much as barbecuing has changed,
some things about getting outdoors and cooking meat will never change.”
So gather your team together and get grilling!

This is an edited extract

from BBQ Beer &
B.S.: Food to Bowl You
Over by Merv Hughes,
published by New Holland
Publishers. It’s available
from all good bookstores
or online (RRP $40)

80  www.beerandbrewer.com
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 ENTERTAINING – FOOD

BEER-MARINATED LAMB RACK

Serves 4-6 Place lamb in the marinade for at least 30 minutes at room
Ingredients temperature (1-2 hours would be better with the meat at room
1-3 racks (allow 3-4 chops per person) temperature for the last 30 minutes).

200ml pale ale, or your beer of choice Remove the racks from the marinade and pat dry with paper towel.

1 tablespoon brown sugar Grill the lamb rack, fat side down, for approximately 5 minutes
on a medium-high temperature with the lid open.
1 rosemary sprig
Turn the lamb rack over and cook for an additional 5 minutes
Salt, to season for medium-rare with the lid down. Cook for longer if you like
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper your lamb cooked more, or the racks you have are bigger.

Method Remove from the grill and rest for 5 minutes, then cut into
Combine the ale, sugar, rosemary and salt and pepper and mix individual chops. Serve immediately.
until the sugar is dissolved. Merv’s Tip: This recipe goes well with leafy or Greek salad

SUMMER 2017/18  81
ENTERTAINING – FOOD

BACON-WRAPPED SCALLOPS WITH SPICY MAYO

Serves 4-6 Method
Ingredients Cook the bacon on a barbecue flat plate so it is about half
12 streaky bacon strips cooked through, then leave to cool.

12 large sea scallops Wrap each scallop with a slice of bacon and secure it with
a toothpick or short skewer. Squeeze over the lemon and
½ teaspoon garlic powder garlic powder, then season with salt and pepper.
Salt and pepper, to taste Cook the bacon on a hot barbecue grill until it is sizzling
Lemon wedges, to serve and the scallops are opaque.

Spicy Mayo: Meanwhile, make the spicy seafood sauce. Mix together the
mayonnaise, tomato sauce, hot sauce and lemon juice in a
60g mayonnaise
bowl. Refrigerate until needed.
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
Serve the scallops while still warm with lemon wedges and
1 tablespoon hot sauce spicy mayo.
2 lemons (juice of half a lemon for the sauce and half to
squeeze on before cooking)

82  www.beerandbrewer.com
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 ENTERTAINING – FOOD

BLUE-CHEESE STUFFED HAMBURGER

Serves 5 Method
Ingredients Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
1 tablespoon butter Add the onion and garlic and sweat until golden.
Allow to cool.
1 brown onion, finely diced
Combine the mince, onion and garlic, salt, pepper,
1 garlic clove, crushed Worcestershire sauce, barbecue sauce, panko
1kg beef mince breadcrumbs and egg in a bowl. Mix by hand until
well mixed. Separate the mix into five equal balls.
½ teaspoon salt
Separate each ball again into two equal balls and
½ teaspoon cracked pepper
place a piece of blue cheese into the centre and
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce mould into a patty. Flatten and ensure each patty is
well sealed around the edges.
1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
Place the patties on a medium-high barbecue flat
30g panko breadcrumbs
plate and cook the patties for 3-4 minutes on each
1 egg side or done to your liking.
250g blue cheese (cut into five 20g slices) Spread the top half of the burger bun with aïoli or
5 soft burger buns of your choice, halved caramelised onion. Add the patty, then the lettuce
leaves and tomato.
1 baby cos lettuce
Serve hot (but make sure you warn everyone about
2–3 tomatoes, sliced the hot cheese filling).
Aïoli or caramelised onions, to serve

SUMMER 2017/18  83
THIS EDITION OUR TASTING PANEL FOCUSED ON
WHEAT BEERS, CIDERS, AS WELL AS THE LATEST

TASTING
RELEASES. HERE ARE THE RESULTS

the panel

Tina Bill Taylor Neal Cameron Justin Fox Michael Graham Ian Kingham
Panoutsos Head brewer for Coming from With more than a Capaldo Wright Ian has judged
Tina started Lion Nathan, Bill starting William decade of brewing Michael started his Graham has had a at the Australian
working for CUB Taylor has more Bull Brewery for across Australia on brewing career in full and varied life Craft Beer
in 1989 as a than 30 years’ De Bortoli Wines, kits ranging from WA before heading that has generally Awards, Royal
Quality Assurance experience in Neal Cameron 600 to 140,000 to NSW to become revolved around Perth Beer Show
Chemist. She brewing and the is currently litres, Justin has head brewer at alcohol. With a and Sydney Royal
currently holds beer industry. head brewer at recently joined the Sydney Brewery background in Beer Competition.
the position of An international The Australian Bintani family to in 2010. Since retailing, he’s He has also
CUB’s sensory beer judge, Bill is Brewery. He head their service, then, they have currently an completed
manager. Her a past president is a beer and sales, and product built a cidery, a auctioneer at courses in beer
focus is to of the Institute cider judge, development. He is brewery and now Oddbins Wine and food pairing
improve all of Brewing and a committee passionate about a packaging line. Auctions and and studied food
aspects of Distilling and a member for NSW helping brewers Michael has judged is a director of science at UWS
beer and cider founding member Brewers Guild innovate and AIBA four times, The Odd Whisky (with a major
education as well of the NSW and a regular develop technically CBIA three times Coy, Australia’s focus on brewing).
as support CUB Brewers Guild. contributor to as the industry and considers beer only specialist
brewing sites Beer & Brewer continues to grow. judging one of the importer of fine,
through improved Magazine. finer pleasures rare and hard-to-
sensory data. of life. find whiskies.

84  www.beerandbrewer.com

Capital Brewing
Coast Ale
4.3% ABV, 330ml
An American West Coast style
pale ale. Bright, pale gold in
colour, good head and lively
bead. Fresh and fruity style,
the hops are held in check, the
malt is gentle but there is little
bitterness. The length is good
and the weight is bordering on
light. Simple, direct and a jolly
good throw down and maybe
ideal for that fishing trip on a
lazy summer’s afternoon. A
second glass? Oh? Go on…
Style: California common ale
Glass: Pint
Food Match: Bucket of chips (by
the sea of course!)
Capitalbrewing.co
Newstead Brewing 21
Feet 7 Inches Porter
5% ABV, 375ml can
This is the porter you’ve
been looking for. Most times
we approach a beer with an
idealised version of it in our
head and of course are often
disappointed – this porter shows
all the chocolate malt richness,
creamy mouthfeel and balanced
astringent malt bite that this
style of beer should exhibit. It’s
been well conceived, well made
and well packaged. If you’re
looking for a classic example,
give this one a go.
Style: Porter
Glass: Straight-sided half pint
Food Match: Stir fry beef with
oyster sauce
Newsteadbrewing.com.au
Mismatch Brewing
Pale Ale
5% ABV, 375ml can
Nice clean design on these new
cans from Mismatch. There’s
a solid bitterness to this pale;
it’s nice and dry and extremely
drinkable. Very well balanced
malt and almost spicy backbone
that edges this beer a little
towards an English style pale
ale, but the citrus, stonefruit
and peach aromas keep one foot
firmly in the new world camp.
It would be hard to stop at just
the one when this beer is so
drinkable.
Style: Pale ale
Glass: Pint
Food Match: Flathead and chips
Mismatchbrewing.com.au
Batlow Cider Co
Oaked Pear and
Apple (OPA) Cider
4.8% ABV, 330ml
With two great ciders under
their belt, the new product into
the cart is a great display of the
juicy flavour of Batlow apples
and pears. Golden yellow in
colour with notes of poached
pear and cooked apples that
transition well into the palate
to provide a juicy, flavoursome
cider with a good balance and
acidity. A hint of pear skin
astringency rounds out the
sweeter apple flavours.  Glass: Tulip
Style: Apple & pear cider
Glass: Nonic
Food Match: Slow roasted
pork belly
Batlowcider.com.au
Prickly Moses
Farmhouse Ale
6.3% ABV, 330ml
An instantly aromatic brew
when poured, spicy yeast notes
lead toffee malt among drabs
of candied fruit. The caramel
nature of both malt and hop
dominate further on the palate,
pleasantly balancing some
alcohol warmth and further
spice that shows as white
pepper. The initial complexity
mellows out as the beer comes
together for an overall smooth
finish that delivers a hallmark
Belgian yeast profile among a
unique malt bill.
Style: French/Belgian
Farmhouse
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Roast Chicken
Pricklymoses.com.au
Wayward Brewing
Co. Sour Puss
3.8% ABV, 330ml
There’s no mistaking there was a
fair amount of raspberries used
in the making of this beer. Aside
from the blush pink hues and
soft foam, the raspberries come
through in the aroma but more
subtle on the palate. An initial
tartness provides a cleansing
and refreshing mouthfeel but it
stops a little short in the finish.
A good subtle version of the
style that is very easy to drink.
Style: Berliner Weisse
Food Match: As an aperitif
between courses
Waywardbrewing.com.au
TASTING
Feral White
4.5% ABV, 330ml
This classic Australian Belgian
white lives up to Feral’s notoriety
for quality and character. The
head doesn’t linger the entire
glass, but the subtle banana
and apple notes on the nose
complement the fabulous
orange and herb flavour. A
unique and bold representation
of the style.
Style: Witbier
Glass: Hexagonal pint
Food Match: Moules-frites
Feralbrewing.com.au
Australian Brewery
& Bucket Boys If You
Like Piña Colada
6.7% ABV, 375ml can
Pours nice and cloudy as
any self-respecting NEIPA
should. Fruit bowl aromas
(pineapple, passionfruit, and
other associated tropical fruits)
that recall summer days at the
beach, almost like ripping open
a Splice ice cream, start you off.
The addition of lactose into the
brew lends the beer a beautiful
and rounded creamy twist as
you sip, while hints of coconut
and vanilla add a sweet edge. As
the name suggests, all that’s left
is to get caught in the rain…
Style: New England IPA w/
added milkshake
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Splice ice cream
Australianbrewery.com
SUMMER 2017/18  85
TASTING
Casey’s Brewery
Lounge Pale Golden Ale
4.8% ABV, 330ml
Pale gold in colour, good head,
lazy bead and you can smell
the fresh hops, crisp malt and
a degree of fruitiness. Taking a
sip: soft and gentle, good length
with moderate richness, sweet
maltiness then the fruity hops
kick in (Sarz & Ella we find out
later) with a good degree of
bitterness at the end. And that
sweet malt just hangs around.
It is declared on the bottle as
inspired by a pilsener style, but
it just seems a tad rich for me;
still, overall it’s highly enjoyable.
Style: Golden ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Vietnamese sour
beef salad
Caseysbeer.com.au
Willie Smiths
Traditional Cider
Apple Blend
5.4% ABV, 750ml
The concept of Willie Smiths
cider all those years ago was to
produce a cider for people that
well, didn’t really like cider. They
achieved it in spades and have
done marvellously well ever
since. With their own orchards in
the Huon Valley, they’ve planted
some heritage cider apples that
have been included in this cider.
It’s rich, its apple-y, lightly acidic
with a depth of flavour that many
dessert apple ciders struggle to
hit. Drink it by the pint.
Style: Cider
Glass: Pint
Food Match: Pork fillet with
mustard mash
Williesmiths.com.au
86  www.beerandbrewer.com
Newstead Out and
a Bout Pale Ale
5.2% ABV, 375ml can
The Newstead pale proclaims
itself to reside at the punchier
end of the spectrum and it
certainly delivers an early hit
of orange led citrus. Bright
golden with a clean, white (yet
short lived) foam, the beer
delivers snippets of the full
American hop profile with pine
notes, grapefruit and pineapple
among plenty more citrus. The
malt backbone is appropriately
sweet to carry strong grassy
dry hop notes and an assertive
bitterness that throws a punch
you’ll remember for a while.  Style: German hefeweizen
Style: American pale ale
Glass: Snifter
Food Match: Summer barbecue
Newsteadbrewing.com.au
Bridge Road Brewers
Single Hop IPA
Series – Galaxy
4.8% ABV, 330ml
A wonderful orange hue greets
the eyes just before the fruity
joy of Galaxy hops greet you
at the nose. This single hop
beer showcases the beauty and
versatility of the Galaxy hop, as
its use in bittering, flavour and
aroma are evident and profound.
A wonderful example of a single
hop beer.
Style: India pale ale
Glass: Glass tankard
Food Match: Beef brisket and
coleslaw
Bridgeroadbrewers.com.au
Red Hill Wheat Beer
5% ABV, 330ml
A classic German hefeweizen
at a great time of year to enjoy
it. Red Hill is one of the few
breweries that grows enough of
their own hops to utilise them
in their beers, their Tettnanger
featuring here. The beer pours
a hazy golden with a clean
white head. Banana and clove
aromatics dominate both the
nose and palate, as rightly
they should for the style. Zippy
carbonation works well with
plenty of fruity esters and a
slight tartness, resulting in a
refreshing and enjoyable Hefe.
Glass: Weizen
Food Match: Chicken
parmigiana
Redhillbrewery.com.au
Hargreaves Hill
Hefeweizen
4.9% ABV, 330ml
A good example of the German
style wheat beer with a creamy
white foam, pale golden colour
and slightly cloudy appearance.
Can’t mistake the fruity esters,
predominantly banana as would
be expected from this style
as well as a hint of cloves and
spice. The palate is clean and
delicate and a subtle bitterness
provides a refreshing finish.
Style: Hefeweizen
Glass: Weizen
Food Match: Mexican feast
Hargreaveshill.com.au
Hobo Brewing
Session Ale
4.2% ABV, 375ml can
A nice attempt at an ever
growing style with lovely apricot
and citrus fruit flavours, with
quite a rich mouthfeel for
the style. The palate is yeast
oriented with heavy carbonation
but the balance works well – this
is the perfect beer for a hot
summer’s day.
Style: Session ale
Glass: Shaker pint
Food Match: Crumbed lambs
brains with piquant sauce
Hobobrewing.com.au
Batlow Cloudy Cider
4.2% ABV, 375ml can
Pouring a pale straw with
a pleasant haze, the aroma
initially yields a clean fresh
green apple skin. It’s supported
with flashes of baked apple pie
that bring sweetness without
any sticky notes. The palate is
light, fresh and zippy, marrying
acid and tannin without any
mouth puckering twang. It’s a
quaffable cider that still delivers
substance and will serve you
well over the warmer months
ahead.
Style: Cloudy cider
Glass: Pint
Food Match: Pork snags
Batlowcider.com.au
Capital Brewing
Evil Eye Red IPA
6% ABV, 375ml can
Here’s another beer that is
profoundly competent at what
it does with the very concept of
a red IPA being embodied in the
can. It’s rich and rounded with a
healthy hop bitterness grappling
happily with the malt sugars. It’s
that whole thing about having
an idea of how a beer should
taste in your head, and well,
there it is in the glass.
Style: Red IPA
Glass: Schooner
Food Match: Sri Lankan curry
with basmati rice
Capitalbrewing.co
Bridge Road Brewers
Single Hop IPA
Series – Summer
4.8% ABV, 330ml
Bridge Road Brewers continues
to showcase the Australian hops
grown so close to their brewery
in this long running single hop
IPA series. Summer is the most
delicate of the line-up, sprouting
plenty of floral hop notes among
some soft melon. A delicate
grassy hop flavour integrates
with a pleasing bitterness that
gives the perception of an
English IPA brewed with noble
hops. With HPA pulling the plug
on future summer crops, get
into this one quick as it won’t be
back next year!
Style: India pale ale
Glass: Spiegelau IPA
Food Match: BBQ ribs
Bridgeroadbrewers.com.au
Matso’s The Angry
Ranga Chilli
Ginger Beer
3.5% ABV, 330ml
Not for the faint-hearted, this is
certainly a beer that lives up to
its name. Big ginger aroma that
follows through to the palate
with prickling ginger heat that
is backed up by the instant chilli
kick. She is an angry ranga,
that’s for sure. A mild bitterness
and cooling effervescence
provides some balance and a
soothing finish.
Style: Ginger beer
Glass: Nonic
Food Match: Grilled chicken or
beef skewers with a refreshing
salad
Matsos.com.au
White Rabbit White Ale
4.5% ABV, 330ml
A big sweetie. Pale honey white,
good bead, little head, good lift
of creamy malt with a soft tang
of lemon on the nose. On the
palate, moderate length and
effervescence, starts with loads
of creamily sweet malt with the
faintest hint of bitterness on the
end. Lingering sweet malt finish.
Sweet and simple.
Style: Witbier
Glass: Witbier glass
Food Match: Chilli prawns
Whiterabbitbeer.com.au
Casey’s Brewery
Night Black Ale
4.8% ABV, 330ml
Night pours beautifully with a
rich beige foam and deep dark
brown colour. The aroma is a
blend of caramelised toffee
and toasted malt with a hint
of charring. Malt driven on
the palate with a moderate
bitterness and slightly ashen
finish, some raisin and dark
chocolate characteristics come
through as the beer warms
slightly to round out the slight
burnt notes.
Style: English dark ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Eye fillet steak
Caseysbeer.com.au
John Boston The
Second Batch
Session IPA
4.2% ABV, 330ml
Pours a crystal clear deep gold
with a fair foam. The aroma
was led with crystal malt and
hints of toffee. Digging deeper
exposed some earthy and grassy
hop notes that placed this well
on the English side of the IPA
spectrum. The body blends a
quick tease of hop flavour with
short bursts of toffee malt
that all stand down too quickly,
leaving a medium-low bitterness
that lingers without support.     fruits and let’s not forget the
Style: Session IPA
Glass: Schooner
Food Match: Scotch fillet
Johnboston.com.au
Rekorderlig Hard
Apple Cider
6.5% ABV, 330ml can
This is the clearest presenting
cider you will ever see. Its
apple and apricot aroma notes
are slightly stewed and there
is a prevailing sweetness
that starts on the nose and
endures through to the retro
palate. It fits the style of cider
Rekorderlig has made a name
for themselves with – sweet yet
subversively tasty.
Style: Apple cider
Glass: Birrateque cider glass
Food Match: Cinnamon sugar
doughnuts
Rekorderlig.com/au
Burleigh Brewing
FIGJAM IPA
7% ABV, 330ml
There’s few brewers in the
country that have more technical
competence than Brennan Fielding
at Burleigh. When he heads for
a seven per cent and 70IBU beer
one should pay attention. This
is a big beer which has clearly
had plenty hops thrown at its
big alcohol and big body and
while there’s no clear winner in
the game, the heavyweight malt
might take it on points. Balanced
amounts of sugar, citrus, tropical
alcohol mix together to create a
pretty definitive American IPA.
Style: American IPA
Glass: Goblet
Food Match: Seared kangaroo
steak with chilli jam
Burleighbrewing.com.au
SUMMER 2017/18  87
TASTING
Young Henrys Summer
Hop Ale Seasonal IPA
6% ABV, 375ml can
Lightly hazy in colour, the
tropical citrus and stonefruit
aromas seem to jump out of the
glass as you pour the beer from
the appealing new can format.
Taking a sip, it’s super easy to
drink and goes down a treat –
somewhat dangerous given the
reasonable alcohol percentage.
‘Summer’ as a descriptor
seems apt; it’s juicy with a light
bitterness, refreshingly crisp
and dry.
Style: India pale ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: BBQ lamb ribs with
chimichurri
Younghenrys.com
Hargreaves Hill & Four
Pillars Gin Barrel Gose
4.7% ABV, 330ml
This collaboration sees Yarra
Valley stalwart Hargreaves
Hill partner with their distilling
neighbours, the team from Four
Pillars. Gin botanicals are infused
into a traditional Leipziger Gose,
bolstered with a short stint in used
gin oak barrels. The result is an
inspiringly fresh and enticing beer,
leading with spritzy acidity that
cuts through a barrage of floral,
herbal, citrus and spice notes.
Juniper pokes out as expected but
doesn’t dominate, allowing a hop
driven berry note to underpin the
botanicals. A delight!
Style: Gose
Glass: Stange
Food Match: Your favourite
meal
Hargreaveshill.com.au
88  www.beerandbrewer.com
Newstead Liquidambar
Amber Ale
5.2% ABV, 375ml can
This was a bit of surprise
packet as I didn’t quite know
what to expect. For a start the
colour was bordering on dark
red rather than amber, but the
head was good and retentive.
And then you smell it. What a
lift, fragrant fresh hops, crisp
maltiness with light roasted
notes. Very appealing. Tasting
it? Full, rich and malty, with
again, a hint of roasted barley
but balanced with fresh hoppy
bitterness. Great length and
weight, ending with a lingering
taste of toffee and nuts.
Style: Amber ale
Glass: Pint
Food Match: Sourdough with
fresh prosciutto
Newsteadbrewing.com.au
White Rabbit Pierre le
Popielno Blanc Cider
Vintage 2015 Release
7.1% ABV, 750ml
As if the incredible presentation
of the bottle wasn’t impressive
enough, this barrel aged cider is
a complex delight of aged yeast
character and apparent bottle
conditioning. The bead and aroma
are reminiscent of Champagne,
while the aroma relates to
traditional Normandy ciders of
once upon a time. Exquisite.
Style: Barrel aged cider
Glass: Champagne flute
Food Match: Steak tartare with
pommes gaufrettes
Whiterabbitbeer.com.au
Green Beacon 7 Bells
Passionfruit Gose
4.2% ABV, 375ml can
Taking a sniff, the passionfruit
really hits you in the face with
a delicious aroma. This follows
through to the palate with a
really vibrant passionfruit flavour
that finishes nice and tart, but
isn’t overly sour and with only
a subtle saltiness or brininess –
true to the Gose style, let’s just
say you’ll be wanting more than
one. Just so, so refreshing, and
perfect for a day by the pool – as
soon as the glass was empty, we
were thinking about pouring a
second can.
Style: Gose
Glass: Stange
Food Match: Grilled prawns
Greenbeacon.com.au
Prancing Pony Indie
Kid Pilsener
4.8% ABV, 330ml
This new pony in the stable
is yet another creative
interpretation of a beer
crafted with old and new world
ingredients and techniques.
True to an old world Pilsener
style beer, the aroma is subtle in
hop notes with a good balance
of malt character. Smooth on
the palate with an evident and
lingering bitterness that is
well rounded. The new world
hop character becomes more
apparent with each sip and a
slight resinous finish to the beer.
Style: Pilsener
Glass: Pilsener
Food Match: Beef burger with
onion rings
Prancingponybrewery.com.au
Prickly Moses Barking
Owl Dunkelweizen
5.8% ABV, 330ml
Aha! A dark wheat beer. You’ve
got our interest. Pouring it out,
it’s medium dark amber, and
shows a big head but couldn’t
see much of a bead. The nose
was a good mix of crisp, medium
dark roasted flavours with
that clean, but distinct grassy,
vegetal wheat note. Then the
taste: big, full palate, medium
weight and a spot on mix of
grassy wheat and roasted malt
flavours. And that roastiness
just lingers. Nice one.
Style: Dunkelweizen
Glass: Weizen glass
Food Match: Crab sandwiches
Pricklymoses.com.au
4 Pines Keller Door
Australian Double IPA
9.5% ABV, 500ml
Without taking the whole
thing too seriously, there’s a
philosophical problem with this
beer. At a very sizeable 9.5% it’s
fair impost on the liver and as a
result, one would be looking for
a concomitant flavour or hop hit
to make it all worthwhile. And
it’s not there; it is a relatively
easy drinking beer for its heft
and one can’t argue that it’s not
well-made. But a beer of this size
must be rounded in all things and
in this case the alcohol sticks out,
putting the bitterness and fruity
hop character into the shade.
Style: Double/Imperial IPA
Glass: Schooner
Food Match: Meat lovers pizza
with extra meat
4pinesbeer.com.au
Stone & Wood
Blair Hayden
Forefathers 2017
5.6% ABV, 500ml
A tribute to one of the
forefathers of the Australian
craft beer industry, Blair Hayden,
who opened the Lord Nelson in
The Rocks more than 30 years
ago. Fittingly, the beer is a tribute
to the English style pale ales that
made the brewery famous; spicy
and floral, it’s far more malt than
hop driven as you’d expect for
the style. A nice bitterness keeps
you coming back – another pint
please barman.
Style: English pale ale
Glass: Pint
Food Match: Pie with
mushy peas
Stoneandwood.com.au
Mountain Goat
Back To The Brewer
Double Steam Ale
7.3% ABV, 640ml
A riff on Mountain Goat’s famous
Steam Ale, Two Birds’ Jayne
Lewis, Hop Product Australia’s
Dave Edney, Goat Co-founder
Dave Bonighton and current Head
Brewer Ian Morgan collaborated
on this hazy, hoppy little number.
Bursting with tropical and
passionfruit aromas, the fruit salad
vibes continue to the palate, which
is backed by a subtle bitterness that
allows the tropical notes to shine
– reminiscent of a NEIPA. At 7.3
per cent ABV it’s also dangerously
drinkable, so be careful!
Style: Double steam ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: White fish ceviche
with fresh lime
Goatbeer.com.au
Bridge Road
Brewers Bling Bling
Imperial IPA
8.5% ABV, 330ml
Once poured, it is surprisingly dark
bordering on mahogany. And on
the nose: big hops! You really have
to dig for the malt, but once you get
past the hops, the nose is fresh and
zingy with a distinct hint of pine
needles. And the palate? One word:
massive. Rich, long and lingering
with a super mouthfeel as there are
just layers of flavour with alcohol
adding a line of sweetness. And
then you realise that the hoppiness
and bitterness are in there too.
And the lingering taste? Coffee
bitterness. This is good.
Style: Imperial IPA
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Cumberland
sausages and mash
Bridgeroadbrewers.com.au
Matso’s Hit the
Toad Lager
4.7% ABV, 330ml
Good foam, amber colour and
bright, everything you’d expect
from a lager. The aroma is subtle
with hints of hop notes and
slightly sweet malt character
upfront that builds slowly. A mild
bitterness rounds out the palate
and provides a refreshing finish,
although it’s quite full flavoured
for a light lager.
Style: Lager
Glass: Nonic
Food Match: Grilled prawns
Matsos.com.au
Batlow Cider Co
Premium Cider
5.2% ABV, 330ml
Pale gold, lively bead, no head
and somewhat surprisingly, the
gentle and comforting smell
of a baked apple pie. On the
palate, there’s that baked apple
character again along with the
pastry flavours. Clean and off-
dry in style.
Style: Apple cider
Glass: Pint
Food Match: Tarte Tatin
Batlowcider.com.au
Little Creatures Single
Batch Reinhold
6.5% ABV, 568ml
Pours a deep gold colour, with
caramel, fudge and toffee
aromas jumping out of the
glass. This sweetness follows
through to the palate which is
reminiscent of a Christmas fruit
cake, backed up by a nice and
bracing bitterness and malty
sweetness. Keep this one on
hand for a boozy Christmas
lunch – very festive.
Style: Sticke Altbier
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Christmas cake
Littlecreatures.com.au
Capital Brewing
Co Trail Pale Ale
4.7% ABV, 375ml can
A deceptively subtle aroma for
style quickly justifies itself with a
balanced hop flavour and aroma.
A good, sessionable interpretation
for style, this pale ale meets all
the criteria for a well-balanced
and easy drinking beer.
Style: Pale ale
Glass: Willi Becher
Food Match: Sichuan chilli
yabbies
Capitalbrewing.co
Newstead Brewing
Co 3 Quarter Time
Session Ale
3.45% ABV, 375ml can
A passionfruit sensation jumps
out of the glass and perforates
the senses. The head is thick and
lingers. The hop construction of
this beer is bold and balanced,
not very bitter but very tasty
and thirst quenching. A supreme
expression of style.
Style: Session ale
Glass: Stange
Food Match: Pomegranate and
radicchio salad with Parmigiano-
Reggiano shavings
Newsteadbrewing.com.au
SUMMER 2017/18  89
TASTING
BEER & BREWER CONSULTING EDITOR
IAN KINGHAM SHARES HIS NOTES ON
40 BEERS HE’S TASTED LATELY
Breakside
Passionfruit
Sour Ale
5% ABV, 625ml
The beer pours straw in
colour and has a light
lacy white head. Styled
on Berliner Weisse but
with much less pucker,
the aroma has strong
passionfruit notes and this
carries into the palate. The
balance of passionfruit
sweetness and the sour
ferment blend well and the
finish is exemplary to style.
Style: Sour ale
Glass: Champagne flute
Food Match: Pavlova
Breakside.com
Firestone Walker
Double Barrel
Ale Pale Ale
5% ABV, 355ml
Firestone Walker Brewery
was founded in 1996.
Having won gold medals
at the Great American
Beer Festival in 2011,
2012, 2015 and 2016,
Double Barrel Pale Ale is
considered a Californian
classic. Clear amber in
appearance with medium
white foam, DBA offers
the scent of caramel,
biscuit malt and nuts. The
taste has good earthy hop
bitterness, with caramel,
malt and brown sugary
notes.
Style: British pale ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Sourdough
Firestonebeer.com
90  www.beerandbrewer.com
Omission Brewing
Pale Ale
5.8% ABV, 355ml
Celiac friendly and gluten
reduced, Omission Pale
Sierra Nevada Ale has won gold medals
Kellerweis in 2016 at both the Great
4.8% ABV, 355ml Annual Beer and Cider
Sierra Nevada brewery Competition and the
was founded in 1979 Fourth Annual Gluten
by two budding home Free awards. Amber in
brewers who dreamed big. appearance with medium
This traditional German foam, Omission Pale has
Kellerweiss drinks well. a floral and fruity aroma
Gold in colour with a with caramel underlay,
firm white head, it offers which reflects through the
clove and banana notes palate. Light bodied with a
as well as some bready clean low bitter finish.
malt character. The palate Style: Pale ale
is clean and fresh, with a Glass: Tulip
hint of citrus. Food Match: Tuna steak
Style: Bavarian wheat Omissionbeer.com
Glass: Weizen
Food Match: Trout
Sierranevada.com
Mornington Hope Brewhouse
Peninsula IPA IPA
6.2% ABV, 330ml can 6.0% ABV, 375ml can
Mornington Peninsula Hope IPA is a big hop beer.
Brewery was established Pouring a rich orange-gold
in 2010, embracing the with a strong white head,
symbol for ‘Drinkable the aroma of orange and
Gold’ as their brand. Well marmalade emanates.
awarded beers and good Citrus, pine and tropical
distribution networks keep fruit tones are well
the Mornington Peninsula integrated through the
brewery busy. This IPA is palate and supported by
orange-gold in appearance a strong malt backbone,
and offers aroma of biscuit and with a hint of
orange and tangarillo. The caramel to soften. The
palate offers caramel and finish is resinous and
crystal malt notes well deeply bitter, without
integrated with resinous astringency and well
hops. The finish is respectful of its higher
cumquat bitter with some alcohol content.
pleasant lingering pine. Style: American IPA
Style: India pale ale Glass: Tulip
Glass: Tulip Food Match: Pork
Food Match: Wings medallions
Mpbrew.com.au Hopebrewhouse.com.au
Red Oak Organic
Pale Ale
4.6% ABV, 330ml
Made from certified
organic ingredients and
special London ale yeast,
Red Oak Pale Ale is amber
in appearance with good
white foam. The beer
offers light citrus notes on
approach and the subdued
earthy hops balance well
with the biscuity malt
palate. The finish is light
with some residual lemon
and pine. Clean and well
balanced. An excellent
well rounded beer suitable
for a broad range of food
matches.
Style: English pale ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Wood fired
pizza (organic of course)
Redoak.com.au
Coedo Shiro
Hefeweizen
5.5% ABV, 333ml
This Hefeweizen is a
curious interpretation
of style. Yellow-gold in
appearance with a light
lacy white head, the
aroma offers German
yeast notes, sweet wheat
malt and banana. The
palate is light with good
bready malt and hints of
spice and fruit. The finish
is dry and sweet for style.
A refreshing interpretation
of style and easy to drink.
Style: Hefeweizen
Glass: Weiss
Food Match: Sashimi
Coedobrewery.com
Arrogant
Bastard Bourbon
Barrel Aged
8.1% ABV, 330ml
Stone Brewing hit
prominence with their
Arrogant Bastard series
of beers. This Bourbon
rendition pours deep
bronze in colour with a
low, cream foam head. The
body is surprisingly low
in texture, but the light
ensemble of flavours is
well balanced, including
toasted malt, vanilla, and
stone fruits. The finish is
unmistakably Bourbon but
well integrated, and the
alcohol well masked.
Style: Barrel aged beer
Glass: Snifter
Food Match: Bourbon
soaked beef ribs
Arrogantbrewing.com
Wayward
Brewing Co. Sour
Puss Raspberry
Berliner Weisse
3.8% ABV, 330ml
Sour Puss pours a pretty
pink in the glass with a
low lacy head. The aroma
offers raspberry lolly
notes and some lactic
sourness. The palate is
medium bodied, with the
sourness well managed
for discerning drinkers.
The raspberry is tart and
sharp, and some light malt
notes are evident on the
palate. The finish is sharp,
sour and sweet.
Style: Berliner Weisse
Glass: Champagne flute
Food Match: Raspberry
tartlets
Wayward.com.au

The Wild Beer
Co Wild Goose
Chase Farmhouse
Pale Ale
4.5% ABV, 330ml
Lemon-ish in appearance
with a fine white and
wheaty head. The aroma
offers gooseberry, grape
skin, lemon and light malt
aromas. The palate is light
and refreshing with a nice
balance of malt, zest and
zing. White pepper notes
and a clever balance of
sour tartness adds to the
appeal. While the beer
finishes dry and semi-
sour, there is a distinct
beeriness too.
Style: Saison
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Farmhouse
cheeses
Wildbeerco.com
The Wild Beer
Co Pogo
4.1% ABV, 330ml
Pogo is ironically an
English brewery making
an American Style Pale
Ale (like reverse osmosis).
The beer pours hazy
golden orange with a
rocky white head. The
beer exudes passionfruit,
orange citrus and pine
which is replicated on
the palate. The body is
medium and the flavour of
tropical fruit, pine, grassy
hops and toasted malt
blends well. The finish is
resinous and complex.
Style: Fruit beer (pale ale)
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Pork loin
chops
Wildbeerco.com
Yenda Twist &
Choc Vanilla Stout
6.5% ABV, 330ml
Yenda Twist & Stout
is a winter seasonal
and heralds the 2015
gold medal winning
performance at the
Australian International
Beer Awards. The beer is
black in appearance with
a strong tan head. Aroma
of coffee bean and vanilla.
The palate offers rich body
accentuating chocolate,
roasted coffee and vanilla.
The finish offers a malt
medley with excellent
roasted malt bitterness.
Style: Stout
Glass: Chalice
Food Match: Coffee &
vanilla bean mousse
Australianbeerco.com.au
Benediktiner
Weissbier
5.4% ABV, 500ml
Benediktener is owned by
Bitburger and is brewed
in Lich, Essen, Germany
under the supervision
of Ettal monks. The beer
is a traditional German
style wheat, signified by
its rich cloudy orange
appearance, strong white
wheaty head and scent
of bananas and cloves.
Benediktiner also offers
raisins and apricot on the
aroma and through the
palate shows flashes of
honey and peach. The
finish is full and fruity with
some dryness to carry.
Style: Hefeweiss Style: Wild ale
Glass: Weiss
Food Match: Fruit pastries
Benediktiner-weissbier.de
Deschutes
Obsidian Stout
6.4% ABV, 355ml
Deep chocolate brown
in appearance with
a medium tan head.
Deschutes Obsidian offers
the smell of espresso
coffee, dark chocolate and
roasted malt. The palate
has good roast bitterness
balanced with flavours of
chocolate, slight caramel
and rich malt. The finish is
rich in malt with good late
hop bitterness to finish.
Style: Stout
Glass: Chalice
Food Match: Flame grilled
wings
Deschutesbrewery.com
Wildflower
Gold Australian
Wild Ale
5.0% ABV, 750ml
The appearance is a
cloudy, semi -opaque,
gold with low diminishing
foam. The aroma offers
complexity incorporating
pears and nectarines,
white pepper, lemon and
orange citrus, spices and
flowers. The palate is low
in carbonation offering a
savoury damp hay, and
bready malt blended
with pear, elderflower
and nectarine. The funk
and sour is excellent and
the light acidic finish a
compliment to the style.
Glass: Champagne flute
Food Match: Cheese plate
Wildflowerbeer.com
Bright Brewery
Hellfire Amber Ale
5.0% ABV, 330ml
Hellfire Amber Ale is an
English style brew and
pours orange-amber with
a strong white croppy
head. The aroma of nuts,
citrus and bready malt
is appealing. The palate
offers toasty, toffee
notes, caramel and the
finish is long and dry
with excellent earthy
bitterness.
Style: Amber ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Venison
Brightbrewery.com.au
Bright Brewery
Fainter’s Dubbel
8.5% ABV, 330ml
Fainter’s Dubbel is a big
beer with a big reputation.
The double fermented
brew is orange in
appearance and presents
with low foam. While the
palate offers traces of
dark fruits such as plums,
prunes, dates and raisins,
the body is considerably
light for style. A nice
spiciness carries in the
beer and although the
high alcohol does show a
little, the finish is pleasant
and malt lingering.
Style: Belgian Dubbel
Glass: Goblet
Food Match: Blue cheese
Brightbrewery.com
TASTING
Oude Geuze Boon
7.0% ABV, 375ml
Brewed in Lembeek,
Belgium, the original town
from which Lambic beers
get their name. Cloudy,
yellow gold appearance
with a dissipating white
head. Complex menagerie
of smells including horse
blanket, oak, cider, vinegar,
lemon-pepper and lime.
The palate is distinctly
sharp and offers touches
of lemon, leather and
wood. A sour finish with
low pucker.
Style: Lambic ale
Glass: Champagne flute
Food Match: Gnocchi
gorgonzola
Boon.be
Batch Elsie the
Milk Stout
4.5% ABV, 440ml can
Elsie the Milk Stout is now
conveniently packaged
in a 440ml can. Pouring
deep, dark brown in colour
with a firm white head.
The beer offers light roast
aroma and hints of coffee
and brown sugar. The
palate is smooth from
nitrogenation and has
good malty milk notes,
malt layering, caramel and
a snap of coffee bean. Mild
bitterness rounds out the
finish.
Style: Stout
Glass: Chalice
Food Match: Chocolate
mousse
Batchbrewingco.com.au
SUMMER 2017/18  91
TASTING
Black Brewing
Company
Black XPA
6% ABV, 330ml
For this XPA the ‘X’ is
meant to characterise
extra hops, alcohol and
malt carry. Rich amber
with red in appearance
and medium foam. The
aroma offers floral hop
notes and some biscuit
malt. On the palate the
alcohol is exceptionally
well held with toffee malt
and caramel balanced
by apricot and floral hop
notes. The finish is light
and lingering.
Style: Pale ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Rack of lamb
Blackbrewingco.com.au
Pirate Life x
Ballast Point
Strong Pale Ale
6% ABV, 355ml can
Both breweries are
synonymous with strong
style ale and marketing
reflective of the seas, so a
strong beer with nautical
expression is obvious. The
beer presents well with its
amber glow and medium
foam. Grapefruit, pine,
citrus and lime provide an
interesting hop nose. The
body is full, and the strong
hop and fruit additions are
carried well. The flavour
of pine and citrus carries
through the finish and the
alcohol is well held.
Style: Strong ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Indian curry
Piratelife.com.au
92  www.beerandbrewer.com
Lord Nelson 111
Seasonal Ale
5.4% ABV, 330ml
Although Lord Nelson has
a good stable of everyday
beers, this seasonal brew
has its own appeal. Cloudy
amber in appearance
with a medium foam.
Light caramel and hop
fruit esters. Medium
bodied, malty mouthfeel,
with good biscuit malt
and citrusy fruity hops.
Pleasantly bitter carry on
the finish.
Style: English India
pale ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Bangers
and mash
Lordnelsonbrewery.com
Mela Rossa Italian
Apple Cider
5% ABV, 330ml
Hailing from the Dolomite
region of Northern Italy,
Mela Rossa is a red apple
cider, well carbonated and
presenting opaque green
in colour. The aroma offers
pleasant caramelised
bruised apple notes.
The vinous character of
the cider compliments
savoury foods and
the apple offers a dry
tannic note. The palate
is medium in sweetness
and finishes semi dry.
Excellent balance and a
very good acid structure.
Style: Apple medium dry
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Lasagne
Festivalcitywines.com.au
Sierra Nevada
Beer Camp Golden
IPA (2017)
6.5% ABV, 355ml
Beer Camp 2017, a
collaborative brew, was
developed as the name
suggests, as a seasonal
2017 beer. Dull gold in
appearance with a strong
white head, Camp IPA
2017 has nice wheat malt
notes and traces of lemon,
and citrus peel on the
nose. The palate is light
and dry, with excellent
expressions of fruity hops
and citrus. The balance
is excellent and the finish
mild with a light lingering
bitter-sourness.
Style: India pale ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Lemon tart
Sierranevada.com
Valkyrie x
Raindogs Brewing
Co. Where Is My
Mind? Eisbock
8% ABV, 330ml
Raindogs Brewing is
based in Christchurch and
Valkyrie Brewing Company
is the beer child of Wendy
Roigard of NZ brewing
circles. This collaboration
yields an aroma of
molasses, autolysed
yeast, clove, spice, and
prune, combined with
intermittent hop notes.
The palate is richly
layered with toffee and
medium roasted malt, well
balanced by some fruit
hop notes to finish.
Style: Eisbock
Glass: Snifter
Food Match: Dark choc
Valkyriebeer.co.nz
Collins St Brewing
Co Urban Ale
4.5% ABV, 330ml
Bright gold in appearance
with a white foamy head.
The aroma offers lemon
and lime, green grape and
a distinct grapefruit note.
Light malt layering offers
excellent balance to the
clever blend of six hops.
The palate has tropical
fruit and lemon notes,
with a touch of orange
coming through. The finish
is prickly and slightly dry
with a white peppery
note. Low bitterness and a
clean palate promote the
sessionability of the beer.
Style: Golden ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Fresh prawns
Collinsstbrewing.com
Nail Brewing VPA
6.5% ABV, 375ml can
Owner/brewer of Nail,
John Stalwood has been
a national winner of
trophies and gold medals
across Australia and
across beer styles. This
very pale ale (VPA), pours
straw coloured in the glass
with a light lacy head.
The aroma offers orange,
pineapple and passionfruit
notes. The palate is clean,
and the expression of
fruity hops is excellent.
Good bitterness and for
the alcohol size of the
beer it is deceptively light
in body. Dangerously easy
drinking.
Style: American pale ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Lobster
Nailbrewing.com.au
James Boag
Epicurean White
5% ABV, 375ml
‘Epicurean’ sounds like
the modern-day term
for ‘Premium’ now that
‘Premium’ is no longer
premium. Surprisingly,
this dressed up lager
bodes well. Light straw in
colour with fine beaded
carbonation, the aroma
has light citrus notes
and good clean malt
appeal. The palate is very
light, clean and fresh,
expressing some light
malt layering. A low, dry
finish and an excellent,
uncomplicated, fault free
cleansing lager.
Style: Lager
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Scallops
Jamesboag.com.au
Ecliptic Brewing
Spectra Hoppy
Pilsener
5.5% ABV, 625ml
bottle
Spectra Hoppy Pilsener is
cloudy in appearance due
to brewing in Kellerbier
style. The colour is
golden, and the head
is firm. On aroma the
beer offers dry, biscuity,
grainy malt balanced
with some grassy hop
notes. The palate is fresh
and clean with good
biscuit and bread malt
expression. The bitterness
follows on the finish and
complements the style.
Style: Pilsener
Glass: Pilsener flute
Food Match: Tossed
seafood salad
Eclipticbrewing.com

Lick Pier Midnight
Ginger Beer
4% ABV, 330ml can
East 9th Brewing are
based in Melbourne, and
are regarded for their Dos
Blockos brand of beer, as
well as cider and ginger
beer additions. This is
their latest which offers
the same ginger beer
but spiced with clove,
cinnamon, nutmeg and
a hint of chilli for heat.
Pours golden in colour
with good carbonation.
There’s a hint of
background cinnamon.
The palate is medium
sweet, with ginger notes.
Style: Ginger beer
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Prawns with
ginger and shallots
E9thbrewing.com
Tuatara Amarillo
American
Dark Ale
5% ABV, 500ml
Tuatara brewery located
in the hinterland south of
Wellington is named after
the native Tuatara lizard,
and the beer is packaged
in a customised, scaled
bottle. Amarillo pours a
cloudy, rusty brown with
low foam. The aroma
expresses roasted nuts
and tips of pine cone and
citrus. The palate has
good brown sugar like,
malt sweetness and nice
oily hop layering of citrus,
pine and spruce. The finish
offers good hop spiciness.
Style: American dark ale
Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Beef curry
Tuatarabrewing.co.nz
TASTING
Hope Brewhouse The Commons Balter Black Bright Brewery
XPA Brewery Urban Metal Disco Smoko Rauchbier
4.7% ABV, 375ml can Farmhouse Ale 5.4% ABV, 500ml can 6.66% ABV, 330ml
Hope Estate is situated 5.3% ABV, 750ml While Mick Fanning In Germany the term
in Pokolbin, NSW.. This urban farmhouse ale may have grabbed ‘Rauch’ means smoke,
Named after the owner from Portland, Oregon the headlines, it is the and while this can vary
Michael Hope, and more has been inspired by award-winning Balter in intensity it can also
famous for concerts and the traditional beers of beers brewed by Scott vary in consumer polarity.
wine production, the northern France and Hargreaves which will help Smoko Rauch pours a
brewhouse addition and Southern Belgium from the business flourish. This lovely bronze colour with
focus on craft beer is where the style hails. Dull stout is a good brew. Black a low tan head. The aroma
putting paid to that. This gold in appearance with a brown in appearance of bacon, layered smoke
XPA pours a beautiful white head. The beer has a with a tan head, the beer notes and English toffee,
vibrant gold, beneath a light cheesy, Belgian yeast offers vanilla, caramel, are well integrated. The
strong white head. The note with a hint of flora milk sugar and cocoa on palate is light for style
aroma of pine, grapefruit, and spice. The palate is the nose. The palate is with the smoke malts
and tropical fruit gives light and refreshing, with sweet combining toasty working for flavour but
way to an oily resinous good spicy hop character malt, some roast barley light for body. The finish is
palate of citrus and peach and a clean, dry finish with bitterness and milk surprisingly sweet. A good
with good biscuit malt to low lingering bitterness. chocolate sweetness. The example of an entry level
carry. Nice bitter finish. Style: Farmhouse pale ale finish is rich and lush. smoke beer.
Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Style: Sweet stout Style: Smoked pale ale
Glass: Tulip Food Match: Quattro Glass: Stout Glass: Snifter
Food Match: Eye fillet Formaggio pizza Food Match: Lamb shanks Food Match: Bratwurst
Hopebrewhouse.com.au Commonsbrewery.com Balter.com.au Brightbrewery.com.au
Endeavour Hope Brewhouse Brewmanity Manica Cerveja
Argyle Ale 2017 Munich Lager Social Beast 5% ABV, 330ml can
Limited Release 4.5% ABV, 375ml can Pale Ale Manica is brewed in
8.5% ABV, 500ml While lager is the beer 4.5% ABV, 375ml can Mozambique and was
One of only 500 made, of choice for most Inspired by a friend’s one of the original
this beer presents rustic Australians, it’s not plight to wrestle the beast independent African
bronze in the glass with always the first choice of that is known as MND, breweries, now owned by
a medium, tan head, and craft beer enthusiasts. the catch cry ‘imagine Anheuser-Busch. The beer
offers aroma of roast Well represented by this if every beer you drank pours straw gold in colour
chestnuts and English interpretation, it pours did someone some good’ and has a light lacy head.
toffee. The palate is brass in colour with a is alive and well. The The aroma offers good
rich malt, toffee, toast, medium white head. beer itself is also good in pale malt notes, but has
Christmas fruits of red The aroma is toffee and nature and intent. Pouring hints of corn and sweet
currant and plums, biscuit malt infused with gold in the glass with adjunct. The palate is
prunes, dates and raisins. grapefruit hop aroma. medium foam the aroma clean and presents grainy,
The finish is full, and Munich malt and toffee offers hop notes of citrus, bready malt tips. A well
malt layered with alcohol biscuit crust flavours on pineapple and tropical balanced bitter finish with
warmth subdued. An the palate. The tropical fruit with some pea straw some fruit hop evident. An
excellent beer and good to fruit, grapefruit nose is a and hay tips from the excellent example of clean,
cellar for five years. variation from style but malt. Excellent finish. balanced lager.
Style: Strong ale adds to its appeal. Style: Pale ale Style: Lager
Glass: Chalice Style: Lager Glass: Tulip Glass: Tulip
Food Match: Sticky pork Glass: Tulip Food Match: Chicken Food Match: Spiced
ribs Food Match: Cod skewers meats
Endeavourbeer.com Hopebrewhouse.com.au Brewmanity.com.au Ab-inbev.com
SUMMER 2017/18  93
AUSTRALIA & NZ DIRECTORY
Australia & NZ Directory
Breweries
NSW
AUSTRALIAN BEER COMPANY
1 Wakley Road, Yenda NSW 2681
1800 112 337
(8am-7pm EST, Mon-Fri)
Follow us to find out more and
share our passion for beer
Facebook, Instagram:
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AUSTRALIAN BREWERY
350 Annangrove Road,
Rouse Hill NSW 2155
(02) 9679 4555
brewer@australianbrewery.com.au
www.australianbrewery.com.au
Cellar door open 10am-10pm daily
HAIRYMAN BREWERY
Contract/Gypsy Services
Unit 10, 12-14
Northumberland Road,
Caringbah NSW 2229
(02) 9525 4050
info@hairyman.com.au
www.hairyman.com.au
94  www.beerandbrewer.com
VIC
REDOAK BOUTIQUE BEER CAFÉ
201 Clarence Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9262 3303
info@redoak.com.au TEMPLE
www.redoak.com.au
BREWING
CO.
Open: Mon-Sat 11am until late
(lunch & dinner)
@TEMPLEBREWING
WWW.TEMPLEBREWING.COM.AU
QLD
HOLGATE BREWHOUSE
ARCHIVE BEER BOUTIQUE 79 High Street, Woodend VIC 3442
BISTRO (03) 5427 2510 NAPOLEONE BREWERY &
100 Boundary Street, www.holgatebrewhouse.com
CIDERHOUSE
West End Brisbane QLD 4101 Open 7 Days from 12noon to late
12 St Huberts Road,
07 3844 3419 Coldstream VIC 3770
info@archivebeerboutique.com.au (03) 9739 0666
www.archivebeerboutique.com.au brewery@napoleone.com.au
Open Monday to Sunday www.napoleone.com.au
11am till late Open 7 days from 10am
BURLEIGH BREWING COMPANY
2 Ern Harley Drive, SOUTHERN BAY BREWING CO.
Burleigh Heads QLD 4220 80 Point Henry Road,
www.burleighbrewing.com.au Moolap VIC 3224
Opening hours at Burleigh Brewing (03) 5248 5710
Brewery and Tap House are Wed info@SouthernBay.com.au
and Thurs 3-6pm, Fri 3-8.30pm, www.SouthernBay.com.au
Sun 2-6pm. Join the crew for
tastings and takeaways, tours, TWO BIRDS BREWING –
live music, special events and BREWERY AND TASTING ROOM
other opportunities for spending 136 Hall Street,
time with the Burleigh Brewing Spotswood VIC 3015
crew – and their beer – in their For current food and drink
new brewery. More information menu, opening hours and to
including events and tours, book a brewery tour
available on the website. www.twobirdsbrewing.com.au
Fremantle & Geelong
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littlecreatures.com.au
LCR0016-B&B-DIR-0105 109.5x41.5 v1.indd
21/04/2016
1 10:48 am
SA
COOPERS
461 South Road,
Regency Park SA 5010
(08) 8440 1800
www.coopers.com.au
Tours available 1pm
Tuesday to Friday
CRAFTY CONTRACTORS
Tanunda SA, 5352
08 8563 0696 (option 2)
Email: office@bvbeer.com.au
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craftycontractors/
You bring passion. We provide
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COWARAMUP BREWING CO.
North Treeton Road,
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(08) 9755 5822
www.cowaramupbrewing.com.au
Tours available by appointment
Open 7 days a week 11am – 6pm
Equipment
THE MONK BREWERY
& KITCHEN
33 South Terrace,
Fremantle WA 6160 DME BREWING SERVICES
(08) 9336 7666 Canada
beer@themonk.com.au dejongm@dme.pe.ca
Open every day 11:30am until late Aus/NZ Agent: Brian Watson
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Proud agents for FB*PROPAK
MOA BREWING COMPANY Meheen Manufacturing 24-26 National Boulevard,
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SUMMER 2017/18  95
Ingredients Homebrew VIC

BINTANI
+61 3 8587 9888
sales@bintani.com.au
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Connecting brewers and distillers
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Malt: Joe White, Best Malz,
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Yeast: Fermentis
Hops: YCHHOPS US hops, Charles
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CRYER MALT
Aus: 1800-119-622
sales@cryermalt.com.au
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Malt: Weyermann, Barrett Burston,
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Keg Leasing
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MATTY’S BREWING SUPPLIES 4/158 Wellington Road, Clayton
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HOP PRODUCT AUSTRALIA

+61 3 6282 2000
info@hops.com.au
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Hops: Ella, Enigma, Helga, Galaxy,
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96  www.beerandbrewer.com
 RECIPES RECIPES

Vintner’s Lager
THE TEAM AT COOPERS HAVE DELIVERED THE PERFECT FRUIT-INSPIRED
Hoptoberfest Hazy
German IPA – All
HOMEBREW RECIPE FOR A SUNNY SUMMER AFTERNOON
Grain Recipe

Y
ou know the dilemma… it’s a beautiful sunny
Expected Brew Figures Expected Brew
afternoon and you just can’t work out if it’s a beer Figures

Hoptoberfest
OG: 1.057
day or a wine day? Well hey, why can’t it be both? And
OG: 1.067
FG: 1.012
FG: 1.019
no, we don’t mean mixing your bevvies – we mean a IBU: 12
ABV: 6.3%
drop of cheeky, fruit-inspired Vintner’s Lager. Highly ABV: 5.9%
IBU: 33
Volume: 22 Litres
sought after Nelson Sauvin hops give this brew a Volume: 23 litres

Hazy German
quirky wine character reminiscent of a crisp Sauvignon Blanc. But this Ingredients
Ingredients
ain’t no wine – it’s still very much a bold malty beer that uncorks a 1.7kg Thomas Coopers 86 Days Pilsner
4.65kg Weyermann
slightly sweet biscuity backdrop for the hops to show off their white 1.5kg Light Dry Malt Extract (LDME) Pale Malt
wine, rockmelon, and tropical fruits traits. 250g Caramel Hell Grains (cracked) 650g Weyermann

IPA
25g Nelson Sauvin Hop Pellets Pale Wheat
25g Enigma Hop Pellets 600g Rolled Oats
Saflager S-23 Dry Yeast 150g Weyermann Munich 2
Method 200g Hallertau Blanc
1. The day before brew day, soak the cracked grain in a small
WE HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE ANDREW CHILDS 125g Mandarina Bavaria
mesh bag in a pot with about 3 litres of cold water. Fit the lid
and sit it in the fridge overnight. If the grains have not already CONTRIBUTING RECIPES FROM HIS BEHEMOTH /CHUR BREWING Wyeast 1318 London Ale III
been cracked, place them in a plastic zip-lock sandwich bag and
RANGE FOR SOME TIME. THIS HAZY GERMAN IPA IS ANOTHER METHOD
crack them using a rolling pin
MOUTH-WATERING RECIPE TO FIT ANY SEASON. ENJOY! 1. Break the smack pack
2. On brew day lift the mesh bag with grains out of the pot and

PART 2 BREWING EQUIPMENT – CHANGE YOUR THINKING
W
and allow it to expand
allow the liquid to drain out before discarding the grains
2. Mash all malts at 69°C
3. Place the strained liquid onto the stovetop, bring to the boil e have brewed a few Hazy IPA’s this year. We love brewing
then add 12.5g of each of the Nelson Sauvin and Enigma Hops them and I love drinking them. This one is a lot different from 3. Sparge and bring to
and boil for 5 minutes the others as it uses a couple of new German hop varieties. PART 2 BREWING EQUIPMENT – CHANGE YOUR THINKING
a boil
4. Boil for 90 minutes
see page 46
4. Take off flame and cool the liquid by placing the pot in a bath of They are fruity and herbal. If this sounds a bit out there, go
cold water for about 15mins with the lid on
5. Add all the fermentable ingredients and the cooled liquid to
ahead and substitute a couple of US, Aussie or NZ varieties to
this recipe (you can then make up your own name).
5. At the end of the boil
add 100g Hallertau Blanc INCLUDING
your fermenter then stir to dissolve. Don’t worry if lumps of Now there is a bit of science to this haze craze but the main thing is using wheat and and 75g Mandarina
Light Dry Malt Extract remain as they will dissolve over the Bavaria and whirlpool for
oats, not fining or filtering, playing with water chemistry (go light on the gypsum), only
course of several hours 15 minutes
use hops in the whirlpool and dry hop once during ferment and once after. It uses a lot of
6. Top up with cold water to 20 litres and stir thoroughly with 6. Cool to 20°C and
hops but only gets a little bit of bitterness. Which makes them juicy AF!
your sanitised brewing spoon add yeast
This beer is nothing like a usual Oktoberfest beer but bugger it, I liked the name.
7. Check the temperature and top up to 22 litres with warm or 7. Ferment at 18°C
Hopfen und malz, gott erhalt’s (Hops and malts God bless them).
cool water (refrigerated if necessary) to start the brew at 18°C 8. 80% through
8. Sprinkle both the Safale S-23 and brew can yeast then fit the lid fermentation add 50g
Hallertau Blanc and 25g
9. Place your fermenter in a location out of direct sunlight and Mandarina Bavaria
ferment at 15°C. Fermentation should take around 10-14 days
9. Do a diacetyl rest at
10. At day 7, add the remaining hop pellets to the brew by wrapping 22°C towards end of
them in a hop bag (or a mesh cleaning cloth pulled straight fermentation ISSUE 43 Summer 2017
from the pack if you don’t have one) and place directly on top PRICE $9.95 (NZ $11.95)
of the brew then re-fit the lid 10. After Fermentation add
50g Hallertau Blanc and
see page 46 11. On day 10 check the specific gravity. The brew is ready once

CRAFTY
25g Mandarina Bavaria
the specific gravity has stabilised over a couple of days and is

Canners
INCLUDING between 1.006-1.010 11. Bottle or keg as usual
then enjoy with mates!
12. Allow your beer to bottle conditions for at least 2 weeks, but it
will benefit from at least 8 weeks
BEERS & CIDERS Get some cans in your
TASTED hands this summer

60  Home Brewer SUMMER 2017/18 61

ISSUE 43 Summer 2017
PRICE $9.95 (NZ $11.95)

Awards
Canners
CRAFTY BEER & BREWER
BEERS & CIDERS Get some cans in your
TASTED hands this summer

Awards
BEER & BREWER
A shout out to the very best
A shout out to the very best in Australian brewing
in Australian brewing

CHARLIE
BAMFORTH CHARLIE
BAMFORTH
THE POPE OF BREWING
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COMES TO TOWN

PLUS! SESSION ALES | A PINT WITH... TAJ BURROW | LAGER – IT AIN’T ALL BAD THE POPE OF BREWING
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COMES TO TOWN

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A PINT WITH…
Taj
Burrow
AFTER RETIRING FROM THE DREAM LIFE OF A PRO SURFER, TAJ BURROW DECIDED HE WAS NOT QUITE FINISHED
WITH LIVING THE DREAM. SO WITH FRIENDS DINO ADRIAN AND JAY DAVIES, TAJ EMBARKED ON CREATING A
COLLABORATION BEER WITH BLACK BREWING CO. BEER & BREWER TOOK THE CHANCE FOR A PINT WITH TAJ
Q HOW DID THE COLLABORATION
COME ABOUT?
Black Brewing Co is here in our hometown
and we go there regularly, because we love
the venue, the food and the beer and it’s a
really good place to stop in after a surf.
There are breweries and wineries scattered
along the coastline where all of the good surf
is. So it’s kind of the perfect set up when me
and my friends go for a surf we will often
stop in at a brewery or a winery for lunch
afterwards. Black Brewing was one of those
stops and we ended up getting to know the
brewer and one day they just asked me and
my friends if we wanted to have a crack at
making our own beer and we were just like
‘shit yeah’, who wouldn’t?
So we went through a full tasting plate of
what we liked and we came up with Honest
Ale. All we did was have a big tasting tray of
the really easy drinking beers right through
to the big hoppy crafty ones, and we picked
something in the middle. The brewer knocked
up a first batch and it was really good, but
we wanted to change things a little bit. So
it ended up being the second brew that was
exactly what we wanted and we named it
Honest Ale and we couldn’t be happier.
Q WHY DID YOU NAME
IT HONEST ALE?
It’s just really a good honest Western
Australian beer and so we thought Honest Ale
was a perfect fit for us, our lifestyle and the
Western Australian lifestyle.
98  www.beerandbrewer.com
Q WAS IT HARD FOR ALL THREE
OF YOU TO AGREE ON A RECIPE?
We all had our input on the first batch and we
all had the same opinion on what changes we
wanted to make and once we’d made those
changes all of us agreed on the final outcome.
We’ve traditionally drunk Emu Export in
Western Australia. So we wanted a version
of that but kind of a really good quality, good
tasting version.
Q WAS THERE ANYTHING
THAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT
THE BREWING PROCESS?
I came into this pretty blind just knowing that
I like beer and I like to drink a beer after a surf
on a hot summer day. But when it came to the
brewing process the thing that was probably
the most surprising was how particular it was
with the timings of adding the hops and the
barley and you have to have precise timing – I
used to think you could simply dump it all in.
Q SO YOU GUYS WERE
QUITE HANDS ON THEN?
Yes, we have been. When we collaborated with
Black Brewing, we initially just made the beer
and came up with the name, and then I thought
we’d just be drinking the stuff and throwing
a few social posts up and having fun with it.
But we’ve become incredibly hands on and
we’ve taken it all on ourselves in designing the
logos and getting the cartons and the cans and
bottles all made up, and then getting on the
road and visiting bottle shops and pubs. I think
L-R: Taj Burrow, Dino Adrian and mates
the people who have supported us are showing
faith and I think that our enthusiasm with the
beer really helps.
Q WHAT IS THE ABV AND TASTE
PROFILE OF HONEST ALE?
It’s 4.5 per cent and it’s a really sessionable
ale; it’s crisp and fresh and it has a few tropical
aromas. It’s got Aussie malt and US hops and
it’s just a really good quality beer. It’s been
gluten reduced and I think sessionable is the
perfect word. It’s just what we were after.
Q ASIDE FROM HONEST
ALE, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR
GO TO SUMMER BEER?
I mix it up a lot. I’ve been drinking a bit of the
Mountain Goat Summer Ale and Steam Ale
lately and I also drink a lot of Japanese beer.
Traditionally we have drunk Emu Export, but
at this stage of my life I prefer to buy a really
good quality six-pack rather than getting a
carton of something that’s cheaper.
Q DO YOU HAVE PLANS
TO COLLABORATE ON ANY
FURTHER BEERS?
We are pretty content with keeping Honest
Ale as just one beer. We kind of made the
whole thing of just having that one go to
beer, so at this stage no. Anything is possible
in the future and you never know what is
going to happen, but we really wanted to just
make that one beer that we’re content with
and we’re really happy.
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and packaging lines
since 1968.

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