I'm a beer columnist and home brewer. Here I cover everything to do with one of the most popular and discussed beverages in the world.
Cheers! Bob
THE beer market continues to grow in diversity and the latest drop to tempt the palate comes from Byron Bay's Stone & Wood brewery.
Unlike some beers that are labelled as 'Byron Bay', Stone & Wood's Draught Ale doesn't come from there and in fact, the boys behind it say it is a beer that is reflective of the area.
It is a yellow-golden, cloudy beer with a very distinctive floral aroma.
THE crowded mid-strength beer market has a new player in Crown Gold.
It isn’t so much a new beer but one which has been relaunched in a new shaped bottle, similar to the low alcohol Sterling bottle except with a distinctive Crown Gold label.
Mid strength beers can run the risk of being caught in no man’s land in terms of flavour and body but this Crown doesn’t lack either.
It will draw comparisons to the well-known full strength Crown and the first thing you’ll notice is that the flavour is a little more subtle and not quite as bitter.
FROM the lofty heights of Mt Tamborine comes a delicious drop that goes down really well - Sonntag.
It might have a funny names but this latest offering from the Mt Tamborine Brewery is seriously good, offering up plenty of flavour.
It is very light golden in colour, clear and with a good tight head.
Sonntag has a wonderful floral aroma with hints of fruit which suggests this is far more complex than other light/blonde style of beer.
WITH the cooler weather, I find it’s a perfect time to go for slightly heavier, darker beers so when James Squire brought out their latest limited release, Malt Runner, you could say the timing was perfect.
As the name suggests, this drop from the Malt Shovel Brewery is a delightful blend of malts with some other subtle flavours coming through to intrigue the palate.
It is full bodied, smooth and not too bitter.
Browsing in the bottle recently, I came across an unusual lager called Oranjeboom.
It wasn’t just the name that intrigued me but the price - $14 per six pack.
Naturally I had to try it and for the price I wasn’t expecting too much.
I’m pleased to say that this Dutch beer, which is brewing and produced in Germany under licence for export, is a true surprise packet, offering up plenty of body with good flavour.
It has a good white head with a strong amber/gold clean appearance and isn’t over gassy.
BEER isn’t the first drink you tend to associate with Mother Russia.
Most people can be forgiven for thinking the Ruskies just stick to vodka – imagine how mundane the world would be if that were true.
Fortunately they don’t and fortunately for Aussie beer drinkers, we can get access to one of their better brews in Baltika.
It is a classic pale lager from St Petersburg , brewed under licence here and is a real surprise packet. Apparently it is the number one brand in Russia.
Welcome to Here’s To Beers, a column about everything to do with one of the most popular and discussed beverages in the world.
This week I’d like to introduce you to Big Helga.
This unusual named beer is the latest offering form the Matilda Bay Brewery which is now located in Victoria.
Matilda Bay has developed a reputation for coming up with both distinctive tasting beers and equally distinctive names such as Beez Neez, Dogbolter and Fat Yak.
THE great thing about being classified as a ‘mad brewer’ is that you can get away with anything.
From the crew at James Squire (who produce some outstanding beers) comes the latest in their Mad Brewer range - Orchard Ale.
The Mad Brewer beers are a strictly limited release and generally push the boundaries of what can be achieved through brewing.
However I must ales add that not all their drops are for the general beer consuming public.
Orchard Ale has a rich bronze colour and a very distinctive aroma.
When a beer is advertised as coming from the Black Forest region of Germany, you would naturally expect it to be good – if not great.
Furstenberg comes from that famous beer brewing region and while it retains that typical German beer aroma thanks to a generous blend of malts and hops, it doesn’t have that same full bodied flavour which its Bavarian cousins do.
It is still brewed in pure German style (no additives or preservatives) which you be grateful for if you have a few but it is lighter in nature to many German beers, almost like a blonde.
When I first tired the Hummingbird Blonde Lager, I wasn’t sure if it was a beer flavoured cruiser or a fruit flavoured beer?
Either way, I really am none the wiser.
I don’t know why it is in the beer section because I find it very hard to define as a beer.
Even to look at this drop from South Australia, you can’t believe it could be classed as a beer.
It looks like a cruiser, smells like a cruiser (you know one of those ready to drink soft drink/juice drinks and vodka) but doesn’t taste like one.
