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42 CIDER

CIDER Harvest Report - Part II

Harvest Report - Part II

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across Australia, as surplus fruit is being mopped up by new cider producers. The fruit we pack into our children’s lunch boxes each day, or what we scoff down at morning tea is what cider producers call ‘desserts’ or ‘eating’ apples. Dessert apples for example, are your everyday, reliable fruit which often have nice apple flavours with good levels of acidity and taste scrumptious. The most common varieties used in cider consist of Pink Lady, Jonathon, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Sundowner, Red Delicious and Breaburn. These varieties all have ranging levels of sweetness, richness and acidity which are sought after by Cider Makers. Australia’s cooler apple growing regions like Batlow, Adelaide Hills and Huon Valley are proudly full to the brim with these delicious spheres of goodness. The resultant ciders made with dessert fruit are often quite floral, very fresh and crisp, primary fruit focused with piercing structural acidity. However, these apples do have their weaknesses which are no secret amongst the cider making community. They lack the essential textural component of tannin, are

TS AZ TE C STA 8:05:51 PM 22/11/2013

PART II

6 FREE DOS EQUIS LAGER OFFER 10 2013 B&B AWARDS RESULTS 36 FESTIVE BEERS 42 PART 2 OF OUR HARVEST REPORT 46 0.0% ABV BEERS 56 CANAL BOATS, UK 60 BEER TOUR OF USA 64 A WEEKEND IN WA 70 TOURING THE BLACK DOG BREWERY 80 47 BEERS, CIDERS & WHISKIES TASTED

James Adams delves further into the world of apples and pears, for the second part of our report into the 2013 harvest.

Company (SA), Napoleone Cider Co (VIC), St Ronan’s Cider (VIC), Spreyton Cider Co (TAS), Lost Pippin Cider (TAS) and Batlow Cider (NSW). There is a change in the wind in Australian cider, and it comes in the form of a much smaller, very tannic and higher in sugar apple. These apples, generally labelled ‘traditional cider apples’, and are most commonly found in ciders from the West of England, North West France and Germany.

often thinner in palate weight and lack fruit depth. Essentially, these apples are arguably not well suited to true cider making, with more developed styles harder to master. Some commercial producers using dessert apple and pear to great effect are The Hills Cider

planting an orchard or through a specialist grower.Current regional leaders in these traditional varieties are Harcourt and Orange, due to their favourable climate and location. Drew Henry from Henry of Harcourt, and James Kendell from Small Acres Cyder

FRESH FRUIT

Cider first and foremost is made with freshly grown apples and/or pears. This essential link between real fruit and final beverage is the foundation for real cider. In Australia, the apples and pears you regularly see lined up in a supermarket are in fact, the same apples used to make a large collection of Australian cider. The fruit has been grown in an orchard by more often than not a generational grower, and has endured all the rigours of the growing season – discussed in Part 1. Cider is becoming somewhat a blessing in disguise for growers

Hills Cider (SA) Processing Facility - picked, checked and ready to be made into juice and then cider.

Redwood Cider Co (Richmond, NZ) - Old Mout and Monteith’s Cider production facility.

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have been successfully using these apples for a number of years. Kendell believes cider is about “balance”, and compared to cider apples, desserts lack complexity, texture and balance. Tasmania is fast catching up with large plantings currently underway, with perfect soils and a cooler climate ideal for growing. The ciders produced are often much richer, more complex, more textural and have a deeper depth of flavour, as apposed to their dessert apple counterparts. Vintage, scrumpy and bottled conditioned ciders all are made far more superiorly with these apples. These are true cider apples, solely intended to make cider, and cider only. They are often inedible off the tree, due to their high levels of tannin and bitterness. Over the next five years, cider made with traditional cider fruit will become more readily available and sort after in Australia. Some commercial producers using cider apple fruit effectively in Australia consist of: Lobo (SA), Thorogoods (SA), Henry of Harcourt (VIC), Daylesford Cider Company (VIC), Bress (VIC), Seven Oaks Cider (VIC), Small Acres (NSW) and Red Sails (TAS). The difference between dessert apple cider and traditional apple cider is like chalk and cheese. The differences in style are at opposite ends of the cider scale, and this relates to pears too. When it comes to pear cider or ‘perry’ as it’s traditionally known, Australia has embraced it with open arms. To traditionalist, the term pear cider is a somewhat derogatory term which lowers the historic reputation of traditionally made perry. So much so that the UK independent consumer organisation CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), rejects the term pear cider as an alternate label for perry. Traditionally made perry is made with perry pears, such as Gin, Moorcroft, Yellow Huffcap and Red Longdon. They are extremely high in tannins and acid and are quite rare in Australia with some plantings in Harcourt and Tasmania.

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42 HARVEST REPORT PT 2 Part two of our revealing look at the Australian orchards that produce the fruit we’re all loving in our ciders, as the weather warms up.

46 ZERO ALCOHOL

Depending on who you speak to, alcohol-free beer is either a waste of time and fridge space, or a viable healthy alternative. Stefanie Collins investigates the established European trend that is creating its own niche in Australia.

36 FESTIVE BEERS

Pete Brown and Neil Miller take a look at the long and glorious history of Festive Beers - just in time for the silly season, too!

NEW BREEDS

The earliest reference to a cider apple can be dated back to the 13th century, and the variety cited is still bearing fruit today! These historic apples are split into classifications of acid and tannin balance and consist of: sweet, bittersweet, sharp and bittersharp. Each class can be blended together to create a superior and balanced cider. Unusual names of Kingston Black, Dabinett, Michelin, Somerset Red Streak, Frequin Rouge, Clozette, Brown Snout and Improved Foxwhelp are examples of these true cider apples. Australian producers are beginning to source these apples, by either

THE EARLIEST REFERENCE TO A CIDER APPLE CAN BE DATED BACK TO THE 13TH CENTURY. ”

o refresh our memories, Part 1 of the 2013 Apple and Pear Harvest Report (Beer and Brewer, Issue 26) presented a detailed account of the growing season across Australia and New Zealand. It highlighted how crucial environmental and physiological factors sharply influence a resultant crop. What was concluded is that the 2013 season was overall very promising, with great fruit quality produced, with higher than average yields. Part 2 of the Harvest Report will now delve into the styles of apples and pears grown, and how their individual characteristics produce different styles of cider we see today. Factors of region, apple selection, production techniques and skilful cider making all combine to produce a glass of fresh apple or pear cider. What this final instalment will set out to achieve, is lay down piece by piece why an apple or pear picked from a tree, becomes the cider we love to consume on a hot summers day.

The noble art of driving a tractor through an orchard.

Beer & Brewer does the unthinkable, and looks at zero-strength beers. Why do they exist, and are they any good?

BEER TALK TRAVELLER GOURMET

THE FRIDGE

B & B Awards & Conference 2013 wrap up, and more.

Ian Kingham’s best brews for you to try as things heat up this summer.

AND 10NEWS AWARDS

22 B&B UPDATE

CANAL 56 UK BOAT TRIP

We set the Editor of The Shout, James Atkinson, loose on the canals of Britian.

74 SUMMER RECIPES

Get stuck into these amazing creations with beer matches from Australia, NZ & imports.

IN THE BEER & 60 BEER US OF A 78 FOOD MATCHING 30PROFILE WEEKEND 64 AWAY AZTEC BEER & 32CIDER STATS 34COLLECTORS & CLUBS 68 BREWERY DIRECTORY BREWERY STYLE 70 TOUR 36NOTES Everything you need to know about your world of beer.

MICROBREWERY

Paul Golland sets his sights on the craft beers in three iconic US cities.

Getting down and dirty with the crew from Bootleg (WA).

A look at the magic of Perth and Fremantle, WA.

A cheeky Rauch Cheese recipe from the geniuses in the kitchen at The Monk Brewery, Western Australia’s worst-kept secret. GOURMET

Feature Venue Recipe

ON THE PLATE AND IN THE GL ASS It sounds simple enough – a Rauch Cheese But there’s more Platter. to this dish from WA’s The Brewery & Kitchen Monk than meets the eye.

We meet a couple of hardcore beer lovers from NSW.

s with most things The Monk Brewerythat the team from & Kitchen in Fremantle, special about the there’s something a bit dish we’re featuring issue. No strangers in this to the idea of experimentin with the beers they g comes out of the brew and the food that kitchen, The Monk turns out some regularly real proven to be very head-turners that have The Rauch Cheesepopular with the punters. and while it might Platter is one such dish – arguably one of sound fairly simplistic, it’s the best marriages food we’ve ever of beer and tried.

RAUCH CHEESE

BEER MATCHES The Monk (WA) Rauch Beer Invercargill (NZ) Smokin’ Bishop Beer Here (Denmark) - Rauchbier Weed - Smoked Wheat

PLATE

RAUCH CHEESE

INGREDIENTS: 250 gm good quality local cheddar 125 ml Rauch beer Dijon mustard Celery salt

A look at the history of Festive Beers, and why we still drink them today.

METHOD: 1. Grate cheddar, place half in food then turn on slowly processer cheese bit by bit. add rauch and remaining 2. Add mustard and into logs and place celery salt to taste, then roll in fridge to set.

Meet the team from Black Dog Brewing, a rising force in craft.

BEERGUETTES

INGREDIENTS: 1kg flour, strong bakers flour 14gr yeast 14gr salt 200gr mother dough

/ old dough 0.6 litres beer. (cold cold prove or room to warm, allow for time, strong flavoured temp, we like to use a ale).

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METHOD: BACON 1. Add water in mixing bowl and INGREDIENTS: yeast mix. add flour and 2 kg chunk of pork 2. Mix on low belly for 10-12 minutes 250 gm salt and elastic. till smooth 160 gm sugar 3. Allowing dough to mix for 3-4 1 chilli add salt and old minutes then dough. 1 tblsp fennel seeds 4. Remove from bowl, cover on 1 tblsp paprika for 20 minutes a clean bench or 1 allspice crushed 5. Cut into 300 until it has doubled in size. gr 4 tblsp caramunich 6. Prove covered, portions and roll into balls. 5 black peppercornsmalt milled doubled in size. for 20 minutes or until Knock down and 7. Lay on lined shape. baking sheets and METHOD: until doubled in prove covered size. 1. Rub mix over 8. Dust with flour, pork in airtight container belly liberally then place 1 steam burst for slash and bake at 180oC with for 5 days. 10 2. After 3 days vent closed. Then minutes with the steam add strong flavoured 375 ml of beer, again a a further 20 min. open steam vent and bake for ale would work (when you are 3. Remove from best. home have a small doing this at brine then roast bowl of water rack at 150oC till in on of your oven to core temp reaches oven give of some steamin the bottom o 4. In an old pot after 20 min). place some alfoil 70 C. then remove smoking mixture, then a 9. Remove from oven, cool on racks grain, 1 part new The Monk uses: 2 parts spent single layer. in a woodchips can grain 1 part rice but rice, tea, all be used. 5. Smoke belly till smokiness. Then it reaches your desired cool and slice thinly till crispy. and cook Kitchen Suggestion: eggs and jalapenos This is also great with for those slightly mornings!!!! fuzzy

10 FOR 80 TOP SUMMER

81 NEW RELEASES

New beers and ciders to hit our shores from Australia, New Zealand around the world.

83 EDITOR’S PICK

A farewell effort from outgoing Editor Stef, who once again braved the fridge to ﬁnd her favourite beers.

84 TASTING NOTES

Want a handle on how things taste? Our expert panel spills the beans on a bunch of new brews, ciders and whiskies.

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SUMMER LOVIN…

on’t worry I’m not going to break into song at you guys a la Grease, however this is a bitter sweet goodbye. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for being amazing and let you know that I am going to miss all of you. It’s you guys we make this mag for and you’re all pretty awesome. Speaking of awesome, we have a pretty great line up in this new issue. While booze-less beer might not sound very exciting, there is a growing trend here in Australia that makes for an interesting read. We’ve also shone a light on the growing trend for “festive beers” – think Halloween, Christmas, Easter and more. The second half of our cider report is in too with plenty to talk about in this fast growing field. And with the American beer scene still on the up and up, one of our readers heads stateside and tells us all about it. So with out further ado, goodnight and goodluck! Stefanie Collins (Former) Editor, Beer & Brewer

A U S T R A L I A

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Z E A L A N D

Editor David Lipman editor@beerandbrewer.com

Deputy Editor Gregor Stronach Art Director Jenny Cowan Consulting Editor Ian Kingham NZ Editor-at-Large Neil Miller Photography iStockphoto.com, Singapore Tourism, Stefanie Collins, Gregor Stronach, David Lipman Valued Contributors James Adams, Drew Beechum, Pete Brown Andrew Childs, Stefanie Collins, Ian Kingham, Neil Miller, John Palmer, Tina Panoutsos, Colin Penrose, John Preston, Roger Protz, Jeremy Sambrooks, Gregor Stronach, Bill Taylor, Chris Thomas, Brian Watson, Graham Wright, Jamil Zainasheff. Ad Design Matt Burns Accounts Isha Kalia Publisher David Lipman david@beerandbrewer.com, 0415 081 284 Advertising Jake Richards +61 (0)2 9660 2113 Mob: +61 (0) 418 497 159 jake@beerandbrewer.com Media Kit available for download at www.beerandbrewer.com/advertise Subscriptions Tel: +61 1800 651 422 Fax: +61 2 8580 6312 subscribe@beerandbrewer.com www.beerandbrewer.com Mail: PO Box 55 Glebe NSW 2037

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GREGOR STRONACH

One of the original members of the Chaser team, Gregor is the Deputy Editor of Beer & Brewer, with a deep and abiding passion for craft beer and whisky. Actually, mostly whisky. But beer is good, too. Especially beer that’s been aged in whisky barrels. Or made with peat-smoked malt. Does anyone read these panels? If so, I’m trapped in the ofﬁce! Send whisky!

PETE BROWN

Pete Brown is a UK-based writer who specialises in making people thirsty. A regular on British television, he’s written four-and-ahalf books, and is a judge on the BBC Food and Farming Awards and the Great Taste Awards. Best of all, he loves beer - as evidenced by his membership of the British Guild of Beer Writers. See pages 36-39.

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Nominated, Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards 2010, Best Drink Magazine, Best Food and/ or Drink Section in a Magazine BELL Award, Highly Commended, Best Consumer Magazine Launch 2007, Best Consumer Magazine Cover 2008 DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Although all material is checked for accuracy, no liability is assumed by the publisher for any losses due to the use of material in this magazine. Copyright 2012 by Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior permission of Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd. Selected images copyright Getty Images, iStockphoto, 123rf.com. All rights reserved.

JEREMY SAMBROOKS

Jeremy Sambrooks is a Perthbased writer who specialises in penning articles about the beer and wine industries. He’s lucky enough to live within spitting distance of both Margaret River and Fremantle, and when he’s not writing about beer, he’s brewing his own award-winning Weiznebocks... See pages 27 & 64-67..

NEIL MILLER

Neil is a beer writer who combines a strong knowledge of beer with extensive research, interview skills, a passable palate, pop culture references and a dry wit. Neil’s work has also appeared in Cuisine, The Dominion Post, Dish, BEER and The Wellingtonian. See pages 29, 39 and 55.

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Each letter printed in this issue has won a copy of Keith M. Deutsher’s essential book, The Breweries of Australia: A History (2nd edition), available from Beer & Brewer for $39.95. The very fortunate winner of the Editor’s Pick this issue has also won a thermo controlled wine fridge with a 28 bottle capacity (RRP $499) and a six-pack of award winning 2012 Taylors Cabernet Sauvignon (RRP $114).

Editor’s Pick MY TRIP TO TASSIE We were recently in Tas visiting family who have just moved down. It happened to be my birthday while we were down there so I got to pick the itinerary for the day. When we were down last year I had tried some of the beer from 2 Metres Tall and thought it was great so thought that it would be a great place to visit as it’s a bit of a special brewery. Ashley Huntington the brewer (who is 2 metres tall, hence the name) is a former wine maker who thought that beer lacked acidity to make it a more rounded beverage, so he brews naturally soured ales. I am a big fan of sours so this was really exciting for me. We drove up to Hayes from where we were staying near Cygnet on a beautiful Sunday morning and arrived just as they were getting the bar set up. Ashley was getting the kegs hooked up to the 8 hand pumps and his wife Jane started our tasting. This is the ﬁrst time I have been to a brewery with a proper tasting, we got progressively walked through their range by both Jane and Ashley. We started with two ciders (not on hand pumps), the Poire a perry and a limited edition cask aged cider with sour

You've got a great magazine, keep up the good work. Hat's off to Matilda Bay. It used to be the case that if you wanted to have a few beers and stay under 0.05 your choice's where limited to mid strength or light lager. How boring! Matilda Bay now has released Redback wheat beer in mid strength. Can't wait to try one. Now I'd like to see the rest of the micro breweries release other great varieties in mid strength, how about an Amber Ale, Porter, Pale Ale and an IPA. GEOFF (VIA FORUM)

Geoff, there are a number of super-tasty mid-strength options doing the rounds at the moment, from a number of breweries around the country. You should also check out our feature on zero- and low-strength beers on page 46 of this issue.

cherries. Both were fantastic, the Poire had great acidity and the Cherry cider was amazing with great sourness and fantastic oak characteristics very reminiscent of a Kriek. We then started on the beers with two versions of their Cleansing Ale, one that was three months old and had started to sour nicely and the newest batch. Both were great clean ales, though the three month old won it for me. Next was Derwent which is a sour mashed spelt ale with aromatic hops. To me it was like a sour Belgian wheat, really refreshing and interesting with lots of tropical fruit from the hops and a great lactic sourness. Next was the Forester which was like a soured English Bitter. There was a lot more malt in this, it was a good beer but I am not a big fan of amber malt dominant beers. Next were their two proper sours, made more like Lambics, a sour cherry and a straight sour. These were great, massive acidity, nice bit of Brett funk, really nice cherry ﬂavours in the cherry version and some good oak in both. I was really impressed by these, they were the best examples of a Lambic style I have had from a brewery outside of Belgium. The last two were darks, a non-soured Oyster Stout that they make for Barilla Bay Oysters and Huon. The Huon is a Dark Ale which has a secondary

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ferment with 25% v/v apple juice and is bottle conditioned with champagne yeast. This beer is just great, the one I had on tap had a lot of chocolate up front with a dry acid ﬁnish from the apple juice and the champagne yeast. It is a really interesting beer with a lot going on. After our tasting we had a BBQ on site and got to eat some beef from the Black Angus and Wagyu crosses that Ashley and Jane raise on the farm and feed with the spent grain from the brewery. This was of course accompanied by more beer. Ashley and Jane were great hosts and were more than happy to talk about their products and the way they make them. Jane also explained about their recent trip to Belgium to visit the lambic breweries there that was part of a Churchill Fellowship that Ashley won. I would strongly recommend a trip to 2 Metres Tall to anyone going over to Tassie. ROB (VIA FORUM)

Great brewery report, Rob – thanks for writing it! We got the chance to visit Ashley and Jane in February this year, and came away very impressed as well. The farm is a fantastic set up, and its even better when they’ve got a band playing and the beer ﬂowing on the weekends!

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YOUR SHOUT Letters to the Editor

POINT OF ORDER! Just been reading the article by Nga Hoang. It appears that Nga Hoang has done a good job on researching the facinating topic of Bia Hoi, and should be commended. However, I must take exception with an early stated piece of nonsense. Nga Hoang writes of Bia Hoi: "It is fermented throughout the day and drunk within one day." What utter and patent nonsense. I do not understand why, more or less respectable magazines such as yours continue to indulge in this fallacious and ridiculous fantasy. It is myth. One that is perpetuated by boozy individuals, Vietnamese and Foreign alike, too lazy to get off their collective plastic seats and question the facts, and too invested in the romance of such a fantasy to even bother considering it otherwise. Poor show! Poor show indeed! With all due deference, respect, and a tug of my forelock, “THE HERALD OF CHANGE”, (VIA FORUMS)

Apologies for the slightly-clunky wording of the article… and thanks for your letter. Just to clarify things for other readers who aren’t so wellinformed in the processes of Bia Hoi production, here’s the skinny: It’s in production seven days of the week, and every morning the re-sellers pop down to the brewery to pick up their stock for the day. It’s sold in a variety of containers, most of which aren’t pressurized at all. Add to that

Beer & Brewer online – latest blogs and news from www.beerandbrewer.com Sign up to our free weekly e-newsletter, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook, to keep up to date on the latest news, or participate in the forums. Blog – Gregor Stronach, Deputy Editor FAREWELLS AND WELL DONES It's ofﬁcial - Beer & Brewer editor Stefanie Collins has left the building, leaving me at the coalface for the magazine's production and in charge of putting together the website every week. It's been a hoot working with Stef over the past few years, and we're all tremendously sad to see her go - and we ﬁgure it won't be long before she's peppering us with press releases and wondering why we're not returning her calls. I can't really complain, however... there's not a week that goes by that I don't get to utter the best phrase in the whole world: "I work for Beer & Brewer magazine". It's enough to reduce even the proudest of beer-loving men to a puddle of virulent green envy. Of course, it's not all the proverbial 'beer and skittles' - largely because we don't have any skittles. It can be a bit of hard work every now and then - much like working just about anywhere else in the beer industry. Which is why it's heartening to see some familiar names featured in the results of the

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the insanely high daytime temperatures, brutal humidity and a complete lack of preservatives in the beer, it becomes apparent that the Bia Hoi is best consumed as early in the day as possible (and respectable). Hope that clears that up!

can drop in and chat to the team at the store you bought your gear from – the people that run homebrew shops do so because they love homebrewing – and, from our experience, they don’t mind a chat about now and then, either.

HELPING HANDS?

OLD VENUE, NEW NAME

A mate and I have just purchased a homebrew kit from Country Brewer and are both keen to learn a lot about all the different processes of brewing beer. We have started with the standard kit with a fermenter and to what I believe is called an Extract brew that has the malt and can brew sugars with hops and yeast. We’re wondering what experiences others have had with directions for brewing, or if there are any particular articles or books that will help us to understand brewing a little more in depth than just “put a can and the pre packed ingredients in a bucket of water”?

Along with many others I was gutted when the Sunshine Brewery Beer Cafe closed. The craft beers were hard to come by in Maroochydore. However, all is not lost beer lovers… the same location has re-opened as The Piano Bar serving Tapas and playing a selection of music. However the best news is that there are seven craft beer taps: Sunshine Brewery has two, White Rabbit has one, Stone and Wood has one and James Squire has three… and all were very good samples. The atmosphere at night is great and tourist s will certainly enjoy themselves, good food, live music and great beer, put it on your to do list.

HOMEBREW NEWBIE (VIA FORUMS)

PETER BLACKWELL CAPALABA QLD

The best piece of advice we can offer you right off the bat is this: close the magazine, ﬂip it over, and get stuck into the Homebrewer section of the magazine. It’s loaded with info to help you get started, and to build your knowledge of the brewing process. Plus, with a huge range of recipes to try out when you’ve got your head around the basics. Plus, don’t forget that you

2013 Perth Royal Beer Show. In particular, the trophy winners at the show all deserve a special mention, which you can read about in the news section of our website.

Thanks for the update, Peter – we do belive The Sunshine Coast Brewery has set-up a cellar door at their brewery in Kunda Park. Keep an eye on the taps at The Piano Bar and do let us know if anything interesting makes its way into the bar…

Blog – Neil Miller NZ Editor-at-Large

some industry eyebrows when they placed the entire blame for this signiﬁcant shortfall on their distribution partner who they subsequently replaced. There was no suggestion the management team took any responsibility for the disappointing result.

TOUGH TIMES FOR MOA GROUP, NZ Moa Group, the ambitious Marlborough brewery with global aspirations, this week had to issue a trading and performance update warning its full year 2014 loss could reach $6 million, significantly higher than their own October estimate of $4.5 million. Predictably share prices dropped sharply (around 6%) and a number of commentators are questioning whether the company, which recently listed on the NZ Stock Exchange (NZX), will be able to deliver on the promises made during the share float and in subsequent announcements. The Chief Executive is Geoff Ross, most famous for his time setting up and then selling the 42 Below vodka range. He stated that the 2014 results were “significantly affected by the various adverse circumstances that developed during the first half of the financial year.” In August, Moa had to advise that New Zealand sales were a whopping 30% below target, despite a high profile and deliberately controversial share float campaign. The owners of Moa raised

News – AUSSIES CHOOSING IMPORT BREWS New research from Roy Morgan shows that in the 12 months leading up to September 2013, 35 percent of Australians drank an Australian beer in an average four week period - down four percent for the same period ending September 2009 - and the proportion of Australians who drank an imported beer in an average four week period rose from 14 to 17 percent. “While there’s no single reason behind the overall decline in local beer consumption, Australia’s consistently strong dollar means the price difference between imported and Aussie beers has come down; plus imported beers are more widely available than ever," Geoffrey Smith, general manager consumer products, Roy Morgan Research, said. "It’s crucial for our local brewers to have a detailed understanding not only of who their customers are but also of how they differ from imported-beer drinkers. This will ensure they retain their edge in this increasingly competitive market.”

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BEER TALK Beer & Brewer Awards

BEER & BREWER AWARDS – 2013 The Beer & Brewer Awards were presented for another year with the best of the Australian beer industry lauded at an awards presentation dinner at the Sebel Hotel in Surry Hills (NSW) on 24 October 2013.

m o c s. rd a w ra e w re b d n ra e e ww.b VIEW THE WINNERS AT w BEER & BREWER MAGAZINE SALUTES THE WINNERS OF THE BEER & BREWER AWARDS FOR 2013

elebrating everything from beers to brewers, beertenders to venues, and online retailers to liquor stores, the Beer & Brewer Awards are a highlight on the beer industry calendar every year. This year the major awards were even more hotly contested with David Hollyoak of Redoak (NSW) taking out the title of Brewer of the Year. Hollyoak put in a stellar performance on both the local and international awards stage in 2013, making him a very deserving winner. Feral (WA) again took out Best Beer with perennial favourite Hop Hog – narrowly defeating Stone & Wood’s (NSW) Pacific Ale – as well as taking out the new Craft Brewing Company of the Year category thanks to their consistent string of award wins and popularity with media, industry and readers in 2013. Like every year, the Beertender of the Year trophy was hotly contested with beer experts from right across the country in the running. This year Matt Marinich from The Quarie in WA took out the top honour, a well-deserved win after several highly commended awards in previous years. The big award on the night – Best Beer Venue – went to the consistently amazing The Local Taphouse (NSW) for the venue’s dedication to great beer, good food and program of beer events.

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.au

BEER & BREWER CREATES ONE-OFF CONFERENCE BEER

The awards dinner also served as the launch of the Beer & Brewer Conference Beer for 2013, created with Birbeck’s Brewing (SA) in conjunction with St Peter’s Brewery (NSW). After a thorough consultation with readers – via a popular survey on favourite beer styles and characteristics – the wittily named Saint Birbeck was a surprising Belgian Spiced IPA 6.1% ABV that displayed an extensive hop profile – featuring eight varieties from Australia, New Zealand and USA – backed up by a hit of cardamom spice and touches of black pepper on the back palate. Drawing rave reviews from the crowd – including the assembled brewers – the Beer & Brewer Conference Beer is set to become a regular feature of the awards and conference every year, with a 640mL bottle gifted to every conference and dinner attendee. The creation of the brew would not have been possible without the support of Bintani, Closures Online, Cryermalt, Duro-Lenz, Grain and Grape, Hopco, Matt Burns Design and O-I.

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BEER TALK Beer & Brewer Awards

BEER & BREWER AWARDS WINNERS ) LIST 2013 (AUSTRALIA Major Awards Beertender of the Year Matt Marinich, The Quarie (WA) Brewer of the Year David Hollyoak, Redoak (NSW) Best Beer (Australia) Feral Hop Hog (WA) Best Specialty Beer Venue The New Sydney Hotel (Tas) Distributor of the Year Beer Importers & Distributors (BID) Craft Brewing Company of the Year Feral Brewing Company (WA) Best Beer Venue (Australia) The Local Taphouse (NSW) Brewing Best Cellar Door (Tourism/Experience) Bright Brewery (Vic) Best Brew Bar / Pub The Monk Brewery & Kitchen (WA) Supplier of the Year Bintani Young Brewer of the Year Jody Thomas, LION Co (NSW) Best Homebrew Shop Brewers Choice (Vic) Events Best Beer Event The Australian Beerfest (NSW) On-Premise Best Large Bar / Pub (>150 patrons) Harts Pub (NSW) Best Small Bar / Pub (<150 patrons) The Scratch Bar (Qld) Best Beer List The Park Hotel (Vic) Best Restaurant / Café The Monk Brewery & Kitchen (WA) Off-Premise Best Bottleshop (<200 beers) Craft Wine Store, Red Hill (Qld) Best Bottleshop (>200 beers) Slowbeer (Vic) Online Best Online Retailer TheBeerCellar.com.au Best Web Site Coopers.com.au Best eNewsletter Purvis Cellars (Vic) Advertising / Promotion Best Beer Ad Tap King (LION Co) Best Beer Promotion Canbassador, The Australian Brewery (NSW)

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PEOPLE’S CHOIC

(NZ) e for Best Beer People’s Choicmber Bohemian Ale. Bo e ok went to St

Best Beer (Australia) Australian Brewery Pale Ale (NSW) Best Beer (New Zealamd) Stoke Bomber Bohemian Ale Best Beer (Imported) Murphy’s Irish Stout, Ir Best Beer Venue (Australia) The Australian Brewery (NSW) Paul Wyman (The Monk Brewery), Stef Collins and Beertender of the Year Matt Marinich (The Quarie).

The Australian Brewery wins Best Beer Promotion.

200 Beers): Best Bottleshop (<d Hill QLD. Re e, or St ine W aft Cr

Best Beer list award went to The Park Hotel (VIC).

Jonathan Kunz (R) Peter David (LION) foraccepts the award from Best Resaurant / Cafe.

team A swag of awards for the wery. from Australian Bre

Young Brewer of the Yea r: Jody Thomas, Lion Co .

d: Best Beer A ). Co. n io (L g in Tap K

Best eNewsletter: Purvis Cellars.

BEER TALK

R E W E R B & BEER 3 1 0 2 – E C CONFEREN BBAC 2013

This year also saw the Beer & Brewer Conference held during the day at The Sebel.

oinciding with the awards, the conference featured 16 informative sessions covering everything from ingredients to recipe development, sensory evaluation to taste training, the business of brewing to distribution and retail, equipment selection to canning, and lots more in between. With well-subscribed panel discussions occurring throughout the day, across two conference rooms, both speakers and delegates engaged in an impressive range of dialogues as ideas were shared and examined. Beer & Brewer would like to thank the major sponsor Kegstar, session sponsors Bintani, FB*PROPAK, NNL Brewery Services, Amcor, associate sponsors, exhibitors, and the 40 speakers that made the day possible and thoroughly interesting.

SUBJECTS COVERED

Australian Beer Market Summary Ingredients: Hops, Malt, Yeast and Fermentation Recipe Development for the Craft Brewer Sensory Analysis and Taste Training For the Brewer and Beer Buyer Equipment Selection for the Microbrewery Starting a Microbrewery & the Business of Brewing & Marketing Draught beer for the brewer and venue Canning for Craft Brewers Contract Brewing Distribution and Retailing beer for venues and brewers Packaging Beer Cider – Trends, challenges and opportunities Building a beer list, beer & food matching and staff training Cold Freight/Distribution Homebrewing – What are the challenges and opportunities for shops and distributors Excise administration with the ATO

Tina Panoutsos (CUB), Chris Willcock (4 Pines)

Australian Beer Market Summary.

Ian Kigham (ALH) and Hugh Edwards-Neil (Aztec).

Lachie MacBean (Grainfed), Shawn Sherlock (Murray’s), Jon Burridge (Moo Brew), Brendan Varis (Feral), Dean McFarlane (Samskip).

Bintani Recipe Development Session.

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BEER TALK

Scott McCashin (McCashinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s), Jayne Lewis (Two Brids), Jared Birbeck (Birbeckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s), Bruce Peachey (Peachey) - Contract Brewing Session.

BBAC 2013 Chuck Hahn, Malt Shovel Brewery.

Talking shop inside the exhibition area.

Warren Pawsey (Little Creatures), David Lamotte (NNL), Asher Hall (Illwarra), Barry Broughton (Franke) Draught Beer Systems Session.

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BEER TALK Beer & Brewer Awards

THE BREWERS GUILD OF NZ AWARDS The cream of New Zealand’s brewing community have come together to celebrate the 2013 Brewers Guild of NZ Awards.

Sons, Best Cassels andager Styles. L n ea op Eur

he Renaissance Brewing Company was the major winner at the 2013 Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards, taking home three awards, including the coveted Champion Brewery Award. Andy Deuchars, the co-founder of Renaissance, hailed the teamwork at the brewery, which was founded in 2006. “It’s a great achievement and I couldn’t be more proud of the guys who put their heart and souls into making these beers,” he said. Deuchars also paid tribute to the strength of New Zealand’s craft brewing scene, which saw a record 541 entries into the competition, saying that it was great to see how far craft beer in the country had come in the last decade. As well as the Champion Brewery trophy, the Marlborough-based Renaissance also won commendations in the ‘British Style Ales’ for their Tribute Barley Wine and the Enlightenment Black the RIPA in the Wheat and Other Grain Styles category, presented to them by Beer & Brewer (former) Editor Stefanie Collins. Renaissance’s success comes in the wake of similar recognition in Australia, where the brewery won the Champion International Small Brewery prize at the Australian International Beer Awards. The Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards Presentation Dinner was held in Wellington on the 8th of August at the Town Hall.

Three Boys Br ewer Flavoured an y, winners of the d Aged catego ry. Inside the Welling

ton Town Hall.

Lion - The Pride winnin g International Ale catego ry.

winners in e Brewing, . Good Georger and Perry category the Cid Renaissance Brewing Co winner Andy Deuchars, accepting another award.

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BEERVANA B

eervana has taken place for another year and the only question on anybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lips was: can the festival keep getting better? The Wellington-based festival took place at the end of a big Choice Craft Beer Week, beginning the day after the Brewers Guild of New Zealand Beer Awards dinner, running August 9-10. 9491 people attended this year, justifying the 30.1% growth in craft beer sales in NZ in the 12 months to March 2013. Garage Project was the winner of the event with punters queuing up to get into their stage-like stand to experience beer jelly shots and beer that was flash-caramelised with a red hot poker. There was even some Aussie representation with the Mountain Goat boys making the journey across the ditch.

Punters aplenty! The Old Mout cid

Mountain Goat report

er taps.

ing for duty.

Flash-caramelised beer, courtesy of a red-hot poker.

BEER TALK Touring the Erdinger

Trade Show

Brewery.

DRINKTEC 2013 WRAP UP

David Lipman reports in from Drinktec, one of the biggest industry shows in the world, which just happened to be in Munich, and ďŹ nish the day before Oktoberfest began...

rinktec 2013 was held at Messe MĂźnchen exhibition centre in Munich, Germany from September 16 to 20, 2013 and is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading trade show for beverage and liquid food technology for manufacturers and suppliers of equipment, packaging and ingredients for alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. It is held every four years in Munich, over five days conveniently ending the day before Oktoberfest starts. Every year Brau, which is a dedicated brewing trade show, is held in Nuremburg, Germany and on the fourth year Brau stops for Drinktec. At Drinktec brewing makes up the majority of the 1445 exhibitors, from 77 countries (Australia & NZ had 6 exhibitors), over 12 halls (132,000 m2). KRONES brewing equipment exemplify the sheer scale of

investment from exhibitors who book an entire hall valued at â&#x201A;Ź4 million with nearly half the hall set up as an Oktoberfest beer hall fully catered every day for 900 people. Krones had 250 staff onsite and total cost is estimated at â&#x201A;Ź14 million. It is very common for exhibitors to ship in their entire selection of packaging lines and brewing equipment. Many exhibitors offer chef quality food and beers for visitors to their stands to maximise time spent by customers and prospects at their stands - this was very impressive. Drinktec is well attended with 66,886 visitors (up 14 %) from 183 countries of which 400 were from Australia and 70 from New Zealand. Drinktec is ideal for brewers and cidermakers, distributors, importers, marketers and retailers to attend and see what is new and what the European and worldwide trend is for everything from draught beer, to canning, packaging, glassware, equipment expansion plans, ingredients and much more.

OTHER EVENTS ATTENDED WHILE IN MUNICH INCLUDED:

Feeding time in the KR

ONES beer hall.

The KRONES

exhibition hall.

â&#x20AC;˘ 3rd World Beer Sommelier Championship, Conducted by Doemens and won by local German beertender Oliver Wesseloh. â&#x20AC;˘ Brewers Association of the USA Beer Tasting Dinner with the Hop Growers of America, held at Restaurant 181 at the Olympic Stadium, with head chef Otto Koch and 10 beers matched to 5 courses, from Firestone Walker, Coronado, Sierra Nevada, Victory, Rogue, Alaskan, Deschutes, Elysian and Lower De Boom. â&#x20AC;˘ Erdinger Brewery Tour, The Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest wheat beer brewery in Erding, 30 minutes drive at 180 km/hr from Munich. I was very fortunate to have been invited by Export Director Oliver Helbig to the brewery and Dr Tim Cooper and Nick Sterenberg of Coopers

happened to be on the same tour which was great. We were honoured to be joined on the tour and for lunch afterwards by Mr Werner Brombach owner of Erdinger, along with Brewmaster Peter Liebert. â&#x20AC;˘ European Beer Star Awards The Awards presentation was held on Wednesday September 18 with a consumer event that night to taste the medal winning beers. There are 51 different beer categories with only one gold, silver and bronze medal awarded, like the USAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s World Beer Cup. Only beer styles that have their traditional roots in Europe are judged; any of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s breweries can participate. Redoak Brewery (NSW) won two gold medals for its Redoak Schwarzbier in the Schwarzbier category and Redoak Winter in the Rye, a Rye Bock. â&#x20AC;˘ Champions League football game at Allianz Stadium. Where Bayern Munich defeated Moscow 3-0, with all Champions League games being alcohol free games, while ironically Heineken is the major sponsor. We drank Paulaner alcohol free Weissbier and it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t too bad after all. â&#x20AC;˘ Oktoberfest. Held from September 21 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 6 in Munich. I visited on opening day and was lucky to be seated in the VIP area of the Spaten Beer Hall, one of 15 beer halls, that look permanent fixtures and only existing for the duration of the festival â&#x20AC;&#x201C; remarkable engineering and construction. A mass or stein (1 litre of lager) was â&#x201A;Ź9.70. Oktoberfest should be on any beer lovers bucket list, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s simply awesome. Oktoberfest 2013 had 6.4 million visitors, consuming 114 oxen, 58 calves and 6.7 million litres of beer. 638 unfortunately suffered from alcohol poisoning. MORE DETAILS Munich Trade Fair Services, T +61 2 8904 9997, M +61 419 202 023, nick@fairsltd.com, www.munichfairs.com Drinktec 2017, September 11 to 15, www.drinktec.com www.brewersassociation.org www.doemens.org www.erdinger.de www.european-beer-star.com www.oktoberfest.de www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague

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BEER TALK Beer & Brewer Awards

slew of Australian beers took home gongs at the 2013 edition of the International Beer Challenge; the seventeenth year the prestigious competition has run. Despite going up against entries from 30 different countries, Australian beers excelled to take home seven of the 38 gold medals, with 4 Pines (NSW) and Hawthorn Brewing Co (VIC) and Redoak (NSW) winning plaudits. On the other side of the ditch, McCashin’s Stoke range took home two gold, three silver and four bronze medals.

LOCAL MEDAL WINNERS

4 Pines Pale Ale – Gold Hawthorn Brewing India Pale Ale – Gold Redoak St Nicholas – Gold Redoak Bitter – Gold Redoak Old Ale – Gold McCashin’s Stoke Bomber Smoky Ale – Gold Redoak Special Reserve – Gold Redoak Weizen Doppel Bock – Gold McCashin’s Stoke Bomber Oatmeal Stout – Gold McCashin’s Stoke Bomber KPA – Silver McCashin’s Stoke Dark – Silver Redoak IPA – Silver Redoak Saison – Silver Redoak Chateau Sour - Silver Redoak All Day Breakfast – Silver Redoak Doppel Schwartz – Silver McCashins Stoke Pilsner (Packaging) – Silver McCashin’s Stoke Amber – Bronze McCashin’s Stoke Bomber Biscuit Lager – Bronze McCashin’s Stoke Lager – Bronze McCashin’s Stoke Pilsner – Bronze Redoak Blackberry Wheat Beer – Bronze Redoak Framboise Lambic – Bronze Redoak Baltic Porter – Bronze

EUROPEAN BEER STAR 2013

ydney brewery Redoak has emerged from the European Beer Star 2013 with two new pieces of bling for the trophy shelf, snagging gold medals for its Redoak Schwarzbier in the Schwarzbier category and Redoak Winter in the Rye, a Rye Bock, in the Bier with alternate cereals category. “This prize is particularly special for us,” said brewer David Hollyoak. “To win Gold for our two traditional German beer styles, in Munich Germany is one of my proudest brewing moments.”

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BEER TALK SRSC, ALIA, WBA

SYDNEY ROYAL T

he Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show has uncovered Australia’s Champion Bottled Beer with the honour going to Western Australia’s Nail Brewing Australia, presented at awards ceremony on 20 September 2013. The Bassendean-based brewer won the title for their Clout Stout – a brew that is renowned for its full-bodied flavour and smooth finish. The RAS has been judging Beer as part of the Summer Fine Food Show since the Sydney Royal Beer Competition was established in 2007; however 2013 marked a momentous occasion in the competition’s history as it is now a standalone event due to its increasing popularity. The increase in popularity saw 149 entries put under the judging microscope, with 108 beers and 41ciders – the first time cider had been included in the Show. Classes judged included Golden Lagers, Dark Lagers, Pale and Golden Ales, Amber and Dark Ales, Stouts and Porters, Wheat Beers, Strong Beers, Reduced Alcohol Beer, Cider, Perry and Speciality Beer. 71 medals were presented – a statistic that highlights the overall high standard of beer and cider throughout Australia.

ALIA T

he country’s leading liquor brands, venues, retailers and bar teams were honoured at the 20th Australian Liquor Industry Awards (ALIA) on 23 October. With Larry Emdur taking to the stage for the sixth time to emcee the evening, 50 awards were presented across the on and off-premise, including nine specialist beer and cider awards. The stand-out performer of the night was again Coopers who snagged Best Full Strength for Coopers Pale Ale, Best Marketed Beer or Cider Brand, and the, much coveted major trophy, Liquor Brand of the Year.

BEER AND CIDER AWARDS

Full Strength - Coopers Pale Ale Light and Mid-Strength - XXXX Gold Low-Carbohydrate - Hahn Super Dry Premium Domestic - James Squire One Fifty Lashes Pale Ale Premium International - Peroni Nastro Azzurro Craft - James Squire One Fifty Lashes Pale Ale Cider - Rekorderlig Best Marketed Beer or Cider - Coopers

HOTEL, BAR AND CLUB AWARDS Best Tap Beer - Stone & Wood Pacific Ale

MAJOR OFF-PREMISE AWARDS Liquor Brand of the Year – Coopers

Coopers Pale Ale, winner of the ALIA Best Full Strength Beer for 2013.

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WORLD BEER AWARDS T

he results of the World Beer Awards 2013 saw Sydney’s Redoak delighted to be able to fly the Aussie flag and snare World’s Best honours in two categories: Redoak Lambic Blackberry in Sour Beer / Lambic; and Wee Heavy Ale in Dark Beer / Strong Dark Ale. On top of the two World’s Best, Redoak also scooped seven Asia’s Best awards for their Honey Ale, Old Ale, Baltic Porter, Special Reserve, Weizen Dopple Bock, Wee Heavy Ale, and Lambic Blackberry.

BEER TALK What’s Brewing

BEER & BREWER UPDATE See the New Releases in the Buyers’ Guide for new beers, cider and whisky from local and imported suppliers.

Beer & Brewer reports on what’s brewing in new and existing breweries, news in beer bars and bottle shops.

VIC

ed Island Brewing Co has built on the successful launch of their Pale Ale releasing a ‘wingman’ for their original brew in the form of an India Pale Ale. With a blend of four malts and featuring Cascade and Mosaic hops, the beer reportedly delivers fresh orange, grapefruit and mango aromas with a touch of oats to provide smoothness. The Quiet Deeds range will soon also welcome a Kölsch to the family, though there is no release date as yet. Further afield, the father and son team Tom and Mitch Walsh from the Mansfield Brewing Co have completed the move of their backyard brewery to a new, (slightly) larger premises – and they’re keen to let the world know that they’re open for business. Specialising in small batch (roughly 850-litres per brew), they’ve set up the new system and should have product to market in late October / early November, 2013. The brewers at Bridge Road in Beechworth have developed and released a new concept to help drive their quest for “beer-ducation”, a “Beer School Hop Pack” that features four beers that use the same malt recipe, but which have each been given a different strain of hops. The result is a four-pack of ‘the same, but very different’ IPAs that Bridge Road reckons will help any lover of beer extend their knowledge of hops, and the different characteristics that they can lend a beer – plus, it’ll taste good too! The hops varities on offer are Galaxy, Ella, Summer and Vic Secret. The organisers of the Great Australian Beer Festival in Geelong have released the proposed line-up for next years’ event, and the beer and cider list is impressive, to say the

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least. More than 150 beers and ciders will be available on site, including the big names like Murray’s Craft Brewing Co and Stone & Wood, alongside some of the newer entrants to the market, like Killer Sprocket and the recently re-launched Temple Brewing. Victorian craft brewers Dainton are all set to release their second beer, called “The Good Son” – it’s a Golden Ale, which is describe as a “sessionable brew that delivers devilishly delightful esters and unique hop characteristics.” Made with a specialty Belgian yeast strain, alongside Japanese and German hops and mainly Australian malt, it promises to provide a zesty, summery delivery to the palate.

Meanwhile, the team at Purvis have been scouring the globe for something new to bring to our shores, and they’ve ‘struck gold’ in the form of five new brews from Montreal’s Dieu du Ciel brewery. The five brews include a Scotch Ale, a Black IPA and a Quad – plus a couple of brews that the good folk at Purvis

have detailed for us: the L’Herbe à Détourne - Abbey Tripel – brewed in the traditional Blegian Tripel style, but packed with an extra blast of Citra hops. It packs a bit of a wallop at 10.2% ABV, and you can expect mango / cantaloupe on the nose and zesty citrus and passionfruit on the palate – and the Dieu du Ciel! - Chaman - Double IPA. Expect an ‘extreme’ version of the typical American IPA, as this one’s been dry hopped and finessed to produce a complex, bitter beer that clocks in at 9.0% ABV. Victorian craft brewery Mountain Goat is stoked with its decision to can “a little bit of summer” for its fans. Not simply content with canning an existing brew, the team has elected to add to their stable, brewing a Summer Ale that co-owner Cam Hines describes as “fresh, crisp and dry with a big hoppy flavour and aroma for supreme summerability”. Mountain Goat brewery is also known for its dedication to sustainability, and so the more recyclable nature of cans – as opposed to glass – was also a noted factor in the decision. The Summer Ale is brewed using wheat malt, un-malted wheat, and a blend of newworld Australian and New Zealand hops including Nelson Sauvin and Motueka. The 4.7% ABV ale is packaged in a standard 375mL size can and will be available shortly in retail and on-premise locations around the country. Northdown Craft Beer Movement has recently added the first cider to its once exclusively craft beer portfolio. The addition of Golden Axe Cider marks the end of a threeyear search for a cider to complement their portfolio. Golden Axe finds its home in South East Melbourne, produced by a small group of self-proclaimed beverage geeks with a passion for local, quality ingredients and freshness of flavour. The cider’s name pays tribute to Aesop’s Fable of the Golden Axe, and is also the name of a cult classic video game from 20 years ago. Despite being relatively new on the cider scene, Golden Axe has already picked up the People’s Choice Best Cider award at the 2012 Fed Square Microbreweries Showcase. New label Kwencher has made a splash at the recent 2013 Asia Beer Awards, with the Kwencher Pale Ale picking up Best Pale Ale in Australasia only two months after its release to market. While only hitting shelves 18 months ago, the Kwencher brand is no stranger to the international award scene. Released last year,

Kwencher Clingstone Peach and Darjeeling Tea was also recognised at the 2012 Asia Beer Awards in Singapore and the 2012 Australian International Beer Awards. Produced in Geelong, Victoria, Kwencher is currently available in-store only in its home state, yet the team is planning to use the Pale Ale award as leverage to expand distribution into Sydney, Brisbane and Perth markets later this year, as well as pursuing leads in Singapore and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, craft brewers Monster Mash (same company as Golden Axe Cider) have revealed the latest in their arsenal, called the Hopped Out Red a Red Ale, with an American Ale-like hop blast, according to Monster Mash Chief Boss Callum Reeves. Not content with brewing the usual crowd-pleasers, the Reeve brothers have followed up on their first barnstorming release (a Double IPA that tipped the scales at 9.1% ABV), the Hopped Out Red doesn’t pull its punches either. Packed with an almost overwhelming burst of flavours and aromas, the Hopped Out Red comes in at 6.4% ABV and is available in 500mL bottles.

NSW

For the first time ever an Australian cider has cleaned up the major trophy at the Australian Cider Awards, taking home Champion of Show. The Hills Cider Company (SA) Pear Cider was judged the best, ahead of more than 160 entries from around the world, including powerhouse brands from across the UK and Europe. The Hills Cider Company Pear Cider also took out Champion Australian Perry en route to the top. The Australian Cider Awards also provided a bright patch of good news for Shane and Tessa McLaughlin, whose Hillbilly Cider picked up a silver medal in the medium Perry class. It was a bittersweet win for the freshly-minted company, as Shane was denied the opportunity to collect his award personally, as he was racing home to the orchard at Bilpin to prep his and his neighbours’ properties in the face of an oncoming bushfire. The award winners were celebrated at a gala function at the Sebel Hotel in Surry Hills, attended by over 100 producers from around the country, with Small Acres Cyder being awarded Champion Australian Cider for their The Cat’s Pyjamas release. Meanwhile, it’s been a big few months for David Hollyoak and the team at Redoak, who have been busy winning just about every award they’ve set their sights on, here and overseas. Redoak snagged two gold medals at the European Beer Star 2013 for its Redoak Schwarzbier in the Schwarzbier category and Redoak Winter in the Rye, a Rye Bock, in the Bier with alternate cereals category. That success was followed up with an even bigger haul at the World Beer Awards, where they picked up “World’s Best” honours in two categories: Sour Beer / Lambic and Dark Beer / Strong Dark Ale. The winning brews for the team were the Redoak Lambic Blackberry, and the barnstorming Wee Heavy Ale. On top of the two “World’s Best”, Redoak also scooped seven “Asia’s Best” awards, with their Honey Ale, Old Ale, Baltic Porter, Special Reserve, Weizen Dopple Bock, Wee

BEER TALK What’s Brewing

The well-stocked bar at Redoak, Sydney..

Heavy Ale and Lambic Blackberry. If that wasn’t enough, the team from Redoak could barely carry the silverware away from the Sydney Royal Beer and Cider Show, where they claimed 11 medals – four silver, and seven bronze. David then backed all that up by winning Brewer of the Year at the recent Beer & Brewer Awards. It’s going to be a hard year to beat… West of Sydney, the historic Carrington Hotel has announced that it will be opening its doors again after a massive upgrade, which includes the installation of a microbrewery in the old power station out the back of the property. The plan is for the brewery to initially brew three styles, all named after local references and with a local tale behind them – Three

Sisters Pale Ale, The Great White Fleet American Pale Ale and Chimney Sweep Porter. Six String Brewing, from the NSW Central Coast, are also making waves in the world of craft beer, despite only just celebrating six months since they threw open the doors for business. Six String recently picked up three bronze medals at the Royal Sydney Beer & Cider Show, for their Golden Ale, Hefeweizen and Dark Red IPA. On top of that, the team tells us they’ve been busy with their seasonal brews – the Rye IPA and Oktoberfest Marzen are all-but sold out, and there are plans on the table to get started on a Saison. They also managed to snag an exclusive contract to supply beer for the recent Fat as Butter music festival in Newcastle, a first for craft beer. Sydney brewing outfit Brookvale Union Brewery, an off-shoot of award-winning 4 Pines Brewery, has landed in a spot of hot water over the labels on its recently released ginger beer. The labels, which feature a pastiche of two prominent Hindu gods, Ganesh and Lakshmi, surrounded by a number of other symbols holy to the religion, have caught the attention of prominent Hindu spokesperson Rajan Zed, President of the Universal Society of Hinduism. Brookvale Union Brewery released a statement on Thursday, 14 November, apologising for the issue – and offering a unique way for anyone who wants to get involved to be part of the solution to the issue. “It seems we have unintentionally offended our Hindu friends with the imagery on our Ginger Beer packaging,” Brookvale Union Brewery said in a prepared statement. “We’ve received feedback from many Hindu’s over the last few days – some find the label offensive, others do not. Nevertheless, it was not our intention to offend a group of people. Brookvale Union is about great tasting, fun beverages and not about disrespecting anyone or their beliefs. We have subsequently apologised for any distress caused and begun the process of

Brookvale Union Brewing.

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Manning the pumps at the Wig & Pen..

removing the images from the website. We’re lovers, not fighters, we want to make it right.” “We are now focused on redesigning the Ginger Beer which hopefully all can be happy with!” the statement says. “Brookvale Union is asking graphic designers, artists, and even doodlers who think they can rise up to the challenge to put pen on paper and better the existing design.” Meanwhile, over the other side of the harbour, the team at Wayward Brewing Co in the innerwestern suburbs have created something of a stir by brewing what they term an ‘impossible’ beer, and releasing it as the Lilliput “Tiny” IPA. The kicker - it’s only 3.8% ABV, but the brewers tell us that it sacrifices none of the flavour associated with the IPA label. Wayward Brewing tells us that it’s a Six String Brewing Co. bar.

BEER TALK What’s Brewing

Specialty Malting Company

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ACT

If the name of the Wig & Pen’s new Head Brewer seems familiar, it could be because Tom Lillicrap’s name bobbed up on the ballot at the recent federal election, as the Sex Party candidate for the seat of Greenway in western Sydney. Despite picking up a handy 1.76% swing towards the party, Tom’s credentials as a brewer and neuroscientist weren’t quite enough to get him over the line. As a result, Tom’s accepted the role of Head Brewer for Wig & Pen, where he’s been working behind the scenes for a number of years already. Tom tells us that he’s all set to continue the good work started by Richard Watkins, but isn’t ruling out a departure from the styles to help ‘push the boundaries’ again in the future. Richard Watkins has started comissioning of his new brewing venture called BentSpoke Brewing, to be a brewpub and beer hall in Braddon, with more details to follow online.

QLD

Fresh from Burleigh Brewing Co’s “Bit on the Side Department” is their new cleverly named limited edition: Hassle Hop. According to the team, the five brewers got together to debate their favourite hops, and after coming up with five different - non-budging - answers, they decided to throw caution to the wind and work all five varieties into a brew. Described in the notes as a “beautifully balanced, highly-hoppy, strong Pale Ale”, the brew packs a punch with an ABV of 5.5% and a hop list that states “Galaxy (punchy Benny), El Dorado (sweet Mike), Citra (smooooth Sean), Mosaic (complex Kieron) and Belma (tropical Hawaiian Brennan).” Burleigh Brewing Co Brewmaster, Brennan Fielding, says that it was all about achieving a balance. “Striking a balance that brought out the best characteristics of each hop, without compromising the others was about the toughest thing we’ve ever done,” he says. “But now that it’s done, it’s setting a

new standard in awesome!” In the name of charity, the Fortitude Brewing Company teamed up with CWA (Chicks with Ales) and BoSC (Bar of Social Conscience) to throw a pink-ribbon party to help in the fight against breast cancer. The aim of the event was to raise a cool $10,000 for the Mater Chicks in Pink charity, an organisation that supplies mastectomy bras for every woman who undergoes the loss of one or both breasts, wigs when they lose their hair, pay for parking, grocery vouchers and counselling and help terminally ill patients put together memory boxes for their children. Fortitude brewed a special Pink IPA (which they called the PIPA the Pink Crusader) – and punters paid $50 a ticket for food donated by Dalton Hospitality, free pours of the Pink IPA, and for the non-beer drinkers, pink sparkling donated by Jansz, and pink gin cocktails donated by West Winds Gin Company. If that wasn’t enough, to help those who couldn’t make it to the event, there were four ‘karma keg’ venues who also helped to raise much-needed funds: Pig N Whistle, Riverside, City, the Tipplers Tap, Newstead, The Scratch Bar, Milton and the Archive Beer Boutique, West End. Craft beer has become an increasingly central feature of venues throughout Brisbane, both small and large, introducing the community to the possibilities of quality and creative beer. In celebration of this burgeoning craft beer culture, March 2014 will see the arrival of Brewsvegas, a week long beer festival described by organisers as a “grass roots, community minded” venture. The Brewsvegas festival will encourage venues and breweries to take part in the celebration by hosting events that champion good beer and Brisbane’s unique identity as a city and community. It aims to promote innovation, creativity and teamwork to help nurture and grow the local beer scene. Brewsvegas is a collaborative venture, with the team hailing from some of Brisbane’s smallest and biggest craft beer venues, restaurants and breweries. The team believes that beer has the power to engage the community with many different facets of Brisbane’s culture, and hopes to showcase the creative and entrepreneurial flair of the vibrant city.

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BEER TALK What’s Brewing

combination of Pilsner, Carapils and Light Munich. The hops include the Noble German Tettnang, Australia’s Helga and Pacifica, as well as Waimea from New Zealand. The result is a sprightly, refreshing lager that clocks in at 4.5% ABV and 25 IBU.

The team at Coopers have continued their philanthropic ways, and recently let us know that its recycling program is providing a significant boost to South Australian charities. Initially introduced in 2006 as a cost saving measure, the program involves recycling material such as cardboard, glass, aluminium and old machinery and has since raised more the $380,000 for the philanthropic Coopers Brewery Foundation. The Coopers Brewery Foundation makes quarterly grants to charitable organisations with recognised strengths in medical research and health care, youth education and aged care and in fostering family and community support. Recycling joins contributors to the Foundation such as the proceeds of tours, speaker fees for any Cooper family members and concerts at the brewery and an annual Foundation golf day. In total, the Foundation has raised and distributed more than $2 million to a total of 120 charities for 144 individual projects. All that philanthropic karma must be doing great things for the team at Coopers, who have also announced that their 2012-13 financial year business report is extremely healthy - and that the company has posted a record profit for the 12-month period. Most remarkable is the fact that the group has achieved that record growth, flying in the face of the overall downturn in beer consumption around Australia. The numbers speak for themselves: In the 12 months to June 30, 2013, Coopers’ turnover rose by 16.1 percent to $216 million, an increase of $30 million on the previous year. The company also posted a record profit for the year, jumping $3.64 million to $30.8 million and increase of 13.4 percent - and sales volume increased by 8.3 percent to an astonishing 69.7 million litres. The largest areas of increased sales for Coopers came from Queensland, WA and Victoria, where sales have increased between 17.1 and 23.2 percent on a state-by-state basis. Coopers now holds 4.5 percent of the national beer market. Elsewhere in South Australia, the McLaren Vale Beer Company has has taken the plunge and decided to start bottling the blue-labeled VALE/LGR lager, and add it to its core range. Head Brewer Jeff Wright says that the VALE/ LGR blends old and new world traditions, and is “our interpretation of a new world craft lager, but with a nod to the old world traditions in the use of German Noble hops.” The VALE/LGR has medium carbonation, and the 100% malted grain profile is a

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TAS

In an Australian first, Willie Smiths Organic Cider has teamed up with Lark Distillery to release a limited edition Australian-first cider, aged in whisky barrels. The secret project is a riff on the barrel-aging trend that has recently exploded in the craft beer sector, with the cider being the first of its kind in Australia, according to Willie Smith’s cofounder Sam Reid. Only 888 bottles of the cider have been produced, with each bottle sporting a wooden label with laser cut branding. Just 150 bottles will go to select customers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with the remaining stock to be sold from the Willie Smith’s new cellar door in the Huon Valley, Tasmania. Additionally, the Local Taphouse in St Kilda – home of Willie Smiths first mainland tap point – will be given the only keg of the cider to be produced. Tassie-based beer lovers – or even those on holiday on the Apple Isle – can rejoice… the team at Two Metre Tall, in the Derwent Valley

outside of Hobart, have brought back Friday Farm Bar. It kicked off again from 11 October 2013, and joins their Sunday Farm Bar, which runs from 12pm to 5pm every Sunday. It’s become a local institution to head out to the New Norfolk farm and enjoy a sampling of the ales, and a mighty feed on locally-grown produce – and catch up with Ashley Huntington, who’ll talk you through the process of making his farmhouse ciders and ales.Best of all, there’s a $15 shuttle bus that’ll run from Hobart – so need to designate a driver… if there’s enough of you wanting a ride, the bus will take you there and home again at the end of the night. Finally, the lucky folks of Hobart have had a whale of a time as Beer Lover’s Week descended on the southern township, inundating it with some very special brews, the men and women who made them, and the punters who love them. The week’s highlights included a whisky and beer matching session with Chris Thomson, the man driving the stills for Bill Lark these days. The New Sydney Hotel played host to a Grain vs Grape Dinner, offering guests the chance to decide whether their beer or their wine was a better match for the food on the plate. The week rounded off with a game of cricket in the backyard at Preacher’s... which sounds like heaven to us right now.

Enjoying a quiet beer at Feral.

By Jeremy Sambrooks The awards keep rolling in for Nail Brewing’s Clout Stout. In Sydney’s Royal Beer and Cider Show, the 11% Russian Imperial Stout was judged champion bottled beer and awarded the only gold medal from 149 entries. Brewed once a year, the winning 2012 Clout Stout was a limited 800 bottle release, with each boxed, numbered, 750mL bottle retailing for $70-80. Nail Brewing also picked up bronze medals for their Nail Ale, Nail Stout and Dunn Brown. It was fitting that Little Creatures chose the 1st of August – International IPA Day – to reveal that an IPA would be added to their permanent beer lineup. After being available for weeks on tap in the Fremantle brewhouse under the guise of ‘a very hoppy ale’, the IPA was finally launched at Five Bar on the 11th of September. Hopped with East Kent Goldings (UK), Victoria’s Secret (Aus), Southern Cross (NZ) and Amarillo (US), the new brew weighs in at a not-insubstantial 6.4% ABV with 60 IBUs. Available in bottles and on draught across the country, Little Creatures IPA must surely be Australia’s most well distributed IPA. In August, Feral Brewing Company hosted their second annual ‘Beer Degustation’, held at their Swan Valley brewpub. The 140 in attendance enjoyed a seven course banquet matched to seven of Feral’s outstanding beers, including a one-off keg of Warhead – a special batch of the brewery’s popular Berliner Weisse without its regular barrel aging and addition of watermelon. Feral have added a new beer to their permanent range – a 4.7% Summer Ale that goes by the name of Sly Fox. Described as ‘a golden, lightly filtered Summer Ale with lower bitterness and our signature floral American hop aroma’, Sly Fox has been released on draught with bottles becoming available later in the year. It is also Feral’s first beer to feature new branding which is set to appear across the brewery’s entire range. After eight years in Busselton, Occy’s Brewery has packed up shop and moved to Dunsborough. The decision to move was due to the brewery’s lease expiring without an option to renew. The Occy’s venue will feature all the same brews and more, while retaining an atmosphere that stays true to the original brewery. Already

home to the Pour House, the newest Clancy’s Fish Pub and nearby breweries Bush Shack and Eagle Bay, Dunsborough looks to be strengthening its reputation as one of WA’s top beer destinations. Yallingup’s Bush Shack Brewery is for sale. Opening in the late 90s as Wicked Ale Brewery, Bush Shack Brewery is a small family run business best known for their flavoured beers and wine based drinks. The brewery recently held its first ever beer dinner to celebrate the launch of their St Nick’s Double Scotch Ale – a rich and malty 8.5% brew that has been described as liquid Christmas pudding. WA’s beer lovers were in for a treat when WA Beer Week rolled into town. A series of well-attended events showcased the very best of Western Australia’s craft brewing talent, against brewers from around the rest of the country as well. It was more like an intertstate raid at times, with so many tap takeovers in venues around Perth and Freo, plus some old-fashioned, friendly competition in venues like The Quarie, which hosted Beer Skool: Fight Club Edition. This event pitted ten brewers showcasing five different styles in a head-to-head taste-off, to decide a champion brew. The Monk Brewery and Kitchen got its Beergustation back, with head chef Bonny treating punters to an eight-course, beermatched dinner from heaven. Marvelous.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A hearty congratulations to our WA correspondent, Jeremy Sambrooks, who took home a trophy at the recent Royal Perth Beer Show. Jeremy’s Rapid Fire Weizenbock won the Royal Agricultural Society of WA Trophy for Best Wheat Beer. Well done, Jeremy!

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BEER TALK What’s Brewing

By Neil Miller This year’s New Zealand Beer Awards received a record 541 entries. It was a gruelling three days for the 24 judges, and an equally hard-working team of stewards to taste every beer on the list, before making their decisions. The results were 41 gold medals, 50 silver medals and 91 bronze medals. For the first time, the judging was held in Christchurch. The trophy winners were: New Zealand Champion Brewery – Renaissance Brewing Company International Champion Brewery – Boston Beer Company European Lager Styles – Cassels and Sons Dunkel International Lager Styles – Townshend Oldhams Tap Riwaka Pilsner British Ale Styles – Renaissance Tribute Barley Wine Other European Ale Styles – Emerson’s Dinner Bell US Ale Styles – Tuatara APA International Ale Styles – Mac’s Shady Pale Ale Stouts and Porters – Wigram The Czar Wheat and Other Grain Styles – Renaissance Enlightenment Black the RIPA Flavoured and Aged Styles – Three Boys Coconut Milk Porter New Zealand Speciﬁc Styles – Boundary Road Haagen Lager Speciality, Experimental, Aged, Barrel and Wood Aged Styles – Garage Project Cockswain’s Courage Double Barrelled Edition Cider and Perry – Good George Drop Hop Cider Cask Conditioned Style – Townshend Old House ESB Packaging – Tuatara Brewery Range Festive Brew – Twisted Hop Cheery Morton Coutts Trophy for Innovation – Doug Banks and Jim Banks Beer Writer of the Year – Michael Donaldson New breweries continue to launch at a rapid rate. Baylands Brewery and Brewing Supplies has opened in the quiet Wellington suburb of Newlands. Run by Aidan and Nikki Styles, their small but modern brewery is producing a growing range of beers, including Red Ryder (Red IPA) and Miss Demeanour (Blonde Ale). Further north, Mike Neilson (formerly of Tuatara Brewing) has poured $750,000 into a new brewery which plans to be making 1 million litres of beer annually within five years. It is an ambitious business model and involved selling the family house, but his early

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beers, including Supercharger APA and Port Road Pilsner, have been very well received. Also in Upper Hutt, Kereru Brewing has completed their move into a dramatically larger brewing facility. In addition to the extra capacity, the brewery has improved kegging and bottling facilities (including their new 500mL bottles), Fill Your Own taps and an offlicence for brewery door sales. The new brewery is a big step forward for Chris Mills and his team, and reflects the growing popularity of their characterful range. After nearly 25 years, Sunshine Brewery owners Geoff Logan and Gerry Maude sold their Gisborne business to a group of four new owners. Geoff wrote “we have decided it was time to let new owners take the brewery and its beers up to new levels… The new owners all have a long and successful history in the industry and will use their combined knowledge to grow Gisborne’s own craft brewery into the national icon it deserves to be. We are so excited about their future plans that we have retained a modest shareholding and will remain involved in the daily operation of the new company.”

VIC Red Island Brewing Co www.quietdeeds.com.au Mansﬁeld Brewing Co www.mansﬁeldbrewery.com.au Bridge Road Brewers www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au

A justifiably proud Chris Mills with his new ‘toys’ at Kereru Brewing, NZ.

The new owners plan to expand production but also intend to continue brewing the existing beers to the existing recipes in Gisborne.

QLD Burleigh Brewing Co burleighbrewing.com.au Brewsvegas http://brewsvegas.com.au Fortitude Brewing Company www.fortitudebrewing.com.a

SA Coopers www.coopers.com.au

TAS

Great Australian Beer Festival Geelong gabfgeelong.com.au

Willie Smiths williesmiths.com.au

Purvis Beer www.purvisbeer.com.au

Lark Distillery www.larkdistillery.com.au

Dainton Brewing daintonbrewing.wordpress.com Mountain Goat www.goatbeer.com.au Northdown, Craft Beer Movement www.northdown.com.au Kwencher kwencher.com.au

NSW The Hills Cider Company www.thehillscidercompany.com.au Hillbilly Cider www.hillbillycider.com.au Redoak Boutique Beer Café www.redoak.com.au Six String Brewing Co www.sixstringbrewing.com.au Carrington Hotel www.thecarrington.com.au

ACT The Wig & Pen www.wigandpen.com.au

WA Bush Shack Brewery www.bushshackbrewery.com.au Feral Brewing Company www.feralbrewing.com.au Little Creatures www.littlecreatures.com.au Nail Brewing www.nailbrewing.com.au Occy’s Brewery www.facebook.com/OccysBrewery

NZ New Zealand Beer Awards www.brewersguild.org.nz/awards Baylands Brewing www.baylandsbrewery.com Panhead Custom Ales www.facebook.com/panheadcustomales Kereru Brewing www.kererubrewing.co.nz Sunshine Brewing www.gisbornegold.co.nz

BIGGER THAN DUFF BEER!

A NEW CONTENDER FOR THE TITLE OF WORLD’S STRONGEST BEER HAS EMERGED – AND, OF COURSE, IT’S FROM SCOTLAND.

nake Venom is officially the world’s strongest beer, coming in at a massive 67.5% ABV. And at $85 for a single 275ml bottle, it’s not something to be drunk lightly. Made by Scottish brewery Brewmeister who knocked fellow Scots BrewDog’s End of History off its high alcohol perch with the 65% ABV Armageddon (now the second strongest beer in the world) - it was a reaction to some customers complaining that the first attempt was “too weak” according to Scotland’s Daily Record newspaper. According to the Brewmeister team “the beer still tastes like a beer rather than a spirit. It’s hoppy, malty and very pleasant”. Coming with instructions to “enjoy it like a whisky” Snake Venom is brewed with smoked peat malt and two varieties of yeast.

Froth/Trivia

TRIVIA TEASERS!

Think you’re a beer expert? Try these ten trivia teasers to see where you really stand.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Which New Zealand city hosted an Oktoberfest beer festival which doubled as the National Bavarian Band Championships? What is the name of the talented Good George head brewer who is taking a break from the industry for family reasons? Which brewery was crowned Champion Brewery of New Zealand 2013/2014, becoming the first to win the coveted award twice? In Roger Protz’s book “300 More Beers to Try Before You Die”, how many of the beers he selected are from New Zealand and how many are from Australia? Which former Champion Brewery of New Zealand has sold 35% of the company to private investment firm Rangatira? Which talented West Australian took home the gong for Beertender of the Year at the 2013 Beer & Brewer Awards? Which Japanese brewery was forced to apologise to parents when they couldn’t keep up production to meet consumer demand for their zeroalcohol beer for children? Which US city is home to some brilliant craft breweries, and the winners of the 2013 World Series? What’s the name of the little black dog that adorns the labels of Black Dog Brewery’s beers? What does brewer Michael Brookes from Bootleg Brewery do when he’s not making beers in WA?

Answers 1 Wellington – Oktoberfest: The Bavarian Showdown. 2 Kelly Ryan. 3 Renaissance Brewing Company (Blenheim). 4 New Zealand: 8 – Australia: 16. 5 Tuatara Brewing Company (Wellington). 6 Matt Marinich, The Quarie, WA. 7 Kirin, makers of Kirin Free. 8 Boston. 9 Macca. 10 Michael’s an avid mountain bike rider.

FROTH

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BOOTLEG BREWERY In the idyllic surrounds of Margaret River (WA), two likely lads have been on a mission to build “an oasis of beer in a desert of wine”. Michael Brooks tells Beer & Brewer about turning a dream into a reality. HOW DID YOU GUYS GET STARTED IN THE BREWING INDUSTRY?

Both Ryan Nilsson-Linne and I started brewing at home at an early age… (yeah yeah, we were under 18, but we won’t tell anyone, will we?) From that beginning, we were always destined to become Bootleg Brewers.

WHAT SORT OF BUSINESS DO YOU RUN? Bootleg Brewery has been supplying the locals and passing tourists with fine lunches and quality craft beers since 1994. The idea for the Brewery came from Tom Reynolds, a former schoolteacher who saw the need for a brewery in the middle of a wine region. Thus “an oasis of beer in a desert of wine” was created. The business model has a primary focus on great lunches and experience quality beer (and now cider) to enjoy on-site with bottled product to take home. Bootleg Brewery sits on 71 acres of prime rural land opposite a giant lake. Families from far and wide visit to enjoy the laid back atmosphere and live music, and we have a giant playground to keep the kids entertained.

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE INVOLVED IN THE CREATION OF THE SOUTH WEST CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL?

I started at Bootleg in July 1998 on the packaging line, working along-side a former Matilda Bay Brewer, Gary Beale and a bottling specialist, Craig Cumming (who has since gone over to the dark side... GRAPES!). We spoke of having a South West Craft Beer Festival then, but there was only one other existing brewery, Wicked Ale which has become Bushshack. In July 2011, I decided to call Craig who was working at a local winery and told him “it’s time to do it, mate!”, with the boom of the industry in the South West. I had also become great mates with Jason Dover, Director of Buzz Marketing, through the Cape to Cape Mountain Bike Race. So a few meetings later, a lot of great local brews and yes, you guessed it, a winner of a festival! It’s now into its third year and we have found a bigger venue to host it.

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The idyllic surrounds in the middle of the Margaret River wine region...

WHAT EQUIPMENT ARE YOU CURRENTLY RUNNING IN THE BREWERY?

Bootleg is currently in the middle of its biggest expansion yet. A gravity-fed single infusion mash tun starts off a brew day. A stainless steel 2500 litre kettle with an external boil sets us apart from a lot of other brewing systems. An interesting combination of fermenter sizes, from 14hL to 35hL. We’ve also got two Bright Beer tanks, 18hL and 35hL and a great new keg washer from Premier Stainless (thanks Tim!!). Filling is taken care of by ProPak with a 6 head Fromax labeller filler monoblock.

WHAT IS THE BREWERY’S CAPACITY IN HECTOLITRES AND HOW MUCH HAVE YOU EXPANDED?

We are currently brewing at a capacity of 120hL per month, and by 2014 we will have increased it to 200hL. Back in 1994 we were brewing 20,000hL per year, when I started in 1998 it was

70,000hL and then 2008 saw an expansion to today’s level and it is still growing.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU GUYS WHEN CREATING RECIPES?

We both travel a lot when we are not filling tanks with Bootleg Beers. Listening to our customers is one of our best tools to realising the direction we take. There are also those moments when it just comes out of nowhere, or a dream that we decide to turn into a reality.

WHAT ARE YOUR BEST SELLERS AND OLD FAVOURITES?

Raging Bull has evolved to become an iconic Dark Ale in Western Australia and is our biggest seller in bottles. Prohibition Pils (formally known as Wils Pils) and South West Wheat are the biggest draught sellers over the bar at Bootleg Brewery. My personal favourites at the moment are Hopwired (8Wired), Bounty (The Monk) and our Speakeasy I.P.A (Bootleg).

BEER TALK ARE YOU WORKING ON ANY LIMITED RELEASES OR HAD ANY ON THE MARKET RECENTLY?

We have had some awesome ‘oaked’ ales come out this past winter and we have decided to continue on with these. Capitalising on being ‘an oasis of beer in a desert of wine’, a lot of our customers can relate to ‘oaked’ products. Raging Bull stored in Cognac barrels to create our Bucking Bull has become very popular amongst Dark Ale lovers.

WHAT SORT OF REACTION DO YOU GET TO YOUR LIMITED RELEASES? Our customers can get very excited about our limited releases. We like to think we are taking them down roads in the beer world they have never been before, further away from the bland, fizzy yellow lagers and into the world of craft beer at Bootleg Brewery.

WHERE CAN BEER FANS FIND YOUR BREWS?

You can order our brews off our website, local south west liquor stores, independent liquor stores in Perth and through Boutique Beverage Distributors in Victoria.

DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES OUTSIDE OF BEER? WHAT ARE THEY?

I am a proud member of Perth Mountain Bike club, racing cross country mountain bikes. Ryan and I also play cricket for the Margaret River Hawks. Bootleg Brewery Puzey Rd, Wilyabrup 6285 WA Open 11am to 6pm, 7 days Restaurant open from 12pm (08) 9755 6300 brewery@bootlegbrewery.com.au www.bootlegbrewery.com.au

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S T A T S S E L A S C E T Z A

test sales statistics direct e la e th ts ge er ew Br & er Each issue Be stralia, with market shar Au in les sa ise m re -p off from Aztec for follow in future issues. and category trends to

AUSTRALIAN BEER NATIONAL TOP TEN 1 Victoria Bitter 2 XXXX Gold 3 Carlton Draught 4 Carlton Dry 5 Tooheys New 6 Tooheys X-dry 7 Carlton Mid Strength 8 Crown Lager 9 Coopers Pale Ale 10 . Hahn Super Dry

AUSTRALIAN CIDER NATIONAL TOP TEN 1 Strongbow 2 Rekorderlig 3 Tooheys 5seeds 4 Somersby 5 Bulmers 6 Mercury 7 Monteith’s 8 Magners Original 9 Three Oaks 10 . Matilda Bay Dirty Granny

INTERNATIONAL BEER NATIONAL TOP TEN 1 Corona Extra 2 Heineken Lager 3 Peroni Nastro Azzurro 4 Stella Artois 5 Becks 6 Budweiser 7 Asahi Super Dry 8 Miller Chill 9 Miller Genuine Draught 10 . Guinness Draught

CRAFT BEER (INCLUDING CUB AND LION) NSW 1 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 2 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 3 Little Creatures Pale Ale 4 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 5 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 6 James Squire Four Wives Pilsener 7 Little Creatures Bright Ale 8 White Rabbit Dark Ale 9 Hoegaarden White 10 Lord Nelson Three Sheets VIC 1 Little Creatures Pale Ale 2 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 3 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 4 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 5 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 6 Little Creatures Bright Ale 7 Mountain Goat Steam Ale 8 White Rabbit Dark Ale 9 White Rabbit White Ale 10 Matilda Bay Beez Neez Honey Wheat QLD 1 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 2 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 3 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 4 Little Creatures Pale Ale 5 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 6 Stone&Wood Paciﬁc Ale 7 Little Creatures Rogers 8 Burleigh 28 Pale Ale 9 Little Creatures Bright Ale 10 Matilda Bay Beez Neez Honey Wheat

Do you know what your competition is doing? For market-leading coverage of beer in Australia, contact us today Call Hugh Edwards-Neil or Matt Bonar - 02 8789 4000 www.Aztec.com.au

SA 1 James Squire The Chancer 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Golden Ale Coopers Dark Ale James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale McLaren Vale Ale Little Creatures Pale Ale James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale Southwark Old Stout McLaren Vale IPA Coopers Vintage Ale

WA 1 Little Creatures Pale Ale 2 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 3 Little Creatures Rogers 4 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 5 Matso’s Mango Beer 6 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 7 Little Creatures Bright Ale 8 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 9 Hoegaarden White 10 Matilda Bay Redback TAS 1 James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale 2 James Squire The Chancer Golden Ale 3 Little Creatures Pale Ale 4 James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale 5 Boags Wizard Smith Ale 6 Matilda Bay Fat Yak Pale Ale 7 James Squire Four Wives Pilsener 8 Little Creatures Bright Ale 9 White Rabbit Dark Ale 10 James Squire Sundown Lager

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CRAFT BEER (EXCLUDING CUB AND LION) NSW 1 Lord Nelson Three Sheets 2 Stone&Wood Paciﬁc Ale 3 4 Pines Pale Ale 4 4 Pines Kolsch 5 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 6 McLaren Vale Ale 7 Monteith’s Black 8 Mountain Goat Steam Ale 9 Monteith’s Golden Lager 10 Byron Bay Pale Lager

QLD 1 Stone&Wood Paciﬁc Ale 2 Burleigh 28 Pale Ale 3 Gage Roads Atomic Pale Ale 4 Sleeping Giant IPA 5 Burleigh My Wife’s Bitter 6 Monteith’s Golden Lager 7 Gage Roads Pils 8 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 9 Monteith’s Black 10 Burleigh Hefeweizen Wheat Beer

WA 1 Matso’s Mango Beer 2 Gage Roads Atomic Pale Ale 3 Gage Roads Pils 4 Gage Roads Premium Lager 5 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 6 Sleeping Giant IPA 7 Weihenstephaner Hefeweiss Dark 8 Wahoo Premium Ale 9 Feral Hop Hog IPA 10 Matso’s Pearlers Pale Ale

VIC 1 Mountain Goat Steam Ale 2 Gage Roads Atomic Pale Ale 3 Mountain Goat Hightail Ale 4 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 5 Stone&Wood Paciﬁc Ale 6 Sleeping Giant IPA 7 Monteith’s Golden Lager 8 4 Pines Pale Ale 9 Monteith’s Black 10 McLaren Vale Ale

TAS 1 Gage Roads Atomic Pale Ale 2 Sleeping Giant IPA 3 Moo Brew Pale Ale 4 Moo Brew Pilsner 5 Monteith’s Black 6 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 7 Ironhouse Pale Ale 8 Monteith’s Golden Lager 9 Gage Roads Premium Lager 10 McLaren Vale Ale

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

McLaren Vale Ale McLaren Vale IPA Gage Roads Atomic Pale Ale Sleeping Giant IPA McLaren Vale Dark Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Gage Roads Premium Lager Gage Roads Pils Monteith’s Golden Lager McLaren Vale Lager

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READER COLUMN Collectors Story

BEN JENKE

rsonal Jenke and a pe Collector Ben ite, his NT Draught. favour

Ben Jenke talks to Beer & Brewer about his impressive bottle collection.

any lifelong love affairs with the brew have started in the same way – a cheeky bottle as a teenager with family or friends finding its way onto the bedroom bookshelf, a trophy of sorts. For Ben Jenke, however, it’s developed into not just a love affair with beer, but an obsession with the object itself too – the unassuming beer bottle. Jenke, a 29 year old Sydneysider, is a oneman archive of just about every beer bottle to have been released in Australia throughout the last 11 years – plus a fair chunk from other countries, spanning three centuries. His collection currently hovers at around 5,000 bottles, along with assorted other miscellanea, “memorabilia, glasses and beer t-shirts, and also cider, perry and other random similar related alcoholic beverages – and if I don’t have a bottle, it will go into the collection. I don’t discriminate,” he smiles. The huge collection of bottles has sprung from humble beginnings. Ben stumbled into collecting, he tells me, while at a friend’s house in his teens. “When I was about 15 and at a friend’s place, her older brother had about 10 beer bottles up on his shelf and I thought it looked cool. So when I was a bit older I just started to get my own little collection going.” Eleven years into collecting and, as one can imagine, storage is an issue when one has amassed halfway to 10,000 bottles.

A small sample from Ben’s eclectic collection.

passion is collecting bottles of all nationalities. In fact, it was through travelling that one of his more impressive finds was secured. “I was in Panama and tracked down an old collector, from who I got a bottle which dates back to the 1800’s,” Jenke says, when asked what the oldest bottle in his collection is.

I HAVE AMBITIONS TO HAVE THE BIGGEST COLLECTION ON EARTH...” “It all began on my bedroom shelf, from there to the garage and now I’ve got them spread around in a few different places – under the family home, in a storage unit, these kinds of places. Though I have about 200 at home with me right now” says Jenke, who sources new bottles wherever he can get his hands on them – bottle shops with new or limited releases and other collectors. The best hauls though, he says, come from overseas. Somewhat conveniently then, Jenke works as a travel agent, always helpful when your

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There’s no end in sight for the growth in Ben’s collection, either. “I have ambitions to have the biggest collection on earth, at the moment some guy in Holland has 20,000.” In order to get closer to the target, Ben says he’s planning another overseas expedition in search of new additions. “Next year I’m taking 8 months off work to go on an around the world trip, where I’ll be sampling and collecting a whole lot of new bottles”, he says. Jenke does have an end game in mind for the collection, however. “The plan is one day

to open up either a museum or a bar restaurant to showcase the bottles. I visited the mini bottle museum in Oslo [The Minibottle Gallery] and something like that would be a dream.” And fittingly for someone who will collect just about anything without discrimination, Jenke isn’t quite sure which beer marks the beginning of his collection – though it was at a house party when he was seventeen, so the likelihood of it being a highlight of the collection is relatively low: “I’m hard-pressed to remember exactly what my first bottle was”, he says. “Probably a VB, Tooheys New or Carlton Draught to be honest.” The egalitarian nature of the collection is also a reflection of the way he goes about collecting. Jenke says his favourite part of the whole process is the collaborative side of it. “The best bit has to be talking about it, going about it with friends. My friends have assisted in collecting and drinking with me over the years so they’re a big part of it.” After all, reaching the 20,000 bottle target by yourself is probably not advisable. And what’s the point of one of the more impressive collections of beer bottles in the world if you’ve got no one to share it with?

THE CRAFT BEER CLUB

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Beer Club

Under the watchful eye of Sydney bartender extraordinaire, Craig McVea, the Craft Beer Club in the inner-Sydney suburb of Glebe is gaining traction with the locals. By Max Weber.

meerkat, beer clasped in his front paws, is emblazoned on the crest of the beer glasses, and the remnants of complimentary peanuts are strewn over the table. The AFL is on the TV and, at the Record Crate bar in Glebe, Craig McVea’s Craft Beer Club is in full flow. For McVea, a bartender at legendary Sydney speakeasies Shady Pines and Baxter Inn, setting up his Craft Beer Club has been a labour of love – one that’s been a year coming to fruition. Having spent the last couple of months searching for a home for his pet project, McVea is thrilled to have finally set up shop, more or less permanently, at the Record Crate Bar in Glebe. “It’s just a great

selection of vinyl and will be adding at least three craft beer taps in coming weeks. And indeed, on this particular Friday, the drawcard is definitely beer. A trio of craft luminaries are on board for the Craft Beer Club, with Victorians Mountain Goat and Red Duck being joined by an international guest in New York pioneers Brooklyn Brewery. From the outset it’s obvious there’s no snobbery involved here. It’s an egalitarian set-up, with hosting duties passed between an often-heckled comedian and an authority from each brewer providing tasting notes.While Brooklyn, for obvious reasons, didn’t provide an expert, both Ed Clarke from Mountain

THE FORMULA TONIGHT IS SIMPLE – TWO BEERS EACH FROM THREE CRAFT BREWERS...”

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No need for a theme - it’s just all for the love of craft beer.

Goat and Ashleigh from Red Duck are engaging, knowledgeable and approachable, as is the session as a whole, emceed by comedian Nick Capper. The formula tonight is simple – two beers each from three craft brewers, both from Australia and abroad. McVea says he doesn’t structure the sessions by theme, but rather gets his hands on the “best beer possible”, something apparent at September’s beer club – we open with Mountain Goat’s Two Step Cider, before progressing to the hop-stacked Red Duck Pale Rider (“does not contain any real ducks”) and the Brooklyn Lager. Mountain Goat’s potent IPA is another hop-driven brew at 65 IBU, while Red Duck’s second offering, an English-style Amber, is rich and malty. There’s little doubt about the real star of the evening, though – the final beer is Mountain Goat’s collaboration with Brooklyn, the “Crossbreed” Hopfweizenbock. Introduced to rowdy applause and anticipation, it’s a hoppy, wheaty concoction with a lurid green label and big flavour. As for what’s in store heading into summer, there’s tentative mention of a seasonal set-up some time in the future, while November’s club will be a “critics choice top 20 beers”, reports McVea. Details for future clubs are announced as they are finalised, through the Club’s twitter handle @craftbeerkats. $20 for entry buys about a midi-full of each beer on show, though most people seem to be able to mystically acquire a couple of extra bottles – a little cheekiness and beer love which is firmly in line with the rest of the evening.

place, really friendly guys and I just really like it here” he says. And it’s not just talk, either – McVea, already splitting his time between Pines and Baxters, has committed to pulling beers one day a week at the Crate as well. After lugging his laid-back brand of craft beer worship all around Glebe before settling at the Record Crate, it’s obvious that McVea has found what he’s been looking for in a venue. The club convenes in the Crate’s loft, all whitewashed walls, dark floorboards and band posters. The room gives way to huge, open windows looking down onto Glebe Point Road, relieving an otherwise cramped space – around 40 people are crammed into the space, regulars and newcomers alike. As the name indicates, Record Crate’s foremost focus is music, with frequent live shows and a playlist featuring Pixies, The Rolling Stones and The Strokes. They’re not resting on their laurels though – the bar also hosts open mic comedy nights, stocks a huge

BEER TALK Style Notes

As we trundle towards Christmas and the inevitable ‘silly season’ shenanigans, Pete Brown steps back to take a look at seasonal and festive beers – where they’ve come from, and what we might expect in the future.

or me, it began with Christmas, and a beer that seemed to suggest Willie Wonka had transferred his expertise from chocolate to brewing. Back in the days before the craft beer revolution, way back in the early noughties when I first started writing about beer, there wasn’t much that made you sit up and say, ‘Wow, I never knew beer could taste like that.’ Beer was great, but it conformed to a few familiar styles. Then one dark day I spotted Young’s Christmas Pudding Ale. I don’t like Christmas pudding much, but I thought I’d give it a try, thinking it might be a good accompaniment to post-turkey stodge. What I didn’t expect was a beer that tasted exactly like Christmas pudding: rich and warming, a hit of rum, dollops of raisins and sultanas, and then spices opening out – hints of marzipan, coconut, ginger. At that point, it was the most complex beer I had ever tasted. You could have been forgiven for pouring cream or brandy butter on it. (Later, I learned that drinkers centuries before me pretty much did that with similar beers.) Since I started writing about beer, Christmas dinner has become a time to break out the dusty bottles from the furthest reaches of the cellar, to try the Santa-illustrated bottles I was sent a year ago and see how they have aged. Am I simply being duped by marketing, or am I partaking of a centuries-old tradition? The answer is a bit of both. Seasonal beers have become a mainstay of the craft beer calendar. Brewers such as Sam Adams in the US and Greene King or Shepherd Neame in the UK have expanded their seasonal ranges to a different beer each month. Styles such as Winter Warmer and Pumpkin Ale have become established worldwide. The number of beers with names like ‘Bad Elf’, or ‘Santa’s Little Helper’ proliferate every year. It’s an easy way to create novelty and variety in a market that is hooked on looking for what’s new. But seasonality has always been of crucial importance to beer. The world’s main brewing nations – Britain, Germany, Belgium and later the US – all occupy temperate regions that experience four different seasons. Before handy innovations

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such as refrigeration and long distance transport, brewing was closely tied to the time of year. March and October were considered the best times to brew, with October probably carrying it thanks to fresh harvests just behind and a long, cool period of perfect fermentation conditions ahead. Some of our favourite beer styles began as seasonals. India Pale Ale is generally accepted to have grown out of old English October ales. These were brewed in the autumn with a huge concentration of malt to give the yeast lots to work at, creating beers that were commonly around 10% ABV. They would ferment until the cold put the yeast to sleep, then wake again in the spring, and ferment again over the summer. The youngest would be pronounced ready the following September, but it was common to age them for up to three years. With proximity to the harvest, autumn produced a wealth of other seasonal beers. Oktoberfest Märzen, traditionally brewed in the spring and stored cool over the summer, may be the beers most commonly associated with the season, but while the world descends on Bavaria to gorge on lager and pretzels, brewers elsewhere are having one of their busiest times of the year. ‘Harvest Ale’is one of many seasonal beer styles that is not a style at all, but a loose collection of beers bound together by the calendar. Head to the US, and a Harvest Ale such as that produced by Sierra Nevada will usually be a ‘wet hop’ or ‘fresh hop’ beer. Hops are unbelievably delicate: the optimal window for harvesting them is hours wide, and as soon as they’re harvested, they start to oxidise, losing their volatile oils. The drying process that preserves hops long enough for them to be used by brewers concentrates some

BEER TALK Style Notes

aromas but destroys others. If they can be used within an hour or two of harvesting, these fresh hops give a much more delicate, subtle and multi-faceted flavour to the beer. This means you can only make fresh hop beers in hop harvesting regions. In the UK, they’re a growing attraction for brewers near the hop gardens of Kent and Hereford. Brewing gets under way while the hops are being picked, so ideally the copper comes to the boil just as the harvest arrives at the door. In a country that’s fallen in love with the heady, concentrated aromas of New Zealand and North American hops, fresh hop beers have given a huge boost to the native hop industry.

difficult to thrive in the New World the fat, fleshy pumpkin became a substitute for almost everything, as one 1643 song celebrates: Instead of pottage and puddings and custards and pies, Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies; With a tongue-in-cheek spirit of forbearance, the song goes on to reveal pumpkin beer was also commonplace: For we can make liquor, to sweeten our lips, Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips.

IN THIS, THEY RECALL THE OLD WASSAILING TRADITION OF CUPS AND PUNCHES, POSSETS AND SYLLABUBS.” But in the UK, these beers aren’t called harvest beers. The term was already taken by something quite different. In 1986 Giles Dennis, head brewer at J W Lees in Manchester, discussed with his malt supplier an idea to celebrate that year’s barley harvest. He decided to create a high gravity beer to showcase the new season’s malt and hops, and J W Lees Harvest Ale (11.5% ABV) was born. It’s been brewed every year since, is exported around the world, and resells secondhand for astronomical prices. It’s inspired so many brewers around the world to try something similar that it has spawned its own new style. But autumn gets more crowded still. While most seasonal beers have European roots, Pumpkin Ale gives America a beer all of its own. Pumpkins are indigenous to North America and weren’t known anywhere else until the seventeenth century. With grain and other plants from Europe finding it

A recipe from the eighteenth century suggests Pumpkin Ale was made in a similar fashion to cider (another hugely popular drink in America at this time) with the pumpkin’s flesh being crushed before juice was extracted and fermented. When America finally made crops such as barley and wheat work on a broad basis, Pumpkin Ale declined and became seen as rustic and old-fashioned. But it experienced a revival in the twentieth century as something that would normally be pumpkin-flavoured rather than having the plant as the main source of the mash – more pumpkin pie than pumpkin in a glass. These Pumpkin Ales are often spiced with ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon or allspice, redolent of the fall. Of course, the pumpkin’s greatest achievement is that it has become the global face of Halloween – another perfect excuse for a beer. In Britain, Halloween is now the year’s third-biggest retail event after Christmas and Easter. Hobgoblin beer, first brewed in 1986, is perfect for the season with its ruby colour and rich body. Eight years ago it declared itself ‘the unofficial beer of Halloween’, fitting more through its cheeky Dungeons & Dragons themed branding than anything else. The association has proven stunningly popular for a brand that has become one of the UK’s bestselling ales. As soon as Halloween is over, people start looking to Christmas. Festive Ales and Winter Warmers may not have a tightly-defined style, but in general they tend to be strong and sweet, based

on Old Ale, Strong Ale or Barley Wine. They are often flavoured with herbs, fruits and spices. In this, they recall the old wassailing tradition of cups and punches, possets and syllabubs. One typical Victorian ale posset consisted of milk, bread, egg yolk, butter, nutmeg and sugar blended and mixed with hot ale. And we think extreme beer is a recent phenomenon. The tradition of brewing strong beers for Christmas goes back further than most. The Vikings were at it with Julöl, a strong beer with which the gods were toasted at Jül, or Yule. Even after Christianity reached Scandinavia, it was a legal requirement that each peasant household had to brew a strong Yule beer, with penalties for any that didn’t comply. Songs celebrating strong Christmas beers in the UK

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BEER TALK Style Notes

date back to at least the seventeenth century, and the United States Democratic Review from 1854 notes the custom notes that ‘before the revolution’ it was common practice to brew ‘a large quantity of what they called “right strong Christmas beer”.’ The first thing that strikes us as we follow the calendar of seasonal beers is that whatever the weather, they often seem to be an excuse to brew something extraordinarily strong. This perhaps makes sense in the dark days of winter, but for the Germans there’s no let-up when spring arrives.

Within monastic brewing there was a tradition of Lenten beers. The 42-day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday was one of fasting, and monks substituted strong, nutritious beer for food. The Paulaner monks founded their order in Munich in 1627, and began brewing a strong Lenten beer later that century. They named it Sankt Vater beer (Holy Father beer) which was eventually shortened to Salvator (saviour). This Doppelbock beer eventually snuck out of the monastery and became incredibly popular in the town, particularly in the period around St Joseph’s Day (March 19th) which is still known as Stakbierzeit (strong beer time). Today most Bavarian brewers create a strong spring beer from 7 to 13% ABV, invariably paying tribute to Paulaner by naming it with the –ator suffix which makes the likes of Maximator, Unimator,

of where we are, even who we are. The passing of the seasons brings us back to ground and reassures us, roots us in reality and calms us. We feel we need this, which is why we are moving back towards seasonal produce, and reenergising and rediscovering the ancient celebrations that mark the year. You might think Halloween’s popularity is a simple ruse by candy manufacturers, but the growth of interest in wassail or May Day celebrations is happening

WHATEVER THE WEATHER, THEY OFTEN SEEM TO BE AN EXCUSE TO BREW SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARILY STRONG.” Optimator sound more like Transformers than heady beers. Finally, when we get to summer, the seasonal beers start to get a little lighter. Saison was traditionally brewed in late winter to be drunk by farmworkers and other countryside labourers in the summer months. Complex and spicy with a spritzy fruit character, a traditional saison still packs a punch, but is tame compared to the traditional beers brewed for the rest of the year. Seasonal beers today cover a much broader variety of styles. ‘Summer Ale’ is relatively new to the bar, borrowing a lot of cues from lager but increasingly citrus-hopped, offering summer refreshment with just enough flavour to make it interesting. Spring Ales are more substantial but still possess a bright, hoppy character that makes us think of renewal, fresh grass and fruit. Ruby Red Autumn Ales suggest the colour and tone of the fall, with deeper, maltier flavours somehow fitting the season of mists and melancholy. “Seasonal beers are extremely important to our portfolio, perhaps now more than ever” says John Humphreys of Kentish brewer Shepherd Neame. “In terms of our specific brands we’ve only been doing these seasonal beers for ten years or so, and we’ve just expanded our range from four to twelve as people are increasingly willing to try something new. But we’ve brewed styles of beer to match the seasons since time immemorial.” Marketing is not always a bad thing. It’s not always cynical. In an increasingly virtual online world, where everything is instantaneous and linked, we can lose track

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under the radar. Beer is one of the most seasonal products we make. The more it changes with us through the year, the more opportunities it gives us to both celebrate and reflect the passing of time, the more exciting and important it becomes.

CONTACTS Hawthorn Brewing Co www.facebook.com/HawthornBrewingCo Brewers Guild of New Zealand Beer Awards – www.brewersguild.org.nz Croucher Brewery www.croucherbrewing.co.nz Emerson’s Brewing Company www.emersons.co.nz Epic Brewing Company – www.epicbeer.com Garage Project Brewery – www.garageproject.co.nz Hallertau Brewbar www.hallertau.co.nz Malthouse – www.themalthouse.co.nz MarchFest - www.marchfest.com Renaissance Brewing www.renaissancebrewing.co.nz Yeastie Boys Post-Modern Brewing Company www.yeastieboys.co.nz/

BEER TALK

CELEBRATING THE GROWTH OF FESTIVE BEERS. New Zealand craft brewers are increasingly willing to make festive brews. Neil Miller checks out some of the best excuses for making new beers.

odern festive beers are not a traditional beer style. They can cover every style of beer imaginable provided the beer is designed specifically to celebrate a theme, locality or style. Small batch festive beers are perhaps the best opportunity for brewers to unleash their true creativity, usually with delicious results. One of the earliest adopters of the style was Emersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brewery with two special annual releases marking the passing of two special men. Taieri George, a spiced ale, commemorates brewer Richard Emersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father George. Emersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s JP is an everchanging Belgian-style beer which honours the late food scientist Professor Jean-Pierre Dufour, a true friend of Emersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and New Zealand craft brewing.

The New Zealand Beer Awards has a hotly contested Festive Brew category based around a particular theme each year. Previous themes have included â&#x20AC;&#x153;the magnificence of maltâ&#x20AC;?, â&#x20AC;&#x153;all hail pale aleâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s go nativeâ&#x20AC;? (won by a Pineapple Lump Porter). Malthouse runs a hugely popular West Coast IPA Challenge where a dozen brewers compete to make the best American Pale Ale. A number of Challenge entrants go on to become permanent beers, including Epic Armageddon and Hallertau Maximus. MarchFest invites brewers from the local area (Nelson-Blenheim) to design unique beers for the event and the creativity around styles and names is particularly impressive. The start of the Kiwi hop season has inspired a plethora of fresh, green hopped beers, often brewed for events like

Style Notes

Wellingtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Hopstock festival. A growing number of bars host Day of the Dead parties to celebrate Garage Projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day of the Dead Chilli Chocolate Black Lager, while Croucher remembered our most controversial modern treaty with their ANZUS IPA. The end of the year will also see a rush of Christmas beers including a Cherry Baltic Porter from Renaissance, Croucherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mrs Claus Famous Christmas Cake Ale and Yeastie Boys twin Christmas releases - His Majesty 2013 and Her Majesty 2013. Homebrewers got in the act with the Monster Mash contest for Halloween inspired beers. Brewers can naturally get bored making the same beer day in and day out. Festive beers let them try something outside the norm and they are skyrocketing in popularity.

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HALL OF FAME Inductee #27

ARISE, ‘SIR’ FRANCK Franck Berges, owner of Beer Importers and Distributors, joins our Hall of Fame. By Gregor Stronach.

t’s not every person in the beer scene in Australia that can say he’s been inducted into the Chevalerie du Fourquet des Brasseurs of the Belgian brewer´s guild – as a knight, no less. But the latest big name to join the ranks of the Beer & Brewer Hall of Fame, Franck Berges, certainly can. Franck’s foray into beer in Australia began when he came to our shores as a student for a three-week holiday in 1961, and never went back to his birthplace, New Caledonia. Franck’s parents started up a restaurant, and the family worked hard at making a go of things in their adopted home.

The rest is, as they say, history. From the first shipment of canned beer from overseas, Franck knew he was onto a winner – and Beer Importers and Distributors (BID) was born. “Our big sellers in the early days were South Pacific Export Lager – the can had a beautiful bird of paradise on it,” Franck says. “We followed that with the Tennent’s Girls cans – but I think only about half of those were actually drunk. The rest of them went into collections.” The Tennent’s cans Franck is talking about are the infamous “Lager Lovelies” 16oz cans from the Scottish brewery, which sought to boost sales by putting risqué photos of young women on their tins. It was a roaring success, and some of those vintage cans are now selling for in excess of $1000. From there, there was no turning back for

I THINK ONLY ABOUT HALF OF THOSE WERE ACTUALLY DRUNK.” But it was 34 years ago that Franck, with two partners, made a decision that would change his life – and change the way Australians thought about beer. Franck says, “my partners thought we should bring in champagne but then we decided to do beer instead as back in those days we (Australia) were big beer drinkers and we thought that bringing in foreign beers was a better option.” Franck continues, “drinkers were very regional.” “If you lived in Victoria, you drank VB, that sort of thing. But we saw that there was a good opportunity to import beers from overseas, and open up a more national appeal for drinkers.”

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BID. The list of beers grew as fast as BID could get their hands on the stock, including some of the most exotic beers Australia had ever seen. It may seem trivial to us now to order a Kronenbourg, Chimay or Duvel – but back in the day, it was a hard slog for Franck to get the Aussie market excited about beers that had come from the other side of the world, and which tasted different to our beloved VB and XXXX. “When we started with Chimay, most customers were doctors that traveled the world and knew Chimay from their time in Europe,” Franck says. That meant that he and his partners had to do a lot of ground work to

Franck Ber

ges.

get these new brews into the hands and heart of Aussie drinkers. The hard work paid off, and about 15 years ago Franck bought out his two partners before opening up a Melbourne office, followed by an office in Singapore, which Franck uses to take Australian beers, like James Boags, to the international market. “I certainly feel like I’ve facilitated today’s buyer to have a whole range of beers,” Franck says, looking back on his pioneering work in getting Australians to accept new things. “These days, everyone is talking about US craft beers – and we were the first to import Sam Adams, about 20 years ago.” “We will be launching a British craft beer in December 2013, called Noble English Craft Lager,” Franck says. “I love what I do, and even at my age, I still have ambitions – and things to learn. The beer industry is one of the nicest to be in.” It’s nicer still to be recognized for the role he’s played in the Australian beer scene – and while Beer & Brewer can’t bestow another knighthood, we’re delighted to have Franck join our Hall of Fame.

WHISKY

FINISHING STRONG

News

Making good whisky is, to be frank, relatively easy. But making a great whisky takes patience, luck and skill. Gregor Stronach looks at the dark art of ďŹ nishing a whisky.

he term â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;finishingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; refers to a process at the end of the maturation period, when the whisky is rudely awoken from its slumber and put into a different cask. Typically, whiskies are aged in ex-bourbon barrels â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and, a large percentage of the time, the whisky resides in a single barrel until itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ready. But some whiskies go through a different process â&#x20AC;&#x201C; removed from their bourbon barrels and placed into casks of an altogether different nature. Those secondary casks might have held a sherry, a port, a Madeira, a rum or even a burgundy or chardonnay. The point of the exercise is to give the casks time to impart their unique qualities into the spirit, and produce an entirely different flavour profile for the end spirit. Some distilleries have made their â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;finishedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; whiskies into marketable expressions, offering fans of the label something new to explore. Arguably the two best examples of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;big nameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; distilleries that are doing this at the moment are the Balvenie Double Wood, and a personal favourite of

mine, the Auchentoshan Three Wood. In the case of the Auchentoshan, the clue to the finishing process lies in the name. Maturation begins in American bourbon casks, before moving to Olorosso sherry casks and finally into Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The resulting whisky is something that is wildly different to its parent dram â&#x20AC;&#x201C; richer in colour and aroma, and far more complex on the palate and nose. Interestingly, individuals who are truly passionate about their whisky have started to buy up entire casks of whisky â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or, in some cases, the new make spirit, straight out of the still â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and taking care of the maturation process themselves. One such chap is Tim Duckett, the man behind Heartwood Malt Whisky. I met him in Tasmania earlier this year, when he sidled up to me at the Lark Distillery bar and thrust a nosing glass into my hands with an evil grin on his face. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I call this one Velvet Hammer,â&#x20AC;? he said, before whisking himself away. I stuck my nose

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in the glass, and my jaw dropped. The tiniest of sips â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and I realised that this was something very special. Tim bottles the Velvet Hammer at 68.8% ABV â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but it drinks like a whisky with a fraction of the alcohol. A few days later, again in the same venue, Tim struck again â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this time passing me a nosing glass and saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the Convict Unchainedâ&#x20AC;?. This one had been aged for 11 years in a port cask, and bottled by Tim at an astonishing 71.9% ABV. It was, in a word, outstanding. Tim spends a lot of time experimenting, tasting and playing a combination of mother hen nesting on her precious eggs, and mad alchemist, striving to make liquid gold. Timâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s whiskies are definitely worth seeking out â&#x20AC;&#x201C; especially if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re like me, and always hunting for something truly unique.

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CIDER Harvest Report - Part II

2013 APPLE AND PEAR HARVEST REPORT

PART II

James Adams delves further into the world of apples and pears, for the second part of our report into the 2013 harvest.

FRESH FRUIT

Cider first and foremost is made with freshly grown apples and/or pears. This essential link between real fruit and final beverage is the foundation for real cider. In Australia, the apples and pears you regularly see lined up in a supermarket are in fact, the same apples used to make a large collection of Australian cider. The fruit has been grown in an orchard by more often than not a generational grower, and has endured all the rigours of the growing season â&#x20AC;&#x201C; discussed in Part 1. Cider is becoming somewhat a blessing in disguise for growers

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Hills Cider (SA) Processing Facility - picked, checked and ready to be made into juice and then cider.

CIDER Harvest Report - Part II

NEW BREEDS

THE EARLIEST REFERENCE TO A CIDER APPLE CAN BE DATED BACK TO THE 13TH CENTURY. ” often thinner in palate weight and lack fruit depth. Essentially, these apples are arguably not well suited to true cider making, with more developed styles harder to master. Some commercial producers using dessert apple and pear to great effect are The Hills Cider

The noble art of driving a tractor through an orchard.

Redwood Cider Co (Richmond, NZ) - Old Mout and Monteith’s Cider production facility.

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CIDER Harvest Report - Part II

Australia today is the simple, one dimensional primary charactered example made from dessert apples. The apples and pears are simply fermented reductively with a cultured yeast in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks, balanced with apple sweetness, then filtered. But with the rise of cider made by Winemakers, a sea of vinous styled cider is becoming more evident in the market. Methods such as pomace contact, wild fermentation, barrel fermentation, barrel age, lees contact,

Blending ciders to get it perfect is an art and a skill.

Australia, which has adopted the term pear cider, is made with one hundred per cent dessert pears. Varieties such as BeurreBosc, Corella, Packham, Lemon Burgamont, D’Anjou, Nashi and William are most commonly used. The ciders produced show great subtleness, earthiness with beautiful floral aromas and mild sweetness. Styles of pear cider in Australia range from the simple, fresh primary lower alcohol examples, to the more oxidatively handled, barrel aged and bottle conditioned examples.

and characteristics in his dessert apple ciders. He uses such techniques as differing oak regimes, including old and new American and French barrels, plus old ex Chardonnay Barrels. More unusual techniques Dorman has been experimenting with recently are skin extraction, fermentation with pulp and wider ranges of fermentation temperatures. Drew Henry from Henry of Harcourt, is also trialling new methods. Henry is experimenting with non Saccharomyces yeasts in his

DREW HENRY FROM HENRY OF HARCOURT, IS ALSO TRIALLING NEW METHODS. ” oxidative handling and bottle conditioning are all traditional techniques which are slowly making their way into mainstream cider. It is this desire for innovation in Australian dessert apple cider which is causing such diverse flavour profiles. Steve Dorman from The Hills Cider Company believes being able to experiment helps to create new flavours

Pink Lady ferments in order to add more complexity, and body into his Pink Lady based ciders. This wild ferment technique is also the case for Shane McLaughlin from Hillbilly Cider, whose ciders show a unique cottage cheese note and rusticity amongst fresh apple aromas.

SUBTLE BLENDS

One way a Cider Maker can significantly enhance a ciders attributes is by the art of blending. Blending is indeed considered an art and skill of the Cider Maker, which comes with experience and knowledge. For example, what one apple variety lacks, another with differing characteristics can make up and fill the void. It’s designed to promote consistency and character of a cider. Blending can occur between differing apple varieties, apple and pear varieties, and desserts and traditional. Blending opens up an infinite number of options for a Cider Maker to produce a particular style or certain flavour profile. Many of the ciders in today’s market are blends of dessert apples, which help boost complexity, and/or boost volume. With the shear lack of cider apple fruit available, a small amount of Australian ciders are hybrid blends of dessert and cider apples. Examples of this consist of The Goose Apple Cider by Simon Gilbert which is a blend of desserts - Pink Lady and Granny Smith and cider apples - Kingston Black and Foxwhelp. Other examples consist of Lobo – The Norman and Henry of Harcourt - Duck and Bull. These hybrid ciders will continue to grow in the years to come as cider fruit becomes more easily available. Fruit destined for cider can skilfully undergo many techniques and procedures to become a certain style. The most dominate style in

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Barrel-aged ciders are becoming more and more common.

BEERCLUB Harvest Report - Part II

ALL NATURAL

Cider can also be made very naturally and free from industrial processes like filtration and pasteurisation. Black Pig Cyder from Western Australia is currently being made with no sulphur dioxide, naturally fermented in old brandy barrels and bottle conditioned. This style of cider is rustic, unpolished and higher in alcohol, but far more complex, deep and fascinating. Tom Shobbrook of the Natural Selection Theory also produces his cider using these processes, but his is one of Australia’s first all natural and certified organic ciders. Willie Smiths Organic Cider from the Huon Valley in Tasmania is one of the leaders in oxidatively handled dessert apple cider, which is oak aged and bottle conditioned. This cider is cloudy, developed and further advanced in flavour and texture, as to a more commercial, modern styled cider. These types of cider are an acquired taste, but are great examples of how differing techniques can severely influence style. Methode Traditionnelle cider is beginning to stamp its mark as the superior style of cider in Australia. Made in the way of French Champagne, these ciders offer great delicacy and finesse and are perfectly matched with food. A technique called time on lees, also known as sur lie, is an integral part of this method of production. James Kendell from Small Acres Cyder leaves his base cider on lees for six months before bottling and final disgorgement. This lees contact helps add a complex, yeasty aroma and creamy, textural mouthfeel. St Ronan’s Cider and Napoleone Cider also use this method of producing cider, with both ciders being left on lees for up to three months. This style of cider is often a little higher in alcohol and a little cloudy, but acquires a very fine bead and impressive purity. So the next time you sit back and relax with a glass of cider, take time to think about how much time, effort and expertise has gone into its making. If it’s dessert apple or cider apple, barrel fermented or blended, it once belonged on a tree innocently waiting to be picked in a grower’s orchard. The journey of a cider is a truly remarkable and fascinating adventure, and it’s just a bonus that it tastes great too!

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-- STYLINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Depending on who you speak to, alcohol-free beer is either a waste of time and fridge space, or a viable healthy alternative. Stefanie Collins investigates the established European trend that is creating its own niche in Australia.

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n the current beer world trend climate of “more is more is more” there is still a large amount of distain for beers that are “free” or “low” anything. While the nineties may have seen the market flooded with low-carb booze for the health conscious and the naughties saw a rise in low-alcohol everything, there is still an overwhelming climate of suspicion surrounding beer, in particular, that carries a “low” or “free” tag on the label. It’s still a common thing these days to hear comments like “why would you drink that? It tastes like crap” even when the discussion of low-alcohol beers pops up among craft beer fans. But is this just a peculiarly Australian way to look at these beers? In a country that is battling against the culture of “drinking to get drunk” is our rejection of low alcohol beer simply a cultural cringe? An out-dated by-product of the days of the six o’clock swill? It is an interesting thing to note that most mainstream light lagers seem to be thought of as almost a punishment – how many times have you heard someone make a comment in a bar that is a slight variation on “light beers mate… You driving tonight?”

THE GERMAN WAY

We simply have to look to that most beerloving of countries, Germany, to understand that in fact, this might be the case. Alcohol-free beer in Germany is perfectly normal. Love Weinstephaner? You can easily sit down at a café, order a huge plate for lunch and snag an alcohol free brew on the side to avoid the post-lunch food/beer coma that would have resulted from a full-strength beer with your currywurst. But it’s not just the Germans who are on the bandwagon. Those beer-loving Czechs have been chugging the alcohol-free version of Budvar that has been on the market since 1992, and available on tap in restaurants and bars around the country since 2008. The Dutch are also on the alcohol free bandwagon, with sales of the stuff increasing a huge 10 per cent in the last two years, according to a study on the Dutch beer industry. Apparently becoming more health conscious, 46 per cent of those interviewed about their drinking habits fessed up to opting for an alcohol free beer depending on the occasion. Even our fellow beer-lovers, the English have come on-board with retail giant Marks & Spencers adding an alcohol free German-style brew to their house label beer range.

JAPANESE INVENTION

Still not convinced? The Japanese are huge consumers of beer – this is the country that created “kids beer” so that children could have a drink with their parents at dinner – and they love all forms of it, including alcohol free versions. So much so that, a couple of years ago, Kirin had to print apologies in the

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newspapers over the fact that stocks of its Kirin Free weren’t keeping up with demand. The brew is marketed as a “beer-flavoured soft drink” and the only 0.0% ABV beer on the Japanese market. Not long after it was released, sales of Kirin Free skyrocketed, which was no doubt welcomed by an industry that is facing the harsher end of the global downturn in alcohol sales. According to Kirin, the introduction of stiffer drink-driving penalties in recent years has been a leading factor in the upswing in interest from drinkers. Here at home, the Australian Government classifies any drink that has less than 1.15% ABV as alcohol-free, meaning that the scope for very low alcohol and alcohol free beers is fairly wide. Though, interestingly, not many breweries seem all that keen on creating and marketing a viable alcohol-free option.

“There has been quite a big market for it over here for quite a while, mainly among people who couldn’t drink beer for health reasons,” he says. But what has happened over the last few years is that there are people drinking non-alcoholic products for a bunch of other reasons.” The demand has become high in fact that the company recently signed a deal to begin distributing Holsten 0.0% for the Australian market. And opposed to selling as a straight “boozefree” option for when you want to fake it, Harris says that the product is being pitched as a premium range product with quality ingredients that just happens to be alcohol free, making it ideal for those who want to enjoy a quality beer without the alcohol content – for whatever reason.

I DRINK SIX STUBBIES A NIGHT BUT I SHOULD HAVE ALCOHOL FREE DAYS.” BLAZING A TRAIL One brewery that has bucked the trend is Coopers. The family-run brewery has been brewing and selling its own very low-alcohol beer, known as Birell, for 30 years now and according to Scott Harris, Marketing Manager of Brewing Products at Coopers, the demand has never been higher.

“We have guys who call us up about it who say,‘Look I drink six stubbies a night but I should have alcohol free days, but I’m still going to drink six stubbies, so every few nights I just drink non-alcoholic’,” he says. “But there is also a bigger part of the population now that are Muslim or for religious reasons can’t drink alcohol . There is also a more

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health conscious focus in general with people. You’ll see that across the board with food and beverage. We get a lot of people now that will go and play sport with their friends and then afterward when everyone has a beer at the bar, they would prefer to have non alcoholic beer because of fitness reasons but want to be

that it was 0.0% and one of them piped up and said ‘oh, this is only so many points’ – she’s with Weight Watchers – ‘I can actually have a few of these as opposed to one can of soft drink.’ So its that as well, people thinking they can have a few beers while still keeping their carbs and that sort of stuff down,” he says.

THERE IS ALSO A MORE HEALTH CONSCIOUS FOCUS IN GENERAL WITH PEOPLE.” sociable still. There’s people that are driving but don’t want to stand out drinking coke or something at the bar.” Furthermore, Harris says that based on his own anecdotal evidence, people are becoming more aware that it is the alcohol and not the ‘carbs’ in beer that are the ‘fattening’ part. “We were sitting around having a barbie at home and I had a couple of Holsten out, and people were drinking them before they realised

A SPORTING CHANCE It isn’t just Australia that has slapped a ban on full strength beer at sporting matches, but unlike the various grounds around our fine land that have decided to dish up low ABV beverages, some sporting arenas have taken the next step. The UEFA Champions League – that’s soccer to us antipodeans and football to the purists – has ruled that their games are to be strictly ‘no alcohol’ affairs. But that’s not to say that attendees can’t enjoy a beer. Paulaner Alcohol Free is the brew of choice on offer across Europe – and that is despite the fact that Heineken – a brand that sells a clearly full-strength lager – is the major alcohol sponsor of the championship. And the fact that Paulaner also supplied their alcohol free beer for the traditional on-field ‘beer-fight’ to Bayern Munich after they claimed the Bundesliga title was also a huge relief to fans this year, and not just for the obvious reason – who throws beer instead of drinking it anyway?? The controversy started when French-national and devout Muslim Franck Ribery was doused in beer by team-mate Jerome Boateng. But being that it was grog-free, the two are reportedly still good mates – to the relief of all their fans. Alcohol free beer – making beer fights even more fun for everyone.

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Additionally, we here at Beer & Brewer have it on good authority – from our publisher David Lipman who attended a match in Germany in 2013 – the beer is pretty good – so good he didn’t even notice he wasn’t drinking full-strength until after the match was over. If that’s not a recommendation, we don’t know what is.

“That is the good think about Holsten, it’s only 43 calories [180 kilojoules] per bottle so it’s a relatively healthy option.” Alcohol free beer is becoming a niche option for those who don’t necessarily want to drink alcohol, but dislike the idea of sitting down in front of a high-sugar or super-sweet soft drink. Whether someone is running a marathon, working their

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HOW BEER COMPARES WITH OTHER DRINKS PER 100ML DRINK

ALCOHOL

CARBS

FAT

ENERGY (KJ)

BEER (VB)

4.8ml

3.0g

165

BEER (PURE BLONDE)

4.6ml

.9g

126

MILK (FULL-CREAM)

n/a

4.7g

3.6g

269

ORANGE JUICE (UNSWEETENED)

n/a

8.5

>1g

160

WINE (WHITE)

9.5

5.9

282

WINE (RED)

9.3

3.7

282

ALL-FREE BEER There has been an expanding trend in the market that has seen brewers try to compete with the growing health consciousness of society by cutting down on certain aspects of beer to make it “healthier”. While this seems to be an exercise in futility as beer has always been and will always be a much healthier option than wine or sugary premixed drinks – we did the math back in Issue Nine when we busted the myth of the beer belly – there is still a large percentage of the population that think that beer make you fat because it is full of carbs. This is patently untrue because – as Scott Harris from Coopers concurred along with pretty much everyone in the fields of medicine, science and nutrition – the ‘fattening’ part of any alcoholic beverage is the alcohol. That hasn’t stopped brands from appealing to the masses with inventions such as ‘skinny’ beer. Suntory markets a product in Asia – and we can see its appeal in a blisteringly hot climate – that is called: All-Free Beer – an alcohol and carb free “beer-flavoured” beverage. While no one was game enough to give it a shot the packaging was pretty slick, and for the image conscious out there we’re willing to bet that it is a godsend. Here is Australia, so-called low carb beers have been losing a bit of ground in the sales stakes recently, however, the category is still quite popular, with brews like Hahn Super Dry maintaining their status as best sellers. While, smaller breweries have tended to stay away from these types of beers, Burleigh Brewing has found success with its Bighead – a carb free beer that promises to not compromise on flavour. And with only 88 calories (368 kilojoules)

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per bottle Bighead is a beer for those who like to keep half an eye on their waistline without compromising on the alcohol factor.

Female, natural and gorgeous. way through Dry July or even just trying to keep their New Year’s resolution going for longer than the usual two-three weeks before falling off the wagon, the market is ever expanding. There is also a considerable market for P-platers who are locked into 0.0 per cent blood alcohol limit for three years in some states. “We used to get a lot of P-Platers that would ring us up and say ‘hey, if I drink four or five will I actually register?’” says Harris. However, according to Coopers, a new market for the category is in mining-industry based towns and mine sites, where workers are contracted – for safety reasons – to be alcohol free during work hours. This of course means blowing 0.0 per cent the morning after a night out, which is not as easy as it might seem. However, Harris says that there is still an issue with trying to convince more of the Australian public that brews like Birrel, Holsten, Clausthaler and Erdinger are viable drinking options for when they want to sink a few cold ones is more than a little difficult due to the positioning of the drinks in-store. “In Europe alcohol free beers are quite popular already and everyone knows about them. The issue is letting people here know that there are alcohol free beers out there and they actually taste like beer. And I think the more we can get it in front of people, the more and more people will be drinking it,” he says. There are however issues with ranging the products in liquor stores, as Harris rightly points out, who thinks to go looking in a completely different section when they are looking for a beer? People expect to buy non-alcoholic beer where they buy beer, not in a random back corner along with the sparkling grape juice and the mixers. The rise of alcohol free beer is an interesting development in a market that is losing ground as a whole. And the continued success of this little subset of the market is – like most things – about brand awareness, specifically creating awareness in drinkers that there are viable options for when they feel like a beer but either don’t want to, or can’t afford to, deal with the consequences. After all, who would sink a few full-strength beers the night before the City2Surf? No one. Who would sink a few alcohol free beers the night before Tough Mudder? Pretty much everyone.

The high quality female cones of the world-renowned Saazer hop (Humulus lupulus) are what make Budêjovický Budvar such a real treasure. They’re what give our beer its unique, smooth and slightly hoppy character that your can appreciate every time you drink our beer.

Stockist Enquiries: Vic, Tas, NSW, ACT, SA Beach Avenue Wholesalers, Tel: (03) 8791 1400, sales@baw.com.au QLD Europacific Liquor Pty Ltd, Mob: 0417 002 174, nigel@europacificliquor.com.au WA Beverage Australia, Tel: (08) 9409 1118, admin@beverageaustralia.com.au

COVER Alcohol Free

MID-STRENGTH CRAFT BEER EXAMPLES IN AUSTRALIA Birbeck’s (SA) The Captain Mild Ale 2.9% Boneyard (Vic) Red Ale 2.9% Colonial (WA) Small Ale IPA 2.9% Coopers (SA) Mild Ale 3.5% James Squire (NSW) The Constable 3.4% Little Creatures (WA) Rogers’ 3.8% Wayward (NSW) Lilliput Tiny IPA 3.8%

ALCOHOL FREE OPTIONS IN AUSTRALIA Holsten 0.0% Coopers Birrell Ultra Light Bitburger Drive Clausthaler Premium ErdingerAlkoholFrei

SMALL ABV, BIG TASTE Craft brewers in Australia are not immune from the increasing trend toward alcohol free and low ABV brews. But instead of following the trends, like the pioneers that they are, the industry is creating its own niche for fans of highly flavoured, highly hopped beers who want to be able to enjoy a few brews and still drive home at the end of the night. Jared Birbeck of Birbeck’s Brewing – a homebrewer turned pro who is making some waves in the South Australian beer scene – created his brew The Captain with the idea of tasty, easy drinking in mind. “One of the primary reasons for producing The Captain was personal,” he says. “I have three young kids and they keep me pretty active. I wanted to be able to have a couple of beers and still be able to play with them so I spent time brewing that as a homebrewer. There aren’t many beers at lower alcohol levels that have flavour but an increasing number of people want that.” And while Birbeck believes that brewing a lower alcohol beer can be linked to promoting socially responsible drinking and healthier attitudes to alcohol, he says it was mostly an issue of personal taste and a desire to drink a full flavoured beer without the high alcohol. It would seem that he is spot on the money with his audience too. The 2.9% ABV Mild Ale has been selling up a storm, with the result being that Birbeck’s is planning to release a few more lower alcohol brews into the market very soon, including an English Bitter that will sit around 3.5% ABV and a Hoppy Brown Ale around 3.5-4.0% ABV. “[The Captain] is an equal best seller for us,” says Birbeck. “But some venues are selling five times as much as our other beers. It’s really popular.” Also getting on the bandwagon is James Squire with the recent launch of

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their latest permanent addition – The Constable Copper Ale. The brew is pretty darn good, with it being noted at the recent Beer & Brewer Awards Dinner that many of the guests were thoroughly enjoying their complimentary Copper Ale without realising that they had actually picked up a low-ABV beer in the first place. According to Chuck Hahn the low ABV was a conscious choice – firstly to match the style, which is English-Style Ordinary Bitter to be exact – but also to feed into the fact that the most popular brews in the Squire range are of a lower-thanaverage alcohol level. “I think too much, especially in the US, the craft brewers are really socking it to drinkers with ABV,” he says. “We’re just really trying to get people to drink beer for flavour and not just for the ‘relaxation effect’.” Hahn also says that he has noticed a trend in beers of lower alcohol levels becoming more popular, at least where session brews are concerned. “With the James Squire beers, like our Amber Ale and our Pilsener, they all sit around five per cent alcohol, but our most popular beer is our One Fifty Lashes Pale Ale, which is only 4.2% ABV.” Though Hahn correctly noted that

in direct contrast to the trend, VB sales went up when the alcohol level reverted to 4.9% ABV, despite the change being incremental at best. Interestingly, Hahn also noted that Tooheys Old has a loyal following, despite not being advertised, and interestingly weighs in at only 4.4% ABV. Peter Philip of Wayward Brewing Co (NSW) was not only looking to buck the Double IPA trend with his Lilliput Tiny IPA – a half strength version of the current crowd favourite style – but also because he himself wanted to be able to drink a tasty, lower ABV brew while out on the water because, as he quite rightly points out, beer and boats don’t mix all that well. “Everyone was doing Double IPAs so we thought we’d do a Half IPA,” says Philip. “The reactions have been really good. I really developed it because I like doing stuff outdoors like going out on the boat and the last thing you want to be on a boat is pissed.” Philip says that people recognise that the brew is never going to have the body of an IPA and as such the brew has been popular with drinkers around Sydney, with several craft beer venues picking up kegs.

KIWIS HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SO-CALLED ‘HEALTHIER BEERS’ While sales of lower-carbohydrate beers continue to grow strongly, Neil Miller ﬁnds that low-alcohol beers in New Zealand remain a rare breed and demand for them is dropping in favour of 5%+ brews.

igures from Statistics New Zealand show that for the year ended December 2012, the amount of beer available here dropped 6.6 percent (280 million litres) compared to the year before. While wine and spirit volumes both grew, beer continued a slow but steady decline. Perhaps surprisingly, low-strength (under 2.5%) and mediumstrength (2.5% to 5%) both fell, while beers

low-alcohol beers with more flavour, including Harrington’s Harry’s Light, Black Dog’s Hair of the Dog, and Cassels & Sons Light Owl. Despite a general push towards healthier diets and stricter enforcement of drink driving laws, light beer volumes are dropping with many drinkers reporting a preference for a couple of “proper” beers instead of four or five light beers.

NEW ZEALANDERS HAVE NEVER BEEN HUGE FANS OF LIGHT BEERS... ” over 5% were up a staggering 62%. However, the vast majority of beer consumed is still in the 2.5% to 5% bracket. Under compulsory Host Responsibility requirements, all licenced venues must offer access to non-alcoholic and low–alcohol drinks, usually including light beer. The larger brewers have at least one offering, including Steinlager Premium Light, Light Ice, Mac’s Light, DB Export Citrus and Amstel Light. Craft brewers are also increasingly producing

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In contrast, lower-carbohydrate beer quickly carved out a strong niche market, estimated at around 7.5% of the market, up from virtually nothing five years ago. Although it pains Kiwis to admit it, Australians bought the style to us with Carlton Pure Blonde. The first local brewery to respond was Mac’s with Spring Tide Lager and now a number of significant lower-carb brands have been launched including Export 33 Lager, Stella Artois Leger (brewed locally) and Speight’s Traverse.

BEER TALK Alcohol Free

New Zealanders have never been huge fans of light beers and the average alcohol percentage of our beer has crept up from 3.5%-4% in the past to 4.5%-5.5% now. One of the main issues many drinkers cite is a lack of flavour and/or body in light beers. Several craft brewers have managed to make full-flavoured light beer but these are the exception rather than the rule. One area where there appears to be significant growth potential is wellmade, mid-strength, sessionable ales around 3%-4%. Emerson’s Bookbinder (3.7%) has been in this category for over 20 years but is now joined by tasty beers such as Hallertau Minimus (3.8%) and Croucher Low Rider (2.5%). This style has become so strong that Wellington bar Malthouse is hosting its first Session Beer Session, with at least 15 craft beers under 4.5% on tap at the same time.

NZ BREWERIES WITH LOWALCOHOL OPTIONS Croucher Low Rider www.croucherbrewing.co.nz Emerson’s Bookbinder www.emersons.co.nz Hallertau Minimus www.hallertau.co.nz Mac’s Spring Tide www.macs.co.nz Steinlager Light – www.steinlager.com www.monteiths.co.nz

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CRUISIN’ FOR A BOOZIN’ A leisurely cruise along one of England’s historic canals proved the ideal chance for James Atkinson to explore some of the region’s breweries and their splendid ales.

ometimes in life it’s nice to slow things down a bit. And when it comes to transportation, you can’t get much slower than a narrowboat, such as those used for carrying cargo along the canals of Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution, starting in the 18th century. Long since superseded by more efficient means of transport, Britain’s canal system lives on as a means of passage for leisure craft to chug their way across the country. Some of these modern narrowboats are home to permanent residents, but there are also many operators across England with boats available for hire by holidaymakers who want a brief taste of canal life. So it was that my friends and I set off from London for the short train journey west to

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Pewsey, nearby to Devizes, a small market town in the county of Wiltshire, where the Kennett and Avon Canal passes on its way from Reading to Bristol.

ALL ABOARD!

We would pick up our narrowboat the following day, leaving us 24 hours to explore Devizes, home to Wadworth’s Brewery. Established in 1875, ‘Waddies’ is still a family-owned company and an icon of south western England. Famous for its flagship beer 6X, Wadworth’s now operates a considerable 240 pubs in the vicinity. A tour is worthwhile to get an insight into the Victorian era brewery’s various quaint touches: Pub

discovery of the British Lion, a proper English boozer and the only Free House in town. I was impressed with their rotating lineup of ales on the handpump, with the New World IPA, a collaboration between US brewery Dogfish Head and English outfit Charles Wells, a particular standout. We were disappointed not to visit the only other non-Wadworth’s pub in town, The Southgate, which is owned by the Hopback Brewery, producer of excellent character-filled ales such as the Summer Lightning. That will have to wait until next time. Aside from the beer, the internationally renowned Wiltshire Heritage Museum was hugely impressive for its archaeology

FAMOUS FOR ITS FLAGSHIP BEER 6X, WADWORTH’S NOW OPERATES A CONSIDERABLE 240 PUBS IN THE VICINITY.” signs are still handpainted on-site and beers delivered daily in oak casks by horse and cart to the pubs of Devizes. There is also a brewery bar on-site that serves tasters of the full Wadworth’s range. Given that Wadworth’s pretty much owns Devizes, it is a challenge to find a pub that does not exclusively serve their beers. We eventually escaped the Waddies stranglehold with the

collections, which trace the history of people living in Wiltshire in a series of galleries covering the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval times. There are activities at the museum to keep the kids entertained: take part in your own archaeological dig, or build your own Stonehenge. The latter kept my Ed, aged 36, entertained for hours.

The locals know it as “Waddies” and it’s been brewing since 1875.

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LOCKED IN Another essential visit is Caen Hill Locks, flight of 16 consecutive locks built to enable the gradual raising or lowering of boats through a section of the canal that traverses a total incline of 237 feet. Caen Hill takes no less than three or four hours for a narrowboat to pass through each way, so it’s probably best experienced as an observer if you are short on time. As such, we had made the decision to pick up our narrowboat, Foxtrot, at the bottom of Caen Hill and head west towards Bath - a return journey of four days and nights. This duration sounds reasonable until you realise Bath is only 20 miles each way; as we were soon to discover, nothing happens quickly on the canal. At one point on our journey we notice an elderly man strolling alongside us on the footpath with his dog. He quickly outstrips our maximum speed of three miles per hour and leaves us in his wake. And while we may have avoided Caen Hill, we still had plenty of locks to deal with in the early stages of our journey, the first couple of which were an intimidating experience requiring all hands on deck. But quickly our crew became well drilled and efficient like a Formula One pit team. We took keenly to our respective tasks: Two of us jumping off the boat to winch open and fill or empty the lock before opening the gates to allow the boat’s passage, our skipper keeping us on the straight and narrow and someone in the cabin with the crucial role of refilling the beers. Working through the locks in an English canal boat.

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At nightfall, we moored Foxtrot outside the Barge Inn, Seend, one of the many pubs located on the banks of the Kennett and Avon Canal. It’s a Wadworth’s pub of course, but the Waddies ales and hearty English pub grub were a more than adequate finale to the day.

THE MORNING AFTER

The following morning would bring a selfcatered breakfast of bacon and eggs, eaten in the boat’s comfortable living quarters, which also served as a bedroom for two of our

picturesque town on the canal that is welladorned with pubs and shops to replenish our supplies. My friend Ed happened across an excellent bottle shop, Ruby Red Wine Sellers, where we were able to pick up some microcasks of two exceptionally delicious local beers, Bath Ales’ Gem, one of the tastiest English Bitters you are likely to try, and Hopback’s aforementioned Summer Lightning. The next leg of the journey from Bradford to Bath was flat, meaning no locks, which meant we could all relax a bit and enjoy the sights

WE SET FORTH TO BRADFORD-ONAVON, A PICTURESQUE TOWN ON THE CANAL THAT IS WELL-ADORNED WITH PUBS AND SHOPS.” touring party. With a double bunk, a double bed and room for a couple more in the lounge, it was a cosy fit aboard the Foxtrot, which can supposedly sleep up to seven people, though we would suggest a maximum of five or six is more realistic to maintain at least a modicum of comfort. Starting with the immediate challenge of a lock to get ourselves warmed up for the day, we set forth to Bradford-on-Avon, a

of the canal, a home for ducks, swans, herons and if you are lucky enough to spot them, kingfishers. Ale casks were cracked open and tankards filled and depleted. Fellow boatmen and women were greeted with increasing conviviality as the afternoon wore on. We stopped at Dundas Aqueduct, built in the late 18th Century to allow the canal to pass over the River Avon and the railway. This was also an ideal place to stop at one of the canal’s

dedicated water stations and refill our water tank, near emptied from two days of ablutions.

BATH TIME

It would have been brilliant to make a triumphant arrival into Bath aboard our trusty Foxtrot, but the descent to meet the River Avon would have involved six locks, and the same again when we started our return journey – all in all, the best part of a day’s travel that we decided may be better spent in the pub. So we moored Foxtrot in the city’s outskirts and made the descent on foot, helpfully offering encouragement to the many narrowboaters we encountered wrestling with the locks, one of which, Bath Deep Lock, is Britain’s second deepest canal lock at an unnerving six metres. Rain put a dampener on our enjoyment of Bath’s stunning architecture, which really is deserving of a full day’s sightseeing if you are yet to experience it. We escaped the weather with a couple of pints of ale at Fuller’s pub, the Crystal Palace, followed by a dinner of pizza and an early night, in the knowledge that we would have to be back on the canal at daybreak the next morning. We were blessed with clear skies on our return voyage, occasioning us to moor Foxtrot alongside a grassy bank for lunch, which came courtesy of a sausage sizzle on a disposable BBQ accompanied by the last of our Bath Gem. Dessert was blackberries foraged from the canalside.

Vaughan Roberts, proud publican at the Crown Inn.

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a legs’ with Getting rid of their ‘seCrown Inn. a pint at the

Excellent progress made on the canal that afternoon left us time to stop a few miles later in Semington, a small village notable for little else other than an excellent free house, the Somerset Arms, which served the Foxtrot crew favourite Bath Ales along with some other local drops, all well kept and drinking beautifully. The Somerset also offers plastic growlers of takeaway beer that had us well-equipped for the final stretch of our penultimate day on the canal, which finished with a return visit to the Barge Inn. We returned Foxtrot the following morning with a heavy heart, comfortable that this would not be our last voyage on the charming canals of Great Britain. Our helpful taxi driver alerted us to the existence of The Crown Inn, a CAMRA-approved pub located within a short walk of Pewsey rail station - the perfect spot to kill a couple of hours before boarding the train back to London. We were delighted to find that friendly publican Vaughan Roberts and son Iago brew on site their own World’s End Ales, including the Mercian Incursion, an easy drinking Golden Ale that proved the perfect bookend to this beery adventure. Reflecting on our few days on the canal, we agreed that the only mistake we had made was the brevity of the trip. Four days and nights was just enough for us to get used to canal living, and we had decided we liked it very much.

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BREWERIES WADWORTH & CO Northgate Brewery, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 1JW www.wadworth.co.uk BREWPUBS THE CROWN INN 60 Wilcot Rd, Pewsey, Wiltshire SN9 5EL www.thecrowninnpewsey.com PUBS THE BRITISH LION 9 Estcourt St, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 1LQ www.britishliondevizes.co.uk/ THE SOUTHGATE, Potterne Road, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 5BY www.hopback.co.uk/our-pubs/the-southgate.html THE BARGE INN Seend Cleeve, Wiltshire SN12 6QB http://www.bargeinnseend.co.uk/ CRYSTAL PALACE 10-11 Abbey Green, Bath, Avon BA1 1NN http://www.crystalpalacepub.co.uk/ THE SOMERSET ARMS Semington, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 6JR http://www.somersetarmssemington.co.uk/ BOTTLESHOPS RUBY RED WINE CELLARS 4 Silver Street, Bradford-on-Avon BA15 1JX

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THE STAR SPANGLED

BREWERS

The last time Paul Golland went to the USA, he came home terriﬁed of the bland, mass-produced beers on offer. But this time, he went looking for craft beer, and came home a very happy man.

Near Los Angeles is Santa Monica beach and pier, which marks the actual end of the famous “Route 66”. Next beach down the coast is the equally famous Venice Beach, one of the best places in the world to go peoplewatching. To do that in comfort, you should grab a seat outside the Venice Beach Ale House, on Rose Avenue. The Venice Beach Ale House has a large quantity of craft beers on tap, including

lot of people head to the USA for work or leisure, and in years gone by, it’s been a less than stellar experience for lovers of good beer. Sure, the American breweries turn out a drinkable product, but the mass-produced beers from the States have earned a reputation as being a little bit on the lacklustre side – especially when compared to the craft beers we know and love in Australia. My most recent trip to the US involved a working week in Los Angeles, followed by a week in Boston and another in Washington DC. I am very pleased to report that each of these cities is now home to some really spectacular craft breweries, brewpubs and eateries.

FIRST STOP: LOS ANGELES

Just across from our hotel in Century City was a BJ ‘s Brew House, where they have a range of eight of their own beers from a light lager up to a Porter. They also offer up 15 taps of guest beers, which changed over the five days we were there. A big-selling beer in Los Angeles at the minute is Blue Moon, a Belgian-style wheat beer served with a slice of orange. A highlight of the trip, It’s well worth looking out for this beer.

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The iconic Samuel Adams brewery, Boston.

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e orter, sampling th Our intrepid reptually a lot happier ac d beers - an the photo... than he looks in

International

4 images courtesy of bjsrestaurants.com/bj-beers

Laguinitas, Stone Brewing and Lost Coast as well as numerous bottled beers in the fridge. The food isn’t bad, either – but if you’re not a beer lover, and prefer spirits, bear in mind that they only serve pre-mix cocktails or wine.

take your passport as they demand to see ID and do not accept foreign drivers licences. You can find Samuel Adams after a Metro ride on the Orange line, getting off at Stoney Brook and it’s a easy directed five-minute

FROM LA, WE TRAVELLED OVER TO BOSTON, WHICH IS A DREAM CITY FOR BEER LOVERS.” Another great spot in Los Angeles is the Farmer’s Market, where you can get just about every imaginable type of food - and wash it down with a cold ale. You’ll find it on West 3rd Street – and there’s a huge mall around the corner to keep the ‘shopper’ in the family happy while you wet your whistle.

walk. The tour provides plenty of samples, and the gift shop offers up some good buys of limited addition gear as well. After each tour they offer to take you to F.J. Doyles pub by “happy bus” and I heartily recommend this. F.J. Doyle’s has been operating for 132 years and has a lot of Adams

OFF TO BOSTON!

From LA, we travelled over to Boston, which is a dream city for beer lovers. Due to the enormous Irish influence on the city, there is a pub on almost every corner, all serving craft beers and most with no sign of the mass produced beers at all. If you can peel yourself away from the pubs, you’ll find two breweries in Boston that are well worth a visit. Most people would know Samuel Adams – it’s the most famous brewery in Boston – and it offers great brewery tours from 10.00am. Importantly, if you are a tourist

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Proudly Irish, proudly Boston.

Inside one of the heavily-branded Samuel Adams-styled hotels.

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If you can see this, you’ve found the Harpoon Brewery.

craft beers on sale. At the end of your visit you get given an Adams beer glass that they sell at the shop for free! The other brewery to visit is Harpoon Brewery – it’s not easy to find, but if you take the Silver Line Metro (which is actually a bus service) to Northern Avenue Boston, you’ll see

Grabbing a pint at the Harpoon Bar.

it when you hop off the bus. Harpoon is open for tours on weekends and tastings Monday to Friday, 2.00pm and 4.00pm. The tours last an hour, and they’re on first-come, first-served basis – and they’re very popular, so it’s worth getting there a little early to make sure you can grab a spot on the tour. They’ll take you

I STARTED WITH THEIR FLAGSHIP BEER, THE 60 MINUTE IPA AROUND 6-7% ABV.”

through the full range of their beers which include IPA, Pale, Wheat and Dark beers – but their Leviathan series are very strong (up to 11.5% ABV) and very tasty, so they’re best left to try at the end. We stayed in a suburb called Kenmore, which is a baseball throw from Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series this year. Even if you’re not a big baseball fan, the Fenway Park tour is brilliant. As you would expect there are a lot of bars around the ground. Boston Beer Works on Brookline Avenue is a brewhouse and restaurant, with its own range of beers. They are also connected to the Salem Beer Works, which turns out a big range of beers. I particularly liked the malty Double Bock. For something very different, have a go at the Bunker Hill Blueberry Ale, which is served with real blueberries floating in the beer. Also at Kenmore is Lower Depths, on Commonwealth Avenue. This is a little bar set down some steps that has a great selection of craft brews from all over the US, some of which are quite rare. The bar staff really know their stuff and are quite happy to steer you through what is an extensive beer menu. If you’re in the mood to pay too much money for beer in a tourist trap, hit up the Cheers bar in Quincy Markets. The owners have recreated the interior of the bar from the TV show Cheers, but it’s nowhere near as funny without Norm at the end of the bar…

WELCOME TO WASHINGTON

Remember: at Cheers, everybody knows your name, so you’ll have to behave yourself...

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Next stop on our tour was Washington, which had a single highlight in terms of the beers we tried. Readers may already be familiar with Dogfish Head Brewery through the show “Brew” on Foxtel. Dogfish Head has a location in East Falls Church, just across the Potomac River from the centre of town. It can be reached by orange line to East Falls Station and then a five minute cab ride and it is well worth the effort. Each location has a range of beers

Map of U.S.A. courtesy of wikipedia.

TRAVELLER Reader Column

on tap and a number of their bottled range - it can be a bit of a lottery as to which of their products are available when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re there. I started with their flagship beer, the 60 minute IPA around 6-7% ABV with a nice bitter, hoppy flavour. I followed that with a Raison Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;etre, a mahogany-coloured Belgian Strong Dark Ale which is brewed with beet sugar and raisins, clocking in at 8% ABV. To finish I could not leave without tasting the 120 minute IPA, which at around 18% and with a 120 IBU claims to be the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strongest IPA. Served in a balloon glass, it needs to be sipped slowly and savoured â&#x20AC;&#x201C; especially considering the price of US$18.50 for one 330ml glass. I would recommend the experience to anyone that gets the chance to try this beer. All of these beer experiences are a world away from my last trip to the US, and proof positive that the craft beer movement in America has really taken off and been embraced by the locals. Suddenly, Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s looking like a much better prospect for a cold beer when you next get the chance.

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TRAVELLER Weekend Away

PERTH, CAPITAL OF THE CRAFT BEER STATE Perth might be the world’s most isolated capital, but from isolation comes a pioneering spirit. Make a pilgrimage to the breweries that started a nationwide craft-beer revolution, then check out the operations that are blazing a new trail to the top. By Anthony Williams and Jeremy Sambrooks. The Sail & Anc

hor, WA

eer lovers in the west are particularly proud of the (occasionally disputed) fact that Fremantle is the birthplace of Australian craft brewing. Brewers tell stories about formative beer experiences at the Sail & Anchor pub-brewery, where the Matilda Bay Brewing Company – and the once-pioneering Redback Wheat Beerr – was born in the mid 1980s. Another generation of craft-beer devotees was born when Little Creatures Brewing opened its doors in late 2000, and since then, the Perth and Freo area has turned into a powerhouse of craft brewing.

FISHING BOATS,, CHIPS AND FRESH HOPS

For beer-loving first-time visitors to Perth’s port city, all roads lead to the expansive, multifaceted beer destination that is Little Creatures Brewery. The venue’s original brewery, bar and restaurant is perfectly positioned

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on the edge of Fishing Boat Harbour, and has been a magnet for tourists and locals alike. Of course, the massive success of Little Creatures Pale Ale has led to a more-than-alittle expansion, with a loft bar and whole new brewery built around that original ‘shed’. The brewery’s flagship American-style Pale Ale has been joined by a core range of widely available bottled beers, but there’s something very Freo about drinking a fresh Little Creatures at the source.

that are now contract-brewed at Gage Roads. Just across the road is The Monk Brewery & Kitchen, whose craft beers have been warmly welcomed by punters and judges alike. Brewer Paul Wyman is particularly proud of

CAFFEINE HITS AND CRAFT BEER SHIPS

The bustling, cosmopolitan vibe of the South Terrace ‘Cappucino Strip’ on a Sunday afternoon is classic Freo, with a melting pot of cultures contributing to the area’s many cafes and restaurants. The historic Fremantle Markets, part of the Freo way-of-life since 1897, are here too – and right next door is the Sail & Anchor. In the past few years, the Sail has taken its role as an ambassador for good beer to new heights. Since the in-house brewery was retired in 2010, The Sail has become a multi-tap craft beer destination. The hotel’s 43 taps serve up a regularly changing line-up of quality, oftenlocal brews, including a number of house beers

The lure of the tasting paddle at the Sail & Anchor...

TRAVELLER XXXXX Weekend Away xxxxxxxxx

Inside the Sail & Anchor, WA.

his IPA – known as The Chief – which won the trophy for Best Ale Draught at the 2012 Perth Royal Beer Show and, more recently, came runner-up for Best Australian Beer at the 2013 Beer & Brewer People’s Choice Awards. In addition to the IPA, The Monk’s list of house brews includes a Kolsch, (Belgian-style) Wheat Beer, Pale Ale, Porter and a Mild (mid-strength lager). A switched-on kitchen provides perfect food matches for those beers, and an expansive outdoor terrace takes full advantage of WA’s mostly agreeable weather. The Norfolk Hotel adds 22 taps – mostly craft – to the range of South Terrace beer options and regularly hosts free beer events, such as Brewers BBQs and tap takeovers. Nearby, The Freo Doctor bottleshop stocks an extensive range of bottled Australian and international specialty brews. Elsewhere in Fremantle, the original Clancy’s Fish Pub is arguably Australia’s first craft beer bar, pioneering the promotion and education of WA craft beer to its clientele since 2001. Over on the beach in North Fremantle, you’ll find the Blacksalt Brewery, a selfdescribed ‘nano-brewery’ operating out of the Salt on the Beach bar. Here you can enjoy ales which take inspiration from German brewing traditions, including a Kolsch, Altbier, Dunkelweizen and a Hefeweizen.

In early 2011, the Mash Brewing Company established the Mash Brasserie in Rockingham, about 30km south of Freo. The full tavern and beer-matched menu add to the appeal of Mash’s second coastal outpost. Staying coastal but heading north, seafood and craft beer has become a favoured combination at City Beach, where the Clancy’s Fish Pub team opened their third venue. Mullaloo and the Hillarys Boat Harbour are also popular beach destinations, but it’s the northern end of the city’s coastal strip that holds particular appeal for craft beer seekers. Here, at the Mindarie Marina, you’ll find the Indian Ocean Brewing Company and its quality brews. Brewer Dave Brough’s range includes a Lager, White Cap (Witbier), Big Red (American Amber) and a number of seasonal brews. At the 2013 Perth Royal Beer Show, Indi’s brews netted a gold medal, three silvers and a bronze as well as the trophy for Best WA Brewery.

ELSEWHERE IN PERTH…

Just off the Kwinana freeway, 20 minutes south of the Perth CBD is a must-visit beer destination – The Quarie Bar and Brasserie. Managed by the recently crowned Beertender of the Year, Matt Marinich, The Quarie boasts one of the country’s finest bottled beer lists as well as their own house brew, Quarie Ale. In the suburb of Bassendean is Brewcorp – a new 50-hectolitre brew-house co-owned by Nail Brewing Company and Feral Brewing Company. Strictly a production brewery and not open to the public, the substantial brewhouse is now responsible for the brewing of all Feral’s core-range beers, with the much smaller Swan Valley brewpub now used for sour and barrel-aged brews. Nail’s owner and brewer John Stallwood uses the Bassendean brewery to produce his award-winning ales, including an Australian-

John Stallwood, Nail Brewing Co.

style Pale Ale, Oatmeal Stout, hoppy Summer Ale and the mighty Clout Stout (recently awarded the only gold medal at the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show). After operating as a gypsy brewer for the best part of a decade, Stallwood is finally able to produce his brews in greater quantities, allowing him to distribute Nail goodness in bottles and kegs around the country. With Czech-born master brewer Jan Bruckner at the helm, the Last Drop Brewery has been supplying first-class lagers, wheat beers and seasonal ales to a number of Perth venues since 1992. The Elizabethan Village Pub, next door to the brewery in semi-rural Bedfordale, is one place to sample those brews with lunch or dinner; Canning Vale’s Last Drop Brewery Restaurant is another.

A TOAST TO THE WEST COAST

Just beyond Fremantle’s city limits, the Billabong and Gage Roads breweries produce bottled and kegged craft beer that you might well find in some of the other licensed premises mentioned here. The latter is purely a commercial brewery, while Billabong also operates as a Brew-Your-Own and Microbrewery business. Gage’s range includes the Gage Pils 3.5 (mid-strength), Gage Premium Lager, Wahoo Premium Ale, Atomic Pale Ale and Sleeping Giant India Pale Ale.

The Billabong Brewing team.

www.beerandbrewer.com

TRAVELLER Weekend Away

BOTTLE SHOPS The Old Swan Brewery, WA.

BEER BARS & PUBS BELGIAN BEER CAFE WESTENDE Cnr Murray and King Sts, Perth

www.beerandbrewer.com

CELLARBRATIONS WILLAGEE 72 Archibald Street, Willagee

CLANCY’S FISH PUB 903 Canning Hwy, Applecross

INTERNATIONAL BEER SHOP 69 McCourt St, West Leederville

CLANCY’S FISH BAR CITY BEACH 195 Challenger Drv, City Beach

LIQUOR BARONS MT LAWLEY 654 Beaufort St, Mt Lawley

CLANCY’S FISH PUB FREMANTLE 51 Cantonment St, Fremantle Closer to central Perth, The Old Brewery is a destination that also offers million dollar views in an iconic WA location. The Old Brewery – also one of the city’s finest steakhouses – is situated in the historic Old Swan Brewery building, home to the original Swan Brewery between 1879 and 1966. A meticulous rebuild and restoration saw brewing return to the site in 2001. Brewer Mark Reilly produces a core range of four beers – Narrows Lager (Mid-Strength), Riverside Lager (Helles), Heritage Wheat Beer and Angus Pale Ale – with three seasonal brews completing the line-up. For drinking and dining options in the Perth CBD, the west end of Murray Street boasts two beer-focused destinations in the Belgian Beer Café Westende and The Generous Squire. Just off St Georges Terrace in the new Brookfields Place is Print Hall – a multifaceted four-storey venue owned by the Colonial Leisure Group. Of particular interest here is the Asian restaurant, The Apple Daily, which pours exclusively WA craft beer. Where the CBD meets the Swan River, meanwhile, you’ll find the Bell Tower and Barrack Street Jetty, where you can catch a ferry across to South Perth and Perth Zoo, or jump on a cruise to Fremantle, the Swan Valley or escape ‘overseas’ to Rottnest Island. Just outside the city centre, you’ll find an abundance of beer options at The Paddington Ale House in Mt Hawthorn. Here it’s the Beer Hall of Fame – 141 ales and lagers from around the world – that makes the venue a genuine beer destination. Mount Lawley’s Five Bar continues to build its reputation with an impressive bottled beer range, two dedicated Feral Brewing taps, regular beer events and a kitchen that serves up great food. Good beer can also be had at The Classroom in North Perth, where going back to school has never been so much fun. If you want to pick up a beverage to savour in the comfort of your own home (or someone else’s), you’ll find yourself in luck, as Perth is home to several of the country’s best bottle shops for beer. Other than the aforementioned Freo Doctor, bottle shops well worth visiting include the International Beer Shop (West Leederville), Mane Liquor (Belmont), Cellarbrations Carlisle, Cellarbrations Willagee, Liquor Barons Mt Lawley and The Beer Store in Morley.

CELLARBRATIONS CARLISLE Wright St & Orrong Rd, Kewdale

ELIZABETHAN VILLAGE PUB Lot 22, Canns Rd, Bedfordale FIVE BAR 560 Beaufort St, Mount Lawley MASH BRASSERIE ROCKINGHAM 1 Council Ave, Rockingham PRINT HALL 125 St Georges Tce, Perth SAIL & ANCHOR HOTEL 64 South Tce, Fremantle THE CLASSROOM 356 Charles St, North Perth THE GENEROUS SQUIRE 397 Murray St, Perth THE NORFOLK HOTEL 47 South Tce, Fremantle THE PADDO 141 Scarborough Beach Rd, THE QUARIE BAR + BRASSERIE 2 Macquarie Boulevard, Hammond Park

MANE LIQUOR 237 Grt Eastern Hwy, Belmont THE BEER STORE Wellington Rd & Noranda Ave, Morley THE FREO DOCTOR LIQUOR STORE 27 Arundel St, Fremantle

BREWERIES AND BEER CO’S BILLABONG BREWING 72a McCoy St, Myaree BLACKSALT BREWERY Port Beach & Tydeman Rds, Nth Fremantle GAGE ROADS BREWING, Palmyra INDIAN OCEAN BREWING CO Ocean Falls Blvd, Mindarie LAST DROP BREWERY & RESTAURANT 50 Canns Rd, Bedfordale LITTLE CREATURES BREWERY 40 Mews Rd, Fremantle NAIL BREWING, Bassendean THE MONK BREWERY & KITCHEN 33 South Tce, Fremantle THE OLD BREWERY 173 Mounts Bay Rd, Perth

A quiet beer at the Five Bar, Mount Lawley

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TRAVELLER Weekend Away

Clarkson INDIAN OCEAN BREWING COMPANY

Joondalup EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY BREWERY

Scarborough

Bayswater North Perth Airport

PERTH THE OLD BREWERY

Mossman Park

BLACKSALT BREWERY BILLABONG BREWING Fremantle

THE MONK BREWERY & KITCHEN

LITTLE CREATURES BREWING

LAST DROP BREWERY & RESTAURANT

is our passion for cra beer and our love for the Kiwi Bach â&#x20AC;Ś escape, freedom, simplicity and me together with family and friends.

Image ÂŠ Bach Brewing 2013

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no mistaking the Belgian Bier Cafe Westende, Perth.

www.beerandbrewer.com 67

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AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY 1 Wig and Pen, CBD 2 Zierholz, Fyshwick 3 U-Brew It (BC) 1842 Beer, Fyshwick NEW SOUTH WALES 1 Lion-Nathan, Tooheys, Lidcombe 2 Lord Nelson, The Rocks 3 Scharer’s, Picton (BC) 4 Malt Shovel, Camperdown 5 Old Goulburn Brewery 6 Ironbark, Tamworth 7 St Peters Brewery 8 Paddy’s, Flemington 9 Bluetongue, Warnervale 10 Hunter Beer Co., Nulkaba 11 Redoak, CBD 12 King St Brewhouse 13 Dennis Beer Co, Newcastle 14 Brew Pack, Smeaton Grange 15 Sydney Brewhouse, CBD 16 Murray’s, Port Stephens 17 Illawarra Brewing Co, North Wollongong 18 Happy Goblin, Mt Kuringai 19 William Bull, Bilbul 20 Little Brewing Co, The, Port Macquarie 22 Mudgee Brewing Co. 23 Infusion Bar & Bistro 24 Stone & Wood, Byron Bay 25 4 Pines, Manly 26 Byron Bay Premium Brewery 27 Dalgety Brewing Company, Dalgety 28 Mountain Ridge Brewery, Shoalhaven Heads 29 Australian Hotel & Brewery Rouse Hill 30 Kosciuszko Brewing Company, Jindabyne 31 Fishrock Brewery, Mittagong 32 U-Brew It, Tweed Heads 33 U-Brew It, West Gosford 34 U-Brew It , Wollongong 35 U-Brew It, Wyong 36 U-Brew It, Hunter 37 The Beer Factory, Seven Hills 38 The Beer Factory, Wollongong 39 Thirsty Crow, Wagga Wagga 40 Black Duck Brewery, Herons Creek 42 Underground Brewing, Erskine Park 43 Badlands Brewery (BC) 44 Rocks Brewing Co, Harts Pub, The Rocks 45 Bluetongue Brewery Café, Pokolbin 46 Murray’s At Manly 47 Riverside Brewing Co, Parramatta 48 Young Henrys, Newtown 49 Casella Brewery, Grifﬁth 50 Hop Dog Beer Works, South Nowra 51 Brewpack, Smeaton 52 Central Ranges Brewing Company 53 Steel River Brewery 54 The Beer Shed 55 Pickled Pig Brewery, Tweed Heads 56 Rebel Ant, Tamworth 57 Fish River Valley Brewing, Bathurst 58 Six String Brewing Co, Erina 59 The Grifter, Newtown (BC) Dennis Beer Co (BC) Wayward Brewing Co (BC) Mad Koala Brewery (BC) Doctor’s Orders Brewing (BC) Balmain Brewing Company (BC) Snowy Mountains Brewery (BC) Fusion Brewing (BC) Brewtopia (BC) Bowral Brewing Company (BC) Barons Brewing Company (BC) Brothers Ink (BC) Longboard Brewing Company (BC) Lovells (BC) Endeavour True Vintage Beer (BC) Ekim Brewing Co. (BC) Koala Beer/Burragumbilli (BC) St Arnou (BC) Dad & Dave’s Brewing QUEENSLAND 1 Castlemaine Perkins (Lion), Milton 2 CUB, Yatala 3 Sunshine Coast, Kunda Park 4 International Hotel 5 The Brewery, Townsville 6 Burleigh Brewing Co. 7 Blue Sky, Cairns 8 Mt Tamborine Brewing Co. 9 Brewhouse Brisbane, Woolloongabba 10 Castle Glen Brewery 11 U-Brew It, Varsity Lakes 12 U-Brew It, Portsmith 13 U-Brew It, Warana 14 U-Brew It, Nerang 15 Brew By U, Underwood

N E W

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Z E A L A N D

Brew By U, Brendale Brew By U, Labrodoor Brew By U, Clontarf Brew By U, Townsville Brew4U, Boondall Brew4U, Wacol Brew4U, Deception Bay Brew4U, Toowoomba Brew4U, Woolloongabba Brew4U, Cleveland 4 Hearts Brewing, Ipswich Bacchus Brewing Co., Capalaba 29 Granite Belt Brewery 30 Spring Hill Craft Brewery 31 Green Beacon 32 Red Bay, Cleveland 33 BrewBake, Woombye (BC) Norfolk Island Brewing Company SOUTH AUSTRALIA 1 Coopers, Regency Park 2 Lion Nathan, Southwark 3 Port Dock, Port Adelaide 4 Grumpy’s Brewhaus, Verdun 5 Holdfast Hotel, Glenelg 6 Smiling Samoyed Brewery, Myponga 7 Barossa Brewing, Greenock 8 Gulf Brewery, Hackham 9 Knappstein Enterprise, Clare 10 Steam Exchange, Goolwa 11 Campus Brewery, Regency Park TAFE 12 Lobethal Bierhaus 13 Woolshed Brewery Renmark 14 Brewboys Croydon Park 15 McLaren Vale Beer Company, Willunga 16 Goodieson Brewery McLaren Vale 17 Beard & Brau 19 Boars Rock Winery 20 Pikes Beer Company 21 Pepperjack of Barossa 22 U-Brew It, Parra Hills 23 U Brew Here, Lonsdale 24 Barossa Valley Brewing, Lyndoch 26 Clare Valley Brewing Co 27 Myponga Brewery 28 South Australian Brewing Co 29 Thorogoods Cider 30 Prancing Pony, Adelaide Hills 31 Ekhidna, McLaren Vale (BC) Swell Brewing Company (BC) Boar’s Rock Beer (BC) Swanky Beer (BC) Island Brew TASMANIA 1 Cascade, South Hobart 2 James Boag’s, Launceston 3 Moorilla, Berridale 4 Two Metre Tall, New Norfolk 5 Iron House, White Sands Estate 6 Seven Sheds, Railton 7 Van Dieman Brewing, Evandale 8 Tavener’s Brewery Launceston 9 The Squires Bounty 10 Morrison Brewery 11 Taverner’s Boutique Brewery 12 Wineglass Bay Brewing (BC) Tasmanian Chilli Beer Company VICTORIA 1 CUB, Abbotsford 2 Grand Ridge, Mirboo North 3 Southern Bay, Moolap 5 Buffalo Brewery, Boorham 6 Holgate Brewhouse, Woodend 7 Jamieson Brewery, Jamieson 8 James Squire Brewhouse, Portland Hotel, CBD 9 Ballarat University Brewery 11 Buckley’s Beers, Healesville 12 Independent Distillers, Laverton 13 Three Ravens, Thornbury 14 Lone Hand, Cassilis 15 Mildura Theatre Brewery 16 Mountain Goat, Richmond 18 Bridge Road Brewers, Beechworth 19 Red Hill Brewery 20 Bright Brewery 21 O’Briens Brewery, Ballarat 22 2 Brothers, Moorabbin 23 Otway Estate, Barongarook 24 Coldstream Brewery, Coldstream (BC) The Flying Horse, Warrnambool 27 Sweetwater, Mt Beauty 28 White Rabbit, Healesville 29 Savaraln Brewery, Sale 31 Tooborac Hotel, Heathcote 32 Hargreaves Hill Brewing Company, Yarra Glen 33 True South, Black Rock 34 Coldwater Creek Tavern & Microbrewery, Doveton

NATIONAL/REGIONAL BREWERY

BREW PUB

BREW ON PREMISE

(BC)

Hickinbotham Winery and Brewery Red Duck, Camperdown Avonmore Estate Bellarine Brewing Co, Bellarine 41 Harcourt Valley Brewing Company (BC) 42 U-Brew It, Keilor Park 43 U-Brew It, Wodonga 44 The Brew Barn 45 Brew 4 U, Geelong South 46 Barleycorn Brewers, Oakleigh 47 Forrest Brewing, Forrest 48 Kooinda Boutique Brewery 49 Mornington Peninsula Brewery, Mornington 50 Thunder Road Brewing Co, Brunswick 51 Bullant Brewery, Bruthan 52 Moon Dog, Abbortsford 53 True Brew 54 Matilda Bay Port Melbourne Brewery 55 Temple Brewery & Brasserie, Brunswick 56 Dolphin Brewery, Daylesford 57 Black Heart Brewery, Brighton 58 Cavalier Brewery, Brunswick 59 Black Dog Brewery, Taminick 60 Beechworth Brewery 61 Beechworth Cider 62 Boynton’s Brewing Company 63 Mount Markey Winery and Microbrewery 64 Napoleone & Co, Coldstream 65 Rusty Water Brewery 66 Wooden Spoon Brewing 67 Two Wives Brewery, Bellarine (BC) Sideshow Brewers (BC) Purrumbete Brewing Company (BC) King Valley Brewery (BC) Broo Bee (BC) Three Troupers Brewery (BC) Hawthorn Brewing Company (BC) Boatrocker Brewing Company (BC) PI55 Brew Company (BC) Effen Enterprises (BC) Sundance Brewing International (BC) Two Birds Brewing, Melbourne WESTERN AUSTRALIA 3 Last Drop, Canning Vale 4 Bootleg Brewery, Wilyabrup 5 Matso’s, Broome 6 Bush Shack, Yallingup 7 Little Creatures, Fremantle 8 Edith Cowan University 9 Feral, Baskerville 10 Ironbark, Caversham 11 Blackwood Valley & The Cidery, Bridgetown 12 Colonial, Margaret River 13 Elmar’s, Henley Brook 14 Gage Roads, Palmyra 16 Tanglehead, Albany 17 Occy’s, Vasse 18 Mash, Henley Brook 19 Indian Ocean, Mindarie 20 Cowaramup Brewing, Cowaramup 21 Billabong, Myaree 22 The Monk, Fremantle 23 Wild Bull Brewery, Ferguson 24 Brew 42, Allanson 25 Duckstein, Wilyabrup 26 The Old Brewery, Perth 27 Mash, Bunbury 28 Old Coast Road, Myalup 29 Duckstein Brewery, Swan Valley 30 Blacksalt Brewery North Fremantle 32 Moody Cow Brewery Ferguson Valley 34 U-Brew It, Canningvale 35 U-Brew It, Joondalup 37 U-Brew It, Midvale 39 U-Brew It, Rockingham 40 U-Brew It, Webberton 41 Brews R Us, Greenwood 42 Eagle Bay Brewing Co, Eagle Bay 43 Brew ‘N’ Bottle 45 The Grove Vineyard Brewery, Willyabrup 46 Boston Brewery 47 Cheeky Monkey Brewery & Cidery, Margaret River 48 Beaten Track Brewery, Boulder 49 Cape Bouvard Winery and Brewery 50 Denmark Brews & Ales 51 Elephant Rock Cidery 52 Margaret River Ale Company 53 Old Swan Brewery 54 The Generous Squire 55 Nail Brewing Company NEW ZEALAND NORTH ISLAND 1.1 Lion-Nathan, Auckland 1.2 DB, Waitemata, Auckland 1.3 Steam Brewing, Auckland 37 38 39

1.4 1.5 1.6

MICROBREWERY BREWING COMPANY

Independent, Auckland Hallertau, Auckland Galbraith’s Alehouse, Auckland 3 Roosters Brew House, Hastings 4.1 Croucher, Rotorua 5 Waiheke Island Microbrewery 6 Sawmill, Leigh 7 Brewhaus Frings, Whangerei 8 Sunshine Brewery, Gisborne 9 The Filter Room, Hawkes Bay, Napier 11 Peak, Masterton 13 DB, Tui, Mangatainoka 14 Tuatara, Waikanae 15 Mike’s Organic Brewery, Urenui 16 Aoteoroa, Kawerau 17 Brewers Bar, Mt Maunganui 19 Coromandal Brewing Company 20 Rogue Brewery, Taupo 21 Kaimai Brewing Company, Mount Manganui, Tauranga (BC) 22 Scott’s Brewing 23 Cassels & Sons, Christchurch 24 St Katherines Brewing, Auckland (BC) 25 Epic Brewing Company, Auckland (BC) 26 Island Bay Brewing, Wellington (BC) 27 BREW, Rotorua (BC) 28 Shunters Yard Brewing, Matangi (BC) 30 Zeelandt Brewery (BC) 31 Garage Project 32 Kereru Brewing Company 33 Fork and Brewer 34 Deep Creek 35 The Brewery Britomart 36 Dallow’s at Sale Street 37 ParrotDog 39 Shakespeare Tavern 40 Good George Brewing, Hamilton 41 Fat Monk Brewing Company, Hastings (BC) Liberty Brewing Company, Karaka, New Plymouth (BC) Yeastie Boys (BC) 666 Brewing, Auckland (BC) Bennett’s Beer (BC) Ben Middlemiss Brewing Co, Auckland (BC) Valkyrie Brewing Co, Auckland NEW ZEALAND SOUTH ISLAND 1.1 The Twisted Hop, Christchurch 1.2 Wigram, Christchurch 1.3 Matson’s, Christchurch 1.4 Harrington’s, Christchurch 1.5 Three Boys, Christchurch 2.1 Lion-Nathan, Speights 2.2 Emerson, Dunedin 2.3 Green Man, Dunedin 2.4 McDuff’s, Dunedin 2.5 Meenans, Dunedin 3.1 Founders, Nelson 3.2 Nelson Bays Brewery 3.3 Lighthouse, Nelson 4.1 Moa, Blenheim 4.2 Renaissance, Blenheim 4.3 Pink Elephant, Blenheim 5 Kaiapoi Brewing Co. 6 Brew Moon, Amberley 7 DB, Mainland 8 Invercargill Brewery 9 Dux de Lux, Queenstown 10 Wanaka Beerworks 11 DB, Monteith’s, Greymouth 12 West Coast, Westport 13 Mussel Inn, Onekaka 14 Arrow Brewing Company, Arrowtown 15 Townshend Brewery, Upper Moutere 16 Golden Bear Brewing 17 Monkey Wizard Brewery 18 Totara Brewing Co. 19 Sprig & Fern Brewery, Richmond 20 McCashin’s Brewery 21 Green Fern Brewery 22 Boundary Road Brewery, Red Hill 23 8 Wired, Blenheim (BC) 24 Dead Good Beers (BC) 25 Ad Lib Brewing 26 Twisted Hop 27 Four Avenues Brewing Company, Christchurch (BC) Golden Ticket Brewing, Christchurch (BC) AdLib Brewing, Christchurch

LEGEND

A U S T R A L I A

BROOME

WESTERN AUSTRALIA 35

13 10

TRIGG

BAYSWATER

38 26

COTTESLOE CANNINGTON 41 9 8 PERTH 54 53 18 29 56 30 34 3 FREMANTLE 19

49 39 28

14 21 22 1

24 16 46 50

ALBANY

BUNBURY

27 52 43 6 23 17 45 32 4 47 25 MARAGRET 42

RIVER

AUGUSTA

LOOKING FOR A BREWERY’S CONTACT DETAILS? REFER TO THE BREWING DIRECTORY IN THE CLASSIFIEDS SECTION OF THE MAGAZINE

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7 12 CAIRNS

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MANLY 46 25

PARRAMATTA 47

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BANKSTOWN

33 3 14 2218 16 30 20 27

3 23

SOUTH STRALIA

CRONULLA

25 32BRISBANE 2 15 17 8 21 14 26 GOLD COAST 11 6 55 32 24 27

9 29 26 20 19 17 28 7 27 30 31 6 8 22 10

ADELAIDE

NEW EW SOUTH WALESS 43

20 6

22 52

57 7

54 17 31 17 34 5 51 38 28 50

CANBERRA 39

VICTORIA 38

5 18 27 43 59 40 58 41 50 66 7 20 60 63 6 21 53 54 31 55 11 28 61 14 62 56 9 24 32 64 42 3 29 44 39 52 2 23 51 37 45 67 36 19 65 47

AUCKLAND

30 27

13 16

CROYDON

46 22

1 3 9

TASMANIA

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SYDNEY

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45 10 13 16 58 9 53 36 NEWCASTLE 18 3335

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STUART ISLAND

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TRAVELLER Brewery xxxxxxxxx Tour

BLACK DOG BREWERY We love unique things – especially if they include beer. Which is why the Black Dog Brewery is an absolute cracker, because it’s the only one in Australia where the brewer is also the head winemaker. By Gregor Stronach.

he Black Dog Brewery is, if you’ll pardon the pun, just a pup – barely two years old, but already making a name for itself in the craft beer scene. And its success is due largely to a couple of major factors. First and foremost is the passion that brewer James Booth has brought to the operation. A winemaker by trade, James was on the hunt for

www.beerandbrewer.com

a way to diversify his winery, Taminik Cellars which occupies a beautiful tract of land near Glenrowan, in northeast Victoria. As a keen homebrewer, it seemed like a logical step to branch out into larger-scale brewing. The second element behind this brewery’s success was the collaborative effort between James and the team at FB*PROPAK –

There’s a certain amount of cross-over in the skills James uses in both his brewing, and his winemaking. “I’ve done a bit of experimenting with fermentation in oak,” he says. “And I’m always trying something new, like using a bit of wine yeast, and other things like that.” It’s not easy to juggle the combined duties of winemaker and brewer, but James seems happy

LAZY DOG HAS BEEN BREWED SPECIFICALLY AS A GOOD, SESSIONABLE BREW.” particularly the input from Deo Lule, himself a master brewer and one of the most knowledgeable guys in the country when it comes to brewery setup and expansion. Deo explains “It’s important that we understand where the brewer is heading, as well as where they have come from. Working closely with James, gave me a great understanding of how he operates, therefore making it easier to consult with for the best results now and in the longer term. It’s stunning equipment, and the first of its kind in Australia”. James kicked off the brewing side of the operation on a fairly small scale. “I started on a pilot brewhouse, that was capable of putting out 75 litres per batch for the lower gravity beers, like the Golden and the Ale,” he says. “From there, we moved to a 10 hec plant from Italy, which is working really well. It’s a big step up, pushing through 20 kegs at a time when we were used to doing one or two.” “This plant FB*PROPAK developed for James allows for flexibility in beer styles – particularly important for James’ philosophy on experimentation with styles,” Deo says. So far, Black Dog’s range consists of four core offerings. The ‘entry level’ Lazy Dog has been brewed specifically as a good, sessionable brew. “The people in our neck of the woods are used to drinking Carlton Draught on tap, so we’ve developed this one so that it doesn’t have a huge impact of flavour,” James says. The other core beers are the Howling Pale Ale, the Leader of the Pack IPA and the Dead Dog Stout. James augments the core range with a wide selection of seasonal and limited edition brews, including Imperial Stout and Saison. “We’ve done a number of seasonal beers so far,” James says. “The Saison was a bit different, as I started growing my own hops too so that one just had homegrown Cascade in it.”

enough wearing both hats. “It’s just another thing to keep me busy,” he says, “but when people are enjoying your beers, and you’re getting good praise for it... that does keep me motivated.” James doesn’t give tours of his brewery to the general public, but there is a cellar door to come and sample his beers and wines - and there’s a good chance you’ll get to meet cheeky little Macca, whose face adorns the labels of the Black Dog beer range.

Black Dog Brewing 339 Booth Road Taminick, VIC, 3675 www.blackdogbrewery.com.au www.fbpropak.com

event here in list your upcoming March, 2014. to om r.c we re db tumn 2014 is 01 Email editor@beeran line for Issue 28 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Au cost of entry. the next issue. Deadme, address, contact details and any Include the event na

TRAVELLER Calendar of Events

EVENTS DECEMBER

22-23 SOUTH WEST CRAFT BEER

7 ALES ON THE OVENS Wangaratta Showgrounds Wangaratta, VIC alesontheovens.com.au

Venue TBA, WA $30 pre-sale + BF or $40 on the door. www.swbeerfest.com.au

FESTIVAL (WA)

tralian the Great Aus The launch of Geelong Beer Festival,

MAY 17-25 GOOD BEER WEEK,

MELBOURNE Melbourne, VIC www.goodbeerweek.com.au

9-16 MATILDA BAY

MARCH

TAP TAKEOVER

2 WARNERS AT THE BAY

BREWERS CONFERENCE

The Fox Hotel 351 Wellington Street Collingwood, Victoria www.thefoxhotel.com.au

BEER FESTIVAL (NSW)

Melbourne, VIC www.australiancraftbeer.org.au

JANUARY 2014

21-22 AUSTRALIAN CRAFT

320 Hillsborough Road, Warners Bay www.warnersatthebay.com.au

24-26 GREAT AUSTRALASIAN 14-15 WHISKY LIVE, PERTH Venue TBA, Perth, WA www.whiskylive.com.au

11-12 TASTE OF THE WORLD

BEER FESTIVAL Newcastle Harness Racing Club Newcastle, NSW tasteoftheworld.com.au

22 MARCHFEST Founders Park, Heritage Park Nelson, NZ www.marchfest.com

18 BALLARAT BEER FESTIVAL Ballarat City Oval Ballarat, VIC ballaratbeerfestival.com.au

23-28 33RD IBD ASIA PACIFIC

18-19 TAMAR VALLEY

29 GREAT KIWI BEER FESTIVAL Hagley Park, Christchurch greatkiwibeerfestival.co.nz

CONVENTION

BEER SpecTAPular Royal Exhibition Hall Melbourne, VIC www.gabsfestival.com.au

Mountain Goat live at Beervana 2013.

30-31 WHISKY LIVE,

CANBERRA Venue TBA, Canberra, ACT www.whiskylive.com.au

JUNE

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam www.ibdasiapac.com.au

13-14 WHISKY LIVE,

SYDNEY WEST BEER FESTIVAL Williams Street (alongside James Boags Brewery) Launceston, TAS tamarvalleybeerfestival.com.au

FEBRUARY

Venue TBA, Sydney, NSW www.whiskylive.com.au 20-21 WHISKY LIVE, Venue TBA, Sydney, NSW www.whiskylive.com.au

7-8 WORLD BEER CUP Denver, USA

1 GREAT AUSTRALIAN BEER FESTIVAL

8-11 CRAFT BREWERS

JULY

CONFERENCE

18-19 WHISKY LIVE,

Geelong Racecourse Geelong, VIC gabfgeelong.com.au

Denver, USA

2 FROMAGE A TROIS â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

CHEESE, CIDER AND YOU At Werribee Park, K Road, Werribee South www.ticktek.com.au www.fromageatrois.com.au

Casey Overeem all smiles at Whisky Live.

SYDNEY EAST

APRIL 2014

MELBOURNE

11-12 WHISKY LIVE, ADELAIDE Venue TBA, Adelaide, SA www.whiskylive.com.au

Venue TBA, Melbourne, VIC www.whiskylive.com.au

AUGUST 22-23 WHISKY LIVE,

BRISBANE Venue TBA, Brisbane, QLD www.whiskylive.com.au

Crowds Gather at Canberra Craft Beer Festival 2012.

CRYER CRYER MALT CRYERMALT MALT

www.beerandbrewer.com % # $ " ' & % # $ " ' & 71 % # $ " ' & % # " ! # % # " ! # ' & ' & % # " ! # ' &

VENUE REVIEWS

TRAVELLER Reviews

BARS, PUBS, RESTAURANTS AND BOTTLE SHOPS The Royal Albert Hotel, Sydney

It’s all smiles at Vulture’s Lane, NZ.

VULTURE’S LANE (formally O’Carroll’s Freehouse)

THE PRECINCT

The Precinct is one of a growing number of quality licensed venues situated on the Victoria Park cafe strip. Open seven days for breakfast, lunch and dinner – the kitchen closes at 10pm – The Precinct impresses with its stylish yet hearty food and a good selection of bottled beers which is updated weekly. The absence of taps was quickly forgiven after a glimpse of the fridge revealed 30+ local and imported craft beers, including magnums of Moa St Joseph’s Tripel Ale and growlers of Colonial Pale Ale. Earlier in the year, The Precinct held a ‘Meet the Brewer’ series, playing host to the brewers and beers from Gage Roads, Feral, Eagle Bay, Colonial, Kooinda and 2 Birds. 834 Albany Hwy East Victoria Park WA 6101 Phone: (08) 9355 2880 www.theprecinctvicpark.com.au The Precinct, WA.

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NSW

THE ROYAL ALBERT HOTEL

The Royal Albert Hotel is a curious beast – part “old man” pub, part boundary-pushing craft beer venue and part burger shop and dumpling bar, it’s a proper little slice of Surry Hills. It’s sat on the corner since 1927, but most recently has been transformed into one of the most relaxed places close to the city to grab something special from the taps or the fridge. You could walk a long, long way before you find another pub that offers such a historic feel, blended with just the right amounts of cool and friendliness. The food’s awesome, the regular tap takeovers are a real highlight, and the beer list of local craft beers is phenomenal. Cnr Commonwealth and Reservoir Sts, Surry Hills, Sydney Phone: (02) 9281 2522 www.royalalberthotel.com.au

In October 2013, famous central Auckland bar O’Carroll’s Freehouse underwent a major transformation and was relaunched as Vulture’s Lane. O’Carroll’s was an Irishthemed pub which progressively became better known for high quality craft beer rather than pints of Guinness and potato based cuisine. The decision to change the name and the interior reflects a clear focus on craft beer and simple, hearty pub food, including bacon that is cured and smoked inhouse. Their beer list changes constantly but regularly includes major craft breweries such as Epic or Croucher, and smaller operations like Sawmill or Behemoth. Located in an alley off busy Queen Street, Vulture’s should be a beacon for beer lovers. Vulture’s Lane 10 Vulcan Lane, CBD, Auckland Phone: (09) 300 7117 www.vultureslane.co.nz

THE WELCOME HOTEL

Nestled deep in the hills of Rozelle, the Welcome Hotel is an oasis of craft beer goodness in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney. With a beer list that’ll knock your eye out, and a kitchen turning out some of the best food for miles around, it’s an absolute cracker – and worthy of becoming a destination pub for craft beer lovers. The team, led by Liam in the pub and Daniel in the kitchen, have been working on the hotel since April, de-shamrocking the former Irish pub and getting it set up just the way they want it – homely and friendly, with a fantastic selection of beers on tap and in the fridge, including some unique brews from Doctor’s Orders Brewing and Ekim Brewing Co. 91 Evans Street Rozelle, Sydney Phone: (02) 9810 1323 www.thewelcomehotel.com

e Welcome On the taps at Thlle, Sydney. Hotel, Roze

Loving craft creations 12 rotational taps Funky functions Brand new heated Beer Garden Live music 4 nights The Stone Corner Hotel was first established in 1888, the Heritage Charm of the Stone Corner Hotel is felt right from the moment that you enter this beautifully renovated Landmark. Honeysuckle Hotel is a premier bar and function venue located on the beautiful Newcastle harbour. With stunning water views, state of the art facilities and historical design. 17 Tap Beers and a huge craft beer range both on tap and bottled. The Honeysuckle Hotel offers great food, great atmosphere and fantastic location. Lee Wharf C, Honeysuckle Drive Newcastle, NSW, 2300 Tel: (02) 4929 1499 www.honeysucklehotel.com.au

Royal Oak Hotel 123 Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell St North Adelaide, SA, 5006 Tel: (08) 8267 2488 www.royaloakhotel.com.au

29 BEERS ON TAP HUGE CRAFT RANGE SEASONAL & LIMITED RELEASES BEERS WITH HISTORY BEER DEGUSTATIONS SPECIAL EVENTS DEDICATED CIDER BAR 9 CIDERS ON TAP www.youngandjacksons.com.au

14 Craft Beers on Tap Tasting Paddles Seasonal Beer Taps Food to compliment the Beer Meet the Brewer nights Beer Tasting Evenings Alfresco Dining Soloist 346 Logan Rd Stones Corner, QLD, 4120 Tel: (07) 3397 3727 www.stonescornerhotel.com.au

GOURMET Summer xxxxxxxxx Recipes

BEER MATCHES La Sirene (Vic) Saison Mac’s (NZ) Great White Witbier Erdinger (Germany) Hefewiezen

Entree FISH FINGERS WITH TARTARE AND MUSHY PEAS SERVES 4

TARTARE SAUCE

MUSHY PEAS

FISH FINGERS

INGREDIENTS 250gms of mayonnaise 50gms of baby salted capers 50gms of cornichons 1 lemon juiced and zested ¼ bunch of flat leaf parsley Salt and pepper

INGREDIENTS 250 gms of blue boiling peas 1 onion 1 clove of garlic 500gms of frozen peas ¼ bunch of spinach 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock Salt and pepper 1 splash of sherry vinegar

INGREDIENTS (1 SERVE) 300gm of firm white fish (e.g. Flathead or Ling) 1 lemon zested 100gms plain flour 3 eggs 150mls milk 300gms fine bread crumbs Salt and pepper

METHOD 1. Wash the capers under cold running water to remove excess salt. 2. Roughly chop capers and cornichons. 3. Remove the zest from a lemon with a microplane before juicing. 4. Roughly chop the parsley. 5. Put mayonnaise in a mixing bowl and add the capers, cornichons, lemon juice and zest to desired acidity and the parsley.

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METHOD 1. Soak the blue boiling peas overnight in water to soften. Drain off water before cooking. 2. Put soaked peas in a pot of water and bring to boil cook until nice a soft. 3. Finely slice onion and chop garlic. 4. Add a splash of canola oil, sweat off onion and garlic in a saucepan, add stock and bring to the boil. 5. Throw in the frozen peas and bring to the boil once more. 6. Remove from heat, blend peas with a little stock and a few leaves of spinach until smooth. 7. Fold the boiled blue peas through the puree and season with salt and pepper and a splash of sherry vinegar. 8. Reheat in a sauce pan over medium heat.

METHOD (COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR) 1. Cut fish into finger sized batons, zest lemon over fish to lightly marinate. 2. In three separate bowls – put flour salt and pepper in one, whisk eggs and milk in another, and put bread crumbs in the third one. 3. Firstly coat the fingers in seasoned flour and shake off the excess. 4. Dip the fingers in the egg wash then toss in the bread crumbs. Repeat the egg wash and breadcrumb stage again for a double crumb fish finger. 5. Heat fryer or pot of oil to 180oC fry fingers till golden brown and just cooked on the inside to avoid the fish becoming dry.

GOURMET Summer Recipes

BEER MATCHES Matilda Bay (Vic) Alpha Pale Ale McCashin’s (NZ) Rochdale Cider Fuller’s (UK) London Pride Pale Ale

Main ROAST SUCKLING PIG SHOULDER SERVES 4-5 INGREDIENTS 1 suckling pig shoulder 1 clove of garlic 1 star anise 1 cinnamon stick 20gms of fresh ginger 50gms of butter ¼ bunch sage Murray River pink salt 15mls olive oil

METHOD 1. In a pestle and mortar put the sage leaves (keeping the stalks for later). 2. Grind until sage breaks down to a green fine salt. 3. Stir through some pink salt, but keep in flakes. 4. Dry roast cinnamon and star anise to release maximum flavour. 5. On a double layer of foil place the aromats, ginger, crushed garlic (just squash with the palm of your hand) butter and sage stalks. 6. Put Pork shoulder on top and roll up the edges of foil to protect the meat leaving all the skin exposed.

7. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with sage salt. 8. Place shoulder on a wire rack on a tray and put in a hot oven for about 30 mins till the skin goes golden and crispy. 9. Reduce oven temperature to about 130oC and slow roast for about 3 hours until meat is tender and can easily pull off the bone. 10. Let cool for about 30 mins in foil before serving to avoid meat drying out. 11. Serve with apple sauce and your choice of vegetables.

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GOURMET Summer xxxxxxxxx Recipes

BEER MATCHES Matilda Bay (Vic) Dirty Granny Cider Harrington’s (NZ) Big John Bourboninfused Porter Jenlain (France) Ambrée Bière de Garde

Dessert APPLE TARTE TATIN WITH MATILDA BAY DIRTY GRANNY CIDER SORBET SERVES 4

SORBET

APPLE TARTE TATIN

INGREDIENTS 3 whole Granny Smith apples 3 cups Matilda Bay Dirty Granny apple cider 50mls sugar syrup 2 cinnamon sticks 1 whole clove ½ a piece of ginger, peeled and sliced 1 tablespoon lemon juice 75gm of glucose

INGREDIENTS 1 Granny Smith apple 100gm white sugar 50gm butter 1 sheet of butter puff pastry (from local supermarket)

METHOD 1. Blend Granny Smith apples and pass through a fine strainer. 2. In a sauce pan bring Matilda Bay Dirty Granny apple cider, sugar syrup and aromats to the boils and simmer for 15 mins. 3. Dissolve in glucose and let cool. Once chilled add fresh apple juice and lemon juice. 4. Churn sorbet in an ice cream churner for 30 minutes.

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METHOD 1. Peel and halve apples, remove core. 2. In a hot saucepan, sprinkle in sugar and stir until a dark caramel colour. 3. Add chilled butter and stir until melted. 4. Pour caramel into tart mould. 5. Place apple onto caramel. 6. Cut pastry to size and place on top of the apples. You will need a little overhang down the side. 7. Cook in hot oven about 200oC for about 20-25 minutes. 8. Cool slightly before turning upside down.

GOURMET Feature Venue Recipe

ON THE PLATE AND IN THE GLASS It sounds simple enough – a Rauch Cheese Platter. But there’s more to this dish from WA’s The Monk Brewery & Kitchen than meets the eye.

s with most things that the team from The Monk Brewery & Kitchen in Fremantle, there’s something a bit special about the dish we’re featuring in this issue. No strangers to the idea of experimenting with the beers they brew and the food that comes out of the kitchen, The Monk regularly turns out some real head-turners that have proven to be very popular with the punters. The Rauch Cheese Platter is one such dish – and while it might sound fairly simplistic, it’s arguably one of the best marriages of beer and food we’ve ever tried.

BEER MATCHES The Monk (WA) Rauch Beer Invercargill (NZ) Smokin’ Bishop - Rauchbier Beer Here (Denmark) Weed - Smoked Wheat

RAUCH CHEESE PLATE RAUCH CHEESE INGREDIENTS: 250 gm good quality local cheddar 125 ml Rauch beer Dijon mustard Celery salt METHOD: 1. Grate cheddar, place half in food processer then turn on slowly add rauch and remaining cheese bit by bit. 2. Add mustard and celery salt to taste, then roll into logs and place in fridge to set.

BEERGUETTES INGREDIENTS: 1kg flour, strong bakers flour 14gr yeast 14gr salt 200gr mother dough / old dough 0.6 litres beer. (cold to warm, allow for time, cold prove or room temp, we like to use a strong flavoured ale).

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BACON METHOD: 1. Add water in mixing bowl and add flour and yeast mix. 2. Mix on low for 10-12 minutes till smooth and elastic. 3. Allowing dough to mix for 3-4 minutes then add salt and old dough. 4. Remove from bowl, cover on a clean bench for 20 minutes or until it has doubled in size. 5. Cut into 300 gr portions and roll into balls. 6. Prove covered, for 20 minutes or until doubled in size. Knock down and shape. 7. Lay on lined baking sheets and prove covered until doubled in size. 8. Dust with flour, slash and bake at 180oC with 1 steam burst for 10 minutes with the steam vent closed. Then open steam vent and bake for a further 20 min. (when you are doing this at home have a small bowl of water in the bottom of your oven to give of some steam then remove after 20 min). 9. Remove from oven, cool on racks in a single layer.

INGREDIENTS: 2 kg chunk of pork belly 250 gm salt 160 gm sugar 1 chilli 1 tblsp fennel seeds 1 tblsp paprika 1 allspice crushed 4 tblsp caramunich malt milled 5 black peppercorns METHOD: 1. Rub mix over pork belly liberally then place in airtight container for 5 days. 2. After 3 days add 375 ml of beer, again a strong flavoured ale would work best. 3. Remove from brine then roast in oven on rack at 150oC till core temp reaches 70oC. 4. In an old pot place some alfoil then a smoking mixture, The Monk uses: 2 parts spent grain, 1 part new grain 1 part rice but rice, tea, woodchips can all be used. 5. Smoke belly till it reaches your desired smokiness. Then cool and slice thinly and cook till crispy. Kitchen Suggestion: This is also great with eggs and jalapenos for those slightly fuzzy mornings!!!!

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33 south terrace, fremantle ph: 08-9336 7666 www.themonk.com.au

BEER BUYE XXXXX

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The following Tasting Notes are from our expert panel of Beer Judges and only include those products deemed to be of a minimum bronze-medal standard. Brewers and importers are encouraged to email editor@beerandbrewer.com to arrange delivery of products for possible inclusion in future issues. Check our website or see our Bottlos to Trust for where to buy these products.

Editor’s Choice Top 10 for Summer 1

MATILDA BAY (VIC) REDBACK. Style: Wheat, ABV: 4.7% Size: 345ml, Glass: Tulip Food Match: BBQ Tiger Prawns

COWARAMUP (WA) PILSENER Style: Pilsener, ABV: 5.1% Size: 330ml, Glass: Pilsener Food Match: Fresh grilled barramundi

KNAPSTEIN (SA) RESERVE LAGER Style: Bavarian Lager, ABV: 5.6% Size: 330ml, Glass: Pilsener Food Match: Pavlova MURRAY’S (NSW) PUNCH & JUDY ALE Style: English Bitter, ABV: 3.9% Size: 330ml, Glass: Tumbler Food Match: Christmas Dinner

COOPERS (SA) VINTAGE 2013 Style: Strong Ale, ABV: 7.5% Size: 375ml, Glass: Goblet Food Match: Christmas pudding, Nut loaf

MILDURA (VIC) ASTOR ALE Style: Australasian Pale Ale, ABV: 4.6% Size: 330ml, Glass: Tulip Food Match: Light pasta dishes

ROSE RIVER (NSW) HARD TEA Style: Alcoholic Lemonade, ABV: 4.0% Size: 500ml, Glass: Pilsener (over ice) Food Match: Sole, Ling

BRASSERIE DU MONT BLANC (FRANCE) Style: Blonde Ale, ABV: 5.8% Size: 330ml, Glass: Pilsener Food Match: Rich cheeses

ROGUE (USA) DEAD GUY ALE Style: Maibock, ABV: 7.8% Size: 640ml, Glass: Goblet Food Match: Honey pork

THE TASTING PANEL

TINA PANOUTSOS

Tina started working for CUB in 1989 as a Quality Assurance Chemist. She currently holds the position of CUB’s Sensory Manager. Her focus is to improve all aspects of beer and cider education as well as support CUB brewing sites through improved sensory data.

BILL TAYLOR

Head Brewer for Lion Nathan, Bill Taylor has over 30 years experience in brewing and the beer industry. An international beer judge, Bill is a past president of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and a founding member of the NSW Brewers Guild.

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NEAL CAMERON

Coming from starting William Bull Brewery for De Bortoli Wines, Neal Cameron is currently head brewer at The Australian Brewery. He is a beer and Cider judge, a committee member for NSW Brewers Guild and a regular contributor to Beer & Brewer magazine.

BRIAN WATSON

Brian is currently Brewmaster at the Island Brewing Co. (Fiji Islands), working with DME Brewing Services in the Asia Paciﬁc, and is founder and Director at Good George Brewing, in Hamilton (NZ). Past Chief Judge NZ Beer Awards, current judge at the World Beer Cup (USA) & AIBA (Vic).

10 KINGDOM (CAMBODIA) DARK LAGER Style: Amber Vienna Lager, ABV: 5.0%, Size: 330ml, Glass: Pilsener, Food Match: Kangaroo ﬁllets

For the full tasting notes on these beers, visit The Fridge section of the Beer & Brewer website. To track these down, see our Bottlos to Trust on page 88.

GRAHAM WRIGHT

Graham has had a full and varied life that has generally revolved around alcohol. With a background in retailing, he’s currently an auctioneer at Oddbins Wine Auctions and is a director of The Odd Whisky Coy, Australia’s only specialist importer of ﬁne, rare and hard-to-ﬁnd whiskies.

IAN KINGHAM

Ian has judged at the Australian Craft Beer Awards, Royal Perth Beer Show and Sydney Royal Beer Competition. He has also completed courses in beer and food pairing and studied food science at UWS (with a major focus on brewing).

ERS GUIDE XXXXX

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NEW RELEASES AUSTRALIA

SMILING SAMOYED BREWERY (SA) Kolsch 5.0% ABV 330ml / Keg Retail: $22 / sixpack Dark 4.3% ABV 330ml / Keg Retail: $22 / sixpack 12 Paws (APA) 5.5% ABV 330ml / Keg Retail: $22 / sixpack IPA 6.8% ABV 330ml / Keg Retail: $25 / sixpack Chilli Beer 4.8% ABV 330ml / Keg Retail: $22 / sixpack Available: Brewery, selected SA Pubs and Bottleshops Contact: www.smilingsamoyed.com.au

BURLEIGH BREWING Hassle Hop 5.5% ABV, 650mL Style: Strong Pale Ale Available: Brewery / Stockists on website Retail: approx. $12 / bottle Website: www.burleighbrewing.com.au

REDBAY BREWERY (QLD) Cleveland Lighthouse 1770 4.7% ABV 330ml bottle Style: Lager Retail $5.50 / bottle, $18 / 4 pack, $22 / 6 pack Contact: www. redbaybrewery.com.au

BIRBECK’S BREWING COMPANY 1496 4.2% ABV, Keg only Style: English Pale Ale Available: See website Contact: www.birbecks.com.au

WAYWARD BREWING CO (NSW) Lilliput “Tiny” IPA 3.8% ABV Keg only Style: Mid-strength IPA Available: Craft beer outlets in Sydney and Melbourne Contact: www. WaywardBrewing.com.au FERAL BREWING COMPANY Sly Fox 4.7% ABV, keg and 330ml Style: Summer Ale Retail: $15.99 / four pack, $49.99 per cube (16 bottles) (WA) $16.99 per four pack, $54.99 per cube (16 bottles) (EAST) Available: WA from 11/11/13, East from 18/11/13 Contact: www.feralbrewing.com.au MOO BREW Saison 5.5% ABV, Keg only Style: Saison Available: Selected venues Australia wide Contact: www.moobrew.com.au THE AUSTRALIAN BREWERY The Extra Hoppy Ale 5.8% ABV, 355ml cans Style: American Amber Ale 16 x 355ml cans. Retail: $5/can Available: specialist beer shops Contact: www.australianbrewery.com.au

MONSTER MASH Hopped Out Red 6.4% ABV, 500mL bottle Style: Red Ale with an American IPA-like hop blast Available: Boutique and independent Retail: $12/bottle Contact: www. monstermashbeer.com.au

RED HILL BREWERY Temptation 8.0% ABV, 500ml Style: Strong Belgian Golden Ale Christmas Ale 8.3% ABV, 500ml Style: Belgian Abbey Available: See website Contact: www. redhillbrewery.com.au THE LITTLE BREWING COMPANY Mad Abbot Christmas Ale 2013 11.3% ABV, Keg and 330ml Style: Belgian Trappist Quadrupel Availability: Seasonal Retail: $30.00 per 4-pack Contact: www. thelittlebrewingcompany.com.au ENDEAVOUR VINTAGE BEER 2013 Growers Bright Ale 4.2% ABV, 330ml bottle Style: Bright Ale Retail: $19.99 6-pack (local) 2013 Reserve Pale Ale 5.2% ABV, 330ml bottle Style: Australian Pale Ale Retail: $18.99 4-pack (local) 2013 Reserve Amber Ale 5.2% ABV, 330ml bottle Style: Amber Ale Retail: $18.99 4-pack (local) Available: nationally Contact: www.ENDEAVOURbeer.com

AUSTRALIAN CIDER SMALL ACRES CYDER. Pommeau 2009 17% ABV, 375ml Style: Fortiﬁed Cider Retail: $35 / bottle Available: Cellar Door / Mail Contact: www.smallacrescyder.com. au PAGAN CIDER Pear Cider 4.5% ABV, 330ml Style: Modern premium whole-fruit cider (no added sugar) Retail: approx. $6.50 single bottle; $25 for a four-pack. Available: stockists on website Contact: www.pagancider.com.au THE APPLE THIEF Pink Lady Cider 4.5% ABV, Draught and 330ml Style: Apple cider Granny Smith Cider 4.5% ABV, Draught and 330ml Style: Apple cider Pear William Cider 4.5% ABV, Draught and 330ml Style: Perry Availble: Bottle shops in NSW / Australia Retail: $15.99 / four pack Contact: www.theapplethief.com.au HILLS CIDER COMPANY Limited Release - Oak Aged Cloudy Cider 6.5% ABV, Keg only. Style: Unﬁltered Scrumpy Style Cider Retail: $275 + GST + $10 Freight Apple Cider 5% ABV, 375ml can Style: Apple cider Available: Samuel Smith & Sons www.samsmith.com.au Retail: $29.99 / 10 can pack Contact: www.thehillscidercompany.com.au BATLOW CIDER Cloudy Cider 4.2% ABV, 330ml Style: Cloudy cider Available: See website Contact: www.batlowcider. com.au

www.beerandbrewer.com www.beerandbrewer.com

81 81

THE FRIDGE New Releases

INTERNATIONAL BELGIAN BLUE Original Wheat Ale 4.5% ABV, 330ml bottles Style: Belgian Wheat Ale Available: Dan Murphy’s and Independents Retail: $14.99 / 4 pack Contact: Belgianbluebrewing.com ROGUE Santa’s Private Reserve 6% ABV, 650ml Style: Double Hopped Amber Ale Beard Beer 5.6% ABV, 650ml Style: Belgian Ale Honey Kolsch 4.8% ABV & 650ml Style: Kolsch Available: Selected Retailers Across the Country Retail: Venue Dependant Contact: www.phoenixbeers.com.au FOUNDERS Rubaeus 5.7% ABV, 355ml Style: Fruit Beer Curmudgeon 9.8% ABV, 355ml Style: Old Ale Available: Selected Retailers Across the Country Retail: Venue Dependant Contact: www.phoenixbeers.com.au WELLS Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale 5% ABV, 500ml Bottle Style: Spiced Dark Ale Available: Selected Retailers Across the Country Retail: Venue Dependant Contact: www.phoenixbeers.com.au BLUE MOON BELGIAN WHITE 5.4% ABV, 355mL bottles Style: Witbier Available: December 17, 2013 (Australia) Retail: TBA Contact: www.ccamatil.com SIERRA NEVADA Beer Camp: Belgian Black IPA 7.7% ABV, 355ml Bottle Style: Black IPA Beer Camp: Imperial Red Ale 8.5% ABV, 355ml Bottle Style: Red IPA Beer Camp: India Pale Ale 6.9% ABV, 355ml Bottle Style: India Pale Ale Available: Selected Retailers Across the Country Retail: Venue Dependant Contact: www.phoenixbeers.com.au

EVIL TWIN (USA) Imperial Biscotti Break 11.5% ABV, 660ml Bomber Bottles Style: Imperial Stout Retail: $25 / bottle Femme Fatale Brett 6.0% ABV, 660ml Bomber Bottles Style: All Brett IPA Retail: $17 bottle Molotov Cocktail 13.0% ABV, 24 x 355ml Bottles Style: Imperial IPA Retail: $10 bottle Available: selected independent bottleshops and venues in every state Contact: www.northdown.com.au MOYLAN’S (USA) Going Going Gone Saison 5.6% ABV, 30L kegs Style: Saison Pommegranate Wheat 5.0% ABV, 30L kegs Style: Fruit Ale Available: selected independent bottleshops and venues in every state. contact: www.northdown.com.au

AMA (ITALY) Bionda 6.0% ABV 355ml / 750ml Style: Belgian-inﬂuenced blonde ale Retail: $8-9 per 355ml Available: Italian restaurants, bars and selected bottleshops Contact: www.palaisimports.com.au FULLERS (UK) Past Masters 1966 Strong Ale 7.3% ABV, 500ml bottle Style: Strong Ale Wild River 4.5% ABV, 500ml bottle Style: Double Hopped Pale Ale 2013 Vintage Ale 8.5% ABV, 500ml bottle Style: Ale Available: Limited stock – 140 cases Imperial Stout 10.3% ABV, 500ml bottle Style: Imperial Stout Available: Limited stock – 70 cases. Contact: www.empireliquor.com.au

FIASCO BREWING (NZ) Lurqs IPA 5.2%A ABV, 500ml bottle Style: IPA Contact: www.betterbeerimports.com 8 WIRED (NZ) Semi Conductor Session IPA 4.4% ABV, 330ml Style: IPA Contact: www.betterbeerimports.com

INTERNATIONAL

CIDER

GWYNT Y DDRAIG Black Dragon Oak 6.5% ABV, 500mL bottles Style: Conditioned Medium Dry Cider Orchard Gold Oak 4.9% ABV, 500mL bottles Style: Conditioned Medium Cider Perry Vale Oak 4.5% ABV, 500mL bottles Style: Conditioned Pear Cider, Medium Available: Online Contact: www.calibrebeer.com / www.gwyntcider.com JULIAN Hard Apple Cider 6.99% ABV, 650ml Style: Traditional Medium Dry Cider Available: Selected Retailers Across the Country Retail: Venue Dependant Contact: www.phoenixbeers.com.au APPLE HEAD Hard Cider 4.5% ABV, 330ml can Style: Cider Available: Dan Murphy’s, BWS and Independents Retail: $11.99 / 4 pack Contact: appleheadcider.com PEAR HEAD Hard Cider 4.5% ABV, 330ml can Style: Perry Available: Dan Murphy’s and Independents Retail: $11.99 / 4 pack Contact: appleheadcider.com ACE Joker 6.9% ABV, 650ml Bottle Style: Traditional Dry-Champagne Style Cider Pear Cider 5% ABV, 650ml Bottle Sweet Pear Cider Available: Selected Retailers Across the Country Retail: Venue Dependant Contact: www.phoenixbeers.com.au

BEER SELECTION To speak with an O-I customer service representative about O-I’s beer bottle range contact:

www.beerandbrewer.com

Customer Service Phone 1800 643 165 Fax 1800 626 986 Email salesaust@ap.o-i.com

BEERS I CHOSE AND WHY… TOP BEER!

XXXXX THE FRIDGE xxxxxxxxx Editor’s Pick

Matso’s Ginger Beer 3.5% ABV This is the perfect summer beer and I can see why drinking this beer at the brewery in Broome is listed in the top things to do when visiting WA. Since I unfortunately won’t get to Broome any time soon I will spend summer drinking this beside the pool instead. Hargreaves Hill Hefeweizen 4.9% ABV Good banana esters when I first poured this into the glass. It’s lovely and light and I reckon it would make perfect drinking at the beach with some crispy fish and chips with loads of lemon juice. St Peter’s Ruby Red Ale 4.3% ABV This beer is best described as malty goodness with a good bitter kick. I don’t think I could drink a lot of these in one sitting but my goodness I enjoyed this one. Would be a perfect match for barbeque with a kick. Timothy Taylor’s Landlord 4.1% ABV This classic brew is a classic for a reason. It’s bitter, crisp and delicious. Having just come back from some time in the UK, this is a great reminder of the amazing ales I had while I was there. Burleigh Brewing Co Black Giraffe 5.0% ABV This brew is phenomenal. I could drink it all day. Being a Dark Lager it’s lighter than an ale and the level of coffee flavour is spot on. There is a reason it keeps winning things. Try it. Murphy’s Irish Stout 4.0% ABV This was my first experience with a nitro can and I have to say it was pretty fun. The beer was a bit different to what I expected, however it paired really well with the homemade vanilla bean ice cream I happened to be eating. Saranac Pumpkin Ale 5.1% ABV I love Pumpkin Ale, especially the spiced ones. This American import has some great spice but was way more carbonated than I thought it would be. I would definitely nerd out and serve this at a Harry Potter-themed party. Leffe Radieuse 8.9% ABV There has to be an immediate comparison to Christmas pudding just going on the aroma here and I would definitely crack this out after a long festive lunch – but be careful it packs a definite punch. Hook Norton Brewery Twelve Days 5.5% ABV Not going to lie, I bought this for the label. And I would buy it again. The brewery describes the beer as “strong, dark and rich” and it’s pretty accurate. I drank it with some good dark chocolate after dinner for a nightcap. Yum. Marston’s Oyster Stout 4.5% ABV This brew is the perfect match for oysters. No really. Either that or chocolate. It’s not as heavy as I expected so I would definitely keep a few of these on ice for a cool day toward the end of summer.

STEFANIE COLLINS

(FORMER) EDITOR OF BEER & BREWER

In case you missed the memo, Beer & Brewer Editor Stef has jumped ship for marginally less-hectic pastures. By way of a ‘so long, and thanks for everything’, we gave her one last run of the Dan Murphy’s fridge. Here’s what she chose, and why…

t’s always a bittersweet moment when a team member decides to move on – doubly so when it’s the editor of the magazine. The good news is that Stef’s not leaving the beer industry altogether – she’s taken up a role with a Sydney brewery, and no

doubt you’ll all be hearing from her in the near future. In the meantime, here’s Stef’s selection from the fridge at Dan Murphy’s – a snapshot of the beers she’s come to know and love during her time in the Editor’s chair..

www.beerandbrewer.com

THEXXXXX FRIDGE Tasting xxxxxxxxx Notes

Australian Beer >>

BRIDGE ROAD BREWERS GALAXY SINGLE HOP IPA, 4.8% ABV, 330ML BOTTLE

JAMES SQUIRE THE CONSTABLE COPPER ALE 3.4% ABV, 345ML BOTTLE

CASCADE PREMIUM LAGER 4.5% ABV 375ML BOTTLE

From the Bridge Road Brewers series of single hop brews, Galaxy IPA is deﬁnitely worth a try. A big, bold hop hit, this IPA stands behind it's style with conviction. The foam sits ﬁrmly on top of the beer not showing any indication it's going to settle quickly. With each sip comes the distinctive tropical fruit nose, slightly resinous, bold bitterness that is balanced by a moderate malt sweetness on the mid palate. The foam clings to the glass after every sip right to the end. Style: IPA. Glass: Spiegelau IPA glass, stemmed tulip. Food match: Rare BBQ meat. Web: www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au

A great example of an English Ordinary Bitter this beer starts with an enticing deep amber, copper colour. A fine foam sits atop the beer and dissipates slowly. The aroma is typical of crystal Munich malt with sweet toffee notes and firm malt mid palate. It has a subtle burnt jam sweetness and full bodied palate that is balanced by a short bitterness. The fruity notes of Galaxy hops are more pronounced than the subtle yet detectable melon and herbal notes of the Super Alpha, Fuggle hops. A great mid strength offering. Style: English Copper Ale. Glass: Pint. Food match: Chunky meat & flaky pastry pie. Web: www.jamessquire.com.au

This is a new Cascade brew in a new ‘old’ bottle creating a very different look and taste compared to the recent past. The change to the old style brown bottle creates a very 1920’s retro look. A gentle hoppy aroma wafts from the glass and on ﬁrst sip the beer has a mild malt taste with a medium body in tune with the 4.5% alcohol. The hops arrive quickly and are moderately spicy with a complexity free of harshness. The beer is balanced leaving an impression of a quietly malty, mildly bodied beer enhanced by spicy hops. Style: Lager. Glass: Pilsner Food match: Seafood dumplings with soy sauce and chili. Website: www.casecadebrewery.com.au .

METAL HEAD ROBUST PORTER 6.0% ABV 500ML BOTTLE

O’BRIEN GLUTEN FREE BROWN ALE 4.5% ABV 330ML BOTTLE

LITTLE CREATURES IPA 6.4% ABV, 330ML BOTTLE

Brewed in Geelong this robust beer is intensely malty. The six malted grain types used to brew this beer are ﬁrst noticed in the caramel coloured foam and the malty, biscuity aroma. The dark brown cloudy Porter furthers the malt story on the palate with weetbix, chocolate biscuits, licorice and alcohol nuances vying for attention. The high carbonation gives a prickly bite however all fall in behind the bold presence of a good dose of hops that provide the counterbalance in this beer. Style: Porter. Glass: Pint. Food match: Spiced sausages, mustard and roast potatoes. Website: www.southernbay.com.au

This millet and sorghum based Ale has a coppery brown hue and a caramel coloured foam. The foam is generous and the aroma too. Grain characters dominate the aroma and biscuity toffee notes set the scene for the taste that follows. The ale is of medium to light body and the smooth biscuity toasty characters that bloom mid palate integrate well with a moderate bitterness that provides a smooth bitter ﬁnish. This ale can be enjoyed as a cold refresher or served a little warmer to amplify the malty ﬂavours. Style: Brown Ale. Glass: Handled mug. Food match: Beef, onion and mushroom casserole. Website: www.rebellionbrewing.com.au

A step up from their well renowned and respected Little Creatures Pale Ale, IPA offers a bigger, more brash flavour. Upon pouring the beer sits well in the right glass where the aroma is allowed to evolve and the beer temperature is kept cool. A definite note of citrus hops is followed by an ever subtle hint of roast. A sweet malty mid palate balances definite bitterness, yet not the expected lingering finish. The higher alcohol adds body and palate weight although the anticipation of a little more intensity in the bitterness isn't fulfilled. Overall, a great example of the style. Style: IPA. Glass: Tulip. Food match: Slow roasted pork shoulder. Web: www.littlecreatures.com.au

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THE FRIDGE Tasting Notes New Zealand Beer >>

HOPWIRED IPA - 8 WIRED 7.3% ABV 500ML BOTTLE

EPIC LAGER 5% ABV 330ML BOTTLE

MOA BLANC EVOLUTION 6.2% ABV 330ML BOTTLE

Claiming to be the first India Pale Ale to be made (& bottled) with NZ grown pale ale malt and 100% unique NZ hops this is an IPA to be reckoned with. Fruit salad, melon like and passionfruit hop notes start an explosion on the palate. An initial fresh, grassy hop character transitions to a more resinous mid palate, softened by a sweet, caramelised malt flavour. The bitterness lingers without being astringent. Hard to believe the intensity is around 70IBU, but the malt charge definitely balances that. Style: NZ IPA. Glass: Tulip. Food match: Bratwurst, sauerkraut & cheese roll. Web: www.8wired.co.nz

Luke Nicholas and the story of Epic is a well known one in New Zealand. One of the true leaders and innovators in the New Zealand Industry, Nicholas has created a beer, in a stable of big hoppy beers, that holds it’s own as a fragrant, ﬂavourful lager. Pale gold with a subdued head, the citric and pear character comes through. With great malt balance the lingering bitterness is crisp and clean with a hint of menthol. Style: Lager Glass: Pilsner Food Match: Pan-fried haloumi Web: www.epicbeer.com

The Moa range is extensive and this Blenheim Brewery, in the Marlborough Wine region has produced one of the most outstanding Witbiers to be produced in New Zealand. With impressive cork and cage packaging, the beer is indeed, the complete package. An opaque, pale golden hue with a lovely tight white head the beer has dominant citric and spicy coriander aromatics. The beer is highly carbonated and the prickly spiciness lifts the beer to a whole new level. With an excellent warming, crisp dry ﬁnish, this is one of the best Witbiers you will ever have. Style: Witbier. Glass: Pilsner. Food Match: Seared prawns. Web: www.moabeer.com

BACH BREWING HOPSMACKER PALE ALE 5.8% ABV 500ML BOTTLE

TUATARA APA (AOTEAROA PALE ALE) 5.8% ABV 500 ML BOTTLE

EMERSON’S PILSNER 4.9% ABV 500 ML BOTTLE

Bach Brewing is the brainchild of returning Kiwi Craig Cooper to New Zealand. A Bach is a traditional kiwi beach holiday home, pronounced “batch”. Brewed in Auckland the Hopsmaker, as the name suggests, is full of hops. It pours with a lovely thick white head and presents a dark golden colour. The hops positively leap out of the glass with citric, kiwifruit hops notes reminiscent of a hop sack. Nice malt sweetness, excellent balance with a crisp lingering bitterness. Style: Pale Ale Glass: Pint Food Match: Stilton cheese Web: www.bachbrewing.co.nz.

Carl Vasta and the Tuatara team are making big inroads into the New Zealand market. The Tutara brand has received a huge makeover with some extremely special bottles that are an absolute winner. The beer itself has a large white ﬂuffy head with a nice consistent haze and a dark, orange colour. As you would expect with a Kiwi Pale Ale there is aroma in spades, citric, grassy and herbaceous. A good toffee like malt character and a crisp, clean, lingering bitterness delivers on the promise the aroma sets up. Style: Kiwi Pale Ale. Glass: Pint. Food Match: Aged Cheddar. Web: www.tuatarabrewing.co.nz

Richard Emerson’s Dunedin brewery has built a long standing reputation on consistency and quality. Always a go-to beer, his Pilsner is amongst some of the best in the world. A recent sale of the brewery has not detracted from this quality. This Pilsner positively sings in the glass, a lovely white head with passion fruit, peaches and tropical fruit in the aroma Edith Piaf would be proud. With a good slightly biscuity malt character, and a smooth crisp ﬁnish the beer has exceptional balance. It is a great example of a quality, well made beer. Style: Pilsner. Glass: Stemmed Pilsner Food Match: Salt’n’pepper calamari. Web: www.emersons.co.nz

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THE FRIDGE Tasting Notes Imports >>

BIRRA DOLOMITI SPECIALE 5.9% ABV, 750ML

BIRRA DOLOMITI PILS 4.9% ABV 330ML BOTTLE

ORIGINAL BUDEJOVICKY BUDVAR 5.0% ABV 330ML BOTTLE

Brewed by Fabbrica di Birra di Pedavena (Castello di Udine) in the province of Veneto, Italy, aimed at producing a beer brewed with local raw materials, long fermentation and maturation, Birra Dolomiti Speciale presents well with a ﬁne white foam, deep golden amber hues and fruity, sweet malt aroma balanced by a recognisable, yet subtle bitter. Best consumed as early as possible, the signs of a good lager are there. Style: Pale Lager Glass: Lager Food match: Prosciutto crudo, pecorino and crusty white bread Web: www.fabricadipedavena.it

This classic Pils style beer is produced in the small Italian town of Pedavena about 100km north of Venice, brewed in a well seasoned traditional copper brewhouse. The aroma is mildly malty with a hint of fresh baked bread. The dense foam looks alluring and the ﬁrst taste delivers a luscious malt fullness. The bitterness emerges through the grain and sends a clear message that a generous gift of hops has been used. The bitterness is bold and lingers while the richness of the malt is never far away. This is a ﬂavoursome, traditional beer. Style: Pilsner. Glass: Pilsner. Food Match: Chargrilled tiger prawns and chili salt. Website: www.mondobirra.org/micro.htm

This classic Czech lager, not to be confused with a pilsener, is well known around the world. It is produced in the Bohemian town of České Budějovice. Brewed and lagered in a traditional way it has a deep golden colour and a dense white foam. The beer opens up with a mild malty aroma and a subtle hoppiness. The malt is smooth and mouth filling and as it grows in intensity on the palate the softly spoken Saaz hops emerge and bring a bitterness of finesse to this classic brew. This is a beer of balance and refinement. Style: Lager. Glass: Pilsner. Food match: Beer battered flathead and salty thick cut chips. Web site: www.baw.com.au

CHEEKY RASCAL APPLE AND GUAVA CIDER 8.0% ABV, 500ML BOTTLE

MAGNERS PREMIUM IRISH PEAR CIDER WITH A TASTE OF NATURAL GINGER 4.0% ABV 500ML BOTTLE

MAGNERS PREMIUM IRISH APPLE CIDER WITH BERRIES & A TASTE OF PEACH 4.0% ABV 500ML BOTTLE

Rebello Wines branched out a couple of years ago to offer an innovative, creative and rebellious range of Cheeky Rascal Ciders produced using 100% real fruit. This presents with a bright pale golden hue and sparkling beads of bubbles. The combination of apple and guava delivers on the expected fruit ﬂavours. A fresh, delicate combination these fruits provides a balanced backdrop to the dry, slightly astringent white wine notes. Crisp, tart ﬁnish leaves the palate refreshed. Style: Flavoured cider. Glass: Tulip, Flute Food match: Summer picnic Web: www.rebellowines.com.au

This pear cider is incredibly pale, almost clear. The aroma too is subtle. A faint pear blossom is evident but easily overlooked. The taste is also rather subtle. There is a mild taste of soft ripe pear fruit punctuated by the bite of the carbonation. Slowly a warmth of ginger emerges and grows slowly. The ginger has been used with restraint to blend with the understated pear ﬂavours. This pale cider is slightly sweet, subdued in taste and complexity showing a good sense of balance. The palate is left clean. Style: Flavoured Perry. Glass: Flute Food match: Crunchy waldorf salad Website: www.bacardilion.com.au

This cider pours into the glass looking like a rosé wine. The raspberries produce the pink colour and also come through in the aroma as a distinctive flavour. The carbonation produces a spritzing effect as the raspberry flavour and peach nuances develop on the palate. There is a mild tartness that integrates with the moderate sweetness. Apple may provide the base but it’s subtlety of taste is hidden by the dominant taste of raspberry. It comes through as a clean fresh fruity flavour enhancing refreshment as a summer drink. Style: Flavoured cider Glass: Flute. Food match: Pavlova Website: www.bacardilion.com.au

Cider >>

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THE FRIDGE Tasting Notes Cider >>

ZEFFER PEAR CIDER 5.0% ABV, 330ML BOTTLE

JAMES SQUIRE ORCHARD CRUSH PERRY 5.0% ABV, 500ML BOTTLE

THE APPLE THIEF GRANNY SMITH CIDER 4.5% ABV, 330ML BOTTLE

Founded in Matakana (about an hour north of Auckland) in 2009, Zeffer only use New Zealand's top quality fruit to create premium hand-crafted cider. The Pear cider is bright, golden yellow with a tinge of peach in the colour. An initial aroma of cooked or poached pear is complemented by the sublte cinnamon spice note. A stone fruit character was evident as it warmed slightly but the palate was a little ﬂat and moderately dry. A hint of sourness was present. Style: Pear cider. Glass: Pint Food match: Pork belly with mixed cabbage slaw Web: www.zeffer.co.nz

James Squire Orchard Crush Perry is the sequal to the Orcharch Crush Apple Cider. Some would argue it stands along side the apple and I would tend to agree. Made from Australian pears (mainly Packham) it is pale in colour and slightly cloudy. Reminiscent of biting into a fresh pear, the smell of pear skin tantelises the nose while the palate waits in anticipation. A subtle sweetness balances the acidity so that ﬁnish is soft and delicate. Style: English Pear cider. Glass: Pint Food match: Crispy skinned grilled duck breast , or a light pasta Web: www.jamessquire.com.au

Brewed by Cider Productions in NSW, The Apple Thief is made using freshly crushed Batlow apples, not artificial flavours or concentrates. Deep golden in colour with a bright glow, this cider has a freshly cut apple aroma, clean palate and a subtle backdrop of sweetness to balance the grippy dryness in the finish. The mid palate is true to a perfectly cooked apple pie with the right balance of flavours. The slight acidity in the finish leaves the palate yearning for more to quench that tantalising tartness. Style: Apple Cider. Glass: Pint Food match: Pulled pork burger Web: www.theapplethief.com

OLD PULTENEY 12YO SINGLE MALT 40% ABV, 750ML BOTTLE

STARWARD SINGLE MALT 43% ABV, 750ML BOTTLE

THE GLENROTHES SPECIAL RESERVE 43% ABV, 700ML BOTTLE

The younger sibling of the 21yo, which was named World Whisky of the Year by Jim Murray in 2012, Old Pulteney 12yo hails from the most northern distillery on the Scottish mainland. First nose reveals floral and pine notes, with a big burst of sea air and salt. Taste lives up the salty promise of the nose, with a vibrant and clean flavour that gives way to a softer, still salty finish that lingers like the memory of a family holiday by the sea. Lovely.

Still the ‘new kid on the block’ in terms of Australian whisky, Starward Single Malt packs a really surprising and very interesting punch. On the nose, it’s loaded with fruits and vanilla, which suits the sweet bourbon and sherry notes. To taste, there’s bags of oak, with a strong drive of pepper on entry, which mellows to spices and burnt caramel on the ﬁnish. A strong whisky that belies its very young age.

A great entry-level whisky for anyone new to Speysides, but far from the best that this distillery has produced. It’s hard not to notice when it’s been opened in a room – a huge whack of fruit on the nose telegraphs the big, sweet punch in the mouth that is to follow. The transition to ﬁnish offers a bit more complexity, winding down with citrus and vanilla competing for attention.

Whisky >>

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BEER & BREWER PROMOTION

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IPA Mountain Goat India Pale Ale 6.2% ABV 330mL This is a hop-driven, malty ale with strong bitterness and spicy fruit aromas thanks to a good dose of Citra and Galaxy hops. It’s a tough nut, but loveable all the same. 65 IBU.

ALCOHOL FREE Holsten 0.0% ABV 330mL Holsten 0.0%. Refreshing pilsner flavour with an alcohol content of 0.0%. Fully imported and brewed in accordance with the German Purity Law of 1516 (www.holstenzero.com/ about/the-reinheitsgebot). Brewed using traditional Pilsner brewing methods, Holsten 0.0% is bottom fermented and generously hopped for full flavour. Bright gold in colour, with a lingering lacy white head, characteristic hop driven bitterness and a refreshingly clean finish typical of Premium Pilsner beers.

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PILSNER LAGER With a blend of Australian Pilsner and German specialty malts, generously hopped with the noble Czech aroma variety Saaz, this Lager demonstrates the ﬁnest elements of this classic European style.

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Ja James Squire One Fifty Lashes Pale Ale 4.2% ABV La 568mL 56 La Lashes is a refreshing cloudy pale ale with restrained bitterness and a al clean, smooth ﬁnish. Malted wheat as cle w well as pale barley malt add balance to the ﬁnish, while the late addition of Nelson Sauvin & Amarillo and also some Australian grown Willamette so hops deliver a subdued fruity nose ho with hints of passionfruit, grapefruit w and citrus. an

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Viking Vi ik 4.4% ABV 330mL Vikki is a full strength premium golden Viking lag ge brewed according to the European lager Pil ls method. The boutique brew is a Pilsner un niq combination of malt, hops and unique ba ar resulting in a dry finish with a barley, su ub bitterness. The hops create a subtle sa ati satisfying structure from first sip to end wi th a crisp flavour. with

HOMEBREW L Little Ripper Sparkling LLager, 4.7% ABV Draught I Inspired by the Vienna Pale style tthis beer delivers exceptional bbalance and crispness. The malt ddriven sweetness is well balanced bby the late hopping process used iin late fermentation. The Paciﬁca hop used, produces a light hoppy aroma and tropical fruit esters. We think it’s a Little Ripper, particularly for the Aussie Summer.

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$13.50 1.5kg Canister Availability: Nationally. Contact: Bintani Australia, Tel: + 61 (0)3 9580 3566, www.bintani.com.au

WHEAT BEER

Maa Matso’s Mango Cider with Desert De es Lime 4% ABV 500mL

Na Napoleone Pear Cider 4.9% ABV 330mL 4.

B Batlow Ba Cloudy Cider 4.2% ABV 330mL 4.2 4

Franziskaner Hefe Weissbier Hell 5.0% 500mL

This delicious cider pays homage to the This Kim m Kimberley pioneer spirit featuring a unique uni q blend of classic cider ﬂavour with hin t of Kimberley Mango. hints

Di Displaying a distinctive aroma of earthy rip ripe pears, and natural sweetness of the fruit this cider has a refreshing th an and distinctive palate. Silver MedalAustralian Cider Awards 2013. Au

T Traditional Tra farmhouse style with a bold aap apple sweetness upfront, good body aand a clean medium-sweet ﬁnish. Will ccon contain traces of Batlow apple sediment.

The aroma and palate suggest banana, passionfruit and vanilla, with a distinct clove like character, typical of this style. Cloudy appearance with a zesty carbonation, ﬁnishes light and satisfying.

$7 $ 7.50 Per Bottle

$14.99 Per 4-Pack $

Avv Availability: Dan Murphy’s, Woolies Liquor, BWS. Liquorland, Vintage Liq q Ce e Cellars, 1st Choice. W.A./Thirsty Camel, Cellarbrations, Liquor Barons. Ce e Co o Contact: www.matsos.com.au/stockists

A Availability: Selected independent bottle sstores and restaurants or mail order from N Napoleone Cider. Contact: www.napoleonecider.com.au C

$16.99 Per 4-Pack $ Av Availability: Nationally in package and draught. an Contact: www.batlowcider.com.au Co

$4.99 bottle Availability: www.danmurphys.com.au and select bottle shops specializing in premium beers. Contact: www.purebier.com

AUSTRALIA & NZ BREWING DIRECTORY NSW

WA O-BREWERY THE KIMBERLEY’S AWARD WINNING MICR

St Peters Brewery

RO-BREWERY THE KIMBERLEY’S AWARD WINNING MIC

15 May St, St Peters NSW 2044 Tel: (02) 9519 0191 Beer: Green Star Lager, Blonde, Killagh Stout and Cinnamon Girl www.stpetersbrewerysydney.com.au

now matso’s stubbies AvailAble in perth! The Australian Brewery 350 Annangrove Road, Rouse Hill, NSW 2155 P: (02) 9679 4555 E: beer@australianbrewery.com.au www.australianbrewery.com

WWW.MATSOS.COM.AU check online for YOUR NEAREST STOCKIST or order online WWW.MATSOS.COM.AU - check online for YOUR NEAREST STOCKIST or order online

Australia Draught Available on tap Sydney metro area. Contact: enquiries@australiadraught www.australiadraught.com.au

The Little Brewing Company

Elmar’s in the Valley

Unit 1, 58 Uralla Road Port Macquarie NSW 2444 Tel: (02) 6581 3949 info@thelittlebrewingcompany.com.au www.thelittlebrewingcompany.com.au

8731 West Swan Road Henley Brook WA 6055 Tel: (08) 9296 6354 www.elmars.com.au marketing@elmars.com.au Wed – Sun 10am - 10pm

WA James Squire 99 Pyrmont Bridge Road Camperdown NSW www.james-squire.com.au

Cowaramup Brewing Co. North Treeton Road, Cowaramup WA 6284 Tel: (08) 9755 5822 www.cowaramupbrewing.com.au Tours available by appointment Open 7 days a week 10am – 6pm

Mindarie Marina, Ocean Falls Blvd Mindarie WA 6030 Tel: (08) 9400 1111 info@indibrew.com Open: 11am - late daily

Billabong Brewing Co. 72a McCoy St, Myaree WA 6154 Tel: (08) 9317 6099 billbrew@westnet.com.au www.billabongbrewing.com.au

Murray’s Craft Brewery 3443 Nelson Bay Road Bobs Farm NSW 2316 Tel: (02) 4982 6411 Open: 7 Days 10am - 6pm www.murraysbrewingco.com.au

Indian Ocean Brewing Company

Bootleg Brewery

The Monk Brewery & Kitchen 33 South Terrace Fremantle Tel: (08) 9336 7666 beer@themonk.com.au Open every day 11:30am ‘til late

Puzey Road, Wilyabrup Margaret River WA 6285 Tel: (08) 9755 6300 brewery@bootlegbrewery.com.au www.bootlegbrewery.com.au

Paddy’s Brewery at the Markets Hotel, 268 Parramatta Road, Flemington NSW. Tel: (02) 9764 3500 www.paddysbrewery.com

Colonial Brewing Company Osmington Road, Margaret River WA Tel: (08) 9758 8177 thirsty@colonialbrewingco.com.au www.colonialbrewingco.com.au

Redoak Boutique Beer Café 201 Clarence St, Sydney NSW 2000 Tel: (02) 9262 3303 info@redoak.com.au www.redoak.com.au Open Mon – Sat 11am til late (lunch & dinner)

SUBSCRIBE & RECEIVE FREE R. CARTON OF DOS EQUIS LAGER. $50.00 VALUE See page 21 in Homebrewer for details. Australian residents (excl NT) only. Tel: 1800 651 422 | www.beerandbrewer.com | Offer ends March 24, 2014.

AUSTRALIA & NZ BREWING DIRECTORY Vic

INDUSTRY NEWS 6ISIT THE "REWERY AND SAMPLE FROM OUR BIG RANGE OF ALES ,OCATED IN THE HEART OF "EECHWORTH 6ICTORIA &OR DISTRIBUTION ENQUIRIES PHONE

www.microbrewing.com.au

Qld Holgate Brewhouse

Matilda Bay Port Melbourne Brewery

Brewery-Restaurant-Accom. 79 High St, Woodend VIC 3442 Tel: (03) 5427 2510 www.holgatebrewhouse.com Open: 7 Days from 12noon to late

89 Bertie St, Port Melbourne VIC 3000 www.matildabay.com

BrewBake

Mountain Goat Brewery

Located at The Big Pineapple 76 Nambour Connection Rd Woombye QLD 4559 Tel: 0499 993 045 info@brewbake.com.au www.brewbake.com.au

ACT

80 North Street, Richmond Tel: (03) 9428 1180 www.goatbeer.com.au Tours: Wed 5-8pm. Open: Fri 5-12am

Red Bay Brewery 7/77 Shore St West Cleveland Qld 4163 mybeer@redbaybrewery.com.au Open Tue to Friday 11am â&#x20AC;&#x201C;7 pm Sat 8am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4pm

Wig and Pen Tavern and Brewery House Arcade, Alinga St Canberra ACT 2601 Tel: (02) 6248 0171 www.wigandpen.com.au

Burleigh Brewing Company Red Island Brewing Co 8 Prohasky Street, Port Melbourne Vic 3207 Ph 1300 67 33 62 www.QUIETDEEDS.com.au

MISSING BACK ISSUES? MAKE YOUR COLLECTION OF BEER & BREWER MAGAZINE A COMPLETE SET TODAY! (BACK ISSUES $7.95 EACH PLUS POSTAGE. BUY 8 FOR FREE POSTAGE.)

17A Ern Harley Drive Burleigh Heads QLD 4220 Brewhouse Bar open every Friday 5.00pm-8.30pm (Live music, free popcorn). First Friday of the Month, Brewhouse Bash (BBQ, live music, free entry). Tour & craft beer appreciation session ďŹ rst Saturday of every month 2pm-4pm. www.burleighbrewing.com.au

The Sunshine Coast Brewery Units 4-6, 13 Endeavour Drive, Kunda Park. Qld 4556 Tel: (07) 5476 6666 admin@sunshinecoastbrewery.com Cellar door sales available Mon to Fri 10am to 3pm Bar open for Lunch: Wed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sat 12 - 2pm.

Southern Bay Brewing Co. 80 Point Henry Road, Moolap VIC 3224 Call us : (03) 5248 5710 info@SouthernBay.com.au www.SouthernBay.com.au

Sweetwater Brewing Company 211 Kiewa Valley Hwy, TAWONGA SOUTH VIC 3698 Tel: (03) 5754 1881 info@sweetwaterbrewing.com.au www.sweetwaterbrewing.com.au Open: Fri â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sun 1pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6pm

White Rabbit Brewery 316 Maroondah Hwy Healesville Vic 3777 Tel: (03) 9562 6516 www.whiterabbitbeer.com.au Open: Thurs-Mon 12-5pm

Granite Belt Brewery 146 Glenlyon Drive Stanthorpe Qld 4380 Tel: (07) 4681 1370 www.granitebeltbrewery.com.au Open 7 days from 10am

MT Brewery 165-185 Long Rd Nth Tamborine QLD 4272 Tel: (07) 5545 2032 www.mtbeer.com Open: 7 days, from 10am

Bach Brewing PO Box 56-068 Dominion Rd Mt Eden 1446 AUCKLAND m: 022-1374197 craig@bachbrewing.co.nz

BUSINESS DIRECTORY DISTRIBUTORS

Distributors, Associations, For Sale, Positions Vacant, Where to Buy, Equipment and Suppliers

INSURANCE

Beach Avenue Wholesalers

Northdown

38-42 Ordish Road, Dandenong South Vic 3175 Tel: (03) 8791 1400 sales@baw.com.au Beers: Schofferhofer, Erdinger, Clausthaler, Old Mout, Budvar, Underberg

Mobile: +61 432 829 921 adam@northdown.com.au www.northdown.com.au Beers: Baird Beer (Japan), Beer Here (Denmark), Croucher (NZ), Moylans (USA)

Brewery Insurance Specialists We have developed an insurance program that is tailored specifically for breweries. It can also be extended to cover food and drink service, brewery tours and other additional activities if required.

Viking Beer

Please contact us for a free review of your brewery insurance and an alternative quote.

info@vikingbeer.com.au www.sevencontinents.com.au Beer: Viking Lager 4.4% ABV 330mL

Phone - 1300 306 571 Email - brewery@midlandinsurance.com.au Web - www.midlandinsurance.com.au

CONTRACT BREWING

CONTRACT CIDER MAKING YOUR BEER IS OUR BUSINESS Contract Brewing, Filling & Packaging – Bottles or Kegs ALL Beverage Types www.SouthernBay.com.au info@SouthernBay.com.au Call Us: 1300 766 219

Gage Roads Brewing Co Beer / Cider / Other Alcoholic Beverages / Non Alcoholic Beverages Glass bottling line, Product & Liquid Development, Keg ﬁller, HACCP Certiﬁed, Great pricing – delivered into WA or East Coast Tel: (08) 9331 2300 donald@gageroads.com.au Mobile: 0423 548 748

MICROBREWERY CONSULTING

CONTRACT BOTTLING LINE NOW AVAILABLE MK Beverage Solutions Let us bring your product idea to life Beverage concept development and design. Fruit sourcing and quality contract making. Custom packaging and storage services. Mobile: 0434 086 081. Email: james@mkbeveragesolutions. com.au www.mkbeveragesolutions.com.au

Harrington’s Breweries

MICROBREWERY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES Beverage & Brewing Consulting Microbrewery Consulting, Facility Design, Equipment Solutions, Licensing & Regulations Support, Recipe Development Australia +61 422 517 210 | International +372 5454 4538 E: info@beverageandbrewingconsultng.com www.beverageandbrewingconsulting.com

Christchurch New Zealand Grand champion brewery 2012 Contract brewing Contract manufacturing Contract bottling HACCP Enquiries carl@harringtonsbreweries.co.nz

THE BREWERIES OF AUSTRALIA: A HISTORY

Spare parts, service, new and second hand German-made bottling equipment. Agents for Renner labelling, Leibinger bottling equipment. P: 03 5427 4874, E: b_tech10@bigpond.com F: 03 5427 4924, M: 0400 136529 / 0402 066157

2ND EDITION BY KEITH M. DEUTSHER, 384 PAGES, HARD COVER, 28OMM X 210MM .95

.90

$39 PLUS $11 POSTAGE AUSTRALIA-WIDE (SAVING $20)

This book gives, in minute detail, the history of every single brewery that has operated in Australia since colonisation. Steve Vizard.

Contract bottling line now available in Melbourne for runs under 10,000 litres.To discuss your needs please phone: Gina:0427 677 288 or John Greenwood: 0437 974 469 Also contract Cider making available.

PACKAGING

BevTech

RELIABLE | TRUSTED | TAILORED

CONTRACT BOTTLING

FB*PROPAK 24-26 National Boulevard Campbellﬁeld VIC 3061 p: +61 3 9924 4050 info@fbpropak.com www.fbpropak.com

Interpack www.interpack.net.au

O-I Asia Paciﬁc 36 Burwood Rd Hawthorn Vic 3122 Tel: +61 1800 643 165 Fax: +61 1800 626 986 salesaust@ap.o-i.com Product: Glass bottles

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

Distributors, Associations, For Sale, Positions Vacant, Where to Buy, Equipment and Suppliers

MALT, HOPS, YEAST

EQUIPMENT

Keg Lines Keg Washer / Filler Beer Filler – Glass & Cans Flash or Tunnel Pasteurisers Warming Tunnels CIP Systems Breowan Systems Proud agents for: Zahm and Nagel. for all your CO2 testing needs. Meheen Manufacturing, In-Line Labeling, Breowan USA Keg Cleaner and CO2 Monitor. Global Stainless Systems, Ager Tank and Equipment, Thermaline Heat Exchangers and Pro Refrigeration www.meheen-mfg.com www.labeling.net andrew@breowan.com Australia: +61 427 007 800 New Zealand: +64 274 874 783

Bintani Australia

NZ Hops

Tel: +61 3 9580 3566 sales@bintani.com.au www.bintani.com.au Malt: Simpsons, Joe White, Global Malt, Best Malz, Briess Yeast: Fermentis Hops: Hop Products Australia, Charles Faram European Hops, Hop Union US Hops Enzymes and brewing aids

Tel: +64 3 544 8989 Fax: +64 3 544 6007 nzhops@nzhops.co.nz www.nzhops.co.nz

Wyeast Laboratories, Inc.

CRYER MALT

Cryer Malt Ph: Aus 1800-119-622 Fx: Aus (03) 9923-6412 david@cryermalt.com.au www.cryermalt.co.nz Malt – Weyermann, Barrett Burston, Bairds, Thomas Fawcett, and Dingemans. Belgian Dark Candi Syrup. Also suppliers of kegs, cleaners, sanitisers and brewing enzymes.

Chrislan Ceramics Inc. Phone (1) 604.465.7507 Toll Free (1) 866-941-7557 20135 115A Avenue Maple Ridge B.C. Canada V2X-0Z3 www.chrislanceramics.com

www.hbm.com.au sales@hbm.com.au P: +61 2 8814 3100

Micah Rees Ph: 0413 207 175 corebrewing@gmail.com www.corebrewingconcepts.com.au

KEG LEASING AND SALES Kegco Australia 1800 682 347 www.kegco.com.au Kegco New Zealand: 0800 453 426 www.kegco.co.nz Keg leasing and sales, tracking software, one way use, keg caps and neck labels.

Hopco Pty Ltd Ph: +61 03 62435960 Fax: +61 03 62435397 hopco@bigpond.net.au www.hopco.com.au Supply of Hops and Hop Products Agents for Handtmann Filtration and Beer Stabilisation Equipment

DME Brewing Services Core Brewing Concepts

PO Box 146 Odell, OR 97044, USA Tel: +1 541-354-1335 Fax: +1 541-354-3449 sales@wyeastlab.com For Australia & NZ Dealers see: www.wyeastlab.com

Keg Lease Bintani Australia Tel: +61 3 9580 3566 kegs@bintani.com.au www.bintani.com.au

Canada dejongm@dme.pe.ca www.facebook.com/dmebrewing Aust/NZ Agent: brian@ contractbrewing.com

Ready Keg Bintani Australia Tel: +61 3 9580 3566 T kegs@bintani.com.au ke www.bintani.com.au ww

MICROBREWERY COURSES

K RENTAL KE KEG

AUD$24.99 / NZD$26.99 Kegstar Availiab from Availiable Dan Murphy’s, leading bookstores, newsagents, liquor stores, homebrew shops and www.beerandbrewer.com

We supply you kegs. You clean, ﬁll and deliver to your clients. We pick up the empty kegs. It’s that simple. 1800 KEGSTAR rent@kegstar.com.au kegstar.com.au

TIPS, RECIPES & HOW-TOs FOR BREWING YOUR OWN AT HOME

ISSUE 27 SUMMER 2013 PRICE $9.95 (NZ $11.95)

COLLABORATIVE

RECIPES INSIDE!

BREW

BREW THESE STYLES: - CHRISTMAS WIT - BLACK IPA - FRUIT WHEAT - NELSON’S LIGHT ALE - GERMAN WEISSBIER - MO RYE MILD

Christmas Wit: A new style is born. Put one on now for the big day!

INGREDIENT PROFILE! Find out about a traditional ingredient, which is becoming new world – Rye

CLONE RECIPES FOR

- HOPPORTUNITY (NZ) COST IPA - HOPDOG (NSW) ALL HALLOWED ALE - LOBETHAL (SA) CHRISTMAS ALE - LOS ANGELES ALE WORKS (US) GAMS-BART ROGGENBIER PLUS! JOHN & JAMIL ON WATER

CLUB

MEET THE BREWERS Tim Thomas (NSW) HopDogBeer Works Alistair Turnbull (SA) Lobethal Bierhaus

PROFILE

STOCKIST PROFILE

Save a ship-load. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great time to stock up on all your Coopers DIY Beer products, with free shipping on all online orders from November 25th to December 16th, 2013. Our Online Store has everything you need to make great tasting beer, plus loads of genuine Coopersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; merchandise. Check out the entire Coopers DIY Beer range online and start saving. Use code BBMAG at checkout to redeem offer.

store.coopers.com.au

HOMEBREW Contents

CONTENTS TO 4 LETTERS THE EDITOR

’ve been thinking about this beer for a while. Nearly three years in fact… Christmas is a special time of year. And for beer lovers, it’s often a time to break out a few special and savoured beers. Perhaps even a seasonal one or two. That’s exactly what I did with my brother-in-law back in 2010. We shared a fantastic array of boutique beers from breweries across Australia and New Zealand. There were even a couple of Christmas Ales tucked away. But December 25, 2010 was a particularly hot one across Australia and New Zealand. At my family celebrations in Victoria it peaked at 40oC. And while we were enjoying the bevvy of beers we had on ice, we weren’t able to properly appreciate the Christmas Ales. They were amazing beers; they were just in the wrong season. All were Australian brewed, but brewed for a northern hemisphere Christmas. So I decided to design a beer for the season – a Christmas Wit. And it kind of grew legs to the point where it became a collaborative brew with Odyssey Tavern in Victoria, where it’ll be on tap in December! If you’re looking for Part II of What’s New in Homebrew, you’ll have to wait til next issue as the Christmas Wit article kind of took over. That said, we do have a good look at a grain which is becoming increasingly popular amongst craft brewers and homebrewers – rye. If you haven’t brewed with it already, get on board. Enjoy the read, the recipes and get brewing in time for summer! Cheers, Chris Thomas Editor, Homebrewer

You share your thoughts, ideas and experiences.

5 COMPETITION RESULTS

THE 10 MEET BREWER

Brewing big beers with loud music, Tim Thomas shares his experiences at HopDog Beer Works and gives us a hallowed recipe.

Q&A

THE 12 MEET BREWER

STOCKIST INTERVIEW

14 HOMEBREW CLUB

See who is brewing winning beers and where.

John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff answer their most common question about water.

Wallington’s Homebrew Supplies (Vic) chats about their mixed business, which has recently expanded to stock homebrew ingredients.

RECIPES FOR THE SEASON

Fruit Wheat, Nelson’s Light Summer Ale & Hopportunity Cost IPA.

Alistair Turnbull tells of his small Bierhaus, Lobethal, which features 12 beers on tap at any one time!.

We proﬁle Pinerivers Undergrounds Brewing – or PUBS for short.

16 INGREDIENT PROFILE

Drew Beechum explores the history and rebirth of rye in brewing.

18 CHRISTMAS WIT

We team up with Odyssey Tavern & Brewery to create a beer for the season!.

CONTRIBUTORS

DREW BEECHUM

Drew Beechum has been brewing and experimenting for over a decade in Los Angeles. He consults, teaches and speaks on beer and brewing. He wrote the Everything Homebrewing Book and writes regularly for Zymurgy and Beer Advocate. He also represents homebrewers on the AHA Governing Committee. See page 16.

COLIN PENROSE

Colin Penrose has been a passionate homebrewer for around 30 years. He is also the founder of the Australian Home Brewing Championships and Vicbrew, and proprietor of Brewer’s Choice, where he stocks around 80 European beers and indulges his other hobby, single-malt Scotch. See pages 9 and 11.

JOHN PALMER

John Palmer is the author of How To Brew and has been brewing for about 18 years. He is a metallurgical engineer by trade, and the co-host of the Brewing Network podcast Brew Strong with his good friend Jamil Zainasheff. See page 6.

JAMIL ZAINASHEFF

Jamil Zainasheff is the Style Proﬁle columnist for Brew Your Own magazine and author of Brewing Classic Styles. He hosts two shows on The Brewing Network; Can You Brew It? and Brew Strong, is an accredited BJCP judge, and an award-winning homebrewer. See page 6.

www.beerandbrewer.com

TIPS , RECI PES

& HOW-TOs

AT HOM E YOUR OWN FOR BREW ING

2013 ISSUE 26 SPRING (NZ $11.95) PRICE $9.95

YOUR SHOUT

Letters/Feedback

FEEDBACK Join us online at

TIS’ THE SAISON…

RECIPES INSIDE!

ry Contempora kin American Pump c Beer or classi ouse Belgian farmh will style? What ng you be brewi this spring...

BREW THESE STYLES: - BLACK IPA - PUMPKIN BEER - PORTER - CHOCOLATE PORTER - SAISON - KIWI PILSNER

S! SYSTEM WAR

Find out which system homebrewing in the was victorious macy ﬁght for supre

MEET THE BREWER

IPES FOR

ton from Owen Johns and Moo Brew (TAS) from Costa Nikias La Sirène (VIC)

CLONE REC

ON - LA SIRÈNE (VIC) SAIS ) SAISON - MOO BREW (TAS(NZ) - YEASTIE BOYS K BLAC LE KETT POT JAMIL ON PLUS! JOHN &

CIDER

WHAT’S NEW IN

HOMEBREW

CLUB PROFILE 14/08/2013

8:31:58 PM

www.facebook.com/beerandbrewer,

www.twitter.com/beerandbrewer, or on our forums at www.beerandbrewer.com/forum and tell us your thoughts! We’ll publish the best letters and posts right here and send you a prize. PERRY Each letter printed this issue has won a copy of Keith M. Deutsher’s essential book, The Breweries of Australia: A History (2nd edition), available from Beer & Brewer for $39.95. The very fortunate winner of the Editor’s Pick this issue has also won a thermo controlled wine fridge with a 28 bottle capacity (RRP $499) and a six-pack of award winning 2012 Taylors Cabernet Sauvignon (RRP $114).

I have just made my ﬁrst batch of pear cider, made up my own receipe and used pear juice and a beer yeast. Have you any receipes for pear cider Thanks John Noble I don’t have a perry recipe for you John but our previous issue (#26) had a Q&A feature on cider from John Palmer and Jamil Zainasheff, which will provide you with a few good tips. Beyond that, our regular contributor from America, Drew Beechum has just released a book on cider

EDITOR’S CHOICE

STARTING OUT Hi All, A mate and I have just purchased a homebrew kit from country brewer and are both keen to learn a lot about all different processes of brewing beer. We have started with the standard kit with a fermenter and what I believe is called an extract brew that has the malt can brew sugars with hops and yeast. Just wondering what experiences others have had with directions for brewing or if there are any particular articles or books that will help understand brewing a little more in depth than just put a can and the pre packed ingredients in a bucket of water? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Starting Out (from forum)

RENEW & RECEIVE 2 X FREE CARTONS OF DOS EQUIS LAGER. $100.00 VALUE See page for details. Australian residents (excl NT) only. 421 in Homebrewer www.beerandbrewer.com Tel: 1800 651 422 | www.beerandbrewer.com | Offer ends March 24, 2014.

It sounds like you’re serious about making some good beer. What you’ve made sounds like a concentrate brew. My advice would be to move straight onto extract brewing (with grains) where you’ll make much better beers. Or you could skip straight to all-grain – going with Brew in a Bag (BIAB) isn’t a bad place to start with all-grain. Picking up a temperature control unit is also a great addition. And as far as literature goes, John Palmer’s How To Brew is a really good starting point for both extract and all-grain. Best advice though, get talking to your local homebrew shop. Chris

– Everything Hard Cider – which will no doubt be wealth of information. Good luck with your brewing

MORE 8 WIRED? Hi Editor of Beer & Brewer Magazine Homebrewer, I wanted to thank you for the Brewer Proﬁle with Soren Erikson and his recipe for the 8 Wired Big Smoke Porter. I love Porter’s, especially at this time of year and brewed this recipe with amazing results. I have received complimentary feedback from all who have tried it, many of whom said a smoked porter would never have been a style they would ever want to taste. I have been a long-time fan of 8 Wired Brewing Company beers, with Soren providing inspiration for designing well balanced hop forward beers. If only now you can convince him to part with his HopWired IPA recipe.... Regards, Jonathan Lyness Thanks for the positive feedback Jon. Unfortunately I can’t share the full recipe of Hopwired, but all the ingredients are listed on our website. Cheers, Soren. FYI Jonathan, the ingredients are: Hops - Southern Cross, Motueka, Nelson Sauvin; Malt - Gladﬁeld Pale, Munich, Crystal, Caramalt; Yeast - 1272 All American Ale. Enjoy experimenting on your HopWired clone!

BLACK IPA PLEASE Just got the new issue here in Germany! But I can’t seem to ﬁnd the Black IPA recipe mentioned on the cover of the Homebrewer section. Am I missing something?”. Aidan Schultz posted on Beer & Brewer’s timeline

2 x Free cartons of Dos Equis Lager, RRP $100.00 for 3 year renewals Free carton of Dos Equis Lager, RRP $50.00 for 2 year renewals Australian rates: 3 years $79.99 | 2 years $54.99 | 1 year $29.99

You’re not missing anything Aidan, but I did in the editing process sorry! Here’s an extract Black IPA recipe for you to experiment with. I’ve made this one and it’s a ripper!

RECIPE 1

BLACK IPA BY BRENDAN – EXTRACT O’SULLIVAN Expected Brew Figures: OG: 1.060 FG: 1.012 ABV: 6.5% approx Bitterness: 60 IBU Volume: 23 litres Ingredients: 4kg BriessGolden Light Dried Malt Extract 0.3kg WeyermannCaraAroma (crushed) 0.2kg WeyermannCarafa Special Type 3 (crushed) 0.1kg Briess Midnight Wheat (crushed) 35g Magnum 20g Simcoe 20g Centennial

Method: 1. Steep crushed malts in a grain bag in 5L water at 70-80oC for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove grain bag and bring liquid to the boil. 2. Boil for 70 minutes, adding 1kg of the extract and the Magnum hops at the start of the boil. 3. Remove from heat 10 minutes before the end of boil and add the Simcoe hops and the remaining extract while stirring, then return to the boil. 4. Add the Centennial hops at the end of the boil. 5. Cover the pot and cool in a water bath before straining the liquid into a sterilised fermenter. Top up with clean water (preferably bottled or pre-boiled) to reach original gravity of 1.060 (approximately 23L).

RESULTS WHYALLA SHOW

roving that Whyalla is famous for more than its BMX races in the 80’s, the 2013 Whyalla Show featured some terrific beers in its homebrew competition. It is the 11th year of the competition, and each year has featured a different Champion Brewer. It was a remarkably close contest this year with Terry Sherwen taking out the Champion Brew by a single point! Despite this close encounter, Sherwen was without a doubt the brewer of the show with wins in three separate categories.

THE RIGHTEOUS BREWERS

YOUR SHOUT

he Righteous Brewers of Townsville are a serious brew club, with over ten of their members BJCP accredited. They also won the 2013 Queensland Homebrew Conference Club Wars comp. This year they featured brewers from Townsville Brewery and Holgate Brewery judging the event. The theme was British Ales, and as you can see there were many different interpretations..

Champion Brewer: Josh Allen Best of Show: 1st Dave Jones (Southern English Brown); 2nd Josh Allen (Irish Red Ale) English Pale Ale: 1st Rob Callin (Standard Bitter); 2nd Ryan Ellery (Special Bitter) 3rd - Matt Bradford (English IPA) 38.5 Scottish and Irish Ale: 1st Josh Allen (Irish Red Ale); 2nd - Michael O’Shea (Irish Red Ale); 3rd - Scott Eckford (Irish Red Ale) English Brown Ale: 1st - Dave Jones (Southern English Brown); 2nd - Danny Fuller (Northern English Brown); 3rd - Russell Carpenter (Southern English Brown) Strong British Ale:1st Josh Allen (Eng. Barleywine); 2nd - James White (Scotch Ale); 3rd - Russell Carpenter (Engl. Barleywine) Specialty British Ale: 1st Josh Allen (Old Ale aged w/ bourbon soaked oak chips); 2nd Matt Bradford (Eng IPA brewed w/ home smoked malt); 3rd - Nigel Hassell (Eng ESB w/ NZ hops).

THE ANAWBS SHOW

he ANAWBS (Australian National Amateur Wine & Beer Show) is a prestigious Australian brewing competition with entries sent in from around the country and the winner taking home ‘the mash paddle’. This year’s victor and her brew club are featured on page 14-15 – along with her winning recipe! Best Beer of the Show Sponsor: South Australian Micro Brewers Association John Kingston (VIC) EUR5 – Belgian Pale Ale, Saison, Biere de Garde Best Kit Beer of the Show Sponsor: Dymocks Richard Blake (SA) AUS3 – Australian Pale Ale/Sparkling Ale The Mash Paddle - National All Grain Brewer of the Year Sponsor: University of Adelaide Janelle Kerr (QLD) AG1 – Weissen, Weissbier The Most Successful Brewer Sponsor: Better Bottle/Beer Belly Barry Cranston (NSW)

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FREE WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER www.beerandbrewer.com

Competition Results

VICBREW COMP

he VicBrew Competition was again held in early November at the Belgian Beer Café Eureka in Melbourne. There were 415 entries from around the state from 112 different brewers. The winners will go through to the forthcoming national championships Champion Brewer (Sponsor: Red Duck) (Awarded 3 points for a First, 2 points for a Second, 1 point for a Third in each Category) DERECK HALES Melbourne Brewers 18 points (5 firsts, 1 second, 1 third) (Red Duck Brewery sponsors ‘Live Like A Brewer’ day to brew and bottle a batch of one of the Champion Brewer’s winning beers) Runners-up: John Kingston (Westgate Brewers), 9 points (2 firsts, 1 second, 1 third) Jonathan Finney (Bayside Brewers), 8 points (2 firsts, 1 second) Champion Beer of Show (Sponsor: Grain & Grape) DERECK HALES Melbourne Brewers 134.3 points Hazelnut Northern English Brown Ale (Specialty Beer) Runners-up: Pete Martin, Rye American IPA, 130.5 points Matt Hevern (Melbourne Brewers), Dubbel, 129.8 points Best Novice Brewer (Sponsor: Mountain Goat Beer) PETE MARTIN 130.5 points Rye American IPA (Specialty Beer) Best Club of Show (Sponsor: Cryer Malt) (Awarded 3 points for a First, 2 points for a Second, 1 point for a Third in each Category) Winner: Bayside Brewers 34 2nd Melbourne Brewers 27 3rd Westgate Brewers 15 4th Worthogs 11 5th Corio Bay Brewers 2 Scott Vernon Perpetual Trophy for Best Exhibited Club Winner: Bayside Brewers 23 entrants 2nd Westgate Brewers 16 entrants 3rd Melbourne Brewers 14 entrants 4th Worthogs 7 entrants 5th Yarra Valley Brewers 3 entrants 6th Corio Bay Brewers 1 entrants 7th Ballarat and District 1 entrants

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HOMEBREW Q&A

HCaSO O4 2

Hop vines pre-

harvest.

Q&A

INASHEFF JOHN PALMER AND JAMIL ZA S ESTION REW QU HOMEB ANSWER YOlUR /forum r.com rewe post on www.beerandb it to homebrew@beerandbrewer.com or If you have a question please emai

“BEER GURUS JAMIL AND JOHN ANSWER THE QUESTION THEY ARE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED. AND IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MAIN INGREDIENT OF BEER.

: DO I REALLY HAVE TO RELEARN CHEMISTRY SO I CAN UNDERSTAND BREWING WATER? WHY SHOULD I TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN ALL THIS STUFF?

: There is one main reason to learn more about brewing water and that is, ‘Better Beer.’ Every experienced brewer can brew good beer, and can probably do so without paying any attention to their brewing water. The same can be said of cooking as well, but there is a big difference in flavour between heating up a can of ravioli and dining at a fine Italian restaurant. Some of the difference can be attributed to packaging, freshness of ingredients, etc. but it is more likely attributable to the skill of the chef and his attention to details as he or

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she prepares the dish. The attention to how the food is seasoned can make the biggest difference between good and great flavour. With brewing, we are not adding salt and pepper to the beer (usually!) but we can change the water by adding brewing salts to the water (for example: calcium chloride, calcium sulfate), and monitoring the pH of the beer. The pH of the beer governs how the malt and hop flavours are expressed to the palate. Understanding how brewing salts and water chemistry interact with the malt chemistry and beer pH gives us the tools to adjust the seasoning and flavour of our beer. To put it all in a nutshell, water chemistry is all about the interaction of bicarbonates, carbonates, and calcium and magnesium. In the mash, the bicarbonates and carbonates are alkaline and act to raise the mash pH, and thereby the final pH, of the beer. Calcium and magnesium (ie. water hardness) act to lower the mash and beer pH via chemical reactions with malt phosphates. The interplay of alkalinity and hardness in the mash is called the residual alkalinity, and this quantity is the cornerstone for predicting the influence of a particular brewing water source on the mash pH and beer. The ratio of sulfate ions to chloride ions in the water, and the total amount of all ions in the water, also has a large impact on the flavour of the beer. The easiest analogy is to the types and total amount of seasonings added to a food recipe - the dish can either be lightly seasoned, as in the French style, or heavily seasoned as in the Indian style. Neither type of cuisine is inherently better than the other, they are simply different. And it is the same with beer styles. However, you can also understand that a heavily seasoned French dish or a lightly seasoned Indian dish would each be viewed as lacking to the typical standard, and by anology, this is why understanding water and pH can make a real difference between good beer and great beer.

HOSTS WITH THE MOST

HOMEBREW Stockist Interviews

LEIGH HARE OPERATIONS MANAGER Wallingtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Home Brew Supplies 370 Grubb Rd, Wallington, Vic 3221 Tel: (03) 5250 2056 www.wallingtons.com.au

HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN IN RETAIL? Personally, I have been in retail for twenty years. I have started from the ground up working as a trainee and now as an operations manager. As a keen brewer, working with homebrew supplies is a great bonus, as I get to play with all the new toys and sourcing new products from around the globe is not a bad job either!

HOW DID YOU GET INTO HOMEBREWING? After listening to the father in law telling me about his adventures in homebrewing I became interested enough to pick up a Coopers kit and try for myself. After several failed attempts I gave up brewing for a few years but little did I know the brewing bug had got a hold of me. A few years later I decided to have another shot and this time I brewed in a temperature controlled fermentation fridge and the results were vastly improved and I have not looked back. TELL US ABOUT YOUR SHOP Our shop is not your average homebrew shop as we are a mixed retail business that has recently expanded into homebrew supplies. By saying we are not an average homebrew shop does not diminish our investment and enthusiasm into homebrewing, we have dedicated over seventy square metres of floor space and shelving and have sourced stock from all over the world. Many of our staff are experienced brewers and as such we are able to offer advice and years of brewing knowledge, in a relaxed, friendly environment.

HOW MANY DIFFERENT KITS AND INGREDIENTS DO YOU SELL? In terms of ingredients there is plenty of variety, we stock all the well known extract kits from Coopers, Black Rock and Muntons etc. We are stocking 35 different grains from Joe White, Briess, and Weyermann etc to cater for the all grain brewers and we have a core range of approximately 25 hop varities. As a new business we are still working out what our customers would like us to stock, so we often say to our brewers let us know what you would like to see us stock and we will bring the item into the store for them. WHAT BEER DO YOU RECOMMEND BREWING FOR SUMMER? Personally I prefer to drink Pale Ale over summer but will brew and drink almost any style of beer to keep things interesting. For the homebrewer I would recommend getting temperature control if you are trying to brew any lager styles or stick with ale yeast strains and try and brew in a stable temperature environment. WHAT ARE SOME COMMON QUESTIONS? Some of the most common questions we get asked are how to build a recipe or how to clone a well known and popular commercial beer. Interest in setting up a keg and draught system along with moving into all grain brewing are also very common inquiries.

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WE'RE ALL GOING ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY by Colin Penrose

HOMEBREW Recipes

f you are old enough to remember Cliff singing this then you are old enough to appreciate different styles of beer. Now before you screw your noses up at fruit beers, try one on a hot summer’s day - delicious. A wheat beer base is the best thing to start with.

RECIPE 2

– CONCENTRATE Expected Brew Figures OG: 1045 FG: 1010 IBU: approx 15 ABV: 4.8% Volume: 23 litres INGREDIENTS Morgan’s Golden Sheaf Wheat Beer 500g Dried Wheat Malt Extract 500g Dextrose Finings 250g-300g of your chosen fruit METHOD 1. Rehydrate the yeast. 2. Put the frozen fruit into a hop/

grain bag and tie it up and place in the fermenter. 3. Pour over a litre of boiling water and leave for 10 minutes. 4. Add the Morgans can and rinse the bottom as usual. Add the Dried malt extract and dextrose. 5. Bring up to 23 litres and pitch the yeast starter at around 23oC. Always check the temperature at 20 litres and adjust as required – a few litres of very cold water in the fridge is handy. 6. Ferment until SG drops to 1010, remove the fruit and add finings. Leave overnight then bottle and store as normal.

Nelson’s Light by PB2

hen new brewers embark upon the journey of beer making, they usually have one of two immediate goals: (i) beer like a commercial mega-brand; (ii) high alcohol beer. Fair enough, but the journey gets more interesting when the emphasis is on exploring aromas and flavours rather than effect. Of course, during the warmer months, beer consumption tends to go up. Which is another good reason to knock a few points off the alcohol level of your brews. Some might argue that lower alcohol beer is bland and uninteresting but this recipe will produce generous amounts of aroma and flavour while maintaining drinkability. This is also a great starter recipe for those kit brewers who want to have a crack at “extract brewing”. With this in mind, the method is intended to be simple and easy. More experienced brewers might want to handle the Crystal Malt in a different manner. Perhaps this recipe fits closest to BJCP Style 8A (English Pale Ale, Standard /Ordinary Bitter), but with slightly less alcohol. Nelson’s Light offers loads of flavour without the risk of feeling shipwrecked the next morning!

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I would recommend about 250g to 300g of frozen raspberries, blueberries, strawberries or cherries. If you want to use honey then replace 500g of dextrose with 500g of a gentle flavoured honey.

RECIPE 3 – EXTRACT

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1045, FG: 1010 IBU: approx 15, ABV: 4.8% Volume: 23 litres INGREDIENTS 1.5 kg Coopers Wheat Malt extract 500g Dried Wheat Malt extract 500g Dextrose 500g Dried Malt extract 50g Saaz hops Saf WB06 yeast Finings 250g-300g of your chosen fruit METHOD 1. Rehydrate the yeast. 2. Bring a litre of water to the boil and add 30g of hops. 3. After 10 minutes add another

10g of hops. 4. After another 20 minutes add the remaining 10g of hops and turn off the heat and leave sit for 10 minutes. You can add this to the fruit bag to put in the fermenter if you wish or strain into the fermenter through a sieve. 5. Put your fruit into a hop or grain bag and place in the fermenter. Add 1 litre of boiling water and let stand for 10 minutes. 6. Add the rest of the liquid and dry malts and bring up to 23 litres ensuring the finish temperature is at 23oC. 7. Add the rehydrated yeast and ferment until SG drops to 1010. Add the finings and leave overnight before bottling as normal.

RECIPE 4 – EXTRACT

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1027, FG: 1006-1008 IBU: 28, ABV: 2.9% (approx) Volume: 21 litres INGREDIENTS 1.5kg Coopers Light Dry Malt (3 x 500g) 300g Dark Crystal Malt 25g Centennial hops 45g Nelson Sauvin 11g Nottingham Yeast METHOD 1. In a large pot bring 500g of Light Dry Malt to the boil with 5 litres of water. 2. Add Centennial Hops and boil for 30 mins. 3. Stir in cracked Dark Crystal

Malt grains and 20g of Nelson Sauvin Hops cover and remove from heat to let sit for 30mins. 4. Cool by sitting the pot in cold water for 10 to 20 mins. 5. Strain the liquid into the fermenting vessel and mix with the remaining 1kg of Light Dry Malt. 6. Stir to dissolve, top up to the 21 litre mark, stir vigorously then add yeast and try to ferment at 21oC. 7. After a few days of fermentation add the remaining 25g of Nelson Sauvin hops in a hop bag. 8. Bottle when two SG readings are the same over consecutive days.

HOMEBREW Recipes

BEHEMOTH BREWING COMPANY HOPPORTUNITY COST IPA CLONE by Andrew Childs

When discussing which recipe to provide for this issue of Homebrewer, Andrew Childs let slip that he had just launched his latest beer. Rather hopefully I asked if he might want to hit us up with that recipe and to our surprise he has!

ehemoth is all about creating bigger tasting beers that allows you to really taste and savour your beer. No expense is spared to put great things in our beer – and lots of them! Andrew Childs, ex lawyer, started Behemoth Brewing Company 6 months ago. His latest beer Hopportunity Cost IPA is designed to take the best of both worlds – using NZ and US hops. It’s a big beer with a nice dry, bitter finish. Be careful this beer is dangerously easy to drink for such a big beer!

RECIPE 6

ST HOPPORTUNITY CO CLONE – EXTRACT 2. Remove grain and bring to a boil. 3. Boil for 90 mins adding Pacfic Jade at 60 mins. 4. After 75 mins add the 0.3g or Copperfloc. 5. After 80 mins add 15g of INGREDIENTS Motueka Hops and 15g of Simcoe 2 tins of Black Rock 1.8kg Pale hops. malt extract 200g of Bairds Pale Crystal Malt 6. At the end of the boil add 45g of Motueka, 30g of Simcoe and 380g of Dextrose 30g of Citra. 20g Pacific Jade Hops 7. Cool and pitch 2 packets of 60g Motueka Hops hydrated Mangrove Jacks M44 75g Simcoe hops US West Coast Ale yeast to the 60g Citra hops 2 packets of Mangrove Jacks M44 well aerated wort. 8. Ferment at 20oC for 7 days. US West Coast Ale Yeast 0.3g of Copperfloc 9. Add 30g of Simcoe and 30g of Citra and dry hops for 5 days in a METHOD hop bag. 1. In about 9 litres of water, steep 10. Rack the beer and allow to 200g of Crushed Bairds Pale condition for a week at cool temps crystal malt in 75oC water for 11. Keg or bottle and enjoy! 25mins. Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.064 FG: 1.010 IBU: ~70 ABV: Approx 7.2% Volume: 18 litres

RECIPE 5

ST HOPPORTUNITY CO CLONE – ALL GRAIN Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.064 FG: 1.010 IBU: ~70 ABV: Approx 7.2% Volume: 18 litres

3. Boil for 90 mins adding Pacfic Jade at 60 mins. 4. After 75 mins add the 0.3g or Copperfloc. 5. After 80 mins add 15g of INGREDIENTS Motueka Hops and 15g of Simcoe 4.6kg Thomas Fawcett Golden hops. Promise 6. At the end of the boil add 45g of 580g Weyermann Munich Malt Motueka, 30g of Simcoe and 30g 200g Bairds light crystal Malt of Citra. 20g Pacific Jade Hops 7. Cool and pitch 2 packets of 60g Motueka Hops hydrated Mangrove Jacks M44 75g Simcoe hops US West Coast Ale yeast to the 60g Citra hops well aerated wort. 2 packets of Mangrove Jacks M44 8. Ferment at 20oC for 7 days. US West Coast Ale Yeast 9. Add 30g of Simcoe and 30g of 0.3g of Copperfloc Citra and dry hops for 5 days in a hop bag. METHOD 10. Rack the beer and allow to 1. Mash at 66 degrees oC. condition for a week at cool temps 11. Keg or bottle and enjoy! 2. Sparge and bring to boil.

IPEE ?7? CIP RREEC Y COST

ITECIPE ORATU PPTR CTNR HOEX ATE CLONE – CONCENTR Expected Brew Figures OG: 1064 FG: 1012 IBU: ~65 ABV: approx 6.9% Volume: 19 litres INGREDIENTS 1 Mangrove Jacks Traditional Series Pale Ale Pouch 1 Mangrove Jacks Craft Series IPA Pouch 400g of Dextrose 2 packs of Mangrove Jacks M44 US West Coast Ale Yeast 40g of Motueka Hops 40g of Simcoe Hops 40g of Citra Hops

METHOD 1. Add 6 litres of boiling water into a sanitised fermenter. 2. Stir and mix the Mangrove Jacks Traditional Pale Ale and Mangrove Jacks Craft Series IPA pouch (Both of these will provide you with the right level of bitterness) as well as the dextrose. Stir well. 3. Add cold water to 19L – the colder the better to bring the temperature down. 4. Place in ice bath if possible until 22oC. 5. Ferment at 18-20oC for 7 days 6. Then add the Motueka, Simcoe and Citra hops in a hop bag. 7. After an additional 5 days. Bottle or keg and enjoy!

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HOMEBREW Cloning

TIM THOMAS EVIL MASTER OF HOPS AND METAL Beer and metal fan Tim Thomas, turns down the volume at HopDog BeerWorks, and takes time out to catch up with Beer & Brewer. WHAT STARTED YOUR LOVE OF BREWING?

I got the brewing bug at Uni when a bunch of us in first-year bought a homebrew kit. They gave up after the first couple of attempts, and I stuck with it throughout the six years of my three-year degree. I scored a few amateur awards, and then took on my first position as brewer at the Lord Nelson in late 2001.

HOW DID YOU COME TO START HOPDOG?

After leaving (FIBC) and seeing a gap in the South Coast market for craft beer, we set up HopDog as a means to pushing the craft beer envelope in a sea-change setting and taking on the wine market.

HOW HAS HOPDOG EVOLVED SINCE IT FIRST BEGAN?

I wouldn’t exactly say “evolved”, more like Valmorphinised or grown into our gangly teen selves. We kicked off with some pretty

interesting beers that later became staples to our idiom of who we see HopDog as, and where we stand as an artisan hop fuelled brewery. We no longer aim at a lowest common denominator (as we had with one of our previous beers), and prefer to lead than follow.

RECIPE 8

ALL HALLOWED ALE – ALL-GRAIN

YOUR BEER NAMES OFTEN REFLECT YOUR MUSICAL TASTE – HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE STRONG BRANDING IN THE BEER MARKET?

Brewing parameters: OG: 1.065 FG: 1.008 ABV: 7.3% Volume: 25L Colour: 25.87 EBC Bitterness: 37 IBUs

HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO BREW A HALLOWEEN-THEMED BEER?

INGREDIENTS 5.68kg Barrett Burston Ale Malt 0.75kg Weyermann Munich TYPE I 0.05kg Weyermann Melanoidin Malt 0.6kg Roast Pumpkin 0.5kg Dark Brown Sugar - added during boil 20g Chinook (13.0%) - boiled 60 mins 0.7g Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - boiled 15 mins 25g (50.0%) NZ Motueka (5.9%) - added at flame out 5g Coriander crushed - added at flame out 5g Nutmeg (ground) - added at flame out 5g Cinnamon (ground) – added at flame out WYeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes™

Strong branding? What’s that? We take our beers seriously and that’s normally where it ends, naming is secondary, and the only branding we can see apart from our green caps, is that we don’t have a cookie cutter device. Each beer that we brew is stand alone, and each beer deserves it’s own brand if you like. As for the music… Metal, rock n roll, thrash, and a bit of swampy Southern Groove are always welcome at HopDog (playing DOWN and Anthrax right now), as long as Mrs HD isn’t in control of the stereo…

From Dogfish Head brewing in the US. I’d read about their Pumpkin Ale, and thought I’d give it a crack when I was brewing at FIBC. The first version was an American-styled Brown, then when we opened HopDog, and people asked “are you doing an Oktoberfest beer?” we said “no, we don’t brew nancy lager”, and decided to up the ante on the pumpkin style by going Belgian. This year is our third vintage of the All Hallowed Ale, and I think it’s our best yet.

WHAT IS NEXT FOR HOPDOG? Music, beer, couch… Tim Thomas living the dream!

barrels. Also we’ve planted hops at home, so expect some one off hop Harvest Ales too. We’d like to maybe even throw down the gauntlet to see who can brew the highest % ABV beer in Oz too… maybe…

The endless possibilities excite me. From here we’re kicking out our Christmas beer soon, a new Summer Ale – something a bit sour – and playing around with nasty Brettanomyces in the brewery too – 100% extended ferment in

METHOD 1. Roast pumpkins with skin on until caramelised, add these to the mash with grains. 2. Mash for 45 to 60 mins at 68oC with 18 L of foundation water. Soundtrack: DOWN, VI Part I. 3. Run off and sparge with 13 L of water at 80oC. Add brown sugar in at first wort to kettle. Soundtrack: QUEENS OF THE STONEAGE, … Like Clockwork. 4. Boil for an hour, adding hops at times given. Cool and ferment at 24oC for massive amounts of esters and funk. Bottle or keg, preferably naturally carbed, leave to condition for 2 weeks, then consume! Soundtrack: ANTHRAX, Worship Music – especially “Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t”.

MUST HAVE MUSIC 10

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MUNTONS PUMPKIN ALE by Colin Penrose

HOMEBREW Cloning

RECIPE 9

ALE MUNTONS PUMPKIN H GRAINS CONCENTRATE WIT Expected Brew Figures OG: 1065 FG: 1010 IBU: ~ 50 ABV: ~ 7.2% Volume: 23 litres INGREDIENTS 1 can of Muntons IPA Bitter 1.5 kg Coopers Light Liquid Malt Extract 1kg Dextrose 250g Caramalt 500g Roasted Pumpkin 5g Crushed Coriander Seeds 5g Ground Nutmeg 5g Ground Cinnamon 15g Galaxy Hops Saf T58 yeast METHOD 1. Rehydrate the yeast. 2. Roast 500g of pumpkin

with skin on until slightly brown. 3. Bring 500 ml of water up to 70oC, turn off heat, add cracked grains and stir. Put lid on and leave for 20 minutes. 4. Bring 1 litre of water to a rolling boil, add hops and boil for 15 minutes. Strain grains and hops into the fermenter with the contents of the cans and the dextrose. Add enough hot water to dissolve. 5. Add the spices and top up to 23 litres keeping the temperature around 23oC before pitching the yeast starter. 6. Put the roasted pumpkin into a muslin bag and suspend in the wort for removal the day before bottling. 7. Ferment at 23oC-25oC until SG is consistent for two days, then bottle as normal.

RECIPE 10

PUMPKIN ALE INS EXTRACT WITH GRA Expected Brew Figures OG: 1065 FG:1010 IBU: ~ 50 ABV: ~ 7.2% Volume: 23 litres INGREDIENTS 3kg Coopers liquid light malt extract 1kg Dextrose 150g Munich Malt 150g Caramalt 500g Roasted Pumpkin 5g Crushed Corriander seeds 5g Ground Nutmeg 5g Ground Cinnamon 15g Magnum hops 15g Galaxy hops Saf T58 yeast.

METHOD 1. Rehydrate the yeast. 2. Roast the pumpkin with skin on until slightly brown. 3. Bring 2 litres of water to a rolling boil then add the Magnum & Galaxy hops. Boil for 45 mins. 4. Bring 500mL of water up to 70oC, turn off heat, add cracked grain and mash for 20 minutes. 5. Strain the grains and hops into the fermenter, then add the malt extract and dextrose to the fermenter and dissolve. 6. Add the spices and fill up to 23 litres, aiming for a temperature of 23oC 7. Pitch the yeast, then add the pumpkin in a hop/grain bag (remove the pumpkin a day before bottling). 8. Ferment at 23oC, then bottle as normal.

Bridge Road Brewers

Brewery/Beer/Dining/Accommodation The Old Coach House, Ford St, Beechworth Ph: 03 5728 2703 www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au Open 7 days from 11am

Holgate Brewhouse Brewery, Bar, Restaurant & Boutique Accommodation Ph: (03) 5427 2510 www.holgatebrewhouse.com Open 7 Days

Mountain Goat Brewery 80 North Street, Richmond Tel: (03) 9428 1180 www.goatbeer.com.au Tours: Wed 5-8pm. Open: Fri 5-12am

The 3 Ravens Brewing Company

1 Theobald St. Thornbury Direct to Public Sales (mob: 0438 RAVENS) www.3ravens.com.au Open Fridays from 2pm

Bellarine Brewing Company

2270 Portarlington Road, Bellarine Ph: (03) 5259 3310 www.bellarinebrewingcompany.com.au Daily 11am – 4pm (Cellar Door / Tastings) Brewery Tours by appointment

White Rabbit Brewery

In the line up of craft beers, Victorian brewers are making some of Australia’s, and the world’s, best brews. As a matter of national pride, support your local brewer and hunt down a real craft beer.

316 Maroondah Hwy, Healesville Ph: (03) 5962 6516 www.whiterabbitbeer.com.au Open 11am-5pm 7 days Fridays till 9pm

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Victorian Craft Beer Real Beer from Real Brewers

HOMEBREW Cloning

ALISTAIR TURNBULL

LOBETHAL BIERHAUS

Alistair Turnbull

and Rosie.

After exploring the world in his previous career, Alistair Turnbull came home to start his brewery in Lobethal, South Australia. By Stefanie Collins. WHAT STARTED YOUR LOVE OF BREWING?

A love for beer and hospitality combined, with a desire to call my own shots, running my own business in my home town of Adelaide and without the need to wear a suit and tie.

HOW DID YOU COME TO START LOBETHAL BIERHAUS?

Despite having been fortunate enough to see a good part of the world at others expense in a prior career, Adelaide has always been home for me, with Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills being in my mind one of the prettiest areas in SA. And if these aren’t good enough reasons, Lobethal is surrounded by fantastic food and wine tourism and has a brewing history that dates all the way back to 1851 on the very site we now occupy; we even live in an ex hop kiln, only minutes from our brewery.

HOW IS RUNNING A BREWPUB DIFFERENT TO RUNNING A BREWERY?

To be honest I am not entirely sure how you would distinguish between brewpub and brewery. Materially most of the close to 150,000 litres that we now produce annually is packaged and sold outside of Lobethal – perhaps this qualifies us as a really small brewery. On the other hand, without our cellar door and restaurant we would almost certainly have struggled to survive (not of course that we don’t sometimes). I like to think of us primarily as a micro brewery, with the added advantage of a cellar door and restaurant that opens to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. In addition to the financial benefits associated with selling a portion of our beer direct to the public, the feedback my partner Rosie and I receive while working behind our own bar is invaluable as a source of encouragement, inspiration and feedback; the hours can be quite long at times but I believe it certainly helps us make a better beer, while at the same time meeting an enormous number of great people, both local and visitors to Lobethal.

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HOW HAS THE BUSINESS AND THE INDUSTRY EVOLVED SINCE YOU STARTED?

We are still a relatively new player in our industry having only opened in May 2007; despite this we have consistently experienced double digit annual growth. While I continue to hear how the consumption of beer per capita in Australia is falling and how SA reportedly trails other states in the volume of craft beer produced, from our point of vantage, growth in our industry has been phenomenal. Long gone are the days of fridges stocked entirely with a limited selection of lagers, there are now literally thousands of fantastic beers readily available; and don’t dismiss SA, we too have an ever growing number of excellent local producers.

HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO BREW A CHRISTMAS-THEMED BEER?

One-off Christmas / festive brews were the norm when I was lucky enough to spend some time in the US in the nineties and were also a regular winter offering whenever I travelled in Europe. We first released what we thought would be one-off batch of our own “Christmas Ale” four years ago; it has become so popular that we now produce versions of our original brew every six months, recognising that as it’s a dark beer it is probably best suited for consumption next to a cold winter fire, even though it’s also the perfect accompaniment to good old Mum’s Christmas pudding.

WHAT IS NEXT FOR LOBETHAL?

We are continually in search of ways to improve what we do in our brewery. We are literally weeks away from installing a brand new German manufactured automated bottling line to replace the gravity fillers and hand labelling we have persisted with since starting. At the same time we have just increased our fermenting capacity by a further 35% and are focussed on building our in-house lab capabilities. We now have eight core beers and have produced a further eight different one off and/ or special batches over the past two years

(we keep 12 different beers on tap at any one time at our cellar door plus also run a hand pump). The special brews are always fun and something we would like to be able to do on a more regular basis for our local customers, both retail and wholesale.

RECIPE 11

CHRISTMAS ALE – FULL MASH Brewing parameters: OG: 1065 FG: 1012 ABV: 7.2% IBU: 30 Volume: 23 litres INGREDIENTS 5.1 kg Munich malt 1.9 kg Amber malt 0.7 kg Special B 0.2 kg Carafa II 43g Liberty hops 17g Saaz hops 0.4 Kg dark candied sugar 14.2g mixed Spices, Nutmeg (5%), Allspice (8%), Cinnamon (43%), Ginger (22%), vanilla (22%) Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale Yeast METHOD 1. Mash Temp 68oC. 2. 90 minute boil with 3 hop additions, Liberty (62%) 75 mins EOB, Saaz 30 mins EOB & Liberty (38%) EOB. 3. Candied sugar into kettle after 2nd hop, take care to dissolve. 4. Whirlpool 15 mins. 5. Cool to 20oC, pitch yeast & ferment at 20oC, rest 1 day at terminal before dropping to 10oC to condition; best aged approx. 3 months.

JINGLE KNOCKERS XMAS ALE

HOMEBREW Cloning

by Colin Penrose

RECIPE 12 – EXTRACT

Expected Brew Figures: OG: 1065, FG: 1012, IBU: 30 ABV: 7.2%, Volume: 23 litres

add all the spices. 4. While hops are boiling, bring 500 ml of water up to 70oC. Add grains, stir then turn off the heat, put INGREDIENTS the lid on and leave for 20 minutes. 3kg Coopers Light Malt Extract 5. Strain the grain and hops through 1kg Dextrose a hop/grain bag into the fermenter. 500g Dark Belgian Candy Sugar Rinse the residue the discard the 250g Crystal grain (cracked) remainder. 30g Pride of Ringwood hops 6. Add the extract, dextrose and 1 tsp Cinnamon, 1 tsp Ginger, candy sugar to the fermenter and ¼ tsp Allspice, ¼ tsp Nutmeg, dissolve. ½ tsp Vanilla Essence 7. Fill the fermenter up to the Saf T58 yeast 23 litre mark ensuring the temperature isaround 23oC. METHOD 8. Pitch the yeast and ferment 1. Rehydrate the yeast. until complete or final gravity is 2. Bring 2 litres of water to a around 1012. rolling boil, add the hops and boil 9. Bottle as normal and enjoy a for 45 minutes. couple this Christmas, but for best 3. 10 minutes before end of boil, results mature until next Christmas.

RECIPE 13

– CONCENTRATE Expected Brew Figures: OG: 1065, FG: 1012, IBU: 30 ABV: 7.2%, Volume: 23 litres INGREDIENTS Muntons Scottish Heavy Ale can of concentrate 1.5 kg Coopers Light Malt Extract 1kg Dextrose 500g Belgian Candy Sugar 250g Crystal Grain 1 tsp Cinnamon, 1 tsp Ginger, ¼ tsp Allspice, ¼ tsp Nutmeg, ½ tsp Vanilla Essence Saf T58 yeast METHOD 1. Rehydrate the yeast. 2. Bring 1 litre of water to the boil and add the hops. Boil for

10 minutes, then add the spices and boil for a further 10 minutes. 3.While the hops are boiling bring 500 ml of water up to 70oC, add the grains, turn off the heat and leave for 20 minutes. 4. Strain the grains and hops through a hop/grain bag then rinse the residue and discard. 5. Add the Scottish Ale can, dextrose and candy sugar to the fermenter and dissolve - you may need to add more hot water to dissolve fully. 6. Fill the fermenter up to the 23 litre mark ensuring the temperature is around 23oC. 7. Pitch the yeast and ferment until complete or final gravity is around 1012. 8. Bottle as normal and enjoy a couple this Christmas, but for best results

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HOMEBREW Club Proﬁle

P.U.B.S

ther enjoying The group togebrewery tour. a Janelle cultivating her hops.

Janelle Kerr & Graham Starke from the appropriately named Brisbane-based PUBS tell how their club operates and how they come together to brew, taste and most importantly socialise.

here is an old Czech proverb that goes something like “A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it’s better to be thoroughly sure”. This philosophy reflects somewhat the philosophy of the PUBS, or the Pinerivers Undergrounds Brewing Society, a homebrewing club based on the northside of Brisbane. At PUBS it is just as important to socialise and enjoy good beer and good company as it is to review and assess the beers that we make and taste. Over the past ten years they have built themselves from a small group meeting in each other’s homes to a core group of approximately 20 members, who meet on the last Tuesday of every month in Kruger Hall on Ann St, Kallangur. The meetings are used as an opportunity to take part in general beer

discussions, as well as organising and engaging in various activities including: • 3 competitions a year – judged to BJCP guidelines; • An ANZAC day event – including commercial beer tasting; • A German club trip – to which we usually invite other Brisbane clubs; • A pub crawl; • Entering into state competitions; • An Oktoberfest – including commercial beer tasting; • An end of year break up event; and • Mash brew days. Mash brew days involve members of the club getting together to brew multiple batches of beer at the same time at the same venue generally on different systems allowing those that have not

seen all grain mash beers brewed the opportunity to see differing methods and processes in action. Additionally the club also owns kegs and kegging equipment which is used to serve the beer brewed during the mash brew days at the meetings, allowing those who were at the mash brew days to taste the product that they saw being created. It is also a belief of the club that tasting new beers frequently helps improve a brewers’ sense of what he or she enjoys drinking and what is possible in terms of brewing. Hence they regularly buy samples of commercial beers for big events to challenge the taste buds. PUBS is not an all grain only club, with between 30-50 percent of its brewers brewing kits only, and many of its all grain brewers having progressed to all grain brewing only after joining the club.

The PUBS crew having a taste.

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MEMBER PROFILE JANELLE KERR

HOMEBREW Proﬁle

Having lost her brewing equipment twice to Queensland’s devastating ﬂoods, Janelle Kerr shows great perseverance and continues to make great beer.

anelle credits her father for her good taste in beer, always preferring to use the quality over quantity philososphy. In 2005, her partner Steve had her taxiing brewers home from the Lockyer Valley Club meetings. It didn’t take long before she became the brewer herself - starting off with kit beers. Before long, she took the title of Lockyer Amatuer Brewing Guild Club Champion for 4 consecutive years and also won the 2011 QAAWBG State Champion Beer. But it hasn’t all been easy. Janelle has lost all her brewing gear to floods, in 2011 and 2013, and is back to basics now using tank water, brew in a bag and the boil on the stove system until her new 50L stainless steel home brewery is finished. This hasn’t prevented her from

brewing great beer though – in October she took out the Australian National Amateur Wine and Beer Show (ANAWBS) Mash Paddle. Striving to perfect different beer styles has led to Janelle’s new project known as ‘Bloomin Marvelous Hop Garden’, trialling varieties to see which grow well in the local area. She is currently nurturing eleven different hop varieties, including cultivars from each continent and a range of Acid Alpha and flavour profiles. Janelle is now looking forward to making a range of wet hop ales after the harvest in 2014.

RECIPE

When Janelle submitted her recipe she was awaiting the results of the ANAWBS Mash Paddle, which she duly took out. Here is her award winning recipe. There’s quite a few steps but it’ll be worth it to clone this award winning beer.

RECIPE 14

RECIPE JANELLE’S WINNING ER – GERMAN WEISSBI BREW FIGURES OG: 1040 FG: 1005 ABV: 4.6% IBU: 14 Volume: 23 litres

INGREDIENTS

2 kg Pilsner Malt 2 kg Wheat Malt 20 cloves 25g Northern Brewer Hops 16g Hallertau Hops @ 20mins ½ Whirlflock tablet @ 5mins 33g Hallertau Hops @ Flameout

METHOD

1. Mash malt in at 49oC sit for one hour.

2. First step decoction. 3. ⅓ mash heated to 65oC and returned to mash. 4. ⅓ thin mash heat to 72oC. 5. Add 25g Northern Brewer. 6. Steep 15mins, reheat to 83oC. 7. Add 15 cloves. 8. Steep and cool to 80oC. 9. Return to mash. 10. Allow grist to steep at 65oC. 11. Sparge. 12. Boil 60 mins and add 5 cloves. 13. Add 16g Hallertau @ 20mins. 14. Add ½ whirlflock @ 5mins. 15. Add 33g Hallertau @ Flameout. 16. Pitch Yeast at 18oC.

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HOMEBREW Ingredient Proﬁle

ALL ABOUT RYE As we further explore the world of grains and ﬂavour we arrive at Rye. Drew Beechum traces the history of rye and tells us how to use it in our brews to get some amazing results.

hen we last left off the adjunct grains, it felt like we'd done a pretty thorough job covering our bases. Of course, the second you feel that way the universe steps up and points out your mistakes. In this case as we jumped away from grains and into the land of the pumpkin patch, we completely forgot one of my very favouritest grains - rye! Think of the last piece of rye bread that you had, whether dark pumpernickel or a pale caraway studded slice. The rye is what provides that hearty, earthy spicy backbone behind each bite. When used by brewers, rye gives the resulting beer both a spicy tone and a second contradictory mouthfeel – one part slick, one part dry.

WHAT IS RYE

Rye is the tougher, rougher sister to the wheat you know and love. They both are grasses of the Triticeae tribe. Although evidence is mixed, it maybe one of humanity’s oldest domesticated crops, but it is certainly younger than wheat. But most importantly across human history, rye has proven to be a hardy survivor of frigid temperatures and disastrously poor soil. Where wheat could be finicky, rye flourished, and provided a counterpoint crop. No surprise then, that the cultures heavily associated with rye are those of northern Europe and the Slavic and Baltic territories. Thanks to a fungus, rye also has a place in infamy. Ergot is a naturally occurring contamination that produces several potent alkaloids that severely affect the mind and body. One of the chemicals present is the precursor to LSD. You can follow how we get from there to the accusations of unworldly activities described during the Salem Witch Trials.

RYE IN THE WORLD

In Germany it was used for Roggenbier think Hefeweizen but with Rye in place of the Wheat. And yes, that wonderful piece of

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Bavarian legislation killed the German use of rye for close to 500 years. To make your own Roggenbier, take your favorite Dunkelweizen recipe and sub rye for the wheat. Don’t care about tradition, try a half-Roggen and take a Hefeweizen recipe and sub out half the wheat. It’s a little softer and easier to drink. In Finland, rye is used to make Sahti. The thick mash of rye, barley and just about everything else is traditionally lautered through a mesh of juniper branches into a trough shaped runoff tank. This tank was originally nothing more than a hollowed out log. From there, the beer, now pungent scented with juniper and its berries was traditionally sent straight to a fermenter where bread yeast and the still living lactobacillus would make short work of the fermentation leaving a distinctly spicy, tart and banana scented beer. These days, most folks make it like you would any other beer, adding juniper during a non-traditional boil, pitching an ale yeast and skipping the tree trunk. In Russia and other Slavic cultures, they make a low alcohol bread beer/soda called Kvass. It only comes in at about 1-1.5% ABV so they treat it like a non-alcoholic beverage. Eight years old and in need of a pick me up? Kvass! It’s become a point of cultural pride as well as one of the leading Russian companies is Nikola, which is double play because it sounds like “Not Cola”. Despite the rise in commercial brewing, Kvass is still a very popular homemade product since it only requires stale rye bread, water sugar and yeast.

USING RYE

Like it’s cousin, wheat, rye proves a little bit challenging for brewers. After threshing, malting and kilning, the kernals have no husk to serve as a filter mechanism. Like wheat, this can affect your ability to lauter your mash. Rye decides to add an additional twist by containing a high level of “beta-glucans”, which are long chains of glucose molecules. They provide rye

with a gumming factor like no other. Where wheat and barley mashes become doughy, a high rye mash (20+% of the grain bill) becomes almost rubbery and tacky. That’s great if you’re not trying to get the liquefied sugars away from the dough ball. Betaglucans are also responsible for rye’s viscosity contribution, so don’t hate on them too much. Thanks to the stick factor, I’m going to make a rare “Thou Shalt” type of brewing commandment “Thou Shalt Use Rice Hulls”. The simple addition of a half kilo of rice hulls to a potentially goopy sticky mash like a rye or wheat mash can, and will, save you much heartache. You’ll have a better time sipping a beer than cursing the goo that has doomed you to a slow lauter. And yes, this applies to BIAB as well. When formulating a recipe using rye – ask yourself how much rye character do you want? An addition of 5% of the grist by weight gives a subtle pleasing spice that will make drinkers pause and wonder what is different about this pint. Adding 20% provides a solid rye backbone that leaves no doubt as to its origins. Firm with both that oily slickness of the beta glucans and the dry spicy notes we expect from a rye bread. If you’re truly crazy, then you’ll follow the German example of Roggenbier where you’re heading north of 60%! Prepare for a long day with that project, but with some astonishing results.

TYPES OF RYE

Because the overall demand of rye in beer is low, there are no brewing specific rye strains. However there are several fantastic forms of rye for us to take advantage of. Weyermann offers a malted rye, a cararye and even a roasted chocolate rye. Thomas Fawcett offers a crystal rye. Let’s not forget the flaked rye as well. The squashed flakes are the easiest item for a homebrewer to use and offer an almost “fatty” texture, similar to oats, in comparison to the sharper cut of the malted ryes.

HOMEBREW

RYE RECIPES by DREW BEECHUM

Ingredient Proﬁle

(COURTESY OF KIP BARNES OF LA ALEWORKS)

RECIPE 15

RECIPE 16

GAMS-BART ROGGENBIER – ALL-GRAIN

MO-RYE MILD – ALL-GRAIN

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1051 FG: 1009 IBU: 19 ABV: 5.2% Volume: 21 litres

13 gm HallertauerMittelfruh (4.0%AA) 15 minutes Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat

METHOD 1. Strike the grains at 50oC for 20 minutes. INGREDIENTS 2. Raise to 65oC for 20 minutes and then 1.5kg German Pilsner Malt 75.5oC for 10 minutes. 1.5kg Rye Malt 3. Bring wort to the boil and add the 660g Dark Munich Malt Tettnanger for 60mins. 660g Light Munich Malt 4. Add the Hallertauer with 15 minutes 330g Chocolate Rye Malt remaining. 120g CaraMunich Malt 5. Pitch yeast and ferment at 17-18oC 120g Rice Hulls for 10-14 days or until fermentation ½ tsp Gypsum (during the mash) subsides. 26gm Tettnanger (4.5%AA) 6. Condition the beer for 14 days before 60 minutes bottling.

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1042 FG: 1008 IBU: 18 ABV: 4.5% Volume: 21 litres INGREDIENTS 3.75 kg Maris Otter Malt 0.5 kg Rye Malt 17gm Progress Hops (8.1%AA) Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley

METHOD 1. Strike the grains at 66oC for 60 minutes. 2. Take the first 3-4 litres of runoff and boil until reduced to a quarter of the original volume. 3. Bring wort to the boil and add the boiled syrup and Progress Hops for 60 mins. 4. Pitch yeast and ferment at 17-18oC for 10-14 days or until fermentation subsides. 5. Bottle or keg as normal and enjoy.

RYE EXTRACT RECIPES by GRAIN & GRAPE RECIPE 17

BIER GAMS-BART ROGGEN IALTY GRAINS EXTRACT WITH SPEC Expected Brew Figures OG: 1053 FG: 1009 IBU: 19 ABV: 5.3% Volume: 23 litres

METHOD 1. Steep the crushed grains in 1.5 litres of water for 30 minutes at about 75oC. 2. Strain the liquid from the grain using a grain bag or sieve. Add the liquid to a pot and make up to about 8 litres also INGREDIENTS adding 750g of the malt extract. Bring to 1.50 kg Briess Liquid Pilsen the boil. Light malt extract 1.50 kg Briess Liquid Rye malt 3. Add the 29g Tettnang 60 minutes extract before the end of the boil. 0.75 kg Briess Liquid Munich 4. Add the 13g Hallertau 15 minutes malt extract before the end of the boil. 0.33 kg Simpsons Brown grain 5. Add the rest of the malt extract – a better option would be 10 minutes before the end of the boil. chocolate rye malt if available. 6. Keep the lid on the pot and cool in a bath 0.12 kg Weyermann Caramunich of water, changing the water as it warms. II grain 7. Add the cooled wort to your fermenter 29 grams Tettnang Pellets and top up to 23 litres. Manage the (4.1%AA) temperature so it ends up about 17-18oC 13 grams Hallertauer Mittlefruh in the fermenter. pellets (5.2%AA) 8. Pitch the yeast and ferment at Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat recommended pack temperature. yeast or Saf WB-06

RECIPE 18

MO-RYE MILD IALTY GRAINS EC SP H IT W T C A TR EX Expected Brew Figures OG: 1046 FG: 1008 IBU: 19 ABV: 4.7% Volume: 23 litres

METHOD 1. Add about 8 litres of water to a pot and also add 750g of the malt extract. Bring to the boil. 2. Add the 12g Horizon 60 minutes before the end of the boil. 3. Add the rest of the malt extract 10 minutes before the end of the boil. INGREDIENTS 4. Keep the lid on the pot and cool in 3.00 kg Briess Liquid Golden a bath of water, changing the water Light malt extract occasionally. 0.50 kg Briess Liquid Rye malt 5. When cool add the wort to your extract fermenter and make up the volume to 12 grams Horizon pellets 23 litres. Manage the temperatures of (11.1%AA) Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley yeast the pot contents and topping up water so you end up with a temperature of or Saf S-04 about 17 to 18oC. in the fermenter. 6. Use a pack of Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley yeast or if you prefer a dry yeast, Saf S-04 is a good choice.

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HOMEBREW Xmas Feature

CHRISTMAS WIT

Breaking with tradition, Chris Thomas teams up with Odyssey Tavern & Brewery to design a Christmas beer that is suited to our summer Christmas.

love Christmas. It’s probably my favourite day of the year. And I love a Christmas beer as well. Dark and heavy, layered With fruit and spices. And usually With a nice little hit of alcohol to promote the Christmas cheer. Superb. Just not at Christmas though. Which is a paradox of sorts – Christmas beers are great beers, just not for our summer Christmas.

It’s why so many Australian and New Zealanders enjoy a platter of cold meats and salads on the day, rather than the hot roasts and vegetables traditionally served up on the other side of the globe. So if we’re happy to break that tradition, then why not break the tradition of the Christmas beer style as well? Why do our brewers continue to predominantly produce winter styled Christmas beers?

CHRISTMAS BEERS ARE GREAT BEERS, JUST NOT FOR OUR SUMMER CHRISTMAS.”

Chris and Matt before adding the fruit and spices to the boil.

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HOMEBREW Xmas Feature

RECIPE DEVELOPMENT

ng the Chris and Matt droppi boil. the o int mix ce spi and fruit

Herein lay the challenge – to create a summer Christmas beer.

GETTING STARTED

While I had the idea in my head, and a basic outline of what I was after, I decided it was best to develop the recipe With a pro. Enter Grant Byrne and Matt Cuthbert. Grant is the owner of Odyssey Tavern & Brewery in Geelong (Vic) while Matt is the Head Brewer. And trust me when I say this is where the story really gets going. I’d met the boys a few times and called Grant up to get his take on the project. He was pretty interested so I asked if he’d mind me getting Matt to run an eye over my recipe plan. All good With him, so I pushed a little further and cheekily threw the offer out there to do a collaborative beer. And he was keen. I wasn’t expecting the opportunity to do a collaborative brew With Odyssey. And it will feature on tap in their Tavern in December! With Matt, we worked out an outline of what we wanted the beer to be – a lighter beer (in body and colour, definitely not flavour!) that would carry the festive theme of the season. It had to be something that could be enjoyed and appreciated for our summer Christmas, but we weren’t aiming for a sessional beer – we wanted it to be memorable and a unique experience.

The plan was to brew a basic Wit recipe With some traditional Christmas pudding fruits and spices in the boil to get a hint of the season. We decided on a Wit as it already marries well With fruit (orange peel) and spice (cloves). We bounced emails, texts and phone calls back and forth for a couple of weeks in the lead up to the brew night to fine tune the recipe. Matt knocked together a basic recipe for a Wit, but With the addition of golden naked oats to add some body and enhance the mouth feel With a creamy texture. The hops were carefully selected for their flavour profile. New Zealand’s Motueka hops in particular were chosen for their spicy citrus hop character. But what about the other stuff – the fruit and spices?! How much did we need to put in? We still wanted to appreciate the Wit at the heart of the recipe, but we also wanted the festive flavours to be evident. It was going to be tough getting the balance right. I had a flick through some recipe books (food, not beer!) and came up With a long list of potential dried fruits that read like a scroggin mix for a bush walk (minus the chocolate!). There were also some spices common to both Christmas pudding and some beers. The list needed some trimming, so Matt had a chat With Andrew Helmore, the Head Chef at Odyssey. Andrew loved the concept and embraced the challenge. He decided that his own special mix of fruits and spices which he uses in his Christmas pudding would do the trick. And they certainly did. In fact it was the making of the beer. He prepared the same quantity for our brew that he’d put in an eight-cup pudding.

The fruits included prunes, cranberries, apricot, apricot nectar, sultanas, raisins, apple, as well as orange & lemon zest (dried in the oven). While the spices were cracked whole nutmeg, cinnamon sticks and all spice. These were all then soaked in brandy for 4-5 days. The flavour and aroma from this mix was simply superb. The standout was the brandy soaked orange zest. It was sublime, and on its own would add a new dimension to a Witbier. We had 1kg of Andrew’s brandy soaked fruit and spice mix at our disposal so we decided to add it all. There was some preliminary discussion about whether to add the mix to the boil or the fermenter to ‘dry hop’ it. We decided that we’d get the most flavour and aroma if we added it to the boil.

BREW NIGHT

For anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing a brew With a professional brewer and then having that brew go on tap, you might expect it’d be a pretty awesome experience. And it was. Brew night was a brilliant night. We finalised the recipe over a couple of beers. And like every other tragic homebrewer out there, I couldn’t help but expose the Odyssey boys to my full selection of homebrewed beer. Right from my pale to my milk raspberry Stout! We talked beer and brewing and even shot across to the pub for a very quick counter meal and a game of pool during the boil.

POST-BREW

In the lead up to the brew I was nervous. I didn’t want this beer to be ordinary. What if we missed our target and the beer was just so-so? What if it didn’t really capture the flavours and aromas we were seeking. But even before it was in the fermenter I knew that I needn’t have been concerned. All my fears were availed when I took in the aromas emanating from the boil. We even shared a warm (pretty close to hot actually!) glass of the stuff taken straight from the kettle during the whirlpool. After we drained it into the fermenter and pitched two test-tubes of Whitelabs Belgian Wit, it was tucked into the temperature controlled fridge. Now we have to wait while it ferments before we can have a proper taste.

CAN I GET SOME?

Taking in the Christmas aromas.

This beer is only going to be available on tap at Odyssey Tavern & Brewery. It will be launched to their beer club on Thursday December 5 and to all others on Friday December 6. It’s very limited so what’s left after that will move pretty quickly. If you can’t get down to G-Town or you miss out, then make up a batch yourself! It is a Christmas beer, but not as we know it!

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HOMEBREW Xmas Feature

RECIPE 19

AS WIT

AN AUSSIE CHRISTM - ALL-GRAIN Expected Brew Figures: OG: 1056 FG: 1011 IBU: ~20 ABV: 6% Volume: 46 litres

INGREDIENTS:

Matt tasting a hot, cloudy glass of our brew straight from the whirlpool.

The Christmas Pudding Mix The Fruit: Prunes, cranberries, apricot, apricot nectar, sultanas, raisins and apple. The Spice: Cracked whole nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, all spice, as well as orange & lemon zest (dried in the oven). The Soak: All ingredients are then soaked in brandy for 4-5 days. Sorry but Andrew Helmore can’t give away the quantities of his special mix so you’ll have to experiment.

RECIPE 20

CHRISTMAS WIT - EXTRACT Expected Brew Figures OG: 1056 FG: 1011 IBU: ~20 ABV: 6% Volume: 23 litres INGREDIENTS 4.1 kg Briess Liquid Bavarian Wheat malt extract 290g Golden Naked Oats 500g Brandy soaked mixed fruits & spices 20g Perle hop pellets 40g Motueka hop pellets 1 x 125ml smack packs of Wyeast 3944 Belgian Wit yeast or Whitelabs Belgian Wit Ale WLP400 METHOD 1. Prepare the brandy soaked fruit and spices 4-5 days before brew day. 2. If using the Wyeast, activate the smack pack 3-4 hours before brewing. 3. Steep the Golden Naked

Oats in 1 litre of water at about 68oC for 30 minutes, then discard the oats. 4. Add another 7 litres of water to the pot with 750g of the malt extract and bring to the boil. 5. Add the 20g Perle hops 60 minutes before the end of the boil. 6. Add the 500g mixed fruits and spices (hopefully in a hop bag) 30 minutes before the end of the boil. 7. Add the rest of the malt extract 10 minutes before the end of the boil. 8. At the end of the boil, add the 40g Motueka pellets. Keep the lid on the pot and cool in a bath of water, changing the water occasionally. 9. When cool strain the wort to your fermenter and make up the volume to 23 litres. Manage the temperatures of the pot contents with cool water so you end up with a temperature of about 20oC in the fermenter. 10. Pitch yeast and ferment. 11. When fermentation is complete bottle or keg as normal.

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5.78kg Pilsner Malt 5.2kg Wheat Malt 0.58kg Golden Naked Oats 40g Perle Hops 80g Motueka Hops 1kg Brandy soaked mixed fruits & spices 2 x Whitelabs Belgian Wit Ale WLP400 (you could alternatively use a SafaleUS-05, which is a cleaner yeast)

METHOD:

1. Prepare the fruit and spice mix 4-5 days before brew day. 2. Mash the cracked grains at 65oC for 60 minutes. 3. Mash out at 74oC for 10 mins. 4. Bring to the boil and add the Perle hops for 60 minutes. 5. With 30 minutes remaining add the fruit & spice mix in hop bags. 6. At the end of the boil, begin the whirlpool and add the Motueka hops – if not whirlpool just add them late kettle. 7. Chill to about 25oC and add to the fermenter With the yeast. 8. When fermentation is complete, crash chill for one week. 9. Bottle or keg as normal and enjoy one or two on Christmas Day (or any other day that takes your fancy!).

RECIPE 21

CHRISTMAS WIT - CONCENTRATE Expected Brew Figures OG: 1056 FG: 1011 IBU: ~20 ABV: 6% Volume: 23 litres INGREDIENTS 1 x Morgans Wheat concentrate can 2kg Briess dry Bavarian Wheat malt extract 290g Golden Naked Oats 500g Brandy soaked mixed fruit and spices 40 grams Motueka hop pellets 1 x 125ml smack packs of Wyeast 3944 Belgian Wit yeast or Whitelabs Belgian Wit Ale WLP400 (preferable to yeast from under lid of concentrate if possible) METHOD 1. Prepare the brandy soaked fruit and spices 4-5 days before brew day.

2. If using the Wyeast, activate the smack pack 3-4 hours before brewing 3. Steep the Golden Naked Oats in 1 litre of water at about 68oC for 30 minutes, then discard the oats. 4. Add another 4 litres water to the mix and bring to the boil, then add the mixed fruit and spices, boiling them for 30 minutes in a hop bag. 5. Add the malt extract 10 minutes before the end of the boil. 6. At the end of the boil, add the 40g Motueka pellets. Keep the lid on the pot and cool in a bath of water, changing the water occasionally. 7. When cool strain the wort to your fermenter with the can of concentrate and make up the volume to 23 litres. Manage the temperatures of the pot contents and topping up water so you end up with a temperature of about 20oC in the fermenter. 8. Pitch the yeast and ferment at around 20oC until fermentation is complete, before bottling or kegging as normal.

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Coopers DIY Beer Kit RRP $85 Available in all BIG W stores Tel: 1300 654 455 (+61) diybeer@coopers.com.au www.diybeer.com.au

NORTH MELBOURNE 106 -110 Peel St Tel: (03) 9328 1843 EPPING 218 Cooper St Tel: (03) 8405 9020 www.cellarplus.com.au Mention ad for 10% off equipment purchases (Non Sale Item)

Home Make It The specialists in home food and beverage making. Clayton Store - Tel: (03) 9574 8222 Shop 4/ 158 Wellington Road, CLAYTON Reservoir Store - Tel: (03) 9460 2777 265 Spring Street, RESERVOIR sales@homemakeit.com.au www.homemakeit.com.au

Order online. 5/280 Whitehall Street Yarraville VIC 3013 Ph (03) 9687 0061 Fax (03) 9687 1958 www.grainandgrape.com.au

DISTRIBUTORS

BREW Cellar Distribution PO Box 4193 Loganhome Qld 4129 Tel: 1300 882 143 orders@brewcellar.com.au

Imake Ltd Australia - 1/138 Buchanan Rd, Banyo QLD 4014. Tel: (07) 3630 8400 New Zealand - 328 Rosedale Road, Albany, North Shore City, Auckland. Tel: (09) 4151206 www.imake.pro

NZ AUCKLAND Brewers Coop Shop 9, 2 Harris Road Mt Wellington, Auckland Tel: +64 9 525 2448 brewerscoop@gmail.com www.brewerscoop.co.nz

The Beverage Food Group

Brewshop Home Brew Beer Supplies www.brewshop.co.nz

Importer & Distributor for all food and beverage making equipment & supplies. 24-26 National Boulevard CampbellďŹ eld Vic 3061 Tel: (03) 9924 4000 sales@thebeveragefoodgroup.com

CIDER DIRECTORY

HOMEBREW DIRECTORY

NSW

Australian Brewery 350 Annangrove Road Rouse Hill, NSW 2155 Tel: (02) 9679 4555 brewer@australianbrewery.com.au www.australianbrewery.com.au Cellar door open: 10am – 10pm daily.

Batlow Premium Cider

The Hills Cider Company 10 Greenhill Road, Wayville SA Tel: 1800 793 331 info@thehillscidercompany.com.au www.thehillscidercompany.com.au

Tas Willie Smith’s Organic Cider

74 Forest Rd Batlow NSW 2730 Mob: 0434 020 653 rich@batlowcider.com.au www.batlowcider.com.au

22 Lollara Rd Grove Tas Tel: (03) 6266 4339 hello@williesmiths.com.au www.williesmiths.com.au

Small Acres Cyder 12 Akhurst Road Borenore, NSW 2800 Tel: (02) 6365 2286 sales@smallacrescyder.com.au www.smallacrescyder.com.au Cellar door open: Sat-Sun 11am4pm.

Vic

ASQUITH

WOONONA

Asquith Home Brewing

Northern Brew

353 Paciﬁc Highway Asquith NSW 2077 Tel/Fax: 61 2 9476 2022 ahbrewer@bigpond.net.au Open: M-F: 10am-6pm, Sat: 10am-4pm, www.asquithhomebrewing.com.au

341 Princes Hwy, Woonona NSW 2515 Ph/Fax: (02) 4284 6000 northernbrew@tpg.com.au www.northernbrew.com.au Open: Tues – Fri 9.30am – 5.30pm, Sat 9.30am – 3pm Closed Public Holidays

KIRRAWEE Kirrawee Home Brew 18 Flora Street, Kirrawee NSW 2232 Tel: (02) 9521 1091 Open: Mon-Fri 9-5, Sat 9-1

Napoleone & Co Cider 10 St Huberts Road Coldstream Vic Tel: (03) 9739 0666 info@napoleonecider.com.au www.napoleonecider.com.au TIPS, RECIPES & HOW-TOS FOR BREWING YOUR OWN AT HOME $83 VALUE!

residents Australian NT) only (excl.

36 11

MIGUEL MAESTRE

& Winter beering food match

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- CHOC-LIQUEUR STOU TOUT OUT ISSUE! RR STOUT - SCHWARZBIER - DOG BOLTER - GRUIT ALE

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CONTACT: DAVID LIPMAN david@beerandbrewer.com +61 415 081 285

TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. Information on “how to enter” forms part of the terms and conditions of entry. Entry into these competitions deems acceptance of these conditions of entry. 2. Entry is open to all residents of Australia, excluding residents of the NT, aged 18 years or over. Entrants to the subscription offer must subscribe to Beer & Brewer for a minimum period of 2 years; 8 issues. Employees of the Promoter, their immediate families and agencies are not eligible to enter. 3. The promotion commences 12:01am on 25/11/13 and close at 11:59pm on 24/03/14 (“Promotional Period”). 4. Entry to this promotion cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. 5. Subscription Promotion Offers 1. 3 year (12 issues) renewals receive 2 x cartons (24 x 330mL) of Dos Equis Lager 4.5% ABV, RRP $100. 2. New 3 year (12 issues) subscriptions receive a carton of (24 x 330mL) of Dos Equis Lager 4.5% ABV, RRP $50. 3. 2 year (8 issues) renewals receive a carton of (24 x 330mL) of Dos Equis Lager 4.5% ABV, RRP $50. 4. New 2 year (8 issues) subscriptions receive 2x 6-packs of Dos Equis Lager 4.5% ABV, RRP $34. Offer available only while stocks last. Qualifying subscribers will be sent a voucher one month post the issue finishing on sale, for redemption at any Dan Murphy’s store. There are no Dan Murphy’s stores in Tasmania, therefore BWS redemption voucher(s) will be sent for Tasmanian residents to redeem the voucher(s). Redemption vouchers must be redeemed three months from when they are due to be sent.

6. All prizes are not transferable or exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash. The Promoter is neither responsible nor liable for late, lost or misdirected entries. If you have any queries you can email us at subscribe@ beerandbrewer.com or call 1800 651 422. 7. The winners will be notified by mail, phone or email using the details stipulated in the subscription or Letter to the Editor promotions. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail or for any prizes damaged in transit. 8. The Promoter is neither responsible nor liable for any change in the value of the prizes occurring during the Promotional Period. Prize values mentioned are the recommended retail value, as provided by the supplier, and are correct as at time of print for this issue. 9. The Promoter reserves the right to request the winners to provide proof of identity, age and proof of residency in Australia. Identification considered suitable for verification is at the discretion of the Promoter. 10. A box has been provided on the subscription page for the entrant to check should they wish to not receive other emails/postal mail which inform the entrant of the Promoter’s other publications, products, services and events and to promote third party goods and services of perceived interest to the entrant. 11. The Promoter is Beer & Brewer Media Pty Ltd ABN 90 155 638 494, Tel: 1800 651 422, 41 Bridge Road (PO Box 55), Glebe NSW 2037 Australia. www.beerandbrewer.com.

SPICE IS THE LIFE Chilli beers and coriander brews? Learn how to add some zest to your recipes.

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ISSUE 21 WINTER 2012 PRICE $8.95 (NZ $9.95)

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NEXT ISSUE – AUTUMN 2014 ON SALE 25 MARCH, 2014

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WHIS KY 22/05/2012

9:17:29 PM

Scott Vincent, Matilda Bay Brewing Co (Vic) Michael Capaldo, Schwartz Brewery (NSW)

LUB PROFILE EVENTS COMP CCLUB RESULTS