De Molen Rasputin

This one came recommended (it generally would need to, with the $35 price tag..).

Initially a bit browner than expected out of the bottle, though it doesn't show too well in the shot above. What you do see is the mysteriously solid head, which came out looking more like a meringue than a typical stout hat. Still, after letting things settle, it generates a pretty complex aroma, covering darkfruit, caramel, coffee.

On first bite my initial reaction was the mouthfeel was too highly aerated but it resolves within an instant to produce a velvety progression that actually suits the style very well. Taste delivers a massive burst of christmas cake, big brandy notes, quite fruity round character. It's heavy but not turpentine hot, no real problem here. There's a lingering burnt brown sugar taste that carries you through to the end with dark candied fruit.

This beer can be cellared for up to 25 years so it may improve with time. We can only rate what's in front of us though (2011 bottle by the way) and at this stage it doesn't do a great deal more than other (cheaper) beers accomplish in this style. There's just not much "wow", and on that thought it's difficult to wholeheartedly recommend. 7.5

Mikkeller Big Worse Barleywine

After loving Boogoop I was fairly amped for this beer.

Hmm.. poured without a great deal of head and a powdery mid-brown colour. Not the most attractive beer initially. Boozey nose, sweet malts, sugar, raisins.

It's pretty hot in the mouth too, the alcohol very evident to me, certainly more so than in comparable abv barleywines tested previously. But at the same time there's a slight lack of roundness in the mouthfeel. Flavours mirror the aroma, not much hop astrigency to back up the raisin cake character, bit heavy and sweet to my palate.

All in all then.. a bit of a disappointment to be honest. There are better options in the barleywine space. 6.0

Yeastie Boys Gunnamatta

First beer I had at the Brewers & Chewers dinner at The Local Taphouse in St Kilda.. and about the only beer I feel qualified to review from what turned out to be a massive and really enjoyable night. Genuinely top quality event this, really impressed and can't wait for next year.. or for something similar to come to Perth..

(Bonus pic of the brewer from Yeastie Boys being interviewed by the egregious Professor Pilsner. Yep. Figures.)

This is ostensibly an IPA, but the Boys, never ones to do things the easy way, have thrown in a bunch of Earl Grey tea leaves among other things to produce a beer that's a really different experience once again.

The best thing about it? It's new and an experience, yes, but also absolutely delicious. Lovely butterscotch malt character, grassy but refined tea flavours, clean refreshing flavours, and monstrously drinkable.

Genuinely progressive and delicious beer that I'm pleased to see was rewarded with the peoples' choice beer of the year at GABS 2012. Personally, I can't wait to get some more. 8.5

Brewfist Spaceman IPA

Of all the brewery names.. well let's just say Brewfist is well up there.

Spaceman's not too bad of a name for an IPA either come to think of it. This presents well with a relatively thick and opaque body with mid aeration supporting a sticky cream head. There's a pervasive, cutting aroma that I found quite aggressively bitter. Sour grapefruit, unripe orange zest, and citrus oils feel dominant here rather than stonefruit.

The beer itself kind of backs this up - there is not a lot of fruity juiciness here, instead it's quite a dry bitterness without a lot of backing malt even as it warms, and that makes for a pretty bracing combination.

I found this interesting and quite unique but as an IPA would prefer it malted just that little bit more and bumped up maybe a half a percent at the same time. Still, a different and promising beer. 7.0

Cavalier DIPA

Oho, now this is a DIPA.

That nose! It's enormous! Truly a big beer at 9% and clearly a very fresh batch to boot.

Kind of like their last effort, this doesn't quite live up to the promise - but this time, not by much. Taste brings caramel, a bit of heat, mandarin and passionfruit but it all falls just shy of that majestic 'buckets of hops' smell that really builds your anticipation before the first drop has even left the glass. It was a common refrain around my table at least that there was just not quite enough bitterness and bite in the taste to really sate the desire you've built up.

Still, it's far from a bad beer, and I look forward to trying some more of what these guys are producing. 8.0

Cavalier Brown Ale

Part two of my strictly journalistic mission to the Wayside Inn.

This was matched with the pulled pork sandwich (again great) - nice idea, but the beer itself was just a little bit short of the job in the end.

The head on this is a little light and fizzy, agitating unsettled beneath the blanket surface. It's a really excellent nose full of roasty coffee notes, chicory and an edge of chocolate, putting me in mind of fresh chocolate covered coffee beans. It's the taste where it disappointed.. this beer is completely without the body that's expected, nay required, of this style. It resembled more a light watered Japanese ice coffee with chicory than a typical malty cakelike brown. It's not empty as such and the roast flavours do get through, just.. but it all just felt a bit pale and removed, which was a genuinely saddening experience exacerbated, if anything, by the promising aroma.

The reason for this became apparent when chatting to a Good Beer Week staffer who'd been to Cavalier earlier that week to find them working on this batch of brown. They filtered it. Filtered it.

I'm more confused than angry. Devo'd. 5.5

Trumer Pils

Pilsner! German Pilsner.

In fact, it's a slight surprise this was up first at a craft beer event (very good event overall it must be said, nice work Wayside Inn, food was excellent).

What to say about this. Well, it went well with the yellowfin (better than Ballast would I'm guessing). It's from Salzburg, and a WBC winner apparently. It's true to style and comes through with very little malt with a slightly crisp euro aftertaste. Finish is clean and refreshing.

All of which is fine.. it's just not a beer (or a style?) I particularly enjoy to be honest. 5.0

Green Flash Palate Wrecker

Day 2 of Melbourne's Good Beer Week (already I reminisce with such fondness..) and nothing to do until the booked dinner that evening.. time to kick back and relax with that bastion of genteel alcohol consumption, Palate Wrecker.

Shout out to Beer DeLuxe by the way, if you're in town on business (or otherwise) this place is right there in Fed Square and has a frankly jealousy inducing collection of beers for you to try. Great lunch specials also.


But yes, Palate Wrecker. $13.50 for this 9.5% self proclaimed monster but on tap, why wouldn't you? Lovely thick frothy suds on this beer lace stickily like nobody's business, and the aroma gets you even from a distance with its tropical tales of peaches and pine. This is a beer with a purpose, nay, an agenda.

Happily, this beer does attempt to smash your tonsils on first encounter. I've been drinking some big beers but not since Ruination have I encountered such a thwack of astringency: to learn it's 149 IBU is no great surprise. It's juicy, full and thick with sour oily ester-like character. This beer is not especially well integrated to my mind - while there is sufficient malt background to smooth the massive spike of acrid, orange rind oily hops, it all washes in toward the end of the flavour distribution like some inexplicably friendly tsunami.

Still - for a beer whose sole purpose is to hit you as hard as it can, none of this is really a minus. So kick off your next dinner party with palate wrecker, that's how the cool kids roll. 8.5

Sierra Nevada Hoptimum

You know you're on to something when the bar staff refuse to pour anything larger than a middy of the beer you order.

In this case, that something is one of Sierra Nevada's flagship draughts: the mighty Hoptimum DIPA / IIPA. There's a dank green nose on this right off the bat: if you're a hophead this will fire you up from the very beginning. It's bordering on illicit green herbs country and in combination with the creamy white head leaves the mouth watering.

Then you drink it.. gee. Doesn't really hit like the 10.4% abv it represents.. not quite as dark as many in this range either. That's not to cast aspersions though - make no mistake this is a big, big beer, and will likely flat out kill anyone who's not been practicing in advance. It would be a great practical joke down the pub to cunningly swap it with someone's Carlton Mid if it weren't such a travesty to give this beer away.

It's pleasingly dead on 100 IBU and tastes every inch the centurion, but beneath that explosion there's some layered detail in the caramel malt and grassy green herbals.

Some people love big hopped DIPA / IIPAs and some don't. Personally I love them, and this is a legitimate yardstick for the style. 9.0

The Peoples' Pint 2012: Double Hoptendre

Few quick notes on this one tried at the launch at Temple in Melbourne.

Got to say first, this is a great competition and it's good to see Ron and co at Temple working both on this, and the upcoming beer scholarship with Sierra Nevada etc too. They're great initiatives that help to strengthen the craft beer community & I think they themselves will gain a lot of benefit from their hard work too. All power to Temple!

Beer wise - this was a rye red IPA that has been double dry hopped in line with the mission statement. The result is a relatively spicy effort, certainly spicier than I've come to usually expect with a rye beer. The two different hop profiles are evident here also giving it an interesting 'bounce' of bitterness not once but twice during the mouthful. Despite this I did find it a bit trying toward the bottom of the glass however.

So.. an interesting drop, but not quite to my personal tastes. What will next year bring? 6.0

Hoegaarden

On to somewhat of a classic.

Obnoxious beer snob that I am these days, I entered this one without massive expectation having not encountered this beer in some time. Turns out I was doing it a bit of a disservice as it's a more than serviceable 5% witbier / belgian white that, while simple, exhibits all that you really want from this style.

Pours hazy light golden; slight coriander, sugar, and lemon on the nose. Relatively strong carbonation but that makes it quite refreshing in its own way. Shame summer's a while off as I think I could go through a few of these in the heat. Good stuff! 7.5

Ballast Point Pale Ale

Can't say the bottle's too attractive here.. I like fishing as much as the next man on average but yeah.. pale ale. And an amberjack.

And then you get it home only to find out it's actually a Kolsch. WHY CALL IT A PALE ALE THEN ?? This is not going well.

Taste wise (and this was before I found out it was a Kolsch) it put me more in mind of Coopers Pale Ale than anything else. Quite bland, slight unripe apple, slight metallic notes, uninspired pale malting, and earthy, dusty hops.

I always think 'well America is a long way away' and it's true most of the stuff we get here won't be to the same level as the nectar straight from the source. But even by that measurement this struggles against the other similarly handicapped US beers tested thus far.

Live by the sword, die by the sword: if this calls itself a Pale Ale it will be rated as one, and as such I pronounce it very disappointing. 3.0

Birra del Borgo Re Ale

Italia! Land of fine foods, and diving cheating cheaters (never forget).

And, it would seem, rather convincing American Pale Ales.

It's a pretty fruity beer this - lots of pineapple going on initially, then resolves into a butterscotch sort of effect with backing bitterness. Really pretty pleasing on the whole, quite quaffable due to the balance, lack of massive bitterness, and nice full mouthfeel.

So not a lot to fault other than the slight lack of excitement.. it's not a 'wow' beer but a solid drop nonetheless. Good start for Italy, looking forward to try some more. 7.5

Bridge Road & Mikkeller The Harvest

Onwards, to that other collaboration between Bridge & Mikkeller: light (?) harvest.

Pours nice for an APA, sprightly, glinting, effervescent with a pure white head and light body in line with the 4.5% abv. Nose is reasonable, predominately orange / grapefruit, quite juicy and pronounced. Taste wise however it's a short-lived beer, bit of grapefruit first up followed by a sadly empty pale malt denouement that oddly both starts and finishes too early.

Session wise this is a goal.. you could likely drink this all day.. but it's not overly exciting above and beyond that and probably too gentle for a 'harvest' style ale. 7.0

Bridge Road & Mikkeller Dark Harvest

Another beer that just on announcement has built expectations to a level where it needs to perform pretty damn well to be considered anything like a success.

Was lucky enough to snag several of these in bottle format, and grab a pint also at Beer De Luxe Melbourne (long side note: great venue that but way to waste top beer pouring this so aggressively.. what a waste. And then I overheard two of the serving guys talking about porter being a combination of stout and stale beer .. wut?).

Back to the story - this beer is superb in both formats.. I've seen it listed as a porter it seems but feel like it's something between that and (more so) a black ale for my money. Sudsy, crystal head sits atop a dark inviting body which itself eventually dissipates to leave a lovely off-white fugue patina.

The nose is really roasty and grass-fresh but above that, this beer is exceptionally well balanced throughout. You don't need to search around or strain to hear what it's mumbling - just sit back and bask in the brilliance as you plow through the almost Guinness-like head through a slightly unexpected roasted grass flavour that lingers and gets just sweet enough to really fuel the imagination on the end. It's not brash but erudite and the hop character comes through along with the wonderful roasty overtones very nicely indeed.

Drinking this beer I get a distinctly reminiscent malt note that takes me right back to Beer Geek Breakfast and other Mikkeller stouts and porters, and sure enough looking into it a little further it seems the gypsy extraordinaire provided all the dark stuff himself. This is a good thing, take it from me - but those new (as yet unnamed) hops from Bridge seem like an interesting possible future goer too.

Look - go snap up a bottle (or a pint) if you are lucky enough to find one cross your path. 9.0

Red Duck Bengal IPA

The first visit to the apocryphal mallard - would this bird fly, or duck the issue and turn in a poultry excuse of a brew?

(really, genuinely, sorry about all that)

There was very little head on our test bottle, with the beer coming out looking a little oily. Taste profile is more in line with an APA in a way, various english tea / caramel undertones, a little too light and lagery for my tastes in the IPA race, though we do have to keep in mind they were aiming for a light and highly drinkable seven percenter here.

As a first beer from this brewery it's not enough to cement it as a contender, but neither enough to condemn it. It's reasonably balanced and bitter enough to earn it a 6.0

Mornington Imperial IPA

Sometimes you can just tell when a beer will be good.

Something about the way it opens. The pour, with its crisp yet smooth fidelity. And that lovely brooding colour in the glass.

And having initially got this far in the review from memory only to find I have lost my notes, it is with great pleasure I discover I have another one of these waiting serendipitously in the fridge.

Right then.

Slight sediment in the pour but settles nicely, mid visible aeration from the outside. Up front nose of juicy, fruity hops and a backing underscore of mild biscuit and caramel disguises the 8.5% payload. Palate is good, flavours of juicy citrus, pine, bit of sweetness and then rising, lingering bitterness. I've heard this beer called unbalanced but I like the way it leaves you smacking your lips with a big slippery kick of bitter hops at the end - this is an IIPA after all and they have a perfectly accomplished IPA for regular consumption if you like, so go hard or go home as far as I'm concerned.

'This, my friends, is a beer for the winter time', I want to proclaim, but in all honesty I think I'd be pretty pleased with this one all year round. Here's hoping it becomes a regular fixture in the Mornington rotation. 8.0

North Coast PranQster Belgian

A Belgian strong ale drunk at Sail and Anchor from North Coast Brewing.

Not much more than a generic belgian taste, though with a bit of a Heffe taste to it. Very smooth carbonation with a lingering sweetness. After a few sips this stacked up a bit and made the whole experience a shade too sweet for my tastes. Overall dissapointing compared to the other beers that I have enjoyed from North Coast. 6.5

Mikkeller Amarillo Single Hop IPA

A showcase of the Amarillo hop variety, a stalwart of powerful US IPAs.

Looks fine in the glass, and the lacing clings nicely to the sides. The aroma actually comes off pretty well rounded with elements of peach and grassy pine.


This brew is typically balanced for a Mikeller IPA with a malt presence that is evident from the first sip and remains pretty much the whole way through. The amarillo washes in after that - bitter without being overwhelmingly so, few pine needle notes, fruity and on the sweet side. Peppery notes come through toward the end and provide a spicy front of the mouth finish.

Canvassing opinion on this found people split between very good scores and just average. Personally, the hophead in me says this beer could do with a bit more bitterness still, to really give it a bite and lift the malt heaviness a little. As it stands however it's a balanced introductory IPA and a good way to start to piece apart the various strains of US hops. 7.0

Mountain Goat / Mikkeller Pepperberry Black IPA

Pumped to try this one, two great brewers making a great style of beer .. prospects of success should be very good indeed.

I'm happy to report that this doesn't disappoint. It's a bit of a different take on the Black IPA genre - the pepperberries really do give it a spicy character all the way through the mouthful - but it's well balanced, quite bitter throughout, and with that special something undercurrent Mikkeller seems to produce in all his dark beers. Slight cocoa in there somewhere amongst all the citrus bitterness.

This beer is flavoursome, interesting, and really very drinkable. Very good stuff. 8.5

Yeastie Boys Digital IPA

A seemingly open source beer - you can download the recipe yourself online - nice idea.

Execution wise however I have to wonder why you'd go to all the trouble. It's not after all their best recipe from this evidence.

This pours relatively flat with almost no head. The aroma put me in mind of Coopers and other Australian pale ales to be honest, far from what was expected with the IPA tagline, particularly from a NZ brewer. Bit murky in the taste, slight grass / apple, slight tea flavours. Pretty punchy hops but to me it could have done with a bit more malt rather than caramel flavours.

At 7% this was perfectly acceptable - but I was surprised to find it vaguely unpleasant and in this class there are far better options. 6.5

McAuslan Brewing St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout

Had trialled this once before as part of a tasting but it now deserves its own article.

It seems this beer is rather well received in the community, and I can see why. It's an oatmeal stout through and through, and pours beautifully with a thick mocha head that bubbles pudding-like atop a dark brown / black body. There's an aroma of grain and coffee, with roasty notes throughout.

The heavy, smooth mouthfeel fits the style nicely and brings smooth malt coupled with long lasting dark chocolate and coffee bitterness. It's not a very sweet beer on the whole - instead you get the impression of significant hopping - but it exudes quality if not perfect balance. Good stuff. 8.0

North Coast Red Seal APA

OK North Coast - seriously now, this is your last chance to justify the hype.

How to put this? Ah yes - this doesn't.

It's an reddish amber colour with an underdeveloped head in the glass, and gives off notes primarily of caramel to the nose. Taste-wise.. quite similar really. Pretty bland despite its talk of hops, not a great deal of fruitiness, slight metallic aftertaste, puts me in mind of a muted American pale ale, or perhaps even an amber ale really.

What's there is solid enough I guess but it's just nothing to get excited over whatsoever. You could be drinking LC Pale Ale or Lupulus or Tuatara or countless other examples and be way ahead of this. That's enough out of you, North Coast - until I find your Rasputin back on tap somewhere again. 6.0

Bootleg Black Market Black IPA

Felt a bit dirty returning to Bootleg after pretty much swearing off their core range after a disappointing last couple of trips south.

This is enough to rekindle an interest. In short it's like Kooinda lite - clearly a similar recipe but less alcohol, less developed mouthfeel, less round yet pronounced flavours, less quality overall. Nothing really wrong with it as such.. it's just lacking polish and dare.

Still a reasonable effort at the style, and a fine accompaniment to a nice outdoor dinner. Grudging respect. 7.0

Yeastie Boys xeRRex

Urgh not this again.

And this time it's 10%. So it's a similar story, bog nose as expected, oily texture, remarkably agreeable smoky bacon earthen character..

Wait, what?

Not entirely sure if it's me getting used to it or just the imperial version that's so much better, but I .. would buy this again? It's almost reminiscent of a rauchbier.. but like the pig got off the leash and plowed through a field of mud, flailing and squealing, overwrought with mad rage and confusion.

And as a result I will gladly drink everyone else's leftovers too thank you very much. 7.5

Moon Dog Melon Gibson

Well this was a bit of a surprise.

Fresh from the berserk triumph that was their brown ale I came into this one fully expecting a crazed approach to melon beer. Instead .. well the aroma is reasonably tame wheat beer territory, with just a hint of melon on the end. OK, said I, it's a hidden watermelon dagger they be wielding, surely the taste will be Cucurbitaceariffic.

This too however is pretty damn tame, pretty much a relatively plain seeming wheat beer through and through. There are vague hints of melon around the edges, yes - but I feel like I would have preferred them to make a less drinkable beer that was some sort of a statement, rather than this halfway there effort. As it is, this is neither progressive gimmick nor taste sensation, and I can't much see the point. 4.0

Pretty Things Saint Botolph's Town

From one big brown to another - in taste at least.

For this is in fact only 6% abv, a fact belied by its authoritative flavour profile. Quite a bold beer this, tastes authentic somehow, speaks of coffee, slight roast, bit of booze, nuts, all those good things you like in a brown. The caramel aspect is not dominant and I find that rewarding.

The styling of this brewer is intriguing. If they can keep backing it up with thoughtful, quality beers like this I'll keep coming back.

I am glad I did not get the pipsqueak glass on the right. 7.5

Dupont Moinette Brune

Had to do a bit of research on this one after drinking to find out what it actually was.

Brown, clearly - but of the Belgian persuasion. It's a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, or just a Dubbel depending on where you look. Either way it sits patiently in the glass for you to reach from your recliner next to the fireplace and grasp it from next to your book, cigar and monocle resting on the mahogany side table.

Taste brings nuts and dark fruits, kind of brandy-like flavours, replete with that alcoholic warmth and somewhat reminiscent of Christmas cake. All of which I found fascinating and remarkably drinkable over two outings so far.

I'm not yet a massive fan of heavy Belgians but more like this I'll take gladly. 8.0

Murrays Big Wednesday

Sigh. Murrays.

I don't mean to be overly harsh here, but I feel the fact I evened ordered another beer from this frankly overrated brewer probably explains the lack of notes about it in my phone.

Apparently, it was too much like tea. Dredging my memory banks yields further dismay regarding the limp mouthfeel, head and body. So I may be doing this beer a slight disservice here but based on a history of misbehaviour I'm going with a classy 5.0

Green Flash Hop Head Red

Not a cheap beer to buy on tap .. would it hold up its end of the arguable bargain?

In three words, yes and yes.

Lovely dark amber colour sports a soft cream head - underneath it is positively seething with hops, backed with a nice sweet malt backbone. The balance between these elements makes this a highly drinkable session ale despite its middleweight punch at 7% abv.

This is listed as an amber ale and in that class (ie separate from Rye and the like) it seems very much in the lead. The generous kick of bitter American hops really lifts this above the drudgery that is most ambers - particulary as they warm and become fuggy with their sweet malt characteristics. Very good beer and pending further tasting an easy 8.0

Holgate Road Trip IPA

It's fair to say we were looking forward to this, given Holgate's past performance with the DIPA and Temptress.

This beer presents well if a little on the tame side for an IPA. The flavours speak about some things, but mostly about pineapple. And it's not all interesting.. after a sip or two you're suddenly learning how to plant it, typical germination patterns, and major world exporters. All of which is great, but it just gets a wee bit boring after a while.

Not bad. But I'd go with either of their other efforts above this in a heartbeat. Needs more everything. 7.0

Thoughts on The Monk

Quick stop at The Monk in Freo for a tasting paddle, introducing a friend to the wonderful world of beer.

The mild first up is a success in a non-standout sort of way. It's a crisp lager with the main character developed from a light malty backbone. The execution is good and as such it's fine for what it is - but I personally prefer mild beers to sport a bit more character.

Kolsch - quite interesting this compared to others, bit of fruit character, almost verging on light caramel notes, quite refreshing on the whole and a bit more flavoursome than other takes on this genre.

Wheat beer was a bit underwhelming: clearly of the belgian witbier family but lacking the deeper sugary hit required for this style to really zing I felt. Drinkable at 6% abv however.

Pale ale is certainly of the Australian persuasion - must be a close relative of Coopers in fact. Same pros and cons as that drop. Having got to this level would be nice to see something radical added.

Rauch beer - I'm no expert on the style but this is a good easy drinking example, roasty ham flavours coupled with a mid oily mouthfeel. Would like to have a go at this with some smoked cheddar or similar.

The Chief - the standout of the group by a distance, this sports a great nose of pine / grapefruit and backs it up really nicely. Citra and Cascade hops produce a stinging fruity bite, and love the ongoing bitter kick this gives at a solid 75 IBU. Highly drinkable, fresh and flavoursome.

Sadly the Porter lets them down with a fairly watery performance, weak aroma and dead spots throughout the taste.. vaguely chocolatey.. but pretty disappointing.

The Monk .. shows promise - though sadly there was no seasonal so we were presented with some sort of 'beer cocktail' instead. Argh. Good food though!