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GOING

PRO

Make the jump from homebrewer to pro brewer

BEERS & CIDERS

TASTED

Hop to it!

Pale ale

It’s hop-picking season, so what better time to explore this magical plant

Why it’s the king of craft beer

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PLUS! CRAFTY KEGS | A PINT WITH… BALTER’S SCOTT HARGRAVE | CAN ART

AUSTRALIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEWEST HOP

THE BEST OF YAKIMA FOR THE BEERS AUSTRALIANS DRINK

PUBLISHER Paul Wootton | pwootton@intermedia.com.au

EDITOR’S LETTER

PUBLISHED BY Food and Beverage Media 41 Bridge Road GLEBE NSW Australia 2037 Tel: 02 9660 2113 Fax: 02 9660 4419

Autumn Issue Summer is over, bringing with it plenty of change, not least at Beer & Brewer, where I have the pleasure of becoming editor for the first issue of 2018. It is an honour to take the reins on this esteemed title, especially since we have a corker of an issue for you here. I’ve come to Australia from the UK, where we have something of an interest in beer

EDITOR Charlie Whitting | cwhitting@intermedia.com.au

and brewing… more than 2,000 breweries according to some of the latest data, and more

ASSISTANT EDITOR Tam Allenby | tallenby@intermedia.com.au

a beer scene that has been an inspiring eye opener. There’s not so much cask ale as back

breweries per capita than any other nation on earth. Here in Australia, I’ve encountered

CONSULTING EDITOR Ian Kingham

home (gasp!), but there is an incredibly diverse and dedicated approach to brewing,

HOMEBREWER EDITOR Chris Thomas

sustainability, innovation or quality. And that’s what this magazine aims to celebrate.

HOMEBREWER TECHNICAL EDITOR Jake Brandish GENERAL MANAGER SALES – LIQUOR & HOSPITALITY GROUP Shane T. Williams GROUP ART DIRECTOR – LIQUOR AND HOSPITALITY Kea Thorburn | kthorburn@intermedia.com.au PHOTOGRAPHER Simon Taylor HEAD OF CIRCULATION Chris Blacklock | cblacklock@intermedia.com.au PRODUCTION MANAGER Jacqui Cooper | jacqui@intermedia.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS Tel: 1800 651 422 | Fax: +61 2 8580 6312 subscribe@beerandbrewer.com | www.shop.beerandbrewer.com Mail: PO Box 55 Glebe NSW 2037 SUBSCRIPTION RATE Australia $79.95 3 years (12 issues) savings $39.41 (33%) $54.99 2 years (8 issues) saving $24.61 (31%) $29.99 1 year (4 issues) saving $9.81 (25%) New Zealand $88.99 3 years (12 issues) saving $30.41 (25%) $60.99 2 years (8 issues) saving $18.61 (23%) $32.99 1 year (4 issues) saving $6.81 (17%) International $132.99 3 years (12 issues) $89.99 2 years (8 issues) $47.99 1 year (4 issues) Rate in AUD and incl. 10% GST for Australia, excluding GST for NZ and International PRINTING Webstar Sydney DISTRIBUTION Network Services (Aus) & NetLink (NZ), D&D Mailing, Dan Murphy’s, imakes, The Beverage Food Group (VIC) ISSN 1834 5115 DISCLAIMER

This publication is published by Food and Beverage Media (the “Publisher”). Materials in this publication have been created by a variety of different entities and, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher accepts no liability for materials created by others. All materials should be considered protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. Unless you are authorised by law or the copyright owner to do so, you may not copy any of the materials. The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the Publisher’s endorsement. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher, its agents, company officers or employees. Any use of the information contained in this publication is at the sole risk of the person using that information. The user should make independent enquiries as to the accuracy of the information before relying on that information. All express or implied terms, conditions, warranties, statements, assurances and representations in relation to the Publisher, its publications and its services are expressly excluded save for those conditions and warranties which must be implied under the laws of any State of Australia or the provisions of Division 2 of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof. To the extent permitted by law, the Publisher will not be liable for any damages including special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages (including but not limited to economic loss or loss of profit or revenue or loss of opportunity) or indirect loss or damage of any kind arising in contract, tort or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such loss of profits or damages. While we use our best endeavours to ensure accuracy of the materials we create, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher excludes all liability for loss resulting from any inaccuracies or false or misleading statements that may appear in this publication.

with unique styles appearing and people keen to push boundaries, whether it’s in The symbiotic connections that breweries have to their local communities have always played a hugely important role, and Chris McNamara, chief executive of the Independent Brewers Association, is back to discuss the growth of ‘hyper-local’ beer, breweries and brewpubs (page 8). Then, as autumn brings that magical spectrum of colours among the trees, this issue we’re going to explore the spectrum of possibilities among one of the most diverse but also universal categories of beer – pale ale. Lager might still dominate the volume sales here as in the rest of the world, but it is in pale ale where craft brewing has some real stake, and almost every brewer has their own interpretation (page 18). But it’s not just the beer itself that we’re exploring this issue. We’ll also be looking at the world of packaging, where science and art have been combining to improve our drinking experiences. From the technological advances in keg manufacture and maintenance (page 26) to the incredible designs that adorn cans, kegs, pump clips, glassware and kegs (page 38), there is plenty happening beyond the brewing process itself to consider. It is surely one of the great success stories of life to make a living doing something you love, and the craft beer movement has allowed so many talented people to make homebrewing as much a hobby as a legitimate way to make a living. In

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our Homebrewer section, editor Chris Thomas will be taking us from brewing in the comfort of your home to that next big step into something more

ISSUE 44 AUTUMN 2018 PRICE $9.95 (NZ $11.95)

commercial (p.54). So as we say farewell to summer and get gleefully stuck into everything that 2018 has to offer, I wish you all the best with your brewing and I look forward

GOING

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Make the jump from Homebrewer to pro brewer

BEERS & CIDERS

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Hop to it!

to meeting and talking to you about the beautiful brews you’re concocting and drinking. Do please get in touch with me (cwhitting@intermedia.com.au).

Pale ale

It’s hop-picking season, so what better time to explore this magical plant

Why it’s the king of craft beer

Cheers! Charlie

WWW.BEERANDBREWER.COM

PLUS! CRAFTY KEGS | A PINT WITH… BALTER’S SCOTT HARGRAVE | CAN ART

Find us on... AUTUMN 2018 3

CONTENTS

inside...

Autumn 2018

FEATURES 18 Pale Ale – A Lighter Shade of Pale Luke Robertson explores this ubiquitous and wide-ranging style of beer, which has as plenty of sub categories and innovations, talking to some of the best brewers in the business about it

26 Logistics and Keg Technology The beer you brew might be fantastic, but how it’s transported and stored has a huge say in how it pours and tastes. Luke Robertson shows us what steps are being taken to improve and evolve the process

32 Hop Harvest It’s hop season, so what better time to explore this key component in the brewing process? Jeremy Sambrooks takes us to the hop farms of Australia and beyond

38 Beer Packaging – Art and Design The creative approaches undertaken by brewers when it comes to designing the packaging for their beers have transformed the image of the industry for the better

4 www.beerandbrewer.com

HOMEBREWER 42 Welcome 43 Letters 44 Q&A Home legend John Palmer responds to questions and takes a look at colour measure, no-chill effects and cube hopping

46 No Rulz No Rulz gets stuck into pale ale

48 Recipes Wheat beer from Coopers and a homage to old school IPAs from Andrew Childs

50 Ginger Beer Chris Thomas takes a look at the underappreciated but growing world of ginger beer

52 Homebrewer to Pro Brewer A panel of experts takes us through the processes that took them from home brewing to the professional arena

57 Keep it Clean Homebrewer technical editor Jake Brandish highlights the virtue of cleanliness

58 Charlie Bamforth More insights and wisdom from the Pope of Foam

“One of the great things about pale ale is there are so many different varieties. It’s the confusing thing about it, but it’s also an endearing thing” Ross Terlick

REGULARS 6 The Brew What’s happening and things to do

8 News All the latest from the Aus/NZ industry

12 World News Tales from across the seas

14 Bits & Bobs 16 New Venues 64 Entertaining – Food Ricardo Amare del Castillo takes us through the taco-sphere

68 Tasting Notes Our tasting panel get their lips around some cracking beers from Aus and beyond

78 Directory 82 A Pint With… Scott Hargrave, head brewer at Balter

“Seasonality can have a profound impact on the outcomes of a hop crop. This season is looking great” Tim Lord

AUTUMN 2018 5

THE BREW

WHAT’S ON

Things to Do This Season CANBERRA CRAFT BEER & CIDER FESTIVAL Canberra: 24 March Canberra’s bustling craft beer scene will take centre stage in late March at the 11th annual Canberra Craft Beer & Cider Festival. Held in the gardens of the Mercure Canberra in Braddon, the festival will feature more than 200 beers and ciders, live bands, food, entertainment and a wide range of kids’ activities. Canberra’s scene will be represented by BentSpoke Brewing Co, Capital Brewing Co, Jono’s Jerky and more, while the interstate line-up includes the likes of Endeavour Beer, Pirate Life, Sydney Brewery, Stone Dog Meadery, Akasha Brewing, Young Henrys, HopDog Beer Works, Mountain Goat Beer, Goose Island Brewery and James Squire. Specialist cideries such as Nightingale Bros Alpine Cider and Willie Smith’s Cider will also be showcasing their range. Canberrabeerfest.com.au

HIGH COUNTRY HOPS 2018 Beechworth: 24-25 March

GABS 2018 BEER CIDER & FOOD FEST

For the fourth year running, this exciting event brings

Melbourne: 18-20 May

together like-minded craft brewers and local growers of

Sydney: 2 June

hops. Hosted by Bridge Road Brewers at its Beechworth

Auckland: 30 June

brewpub, all eight of the brewers on the High Country

The festival juggernaut that is GABS will return bigger and better than ever this year, bringing together the best breweries from Australia and New Zealand for a massive celebration of craft beer and cider. With the dates set for Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland, organisers expect over 35,000 people to attend the annual ‘Beer SpecTAPular’ in 2018. New in 2018, punters will be able to ‘strut their putts’ at the Holey Moley Golf Club and Colonial Caddyshack; sample from three new ‘washed rind’ cheeses (washed in beer, whisky and wine) from the Milawa Cheese & Prosecco Bar; or find their perfect ‘beer match’ through guided tasting sessions on the Dan Murphy’s Discovery Deck. Reflecting the increasing crossover between craft beer and spirits, two of Victoria’s best distillers – Starward and Four Pillars – will be serving up barrel-aged whisky, gin and cocktails in Melbourne, while in Sydney and Auckland, Irish distiller Jameson will be highlighting its Caskmates program – where whisky is aged in beer-seasoned barrels.

Brewery trail – including Bridge Road, Bright Brewery, Black Dog Brewery, Rutherglen Brewery, Social Bandit Brewing Co, Blizzard Brewing Company, King River Brewing and Sweetwater Brewing Company – come together for a family-friendly celebration of hops. Combined with local food producers and musicians, Bridge Road Brewers have really created the perfect day out. So hop to it. Bridgeroadbrewers.com.au/events

GOOD BEER WEEK Melbourne: 11-20 May In eight short years, Good Beer Week has grown from

“We like to think of GABS as much more than a beer festival; it’s an experience,” comments GABS event director Craig Williams. “And every year, we like to raise the bar on what that experience can be. It’s about looking at the world around craft beer and bringing that to life in a fun way, whether that’s through Holey Moley’s hugely popular mini-golf bars, Milawa cheeses washed with beer, wine and whisky, or a boilermaker pairing whisky and beer.”

an idea to a global festival made up of more than 300

And of course, at the heart of GABS each year are the Festival Beers and Ciders. Over 160 unique beers and ciders will be brewed especially for GABS 2018 by breweries from around Australia and New Zealand. “For the brewers, it’s a chance to showcase the quality, creativity and diversity of styles inherent to craft beer and cider,” says Williams. “And for beer lovers… well, it’s kind of like Christmas really!”

masterclasses, delicious degustations and a plethora

Gabsfestival.com

6 www.beerandbrewer.com

exciting beer-related events, spread all over the city. In 2017, GBW attracted a total of 75,000 attendees from Australia and overseas; it will celebrate its eighth anniversary this year with a massive lineup of international brewing guests, big name chefs, beer of unique and one-off events. The week also plays host to two of the most important dates in the Australian beer calendar: the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA) and the GABS Beer, Cider & Food Fest. Goodbeerweek.com.au

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AUS & NZ NEWS

INDEPENDENTS REIGN AT GABS TOP 100 INDEPENDENT BREWERS ASSOCIATION (IBA) HEAD OF MEMBERS SERVICES & OPERATIONS CHRIS MCNAMARA SURVEYS THE BEER LANDSCAPE IN AUSTRALIA AT THE START OF 2018

Gold Coast brewery Balter’s XPA has been named as the number one beer in the GABS Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2017, which received a record number of votes this year. The brewery, which is part-owned by champion surfers Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Josh Kerr and Bede Durbidge, led a top five of independent breweries. The best performing nonindependent brewery was Pirate Life, whose Mosaic IPA took

As 2018 kicks into gear there is much to celebrate in the world of independent beer. The results of the recent GABS Hottest 100 indicated that ownership is becoming a more important factor to a lot of beer drinkers. 71% of the beers that appeared on the list are from breweries that meet the IBA’s definition of independence and a number of beers from breweries that have been recently purchased slid down in the rankings. One-off reaction or trend? Time will tell. At last things are looking up if you take to the nation’s skies. If you have transited through Melbourne Airport in recent times you may have had the opportunity to visit the Stomping Ground Brewery pop-up, and it was recently announced that a Beer Deluxe venue will be installed at Sydney Airport. This is sure to strongly feature the Hawthorn Brewing beers. This all follows on from last year’s announcement by Singapore Airlines that they would feature beers by Green Beacon, BentSpoke and Cheeky Monkey on certain flights. Small steps. And is that holy grail of many Australian beer drinkers, good beer at the footy and cricket, almost within reach? Well it certainly is for those in the west with the new Perth Stadium, which has been packing them in over recent weeks for cricket and AFLW, pouring independent beer in the form of Gage Roads. Imagine that! Good beer at a major sporting event. Yes, they are mid-strength versions of the regular Gage Road beers, but it is a start and I’ll take one of them over a mid-strength version of a macro lager any day. So, all in all things are looking quite rosy for good beer in Australia. Well, yes, but in the broader alcohol industry there is

8 www.beerandbrewer.com

a worrying trend and that is the rise of anti-alcohol lobbyists. The new temperance movement. The neo-wowsers. We, in our good beer bubble, cannot ignore their increasing voice. Led by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), a body set up with $115m of public money, this movement also includes other organisation such as the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (which is largely funded by FARE) and the self-appointed Alcohol Advertising Review Board. The purpose of these organisations is quite simply to restrict the ability of Australians to access alcohol. They do this in a number of ways, such as lobbying to increase the price of alcohol, limiting its availability by supporting lockout laws and opposing new licences and attempting to limit the industry’s ability to advertise its products. Let’s get this out there from the beginning. Some in our community do have a problem with misusing alcohol. As an industry we cannot ignore that and we are supportive of initiatives such as DrinkWise, but that does not mean that the majority of consumers who drink responsibly should be targeted by the scatter gun approach of groups like FARE. In a recent budget submission the group advocated that the excise rate on draught beer should be increased to equal that of packaged beer. It is well documented that Australia is already one of the heaviest taxed brewing industries, with rates around double that found in countries such as New Zealand and the US. In 2018, surely we can find a more nuanced way of helping Australians who have issues with alcohol that doesn’t penalise the vast majority who consume it responsibly.

sixth place. Overall, 71% of the beers in the Hottest 100, including nine of the top 10, came from independently owned breweries. Completing the top five were Stone & Wood’s Pacific Ale, Crankshaft – an American-style IPA from BentSpoke Brewing Co – Young Henrys’ Australian pale ale Newtowner, and Gage Roads’ International pale ale Single Fin. “The role that independents play is a very topical one and I am also involved with a small committee that is working with the Independent Brewers Association (IBA) to develop and launch a Seal of Independence,” GABS co-founder Steve Jeffares tells Beer & Brewer. “I think it is starting to bubble up as a topic, but you need to take into account that a lot of the people involved in these large surveys do have a strong interest in craft beer. I do think independence is a topic that is becoming more and more relevant to a small but growing number of consumers. All the breweries that have been acquired over the last 12 months or so fell this year, but they also had results that any brewery would realistically be happy with. I do think it has an impact, but we’ve got a sample of one, so let’s see what’s going to happen next year.” This year’s list saw 24 beers make their debut, including seven beers in the New England, or hazy IPA style. Overall over 2,000 beers from more than 250 breweries were nominated in the poll, up 21% on last year. At the GABS Hottest 100 Kiwi Craft Beers, Panhead Custom Ales won for the second year running with its American pale ale Supercharger. Completing the podium were two beers from Wellington’s Garage Project: in second place, Death From Above, a South-East Asian-inspired American IPA, and Pernicious Weed Double IPA in third. Garage Project had 19 beers featured overall, as were Aucklandbased brewers Behemoth (13 beers) and 8 Wired (10 beers). Seven of the beers on the list started life as a ‘Festival Beer’ brewed especially for the GABS Beer, Cider & Food Fest.

BREWDOG REVEALS ITS AUSTRALIAN LOCATION Scottish craft brewer BrewDog has settled on Brisbane as the location for its Australian brewery and headquarters, right on the river in the Brisbane suburb of Murarrie. BrewDog’s investment in Brisbane will total $30m, including the construction of the 50hl, 3,000 sq m brewing and canning facility. The site will also boast a restaurant, a taproom and a visitor centre. Construction is due to start in the second half of 2018, with the first Australia-brewed BrewDog beers expected to roll out in early 2019; BrewDog will be brewing its core line-up of beers including Punk IPA, Dead Pony Club and Jet Black Heart, as well as small-batch brews specifically for the regional market. “We’ve been so humbled by the support from local businesses, as well as the local community who have shown a real passion for BrewDog to call Brissie home,” says Zarah Prior, director of BrewDog Australia. “It’s a city that’s on the brink of some incredible growth, and we can’t wait to be a part of that. There are tonnes of amazing local breweries we’re looking forward to working alongside and collaborating with.” The launch of BrewDog Australia is expected to generate 150 jobs in the Brisbane area over the next five years. “BrewDog’s choice of Brisbane over other interstate locations

to open its first brewery outside of the UK and the US is a vote of confidence in our state from one of the world’s most successful independent breweries,” comments Cameron Dick, minister for state development, manufacturing, infrastructure and planning.

‘LOCAL MALT FOR LOCAL beer’

1800 119622 sales@cryermalt.com.au cryermalt.com.au

AUTUMN 2018 9

AUS & NZ NEWS

Brew U open for enrolment A new brewing facility has opened in Perth, updating the traditional ‘brew it yourself’ business model with a flavour-driven, craft approach. Brew U (AKA Brew University) is the brainchild of a group of three couples: Richard and Lisa Allen, Jon Stockey and Jenna Lippert, and Eliza Stockey and John Lewis. The latter told Beer & Brewer that they’ve taken an old brew-on-premises facility and “themed it along the lines

SA GOVERNMENT BACKS BREWERY EXPANSIONS

of what you’d see at a microbrewery over in the US.” “We wanted to try and bring a bit more of the craft element and the current brewing trends and offer something a step above the standard extract brewing that they do [at a brew on-premise facility],” says

The South Australian (SA) government has been supporting the

Lewis. “Aside from just your general extract brewing we’re doing

state’s brewing industry with expansions grants secured for Pirate Life

some more interesting stuff with yeast starters rather than just your

and Big Shed breweries.

standard two strains of dried yeast that make 300 recipes that are all

Pirate Life has secured $2m in funding for its new brewery and bar

very similar!

venue in Port Adelaide, which will see the creation of more than 80 new

“There’s a scalable element too – so from the 50l extract brews

jobs and is scheduled to open in December 2018. The site will be one of

through to grain brewing, playing with yeast, customizing menus…

the largest craft breweries in South Australia adding over 10m litres to

we’ve got a smaller 300l commercial system, and we’re looking at

the 3m litre capacity at the brewer’s existing Hindmarsh facility.

putting in a two to 3,000l as well.”

“The big part of this is the hospitality side of things, it’s closely tied

Brew U’s grand opening took place on 28 January, teaming up

to the jobs that we are going to create for hospitality in Port Adelaide,”

with locals Naked Apple Cider, Last Drop Brewery, Artisan Brewing,

says Pirate Life co-founder Jared Proudfoot. “It’s going to be a

Otherside Brewing Co. and Bright Tank Brewing Co.

reasonably sized brewpub that will be able to hold 250-300 people, but that is something that we are going to have to grow into.” “Our decision to choose Port Adelaide and expand our business in

“We’ll be bringing in some local brewers to do some classes and seasonal brews, and some kettle sours or beers that might be trending at the time in the industry, so that the guys that follow the trends and

South Australia was reinforced by the support we received from the

may not be able to replicate it with their setup at home can come in,

state government and displays our confidence in South Australia,”

learn about and brew some different varieties of beer,” adds Lewis.

adds Pirate Life chief executive John Phinney. In addition, Adelaide craft brewery Big Shed will move to a bigger shed and quadruple production after receiving a $50,000 grant and a $1m loan from the South Australian government. The $2.5m expansion will help it take production from about 250,000l a year up to 1m litres. The 3500sq m warehouse-style site will include the 50-hectolitre four-vessel brewery and tanks, a testing lab and a 200-300 seat venue with a beer garden, a live music stage and a dedicated kitchen. It will also have a new dual four-head canning line alongside its current bottling line and a coolroom to allow for deliveries direct from the brewery. “We’re planning on putting in a stage to encourage a bit of live music maybe once a month so that will be pretty unique to be sitting in the brewery listening to live music every now and then,” says cofounder and director Jason Harris. “The way we’ve set the brewery up enables us to do systematic upgrades to add storage tanks. All the other equipment we’ve put in will be able to handle that, so it’s just a matter of throwing more tanks at it to meet market demand.” Harris said the new site would allow Big Shed to enter the Queensland market and bolster existing markets of SA, NSW, ACT, WA and Victoria ahead of an expansion of international exports. The new brewery is expected to create about 15-20 hospitality jobs and about 10 on the production side.

10 www.beerandbrewer.com

IBA CALLS FOR FAIRER LAWS FOR BREWERS The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) has

within the industry and the $740m contribution in

submitted a series of reforms to the alcohol

economic output each year. But it laments excise

excise regime.

laws that it says are an impediment to cashflow and

A letter from Ben Kooyman, chairman of the IBA,

are applied unfairly compared to other part of the

was sent to Scott Morrison MP, treasurer of the

alcohol industry.

Australian government, proposing changes to the

“The excise rules favour one alcohol type over

current system, particularly regarding the way its

others,” states the letter. “Where independent

operates with respect to the 443 independent brewers

brewers can only claim up to a maximum of $30,000

in the country, as well as wholesalers, retailers,

per annum, similar businesses in the wine industry

restaurants and bars that are supported by the

can claim up to $500,000 in WET rebate.”

brewing industry.

The recommendations from the IBA include

“What we are seeking is a fairer, safer and

increasing the maximum Australian Alcohol

more business-friendly set of excise laws and

Manufacturing Refund claimable by an independent

their application, which will ultimately be a

brewer to $350,000 per annum, indexing the refund

better outcome for consumers, employees and also the Australian

amount so that it keeps up with the twice yearly increases to the

economy,” Kooyman says in the letter. “The reforms we propose in

excise rate, allowing independent breweries the choice of weekly,

this submission will enable our members to operate more efficiently,

monthly or quarterly excise settlement periods and lowering the

increase their production and their exports, create more jobs and

excise rates on 30l kegs to the equivalent of that on 50l kegs.

reduce prices for consumers.”

The letter states that these changes will have significant benefits

The letter lauds the growth of the independent brewing sector

for the industry, but also the government’s coffers. The IBA intends to

in Australia, citing the doubling of industry participants over the

follow up this submission with a campaign involving its members to

last five years, the 2,400 Australians who are directly employed

gain support from federal MPs.

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AUTUMN 2018 11

WORLD NEWS

World News WHAT’S MAKING HEADLINES IN THE WORLD OF BEER?

12 www.beerandbrewer.com

Vietnam

Sri Lanka

PREMIUM BEER CONSUMPTION SKYROCKETS

GOVERNMENT REINSTATES ALCOHOL BAN FOR WOMEN

Vietnamese drinkers are getting a taste for premium and superpremium beers, with consumption more than doubling between 2011 and 2016. According to GlobalData, the sale volume of Bia Hoi – a local, unfiltered homebrewed beer – has declined from 3.5m hectolitres in 2011 to 3m in 2016, while premium beer jumped from 4m hectolitres to 10m. Sales of superpremium beer have more than tripled, driven by a rise in disposal income.

In mid-January, the Sri Lankan finance ministry announced that it would lift a decades-old ban on women buying or serving liquor in bars and restaurants. But president Maithripala Sirisena backpedalled days later, supported by his cabinet. Historically, the law has been left largely unenforced, with many Sri Lankans unaware of its existence. Sirisena was criticised for political opportunism and playing to supporters in rural, conservative areas.

United States

Israel

Mozambique

Japan

HEINEKEN STARTS BUILDING

BEER SHIPMENTS HIT RECORD LOW

Heineken laid the foundation stone of its first brewery in Mozambique in early December 2017, breaking ground in what will be a $100m (USD) investment. The 0.8m hectolitre brewery will brew for the domestic market and is expected to create 200 jobs. According to Heineken, the first bottle is expected to come off the production line in the first half of 2019. The brewing giant has only had been importing its beers into the southeastern African nation since 2016.

Beer shipments in Japan fell for the 13th straight year in 2017, according to data released by five major breweries (Asahi Breweries Ltd, Kirin Brewery Co., Suntory Beer Ltd, Sapporo Breweries Ltd and Orion Breweries Ltd). Total export shipments of beer and ‘beer-like’ products (including happoshu, a low malt ‘beer-like’ drink) numbered 407m cases in 2017; beer shipments fell 2.9% in 2017 to 204.59m cases. The breweries point to shifting tastes of younger consumers as a factor.

United Kingdom

BREWERY TO OPEN AT DISNEYLAND

AB INBEV BUYS BEER TECH STARTUP

NEW HONEY BEER BREWED UNVEILED

San Diego-based Ballast Point Brewing has announced it will open a brewery at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, marking the first-ever on-site brewery for Disney. “We’re bringing Ballast Point to the happiest place on earth!” the brewery says on Facebook. The space will include an outdoor beer garden, a 7,300 sqft brewery, a tasting room and a kitchen. Ballast Point will pour its signature beers, as well as limitedrelease brews made especially for the Disneyland location. The venue is expected to open in late 2018.

AB InBev acquired Tel Avivbased startup WeissBeerger for a total of $80m in late January. WeissBeerger has developed ‘Internet-of-Things’ analytics tools, including sensors in beer taps, refrigerators and other critical points in the supply chain, giving bar, pub, restaurant owners and brewers a more detailed picture about the quality of their product, while also tracking consumer habits. WeissBeerger claims that the tools can increase revenue from each beer tap by 32% and reduce wastage by 50%.

A new honey beer brewed with botanicals has been launched in the UK. A collaboration between Bang-On Brewery and scientists from Cardiff University, ‘Bang-On Mêl’ (Mêl means honey in Welsh) is said to have antibacterial properties similar to Manuka honey from New Zealand. “We’re not making health claims about the beer,” says Bang-On Brewery’s Craig Jackson. “It’s simply about producing a great taste, but we hope the project may evolve into something that could change the culture of how beer is consumed.”

Germany

WEIHENSTEPHAN COLLABORATES WITH SIERRA NEVADA The world’s oldest brewery Weihenstephan, operational since 1040, has a new hefeweizen – brewed in collaboration with Sierra Nevada. The first-of-its-kind collaboration, a hoppy wheat beer called Braupakt (German for ‘brewery pact’), uses the German Hallertauer and the West Coast Amarillo and Chinook hops, as well as the yeast strain developed by Weihenstephan for use in its flagship Hefeweissbier. The onetime release is scheduled to arrive in the US in April.

AUTUMN 2018 13

BITS & BOBS

BITS BOBS

5. GUINNESS DOWN UNDER 1. CRAFT BEER LOVER GIFT SET

Guinness is a name instantly recognised the world over – the famous stout has been brewed at St James’s Gate in Dublin for over 250 years, and is now brewed under contract in 50 countries; 9m glasses of Guinness are drunk each day worldwide. In this illuminating book, author Rod Smith tells the never-before-told story of how the famous brew and the family came to New Zealand and Australia in the mid-1800s – the brew itself through export and eventually incountry brewing, and the family through four grandsons of Arthur Guinness who made a new life Down Under, where many of their descendants remain. Pairs perfectly with a glass or three of your favourite stout.

This collaborative gift set is part of a curated gift collection by jewellery designer Farina Cheng – each set features a piece of jewellery and a product from a partner who focuses on small-batch, handcrafted goods. The ‘Craft Beer Lover’ set features a leather brew holder from small Newcastle workshop Can’t Skate (pictured) – allowing you to carry your six-packs in style – and a unisex Silver Linings necklace. The set ain’t cheap, but if you love to shop handcrafted and Australia-made, then it’s worth a look in. Fairinachengjewellery.com RRP $199

Guinnessdu.co.nz RRP $49.99

2. THE CRAFT BEER GUIDE TO QUEENSLAND

Your one-stop shop for everything beer related in the Sunshine State, The Craft Beer Guide to Queensland provides a listing for each of the nearly 70 breweries that call it home – as well as listings for some of the best beer bars and bottle shops. There’s future editions planned for NSW and Victoria as well, so stay tuned! Queenslandbeerweek.com.au RRP $14.95

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4. WALL MOUNT BOTTLE OPENER AND BOX Open bottles in seconds with this wall mount bottle opener from Beaumont. Attach the opener to the wall near the fridge with a couple of screws, and connect the bottle top catcher to prevent errant bottle tops – and you’re good to go! Designed for busy bars and pubs, you’ll never waste precious beer time looking for a bottle opener again. Nisbets.com.au RRP $7.50 (Bottle Opener) + $4.90 (Catcher)

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NEW XXXXXXX VENUES

A COUPLE OF SHIFTY LIZARDS Shifty Lizard Taphouse recently opened in the town of Willunga, around 40 minutes south of Adelaide in the McLaren Vale wine region. Co-founders of Shifty Lizard and long-time friends Lee Stone and Danny Strapps released their first beer just over a year ago, brewing on a small 100l system and contracting production of their popular pale ale to nearby Vale Brewing. But with the help of investors, in late January they opened the doors of Shifty Lizard Taphouse – complete with a 600l microbrewery out the back. ‘Branding maker man’ Danny Strapps explains to Beer & Brewer that not only does his business partner Lee Stone handle the brewing side of the equation; he was also responsible for the brewery’s unique name.

SUN GOD SMILES ON NEW QUEENSLAND BREWERY AND BAR A new, solar-powered and sustainable brewery and bar has opened in Yeerongpilly, south Brisbane.

“[He] wanted to call it something ‘Stone’, but realised pretty quickly that nearly every brewery under the sun uses that word,” says Strapps. “So he decided to use his call sign for Call of Duty and games like that, which was Shifty Lizard. My illustration style also fits with his vision, so we just started working together a lot closer, and Shifty Lizard was born.” Strapps describes the space – with its dark charcoal walls, plants, timber tabletops and white-tiled bar – as “sort of like a Melbourne

Helios Brewing Company was founded by environmental engineers Scott Shomer and Tony and Jayne Rutter, who set out to design every

café two years ago, which is probably three years ahead of Adelaide.” And while the 75-person capacity Taphouse doesn’t have a kitchen,

piece of kit to be as energy efficient as possible. Named after the

Strapps says they’ll be serving cheese and cured meat platters to

Greek god of the sun, the brewery features 56 x 335W photovolataic

match with each of the Shifty Lizard beers.

solar panels and a 15kW inverter. This equipment does not just power

“We’ve had a lot of local interest and we saw a lot of locals on the

the brewery – 40% of the power produced is exported to provide

first weekend, but the craft beer community in Adelaide has grown

energy for the local grid on non-brewing days.

quite big and we’re definitely going to have a lot of those guys coming

“I decided to see just how green and how sustainable we could be,”

up the hill,” he says. “We also expect to have a lot of wine tours

says Shomer. “How little water can we use, what can we reuse, what

jumping on board, and there’s also a couple of craft beer tours starting

waste can we reduce, how low can we get the electricity, how much

to float down our way because of all the breweries starting to open

electricity can we produce? It was a personal mission for me to see

down here.”

how green I could get it.”

For now, Shifty Lizard beers are only available in South Australia –

To bank power production a logic panel has been designed, which controls electrical flow to the cold liquor tank, turning it on only during peak midday power production. This means they are effectively

as well as three or four venues in Victoria – but according to Strapps, the duo have expansion in mind. “I think once the Taphouse is all up and running, and we’ve got

storing excess energy as cold water. Water is re-used wherever

the right staff looking after that, we’re definitely going to push for

possible, while a special cleaning system allows the basic cleaning

national [distribution].”

solutions to be used to up 10 times. “We worked with some engineers from Melbourne that make super efficient solar hot water systems that work in cloudy conditions like Tasmania,” adds Shomer. “It will get our water up to 95°C straight of the roof. So for the mash process we use zero power. We’re working with the government and the local university, looking at the next generation of batteries. Once we get that next battery, we will truly be solar-powered.” The brewery has a tap room, with a mezzanine looking down over the brewery. A rotating array of food trucks over the course of a week provide food. Shomer owns the vacant lot next door and has plans for expansion. “Everyone here is looking at a massive mural of Helios and a canyon of stainless steel,” says Shomer. “I intend to expand into the second lot, so we’ve got room to grow.”

16 www.beerandbrewer.com

Helios Brewing Company Corner of Palomar Road and Varley Street, Yeerongpilly QLD 4105

Shifty Lizard Taphouse 33 High Street, Willunga SA 5172

Horsin’ About

St Andrews Beach Brewery 160 Sandy Rd, Fingal VIC 3939

A former horse training complex on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula has been converted into a unique brewery and agribusiness. In a past life, the property was owned by renowned horse trainers the Freedman brothers, where they trained a number of winning horses including three-time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva. Business development manager Tim Purchase explains to Beer & Brewer that much of existing infrastructure of the facility has been incorporated into the new venue: former boxes that used to house horses have been converted into private dining areas, while the 1,200m racetrack is now home to a variety of 8,000 apple and pear

– our Pale Ale is called Six Furlongs, which is the length of the

trees – with the future vision of producing cider.

racetrack; our Aussie Lager is called The Strapper, like the working

“The former paddocks out on the farm, we’ve currently got pigs, sheep, and chickens,” Purchase explains. “We’ve also planted a twoacre veggie garden which consists of tomatoes, carrots, corn, radish and heaps of herbs that we intend to use in the kitchen.” St Andrews Beach’s core range of four beers has been designed by renowned master brewer Dermot O’Donnell, while head brewer Matt

man’s beer; our Golden Ale is called Box 54, because that’s the box Makybe Diva was in, and then our Pilsner is called Race Day.” Jeff Young, former executive chef of the Pantry in Brighton, has created a menu for the beer selection – small plates, share plates, salads, pizzas and burgers. The brewpub is licensed for up to 180 people. Purchase adds that they’re planning to extend the range to include

Stitt runs the day-to-day operations of the brewhouse. Purchase

a mid-strength offering, as well as rotating seasonal beers, and that

describes the range as “gateway craft”.

the 25 hectolitre brewhouse and bottling line provides ample room for

“We’ve tried to go with a theme that tells the story of the property

future expansion.

Thirsty? Get your serve of beer news, brewer interviews, brewery openings and festival information every week.

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AUTUMN 2018 17

STYLE NOTES

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STYLE NOTES

The Broad Church Of Pale

BY FAR THE MOST REGULARLY BREWED STYLE IN CRAFT BREWERIES AROUND THE COUNTRY, PALE ALES DON’T TEND TO DOMINATE BEER HEADLINES LIKE THEIR HOPPIER, SCENE-STEALING COUSIN THE IPA. BUT AS LUKE ROBERTSON REPORTS, THEY’RE QUITE OFTEN A BREWERY’S TOP SELLER.

ale ales: just about every brewery has one, and you probably drink a lot of them. They are making headway into major chains and it’s

not unusual to find a pale ale as the lone independent beer amongst a row of contracted taps at your local. However, most beer lovers don’t give them too much thought. They are the workhorse – the six pack you pick up to punctuate your week and to complement the special releases and new beers in your shopping basket. The brewers we spoke to for this story tended to agree, although despite it being a style we all take for granted, they all spoke fondly of their own and other brewery’s pales. Names like Balter, Pirate Life, and Sierra Nevada are all talked about with reverence and more often than not, it’s the pale that people reach for (or in the case of

Dan Dainton, founder of Dainton Brewing

Balter, their XPA… but we’ll get to that later).

on social media to see not only who is

At Dainton Brewing in Carrum

buying it but where they are drinking

Downs (VIC), founder Dan Dainton

it. “I’ve been noticing in all the main

says having a pale ale is a must, and

social media craft beer groups, on a

theirs is definitely their biggest seller.

table littered with rare one-bottle

“It’s one of those things you have to

beers, are a lot of our tinnies sitting

have,” he explains. “It’s something

amongst them,” he says.

that most people know and they want.

In WA, Cheeky Monkey’s Pale Ale is

It’s in some of the larger chains now

also their biggest seller, however finding

and that’s because it sells. That’s why

the right version was a challenge. They

there’s so many of them out there.”

used to make an English-style, which

At Australian Brewery in Sydney, it’s

brewer Ross Terlick loved – and it even

also the top selling product. Marketing

won medals at a number of industry

manager David Ward says that since

events – but it just didn’t sell.

rebranding the cans it’s seen a bit of a bump in sales. He likes to keep an eye

“As it is with a commercial enterprise,

Pairing With Food? Most of the brewers were a little blasé about pairing their pale with food. Dainton’s Dan Dainton probably says it best when he says: “It’s a drinking beer”, however he concedes that a pizza wouldn’t be a bad pairing. At Cheeky Monkey, Ross Terlick says he likes his with fried food, but doesn’t like to think too hard about it all. Philter’s Sam Fuss says she hasn’t thought about it too much, and given Australia’s diverse cuisine, she believes it’ll go with just about any style of food. The one straight answer was from David Ward at Australian Brewery. He says theirs is great with prawns. So I guess that means prawn pizza with a side of chips is the way to go?

if you’ve got a product that doesn’t sell,

AUTUMN 2018 19

STYLE NOTES

GABS Dominance

Enjoying a can of awardwinning Philter XPA then you can’t keep running with it,” he says. “It holds up your stock, you can’t get it on tap and if people do put it on tap then it doesn’t move.”

WHAT IS A PALE ALE?

The GABS Hottest 100 is a great tool to check the mood of the wider craft beer market. For all the talk of sour styles and IPAs we hear from fellow beer lovers, you may be surprised to learn that since 2015, pale ales are the only style to gain in popularity in the poll. In 2015 there was 28. That went to 36 in 2016, and 38 in last year’s poll. Maybe it’s because craft beer is finding a wider audience, and pales are a big driver of that? Whatever the reason, it’s clear that the pale ale is king in Australian craft beer. Even if we don’t really know what it is.

There are many variations of pales – even when we exclude British bitter styles, India pales (and all of its substyles), golden ales, session ales and whatever else is put on labels these days. Even within the pale ale umbrella there are English pales, Australian pales, International pales, eXtra pales, and more. For consumers, it can be hard to know what you’re going to get when ordering a brewery’s pale ale for the first time. One brewery who has gone down the XPA route is Sydney’s Philter. Brewer Sam Fuss chose to label it an XPA because she wanted to differentiate it from the more bitter Australian and American pale ales, while still indicating that it has a full-flavoured hop profile. For her, the extra means “extra pale”. “We don’t use any Crystal Malt, so you get that really nice light kind of straw colour. Ours is all about flavour and aroma.” She says as a result of calling it XPA, they do need to make sure they are clear on what it actually is when talking to drinkers and trade customers. “People that usually drink craft beer generally know that it’s a pale ale, but then we’ll do events [and] we’ll make sure we say that it’s a pale ale.” At Dainton Brewery, Dainton agrees that with all this variation, education is important for new customers. “I don’t know how much we can do around that – probably nothing really – and it’s probably a description thing on the label, or educating when

20 www.beerandbrewer.com

Dainton Brewery’s American Pale Ale

STYLE NOTES

Planes While in the US, it’s common for craft beer to be found on planes, it’s far less common in other parts of the world. However, that is slowly changing. Late last year Singapore Airlines announced they were partnering with Cheeky Monkey, BentSpoke and Green Beacon Brewery to provide their beers in business class on select routes. For Cheeky Monkey, it was their Pale Ale that was selected. “We designed it to be our new flagship beer and that’s pretty much what it’s become,” says Terlick. “We got a huge upsurge in sales after the social media around [the partnership], and it was a nice little feather in the cap for us.”

Australian Brewery’s Australian Pale Ale

When it comes to malt, both Cheeky Monkey and Australian Brewery build theirs on a simple Pale Malt bill. However, big departures can be found in the other two versions. At Philter, Fuss likes to use flaked oats and wheat in hers. She says it helps keep the beer cloudy, and leaving it unfiltered helps keep yeast in suspension. She believes this contributes to a fuller flavoured beer. The wheat also helps round out the palate, especially in a lower (4.2%) ABV beer. Dainton, however, definitely goes for the other end of the scale, using

we’re out in the trade,” he says. He believes that an XPA should be

five different malts in his, which results in a darker beer than the

a stronger than a pale ale, but not as strong as an IPA, although he

others. He also uses wheat, along with ale, Caramunich, Caramel Pils,

accepts that he’s not immune to calling things similar names. “I think

and Light Crystal.

XPA is a stupid term… even though we’ve got XSA (eXtra Session Ale). It’s a marketing gimmick.” At Cheeky Monkey, brewer Ross Terlick also admits to being a bit confused about XPA. “I can understand it from a marketing point of view… some people think it means more or less malt, and others more hops. It’s one thing that confuses the hell out of me as well.” Terlick thinks of pale ale as a “broad spectrum” and that education is required. He often overhears people exclaiming that his version is dark for a pale ale, despite it being a clean single malt bill. “People who may be just coming in to drinking craft beer are

“It’s got a bit more malt body, I suppose,” he says. “The new ones out now are really light in body and colour, lower in alcohol – under that 5% barrier – a style of beer that I enjoy but it’s not what our Pale Ale is. Ours is more of that American pale ale. “ He says he built his as a “new age” take on Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, whereas the influence of local breweries can be seen in versions like the Australian Brewery’s, which is called an Australian pale. “Australian-style pale ales tend to be a lot lighter, with beers like Stone & Wood, and I suppose Coopers as well, making that really light beer that is more suited to the Australian climate,” says Ward.

coming from drinking Coopers Green, moving into the [James Squire]

While this all still might be quite confusing – a style with different

One Fifty Lashes, which are very pale [in colour],” he adds. “It’s about

names, different malts and different hops – they are all still doing one

educating the public and letting people know that pale doesn’t mean

thing for the breweries in this story: moving product. Terlick says he

as pale as a lager; it means more pale than a stout.”

doesn’t see the “freight train” of pale ales slowing down in Australia any time soon. He says the differences, no matter how far apart,

BUT WHAT IS IT THOUGH?

aren’t necessarily a bad thing for the industry.

The pales in this story all have completely different makeups, despite

“One of the great things about pale ale is there are so many different

some similarities. Philter, Dainton and Australian Brewery all include

varieties,” concludes Terlick. “It’s the confusing thing about it, but it’s

Australian grown Galaxy hops. Cheeky Monkey doesn’t and Terlick

also an endearing thing. Even where we are here, we’ve got a dozen

says he prefers American hops. He does use Simcoe in his, which are

different breweries in a really small area and everyone does a pale – but

also in the Philter XPA.

everyone’s is totally different.”

22 www.beerandbrewer.com

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Pale In Comparison 1. Balter XPA It might be pale, but there’s nothing weak about Balter’s popular XPA. Recently taking out the GABS Hottest 100 Craft Beers for 2017, XPA’s tropical and floral aromatics set off a fruity palate that punch your tastebuds straight into the pleasure zone. Tailored for those who enjoy a fully-hopped beer that’s still easy to drink.

2. BentSpoke Barley Griffin Pale Ale Mild and cloudy Australian pale ale – soft, fruity aromas and light biscuity malt giving a nice light mouth feel. Barley Griffin won the gold medal at the 2017 International Brewing Awards for International Smallpack Ale, Class 1 for Ale 2.9% – 4.4% ABV. Easy drinking and great on a hot summer’s day after mowing the lawn.

FOOD MATCH Chicken Karaage ABV: 5% RRP: $18.49 per four-pack (375ml) Balter.com.au

24 www.beerandbrewer.com

FOOD MATCH A pub burger ABV: 4.2% RRP: $17.49 per four-pack (375ml) Bentspokebrewing.com.au

3. Mountain Goat Pale Ale Added to the Mountain Goat lineup in 2015, this brew is a hopdriven, American inspired pale ale that’s bursting with stone fruit, pine and citrus characters. Well balanced and extremely drinkable – with a clean, dry and fruity palate – Mountain Goat’s popular Pale Ale is perfect all year round.

FOOD MATCH Chicken or sticky ribs ABV: 5.2% RRP: $22.99 per six-pack (330ml) Goatbeer.com.au

4. Young Henrys Newtowner Australian Pale Ale Made to celebrate 150 years of Newtown, the home of Young Henrys. The result is an Aussie pale ale called Newtowner, a golden, refreshing pale ale with great balance and hoppy aroma. Brewed with a blend of Australian malts and three varieties of local hops, it’s fun, fruity and even a little bitter – just like Newtown. Drinks all day, every day.

FOOD MATCH Your favourite pub counter meal ABV: 4.8% RRP: $21.99 Younghenrys.com

PALE ALE PROMOTION

5. Modus Operandi Pale Ale

6. Shifty Lizard Pale Ale

A rich golden coloured pale ale, dry hopped with Yakima Valley’s (Washington State) favourite heavy hitting hop Simcoe. This hop brings with it big aromatics of pine and citrus followed by a crisp finish. This beer’s got pedigree too – Modus Operandi Pale Ale was awarded a Gold medal at the AIBA’s in 2017.

Fruity notes on the nose start you off, as the light tropical and fruity tones are carried by the easy malt and hop characteristics. The well balanced bitterness is closely followed by a refreshing citrus hop hit, which finishes the beer on a light note that has you seeking the next sip. Best enjoyed with a mate or two.

FOOD MATCH

Fish Tacos ABV: 5.2% RRP: $28 per four-pack (500ml) Mobrewing.com.au

Wood fired pizza ABV: 5% RRP: $25 per six-pack (330ml) Shiftylizard.com

7. Colonial Pale Ale

8. Capital Trail Pale Ale

Brewed to sit between American and Australian pale ales, Colonial’s brewers searched the world for the perfect combination of hops. The result is a golden, tropical-tinged treat, with subtle hints of passionfruit, pine and botanicals. Smooth and approachable but packed with hops, Colonial Pale Ale is brewed to linger on the palate, not overpower it.

A fresh, juicy and sessionable beer with floral notes of pine and citrus. With a smooth hop bitterness and a well-balanced malt profile, it finishes with a bright, golden and cloudy appearance. Inspired by days spent hiking in the hills around the ACT, the boys at Capital say this beer is best enjoyed outdoors or in.

FOOD MATCH

Seafood ABV: 4.4% RRP: $74.99 per 24-pack (375ml) Colonialbrewing.com.au

Adobo pork tacos ABV: 4.7% RRP: $26 per six-pack Capitalbrewing.co

Shot at the Forest Lodge Hotel

AUTUMN 2018 25

KEG LOGISTICS AND TECHNOLOGY

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KEG LOGISTICS AND TECHNOLOGY

THE SECRET LIFE OF KEGS BEER KEGS: THEY’RE NOT EXACTLY THE SEXIEST PART OF THE BEER INDUSTRY. BUT IF YOU DELVE A LITTLE DEEPER, THERE’S PLENTY OF INNOVATION AND ACTIVITY HAPPENING BEHIND THE SCENES, AS LUKE ROBERTSON DISCOVERS.

egs waiting to be collected. A lineup out front of your local bar. Whether you’re a brewer or a drinker you’ve definitely walked past them, casting an eye over the names, then probably not given it another thought. While the brewers reading this should have some understanding of the hidden world of kegs, keg transport,

and keg maintenance, it’s not something most of us really think about. However, there’s a whole industry dedicated to making sure beer from the keg is in its best possible shape when it hits the taps – from the outside appearance of the keg itself, to ongoing maintenance and servicing. Kegs once destined for the scrapheap are now being refurbished and sent back out to market in tip top shape. And it may surprise you to learn that the keg you’re drinking from may have once contained kombucha, coffee or even a cocktail. There are also increasingly sophisticated ways to track exactly where the keg is, and soon brewers will even be able to tell exactly at what temperature their precious beer is being stored. That data will then be fed back through online apps for further analysis. So as you sip your pint you might not think too much about where that keg came from, and where it’s going next, but the entire process plays a big role in your final beer.

KEG SERVICING In June 2015, Bintani launched its Keg Servicing business, the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, providing total servicing of kegs. Bintani director Phil Meddings says that breweries are starting to realise how important regular maintenance is for kegs. “They recognise the quality of the beer doesn’t just rely on the brewing process and the fermenters, it relies on the packaging that it’s being delivered to their

AUTUMN 2018 27

KEG LOGISTICS AND TECHNOLOGY

customers in, so having kegs that work properly and having them maintained and thoroughly cleaned is important for that,” he explains. Meddings says that it’s not only the quality for customers, but also the impact that it can have for a brewery’s dealings with bars and restaurants. “There’s a cost benefit to it as well,” he says. “If a keg in trade fails due to seals, [this] can cost a brewery hundreds of dollars and not to mention the reputational damage. If you’re sending shitty kegs out to a customer and they’re losing pressure or pouring foamy, you can lose an account worth thousands of dollars.” Bintani operates one of only a handful of keg servicing businesses in the world. Local keg leasing and rental company Kegstar makes use of the Bintani service and Kegstar general manager Nick Boots says they make sure their rental kegs are serviced regularly to guarantee customers don’t end up with dodgy product in the market. “If a keg is well looked after and well maintained, we think they can last 30 years,” says Boots. “So what we’ve put in place is a preventative maintenance schedule. We want to stop issues before they occur and we think that brewers will appreciate that they know they’re getting a keg that’s chance of failure is very low.” Boots adds that while it may be an attractive prospect for some brewers to get cheaper kegs when starting out, the headaches they can cause aren’t worth it – from the quality of the beer, to preventing workplace accidents caused by faulty equipment operating under pressure. “Yeah it’s going to be cheap but how long will it last for and what are the impacts on the beer that’s in there – and what are the impacts to the safety of your team?”

TRACKING One of the most crucial parts of having a keg fleet is knowing exactly where it is. Kegstar, with its rental model, gives brewers access to a lot of that data and is working on ways to improve what data it can provide them with. “What we’re challenging ourselves to do is to make it accessible to brewers,” says Boots. “And they can already access a great deal of it through the MyStar portal. They can see wherever their Kegstar kegs are around the world.” Another company who is relatively new to the space is Kegit. Founder Dan Farthing says he launched the company after recognising a need for better tracking and quality information for brewers. With a background in inventory management he started investigating options for breweries. “It was always a very problematic and expensive part of small breweries,” he explains. “In working out a solution to fix that, I ended up building my own.”

28 www.beerandbrewer.com

KEG LOGISTICS AND TECHNOLOGY

The Future is Now! Not just beer Kegstar has also begun working with other drink manufacturers producing beverages as varied as wine, coffee, cocktails and even kombucha. High profile restaurants, such as Chin Chin in Sydney, are offering a range of wine from kegs, and the likes of Pimm’s are entering the market with kegged Pimm’s cups. Boots says for now it’s early days, but with more and more inner city bars and restaurants offering a range of products on tap, he predicts next summer the industry will boom. Other than the speed of service and ease of use for bars, it’s also environmentally friendly. “The environmental benefits are massive,” he comments. “A 50l keg is 65 glass bottles of wine that don’t have to be created and don’t have to be disposed of.”

Rotary Monoblocks from 2000 bph and up Still in development, his product will do everything, from basic QR code scanning via a mobile app to attaching a small device to the side of a keg which will share temperature and storage location. Farthing says the biggest problem has been getting longevity out of the devices, but they’ve devised methods to attach them securely: even if you try crowbar them off, the device will break before coming loose. He also adds that the next step will be working with logistics providers, and they’re already building partnerships with freight companies, which will result in automated booking and collection once the keg is empty. “An empty keg that’s coming back, basically of its own accord, is a pretty huge enhancement and efficiency gain for a brewery.” Kegstar also has QR code and RFID tracking on its kegs. Boots says with RFID, brewers can scan entire pallets at a time before they are

Linear Monoblocks up to 1500bph

sent out to retail. Kegstar has also worked with some warehouses in the US to provide scanning gates that automatically scan the kegs when they leave the warehouse. Boots is currently working with local companies to provide the same service and says that wider rollout of that service will be the “next evolution” for the company. After that, he says, the Holy Grail is GPS tracking, but that is at least two years away yet. “Nobody in the world has got it working at a commercial level yet… there’s a number of people who’ve got some trials going and they’ve managed to track a keg with GPS on the side of a road,” he

Unsurpassed Innovation in Beer Bottling

says. “The issue is around kegs when they go into deep dark cellars and there’s no GPS and there’s no WiFi.” Boots says they won’t launch it until they know they can trust it in the marketplace: “We’re not prepared to launch a service that’s not premium.”

LOOKING TO ASIA Most brewers will be more than familiar with single use plastic kegs, and local manufacturer Oxebar has been manufacturing its locally designed version ‘Kegasaurus’ in Springvale, Victoria, since launching last year. However, the speed of manufacture and local demand for its kegs has meant Oxebar has been looking at alternatives. It has partnered with a US company who will be using Oxebar’s designs at a manufacturing plant in Ohio, while also building its own plant near in China. “We have another production plant that we’ll own ourselves

info@viniquip.co.nz www.viniquip.com AUS: 1800 209 370 NZ: 0 800 284 647

that will be going into a small town just west of Shanghai that’s

AUTUMN 2018 29

KEG LOGISTICS AND TECHNOLOGY

partly to service the local Chinese craft brewing market,” says founder Kee Doery. Doery explains that their Springvale operation was initially a proof-of-concept facility, but now that demand is exceeding capacity, they will look to upgrade the site. “After the Chinese machine is up and running, we’ll be able to ship kegs to Australia, and we can decommission our current machine and upgrade that.” He adds that Oxebar’s other product, the homebrew fermenting system called Fermentasaurus, is also made on the same machine. The popularity of that product has also impacted their ability to make kegs. “That’s been part of the problem,” he says. “The fermenters were supposed to be a little side thing, but there’s been a market for us to move more than 30,000 a year. As a product on its own that’s enough to keep our current machine fully occupied.” Doery is also about to rollout the second generation kegs, which will reduce manufacturing costs by 30%. He also highlights the recycling benefits of their single stage kegs, which can be recycled in their entirety. Kegsta is also looking at the growing Asian market. It has seen increased demand from local brewers wanting to send beer to Asia, but who are hesitant about sending it in plastic kegs. Boots says the transit, storage and heat issues in many Asian countries means brewers prefer the reliability of stainless. Kegstar currently has operations in Australia, Ireland, UK, New Zealand and the US, and are still ironing out the details for their Asian expansion.

Repairs being made

Kegs backstage at GABS

A leg up Last year KegIT made a successful pitch to startup accelerator Slingshot, and Farthing says the experience and lessons he’s learned as a result have been incredible. “We got to work with some other logistics startups and got to talk to Lion about how they do logistics, and that really gave us a lot of insight into what the big picture needs to look like for indie brewers.” He says while he did receive some tongue in cheek comments about being bought by Lion and the nature of the macro beer business as a whole, he only sees positives from companies like his receiving assistance from the big players. “If breweries get more efficient on the admin side of the business then they can spend more time making better beer.”

30 www.beerandbrewer.com

Kegs as marketing We all know that branding is huge in modern beer, and without a good branding strategy your beer can be lost in the marketplace. Have you ever thought, however, that the kegs lined up waiting to be collected from the pub are also a marketing exercise? Brewers spend a lot of money on logos, printing unique cans and embossed bottles but the kegs may often be an afterthought, despite being seen by customers all over the country. As part of their keg servicing, Bintani have also developed silk screen printing for kegs. Bintani’s Phil Meddings says the German BLEFA kegs they provide look great as they come, with their polished steel surface, and they are getting more and more customers getting them screen printed with different colours and logos.

“IF YOU’RE SENDING SHITTY KEGS OUT TO A CUSTOMER AND THEY’RE LOSING PRESSURE OR POURING FOAMY, YOU CAN LOSE AN ACCOUNT WORTH THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS.” – PHIL MEDDINGS, BINTANI Keg servicing at Bintani

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HOP HARVEST

The n o s a e S h s e r F of Hops

HOP FARMS TEND TO BE QUIET PLACES – EXCEPT FOR A FEW WEEKS IN EARLY AUTUMN, WHEN FARMS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE ARE ABUZZ WITH THE EXCITEMENT OF A FRESH HARVEST, WRITES JEREMY SAMBROOKS.

ops. Of the four ingredients found in almost every beer in the world – the others being water, malted barley and yeast – they’re the only one that’s truly unique to beer. Hop cones are the female

flowers of the hop plant Humulus Lupulus, a climber that is usually trained to grow up strings in hop fields. They belong to the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants, which also includes cannabis, though they have none of the notorious weed’s psychoactive properties. After being picked, hops

32 www.beerandbrewer.com

HOP HARVEST

are usually dried, processed and pressed into pellets before being used in the brewing process, although whole hop flowers can be used as well. Hops impart beer with a tangy bitterness, as well as distinctive flavours and aromas. While people have been brewing and drinking beer for millennia (evidence suggests at least 7,000 years), hops are a relatively new addition, not gaining popularity until the 13th century. Prior to then, beer derived its bitterness from a mixture of herbs known as gruit. As well as providing their distinctive aromas and bitterness to balance the sweetness of malted grains, hops are used in beer making for their antibacterial properties, which help to prevent spoilage. For most of the year, hop farms are quiet places, as the crop is carefully tended and measurements are taken to determine the

Hop lingo Alpha acid – Found in the resin glands of hop flowers, alpha acids are the source of hop bitterness. The higher the alpha acid content and the longer the hops are boiled, the more bitterness is produced. Hop contracts – Put simply, these are contracts for breweries to buy hops, usually years in advance. This allows growers to know how much of each hop variety to plant each year. It also ensures that the breweries can guarantee their supply of hops, which is crucial for the highly sought-after varieties. The spot market – The market for the hops left over after contracts are filled. Buying hops on the spot market is invariably more expensive and often means that brewers cannot get their hands on the varieties they want. Hop shortages – What happens when demand for certain hop varieties exceeds supply, hop shortages can result from environmental phenomenon, such as drought or severe storms, or simply from increases in production failing to meet increasing demand. International Bitterness Units (IBUs) – A scale used to measure hop-derived bitterness. It’s important to note that IBUs don’t measure perceived bitterness, but the amount of isomerized alpha acids. One IBU is equal to 1mg of iso alpha acid per litre of beer. Noble Hops – A term that refers to four traditional varieties of European hops: Hallertauer, Saaz, Spalt and Tettnang. All four varieties are characterized as aroma hops as they are relatively low in alpha acids, but highly aromatic.

right time to begin the annual harvest. Then, for a period of a few weeks, there is a buzz of excitement as fresh hop cones are stripped from the bines, kilned, baled, pelletized and packed. Each new harvest’s crop will have a slight variation in flavour – a reflection of the seasons passed.

AUSTRALIA’S HARVEST Hops were first introduced to Australia in 1822 by William Shoobridge, a Kentish farmer, whose son Ebenezer established the Bushy Park hop plantation in Tasmania, which today is owned and operated by Hop Products Australia (HPA). Today, between Bushy Park and Rostrevor Hop Gardens in Victoria, HPA handles around 90% of the hops grown in Australia. Their hop harvest takes place annually from March into early April. “Seasonality can have a profound impact on the outcomes of a hop crop,” says Tim Lord, managing director of HPA, “and that’s before any natural disasters such as hail or heatwaves. This season is looking great, so fingers crossed for a good result from here. “The changing tastes of beer drinkers has affected our business – it has caused us to release new varieties and offer new choices in flavour to the brewers. Enigma is our newest commercialised variety and is becoming more widely available. Our next experimental variety HPA-016 will be available to commercial brewers in very limited amounts this year too.”

“WE ARE SEEING SOME NEW EUROPEAN HOP VARIETIES ENTERING MARKET, INCLUDING ARIANA, CALLISTA, CARDINAL, DRAGON, FOX AND WOLF. PLUS, WE ARE EXPECTING TWO NEW VARIETIES FROM NEW ZEALAND IN THE NOT SO DISTANT FUTURE – TRIALS FROM THESE BLEW US AWAY!” – JOHN BURRIDGE AUTUMN 2018 33

An aromatic handful

HOP HARVEST

The harvest in full swing at Hopco

Australian hop varieties

Another local grower is Ellerslie Hop, which has a history dating back to the 1930s. They currently grow five hop varieties: Australian Cluster,

These are the most well-known hop varieties unique to Australia. They are separated into bittering hops (used early in the boil to maximise bitterness and minimise flavour/aroma) and flavour/aroma hops (used late in the boil, as well as in whirlpool and dry hopping to impart big flavour and aroma with minimal bitterness).

Super Pride, Pride of Ringwood, Melba and Astra – the last two being

Bittering hops:

HOPPING OVERSEAS

Pride of Ringwood – Fruity, citrusy, cedar and herbal, popular bittering hop with large breweries. Super Pride – Resin and fruit, a high alpha acid hop used primarily for bittering.

Flavour/aroma hops: Astra – White wine, sweet tropical fruits, candied orange and passionfruit. Enigma – Red fruits, melon and light tropical fruits; hard to describe (hence the name), it’s the newest flavour hop from HPA.

developed by and exclusive to Ellerslie. Ellerslie Hop also provides the brewing industry with several varieties of US and European hops, as well as hop oils and extracts, and brewing and distilling malt.

The Nelson region on the South Island of New Zealand has long been the country’s hop growing epicentre, possessing the ideal sunshine-torain ratio for hops to flourish. Doug Donelan is the CEO of New Zealand Hops, a Nelson-based hop grower that has developed several hop varieties that are prized by craft brewers across the globe. “The New Zealand hop harvest commences in late February for some early varieties and continues throughout March,” says Donelan. “Our largest volume variety is Nelson Sauvin which is selected for its fruity, white wine characters, followed by Motueka, which imparts fresh lime

Galaxy – Passionfruit, peach and citrus, the most internationally recognised Australian flavour hop.

flavour and aromas. The rapid growth internationally in craft beer

Ella – Floral and subtle spice, tropical when used in dry hopping; related to, but subtler than Galaxy.

are almost exclusively grown under contract, so brewers with access to

Helga – Delicate floral and subtle herbal aroma, similar to German noble hops.

production saw unprecedented demand for certain hop varieties. Hops contracts are generally not impacted by shortfalls.” In the northern hemisphere, the hop harvest begins in August and can last through October. It is in the northern hemisphere that the large

Melba – Passionfruit, grapefruit, citrus and summery characteristics.

majority of the world’s hop supply is grown, with Germany and the

Topaz – Resinous and grassy in dry hopping, light tropical flavour in late additions and high gravity brews.

it in perspective, Australia grows just over 1,000 tonnes of hops per year,

Vic Secret – Subtle and earthy when boiled, passionfruit, pineapple and subtle herb and resinous characters when used in dry hopping or whirlpool.

exceeds 20,000 tonnes! For years, American hop growers have increased

United States being by far the most prolific hop growing nations. To put while the Yakima Valley in Washington State has an annual harvest that the cultivation of aroma varieties such as Cascade, Citra and Mosaic, as craft breweries have demanded highly aromatic hops for their IPAs. On the other hand, Germany has trended towards replacing existing acreage

34 www.beerandbrewer.com

Tim Lord, managing director of HPA

HOP HARVEST

of noble hops with high alpha bittering hops, most notably Herkules. Hopco is a Tasmanian-based company which describes itself as ‘Importers of Quality Hops and Hop Products’. Currently Hopco sources hops from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Slovenia. John Burridge – who oversees sales and marketing for Hopco – spoke excitedly about some of the new hop varieties to look out for. “We are seeing some new European hop varieties entering market, including Ariana, Callista, Cardinal, Dragon, Fox and Wolf,” says Burridge. “Plus, we are expecting two new varieties from New Zealand in the not so distant future – trials from these blew us away!” In 2016, Hopco collaborated with Pirate Life to create a New Zealand Pale Ale, which has been in regular production ever since. “The aim was the showcase New Zealand hops in a sessionable beer that everyone could enjoy,” recalls Burridge. “Kindly Pirate Life accepted the challenge and now the beer is so popular I think they kind of have to continue with it.” A relative newcomer to the brewing industry, Bintani started in a backyard shed in Melbourne in 1995, selling yeast to a few Australian brewers. Four years later they

Hop-driven, well balanced and extremely drinkable, this one is perfect all year round.

goatbeer.com.au MOU913 Beer and Brewer Autumn_FA.indd 1

16/02/2018 3:49 PM

AUTUMN 2018 35

HOP HARVEST

fun facts about hops 1. The earliest recorded use of hops in beer was in 822, but organised hop cultivation didn’t begin until the 12th century in what is now modern day Germany. 2. As late as the 16th century, in Britain, hops were condemned as “a wicked and pernicious weed”, and many cities enforced bans on hopped beers. Henry VI was believed to be a fan of hopped beers and was instrumental in its eventual acceptance in the country. 3. H ops grow best between latitudes of 35 to 55 degrees either north or south of the equator because of the longer days during the growing season. Most of the world’s hops are growth within these latitudes, but growing hops outside of these bands is certainly possible, as many amateur hop growers will attest. 4. H op plants are often mistakenly called vines, but they’re actually bines. The difference? Vines climb using tendrils, while a bine will climb using its shoot alone. The bines grow clockwise around their support as they follow the sun across the sky, while tiny downward-pointing bristles on the shoot help the plant keep its grip as it climbs. 5. H ops are toxic to dogs and cats – ingesting them can cause your pet high fever and even death, so be sure to keep your homebrew supplies well out of reach.

moved into a warehouse and in 2002, Bintani received its first delivery of hops. Today, Bintani is the country’s largest hop importer, sourcing hops from all the major growing regions around the world and supplying them to all segments of the brewing industry. We spoke with Bintani’s director Phil Meddings about how hop contracts affect the brewing industry. “Hop contracts are essentially forward orders for hops from future crops placed by a brewery with a dealer or grower,” explains Meddings. “For growers, they are an extremely important signal to make sure they are putting enough of the right varieties in the ground to satisfy demand. “For dealers, they ensure that the right hops end up in the right breweries. For brewers, the value of a hop contract varies – for some they are necessary and welcome, for others, they are an unwanted burden that

36 www.beerandbrewer.com

HOP HARVEST

HPA chart

©The Hop Flavour Spectrum is owned by Hop Products Australia. It may not be used or reproduced without full and legible branding.

can reduce their ability to be nimble in the market. For Bintani, working collaboratively

Victorian craft brewery Bridge Road Brewers also has a long tradition of brewing

©The Hop Flavour Spectrum is owned by Hop Products Australia. It may not be used or reproduced without full and legible branding.

with brewers to best handle their changing

wet-hopped beers to celebrate the hop

demands is something we are very proud of.”

harvest. The brewery releases two beers after

©The Hop Flavour Spectrum is owned by Hop Products Australia. It may not be used or reproduced without full and legible branding.

the annual hop harvest: Harvest Fresh Hop

SPECIAL HOP HARVEST BEERS

– a hoppy pale ale – and Dark Harvest – a

While most breweries buy in all their hops,

stronger, darker, wet-hopped beer which is a

Victoria’s Red Hill Brewery grows its own

collaboration with gypsy brewer Mikkeller.

on-site. Businesses in rural zones on the

Bridge Road’s founder Ben Kraus explained

Mornington Peninsula are required to have

the differences between brewing these,

a direct link to the land, which led to owners

and traditionally hopped beers. “Brewing

Karen and David Golding deciding to grow

Harvest Fresh Hop and Dark Harvest is a

hops, which they did for four years until the

fairly different experience,” he says. “It can

brewery was commissioned in 2005. Red

only happen in a one-month window and the

Hill grows, picks and dries its own Tettnang,

flavour profile is quite different – really fresh,

Hallertau, Willamette and Goldings hops,

delicate aromas and green, leafy chlorophyll

some of which make their way into every

characters not available in dried hops. It’s

one of the brewery’s beers. One of Red Hill’s

quite different and not what you’d expect. We

seasonal releases is Hop Harvest – a strong

have to use a lot more hops by weight than

English-style bitter that is copper in colour

in a standard-hopped beer. Many brewers

with a strong malt character, balanced by

add dry hops to their hop harvest beers, but

the brewery’s new season Willamette and

Bridge Road doesn’t. It’s very expensive to

Goldings hops.

brew, but it’s good fun!”

BEER PACKAGING: ART AND DESIGN

JUDGE BY ITS COVER MASH TUNS AND FERMENTING VESSELS HAVE LONG BEEN CANVASES FOR THE CREATIVITY OF BREWERS. BUT THE GLASSWARE, CANS, BOTTLES AND KEGS IN WHICH THE LIQUID IS STORED AND SERVED ALSO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR IMAGINATIVE DESIGNS TO CATCH THE EYE, WRITES CHARLIE WHITTING

resentation matters. The

brewing, they are looking to do the same with

beer are growing – they’re drinking less, but

way a meal is plated will

the design for the containers in which they

they’re drinking better – and just as brewers

have an effect on the diner’s

are presented.

are looking to keep their product’s quality

experience. The way a

“One of the things Australians do well is

and innovation ahead of the curve, they must

person dresses affects your

design, especially in the beverage market,”

now also look beyond the brewing process

preconceptions about their

says Lawrence Dowd, national general

and consider their packaging and branding.

personality. There is, therefore, no reason

manager at Colonial Leisure Group, which

Indeed, such is the growing importance of

why this important facet of life shouldn’t be

owns Colonial Brewing. “It’s probably akin

this facet of brewing that the 2017 Australian

applied to the packaging of beer.

to what happened with wine, we’re the envy

International Beer Awards (AIBA) included

of a lot of other countries how we market

awards for Best Surface Graphic and Best

categories to see the powerful effect of

our wine and through the labeling, with each

Outer Packaging for the first time.

packaging. The iconic bottles of Jack Daniel’s

winery having its own distinct look, that’s

or Johnnie Walker are as much a part of

something that they love in Europe because all

people will experience about a brand, so it is

their brand as the liquids they contain. And

their labels can sometimes look a bit similar.

pretty important to success,” notes Callum

how often has our selection of a bottle of

We’ve done well in that area and I think beer

Reeves, co-founder of Kaiju! Beer. “If the

wine from the shelf been influenced by the

is really coming through and doing some great

packaging isn’t appealing, a brewery can still

labelling? Brewers use the full scope of their

marketing. It’s a really cool space.”

succeed through being exceptional in other

One only has to consider other drinks

wit and imagination to conjure names for

In the Instagram age, strong visual appeal

“Packaging is usually the first thing most

areas – beer quality, innovative styles, a great

their beers which will delight and intrigue,

is essential if brewers want their products to

tap room or really engaging key people – but

and as they continue to push boundaries in

be shared online. People’s expectations of

you’re on the back foot from the start.”

38 www.beerandbrewer.com

BEER PACKAGING: ART AND DESIGN

THE PERSONAL TOUCH

as its extrinsic ones. Wayward Brewing Company’s

Creating packaging that grabs one’s attention is

core range packaging won the Best Outer Packaging

important in the first instance. But just as shouting

at the 2017 AIBAs, with its subtle nods to each

will grab attention, to have a longer-term effect,

beer’s ingredients. Founder Pete Philip created the

what you say has to resonate. A bottle or can that is

packaging designs, while local freelance designers

interesting, attractive or even challenging will add

created many of the logos.

something to the overall drinking experience and

“The beer logos themselves are actually quite

make a substantial impact in the minutes and hours

intricately designed, with each either relating to the

after purchase. Iconography can create a more lasting

beer’s name or its ingredients, for example the oat

impact on drinkers, something they can recognise

borders of the Oatis Oatmeal IPA, or the snake in

and be loyal towards. If the artwork on your bottles

our Charmer India Red Ale,” explains Faye White,

and cans is memorable and unique, it will make your

creative director at Wayward Brewing Company.

drink not only stand out among crowded competition,

“Each beer has its own bold, striking colour, which

but unifies your beers under a banner that sets

helps it to stand out and also gives each beer its own

out your stall. People will recognise the design,

identity under the Wayward brand.”

remember the experience and what that brewery is about, and then reach out for it. “We were always going to be clean and minimal, but the design also had to have functionality, reflect

At Kaiju!, the individualised approach took a different turn, not focusing so much on what went into the beer, but instead seeking to recreate the drinking experience that each beer conjures.

the personality of the brand and look bloody cool at the same time,” says Stirling Howland, brand director and co-founder of Balter. “When breaking down functionality we considered things like how it would sit in the retail environment, a person’s hand at a festival, party or in the backyard, and how it floated around in an esky. The distinct white can and coloured band helped bring all these points to life. Then it was about capturing the personality of our brand. We wanted people to see our tinnie and smile. So we made a tinnie that smiled at you, which is assisted by colours which also make you feel good. We just want our cans to be iconic and instantly recognisable. We want them to communicate clearly so the customer feels empowered not confused by the content.” BentSpoke Brewing Co won a gold medal for outer packaging at the 2017 AIBAs, with its Crankshaft IPA design. For Richard Watkins, head brewer and coowner of BentSpoke Brewing Co., it was important to have cans that spoke about the company and engaged with customers from a local level. The initial design was done by Voodoo with a Canberran focus to achieve just that. “We wanted to celebrate all things Canberra,” he says. “We are born and brewed in Canberra and we are proud of where we are from. I think it is really important. Customers engage with packaging that they like. Good packaging and good quality beer go hand in hand.” Having a style that is immediately recognisable as yours also allows you scope to play around within those parameters. The design of a can, label or pump clip can always have something to say about each different beer that they represent. The modern consumer cares about provenance and authenticity, they want to know about the story behind the beer

International inspiration Fantastic packaging from around the world Camden Town Brewery, UK – This north London brewery was recently bought by AB InBev and underwent a rebrand of its packaging. Its bold and colourful transformation triumphed in the Best Branding/Design category at the 2017 Beer & Cider Marketing Awards. Beavertown, UK – The British trendsetter for can design, these guys have had a major influence on the scene. With big, bold colours depicting crazy sci fi scenes, these cans are impossible to ignore and can keen you entranced as long as the beer does. Ozark Beer Co, USA – Dark, moody artwork built with words that celebrate the American wilderness are the hallmark of this Arkansas brewery. Goose Island: Bourbon County Stout bottles (US) – Winner of a 2017 International Design Award, Goose Island’s highly-sought after Bourbon County Stout packaging includes a flag-like tab on the bottleneck label, with clean and precise design. 11 Below Brewing (US) – Another winner at the 2017 International Design Awards, 11 Below’s range of cans incorporates a bold, brightly-coloured theme, with interesting artwork set on a silver can. Truly shows the potential of a beer can as canvas. Brixton Brewery (UK) – Bold and attention grabbing, the bottles from this London brewery simply jump off the shelf. The strength of the branding was probably a factor in Heineken purchasing a minority stake in the brewery in late 2017.

and they care about its intrinsic qualities as much

AUTUMN 2018 39

BEER PACKAGING: ART AND DESIGN

Statistics 71% of craft beer buyers make their purchase decision based on packaging

66% of American craft beer buyers say that a beer’s package/label is “very” or “extremely” important for getting them to notice it

60% say that the package/label is “very” or “extremely” important in convincing them to give it a try and buy it

71% of craft beer buyers say they like to try brands with bold and interesting packaging (Provided by Nielsen)

“In terms of themes, we want the imagery to evoke the kind of situations you would drink

opinion, was the major reason that Kaiju! moved into cans.

the beer,” says Reeves. “So Krush! has a fresh,

“Having a bigger canvas for our designs is

tropical, summer vibe, while something like

probably the biggest reason we have begun

Betelgeuse is much darker, with reds and golds

to move much of our range to cans,” Reeves

and lava, because we expect people to want to

explains. “There’s no appreciable difference

drink it in a dimly-lit bar, or a volcano.”

between the quality of beer we fill into bottles or cans, so we’re pretty agnostic as far as the

YES, WE CAN

vessel is concerned. Where cans win out over

Bottled beers have always been a playground

bottles is in the ability to reveal much more of

for breweries to experiment with designs,

the brand story with the extra space we have.

with plenty of scope for expression, but the

And the larger images really do help to stand

changing fortunes of canned beers have

out on the shelf.”

opened up even more opportunities for artists

However, it is important not to get carried

and designers to expand their original ideas.

away with all that extra space on the cans. Some

There are plenty of positives for keeping

of the best designs have relied on the simplicity

beer in cans – they are better at shielding

of their message, using big, bold colours to

the liquid from the outside environment and

stand out as opposed to intricate artwork and

they are also better at shielding the outside

the like. Colonial Brewing won the award

environment itself as it is highly recyclable.

for best design – label/surface graphic at the

But in addition, canned beers don’t confine

AIBAs, and also received a Distinction award for

artists and designers to a square label.

packaging at the Australian Good Design Awards

Instead, it is possible to create a work of art

(ADGAs) for its can artwork, and Dowd insists

out of the item itself. This has allowed for

that it’s about understanding how to best use

greater levels of innovation and, in Reeves’

the space as opposed to filling it.

Wayward’s classy bottle

Tinnie hurling at Balter

The bold packaging of Kaiju!

40 www.beerandbrewer.com

BEER PACKAGING: ART AND DESIGN

“They’re such a beautiful shape and offer more real estate when compared to bottled beer,” says Dowd. “That said, you don’t have the flexibility of the different beer bottle shapes. For us, being in the standard can, it offers some great space to do some really cool stuff, but it’s not about populating every single inch of the can with design, it’s about being delicate and very specific with what you want to achieve.” In the quest to find more space to create artwork associated with beer, brewers are now even turning to their kegs as potential canvasses. No surface should be discounted as an unworkable canvas and it is always worth exploring new avenues. One has only to look at the growing intricacy and ambition of the artwork on pizza boxes to see that where there is space, it can be filled with something interesting and memorable. Packaging has always been critical to brewers, but it has never been so intrinsically linked to the product and the company. In the brewing world, artwork and design are now part of the overall package.

Colonial’s theme extends across its range

cbco_

#ColonialBrewingCo

HOMEBREWER

42 43 44 46 48 50 52 57 58 60

“IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW GOOD A BEER IS, IF IT DOESN’T SELL IN DECENT VOLUMES IT HAS TO GET CUT FROM YOUR RANGE” – ROSS TERLICK

Welcome Letters Q&A No Rulz Recipes Ginger Beer Homebrewer to Pro Brewer Sanitising Professor Charlie Bamforth Back to Basics

Check out page 52 to find out how to take your homebrewing to new professional levels

Editor’s letter

Chris Thomas Homebrewer Editor chris@beerandbrewer.com

42 www.beerandbrewer.com

Autumn is traditionally my least productive time of year to brew, but given we’re still somewhat in beer festival season I remain inspired. Especially with the quality and quantity of recipes here! We interview some homebrewers who have become pro brewers. Let’s be honest, we all dream about it from time to time so get inspired! They share their brewing journey as well as a recipe each. Speaking of professional brewers, Andrew Childs of Behemoth (NZ) & Chur (Aus)

also offers up his recipe for an oldschool IPA called C’s Get Degrees. Ginger beer, the forgotten cousin to beer, wine and cider gets a look in after a reader request. We look at two commercial examples, and of course accompany that with a recipe from Harcourt Valley Vineyard (Vic). No Rulz trials a new range of malts as he explores Australian lagers, while Coopers also provides the recipe for a tasty blood orange wit.

Homebrewer’s technical editor Jake Brandish finishes his chat with Charlie Bamforth and then has a look at one of the most important steps in any brewhouse – sanitising. John Palmer, our homebrew legend from the US, answers more reader questions. Keep them coming! Happy brewing and cheers, Chris Thomas chris@beerandbrewer.com

Letters

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

HI CHRIS, I’m another happy subscriber of B&B since Nov ‘15. I’ve brewed for a few years and the last couple I finally jumped into all grain, being the convenient BIAB method. A lot of my enjoyment is experimenting with every recipe, making my own and using bits of others, particularly from this magazine. What I’ve noticed in the recipes is you use the Lovibond index, compared to the EBC index. Is there a chart or something you could create for fellow brewers to make this difference easy to convert? My second query is regarding the no chill method, which I choose to do. It’s easy and free. I’m pitching within the same day when I brew early enough and I’m happy with the results. An article on how much difference this makes to your tasty concoction would be awesome. I’ve heard about pushing your hop schedule back 15mins and adding hops in the cube when chilling but honestly I haven’t bothered. Should I be? There’s also no online calculator to account for this method so I just work out my IBU’s the standard way. Cheers and happy brewing, Dan. Thanks for making contact Dan. Head to John Palmer’s Q&A for your response!

HI CHRIS, I’m writing in for the first time but have been reading Beer & Brewer for a few years, and love all the tips and recipes that come in the magazine. I recently had a cracker craft ginger beer on tap at a pub, and was keen to give a ginger beer a go at home, but I went back through my old copies of Beer & Brewer and couldn’t find any recipes or articles on ginger beers. Do you have any recipes and/or tips on how to put together a good one? Thanks, Tristan

Both letters printed have won a copy of the Beer Buyer’s Guide

Australia & New Zealand, valued at $24.99. The Editor’s Choice Letter has won an Ss Brewing Technologies 26.3 litre stainless fermenter. What sets the Brew Bucket apart are features such as stacking during ferment, the rotatable racking arm and ball valve spigot assembly. The BrewBucket’s conical bottom allows trub to settle nicely in a

Hey Tristan – great idea. I am also a fan of good ginger beer so thanks for the inspiration to put something together on this uniquely fantastic drink. I’ve got this one fermenting away at the moment and I hope you enjoy brewing it too.

more concentrated space and has the effect of minimising the surface area of your beer that is in contact with the trub during ferment, which then minimises off flavours in your beer! RRP $269

AUTUMN 2018 43

Q&A

Colour and the Shape HOMEBREW LEGEND JOHN PALMER RESPONDS TO OUR READER QUERIES. HERE, HE COMPARES THE LOVIBOND AND EBC COLOUR MEASURES AND THEN HE LOOKS AT NO-CHILL EFFECTS AND CUBE HOPPING

omebrewer, Dan asks the

glass slides of different shades that could

the EBC method uses the same wavelength

following questions:

be combined to produce different colours.

(430 nm), and the two scales only differ

Optical comparators were used in conjunction

by a factor of 1.97, or 2. Therefore, when

happy subscriber of B&B

with these slides to determine wort and

converting malt colour scales between

since Nov ’15. I’ve brewed

beer colour. In 1950, the American Society

Lovibond and EBC, just remember that malt

for a few years and the last

of Brewing Chemists developed the use of

colour in EBC is twice that of Lovibond. For

couple I finally jumped into all grain, being the

optical spectrophotometers to measure the

example, a British Crystal 60L malt would

convenient BIAB method. A lot of my enjoyment

amount of light of a specific wavelength (430

be most similar to a German Caramel 120

is experimenting with every recipe, making my

nanometers) transmitted through a half-inch

EBC, although you need to understand that

own and using bits of others, particularly from

diameter test tube. The Standard Reference

different maltsters use different malting

this magazine. What I’ve noticed in the recipes

Measurement (SRM) scale is supposed to be

regimens and different kilning regimens,

is you use the Lovibond index, compared to the

identical to the Lovibond scale, for all intents

so that even though the colour is similar,

EBC index. Is there a chart or something you could

and purposes. This is not strictly true of course

the flavours will probably not be exactly the

create for fellow brewers to make this difference

because the transmittance number from the

same. Do not get too excited about these

easy to convert?

spectrophotometer test does not distinguish

differences, this is not rocket science where

hue, i.e. how yellow or red the colour is, versus

you may miss the planet if the numbers don’t

°L (or °SRM). The science of malt and beer

its lightness or darkness. In other words, two

match, you will still make good beer. You

colour is explained in Appendix B of How To

worts that are visibly different colours to your

may find that you prefer a German 150 EBC

Brew, in both the previous (2006) and most

eye could have the same SRM value.

caramel malt instead of the British 60L or

Question: I’m another

A: Yes, the answer is 2, i.e., EBC = 2 x

recent (2017) editions. Basically, what it says

The EBC method works in the same way,

80L crystal malt; that decision is entirely up

is that the Lovibond scale was invented in

but it uses a smaller sample tube and, prior to

to you. The conversion factor for the colour

1883 by J.W. Lovibond, and it consisted of

1990, it used a different wavelength. Today,

scales is about 2, but malts of the same or

44 Home Brewer

Percentage of Isomerization vs Temperature 100%

Percentage of Isomerization Rate

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 100 95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 Temperature °C

similar colour from different maltsters will

really isn’t a factor for beer flavour. What

rate. Last year, I published a paper in the

taste different for the same reason that apple

could make a difference is the pitching

journal of the Master Brewers Association

pies from different restaurants taste different

and fermentation temperatures between

that models this reduction, based on a paper

- because it’s people.

the two batches, but that would need to be

by Malowicki and Shellhammer in the Journal

determined in a side by side experiment for

of Agricultural and Food Science from 2005.

Question: My second query is regarding the

the same recipe. In other words, all else being

As you can see in Figure 1, the isomerization

no chill method, which I choose to do. It’s easy

equal, the chilling method should not make a

rate decreases rapidly with temperature,

and free. I’m pitching within the same day

difference in beer flavour.

such that at 75°C it is only 10% of the rate at

when I brew early enough and I’m happy with

But you also asked about changing your

100°C, time for time. In other words, hops

the results. An article on how much difference

hop schedule to add hops to the cube. In

that are steeped for 30 minutes at a constant

this makes to your tasty concoction would be

essence, adding hops to hot wort (but not

temperature of 75°C would only generate 10%

awesome. I’ve heard about pushing your hop

boiling) wort is the same as a whirlpool

of the isomerized alpha acids that boiling for

schedule back 15 minutes and adding hops in

addition at a commercial brewery.

30 minutes would generate, and by extension,

the cube when chilling but honestly I haven’t

Homebrewers call this hop steeping or a

bothered. Should I be? There’s also no online

hop stand. The lack of a boil allows more of

is only a model, it is only intended to give you

calculator to account for this method so I just

the volatile oils to be retained in the beer for

an idea of what may happen when hops are

work out my IBU’s the standard way.

better hop aroma. In an air-tight bin, the

steeped in hot wort.

A: The flavour difference between using a

only 10% of the IBUs. Remember, this graph

hot wort helps extract and retain these oils.

Therefore, adding some of your hops to

no chill method and a rapid chilling method

It is essentially the same as dry hopping, but

the cube while it cools will improve the hop

will probably be insignificant, assuming your

hotter and faster. However, it is important to

aroma, similar to dry hopping, and add some

sanitation is good. Both methods will produce

understand that isomerization will still occur

bitterness, but not as much bitterness as

nearly the same amount of cold break, which

outside of the boil, although at a reduced

boiling the hops would.

AUTUMN 2018 45

RECIPES

Australian Hopped Pale Ale – All Grain Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.046 FG: 1.009 ABV: 4.8% IBU: 26 Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients 4.5kg Coopers Premium Ale Malt 250g Briess Carapils

No Rulz Goes Pale Ale REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR MARTIN POTTER, AKA NO RULZ, TAKES A LOOK AT AUSTRALIAN PALE ALES. WHILE NOT QUITE ABANDONING THE RULES, THESE ARE TASTY RECIPES THAT USE THE NEW RANGE OF COOPERS MALTS.

his month we’re looking at more subtle flavoured Australian pale ales. Many people think of Australian pale ales as a little dull, but they don’t have to be. This little experimental pale was a welcome and refreshing change to the keg system at home. It was the second brew while we were trialling the new Coopers Premium Ale Malt as a base malt. The relatively small Galaxy late and dry hop additions aren’t overpowering, allowing the melon notes

from Summer hops to make their presence felt. In this recipe, we used reverse osmosis water and added 10g Calcium Sulphate and 4g Calcium Chloride to the mash water. Sparge water was acidified to pH of 6.00 with a few mls of 88% Lactic Acid. The whole aim here was to get a very sessionable pale ale with Australian hops that wasn’t over the top, but rather just enough to be satisfying. Galaxy brought its usual passionfruit and the Summer contributes a nice subtle melon-like character.

46 Home Brewer

100g Briess (60o L) Caramel Munich Malt 14g Super Alpha hops (can substitute with Dr Rudi hops) 30g Galaxy hops 45g Summer hops Safale US-05 yeast

Method 1. Mash for 60 minutes at 66°C for a medium light body 2. Mash out at 76°C 3. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the Super Alpha for the duration of the boil 4. Add 10g of both Galaxy and Summer hops with 10 minutes remaining in the boil 5. Chill to 18°C and transfer to fermenter before pitching yeast 6. Ferment for seven days at 18°C 7. On day seven, dry hop for five days with 20g of Galaxy hops and 35g of Summer hops 8. On day 12 chill the beer and add finings 9. Check the gravity and if it is at or near 1.009 and consistent for consecutive days, then bottle or keg then enjoy! NOTE: If Using the No-Chill method, bring the 60 minute addition forward to 20 Minutes, use the 10 minute addition as a cube hop and dry hop the same.

Australian Hopped Pale Ale – Extract with Specialty Malts Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.045 FG: 1.008 ABV: 4.8% IBU: 26 Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients 1.5kg Briess CBW Pilsen Light extract 1.5kg Briess CBW Golden Light extract 500g Light Dry Malt extract 250g Briess Carapils malt (cracked) 100g Briess (60o L) Caramel Munich malt (cracked) 14g Super Alpha hops (can substitute with Dr Rudi hops) 30g Galaxy hops 45g Summer hops Safale US-05 yeast

Method 1. Bring 3 litres of water to 66-67°C in a small pot and steep the grains for 20 minutes 2. Meanwhile bring about 6 litres of water to the boil in a large (12-15 litre) pot. 3. Strain the liquid from the steeped grains into the larger pot and return to the boil. 4. Add all extract, stirring to break up lumps of the dry extract 5. Add Super Alpha hops for the duration of the 60 minute boil 6. Add 10g of both Galaxy and Summer hops with 10 minutes remaining in the boil 7. Create a whirlpool for 10 minutes to encourage cooling, then transfer to the fermenter. Top up to 23 litres using near freezing water. 8. When the temperature is at 18°C, transfer to fermenter and pitch yeast 9. Ferment for 7 days at 18°C 10. On day 7 dry hop for 5 days with 20g of Galaxy hops and 35g of Summer hops 11. On day 12 chill the beer and add finings 12. Check the gravity and if it is at or near 1.009 and consistent for consecutive days, then bottle or keg then enjoy!

AUTUMN 2018 47

COOPERS RECIPE

The OC Wit

BLOOD ORANGE ZEST, BELGIAN YEAST AND CORIANDER SEEDS MAKE THIS COOPERS DIY RECIPE ONE TO SAVOUR

his Belgian style wheat beer sets itself apart with the addition of zest from fresh blood oranges. Coriander seeds layer the beer and provide subtle aromas of lemon and black pepper. It pours hazy light straw into the glass with a pillowy white head. A couple of sips will reveal sweet malt, ripe citrus fruit and a refreshingly tart finish.

The OC Wit - Concentrate Recipe

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.050 FG: 1.012 IBU: 30 ABV: 4.5% Volume: 21 litres IBU: 30

Ingredients 1.7kg Thomas Coopers Preachers Hefe Wheat 1kg Light Dry Malt (LDME) 25g East Kent Goldings Hop Pellets 15g Coriander Seeds 2 Blood Oranges (or regular oranges if not available) Safale K-97 Dry Yeast

Method 1. Crush 15g of Coriander seeds in a zip lock bag with a rolling pin to open the kernels 2. In a good size pot (around 8 litres) bring 500g of Light Dry Malt to the boil with 3 litres of water 3. Add the Coriander seeds and East Kent Goldings Hop Pellets and boil for 10 minutes 4. Turn out flame and then add the zest of the two oranges and let stand for a further 10 minutes 5. Cool the liquid by placing the pot in a

48 Home Brewer

bath of cold water for about 15mins then strain into your fermenter 6. Mix in the Thomas Coopers Preachers Hefe Wheat and the other 500g of Light Dry Malt. Don’t be concerned if lumps persist as these will dissolve over the course of a few hours 7. Fill with cool water to 18 litres, stir vigorously and check the brew temperature 8. Top up to 21 litres with warm or cold water (refrigerated if necessary) to get as close to 18°C as possible 9. Sprinkle on the sachets of Safale K-97 Dry Yeast and brew can yeast then fit the lid 10. Ferment at 18-22°C for seven to 10 days 11. On day 10 check the specific gravity (SG). Check the SG again the following day and so on 12. The brew is ready once the SG has stabilised over consecutive days expect about 1010 to 1012 13. Bottle or keg as normal then allow to condition at about 18-22°C for 10-12 weeks. You can drink them after about two weeks if you’re really thirsty, but they will be better if left to bottle condition for longer

RECIPE

C’S GET DEGREES IPA ANDREW CHILDS OF BEHEMOTH BREWING (NZ) & CHUR BREWING (AUS) LOVES HOPS. HE’S ALSO A GREAT SHARER OF RECIPES. HERE CHILDS SHARES THE RECIPE FOR C’S GET DEGREES IPA, A HOMAGE TO OLD SCHOOL IPAS

C’s Get Degrees – Extract with Specialty Grains Recipe Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.070 FG: 1.014 ABV: 7.3% IBU: 78 Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients 5kg Pale Malt Extract 200g Bairds Pale Crystal (cracked)

e brewed this beer for the West Coast Challenge at the Malthouse in Wellington July 2017. It is our take on a classic

‘C’ hopped West Coast IPA. It is big, bitter, and full of pine resin, grapefruit and citrus flavours, with slightly more body than your average west coaster. We call it an old school US IPA due to the Centennial and Columbus, but the Citra adds a bit more of a New World twist. It may not blow you away with fruitiness, but this beer reminds me of drinking awesome beers like this in San Francisco

C’s Get Degrees – All Grain Recipe Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.070 FG: 1.014 ABV: 7.3% IBU: 78 Volume: 23 litres

Ingredients 4.6kg Pale malt 200g Bairds pale crystal

and Portland (Oregon). The reason I really

200g Weyermann Munich 2

made this beer is it is a name I thought of when

130g Columbus hops

homebrewing and seven years later I finally got to

110g Centennial hops

do a Behemoth batch of it. Good times!

110g Citra hops 0.3g Copperfloc 2 Packets of Mangrove Jack’s M44 West Coast Ale Yeast

Method 1. Mash all malts at 66°C 2. Sparge and bring to a boil 3. Boil for 90 minutes – add 20g Columbus 4. Add 0.3g of Copperfloc with 10 minutes to go

200g Weyermann Munich 2 (cracked) 130g Columbus Hops 110g Centennial 110g Citra 0.3g Copperfloc 2 Packets of Mangrove Jack’s M44 West Coast Ale Yeast

Method 1. Boil 6 litres of water in a large pot (10-15 litres) 2. Add all malt extract and stir 3. In a separate pot, bring 3 litres of water to 70°C. Put the cracked grains in to a muslin sack and steep at 67-70°C for 30 minutes. Remove the muslin sack with grains and add liquid to the larger pot 4. Boil for 90 minutes – add 20g Columbus 5. Add 0.3g of Copperfloc with 10 minutes to go. 6. At the end of boil create a whirlpool and add 50g Columbus, 50g Centennial and 50g Citra

6. Cool to 20°C and pitch both packets of yeast

7. Transfer to fermenter and top up with chilled water to reach 20°C then pitch both packs of yeast

7. Ferment at 18°C

8. Ferment at 18°C

8. Do a diacetyl rest at 22°C towards end of fermentation

9. Do a diacetyl rest at 22°C towards end of fermentation

9. After fermentation is complete, dry hop with 60g Columbus, 60g Centennial and 60g Citra for 5 days

10. After fermentation dry hop with 60g Columbus, 60g Centennial and 60g Citra for 5 days

10. Bottle or keg as usual, then enjoy with mates

11. Bottle or keg as usual, then enjoy with mates

5. At the end of boil create a whirlpool and add 50g Columbus, 50g Centennial and 50g Citra

AUTUMN 2018 49

FEATURE

Ginger Beer ALCOHOLIC GINGER BEER IS YET TO IGNITE THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET. DESPITE THIS IT CAN BE A REFRESHING AND COMPLEX DRINK TO BREW AND ENJOY. CHRIS THOMAS TAKES A LOOK AT A COUPLE OF COMMERCIAL EXAMPLES, AS WELL AS A HOMEBREW RECIPE FROM THE BROTHERS AT HARCOURT VALLEY VINEYARDS.

ack in a 2012 Beer & Brewer Editor’s Letter, I predicted that ginger beer would make a big impact on the Australian scene. Six years later and it hasn’t really happened. A handful of varieties found their way into

mainstream bottle shops, while some craftier bottles appeared in boutique stores. But what I was anticipating with ginger beer is pretty much what has happened with cider. Cider is on tap in every Australian bar and plenty of breweries have their own cider as part of their stable. So what happened? Ginger beer is a delightfully tasty and refreshing drink. The best known example in Australia is Bundaberg Ginger Beer, which is in pretty much every corner store and milk bar in the country, albeit a non-alcoholic variety. If we are to look at alcoholic varieties, it would be fair to say that most readers who frequent bars and bottle shops would struggle to name one. Despite this, there are some breweries out there who are not only producing ginger beer, but are producing an outstanding example of the product. Harcourt Valley Vineyards (Vic), which is 80km north of Melbourne in the central highlands, and Ekidna Wines (SA) from McLaren Vale, are two of the crop making great ginger beer. Ginger beer has parallels with making beer, cider and wine. Like all of these, the recipe needs to be refined, which takes time. Matt Rechner from Ekhidna and Quinn Livingstone form Harcourt Valley are both winemakers, who also make ginger beer. Both developed their recipes through trial and error before arriving at the final product. “The original recipe has been modified to reduce the spice aspect and the alcohol content back to 5.2% from the original 7.4%, which was a little dangerous,” adds Matt Rechner, winemaker at Ekhidna Wines. Harcourt Valley, on the other hand, hedged its bets. They produce their variety, The Ginger Kid Ginger Beer at both 4.5% ABV and 8% ABV! “I spent a long time doing various trial batches and doing blind tastings with people until I had a brew that

50 Home Brewer

we thought was on the right track,” says

The Recipe

Quinn Livingstone of Harcourt Valley. “I believe a good ginger beer recipe isn’t easy to develop,” adds brother Kye

Harcourt Valley Ginger Beer

Livingstone. “Our recipe took about six

The flavour profile of any ginger beer very is interesting. This recipe should present as quite spicy with a lingering ginger kick on the back of the pallet. There will be enough sweetness and bubbles to make it very refreshing and keep you reaching into the fridge for more!

months of trials until we were happy with it. “The big players in the market have failed miserably in many instances; they try to make it as cheap as possible using

Expected Brew Figures

cheap ingredients and flavourings. We

OG: 1.060 FG: 1.000 ABV: 6% IBU: n/a Volume: 20 litres

use premium raw QLD ginger, which we source direct from the growers. After it is harvested and cleaned, it is sent directly to us where we process it straight away.” we have seen many come and go in this

STYLES OF GINGER BEER? Like beer and cider, ginger beer also has a

time,” he says. “It is a much smaller market than beer

variety of styles and methods to making it.

or cider, however as we are a small family

The now defunct Blue Tongue Brewery

business it is a segment that is big enough

(NSW) used malt and hops to create a beer

to be profitable for us.”

with ginger, which was tasty drop. Similarly

Ingredients 1kg raw ginger (finely chopped in a food processor) 2.2kg of sugar (or substitute with 2kg honey for additional flavour and mouthfeel) Lallemand EC 1118 yeast Yeast nutrient

Ekhidna offers its ginger beer ‘straight’ or

HOW IS GINGER BEER MADE?

Artificial sweetener

blended with its wheat beer (50:50).

The process for making ginger beer shares

Method

Unofficial ginger beer styles include sweet, dry and spiced. “Ginger beer is yet to have its own

elements with both beer and wine making. “I kind of look at it like it’s making both,” says Quinn Livingstone. “First

official styles, however they do exist,” says

I do a brew which involves boiling the

Kye Livingstone. “We aimed to make a dry

raw ingredients to extract the flavour and

completely ginger beer originally, although

then it is made like a wine fermented on

in our trials the product tasted horrible.

solids using a wine yeast.”

We now make it as dry as possible with the minimum amount of sweetness possible. “It would be possible to add other fruits

As with kit & kilo beer or cider, the

4. Pitch yeast and add nutrient 5. Ferment at 20-28°C. When using cane sugar this can take 2-3 weeks, but sometimes less.

the tax bracket, which can implicate

considering the countless stories of

sales dramatically. One style of ginger beer

homebrew bottles bursting in the night

we brew attracts $30 a case in excise tax if

and setting off a chain reaction that wipes

sold in Australia, so we only export it.”

out an entire batch. Is there any truth to it? “At our cellar door we always hear of

ginger beer, time will tell if it will continue

people having exploding bottles of ginger

to grow in the local craft market.

beer!” says Kye Livingstone. “The main reason is that the yeast isn’t removed and

popularity of ginger beers,” comments

the drink continues to ferment once the

Matt Rechner.

closures have been put on the bottles! We

Kye Livingstone agrees, but notes that a quality product is at the core of success. “We have been making ginger beer since we released our first batch in late 2012 -

Harcourt Valley Vineyards 3339 Harmony Way Harcourt VIC 3453

3. Strain into fermenter and top up with 15 litres of water, aiming for 20-25°C

sugars added. While considering sugars, fermentation and ginger beer, it is worth

“I would imagine so with the growing

2. Boil for 10 minutes until the sugar is fully dissolved and the water has extracted the flavour from the ginger

amount of alcohol is dependent on the

and spices, but if you do this it can change

As for my failed 2012 prediction on

1. In a large pot, bring 5 litres of water, the finely chopped ginger and the sugar to the boil

thankfully have good filtration and also send the product to a bottling plant that ensures the product is bottled without any contamination.”

Ekhidna Wines McLaren Vale Cellar Door

6. When the ferment stops bubbling, have a taste from the tap. If it is dry (-1 on the hydrometer – 1.000), rack to a secondary fermenter, leaving the solids behind. If you want some cloud rack some lees across. 7. At this stage, your ginger beer will taste quite bitter. Add artificial sweetener to taste. 8. Bottle as you would a beer for secondary fermentation. 9. Allow two to three weeks for the secondary fermentation, then you are good to enjoy NOTE - Using artificial sweetener to bring back the bitter flavour is not ideal as it does not give as much back as real sugar. It does however prevent the bottles exploding during secondary fermentation. Try adding a little sugar syrup to the ginger beer after being poured into a glass to freshen it up a bit.

67 Branson Rd McLaren Vale SA 5171

AUTUMN 2018 51

FEATURE

THERE ARE PLENTY OF DEDICATED AND TALENTED HOMEBREWERS AROUND THE COUNTRY WHO ARE PRODUCING COMMERCIAL QUALITY BEERS. MANY DREAM OF TAKING THE STEP TO OPEN THEIR OWN BREWERY. LET’S HEAR FROM SOME WHO HAVE

Ross Terlick

Home Brewer to Pro Brewer

ow many of us have made

Ross Terlick started by cleaning kegs

an outstanding batch and

and emptying the mash tun at Cowaramup

wondered how it would be

Brewery (WA) before becoming head brewer

received on a commercial

at Cheeky Monkey (WA).

level? Most of us I would hazard a guess. It might

Kev Hingston picked up a neck breaking

local beer to my town, which was lacking at the time. SB: I have been brewing on and off for the past 18 years, kit and a kilo early on. I got serious about it just on six years ago when I

swag of medals at the Australian National

moved to a place that had a shed big enough to

be the hops that you’ve layered through the

Homebrew Championships before forming

brew. I’ve built many systems over the years.

beer or the malt profile.

a pact with two mates and starting up a

Stove top, crown urn, bucket of death, 3v and

brewery called Pact (ACT).

now I brew on a Braumeister. I suppose I got

Few of us do though. And that’s probably why we’re reading this feature right now. How

into home brewing to save a few bucks. Now I’m a little over the top with stainless steel

have to put on the line to make it happen?

WHAT GOT YOU INTO HOMEBREWING?

Your job? Your family? Your baby-makers?

MW: I have always really enjoyed cooking and

have my eye on a 300L wine barrel!

It’s a gamble, no doubt. But if you can make

playing with flavours. I also really enjoyed

your hobby into your job, then maybe your job

growing my own vegetables and loved

21. It was purely kit and kilo and all about

doesn’t feel like a job anymore?

working with any produce that I grew myself

making booze for as cheap as I could! I did

or other people grew. I was searching for

this for around eight months at a share house

our homebrewing heroes who have gone pro.

something that I enjoyed in, or around, that

then went on trip overseas for a few weeks.

Matt Wilson is a director and brew master

field. But I was looking for something more

While I was away my housemates drank all

technical to use the skills I had acquired over

of my stockpiled beer and didn’t clean any of

working many different jobs and industries

the bottles, needless to say they were pretty

others from the Merri Mashers homebrew club

- I am a boilermaker by trade. I began

rank when I got back and that was the end

in Melbourne to form Old Wives Ales (Vic).

homebrewing with the goal of bringing fresh

of that. Fast forward nine years and I started

do you take that next step? How much do you

Let’s now take the time to talk to some of

at Wilson Brewing Company in McKail (WA). Shannon Brooks teamed up with three

52 Home Brewer

fermenters, whiskey barrels, carboy’ and I RT: I first started homebrewing when I was

working at Cowaramup Brewing Company as a

couple of homebrews when I was at Cowie were

bartender and was introduced to the wonderful

kit and kilo again as I got my head around my

world of craft beer, I was immediately intrigued

sanitation, then stepped up to partial mashes,

and got back into my homebrewing.

then all grain. Throughout my learning phase

KH: Weirdly, it was actually my interest in

I picked Jeremy Good’s (Cowaramup’s head

gardening. I thought hops sounded like a fun

brewer/part owner) brain on ways to improve

plant to play with and a mate pointed out to

my processes and beers. Once I was happy with

me the ridiculousness of growing hops and not

my beer I entered the WASABC and picked up a

making beer to put them in! I soon discovered

bronze in the strong pale lager section with an

that unirrigated half-wine barrels were a poor

Imperial Pilsner.

vessel to grow hops in, but by then the habit was well and truly entrenched.

KH: Joining Canberra Brewers was a huge part in the hobby taking over both my kitchen and my life. The education, feedback, and friendships

The Recipes – All Grain Matt Wilson: Wilson Brewing Company Rough Seas Pale Ale – All Grain Recipe This Australian pale ale is at the upper end of the scale at 5.8% ABV. It pours a beautiful deep apricot colour, with tropical notes and a firm bitterness.

Expected Brew Figures

WHEN DID YOU START TO TAKE YOUR BREWING SERIOUSLY?

presented so much excitement and opportunity.

MW: My homebrewing began seriously from the

grew. Winning and being recognised was great,

start. I had already put it in my mind I was going

but my main interest actually came out of the

OG: 1.050 FG: 1.006 ABV: 5.85% IBU: 30 Volume: 19 litres

to start a local brewery and brew beers with as

challenge of understanding and brewing to style,

much local produce as I could find.

or having a firm stylistic foundation on which to

Ingredients

From there, a fascination with competitions

create insane specialty beers! In 2014, I helped

4.5 kg Joe White Traditional Ale Malt

Merri Mashers homebrew club. I took on the

put on the ANHC, did a beercycling tour through

225g Joe White Dark Crystal

role of Vice Pres for a few years. Now I’m just an

Belgium, and brewed something like 25 beers for

ordinary member.

the AABC state qualifier. I was taking it pretty

SB: I was on the founding committee for the

Watching a homebrew club grow was cool.

seriously at that point!

225g Joe White Wheat Malt 50g Acidulated Malt 16g Topaz hops

When we started most of the members were

My advice to anyone homebrewing is to join or

AT WHAT STAGE DID YOU REALISE THAT YOU COULD GO PRO WITH YOUR BREWING?

start a club in your area. Catching up with like-

MW: My first few all grain beers weren’t

minded people, tasting beers and learning from

anything special. I worked on the same five

each other is what a homebrew club is all about.

recipes for three years while throwing in recipes

Safale US-05 yeast

I found difficult to brew or that had difficult

Method

very inexperienced. The club has now grown and the beers on offer at a meeting are top notch!

RT: Not long after starting up again. My first

Kev Hingston Pact Beer Co

75g Cascade hops 80g Galaxy hops Yeast Nutrient Whirlfloc tablet

1. Single infusion mash at 65°C for 60 minutes 2. Sparge, then bring to the boil 3. Boil for 60 minutes adding the Topaz hops for the duration of the boil 4. Add Whirlfloc with 10 minutes remaining in the boil 5. Whirlpool, then at 70°C and add 35g Cascade hops and 40g Galaxy hops 6. Chill to 20°C and transfer to the fermenter then pitch yeast 7. Ferment at 18°C for three days then dry hop with 40g of both Cascade and Galaxy 8. Ferment for a further three days. Check gravity and if consistent for consecutive days and at or near 1.006 9. Bottle or keg as normal and enjoy!

AUTUMN 2018 53

FEATURE

The Recipes – All Grain Shannon Brooks: Old Wives Ale Cherry Porter – All Grain Recipe This porter from Shannon Brooks will stand up on its own, but the addition of cherries gives it another dimension. This is a cracker to brew now for the cooler months.

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.051 FG: 1.011 ABV: 5.2% IBU: 30 Volume: 20 litres

Ingredients 3.3 kg Ale malt 700g Munich malt 300g Dark Crystal

Kev and his team at Pact have a sweet van

230g Carafa II 80g Chocolate malt

processes to increase my brewing skills. I knew

40g East Kent Goldings (EKG) hops

I could go pro with my beers, but I also knew I

HOW DID YOUR BREWERY COME ABOUT?

needed consistent product and something that

MW: From the very beginning I wanted to use

differentiated us in the market.

our family name for the brewery. I am very

13g Mt Hood hops Whirlfloc

SB: To be honest I was never really keen to be

proud of my family and their achievements. It

Yeast Nutrient

a pro brewer. I also don’t class myself as a pro

was floating around in my head and myself and

27g EKG flameout

brewer, an owner is what I am. I haven’t had the

my wife began working on some imagery (logo)

Wyeast Labs#1026 British Cask Ale

formal education that a pro brewer has. It would

that really started to lock in the concept of

have been a lot of work on my own. But I got a

Wilson Brewing Company.

1.6 kg Cherries (Secondary Fermenter)

Method 1. Mash in at 66°C for 60 min

phone call one day and that changed everything. RT: It would have been about two years into

SB: One day Nathan called me to discuss starting something with Justin and Mattias.

homebrewing and working at Cowaramup. I

From that we were up and running in a couple

was getting more and more interested in every

of months!

2. Mash out to 78°C, sparge and bring to a boil

aspect of brewing and enrolled to do my General Certificate in Brewing with the Institute of

conversations with some mates to discuss

3. Add 40g EKG for a 60 min boil

Brewing and Distilling (IBD). I started helping

potential ideas and approaches. From there we

4. Add 13g Mt Hood with 15 min left on the boil

out in the brewhouse by cleaning kegs, tanks

built up our approach, branding and business

and emptying the mash tun and decided that

plan, which was always to be ‘gypsy’ brewing.

5. Add Yeast nutrient with 10 min left on the boil

this was the direction I wanted to go with my

Things accelerated pretty quickly after the

life. I had a chat with my wife about it, and

launch and we ended up doing a lot of things

6. Add 27g EKG at flame out

decided to give it a go!

earlier than we’d planned - new lines, bigger

7. Chill and transfer to fermenter, pitching yeast at 18°C 8. Transfer to secondary fermenter after primary fermentation has ceased 9. Add fresh (de-pipped) or frozen cherries to secondary 10. Keg or bottle after 14 days. Enjoy!

KH: Until the end of 2014, I really didn’t want

batches and going into package.

to turn the hobby into anything more, but when

opportunities, such as being invited to brew a beer

ARE ANY OF THE RECIPES YOU DEVELOPED AS A HOMEBREWER PART OF THE RANGE?

for GABS. That excitement snowballed from there,

MW: Our five core beers are all developed

a lot of my doubts were either addressed through

from homebrew scale recipes, as well as some

research or accepted as realities and risks.

of our seasonal batches. We also work with

I managed to take out the AABC Nationals, I was presented with some pretty exciting buzz and

A couple years on and although it hasn’t always been an easy road, I can confidently say that I’ve managed to avoid turning a hobby I loved into a job I hated - I still love both!

54 Home Brewer

KH: After the awards, I kicked off

homebrewers to brew commercial scale ups for our seasonals if they are cracker recipes. SB: All of our beers are tested at home before heading to a commercial volume. Sometimes a

little tweaking is made and the beer is re-brewed to get the profile right.

The Recipes – All Grain

RT: Some of our seasonal releases have been adapted from my homebrew recipes, and my homebrewing experience was instrumental in learning flavour profiles of different hops, malts and yeast. Also what combinations worked and what really didn’t!

DO YOU STILL REGULARLY HOMEBREW? IF SO, DO YOU BREW TO DEVELOP NEW RECIPES TO BREW PROFESSIONALLY OR DO YOU BREW FOR ENJOYMENT? MW: Unfortunately with building and establishing a micro brewery which we are

Ross Terlick: Cheeky Monkey Southern Wailer ‘Ro-Sham-Bo’ IIPL (Double India Pale Lager) – All Grain When released, this beer was only available in WA. Ross Terlick described it as deliciously smooth with tropical apricot, mango and banana flavours from the copious levels of hops added.

now upgrading, I don’t find the time to homebrew. Our current system is 500L 3

Expected Brew Figures

vessel and our seasonal beers are released fornightly. The seasonal release allows

OG: 1.080 FG: 1.015 IBU: 95.2 ABV: 8.5% Volume: 19 litres

me to try different recipes and continue working on my brewing skills, just at a 500L level!! SB: Yes, I really enjoy home brewing. Test batching ideas makes a big part of my homebrewing these days, however I still find time to brew for enjoyment. I extended my shed and now have a space to brew some long-term sour beers. Fair to say a lot of my spare time now is researching sour beer. RT: Unfortunately, my homebrewing has dropped right off. We have just

Ingredients 5.44 kg Maris Otter (Simpsons) 200g Light Crystal (Simpsons)

purchased a 50L pilot kit here at Cheeky Monkey Brewery though, so we will be

380g Wheat Pale (Weyermann)

able to play around on a smaller scale again soon.

220g Carahell (Weyermann)

KH: Definitely. Pretty much every beer we create develops out of a 20 or 50 litre prototype batch made in my kitchen. It’s a really safe way to dial in approaches for our more experimental beers like the cold brew cream ale we did with the

210g Sucrose 20.5g Bravo

Bellerephon Coffee or our 2017 GABS beer that was full of actual Butterbing

15.5g Centennial

Cookie Sandwiches. By homebrewing prototypes I am able to decide the best

11.75g Chinook

methods and timings to do really dumb, inadvisable things like putting kilos of

13.75g Topaz

actual salted caramel cookie sandwiches into a beer. For those playing at home, the best time to put actual cookies in a beer is probably ‘never’. If I had my time again I wouldn’t change a thing, but I won’t be doing it again either! Caramel slick

20.25g Chinook 23.50g Topaz 95g Topaz

isn’t much fun to clean.

95g Chinook Cheeky Monkey Brew Crew

W34/70 SafLager

Method 1. Single Infusion mash at 67°C 2. Mash Rest for 60 minutes, then add 20.5g Bravo hops to kettle as you start to sparge and transfer 3. Bring to the boil for 75 minutes 4. Add 15.5g Centennial and 11.75g Chinook with 30 min left on the boil 5. Add 13.75g Topaz with 10 min left on the boil 6. Whirlpool and add 20.25g Chinook and 23.5g Topaz for 20 mins 7. Chill to 10°C and transfer to the fermenter then pitch yeast 8. Ferment at 10°C for four to six days (or until you reach 50% attenuation – 1.048) then increase by 2°C every 24 hours, stopping at 18 °C. 9. Check gravity and if consistent for consecutive days crash to 12°C 10. Dry hop with 95g each of both Topaz and Chinook for 72 hours. 11. Bottle or keg as normal and enjoy!

AUTUMN 2018 55

FEATURE

The Recipes – All Grain Kev Hingston: Pact Beer Co Three Lakes Hefeweizen – All Grain Recipe

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES THAT YOU HAVE FACED THUS FAR AS A PROFESSIONAL BREWER OR OWNER? MW: Starting a microbrewery from scratch is hard work. Hard on yourself, hard on your family, hard on your bank balance! Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise! I love my business and the product we bring to market but it does take a shit load of commitment. Gaining acknowledgement for your product in the market place is hard

Kev Hingston developed the recipe that would become the Three Lakes Hefeweizen based on an approach introduced to him by fellow Canberra Brewer Paul Haesler. Not only is the mash stepped, but the ferment itself is ramped up over time as well. The resultant beer achieved a fantastic and inseparable balance of banana and clove aromas and went on to win to top amateur wheat beer three years running and help launch Pact Beer Co in 2015.

to start with, which converts to cashflow and how you can operate. It’s been tricky for

Expected Brew Figures

homebrewing. There are a lot of them. They all stem from the important reality that

OG: 1.046 FG: 1.010 ABV: 4.7% IBU: 10 Volume: 23 litres

there’s a lot more to brewing than brew day and there’s more to beer business than

Ingredients 1.75kg Pilsner malt 1.95kg Wheat Malt

me having a really young family (three daughters under five) and having to work seven days a week, 15-18 hour days to keep everything on track. SB: Keeping up with an ever-changing market. The whole industry has really changed in the past two years. A lot more people are drinking craft beer now. RT: Changing my mindset that as much as I brew beer I want to drink it needs to appeal to a wider audience as well. It doesn’t matter how good a beer is, if it doesn’t sell in decent volumes it has to get cut from your range. KH: It’s getting across all the ways that commercial brewing differs heavily from

brewing. That’s oft-cited wisdom, but less well known are all the differences that cut down to very little specific details at the process level. One example - most of a homebrew recipe scales up in a linear fashion, but salt additions and hop additions definitely do not. The impact of missing this would be pretty stark. We have beers that had a number of bittering and late hop additions as homebrew, but are almost entirely whirlpool hopped at scale to maintain aroma and flavour without sending the IBU through the roof.

400g Munich I 150g Carapils 19g Tettnang hops ½ whirlfloc tablet White Labs WLP 300 Hefeweizen yeast (even slightly older yeast without a starter yields a positive profile)

Method 1. Step mash systems mash in at 38°C. Single infusion systems mash at 65°C for 90 minutes and skip to step 6

Shannon Brooks enjoying brew day

2. Rise to 45°C for 40 minutes 3. Rise to 52°C for 20 minutes. 4. Rise to 63°C for 80 minutes 5. Rise to 71°C for 15 minutes 6. Mash out to 76 for 10 minutes 7. Add 19g Tettnang first wort hop 8. Sparge and bring to a 90 minute boil 9. Add ½ whirlfloc tablet with 15 minutes to go. 10. After boil, cool to 13°C and pitch yeast. 11. Allow free rise to 17°C which takes 2-5 days dependent on ambient temperature and possibly pitch size. 12. If desired, allow rise to a 20°C diacetyl rest at SG 1.020 13. Keg or even better yet bottle to a high carbonation. Bottle conditioning takes this beer to the next level. Wilson Brewing Company Rough Seas Pale Ale

56 Home Brewer

EDUCATION

Keep it clean! HOMEBREWER TECHNICAL EDITOR JAKE BRANDISH TAKES A LOOK AT THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING YOUR BREWING EQUIPMENT CLEAN

f I had to highlight only a few key

same paranoia of spoilage mechanisms and

alternative products which appear to be able

areas in which to improve your

bacteria, and understand the difference

to do the job. Chlorine or bleach (sodium

brewing and take it to the next

between cleaning something and sanitising

hypochlorite) is one of them. Yes, it is a

level, one of them would have to be

it. There is no point attempting to sanitise

globally accepted means of controlling

your sanitising practices.

your fermenter if you have not used an

contamination and bacteria in water, but

appropriate agent to break down the fats,

it really has no place in brewing. Due to

improve my brew?” The two main areas to

proteins, and other residues in it. Second to

its undesirable aroma, multiple rinses are

do this are temperature control, and your

this, do not think a cleaner will sanitise or a

needed to remove the chlorine aroma, which

sanitising procedure. As we are dealing with

sanitiser will remove the contamination.

may re-introduce contamination. Same goes

I am often asked, “How do I

live organisms and food science, spoilage

There are many cleaning chemical

mechanisms (and their prevention) should be

compounds available to do the job for you

high on the agenda.

prior to sanitising, most of which will be an

for Napisan (sodium percarbonate) – it’s usually perfumed, so stay away from it.

alkaline (high pH) based chemical compound.

THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT

BUT I HATE CLEANING!

Be guided by your local brew shop as they will

Get serious about your cleaning routine.

I knew I had found my ideal hobby when I

have products that they more than likely have

Do not assume that using more chemicals

didn’t mind spending hours cleaning all the

experience with.

will do a better job, as it probably won’t.

equipment straight after a brew, getting

All cleaning products require a good rinse

Product directions are tried and tested at

ready for the next one. After all, this is the

or three prior to using your chosen sanitiser.

that particular dilution, so don’t change

best time to clean your gear – when it is

There are some sanitisers around which are

what the manufacturer tells you. Follow

wet and fresh. Cleaning and sanitising is

‘no rinse’. They are designed to impart no

manufacturer’s instructions and don’t take

crucial when it comes to brewing a good

negative effect on your beer, such as Five

short cuts! Always use appropriate personal

beer, just ask any pro brewer. Speaking

Star ‘Star-San’. The first time you use this,

protective equipment (PPE) and respect when

from experience, they will certainly say that

you will be left with a keg or fermenter full of

handling chemicals. You may think that

cleaning is a huge part of being a brewer.

foam and you’ll be wondering what’s going

small container of sodium hydroxide your

on – but don’t fear the foam! It’s meant to do

mate gave you is not going to harm you…

CLEAN YOUR ACT UP

this. Commercial examples of a similar no-

wrong! This stuff is evil and will cause severe

Keeping all your equipment clean and bug

rinse sanitiser are Peroxitane. Most sanitisers

chemical burns. It is excellent at consuming

free is paramount to brewing a consistently

are acidic (low pH).

and breaking down proteins, so you do not

quality product. This is the principle behind

want this stuff anywhere near your body! Get

all food manufacturing, and for obvious

DON’T GO THERE

it in your eyes and you are in serious trouble.

reasons. As brewers we must adopt the

There are a few ways to get your hands on

Stay safe, brew hard, drink quality.

AUTUMN 2018 57

FEATURE

The Pope Comes to Town: Part II BREWING ROYALTY CHARLIE BAMFORTH RECENTLY SAT DOWN FOR A CHAT WITH OUR TECHNICAL EDITOR JAKE BRANDISH – HERE’S PART TWO OF HIS INTERVIEW WITH THE POPE OF FOAM

ake Brandish (JB): I am often

a beautiful balance of malt and hops. Then

makers have beards as well? I can’t answer

asked what my favourite beer

when I go back to England, it’s all about the

that question. All I know is that my wife

is, and my answer is always ‘the

hops. You get so used to hops, and I don’t

would never allow me to have a beard.

one that is in my hand’. I love

want to use the word ‘addicted’ as hops’

my hop forward beers, but I

closest relative is cannabis, but you really

is the camaraderie. I have seen brewers drop

JB: The one thing I love about our industry

find myself coming back to

do get used to the significant amount of hop

everything and get in their car and go and

more simple and basic beers like

character. If I go into a pub and I don’t see

help another brewer and I have experienced

a good pint of bitter, an ESB or a

hand pumps, I turn around and walk out. I

that first hand. Does the US have the same

70/- ale. What would be your favourite style?

see hand pumps, and that is what I want. But,

brotherhood, and has it always been like this?

Charlie Bamforth (CB): I don’t really have a

then 75% of the time it is great and 25% of the

fallback pint. The problem is I have so many

time it is vinegar!

friends in the industry that I really cannot pick one beer, when I first went to the States

JB: Can you explain the correlation between brewers and facial hair?

CB: Yes they do, for example when I was in the Master Brewers Association on a technical level there was a great camaraderie. A lot of people will help. It is no secret that the

I used to say a good English cask ale, is like an

CB: I don’t know. I don’t get it. You know

person I admire the most is Ken Grossman of

angel weeping on your tongue – you know it’s

these other ‘craft’ industries, do the cheese

Sierra Nevada. Of anyone I have ever met, he

58 Home Brewer

is the best. He will say “I was helped when I

Charlie Bamforth and Dr Tim Cooper

started by Anheuser-Busch”. So you can go to a Brewers Association meeting and you will have Anheuser-Busch, Millers, Sierra Nevada, and you know… the ‘Dogs Posterior’ brewing company. JB: That’s not a bad name, I might write that one down… CB: (Laughing) No, it’s copyright! You’re an Aussie, we can call it Dogs Arse Brewing Company! It’s when it gets to the business side of things then it really stinks. The big guys can really control the market. And although I won’t rubbish them or their products, because their products are probably the most consistent in the world, I’m not keen on some of their business principles. JB: Over the years, what have been some of your most memorable moments? CB: I can tell you one or two of those! When I arrived at UC Davis I gave Anheuser-Busch a talk about foam and stability using my pictures of beer with foam, no foam, lacing, no lacing….etc. Well, the head honcho came over and said to me “Why did you use Miller beer? Why did you come all this way to St Louis and show us photos of Miller beer?” I said, “I didn’t say it was Miller beer though”, and he said “No, but that IS Miller beer”. He said that he could tell by the texture of the foam. They use this hop preparation, which changes the texture of the foam so you get a much lumpier foam. We laugh about it now as he lives in California. JB: But that is highly trained eye to be able to pick that up! CB: Yes it is! I have one or two other stories. My closest friend in the industry is

“IT IS NO SECRET THAT THE PERSON I ADMIRE THE MOST IS KEN GROSSMAN OF SIERRA NEVADA”

Bamforth with his wife Diane in Sydney

Jake Brandish meets the Pope

a guy called Graham Stewart who was head of research at Labbatt’s and was Professor at Heriot Watt University, and we were in China once and we failed to appear at a celebratory dinner in our honour! JB: You were perhaps doing too much QA? CB: Something like that! JB: Are there any Bamforth’s continuing the legacy? CB: No, only from the drinking side of things! My three kids: an insurance underwriter, next one is in music, and the other is in a non-for-profit organisation. But I tell you what, the three of them have been on far more beer tours and tastings than I have! I think they name drop… “do you know what my surname is?”

AUTUMN 2018 59

FEATURE

Back to Basics

AFTER SPENDING AN AFTERNOON HAPPILY JUDGING HOMEBREWS AT A RURAL AGRICULTURAL SHOW, CHRIS THOMAS WAS REMINDED OF AN ARTICLE ABOUT PROFESSIONAL BREWERS ENTERING COMPETITIONS AND HOW IT MIGHT APPLY TO HOMEBREWERS.

bout this time last

These are all overcarbonated in one category

year Steve ‘Hendo’ Henderson put together a piece on his Rockstar Brewer (rockstarbrewer. com) site about mistakes

that commercial brewers make when entering beer competitions, such as the Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA). As a former Champion Gypsy Brewer at the AIBA and People’s Choice Champion at GABS 2015, Hendo is as well credentialed as anyone to offer advice. While he identified marketing and sales as a department to ignore when it came to entering beer competitions, the quality of the beer itself is rightly at the crux of the piece.

DON’T BOTTLE TOO EARLY

your time with sanitising. Sanitise your

12 months ago, I was reminded of his advice

It is pretty disappointing when you open a

fermenter and lid, then remove the tap and

when sitting in the sun at an agricultural

bottle of beer and it froths over immediately.

sanitise that too. Everything that your beer

show in south-west Victoria judging some

We opened several during our judging stint

comes into contact with needs to be sanitised.

of the local homebrews. My judging partner

which frothed over and continued to do so

On bottling day, be sure to carefully sanitise

Jason Eats and I were treated to some

until the bottle was nearly empty. While this

your bottles and the bottling straw (if using

outstanding beers and a wide variety of

meant that we didn’t get to taste as many

one). You’ll be glad that you did, because

styles. These included a grapefruit saison,

beers as we might have, spare a thought for

things can be pretty nasty and unpleasantly

a raspberry berliner-weisse as well as a

the brewer who has 20+ litres of the stuff!

funky if you don’t!

Despite Hendo’s piece coming out over

plethora of IPAs, porters and stouts.

Before you bottle, check the gravity and

standard, there were some common areas for

homebrewers fall into the trap of bottling when

PRIME YOUR BEER IN LINE WITH THE STYLE

improvement, which if addressed will result

it’s convenient rather than when it is ready.

A porter or stout with a low carbonation can

While the majority of beers were of a high

in an even higher standard next year. We can all do with a reminder about from

if it is not ready to bottle, then don’t. Many

Fruit beers can be challenging as some

make for a velvet smooth beer. But if it’s

of the sugars from the fruit might not fully

carbonated like a lager it can take away from

time to time. Sometimes we need to get back

ferment out in the fermenter and find their

the experience as the bubbles are too active.

to get back to basics.

way into the bottle. The result can be that

Similarly, a lager with low carbonation can be

if left too long, fruit beers can froth up. My

underwhelming as we expect to find a lager

advice with fruit beers is drink them fresh!

well carbonated.

2. Sanitise effectively

SANITISE EFFECTIVELY

bottle your beer. One drop per 330ml bottle

3. Prime your beer in line with the style

Technical editor Jake Brandish has dedicated

generally does the trick for a lager or pale

4. Enter your beer in the correct style

a page to sanitising in this issue, so have a

ale. But if you’re bottling a porter or stout,

5. Know what you are trying to achieve

good read of that. Essentially though, take

try adding one drop into a 500ml bottle, or

BACK TO BASICS: 1. Don’t bottle too early

60 www.beerandbrewer.com

Carbonation drops are an easy way to

even a 660ml bottle. Experiment with different bottle

English Bitter – All Grain BIAB

sizes within a batch to see which best suits your beer. Alternatively you might have a go at bulk priming your beer – but that’s another article right there!

ENTER YOUR BEER IN THE CORRECT STYLE

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1049 FG: 1010 ABV: 5.2% IBU: 25 Volume: 23 litres

This is just about knowing what your beer is, not what you were planning to make. While you might have been aiming for a punchy and aromatic IPA, perhaps it has come out more like a pale ale. You don’t have to do

Ingredients

any professional judging courses, just match loosely

5.2kg Crisp Maris Otter

with the beers your buy at your local.

300g Caramalt

I once entered a raspberry stout in a regional homebrew competition. The feedback from the

100g Wheat

judges was that the beer was great. Excellent

26g Northern Brewer hops

mouthfeel, pleasant but not overpowering raspberry

80g East Kent Golding (EKG) hops

aroma and flavour. But it was more like a brown than a stout. The judges went on to note that had it been

Wyeast 1968 London Extra Special Bitter

labelled appropriately and entered in the correct category that it would have placed. While I was disappointed to have made the stuff up, it was mine and I had to own it.

Overcarbonate again!

KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE

It doesn’t matter if it’s a small local competition

Jamie Oliver can make a cracking dish with just five

Australian National Homebrew Competition!

ingredients. Often less is more. If you are thinking of

Enjoy the challenge, accept the feedback and

adding adjuncts such as dark sugars, fruit or spices,

remember the basics!

like the Tyrendarra Agricultural Show or the

don’t feel like you have to put them all in the same beer. And don’t feel that just because the spice is in your spice

RECIPE

rack that it needs to find it’s way into your beer.

This English Bitter (right) was one of my

One of the beers we tasted was a spiced winter

favourites from the day. I asked the brewer for

warmer. It had potential. But it had way too much

his recipe, which he happily shared but asked

going on, including a healthy dose of alcohol. Spices

not to have his name published. It’s a beautiful

provide a powerful flavour and unlike hops, they

copper colour with a tight white foam and

won’t dissipate with time. They’ll still be there, just

excellent balance of traditional English malts

as prominent 12 months down the track. They can

and hops. This is a welcome beer for autumn and

also overpower other flavours, like orange rind.

winter. The yeast plays a very important role

Keep brewing, remember the basics and if the

here to take this beer to the next level so do your

opportunity arises enter your beers in a competition.

best to get hold of it.

It’s what’s inside that counts!

Method 1. Pop Wyeast smack pack and allow it to expand. 2. Mash grains in a bag at 68°C for 60 minutes 3. Remove bag and hold over pot to allow it to drain (can give a light squeeze) 4. Bring to the boil, adding the Northern Brewer hops for the 60 minute boil 5. Add 20g of EKG hops with five minutes remaining in the boil 6. Add 30g of EKG hops at flameout 7. Chill to 18-20°C and transfer to fermenter then pitch yeast 8. Ferment at 17-18°C for five days before allowing the temperature to rise to 20°C 9. Dry hop with 30g of EKG hops (in a hop bag) for four days 10. Check gravity and if it is at or near 1.010 and is stable for consecutive days it is ready to bottle. Aim for a lower carbonation than normal. If using carbonation drops, add one to every 500ml bottle.

A disappointed steward opening another overcarbonated beer

11. Allow to bottle condition at about 20°C for six to eight weeks before settling in to enjoy a few

AUTUMN 2018 61

BOILERMAKERS

Getting crafty WITH BOILERMAKERS

eer and whisk(e)y are surely two of life’s greatest pleasures – so why not enjoy them together? You’ve probably come across the boilermaker, the ‘shot and beer’, or even the ‘hauf ‘n hauf’ enjoyed in Scotland. But what’s the history of this truly excellent pairing? Like many drinking traditions, the history of the boilermaker

BASIC PRINCIPLES While there’s no rules to whiskey and beer matching for a boilermaker, a good entry point would be to follow these simple pairings:

is somewhat murky. Though enjoying a shot of beer and whisk(e)y concurrently

Blonde/Pilsner

isn’t specific to any one place, the name itself is said to have come from blue-collar

Beer flavour: Low to medium bitterness

labourers – including actual boilermakers – who downed them in great quantities

Whiskey type: Grain whiskey – flavour profile of vanilla, honey, caramel

in working towns around the United States. What’s certain is that the tradition of drinking whiskey alongside a beer goes back generations, with punters in Irish bars and pubs in particular enjoying the sweetness of a ‘ball of malt’ complemented by the bitterness of a ‘pint of plain’ for decades. And it’s not just about knocking back something stronger and chasing it with something crisp and refreshing – similar to food matching, there’s also a ‘three C’s’ rule to boilermakers that you can fall back on: either complement, counter, or cut. Complementing would see a bold, fruity, hop-forward IPA paired with a whisky

Stout/Rich Porter Beer flavour: Richness, coffee and cocoa Whiskey type: Pot/Still/Sherry – flavour profile of chocolate and nuts

Amber/Red Ale Beer flavour: Gentle, fruity bitterness Whiskey type: Malt whiskey – flavour profile of herbal spices, dried fruits, light spice

that showcases similar flavours – such as tropical fruits, stone fruits or citrus.

Pale Ale/IPA/Double IPA

Countering would see that same IPA paired with a savoury, maritime whisky, with a

Beer flavour: Zesty, citrus, tropical bitterness

good briny character; a coastal Scotch would work perfectly. Finally, cutting would

Whiskey type: Pot/Still/Bourbon– flavour profile of berry and juicy fruit

involve taking a whisky with a high ABV or solid peat quality, like an Islay Scotch, to cut through all of the fruit flavours inherent in an IPA. But remember, rules are made to be broken. The main thing is to have fun with it.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

BEER & BREWER SAT DOWN WITH PATRICK ‘SWANNY’ KANONGATAA, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE WILD ROVER – A BUZZING IRISH-THEMED WHISKEY BAR IN SURRY HILLS IN SYDNEY – TO GET THE SCOOP ON BOILERMAKERS, FROM THE FRONT LINE. Q WHAT’S THE POINT OF A BOILERMAKER? It complements different flavours of the whiskey and the beer. I think with Tullamore especially, you find that it’s got lots of different complexities, so different beers bring out those different complexities.

Q WHICH BEERS GO WELL WITH TULLAMORE D.E.W IN YOUR EXPERIENCE? Tullamore D.E.W paired with a stout – the stout having lots of toffee, coffee, chocolatey notes, really brings out the spice in Tullamore. Then if you match it again, with something like an IPA that’s quite zesty and hoppy, that really brings out the citrus notes of the whiskey as well.

Q IS IRISH WHISKEY THE BEST PAIRING FOR BOILERMAKERS? Yeah 100% – just because it’s so light, and there’s subtle flavours in there that go down easily with a beer. You can always tell when a bartender is on a break because it’s usually the guy that’s got a beer and a shot next to him. It’s so easy to smash and get back to work.

Q WHAT’S YOUR TIP FOR ENJOYING A BOILERMAKER? SHOOT THE WHISKEY THEN SIP THE BEER, DEPTH CHARGE, SIP BOTH? There are no rules – you can do the depth charge, like a beer-whiskey Jäger shot, which probably doesn’t go too well in terms of the flavours! But I think you’re supposed to sip the beer, sip the whiskey, then sip the beer again but to be honest there’s no rules to drinking. Especially with boilermakers, it’s the working class drink or that’s how it originated – it’s pretty simple and no-frills, it’s just a shot of whiskey and then you chase it with beer.

Q DO YOU HAVE ANY AUSSIE CRAFT BEERS TO RECOMMEND AS BOILERMAKER PAIRINGS? We always match the Young Henrys range, as well as the Batch range of IPAs for boilermakers, but another nice combo is the Six String

D.E.W AND A BREW: A SERVING OF TRUE CHARACTER Tullamore D.E.W is triple distilled, triple blended and triple matured. While each combination of beer and Tullamore D.E.W gives you new flavours to discover – and there’s no right or wrong with whiskey and beer pairing – here’s some classics to get you started when pairing D.E.W and a brew. Stout: Stout’s coffee or chocolatey taste tends to bring out the spice in the whiskey. IPA: An IPA, with its zesty and fruity finish, brings out the lighter, citrus notes of Tullamore D.E.W. Red ale: Red ale brings the earthy tones and roasted nuts of the whiskey to the forefront. Other hot tips: Try tasting Tullamore D.E.W before and after your beer to see which you prefer. Recommended serving sign for adequate sipping is 30ml of D.E.W and 200-300ml of crafty, beery goodness.

Dark Red IPA. But the classic for me is a pint of Guinness and the Tullamore, just keeping it Irish!

Q WITH THE BOILERMAKER ITSELF, IT WASN’T ALWAYS SOMETHING THAT YOU’D FIND AT A COOL BAR LIKE THE WILD ROVER – WHY DO YOU THINK IT CAME BACK IN THE LAST FIVE OR SO YEARS?

Q WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT FLAVOUR PROFILES OF A WHISKEY GOING WITH A CERTAIN BEER, ARE THERE ANY TRICKS? WHAT’S THE BEAUTY OF MATCHING THEM TOGETHER? I always find it easier to match the whiskey to the beer (not the other

I’m not too sure, I think it was always a bartender’s staple but bars

way around), just because beer is so dominant in flavour. With a pale

weren’t really promoting them. But I think the great work of brands

ale you’re really going for a light, citrusy whisky if you’re looking

like Tullamore D.E.W, creating signature serves and really educating

to match, with an IPA and the hops you’re going for a more floral

bartenders, you’ve started to see other bars like Boilermaker House in

whiskey. But obviously whiskies that have aged longer tend to match

Melbourne popping up, and almost every craft whisk(e)y bar is doing

better with porters and stouts, just because of those chocolatey,

some sort of boilermaker on their menu. I also think it’s a great way to

woody, oaky characters that match really well together. But there’s

introduce people to craft beer and whiskey. Whiskey can still be a little

no rules to any of these, we match another Irish whiskey brand with a

bit: ‘Do I have it straight? Do I have it on the rocks?’ – well why not

lager – it’s not really common to match whiskey with a lager, but the

have it then have a sip of this cool craft beer as well? So it’s really easy

crisp, dry flavour just seems to work. But whatever your flavour really.

to introduce people to both.

To me it’s just a great way to kick-start the night!

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ENTERTAINING – FOOD

TACO ’BOUT AUTHENTIC ENJOY TACOS THE AUTHENTIC WAY: FULL OF THE FRESHEST INGREDIENTS AND BURSTING WITH THE TASTE OF SOUTH AMERICA

his is a book of favourite taco recipes from Ricardo Amare del Castillo, a passionate Mexican who left home in his 20s and went on to become a

restaurateur and a representative of modern Mexico halfway around the world in Australia. Coming from one of the oldest civilisations on the planet, del Castillo has followed his passion to establish restaurants that recreate authentic Mexican experiences – like Playa Takeria, in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst. “I’ll never forget my first smell of tacos as a child and the barbacoa tacos that we used to share with the family on Sundays,” recalls del Castillo. “We Mexicans say that the way a taco makes you feel is hard to describe. For me and for many Mexicans, ‘tacos are life, and life is tacos’.” The recipes in Tacos are sourced from the heart of Mexico; the reader is shown how to create the fillings, sauces, and tortillas which make store-bought tacos look dull and tasteless by comparison. Filled with mouthwatering recipes for delicious beef, chicken, seafood and vegetarian tacos, and thanks to its vibrant pictures and quick and easy recipes, Tacos will inspire you to create amazing taco dishes the authentic Mexican way.

This is an edited extract from Tacos: Authentic Mexican Tacos The Playa Takeria Way by Ricardo Amare Del Castillo, published by New Holland Publishers. It’s available from all good bookstores or online (RRP $39.99)

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ENTERTAINING – FOOD

HOMEMADE TORTILLAS Ingredients 2 cups masa harina ½ spoon of salt 1½ cups of hot tap water

Method Create the dough by mixing the masa harina and the salt in a bowl. Add the water slowly and stir for few minutes. Massage the dough using your hands for two minutes in a mixing bowl until smooth. Give the masa time to absorb the water. If you want a better result rest the dough for 30 minutes.

ARRACHERA TACO Serves 4 Ingredients 500g beef flank steak 200ml dark beer (dark lager, brown ale or stout) 1 tablespoon beef stock 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 4 lemons, juiced 3 garlic cloves, minced Salt, to taste 4 corn tortillas

Method Preheat oven to 180–190°C (350–375°F) for heating the tortillas (if using this method). In a large bowl, add the meat. Pour over with beer, seasoning sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and garlic. Season with salt. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour. On a hot barbecue plate or frypan, cook the meat for three to five minutes on each side or until cooked to your liking. Remove from the plate and cut the meat into strips. Heat the tortillas in the oven for one to two minutes. Alternatively, heat a frypan and add the tortillas, one at a time. Cook for one to two minutes each side. Keep warm while you heat the rest of the tortillas. Serve the steak on hot tortillas.

When you feel the dough is smooth then it is ready and you can then start creating balls in your hands. Mould the balls to about the size of a golf ball, this will create a 15cm (6”) tortilla. You can make bigger or smaller balls. To press the dough you can either use a tortilla press, or a rolling pin. The tortilla press will make it easier to make round tortillas, however, you can also press the dough underneath a heavy skillet for the shape. Cook the tortillas for 70 seconds, until the edges are starting to curl up and the bottoms look dry and pebbly, then flip it over and do the same to the other side. Place the tortillas straight under a tea towel or in a warm place to keep them warm until you need them. Note: To make corn tortillas we need masa harina. This is a ground from corn kernels that have being soaked in water with lime. This solution changes the structure of the corn, making it softer and with a great nutritional content.

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ENTERTAINING â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FOOD

LAMB TACOS WITH COCONUT Serves 4 Ingredients

Method

1.2kg boneless lamb, cut into pieces

In a large bowl, mix all of the marinade ingredients together.

125g yellow capsicum, cut into cubes

Add the lamb and marinate for one hour.

350ml coconut water

Heat a saucepan, then add the lamb and cook over medium heat until brown.

150g grated coconut 50g chives 4 blue corn tortillas Marinade: 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 400ml vegetable oil 60g butter, melted 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Add capsicum, coconut water and the grated coconut, and cook covered on a rolling simmer for 25 minutes. Once the lamb is well cooked and the liquid has reduced by 60%, add the chives and turn off the heat. Heat tortillas in the oven for one to two minutes. Alternatively, heat a frypan and add the tortillas, one at a time. Cook for one to two minutes each side. Keep warm while you heat the rest of the tortillas. Serve over hot tortillas. Note: Blue corn (also called Hopi maize) is grown in Mexico and some southern US states. With a sweet taste, the corn is ground to make corn meal to make the tortillas.

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ENTERTAINING – FOOD

MULATO CHICKEN TACOS Serves 4 Ingredients 4 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless 1l water 1 white onion 1 garlic clove 4 mulato chilies, seeded 50g walnut 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 150ml fresh cream Salt, to taste 4 large corn tortillas

Method

To make the mulatto sauce, wash chilies, roast them and then soaked in hot water for 20 minutes. In a blender, grind the chilies and walnuts with garlic and onion from the chicken broth to make a paste. Heat a saucepan with the oil. Add the paste, season with salt and cook over a medium low heat for five minutes. Add the chicken to the sauce and cook for five minutes. Heat tortillas in the oven for one to two minutes. Alternatively, heat a frypan and add the tortillas, one at a time. Cook for one to two minutes each side. Keep warm while you heat the rest of the tortillas.

Cut each chicken thigh into six pieces.

Serve over the hot tortillas.

Add water to a large saucepan. Add the chicken, onion, garlic and salt. Bring to the boil, reduce and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the broth and allow to cool. Strain the broth, reserving both onion and garlic (and the broth for other recipes if desired).

Note: Mulato chilies are mild to medium dried chilies that are most often used in Mexican mole sauces. Ranked very low on the heat scale, they have a soft smoky flavor with a taste similar to chocolate and licorice. Substitute with ancho chiles or if you can’t source these either, cayenne pepper.

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THIS EDITION, OUR TASTING PANEL TACKLED IPA AND THE LATEST NEW RELEASES AND CIDERS. HERE ARE THE RESULTS

TASTING the 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

Neal Cameron

Justin Fox

Head brewer for Lion Nathan, Bill Taylor has more than 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.

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.

With more than a decade of brewing across Australia on kits ranging from 600 to 140,000 litres, Justin has recently joined the Bintani family to head their service, sales, and product development. He is passionate about helping brewers innovate and develop technically as the industry continues to grow.

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Michael Capaldo

Graham Wright

With over a decade in the brewing industry, including eight years at Sydney/Lovedale Brewery, Michael has completed a Post Grad in Brewing from ECU and judged at many of the top beer awards. He also sits on the IBA awards technical panel and is the NSW, QLD & ACT sales rep for Hop Products Australia.

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-tofind 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).

TASTING

Hawkers West Coast IPA 7.2% ABV, 375ml can Most serious beer lovers have a vision in their mind of what a particular beer style should taste like. We suggest that this would be a common picture of this on-trend IPA. It’s a pineappley, passionfruity, juicy, fruity, fruit salad bomb of a beer with the apparently important cloudiness also there in spades. Seems like the yeast has worked hard in amongst all these solids, producing a slightly Belgian, spicy alcohol character too – but it adds rather than detracts. Style: West Coast IPA Glass: Goblet Food Match: Mushroom gnocchi Hawkers.beer

Modus Operandi Future Factory IIPA 8.2% ABV, 500ml can There’s not a lot bad you can say about this brewery that has grabbed the hop end of the market by the short and curlies. This beer however divided the panel somewhat; the big mandarin, sweet fruitiness punched right where it should in the pleasure zone. But that’s a lot of alcohol to tuck away even in big flavoured beers like this one and whilst it didn’t hurt most palates, the purists would suggest it rather unnecessary. Style: Double IPA Glass: Middy Food Match: Cajun style pork steaks MObrewing.com.au

Prancing Pony Pagan’s Empire Imperial Pale Ale 6.6% ABV, 330ml Boy, oh boy, the deep amber colour really does take you in and then the nose takes hold of you and you just have to have a sip. Fresh fruity hop aroma, rich malty sweetness on entry, great balance and length, finishes with more sweet malt and resinous hop bitterness with a hint of pleasing nuttiness, which could be the rye. Second glass? Yes please. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Chicken tikka masala Prancingponybrewery.com.au

Little Creatures IPA 6.4% ABV, 330ml A wonderful interpretation of style with a bit of an Aussie twang to it. This IPA leaves a dense head in the glass that laces all the way to the bottom. The hop aroma is firm and tends towards the citrus and savoury side of the spectrum. A skilful use of hops plays a nice role in presenting flavour that imitates sweetness and the bitterness. Style: IPA Glass: Schooner Food Match: Wagyu burger with hand cut fries Littlecreatures.com.au

Philter XPA

Shifty Lizard IPA

4.2% ABV, 375ml can Philter’s XPA won the Champion Pale at the 2017 Australian Craft Beer Awards and it’s easy to see why. In the glass, it has a hazy appearance and a pale straw colour, while on the nose there is all the tropical fruit notes one would expect without being overpowering. Tight bubbles wash over your tongue on drinking, bringing incredible balance of malty sweetness and hoppy bitterness. Could crush many tinnies of this – it’s incredibly sessionable! Style: XPA Glass: Schooner Food Match: 80s style cheese fondue (to match the outrageous can) Philterbrewing.com

6.5% ABV, 330ml A unique expression of IPA, this beer is popping with freshness. It presents a fantastic head in the glass and then delivers a nice amber and crystal malt body with an intricate hop profile, laden with everything from stone fruit to citrus and even some berry and pine notes. An excellent beer for style with a distinct spin of its own. Style: IPA Glass: Snifter Food Match: Wood fired Margherita pizza Shiftylizard.com

Colonial South West Sour 4.6% ABV, 375ml can This is a sour beer for people who say they don’t like sour beer. It’s extremely drinkable and thirst quenching. A nicely coloured beer with a heavy haze, it looks refreshing in the glass and provides a balanced mouthfeel. Passionfruit aromas jump out right from the off and that flavour blends with citrus and astringent grapefruit flavours once that first sip is taken. A pleasant tang lingers after the finish. Style: Sour Glass: Tulip Food Match: BBQ prawns with lemon Colonialbrewingco.com.au

Bridge Road Brewers Little Bling 3.4% ABV, 330ml The baby brother of the infamous Bling collection from Bridge Road sees hops and malt toned back to maintain balance with the lower ABV. The brew pours a rusty burnt orange, yielding passionfruit, mango and a deep pine aroma that is reminiscent of the rest of the Bling family. The body is short and sweet, a quick blast of biscuity malt almost instantly dissolves to allow a pleasant hop flavour that delivers enough bitterness to let something linger on your tastebuds. Style: Session IPA Glass: Snifter Food Match: Chilli mussels Bridgeroadbrewers.com.au

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TASTING

James Squire The Hop Father Extra Pale Ale 2018 4.7% ABV, 345ml Attractive amber colour, moderate head, lazy bead. An inviting smell of fresh, crisp malt and light, fruity hop aroma. But when you taste it, it is a massive palate chock full of sweet creamy malt, great length with distinct resinous hop flavours, and a bitter tang at the end. However, some would say it’s a tad sweet. Style: XPA Glass: Schooner Food Match: Ploughman’s Lunch Jamessquire.com.au

Young Henrys & Foo Fighters Foo Town Lager 4% ABV, 375ml can Brewing a beer with the coolest rock and roll band in the world is pretty rad – but when you nail the beer it’s even better. This 4% ABV lager delivers on flavour with gorgeous pineapple and peach flavours and yet maintains freshness through the beer. It’s a killer craft lager worthy of any legend. Style: Lager Glass: A glass boot! Food Match: Air-popped popcorn sprinkled with powdered sun dried tomatoes, chilli and ParmigianoReggiano Younghenrys.com

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Wayward Brewery Dad Rock Imperial IPA

Stone & Wood The Gatherer 2018

Woolshed Rude Ruby Grapefruit Cider

8% ABV, 500ml This is the complete package for a classic American IPA. It pours with a rich head and has a beautiful light copper colour, but the real delight appears at the first aroma and just keeps on going! It is bursting with dank citrus and pine character typical of US hops and delivers a luscious lathering of hop envelopment to your entire mouth. Style: Double IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Smoked brisket, slaw and mayo Waywardbrewing.com.au

4.6% ABV, 500ml This scintillating beer brewed with Byron Bay cucumber, mint and watermelon sounds intriguing, and tastes even better! It pours slightly hazy and has a thin persistent head, but once you get to the flavours that’s when things really happen. You can identify with all the individual flavours of the local ingredients, yet they are perfectly balanced with a delicate acidity and gentle malt structure. Style: Wheat beer Glass: 500ml stein Food Match: Cucumber, watermelon and mint salad on sourdough Stoneandwood.com.au

8.1% ABV, 330ml Grapefruit jumps forth and throws its first of many punches as soon as the bottle is cracked. Cloudy pink with plenty of fizz and a smidge of foam, ruby red grapefruit mixes with a sour bite on the nose. The body is sweet and a little sticky but manages to bury the 8.1% ABV deep within, a zippy tartness being the dominant lingering note. Ready to slate the thirst of the sweet tooths among us while the weather is still warm. Style: Grapefruit cider Glass: Champagne flute Food Match: Quince and cheese Wilkadene.com.au

Six String Brewing Co Dark Red IPA

Modus Operandi Sonic Prayer IPA

Philter Red Session Ale

6% ABV, 375ml tin Attractive deep red or chestnut colour, with big head retention. Smelling of dark roasted malts with a hint of smokiness. The malt dominates the lightly resinous hops. And the taste? Long and almost astringent, with a big dose of embery smoke. The finish is very dry, bordering on puckering. Seems a curious style to be called an IPA, but very drinkable. Style: Red IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Vietnamese beef salad Sixstringbrewing.com.au/ex2

6% ABV, 500ml can This style is very reminiscent of many high quality, US-influenced IPA’s. It just delivers what it says it is going to deliver: loads of new world hops and good malt, great balance and tons of appeal. It pours a medium amber colour with good head and a very slight murkiness. There’s a resinous hop burst, fruit salad notes and plenty of bitterness. Style: IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Steak and kidney pie MObrewing.com.au

4.8% ABV, 375ml can When your first release claims the Craft Beer Award Trophy for Champion Pale Ale (XPA), one cracks a can of the second release with a certain excitement and anticipation. Pouring a bright copper, with an immediate waft of pine cones and toffee malt mixed amongst earthy citrus highlights. Taste follows suit, with caramel malt providing more than enough sweetness to carry a mid-level bitterness. The brew is well balanced and drinks fuller than its ABV may lead you to expect. Style: Red ale Glass: Boston Pint Food Match: Gouda or cheddar Philterbrewing.com

4 Pines Keller Door Juiced Up Extra Summer Ale 6.5% ABV, 500ml An original style of beer that takes all the flavour of a NEIPA, the aroma from a juiced up summer ale and the malt backbone of an IPA. The complexities in this beer work quite well, as it delivers restrained carbonation with a tutti frutti aroma, strong pineapple and toasted toffee flavours backed up with a balanced hop bite. Style: Extra summer ale Glass: Stange Food Match: Pavlova 4pinesbeer.com.au

Pirate Life IPA 6.9% ABV, 355ml can The brightly coloured can reveals a cloudy orange beer that has a fine, tight foam that lingers throughout. On the nose, one picks up citrus, fruitiness and grassiness in powerful bursts. These flavours almost compete in the mouth with a powerful malt punch – its starts with a wave of malt, but the finish is decidedly hoppy, almost drying out the mouth and calling for another quaff. This is a beer that you’ll want to keep drinking and as the beer warms, the taste profiles continue to change. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Buffalo/chicken wings with tabasco Piratelife.com.au

Abita Big Easy IPA

KAIJU! Metamorphosis IPA

Eden Brewery Phoenix D. Kottbusser

6.7 % ABV, 330ml Now this is a back to basics, no nonsense, perfectly brewed IPA. There’s no doubt that you are drinking exactly what the brewer intended without any faults or missteps along the way. It has a delicate but firmly planted foot in both the malt and hop camps with the result being one of those beers where a ‘magic porridge pot’ beer glass would still not be enough. Give it a try and understand what a balanced, malty, piney, resiny, classic IPA should taste like. Style: American IPA Glass: Pint Food Match: Burger with the lot Kaijubeer.com.au

5% ABV, 330ml Anyone that’s actually heard of this historic German style of beer should take their place in the Beer Nerd Hall of Fame. Think of it as an Altbier with a twist; the twist being sweet notes from added molasses and honey. This unconventional approach is typical of the youthful Eden Brewery down in the Southern Highlands; head brewer Jacob’s rule-breaking approach to the craft of brewing is now producing some routinely excellent and distinctive beers. Including this malty, honeyed and quaffable brew; contemporary it isn’t, drinkable and charming it is. Style: Kottbusser Glass: Straight-sided half pint Food Match: Anything meaty Edenbrewery.beer

Capital Brewing Spring Board Summer Ale

Fixation Squish Citrus IPA

KAIJU! Robohop Golden IPA

4.6% ABV, 375ml can Imagine an American wheat and a Belgian wit having a baby? It would be beautiful, and that’s what this beer is! The honey and spices are subtle and blend into a pale malt structure, delivering freshness with a unique complexity that has your tastebuds crying out for more. Style: Summer ale Glass: Weizen Food Match: Try the cheeseburger with brie from the food truck at the Capital brewery in Canberra! Capitalbrewing.co

5.9% ABV, 330ml can With the Aussie palate well accustomed to fruity flavours from hops, it was only a matter of time until we fell in love with fruitinfused IPA. Squish features the addition of white grapefruit and blood orange, and integrates them seamlessly with a classic US hop profile and IPA malt backbone. It’s a balanced brew that transitions from an orange-focussed aroma to a grapefruit-assisted bitterness without fault. Well suited to summer and held itself together as it warmed, no wonder it flew straight into the GABS Hottest 100. Style: Citrus IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Green chilli fish tacos Fixationbrewing.com.au

5.7% ABV, 330ml For a brewery who rarely holds back, Robohop is almost a gateway beer to the world of Kaiju and their love of big hoppy beers. A malty gold with a slight haze in the glass, pleasing citrus notes mingle with drabs of mango and freshly cut grass. The body is full and provides a sweet biscuit malt backbone that takes the lead over hop flavour. There’s little restraint on the bitterness front, which quickly knocks over the sweetness and dries out the mouth, leaving a lingering reminder that this is indeed a hop monster. Style: Golden IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Grilled lamb cutlets Kaijubeer.com.au

4.5% ABV, 355ml From the banks of the Mississippi River comes this gold coloured IPA. The aroma has a strong maltiness to it, with some piney notes coming through from the hops. That malt backbone dominates on first sipping, almost making it taste stronger than it is, but a residual bitterness from the hops lingers in one’s mouth for the next sip. The age of the bottle may have seen some hop aroma and flavour leach away, but this is a very smooth and drinkable beer. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Beef brisket, or any New Orleans smokehouse style meat Abita.com

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TASTING

Mountain Goat Rare Breed Lime Crisis Double IPA

Modus Operandi Former Tenant Red IPA

Golden Axe Apple Cider

Australian Brewery All Star Session IPA

8.2% ABV, 640ml The first 2018 edition of Mountain Goat’s legendary Rare Breed series hits the target a little left of centre. The high alcohol blends nicely with the Persian black limes and Himalayan salt (!) yet the sweet caramel malt and slightly cloying structure overshadows a hop backbone that would be expected of a double IPA. Style: Double IPA Glass: Thistle Food Match: Braised beef short ribs Goatbeer.com.au

7.8% ABV, 500ml can An absolute blockbuster! Medium deep but bright red, Galaxy hops to the fore with sweet maltiness in the background. Then the taste: massive, rich, sweet malt with a hint of roasted malt as well – married perfectly with big resinous and fruity hops. And all in perfect balance. It is just so super smooth that you simply don’t notice the high alcohol weight. Great stuff! A must try. Style: Red IPA Glass: Snifter Food Match: It’s a meal on its own! Mobrewing.com.au

5.2% ABV, 375ml can Crisp and refreshing are the first words that strike from the axe. The aromatics are clean and show both red and green apple without any skin driven harshness. There is the inevitable sweetness, yet it doesn’t dominate the palate, instead allowing a well measured dose of CO2 to dissipate things quickly. There isn’t much more to discover and in that lies its appeal, a balanced cider that will no doubt quench many a thirst. Style: Apple cider Glass: Schooner Food Match: BBQ pork fillet Goldenaxe.com.au

4.2% ABV, 375ml can The once beheld paradox of finding a hoppy beer that is moderate in alcohol has been quashed by this cracking medium alcohol IPA. Light crystal and caramel malt notes balance with a mildly dank US hop aroma and flavour, providing the punter with the perfect hoppy lawnmower beer for a hot day. Style: Session IPA Glass: Shaker pint Food Match: Sage and veal medallions Australianbrewery.com

Mountain Goat Barrel Aged IPA Christmas Ale

Woolshed Brewery Cherax Destructor Australian IPA

Van Dieman Estate Ale: Edward

KAIJU! Aftermath Double IPA

10.4% ABV, 750ml To get a flavour improvement in an IPA using time and wood is a real challenge as both of these are potentially anathema to delicate hop characters. But here it has been done beautifully. Seamless wood vanillin and tannin teases a deep malty richness – and the required typically forward American hop flavour – making it a joy to sip on. Maybe it was the entirely appropriate residual sugar carrying the alcohol to our brains like a Japanese bullet train, but we were ever so comfortable by the time the bottle was empty. Style: Barrel-aged IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Roast beef Goatbeer.com.au

5.8% ABV, 330ml A profoundly cool name for a beer, tempered somewhat by the reality explained on the label – the beer being named after the humble yabbie. This is an example of a beer that has had fruity hops added by the bucket load to give a big flavour profile all around. But many of these hop characters are subsumed by a lack of the clean vibrancy in a beer needed to really make these characters shine – some attention to detail in the brewing process would perhaps require less hops to create more flavour. Style: Australian IPA Glass: Schooner Food Match: Hawaiian pizza Wilkadene.com.au

5.4% ABV, 375ml One of two estate ales recently released by Van Dieman, Edward is crafted entirely from ingredients cultivated on the brewery’s farm. It ticks all the boxes for a farmhouse, delivering spice and hay amidst grassy hops. It dries out quickly, invading all four corners of your mouth and constantly yields new flavours as it warms. A fantastic brew that shows it is possible to produce a beer from ground to glass in-house without compromising quality. Style: Hoppy farmhouse ale Glass: Snifter Food Match: Roast chook with chunky spuds Vandiemanbrewing.com.au

9.0% ABV, 375ml can The first of the Kaiju beers, Aftermath is now in its fifth year of pleasing the tastebuds of Aussie drinkers. Once the biggest of the monster family, its 9% ABV is now standard fare from the hop and beast loving brew team. Golden orange with a hint of translucence, jammy pineapple and citrus floods off the glass. The hops are backed with sweet toffee and a dank earthy pine that integrates well. Full bodied with more toffee and caramel and an assertive bitterness that cuts down the sweetness in preparation for another sip. Style: Double IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Roast pork Kaijubeer.com.au

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BentSpoke Sprocket IPA 7% ABV, 375ml can Another cloudy beer, and the newest beer to come from BentSpoke is the colour of lemons, with a head that dissipated quite quickly. The aroma is hugely tropical, with pineapple, peach and passionfruit to the fore. In the mouth, it’s all juicy complexity, almost like a breakfast juice. The tropical hop flavours fade to a gradual bitterness, but the beer continues to build and grow. Also, where on earth is the 7% ABV hiding! The alcohol warmth is latest to the party. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Pavlova with cream Bentspokebrewing.com.au

Australian Brewery Fire and Brimstone Smoked IPA 6% ABV, 375ml can Wow! Liquefied, cured smoked ham. And the smoke tastes like that famous Islay dram Laphroaig too! Dig deep and you get the hops. This is a very well made beer, and it certainly delivers what it promises, but it is challenging. However if you are looking for a smoked beer, this is it. Style: Smoked IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Haggis Australianbrewery.com

Exit Brewing IPA

Philter Lager

7% ABV, 375ml can This is a little weird. It’s a fabulous session ale but take a look at the alcohol – it’s massive! But get this: it tastes like a 5% ABV beer. Such balance is amazing. The style is sweetly malty held in check by fruity hoppiness with crisp bitterness at the end. Very well-made. Bravo Exit Brewing! A second glass? Most definitely, and then a taxi home… Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Italian pork and fennel sausages Exitbrewing.com

4.4% ABV, 375ml can This most recent release from Philter is a lager that brings plenty of balance to the table. It pours a golden straw colour, with a light to medium head. As you’d expect from these crafty characters, the beer is slightly more hopped – with floral aromas to the fore – compared to mainstream lager. The crisp dryness of the beer makes it fresh and perfect for a hot day, but there is also a slight malt sweetness that’s makes for easy drinking! Style: Lager Glass: Schooner Food Match: Salt and vinegar crisps Philterbrewing.com

Van Dieman Estate Ale: Têtu

Prickly Moses The Raconteur IPA

Fixation Obsession Session IPA

Green Beacon Windjammer IPA

6.4% ABV, 330ml The raconteur is a creative way of defining an IPA, loosely translating to a story that showcases hops as the hero! That it does with spades, throwing lolly-like tropical fruits amongst strong orange liqueur, grassy hops and spice dabbling in the background. Rich golden in colour, caramel malt and orange combine on the palate for an appropriate medium bodied mouthfeel that keeps the bitterness in check. Some lingering candied grapefruit rounds things out and leaves one dwelling on the beauty of hoppy beer. Style: IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Spicy Pad Thai Pricklymoses.com.au

4.6% ABV, 330ml This beer could easily become an obsession with all the IPA hallmarks but an easy drinking version. Pine, slight woody/earthy hop notes are evident right upfront and follow through well into the palate without leaving an oily resinous note. The bitterness is assertive but balanced. Nice clean finish with a slight build on the pine-hop notes. Delicious. Style: Session IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Big bowl of paprika dusted wedges Fixationbrewing.com.au

6% ABV, 375ml can A decent foam, a good cling and a dark golden to copper colour are appealing. The hop profile is this beer’s shining feature with a delicious citrus hop aroma, assertive bitterness that is quickly picked upon on first taste. An orange citrus note offsets some of the more dominant pine/resinous hop aroma. The finish is full, with a balance malt flavour, although it finishes a little resinous. Style: IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Turkish street food of grilled meats, flaky pastry bourek or lashings of creamy dips Greenbeacon.com.au

3.5% ABV, 375ml An enticingly delicate pink beer with a clean soft haze. Fresh berries abound on the nose, stemming from a secondary fermentation of blackberries and raspberries grown on the family farm. Sweet aromatics are cut with fresh hay that takes one’s mind straight there. The balance is impeccable, delicate and light yet spritely and intriguing. Drabs of earthy oak and further berry sweetness on the palate quickly round out for a dry finish that leaves your thirst quenched and a yearning for another sip. Style: Barrel fermented grisette with summer berries Glass: Goblet Food Match: Charcuterie board Vandiemanbrewing.com.au

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TASTING

Newstead Two to the Valley IPA

Prickly Moses Chardonnay IPA

Kaiju Cthulhu Black IPA

Van Dieman Brewing Loquacio

6.4% ABV, 375ml can There’s no guessing this is an IPA. Bold, brash (must be the Queensland influence) and full of hoppy goodness. The aroma is more resinous than tropical but hints of citrus transition well from aroma to palate. The bitterness is big, lingering and well balanced by a good malt character. The structure is complex but rounded and as far as IPAs go, this is one to try if you’re not sure about the style. Style: IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Juicy Angus beef burger Newsteadbrewing.com.au

6% ABV, 330ml Deep golden in colour and a good initial foam. An interesting twist on an IPA where the balance between the chardonnay fruit and hop notes are well intertwined to provide an overall tropical fruit aroma. The palate was lighter and a little shorter than expected, but a good bitterness and lingering dryness made for an interesting beer. Style: IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Array of cheddar cheeses Pricklymoses.com.au

6.5% ABV, 375ml Deep dark and mysterious, this beer was eagerly tasted! Take your time in smelling the aroma, picking out resinous, green hop notes, dark roasted almost tobacco-like malt and a little dark chocolate to boost. The anticipation that this carries through to the palate doesn’t disappoint. Bold and bitter, the palate is nicely complex but for the unfamiliar tasters of this style the finish can seem a little acrid or astringent. Style: Black IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Slow cooked beef cheek with caramelised onion gravy Kaijubeer.com.au

7.5% ABV, 375ml As one of three limited release barrel-aged beers, this is a treat. Hazy with a deep orange colour and light foam, this is best poured into a chalice. Approach this one with an open mind. You won’t be disappointed. Let it open up and wait for an unfamiliar citrus aroma (loquat), a little oak and some higher alcohol top notes. A little citrus zest is evident. Dry tanninlike astringency complements the underlying sweetness. The finish provides a lingering orange/citrus flavour. Style: Barrel Aged Loquat Wild Ale Glass: Chalice Food Match: Platter of dried fruit, cheese and fresh pear Vandiemanbrewing.com.au

2 Brothers The Guvnor II, Extra Strong Ale

Bridge Road Brewers, Bling IPA

Akasha Hopsmith IPA

Wayward Oatis Golden Oatmeal IPA

10.0% ABV, 330ml Wow! Take your time, relax and enjoy this one. The aroma is complex and evolving with an intense malt flavour that’s balanced by the assertive Amarillo hops. Having spent time in French oak barrels, notes of vanilla are evident and the palate is luscious and creamy. The bitterness is assertive and balanced by a light caramelised toffee finish. Style: Barrel-aged barley wine Glass: Chalice or large wine glass Food Match: Nothing - sit back and savour! 2brothers.com.au

5.8% ABV, 330ml A deep dark amber with a hint of copper, this beer is deliciously satisfying with every mouthful. Mastering the balance between a smack of hops and big rich maltiness, Bling delivers a wellintegrated IPA with piney, slightly citrus and resinous hop aroma that follows through on the palate to a big bitterness that is supported by a rich malty sweetness. Lingering smoothness in the finish. Style: IPA Glass: IPA / Spiegelau Food Match: A rich Punjab curry. Bridgeroadbrewers.com.au

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7.2% ABV, 375ml can Pours a deep, hazy gold with an orange hue. There’s plenty of hops on the nose; pine, citrus, stonefruits and a slightly resinous undertone. On first sip, the malt sweetens that hoppiness – and made us think of poached pears. There’s a bit of bitterness that adds an edge, but that builds with every gulp to create a crescendo of hoppy goodness. As it warms in the glass, more tropical notes become apparent. It doesn’t taste as strong as it is – combined with the dry finish, it’s dangerously drinkable. Style: IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Beef in black bean sauce Akashabrewing.com.au

6.1% ABV, 640ml A thick haze and a dark golden/ bronze colour, and a tight head that doesn’t go away. There is plenty of hop aroma – particularly grapefruit and citrus alongside peach and apricot. On first sip, there is high bitterness that really dries the mouth and leaves you wanting more. But the mouthfeel is still comfortably balanced, with the toasted oats giving really smoothness and a deliciously rounded feeling in the mouth. Great beer. Style: IPA Glass: Spiegelau IPA Food Match: Rice pudding Waywardbrewing.com.au

TASTING

BEER & BREWER CONSULTING EDITOR IAN KINGHAM SHARES HIS NOTES ON 30 BEERS HE’S TASTED LATELY

Capital Brewing Co. Coast Ale

Sample Pale Ale

4.3% ABV, 330ml Coast Ale is inspired by the beers of San Diego, from where the chief brewer hails. The colour is amber, and the foam is strong with good lacing. The scent of light fruit tones is balanced with soft sweet malt. The palate is sweet with some sour grainy notes. Very easy drinking, with a light body and low bitter finish. Style: California common Glass: Tulip Food Match: Buffalo wings Capitalbrewing.co

4.7% ABV, 330ml Sample Pale Ale is a modified American Pale Ale which has an orange gold colour in the glass and a thin white head. The scent of oranges, peel and juice is ever present. The palate has a biscuity malt note and more oranges. The residual bitterness is an oily hop note and the finish leaves a pleasant oily malty linger. Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Steak sandwich Samplebrew.com.au

3 Ravens 55 American Pale Ale

Young Henrys Natural Lager

5% ABV, 330ml This traditional American pale presents well. 55 showcases five hops and five malt sources, which is unusual. The orangey amber colour holds a firm white head; a scent of grapefruit, citrus, honeydew melon and some grassy hops from the glass. The palate has hints of oatmeal and biscuity malt, which balance the pine, grapefruit, and citrus notes. The finish is pleasantly dry with a hint of caramel carry. Style: American pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Beef ribs 3ravens.com.au

4.2% ABV, 330ml Young Henrys Natural Lager is less of a traditional craft brew and more of a quaffer for young entrants to the world of beer. Hazy gold in appearance with a dissipating head, Natural Lager has light grass and grainy notes. The palate is clean but low on malt body. Uncomplicated and a little washed, excellent for refreshment, but less so for lager flavour attributes. The finish is light and clean. Style: Lager Glass: Pilsener Food Match: Tiger prawns Younghenrys.com

Iron Bark Hill American Pale Ale

Goose Island IPA

5.2% ABV, 330ml Iron Bark Hill brewery is situated in Pokolbin, NSW, located within the grounds of the Peter Drayton family winery as an extension of production and hospitality. This American pale ale has the hallmarks of style, with good use of American hops offering light citrus notes on the aroma. The pour is an orangey gold and the palate offers notes of citrus and pine with some bready malt and caramel to balance. The finish is light and clean. Style: American pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Filet mignon Ironbarkhillbrewhouse. com.au

5.9% ABV, 330ml Originating in 1988, Goose Island founder John Hall was inspired by a beer tour of Europe and commissioned the brewery in Chicago. With a swag of medals and global recognition the beer is now available in Australia. The IPA pours light gold with good white foam. The aroma subtly offers grapefruit, citrus and pine with bready malt. The palate is distinctly light and cleverly expresses the subtle hop components. The finish is aptly dry, wheat-like and clean. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Green curry Gooseisland.com

Australian Brewery All Star Session IPA

Bridge Road Brewers Bling India Pale Ale

4.2% ABV, 375ml can The Australian Brewery situated in Rouse Hill, Western Sydney, was the first Australian craft brewery to can its own beer. All Star IPA is lower alcohol than the style governs, and it could be argued the beer is more of an American pale ale. Deep gold to bronze in complexion with a high foam fawn head, All Star offers a complex medley of hop aroma, spruce, pine and grass. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Spicy meat balls Australianbrewery.com

5.8% ABV, 330ml Bling IPA gets its name from how showy the beer is with its hops. A dark copper colour with a lacy white head. The aroma offers a cacophony of flavours: spruce, pine, kerosene, herbs, spice, citrus and fruit. The palate is rich with good expressions of fruitiness derived from hops and well carried by bready, caramel malt flavours. The finish is full and rich. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Spicy chicken wings Bridgeroadbrewers. com.au

Rocks Brewing Company Conviction Series Pale Ale 3.5% ABV, 375ml can Rocks Brewing located in Alexandria NSW, has a series of hotels which share in serving their beers. While contract brewing makes up some of their production, their own range of beers are the key focus. This cheeky little session beer pours golden with an off-white head. The aroma offers hints of malt, grapefruit and orange. The palate is light with low malt and hop expression – made for easy drinking. Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Beef burger Rocksbrewing.com

BentSpoke Crankshaft IPA 5.8% ABV, 375ml can BentSpoke takes its name from chief brewer Richard Watkins’ other passion, cycling. Crankshaft IPA continues the cycling theme and pedals some excellent style cues. The nose has a lovely grassy note, and expresses layers of hop aroma, citrus and tropical fruit. The palate has some biscuit malt for balance and carries the hops and alcohol well. A lovely fruity, oily hop finish with contained bitterness. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Duck pancakes Bentspokebrewing.com.au

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Prancing Pony Pale Ale

Stockade Brew Co. Duel Hoppy Lager

5.5% ABV, 330ml Prancing Pony Brewery and was founded by Frank Samson alongside wife Corinna Steeb. The original Prancing Pony Pale Ale pours a hazy orange-amber with a fawn head. The aroma of light herbs and spice is underpinned by toasted malt and caramel notes. The palate is uncomplicated with some light citrus and good malt layering for balance. The finish is well balanced. Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Salmon steaks Prancingponybrewery. com.au

4.7% ABV, 330ml The Stockade brewery is one of Australia’s foremost contract brewing facilities but their own range of beers also fare well. Duel Hoppy Lager is straw in colour, with a thin white head, displaying aromas of melon and citrus with some light toasted malt. The palate delivers a balance of floral and citrus notes. A low bitter finish on a light body. Very easy drinking, with the good freshness of a well-made lager. Style: Lager Glass: Tulip Food Match: Pasta carbonara Stockadebrewco.com.au

Pact Beer Co Mt Tennent Pale Ale

Hop Nation The Fiend Australian IPA

5.2% ABV, 330ml Pact Beer Co. is a gypsy brewing operation hailing from Canberra and is the collaboration of three mates. A hazy, yellow gold appearance with low carbonation, Mt Tennent Pale Ale has good resinous hop notes and hints of apricot, peach, orange, grapefruit and pine. The palate has good malt weight and biscuit malt flavour while the fruity, grassy hop notes lift in the beer. The finish has some lingering malt sweetness. Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Oysters Kilpatrick Pactbeer.com.au

5.4% ABV, 330ml The Australian IPA is a unique brew that only uses Australian-grown hops. Gold in appearance with high white foam, The Fiend offers a soft nose of tropical fruits including guava, paw paw, and passionfruit. The flavour of the beer is light for style, with a reflection of aroma bodied with a hint of spice and a resinous bitter finish. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: BBQ lamb skewers Hopnation.com.au

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Young Henrys @ browncardigan Brown Bagger Brown Ale

Bad Shepherd Hazelnut Brown Ale

BentSpoke GFG (Gluten Free Ginger)

5.9% ABV, 330ml Hazelnut Brown lives up to its name with excellent hazelnut expression. Pouring dark brown in colour with an off-white head, this beer has a strong hazelnut aroma melded with toffee and biscuity, caramel malt notes. The palate is full of hazelnut, but is well carried with cocoa and dark chocolate notes and some residual malt bitterness. Style: Brown ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Lamb pilaf Badshepherd.com.au

4% ABV, 375ml can This Gluten Free Ginger is probably inspired by Richard’s young days as an avid home brewer, but for ginger lovers this is a quality brew. A cloudy gold appearance, with some low lacing on top. The aroma captures lemon/ lime notes, light ginger and a hint of herbal spice. The palate is more lemon and finger lime with good soft natural ginger notes on the finish. Style: Ginger beer Glass: Tulip Food Match: Chicken with ginger and shallots Bentspokebrewing.com.au

Pikes Sparkling Ale

Woolshed Brewery Summer Ale

4 Pines Kölsch

5.2% ABV, 330ml Pikes Beer Company is another winery’s offshoot brewery. Sparkling Ale is spritely in appearance, with a brass shine. The aroma hints at marmalade and melon, with some caramel malt coming through. The palate is light, and the balance of hops and malt is excellent. The finish is more of stewed orange and the bitterness is a pleasant pithy note. Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Crumbed whiting Pikesbeercompany. com.au

4.5% ABV, 330ml This brew is modelled on the Cologne beer Kölsch but uses an Australian Summer hop variety – delivering on the pun. The beer is refreshing, but is closer to a summer hop expression than a Kölsch. Straw coloured with a medium white head, the beer is clean and fresh. The aroma offers hints of honeydew and rock melon, and the palate has light fruit character, some good soft toasted malt and a dry finish. Style: Summer ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Prawn Caesar salad Woolshedbrewery.com.au

4.5% ABV, 640ml Young Henrys is a beacon for good craft beer. The name plays with the old experience of grabbing a favourite beer for home, wrapped in a brown paper bag. It’s a seasonal brew and pours dark brown. The aroma offers caramel, chestnut and some toasted hazelnut. The palate has excellent malt depth and good balance of flavour. The finishing note is one of caramelised sugar. Style: Brown ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Osso bucco Younghenrys.com

4.6% ABV, 330ml Its ultimate commercial comfort has come from this Kölsch, which is a style that can be easily quaffed and re-purchased. 4 Pines Kölsch pours a hazy straw colour and has a clean white head. The aroma has hints of pine, lemon and lime and the palate offers a doughy, bready malt character, much heavier than the traditional. The finish is slightly tart with some lingering malt sweetness. Style: Kölsch Glass: Tulip Food Match: Spicy lamb kebabs 4pinesbeer.com.au

We believe that craft beers deserve crafted glasses.

These are our CRAFT BEER glasses. The Spiegelau Craft Beer Glasses have been approved by an expert tasting panel of master brewers and industry professionals. Focusing on beer enjoyment, members of the tasting workshop tested multiple glass shapes to find the best glass for India Pale Ale, Stout, and American Wheat Beer. In the expertsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; opinion, the custom-shaped glasses successfully deliver the complexity of aromas on the nose, while demonstrating the optimum beer texture, balance, and flavour intensity on the palate. Staying faithful to the spirit of Bavarian artisan craftsmanship, we have created these unique, functional glasses to bring out the best in complex craft beers.

The Beer Classics are available at David Jones, Myer and selected homewares stores or online at www.spiegelau.com.au

TASTING

BentSpoke Barley Griffin 4.2% ABV, 375ml can BentSpoke has taken the name in honour of the local landmark with this brew and as a clever twist Barley Griffin means mythical barley. Hazy gold in appearance with a clean white head offering an aroma of mandarin, tangerine, peach and pine notes. The palate is nicely layered with biscuit malt and notes of pepper spice and caramel, and the finish is clean with good lingering mouthfeel. Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Beer nuts Bentspokebrewing.com. au

Mismatch Brewing Co Session Ale 4.0% ABV, 330ml Mismatch Brewing Co’s owners are from “mismatched” jobs but share a passion for beer. Session Ale is bright yellow in appearance with a strong white head. The aroma is tropical fruit, passionfruit and pineapple. The palate carries the fruit notes but also has some distinct malt character coming through. The finish is well balanced and clean for an easy drinking ale. Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Prawns and aioli Mismatchbrewing.com.au

Riverside Brewing Sixty-Nine Summer Ale

Holgate Alpha Crucis Australian XPA

4.6% ABV, 330ml The Sixty-Nine Summer Ale takes its name from the Bryan Adams song but is far from being anything other than an all-Australian beer. All ingredients are grown locally. The appearance is light gold, with a firm white, wheaty head. The aroma is classic galaxy hops, with passionfruit and tropical fruit tones; a good malt weight adds some pleasant light grainy notes and the finish is clean. Style: Summer ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Lamb chops Riversidebrewing.com.au

5.5% ABV, 330ml Holgate Brewery is an institution which continues to develop. Alpha Crucis XPA pours a yellowy gold colour, and offers orange marmalade, tangerine and grapefruit on the nose. The palate has excellent cereal grain expressions and hop flavours of melon, passionfruit and pine. The finish has a nice resinous bitterness with light citrus and pine. Style: Pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Pork spare ribs Holgatebrewhouse.com

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Cavalier Pale Ale

Temple Brewing Company Bicycle Beer

Sauce Bubble & Squeak New England IPA

4.2% ABV, 330ml Temple Brewery is based in Brunswick East, Victoria, and offers consumers beer and food. Temple Bicycle beer is its signature beer - a sessionable summer ale. Straw in colour with light beading, the beer has subtle fruit notes and a malt tone to the aroma. The palate is light, with hop infused flavours of melon and lychee. The malt bill is low and the finish slightly bitter. Style: Summer ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Fresh oysters Templebrewing.com.au

6.5% ABV, 500ml can This seasonal is a standout. Cloudy amber in appearance, the aroma has grassy notes but it’s the fruity hop notes which are the highlight: guava, mango, melon, passionfruit, and pineapple which continue through the palate. The body is medium with excellent balance and the finish is a pleasant oily, resinous and lingering bitterness. Style: IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Lamb korma Sauce.beer

Southern Bay Australian Lager

BentSpoke Sprocket

Iron Bark Hill Summer Ale

4.6% ABV, 330ml Southern Bay Brewery is a large contract manufacturing facility in Moolap, which also produces a stable of their own beers. Southern Bay Lager is one of these. The beer pours amber with medium foam. The aroma is low with a light grainy note. The palate is clean and fresh, with a slight malt derived honey character. The finish is slightly dry, and the balance is excellent. Style: Lager Glass: Tulip Food Match: Pepper steak Southernbay.com.au

7% ABV, 375ml can Golden in appearance with low foam, Sprocket is another hop medley from BentSpoke, with excellent expressions of pineapple, citrus, passionfruit, lychee, grapefruit and pine. The taste rekindles everything in the aroma and is well supported by good bready malt. The finish is dry, with pleasant lingering bitterness. An excellent example of style. Style: Double IPA Glass: Tulip Food Match: Chicken Maryland with herb crusting Bentspokebrewing.com. au

5.1% ABV, 330ml Peter Drayton Winery has 18 acres under vine, and a cheeky little brewery brewing a mix of styles. The Summer Ale pours amber and has a low foam head. The aroma offers nice pale malt and hints of passionfruit synonymous with galaxy hops. The palate is light and refreshing with tropical fruit expressions of passionfruit, grapefruit and pineapple. The finish is medium dry. Style: Summer ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Pavlova Ironbarkhillbrewhouse. com.au

5.0% ABV, 330ml Cavalier Brewery is based in Derrimut, Victoria. Cavalier Pale Ale is orange-gold in appearance with a firm white head. High carbonation adds to the body. The aroma offers pine, spruce and nettle, and the palate is malty, with good body and depth. The finish is slightly grainy and sharp, showcasing the depth of the malt bill, with reflections of hops. Style: American pale ale Glass: Tulip Food Match: Salt and pepper squid Cavalierbeer.com.au

Australia & NZ Directory Breweries NSW

VIC REDOAK BOUTIQUE BEER CAFÉ 201 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000 (02) 9262 3303 info@redoak.com.au www.redoak.com.au Open: Mon-Sat 11am until late (lunch & dinner)

TEMPLE BREWING CO.

@TEMPLEBREWING

WWW.TEMPLEBREWING.COM.AU

QLD

HOLGATE BREWHOUSE ARCHIVE BEER BOUTIQUE BISTRO AUSTRALIAN BEER COMPANY 1 Wakley Road, Yenda NSW 2681 1800 112 337 (8am-7pm EST, Mon-Fri) Follow us to find out more and share our passion for beer Facebook, Instagram: australianbeerco, Twitter: ausbeerco

100 Boundary Street, West End Brisbane QLD 4101 07 3844 3419 info@archivebeerboutique.com.au www.archivebeerboutique.com.au Open Monday to Sunday 11am till late

79 High Street, Woodend VIC 3442 (03) 5427 2510 www.holgatebrewhouse.com Open 7 Days from 12noon to late

BURLEIGH BREWING COMPANY

AUSTRALIAN BREWERY 350 Annangrove Road, Rouse Hill NSW 2155 (02) 9679 4555 brewer@australianbrewery.com.au www.australianbrewery.com.au Cellar door open 10am-10pm daily

NAPOLEONE BREWERY & CIDERHOUSE 12 St Huberts Road, Coldstream VIC 3770 (03) 9739 0666 brewery@napoleone.com.au www.napoleone.com.au Open 7 days from 10am

SOUTHERN BAY BREWING CO.

2 Ern Harley Drive, Burleigh Heads QLD 4220 www.burleighbrewing.com.au Opening hours at Burleigh Brewing Brewery and Tap House are Wed and Thurs 3-6pm, Fri 3-8.30pm, Sun 2-6pm. Join the crew for tastings and takeaways, tours, live music, special events and other opportunities for spending time with the Burleigh Brewing crew – and their beer – in their new brewery. More information including events and tours, available on the website.

80 Point Henry Road, Moolap VIC 3224 (03) 5248 5710 info@SouthernBay.com.au www.SouthernBay.com.au

TWO BIRDS BREWING – BREWERY AND TASTING ROOM 136 Hall Street, Spotswood VIC 3015 For current food and drink menu, opening hours and to book a brewery tour www.twobirdsbrewing.com.au

HAIRYMAN BREWERY Contract/Gypsy Services Unit 10, 12-14 Northumberland Road, Caringbah NSW 2229 (02) 9525 4050 info@hairyman.com.au www.hairyman.com.au

Fremantle & Geelong Breweries. littlecreatures.com.au

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Equipment

SA THE MONK BREWERY & KITCHEN COOPERS 461 South Road, Regency Park SA 5010 (08) 8440 1800 www.coopers.com.au Tours available 1pm Tuesday to Friday

33 South Terrace, Fremantle WA 6160 (08) 9336 7666 beer@themonk.com.au Open every day 11:30am until late

BREWMAX Engineering better beer with the latest brewing equipment technologies Ph: (07) 3420 4943 Mob: 0412 720 606 brewmax@brewmax.net brewmax.net

Proud agents for

CRAFTY CONTRACTORS Tanunda SA, 5352 08 8563 0696 (option 2) Email: office@bvbeer.com.au www.facebook.com/ craftycontractors/ You bring passion. We provide expertise. The perfect partner to make your beer dreams a reality. Specialising in small batch craft brewing.

MOA BREWING COMPANY Jacksons Road, RD3 Blenheim Marlborough Tel: +64 3 572 5146 www.moabeer.com Visitors welcome Open 11am – 5pm or late, 7 days

Distributors

Meheen Manufacturing Filling & Carbonating Technologies www.meheen.com News Flash Meheen now builds a pressure sensitive labeller www.breowan.com Australia +61 427 007 800 New Zealand +64 274 874 783 andrew@breowan.com

HOME MAKE IT WHOLESALE BEER IMPORTERS & DISTRIBUTORS Unit 5/20-28 Ricketty Street, Mascot NSW 2020 (02) 9667 3755 info@bidbeer.com www.bidbeer.com www.facebook.com/ BeerImportersDistributors Beers: Abita, Warsteiner, Greene King, Chimay, Duvel

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AUTUMN 2018 81

A PINT WITH…

Scott Hargrave WE SIT DOWN WITH BALTER HEAD BREWER SCOTT HARGRAVE TO CHAT ABOUT HIS RECENT GABS HOTTEST 100 WIN, THE STORY BEHIND HIS MUCH-LOVED XPA, AND THE STATE OF THE BEER SCENE ON THE GOLD COAST.

think too much about it. It kind of straddles both camps. We always wanted the second half of the beer to be just as good as the first half too, and that in the glass or tinnie it was good to the last drop, and I think we’re getting there!

Q HOW DO YOU DEFINE XPA AS A STYLE? I’ve always said about ours that the ‘X’ stands

Photo credit: Trent Mitchell

for ‘eXtra pale, comma’. It wasn’t about huge alcohol or about being hopped to astringency, it was about the fact that I wanted a beer that didn’t have the classic American pale ale attributes. I’ve heard people describe our XPA as a ‘tropical session IPA’, and I can’t even really argue too much with that because in a sense that’s exactly what it is. I’ll never claim to have invented the term [XPA] – there were a couple out before I had this one – but we kind of made it a thing, in a way.

Q WHY DO YOU THINK THE BEER SCENE IS SO STRONG UP THERE IN NORTHERN NSW/ON THE GOLD COAST? It was probably time for something to happen. I know when I was first playing around with the beer that became XPA on my setup at home, I had a very firm idea that I wanted it

Q FIRSTLY, CONGRATS ON THE GABS HOTTEST 100 WIN SCOTTY! MUST’VE BEEN AN AWESOME FEELING?

is the people who drink the beer and are the

to be a beer for around this region. I thought

reason you’ve got a job. The vast majority of

‘where would be the best place for it to take

the public may not give two hoots about beer

off?’ I watched Brisbane take off back in the

awards really, but if they’re actually voting

day when I first started at Stone & Wood, and

Yeah, absolutely. We had no forewarning, and

and they’re spending their hard earned money

saw how rich and vibrant that scene up there

I didn’t assume anything, but a lot of people

on our beer, that’s the tick of approval I guess.

is now, and it just seemed like it would be time

kind of expected that we’d do fairly well. I

That’s also the awesome thing about XPA: it’s

for the Gold Coast to step up as well. When we

kept saying during the radio broadcast, ‘hang

done very well at both ends of that spectrum.

actually started building the brewery here, we started to get a couple of good coffee shops

on, we might’ve come 101st, so don’t go off

into our area, then some better restaurants,

really, really stoked to get the result and it

Q WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THE XPA?

was awesome because we got to share it with

When I first got involved with Balter, the

dragged into that as well. When the coffee

a whole bunch of people that we wouldn’t

founders basically said: ‘Mate, have you got

takes off, the food follows, and you then start

normally get to – it all happened live with a

a first beer in mind?’ And I just said ‘yeah,

to think about things like beer too.

big chunk of the Balter family there in the

this one here – try it!’ So I already had the

brewery with us, plus a couple of hundred

beer, it was just looking for a home. I’d been

fans, so it was just great, a ripper.

chipping away for 12-18 months, looking for

Q WHAT’S ON THE NEAR HORIZON FOR BALTER?

too early!’ As it turned out though we were

bakeries – it was almost like the beer got

the particular sort of beer that was maybe

We’ll have a seasonal beer out in the next

Q HOW DO YOU RANK SOMETHING LIKE THE GABS POLL AGAINST MORE OFFICIAL AWARDS LIKE THE AIBA?

an updated take on where beer was [at that

couple of months – it’s another big beer in

time], and where I felt it could be. I just

500ml cans. We’ve also got an addition to our

wanted to create a beer that was interesting

full-time range that will be coming out a bit

but drinkable – people could get into the hops

later on in the year; there might even be a

We’ve won championship trophies for the

if they chose, and just take their time and

couple of those, so we’ve got a bit to do! I’m

XPA through professional, peer-based blind

let those layers of hops flash off in the beer

always playing around on the pilot and we’ll be

judging and then also a popular vote from

as it warmed slightly, or take it as a thirst

introducing a couple of new beers, but I can’t

the folks who I suppose really matter, which

quenching, refreshing beer without having to

really give too much more away.

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