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 boys from Stone & Wood Brewing at Byron Bay have always impressed me with their small but delicious range of beers so when they said they had another to add to the range, I was immediately interested.
When they said it was a Stone Beer, I thought well thats not very original until I realized that it was called that becaue of the methods used in brewing it not because they werent very imaginative.
TREND setting isn't something that springs to mind when it come to beers but when you consider what has happened in recent years, you'd be surprised.
From the `blonde' explosion to the flavoured beers - Like the Dry Fusion and Miller Chill styles to the low carbs, there seems to be a new market fab each year. Now we have the summer beers which are a lighter style lager which aren't really big on taste but are easy to drink and ideal party brews.
THE Little Brewing Company at Port Macquarie is responsible for the Mad Abbot range of beers and among those is Dubbel, intriguing dark ale.
Brewed in the finest Belgian traditions, Dubbel has a rich dark brown appearance with a cream coloured frothy head.
It has a very interesting nose with a roast malt/chocolate aroma mixed with hints of fruitiness which isnt what youd expect from a dark beer.
THERE are a few perks that come with this job and one is the opportunity to sample beers which you mightn't normally come across. One such beer was the Hahn Bacon Beer - I kid you not.
Yes, those crazy guys at Hahn came up with a beer with a bacon flavour in it after suggestions to their Hahn Beer Academy website. The result - bloody genius!
YOU reap what you sow and if you plant a good beer in the market, you can grow a loyal following.
OK, enough of the puns but I was struggling to come up with a clever way of introducing Hahn Harvest Premium Ale.
Its the latest in the Hahn range and is a beer which I think will find plenty of followers, particular in the younger beer market set and for those who arent big fans of bitter ales.
Like other harvest drops, this from Hahn is a limited release.
THE steady emergence of pale ales into the craft beer markets means that there are numerous alternatives for those looking for flavoursome beers.
From South Australia comes Vale Indian Pale Ale (IPA) made by the McLaren Vale Beer Company.
Like all good pale ales, this offers up a rich blends of aromas leaving you in n o doubt that theres a fair amount of hops in the brew.
I just want it on the record that I am not a huge fan of the All Blacks but the Kiwis have a beer thats nearly black which I am a fan of.
The South Island brewer, Monteiths, has produced a great Summer Ale is ideally suited for the warmer months so with the temperature dropping, when I saw their Winter Ale, I just had to try it.
The Winter Ale is also labeled as a doppelbock double bock as is based on Bavarian brews which originated in the 1600s.
This rich dark beer is ideal for the winter months as the name suggests in so many ways.
FOR a select few people who are gluten intolerant, this has meant missing out on a wide range of beers and usually having to search for a brew that is gluten free.
Paulo Brewer from the Pickled Pig Brewery at the Tweed Heads South has come to the rescue with a gluten free beer that is outstanding.
He has made his beer using sorghum instead of barley and adding plenty of hops to develop the flavour with the end result being an ale not unlike Little Creatures.
It is rust red in appearance with a tight white head and a wonderful citrus/floral aroma.
I think Lion Nathan took advantage of this column being called Cheers To Beers with their Summer Cloudy Ginger Beer .
Come on guys, ginger beer?
However upon reading that it alcoholic, low carb "ginger" beer, I became intrigued.
I love my home made alcoholic ginger beer so why not give this shot.
After all there are many other "infused" or flavoured beers in the market so why not have a ginger one.
I think the boys at XXXX may have had a few too many Summer Brights (which is an easy drinking drop) when they came up with this one.
Given that beer is such a worldly beverage, it's only natural to look for a drop which represents a different part of the world and so, when I came across Quilmes Cerveza from Argentina, I thought ahh, South America, never tried any of their beers before.
Now cerveza (as we ardent beer drinkers should know) means beer in many Spanish orientated languages but you pronounce this beer as "kill mess".
Since I am more familiar with beer from Europe and the Orient, it was with considerable interest to try something from South America.
