The Monk Bounty Coconut Stout

Aha, another twisted stout from this Fremantle crew.

And.. to be honest it looks a lot like the last one (better head though). So to avoid boredom have a go at the awesome paella they were putting on instead:

Nice work. To the beer though - this one generates a bit of lace and feels better carbonated from the beginning. The nose is enormous coconut, and for once the naming does the job beautifully when it comes to describing this beer: it really is a lot like drinking a liquid bounty bar. There's coconut milk, juice and flesh elements there and it's all pretty good stuff.

Not sure how portery this is on the whole - it really is a coconut festival - but it's good stuff, for one glass at least. I feel like there must be coconut fiends out there who would just camp on this stuff, putting it on their cereal and bathing with it .. for me, it's just good fun. Nice! 7.0

The Monk Sweet Potato Porter

Nothing if not an idiot, I was pretty keen to try my first sweet potato porter.

Hmm.. individual small bubbles in the head soon turn flat, not a great looking start, slight grey character to the brown edged body. Turns up far too cold off the taps to generate any flavour, mouthfeel pretty fizzy as well, bit artificial. Not the right sort of glass, and bloody big for a middie too.. so not great presentation overall.

The spices (allspice, nutmeg etc) don't turn up until the beer has warmed considerably and when they arrive, give a little sort of pepsi-like kick to things which isn't entirely astray. Apart from that .. it's just a bit hard going really, vague porter notes drowned out by vegetable tastes - obviously that's the point, but it just hasn't melded particularly well in this instance. A shame, because I like the idea.

Overall - I wanted this to be great, I really did. Good invention, middling execution, kind of disappointing presentation. 4.0

Eagle Bay Pale Ale

This one's finally getting a full review courtesy of it finally turning up on tap (and more to the point, growler) in the city.

Happy days indeed, for this is a very solid entrant in the crowded APA field. Nice dark amber pour, perhaps erring on the side of dim but nevertheless putting out a good strong nose of juicy pineapple, slight spice, and underlying biscuity malts.

It's those slightly roasty barley tea malts that drive the flavour profile here too, giving it a sort of bready character that lends itself to long term and session enjoyment. Mouthfeel is perhaps just a tad spiky but not disruptive by any stretch. Taste perhaps not as fruity as expected, leaning ever so slightly toward Bitter territory in places.

It's not a confrontational beer by any stretch but delivers enough flavour to be consistently enjoyable throughout. Following on from the Brown Ale it's another highly drinkable / sessionable drop, and a worthy addition to WA's pale ale forces. 7.5

Thoughts on Feral

Finally made it out to Feral Brewing and I have to say I was pretty pumped.

We'd booked for my birthday for one thing, and they have done good things in beer of late.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for their restaurant. Frankly ridiculous service levels totally soured what should have been a great day and left us with a pretty poor impression all round. I'm going to leave the details for elsewhere (ie, urban spoon and others), but for now let's just say don't go to Feral for the food or the restaurant.

If they actually have some of their range of beers on tap, it may still be worth your while of course. In our case there was not a great deal we hadn't had before. Couple of quick notes regardless:

983 Lager: Pretty plain sort of a lager, character revolves around late-boil Sorachi Ace so there's lemon and spice to give it something. Still not a beer I particularly enjoyed.

The Runt: Apparently this is an underhopped version of the stalwart mainstay Hop Hog. Which sounds good to me - so why was this so hard going? I found it just OK, mate of mine hated it completely. An answer to a problem that just doesn't exist.

Feral White: I've heard conflicting reports around this - either that Mr Varis is forced to brew this due to a signed contract, or that he is currently brewing it under contract at another brewery to fill orders but wants to take it back in-house when possible. In either case I've had this on a number of occasions and have to hope if it does come back in-house it will also raise in quality. It's a pretty sparse example of a white and outclassed by all sorts of others in the class.

Rust: Well all of us enjoyed this one but having said that the common consensus was it was a nice APA.. turns out it's supposed to be an Abbey Dubbel? Very puzzling but nice enough.

Smoked Porter: A little bit of smoke on the nose but taste wise the chocolate malts are dominant with the smoke certainly not the overwhelming characteristic. It's smooth and easy drinking but again you get the sense there's a bit of a haphazard approach here and it results in a certain level of confusion and/or disappointment when beers arrive under somewhat of a false identity.

Watermelon Warhead: Wow, now this is different. Great naming - tastes like a watermelon warhead alright. Great beer, nice execution, at 2.9% has a variety of uses. I'd love some on hand as a spritz / palate cleanser for a big night on the larger beers, it would likely do an excellent job.

Karma Citra: Feral's Black IPA. A reasonably good effort at the style, the Citra gives it a bit of a kick not found in others in this style. Has two distinct stages of flavour which is interesting. Good beer.

Things that weren't on tap: Boris, Razorback, Rye IPA, etc etc, pretty much everything we went there for (though this is far more forgiveable than their abysmal service performance).

Feral clearly has massive potential but in order to take advantage they can start at the bottom. Fix the terrible website. Put a proper sign to your restaurant. Pull your finger out with the insulting / embarrassing service quality. For "Australia's best brewer" by several measures in the last year it's frankly embarrassing for it to be literally, and by a large distance, the worst "on-site" experience to date at any brewery I've visited in Australia (and for reference I've been to 15 odd in the last year alone).

Mash Tank 8 Belgian Ale

Via growler, courtesy of good mate Dave.

Look at him cradle that thing like a child. That's commitment.

Pretty cloudy sort of body on this one, though not out of keeping with the style. Very shy head, and nose more or less archetypal for these beers. Slightly on the sour side, saison-ish notes present.

It's slightly sour for a wit in terms of taste too - or perhaps just short of sweet for a belgian ale - but this isn't really a problem so much as a characteristic.

Not a lot more to say here - competent execution of a style I'm not 100% sold on, but respect nonetheless. 6.0

Eagle Bay Single Batch American Brown Ale

Woohoo, finally Eagle Bay beer to take home and enjoy (without the drive to Dunsborough).

Everybody's happy. And why wouldn't you be with 2L of highly drinkable, if not earth-shattering, American Brown Ale?

This beer is Eagle Bay's most recent in an ongoing line of single batches, and is probably up there with their best so far (save for the stout.. man, that stout was awesome).

It looks good in the glass, nice hue on the body and head, and emanates a pretty simple smell of dry coffee, slight hops, and dry caramel. Taste delivers a similar palate of flavours, along with lingering biscuit, all of which comes across quite light and with restrained sweetness.

Again, this was not a beer for those hoping to spend an evening with one glass, an interrogation spotlight, and a chair by the fire. As a quaffer though along with some food and good friends? Wonderful. 7.5

Little Creatures Day of the Long Shadow

Hooray, another single batch effort from Mitsubishi err hang on Kirin oops I mean Lion Nathan ahm Little Creatures.

Another bush shack logo adorns another single batch - but this one promises to be quite different again as a spiced winter ale weighing in at a more than respectable 8.9%.


This pours a lovely scorched amber, becoming lighter in direct light, one of the few beers to elucidate words of approval from my normally reticent (when it comes to beer visuals at least) wife. Aeration seems spot on right away, it's flat with just enough oomph to power a thick and defined head, but doesn't need to be left alone to settle before you plow right in.


An aroma of initially earthy UK hops, and a burst of cinnamon and fivespice assails the nostrils pre the first bite. The taste initially shows slight bitterness and a ripe fruity yeast, which is soon overtaken by a sneaking suspicion the 8.9% alc is going to burst in and ruin everything but - rejoice - spices arrive on cue to save the day. Indeed, cinnamon and friends ensure this is pretty mellow through the midsection and onwards. It feels like you're just relaxing in that fivespice armchair waiting for the crash that never comes.

Finish is quite nutty, bit of biscuit and dry caramel, well suited to style, quick to depart save a warming but unobtrusive throat alc note.. truly a winter fireside warmer. Sweetness is restrained throughout and to me, this is key to maintaining drinkability here. Fine work.

Overall this is perhaps not quite as complex as one may have expected but smooth and comforting nevertheless. Quite the swansong, if indeed that's what it is. 


Let's hope not. 8.0

Feral & 2 Brothers Collaborator 2012

I must admit I bought this one almost entirely based on the Feral reputation but happily the gambit payed off.

It's a brown ale but not typical to the style, delivering if anything a brown version of the stalwart hop hog. This is a pretty interesting experience with its lush green herbal notes first up, then more typical caramel brown ale performance in the back half with nice nuttiness. It's in some ways a clash of styles as the grassiness doesn't really meld with that dark finish, but there's not a great deal of jarring in the experience - it's more an pleasingly docile, intellectual manticore than a misguided attempt at a frankenstein.

My feeling is if you were really after a brown ale, this might not scratch your itch. Taken on its own merits though it seems a massively drinkable beer and another interesting take on a style. 8.0

Bootleg Oatmeal Stout

As previously noted, I haven't been too impressed with Bootleg brewing of late - could a beer in one of my favourite styles turn things around?

In short - not quite. This beer pours thin and headless, not a good start although the hue is nicely opaque. The aroma similarly is a step or two short of truly enjoyable beer, showing a bit of spikiness and slighly clumsy notes in there somewhere. There's aniseed and licorice in the nose, which may be nice in a more rounded beer but here it comes off as slightly unbalanced and almost unintentional.

Taste-wise the mouthfeel is too watery to really score points, and the taste carries a little too much licorice for my liking. There's none of that delicious silky character or rounded taste that oatmeal typically adds, and I can't say it's a particularly good example of the style.

I wanted this to be good, but I find myself really not liking it a great deal - it strikes me as a beginner sort of effort and just not quite up there in terms of quality. It would be great to see Bootleg build on this and produce a top quality beer in this style in future. 4.5

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

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!

Thoughts on Eagle Bay Brewing

Third time to this picturesque spot also, time to run through the range quickly and post some preliminary thoughts.

Eagle Bay's Kolsch is probably the best I've had, does everything it's supposed to as a light and highly drinkable ale dominated by light malt flavours rather than hops of any description, bittering or otherwise. Nice mouthfeel too.

Vienna's up second, this one's an example of the other side of lager, light bitterness and quenching. Not my favourite style, but a reasonable effort for what it is.

Beer 3 is the Mild and this is where things start to shine. This is right up there with anything else I've had at the 3-4% range, lovely caramel malty English flavours, muted mouthfeel, tastes good at all temperatures. Great for anyone driving out to this place, with this beer you don't feel you're missing out in the slightest.

Next up is a pale ale, definitely of the American school, this puts me more in mind of LC's Pale Ale than anything else and that in itself is high praise. Quite complex and well balanced between fruity flavours, bitterness, and malt - highly respectable.

Seasonal beer this time was an IPA and with the standard IPA blurb about it being a hop avalanche of overwhelming bitterness it's easy to see they're jumping on the bandwagon popularity of this style in recent times. On drinking it though it's clear this is the first one they've done. There are hops in it yes, but it's far more reminiscent of a wet hopped pale ale than a fully fledged IPA. Still good but doesn't scratch my hop fiending itch.

And finally a nice ESB, again english flavours, quite nice depth of flavour here, could drink a few of these in a session, particularly in winter.

Lesson from this time: I really, really miss their porter. Please make it again. Seriously. Please.

Thoughts on Duckstein

Time to post a few thoughts on Duckstein as it's now the third time I've sampled through their range.

Can't have been too bad considering how quickly the tasters evaporated!

These guys do a good range throughout but oddly it's the Pilsner that's probably the most accomplished of the lot, great taste in this, highly drinkable, a fine example of the style fresh off the vat. Dunkel goes down ok with malty character, and the Altbier sports nice peppery spice notes at the end. The other stalwart from the tasting range is a Hefeweizen that is traditional to the style, predominately banana and lemon, pretty drinkable.

The one seasonal drop this time was a Pale Ale - ie, the only non-German beer in the lineup, and interestingly it was pretty poor, falling well short both of other pale ales, and of the quality found in Duckstein's offerings. As a comparison I found their seasonal oktoberfest beer to be far superior in the past.

So if there's a lesson here it's stick to what you're good at. But all in all a reliable and faithful German brewery, more than respectable. Massive bloody roast pork meals they do there too.