Charles Coll - Beer Writer

Rapunzel Abbey Ale

2008-12-08T18:07:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of taste testing Mountain Goat’s specialty ale Rapunzal during a recent Friday night visit to their Melbourne suburb (Richmond) brewery. For those who wish to have a taste of this delightful abbey ale will have to go to their brewery on any Wednesday or Friday night ‘open house’ as the ale will only be available on premise.

According to head brewer Dave Bonighton “Our aim was to produce a Belgian Style Strong Blonde. This style demands certain ingredients, and we followed the traditional specs. Pilsener Malt, low bitterness derived from Hallertau hops and a Belgian Yeast strain. Traditionally these beers top up their alcohol with 20% non-malt sugar - this keeps them light and approachable so that the malt doesn't dominate and the yeast and alcohol can speak for themselves (Rapunzel's alc is 8.3%).”

“The driving force behind these beers is ultimately the yeast. Those funky, fruity, phenolic esters and fusel alcohols that come from Belgian strains are what makes them so distinctive. You need to let them do their thing which is why the bitterness is low, and the malt profile quite dry. Getting them all balanced is the key.”

“So we end up with a medium bodied, high alcohol, estery, quite drinkable Belgian style Blonde Ale - Rapunzel really named herself after that. Eat with washed rind cheeses and dried fruit.”

As for my opinion, the key to it’s success is the restraint employed that moderate the usual overt sweetness characteristic in this style ale. Rapunzal has a deep golden colour, slightly cloudy with plenty of aromatic fruity esters with yeasty, bready qualities to enhance the experience. The other pleasing quality is the slightly bitter taste again not often found in Belgian styled ales. An experience worth savouring, but hurry as this is a limited edition brew that will only be available for a short time.

Hosting a Beer Tasting

2008-08-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

You and your beer loving mates have talked about it for years after a few jars at the local. The phrase that pierces your soul, “You know, we should run a beer tasting of our own.” So the time has come to bite the bullet and have a go, but where do you start? Here are a few tips for a successful tasting. First and foremost do your homework and the best place to start is using the internet for advice. There are numerous sites to assist you and provide suggestions for a proper beer tasting. I mean where you think I got started!

Getting Started/ the Power of #3
Don’t be a hero; get some help by dobbing in 2 of your mates to form a committee. Three is the magic number. Why? Cause you get three 90-100 ml. tastings in each bottle, so you can cater for 18 people per 6-pack purchase. Preferably divide up the tasks between organiser, finance and communications. Get the numbers right or you’ll be the only person who won’t enjoy the experience and out of pocket as well.

The venue will dictate the size of the tasting. We know you have dreams of doing the biggest Beer Expo ever, but reality bites especially if you live in an inner city flat. It’s best outside with access to a protected area. A natural well lit area is best so you can see the beers' colours. Avoid noisy distractions, such as television or music. Cigarette smoke, cooking smells or perfumes will all interfere with your ability to taste.

Create the mood- Ban the Beer Snobs.
There’s nothing worse than having to be bored by a beer know it all. I recall how intimidated I felt when a beer judge next to me referred to the aroma as “fresh lawn clippings and bubble gum” then asked me what I thought. I snorted so much beer up my nose looking for that damn bubble gum I had to excuse myself, embarrassingly running to the dunny to relieve the geyser going off in my snout. Get everybody on the same page. Talk about the approach to tasting before starting making sure tasters feel free to describe aromas and flavours in creative terms without fear of being put down. The best tastings are both social and educational gatherings. A flavour and colour chart is very helpful to the novice taster and can be accessed via the internet. Frenchman Morton Meilgaard designed the Meilgaard Beer Flavour Wheel in the 1970’s. This is the standard reference that categorizes 44 different profiles into 14 major sub-headings. The James Squire website also offers a great colour chart with familiar beers to work from. You can print up individual copies or put them unto butcher’s paper so tasters have a ‘cheat sheet’ to help them describe what’s going on in their eyes and mouth.

Control your environment by limiting the numbers of samples to five or six if particularly alcoholic or hoppy beers are being tasted, otherwise between 10-12 tastings should do it. Consider scoresheets or provide pads for notes. Some tasters may want to take home their notes while others find value with the added structure. Here is a simple 10 point scoring system.
1. Appearance (2 pts.)- Colour, carbonation/foam, characteristics Note whether the head is dense or thin. Heads are sometimes described as rocky if they are especially dense with dips and peaks forming as some of the bubbles pop. The colour of the head is also worth noting and can range from pure white on Pilsners to light or medium brown on some stouts and porters

2. Aroma (4 pts) - whether it smells primarily of hops or malt. Generally speaking light collared beers will smell more of hops while darker beers tend to have pronounced malt, roasted, chocolate or coffee aroma. Many types of ale have a hard to pin down spiciness or fruitiness from their yeasts.

3. Flavour & Body (4pts.)- General characteristics, Bitterness, Fermentation products, Flavour faults. the initial sensation as the beer enters your mouth. Think about whether it is sweet, bitter or something else. There can be quite a difference between the first taste and the finish. Mouthfeel is the texture of the beer or how it physically feels in your mouth. Beer ranges from silky dry, to thick and chewy, or thin and fizzy. The Finish, note the lingering flavours after you swallow the drink. Often it can be bitter from the hops or a lingering malty sweetness TOTAL Maximum 10 points

Beers should be tasted from lightest in flavour to heaviest, with colour as a secondary consideration. It is often interesting to compare lagers and ales of similar colour and taste characteristics to distinguish the sensory results of top-fermentation and bottom-fermentation Beers should be selected by brewing style, i.e., pilsner, porter, bock, rather than by country of origin. They should be poured into straight-sided clear glasses which allow the natural head of authentic beers to perform. A couple of rinse buckets help keep down glassware usage.

Take a break. Have water and bread or neutral tasting crackers available to cleanse palates between beers. Avoid anything with distinctive flavours. Let the beer be the star. Use the same size glassware for each round of tasting, but make sure the beer is served at the proper temperature (chilled lager (1-3° C) and ale (4-8° C)) and poured with a decent head. A selection of interesting cheeses, fresh breads and hors d'oeuvres are a perfect accompaniment to beer whose bitter finish and malty flavour combines well with every type of food more than any other alcoholic beverage.

Beer Tastings ‘08

2008-07-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, has the liquor industry taken a hiding this year or what! Welcome to our new Federal government with their knee jerk reactions to social issues by slugging on taxes to heal society’s wounds. They seem to pander to ‘special interest groups’ in an effort to correct parental and police problems and in the meantime make the law abiding citizens wear their legislative solutions. So I’m looking for some ‘stand–up guys’, at least in the beer industry, to will demonstrate that we are not the demon drink. I suggest the support of beer tastings at your local bottle shop.

Beer Tastings provide three major benefits; it provides a community based common sense environment to responsible behaviour when consuming alcohol, it gives the taster an opportunity to connect with brewers about their beer, and it’s profitable for bottle shops by an average 10 to 15% increase in over the counter sales.

Adam Thomas from Purvis Wine Cellars in Surrey Hills, Melbourne talks up their beer tastings. “It offers the consumers the ability to go outside their comfort zone and try beers that would normally be beyond their economic reach or product knowledge. With the price of imported and local craft beers what they are, they’re getting a taste and we get a chance to sway them. You need to have the brewers there on the night. The punter spends more time when speaking to a brewer rather than a rep and we get a customer friendly relationship with new found respect for our increasing product knowledge. As a result of beer tastings, beer makes up a third of our business and growing immensely.”

On advertising “Don’t really need to. A few signs in the shop maybe, but it’s word of mouth and building a good database of customers then letting them know it’s on. Many locals have bonded and now carpool down to the shop and also organise designated driver options for transport. We’re lucky to have a tram stop just outside our door, but it’s important the customers know about public transport availability.”

About set-up issues, “Access for unloading stock, plenty of ice, and always use glass over plastic. We’ll need 400 glasses for our next beer tasting and build into the cost s of losing up to 15% of stock. It’s nothing really and the benefit for a beer lover in appreciating beer in glass is enormous.”
In relation to the importance of glassware Chuck Hahn of Malt Shovel Brewery told me recently “Two years ago, we released a special glass that went through the basics of Pouring properly, inspecting the presentation, savouring the visual experience, smelling the hop and malt aromas - enjoying them. The glass compliments tasting properly by swirling around in the mouth before swallowing, and swallowing - not spitting - savouring the flavour and enjoying the expectations that are created by this craft experience. “

On the night advice, “Be adventurous, don’t do what you did before and vary the type of event. We do large tasting 2 or 3 times a year for 250-300 people and a smaller one of 50 beers for 50 people every couple of months. Sometimes we go with the local craft beers and at others we do a European day for example. You can vary the times held say rather than an evening session have one for the after work crowd.”

“The days of free beer tastings are long gone. Oh sure, we still get the individual breweries offering customers a taste, but our organised beer tastings are when we can really make an impact on our consumers. We charge $30.00 for 20 tasting tickets that they hand over to the brewer. At the end of the night, the tickets are counted by each brewery and are paid for their beer. Everyone walks away happy”

Eric Walters, brewer and owner of the Grand Ridge Brewery in Gippsland, Victoria is tireless when it comes to getting the word out about his range of beers. He and his band of ‘beer warriors’ can be found at local bottle shops, regional farmers markets and major food and beverage expos to get the public to try his beers.. Last year he earned the pouring rights at the Royal Melbourne Show.

“The progress of beer tastings in the past 3 – 5 years has been massive. I started 2 decades ago this Christmas flogging my beers at local bottle shops and thought of as weird, but the wine tastings started a palate change in customer appreciation of taste. People now appreciate quality at a higher level and are more willing to expand their education of taste. Their thirst for knowledge has expanded to bottle conditioning, dark ales, strong Belgians, thirst quenching wheat beers, the list is getting longer. It sounds corny but the actual tasting is a celebration for me. After all the hard work that’s gone into that swallow and to have the bloke turn around and say ‘that beer is awesome’ is inspiring.”

Walter went on to say “Face to Face contact now makes up 20% of our total business. From new products like out Natural Blonde Wheat Beer, to our gift pack 6 packs, and guesthouse accommodation and Restaurant at the brewery, all have come about by the punter telling us what they wanted. Every tasting is further market research and branding awareness; it’s very motivating to teach in the forefront of quality beers.

Small breweries have little to no money for advertising, and it’s vital that through beer tastings the beer lovers get an opportunity to try our beers. Victoria and Western Australia have led the charge in the resurgence of craft beer interest. We’re now seeing Queensland and New South Wales getting involved with the beer tasting experience. These local tastings have led to lager audience based events like the Microbrewers Showcase in Federation Square in Melbourne, and The Australian Hotel’s Craft Beer Competition in the Rocks in Sydney.

Speaking of Sydney, Richard Adamson, Head Brewer, Barons Brewing Company agrees “Beer tastings have been a great way for us to give many people their first taste of the Barons beers. It also gives us an opportunity to educate the public on quality craft beer, the process, the flavour, and the styles of beer available; and promote the concept that beer can be savoured and enjoyed for its quality rather than just swilled. We do a lot of beer tasting in bottle shops, which allow us to show our commitment to our customers…supporting them whilst they support us. It’s important for our entire team to have a good understanding of what they sell and that they are comfortable talking about Barons to the general public. Also important, and sometimes forgotten, is the instant feedback received from the people who drink our beer. Nothing beats the experience of having a random punter taste Barons with you, then immediately goes to the cold room and buys a case.”

And speaking of Queensland and New South Wales, I had a chat with Matt Coorey manager for the DrinkX Group who own 5 hotels (3 in Qld. and 2 in N.S.W.) including the Grand Central in Brisbane. “I compiled a report for the group including stats from A.C.Neisen, major breweries and overseas trends. The conclusion was that beer is heading ‘crafty’ and we needed to be on board. As a result we are re-configuring our bars to accommodate 30 craft beers on tap, including training and motivation of our staff so everyone in the organisation is right behind it. This will include beer tastings for our patrons on Tuesday nights. In our main bar where 90% of our customers drink, we will slowly introduce these beers and match them with food. We are also in the process of implementing our seal of approval – rubber stamp policy. Five to six ‘certifiers’ will select from submissions 30 beers to be featured at our platform craft bar, and in the bottle shops. Those beers will have a floor stack for the impulse buyer and highlighted in our special frosted white light fridges that get top shelf space. We’ll keep it to 30 beers so that it’ll always be fresh and offer further submissions an equal opportunity. We’re confident that our rubber stamped journey from bar to bottle shop to train stop to home will be very popular.”

As a personal note, after handing out thousands of beer tastings, I understand the significance and acceptance to the responsible serving of beer. Only through adherence to rules can we alter the younger generation. Getting tasters to smell swirl, and swallow with others doing the same with 65 ml tasters will transform that future delinquent to an epicurean cadet. The fraternity of beer tasters will embrace them to a better drinking environment. And maybe, just maybe some bureaucrats will see the light and stop this condemnation of people who enjoy the finer things in life. And lastly to all you bottle shop managers, who’ll come on board, remember to take care of the ‘beer roadies’. We’re the first to arrive and the last to leave, we’ve poured, talked, and listened to them all. It would be nice if there was something to eat before we hit the cold dark road home.

European Beer Review ‘08

2008-06-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

Almost all of us have an ancestral link to Europe, and with our multicultural population, nearly every country is included. And as here in Australia they have their own version of ‘Fosters’ to meet the local population’s unquenchable demand for premium lager. So when we have a taste of the homeland you have two choices, either purchase their major multinational brewery products when on special or explore unknown varieties and styles at your local specialist epicurean bottle shops. Both have merits and drawbacks but worthy of your attention.

No two nations better exemplify this beer culture duopoly than Belgium, and Germany. Both have brewing histories dating back to the Middle Ages. Both have been affected by conflicts between church and state. And both nations introduced new flavours and styles of beer that continue to demonstrate popularity today.

Belgian Beer

God bless the persecuted monks who fled France during the revolution. Those ‘on the run’ religious refugees behind closed monestary doors began to brew exclusively for fellow monks beer described as "dark and sweet”And due to the fertile fields of the Flanders region began the art of ‘farmhouse brewing’ including lambic fruit beers.The first Trappist brewery in Belgium (Westmalle) officially began operation in 1836. The current Trappist producers are Achel, Chimay, Koningshoeven (the Netherlands), Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, and Westvleteren. Best-known brand of Abbey beer is Inbev's Leffe. Others include Grimbergen, Tripel Karmeliet, Maredsous, Watou, Saint-Feuillien, Floreffe, and Val-Dieu.(308)

With approximately 125 breweries in Belgium, only Germany, France and the United Kingdom are home to more breweries in Europe. Beer production in Belgium is now dominated by Inbev and by the time of this printing, Anheuser-Busch (A-B) and InBev will have combined to forge the largest brewing conglomerate in the world after the US brewer accepted a sweetened $53.5 billion takeover offer. Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-BI), as the new group will be called, will surpass SABMiller as the number one seller of alcoholic beverages when the acquisition is completed later this year, with 17 per cent of the global market. The takeover brings together the makers of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck's to create the world's largest brewer, as well as the third-largest consumer products company.

So if you vote with your feet for the premium lager, Stells Artois wins hands down. InBev’s Stella Artois was first brewed as a Christmas beer in 1926, and was so popular that it became an all year round beer. The name ‘stella’ also comes from the Latin word for star, probably linked to the traditional star atop the Christmas tree

According to Adam Thomas from Pervis Fine Wines in Melbourne “We are seeing a big jump in Fruit beers for the spring season as a viable alternative to wine spritzers and RTD’s. The big Belgian beers like Rochford 10 and Chimay Blue have been very popular for winter, but are now giving way to lambics like Lindemens Geuze, Cassis and Peach.. Beers with berries are all the go.”

Lambic beers fermentation, is produced by exposure to the wild yeasts and bacteria that are said to be native to the Senne valley, in which Brussels lies. The beer then undergoes a long aging period ranging from three to six months (considered “young”) to two or three years for mature. It is this unusual process which gives the beer its distinctive flavor: dry, vinous, and cidery, with a slightly sour aftertaste.

Although Lambics flavoured with fruits such as raspberries (Framboise) or cherries (Kriek) are better known, the Lambic connoisseur’s choice will be Gueuze—the noblest of Lambic styles. A traditional dry Gueuze has no fruit flavouring and will be tart, sour, and naturally effervescent. A typical Gueuze will be a blend of one, two, and three year-old Lambic beers from ancient oak vessels which are a breeding ground for the colonies of bacteria strains that give Gueuze its sour character

The Lindemans family farm in Vlezenbeek near Brussels began Lambic brewing as a winter activity, when less farm work was required. The farm produced wheat and barley, the raw materials of the Lambic. Due to the growing success of the Lambic, the brewery became more important and consequently, in 1930, the farm-activities were stopped. It was in that year that they started the production of Geuze and Kriek. The Framboise was launched in 1980 and due to the success of the fruit-beers, they created 2 new beers: Cassis (black current beer) in 1986 and Pecheresse (peach beer) in 1987.

Lindemans Cuvée René Gueuze Lambic. Has a rich golden hue with yeasty sourdough aromatics. Medium dry yet full bodied with hints of tart lemon rind, nuts, and wheat toast. Finishes with a long, tart citrus rind and mineral fade.
From George Stephanopolous General Manager BID Melbourne Office:

With the Australian market now being exposed to such an array of beer styles from around the world, (predominantly Belgium, Germany and U.K), beer pallets have evolved and are craving for new and exciting styles, complexities and sensations from beer. Hence the growth in interest of Lambic beers, (now commonly sought as an alternative to RTD’s), brewed with natural ingredients and fruits such as raspberry, sour cherries, peaches and forest berries. Styles like Lambic fruit beers are growing in awareness and will offer a great alternative through the coming months of summer in Australia as people discover their full, fresh and vibrant flavour.

Trappist brewery Rochefort (Brasserie de Rochefort) produces three ales:
Rochefort 6 (red cap, brown beer, 7.5% A/V. Rochefort 8 (green cap, brown beer, 9.2% ABV).Rochefort 10 (blue cap, dark beer, 11.3% A/V). Reddish-brown colour, with a very compact head and an aroma of figs. It is very similar to 6 and 8, but with intense complex malt, smoke, wood, roasted quality and great texture.

German beer

Germany is the birthplace of lagers and also employed the bounty of the harvest to create seasonal wheat beers as well. But rather than religious persecution, there drawback was government intervention and ownership. German brewers were bound by adherence to the Reinheitsgebot ("purity order") dating from 1516 (and most recently updated in the Vorläufiges Biergesetz of 1993), according to which the only allowed ingredients of beer are water, hops and barley-malt. This law also requires that beers not using only barley-malt (such as wheat and rye) must be top-fermented. Beer has become part of Germany. There’s around 1,300 breweries in Germany, more than in any other country except the United States (approx. 1,500)

The highest density of breweries in the world is found near the city of Bamberg, in the Franconia region of Bavaria. The Benedictine abbey Weihenstephan brewery (established in 725) is reputedly the oldest existing brewery in the world (brewing since 1040). Weihenstephan occupies an exalted site atop Weihenstephan Hill in the Bavarian city of Freising, surrounded by the comparatively still very young Weihenstephan science centre of the Technical University of Munich. Three varieties are available here in Australia worth having a go at are: Vitus: A light-coloured, spicy single-bock wheat beer extra long and cold storage in the monastery cellars making this single-bock a really full bodied with a distinctive mouthfeel. Alcohol content: 7.7% A/V. Hefe-Weissbier; naturally cloudy wheat beer with its wonderful yeasty fragrance and a taste of banana and clove. Alcohol content: 5.4%A/V. Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel: supple, malty and mellow dark wheat beer 5.3% A/V

Erdinger calls itself the world's largest wheat beer brewery. It was founded in 1886 by Johann Kienle, and its beer is the best-known culinary product of the city. Currently, there are nine varieties available:The three best to have a sample of are:Weisbier- a golden cloudy wheat beer 5.3%A/V, Dunkel- a dark brown type 5.6%A/V, ans Kristallklar- a filtered Weisbier5.3% A/V.

Beck’s has savoured success with around 20% value growth outstripping the international premium segment in 2006 when compared with a year ago. It is the number one German beer in the world and sold 7.5 million hectolitres in2007. Beck’s grown by 4.3% (volume) and has achieved premium growth of 13% outside its home market. Beck’s arrived in Australia in 1906 and became their largest buyer within 3 years. The success of Beck’s is based on a few important factors. An emphasis on being a German ‘spitzen Pilsener von Welt” or ‘world class premium pilsener, strict adherence to the German Purity Law, and the inclusion of Hallertau hops of Bavaria, considered by some to be the finest pils hops in the world. Beck’s has clean crisp taste with plenty of back bitterness and a full rich flavour.

English Beer

Then there is English beer, aah the Motherland, whose mere mention begins contradiction, controversy, and the exception to the rule. To start, they don’t have a national lager, and rather than religious or governmental influence, they’re beer customs has evolved from the counterculture era’s CAMRA the campaign for real ale led by now deceased ‘Beer Guru’ Michael Jackson. Aussie’s Barons Brewing head brewer Richard Adamsons was recently in England to assist Danish brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergso create Vikings’ Return, a 4.5% ABV amber ale for J.D.Wetherspoons’ International Beer Festival. He was able to provide the latest report from the British bar. “The most popular lagers on tap are Carlsberg (DEN), Stella (BEL) and Fosters (AUS), but after that it’s the real ales with emphasis on English bitters and ales. Fullers, Marsden, Hobgoblin and Samuel Smith are getting a good nudge by the locals.

Fuller’s London Pride is the flagship brand of Fullers Brewery. Its cask version holds the No.3 position in the UK's premium ale sector and London Pride has doubled its sales over the last five years. A rich, malty flavour, countered with a balance of hops (a mix of Target, Challenger and Northdown varieties), with a slightly fruity finish. 4.7% A/V

Fuller's E.S.B. is a liquid legend; the cask version has been voted Champion Beer of Britain three times. Full, robust, chestnut-coloured ale, ESB has a rich maltiness that gives way to a nice hop after taste. A clean beer that is easy to drink - often too easy and too often.5.9 % A/V

According to the Beer Importers, traditional English brown ale Old Speckled Hen has demonstrated impressive sales figures on tap and in the shops. Rich golden amber ale with warming red tones, Old Speckled Hen is fruity on the nose with rich malty undertones, toffee like flavour with good back bitterness at the back of the gob. The finish is sweet without being cloying and a good dry finish.

Asian Beer Review ‘08

2008-05-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

The eyes of the world have been turned towards Asia recently, particularly China with the Olympics. Two things have impressed us most, their modernisation and a heritage of traditional values. This region has experienced dramatic change in the past few decades and no better exemplified than in their beer industry.

The two superpowers of the region China and Japan began brewing at the turn of the 20th century, with a constant clashing of tradition vs. modernisation. Chinese brewing history reads like a corporate business plan with international development (Germany), overseas acquisition (Japan), government supervision (Nationalist Govt.) and seizure (People’s Party of China) and finally privatisation including merger with other breweries to create Tsingtao Brewing.

But progress has come at a cost.Tsingtao Beer has long advertised as being "brewed with mineral water from the Laoshan Spring", renowned for the absolute purity of the water, contributing to its characteristic flavour; however, this now applies only to beer produced in Qingdao,. Originally, Tsingtao Beer was brewed in accordance with the German Purity Law of 1516 but after privatization the recipe changed, so that today Tsingtao beer, like many other beers made in China, contains a proportion of the less-expensive rice as an adjunct in the mash

China may have overtaken the US as the world's biggest beer market besides boasting the largest population on earth. Like most beer drinking nations, China’s consumption is particularly strong in urban areas among 25-45 year olds. Chinese consumers have a very strong affinity with domestic brands, which account for an estimated 96 per cent of all beer consumed, But fuelled by a recent boom in pubs and bars, premium beer is the fastest growing sector, increasing by 34 per cent in 2002 alone.

According to Peter Nixon, Business Manager Marketing for Dan Murphy’s, Asian beer consumption here in Australia follows similar tends. “We are seeing growth across the entire Asian beer category Chinese, Japanese and Indian alike. This is in line with all imported & premium beer growth. Melbourne and Sydney sales are highest followed by other capital cities with no real disproportion in line with population base. It’s the flavour and style profiles that appeal to the Australian palate and climate

Another player is Shanghai Lager that has adhered to traditional recipes of Shanghai China since 1936, produces a classic Asian lager brewed from rice. This develops the crystal clean palate and ultimate refreshment the Chinese relish in their beer. Pale straw in colour, Shanghai has a light and delicate in aroma, crisp and refreshing, with balanced bitterness and refreshing finish. The beer is a perfect companion to hot and spicy dishes, such as Szechuan, as the beer will cleanse the palate after each bite.

The history of modern brewing in Japan dates back to1869 when the government set up a brewery on the Northern island of Hokkaido and a decade later were brewing Sapporo Lager. At one time there were several dozen breweries around Japan including the ‘big 4’ Sapporo, Japan, Osaka (Asahi Brewery), and Kirin. The fierce battle for market supremacy in the early 1900’s led to the Japan Brewing Company merging with Sapporo. After the war, the DaiNippon Beer Company divided into two companies Nippon/ Sapporo and Asahi. The three continue to battle worldwide to be ‘champion Japanese beer’.

If one aspect of brewing can be attributed to Japan it would have to be the ‘Dry’ lager style. To create this drying effect, the mash is brewed at a lower temperature to soak up every drop of residual sugars that become alcohol. The result desired requires an extraction process to get only the first liquid run- off from the sweet wort then a long slow fermentation.

Asahi Super Dry is Japan’s original, traditionally brewed, super dry beer. Rich in flavour it cuts to a clean, crisp edge. It has a delicate, yet rich, full-flavoured body and refreshing, dry aftertaste. Asahi is a super premium Japanese beer with unisex appeal and a distinctive smooth character that is easy to drink. Asahi’s volume share of the Asian beer market isn’t huge; however it is growing at a rapid pace. Ranked in the top 20 Premium Imports, it appeals to urban leading edge consumers. Victoria and New South Wales continue to be the two key Asahi markets constituting over 80% of total volume.

Sapporo Imported Original Draught Beer has a distinctive silver can exhibiting their high tech outlook to brewing. Using state of the art technology, including a ceramic filtration process, creates a smoother cleaner lager. The sculptured conical shaped steel can releases a golden maize coloured brew with very subtle grainy sweet aroma and taste with a well balanced malt flavour.

Kirin Ichiban, the only Asian beer to be brewed here in Australia at the Malt Shovel brewery in Sydney. Locally brewed in small batches under the supervision of an expert Japanese brewer assures freshness. The Kirin is an ancient mythical beast which foretells the coming of festive and joyful events. The word “ichiban” means “first” in Japan and Kirin uses a First Press Brewing Method where only the first liquid drawn from the mash is used followed by a long fermentation period. The use of noble saaz hops provide a floral aroma that’s complemented by a delicate fruity flavour. Full bodied with subtle sweetness and mild bittering notes, Kirin Ichiban is quickly gaining local support in trendy nightspots.

Indochina and the subcontinent have their own tale to tell but the theme scenario is the same as younger, hipper new moneyed beer drinkers have taken over the bar, club and beer garden scene. Like Australia, they want to be seen with a notable international branded stubby but consume the local brew with their mates.

Chang Beer(1995) brewery, in the district of Bang Ban, Ayutthaya Province, is the top-selling brand in Thailand winning over 60% of market share after a hard market fight with the previously biggest brand Singha. In 2006, the company's market share was 49% of the beer market with genuine brand recognition. The eye-catching green logo of 2 elephants facing one another is immediately recognisable to Thais and foreigners alike. The company also has outstanding distribution and the beer is readily available. In fact, Chang has become more popular than Singha in the Thai market for its low price. At the end of the day, it is the branding of Chang that makes up for a fantastic part of this remarkable appeal. Chang Beer's full bodied, smooth taste is truly expressive of the finest quality natural Ingredients. 5% A/V

Singha Lager (1933) continues to be popular for its light golden flavour. Their 3 brewery locations are based on quality water sources. The Boon Rawd Brewery water supply is pumped from wells deep underground, then activated carbon filtered, sand filtered and treated to meet Singha’s exacting standards. Quality grains and hops sourced from Europe and Australia create a yellow-gold in appearance, with a distinctly rich flavour. Singha Lager demonstrates strong hop characters and notes of lemons, flowers and cinnamon. The beer has a fresh and surprisingly biscuity malt character with a rather gentle nudge of Thai sweetness.

Malaysian beer giant, Tiger Beer is brewed by Asia Pacific Breweries, a joint venture between Heineken NV and Frasers & Neave. It’s obviously the major brand of the brewer and it was first brewed back in the early 1940s. The beer has managed to gain immense popularity throughout the Asian Continent, in particular South East Asia.

Tiger Beer is a dry-hopped beer with a rather rich taste. It’s ideal for a long drinking session. My very first reaction was it tasted a bit strong, but after a few large sips, my taste buds eventually got used to the friendly invasion of quality hops and the overly strong taste replaced with a nice and rich one, with a lasting bigger finish. In short, it’s a highly refreshing beer and goes nicely with food, particularly spicy and peppery dishes.

Last month, Australian wine and beer group Foster's exited the Asian brewing business with the US$225 million sale of its operations in Vietnam and India. The firm's Vietnam breweries and local brands will go to Asia Pacific Breweries for US$105 million, and its Indian business including the Foster's brand will be taken on by SABMiller for US$120 million. APB operates 27 breweries in 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific. The Indochina market, which includes Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, has accounted for more than 40 per cent of its earnings in the past three years, the company said. Profit before interest and tax from this region increased by 20 per cent last year.

333 Premium Export Beer or Ba Ba Ba as the Vietnamese pronounce it is a popular rice lager sold around South East Asia and exported to France, the USA and Australia. The beer dates back to 1893 when they acquired the German Label "33” and during the 1970’s the extra 3 was added to its name. The beer is produced by Beer Saigon which doesn’t use a lot of the preservative chemicals used as a lot of the other Asian beers, making it much crisper and easer on the head the next morning. The beer has a 5.3 percent alcohol reading so it gives quiet a kick, especially in the hot Vietnamese sun.

On the sub continent, we viewed the Indian 20 x 20 Cricket and marvelled at their wealth and splendour everywhere you looked, a Kingfisher logo or billboard appeared. Kingfisher lager is a great beer and worthy of your indulgence. A nice golden amber colour with white creamy head, Kingfisher is well balanced malt character and good solid back bitterness. As with any Asian beer, serve it icy cold, sit back, and enjoy.

Another beer from India making an impact on the Aussie market is Taj Mahal Premium brewed by United Breweries in Bangalore. Taj Mahal (meaning the "best of buildings") is dedicated to the famous monument built in 1648. Taj Mahal Premium is a clear amber lager with a very delicate light hop flavour. The crisp hop bitter aftertaste makes this brew a perfect match with spicy foods.

And when is an Asian beer not an Asian beer, when it’s produced here in Australia. Lucky Beer is a highly distinctive concept with their unique ‘laughing Buddha’ bottle. An Asian influenced lager using only 100% Australian premium natural ingredients. Another unique trend is to offer Lucky Beer with a slice of ginger at the bar. They say that rubbing Buddha’s tummy brings you good luck, so why not get a bottle and see for yourself.

Belgian Beer Café

2007-11-17T14:15:00.000-08:00

The choices for which bar to drink at is endless, so what do we look for? First and foremost for me is the beer, of which I demand the best selection from around the world and the consistency of service to entice me to have another. I demand the same hospitality and talent behind the bar no matter what time of the day or night. I require a menu with choice and flair, but not so far as to impede on my drinking environment. My demands require a special type of place of which the Belgian Beer Café can meet my needs in most capital cities in Australia.

Top priority for mind in a drinking establishment is conversation, not a combative environment against poker machine bells and whistles or loud brain hammering music. By the very nature of the beast, Belgian Beer Café’s draw patrons from all walks of life and tourists from around the world who have one thing in common, great beer. Most have an outdoor area to enjoy the seasonal nature of beer appreciation whilst enjoying the local sites and sounds.

With over 200 Belgian Beer Cafes worldwide, brewing giant Interbrew knows all about providing the ultimate Belgian beer drinking experience. Here the local white collared corporate urban cowboys are rife, and cosmopolitan sheik is the go according to Owner George Christopoulos at the Belgian Beer Café Bluestone in Melbourne. “Authenticity of the concept/décor is vital to our success, plus having the largest brewery in the world Interbrew providing us with their great selection of beers makes for a unique quality environment.” All the fittings, including a confessional box and marble bar tops, have been brought over from Belgium. The décor highlights the halcyon days of the 1950’s in Europe with old soccer photos on the walls along with kitschy musical instruments. They even imported four Belgian painters to create that “lived-in look”. But beer is why we come here, and indeed, the array of beers on tap is exceptional including:

Hoegaarden Witbier- renowned as “the best of the white ales”, Hoegaarden was first brewed in 1445 in the village of the same name using locally grown wheat. A light refreshing beer that works well for female and younger palates and as an ‘early opener beer for us old crusty beer veterans. The cloudy appearance comes from a secondary fermentation in the bottle or keg. Hints of coriander and Curacao provide a fruity, slightly spicy flavour with little to no back palate bitterness.

Leffe Blond- Belgium’s original abbey beer was founded in 1152 by monks following strict instructions from special recipes. By the 1800’s abbey beers began to be brewed off-premise but still obeyed the brewing traditions which included the extended fermentation to produce this exceptional 6.6% A/V ale. A sunny, golden yellow colour with light fruity, sweet aroma, Leffe Blond is full-bodied, yet not to heavy on the palate. It exhibits a well-rounded delicate malt sweetness that’s complimented by the slightly sour special yeast.

Leffe Dark- An exceptional dark ale almost black robe in appearance, sweetened with brown sugar with a slight bitterness from the roasted barley, which provides the coffee and chocolate flavour profile. It’s silky smooth with full bodied flavour, and hints of fruity sweetness. A natural dessert beer that works well with the Belgian waffles on offer.

Stella Artois- The world’s best selling Belgian beer enjoyed around the world in 80 countries since 1926. Originally brewed as a special Christmas beer (note the star on the coaster or bottle) using traditional malted barley plus noble hops for flavour. Stella Artois has a bright crystal clear pale gold appearance and a delicate hop aroma that requires pouring into a glass to truly appreciate. The pilsener lager has a pleasing hop flavour leaving the palate with a combination of grainy malt flavour, moderate hop bitterness and a slight citric sourness in the finish. Overall a clean bright satisfying beer that’s ideal for summer days.

Bottled beers also available in-house don’t let the side down as well. The Belgian Beer Café’s along with Interbrew have on offer a number of unusual fruit-based ales in Belle-Vue Kriek (cherry), and Belle-Vue Framboise (raspberry), plus the great trappist ales of Chimay and Duvel. The traditional method of serving Belgian beer is employed with every glass. They cut off the head of the beer with a spatula to get rid of the larger bubbles insuring that only the mousse is left at the top.

Afterwards, they immerse the glass in cold water to remove the film residue before presentation. What better way to enjoy these luscious beers than supping on genuine Belgian style menu items? All mains come with chips and mayonnaise, but to get you in the Belgian mood, why not order Mussels cooked in Hoegaarden. Witbier. Flemish beef stews, cheese croquettes, and Belgian waffles are on offer as well as Belgian sausages.

AIBA Beer Awards 07 in Reflection

2007-05-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

There was much shrugging of shoulders and scratching of heads to the finish of the 2007 Australian International Beer Awards. The most controversial decision was the Premier’s Trophy for the Best Victorian Beer awarded to InBev’s Belgian European Style Lager Stella Artois, brewed at the Fosters brewing complex in Melbourne suburb Abbotsford. No dispersion should be levelled on this superb judging panel. My admiration for this year’s assessors is steadfast, truly world class, with special mention to Chief Judge Peter Manders who was not in attendance due to a heart attack that had him laid up, god speed from all of us Peter. So for those who wish to cast criticism of the decision; I have two words “Grow Up!”

Before I offer my opinion, let me congratulate Grand Champion Weihenstephan Kristall a fantastic traditional Bavarian styled hefeweizen wheat beer with an aromatic clove and vanilla like flavour. If there was any surprise it was that a wheat beer won after the five year rein of the big rich dark hoppy beers. But back to my backhander remark, I offer three reasons for supporting the Stella decision. First, for those few misguided purists, the days of leading international beer brands being brewed in their homeland are over. Economic realities require their product to be closer to their beer purchasing public in a cut throat industry. Secondly, we pride ourselves on being the second largest international beer judging event, so the odds are better than good that a non-Australian tagged beer entry will win the ultimate prize. And finally, please correct me if I’m wrong but the old saying among brewers that ‘the best lager is a fresh lager’ still applies. You can’t have a beer on a boat and expect it to taste as clean and crisp if it’s been on a boat over the Indian Ocean for a while.

As a proud Victorian, my biggest disappointment with the event was the sad fact that on a gloriously sunny autumn day, there was no beer festival for the public to enjoy the ‘beer bounty’ that hit our shores from all over the word. Watermelon wheat beers from San Francisco, Dunkels from Deutschland and New Zealand, cherry ales from Belgium and porters from Russia just to mention a few. The strong support of craft brewers from America with no less than 19 breweries entered as part of a group from the Craft Brewers Association brought many unusual beer styles to try while our Australian brewers offered equally exciting beer entries. But in a state that prides itself on international events there was no state reception for incoming brewing executives from the international brewing community, and there was no after event festivities for the Melbournians to be educated and entertained by the world ob beer.

The awards for Australian small brewer were also a non-Victorian whitewash. Congratulations to Champion Small International Brewery winner Colonial Brewing Company from the Margaret River, Western Australian. According to Head Brewer Dean McLeod, “West Australia seems to have a better craft beer culture with amazing support from the public.” Hard to fault his statement with the Feral Brewery taking out Champion Specialty Beer for their Belgian styled Feral White and Champion Ale going to Little Creatures for their American styled Pale Ale. Cheers also go to Canberra based Wig & Pen Brewery & Tavern’s Champion Reduced Alcohol winner Mr. Natural and last year’s Grand Champion Sydney based Redoak for their winning Champion Porter – Redoak Old Baltic Porter.

Beer Advertising

2007-04-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

A brewer once remarked to me the difference between premium and regular beer saying, “It’s fantastic to make top shelf beers but, it’s the regular beer that pays the bills.” So how do the big breweries step up against a raging premium and international beer dominated market? Through advertising, but not as we have known it.

Today’s beer campaigns are ranged for the 19-29 year olds with attitude, little time in their schedules, who demonstrate an upbeat enthusiastic view of the world around them. Gone are the archaic Vaudevillian slapstick humour bits in exchange for innovative, quirky, entertaining, sensual and humoruous - don’t forget the humour.

It was eleven years ago that J. Boag & Son employed the radical genius of photographer Helmut Newton to create the first premium beer ad ‘Who is James Boag’ campaign. We have been seduced by the lady in black, first on the couch scene then over the balcony to the latest erotic fantasy with the lady on the car bonnet. According to Anthea Pritchard, marketing manager at J. Boag & Son we will see all the ads this year, “The feedback to the ads is that they are timeless and people want to see them again. The intrigue and mystery have stayed true and interesting to all ages. Some people felt the ads vilified women, but Helmut Newton is controversial. The fact is that women have beauty that men ogle about; but women have the power over the situation. There is no question about who has the power is in these shots.”

The Carlton Draught ‘Big Ad’ represents the most significant change in Australian beer advertising in a decade. Now, when a mate tells you to switch on the screen to catch the latest ad, they probably are referring to the computer, not the television. Three million viewers is an impressive number by anybody’s standards, especially when you consider that the campaign began as an email stream among Foster’s Australia employees. Within 24 hours of viral life, the ad had been viewed 162,000 times, and was eventually seen in 132 countries. According to Matt Keen, general manager regular beer, Fosters Australia, “We have been blown away by the response from consumers and how far and wide it’s been enjoyed around the world”.
The epical nature was the brainchild of Animal Logic, the special effects masters who gained fame from working on films ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Moulin Rouge’ .They transformed a cast of 300 to thousands in collaboration with director of photography Andrew Lesnie, Academy Award winner in 2002 for ‘Best Cinematography’ for ‘Fellowship of the Ring’. Since the ad was launched, the sales figures have shown a healthy twelve per cent volume increase MAT Dec ’05 and a massive 41 per cent growth in New South Wales according to Felicity Watson, communications manager regular beer, Foster’s Australia.

Lion Nathan worked with advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to develop the ‘For the Love of Beer’ campaign. Launched in February this year, it’s a Monty Pythonesque view of catapulting objects at the heavenly gods to the catchy tune of ‘The Great Escape’. Saatchi & Saatchi executive creative director, David Nobay, commented, “In some ways, the concept behind ‘Catapult’ is completely insane, and yet the idea of wanting it to rain beer is also entirely plausible. When your lips are parched and the sun is up, a great beer certainly feels like a gift from the gods. Tooheys New has just brought the dream to life for all to enjoy.”

Supporting this concept is Paul Foster, managing director mainstream beer, Lion Nathan Australia. “Our target audience is young Australians but it’s important that all ages enjoy the experience. We want to put mainstream beer on a pedestal and champion its cause. We want people from all walks of life to join in the celebration, to capture the moment of ‘raining beer’”. Catapult was first launched off the back of unbranded outdoor activity in some of Australia’s most iconic locations and was first ‘previewed’ via the web medium on Valentine’s Day but quickly launched into pay TV, free-to-air and cinema. According to Foster, “The internet is only another way to reach our customers. TV, cinema and outdoor advertising all play a crucial role as well.”

No doubt multi-media strategies are important tools to get the word out about a new beer, but television continues to be the yardstick to measure successful ad campaigns.

Advertisements such as Tooheys 'Bath Bomb'(2003), 'Bean Bomb'(2004) and 'What Mates Do', not to mention the Toohey’s Extra Dry 'Tongue'(2003) ad have changed the face of beer advertising forever. Many of the changes came from International beers such as the dark humour of the Guinness “I like to watch’ ads, and the Heineken Beer Moments campaign featuring ‘Quando’(2002), Jennifer Aniston ‘top shelf’(2003 and ‘Blind Date’(2003)Ads such as these have lifted the image of beer from the more 1980s and 1990s images of beer being a boys only, thirst quencher for working class blokes or men of the land, to a beverage that appeals to women and men alike. Using humour, these ads cleverly avoided sexist or condescending messages and instead, appealed to both real-life and fantasy scenarios that took the perception of beer into a new dimension

Another innovative stroke of genius this year in the battle for brand beer supremacy has been the VB ‘Boony Doll’. The Talking Boony figurine houses an audio chip loaded with the special comments and a timer that was synchronised with the VB Series (based on Eastern Standard Time). This special figurine was programmed to ‘sleep’ (to preserve power) until the start of the VB Series and then wake up for each of the matches broadcast on Channel 9 and respond to audio triggers transmitted through the TV. Over 200,000 figurines have been sitting close to TVs in homes across the country. The demand has been so high that after promotional stocks were exhausted, Talking Boonies were fetching up to $50 on e-Bay. Talking Boony has special code words (which were also being posted on the Boonanza website) for the twelve in-telecast prize draws. Prizes up for grabs included specially signed and framed Boonanza merchandise and a trip to the second VB Series final in Sydney for a winner and three mates.

So successful has the Boonanza Campaign been that it has led to Foster’s Australia announcing a new sponsorship deal with Cricket Australia, designed to showcase its premium multi-beverage portfolio across all levels of the game. Who says that TV ads can’t change the world.

Tax Ale

2007-03-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

Perhaps protest is out of style and we have become blasé about the bi-annual slug of excise tax, or maybe we feel overpowered by escalating taxation on the ‘easy targets’ of beer, petrol and smokes. Add on gambling revenue from pubs and clubs and you have a government who knows where the cash cows graze and how to milk them.

It shouldn’t come as any real surprise however; the first beer tax goes back to the Saladin tithe introduced by Henry II in 1188 to raise money for the Crusades. Governments since their very existence have used two main tools to intervene between the citizen and his schooner; taxation and licensing. The humble tavern and their beloved ales have subsequently been taxed in every way imaginable. The malt was taxed, the liquor was taxed, the hops were taxed and once the hydrometer was created they taxed the specific gravity of the blessed drop. All under the justification that taxes are helping us and our health. The fact is that attempts to control demand for alcohol by piling on taxes have created a powerful source of revenue that’s as difficult to give up as the products they are trying to wean us off

So who are the biggest losers to this habitual form of taxation known as the GST? It’s certainly not been the wine industry who was granted a ‘privileged class status’ known as the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET). The logic to this exception to the new rule in 2000 was to provide assistance for struggling new small wineries. WET wineries are on an ad valorem tax (it is a value or priced based) and take little account for alcohol content as with beer and spirits plus the first million dollars of sales are tax free. Compare this to a small brewery as we did with Marcus Cox at 3 Ravens Brewery in Melbourne who provided a simple example” So here's how excise works at the moment for full strength beers. Example: the traditional Aussie beer of 4.65% alcohol by volume the first 1.15% is tax free - nice work government.

Calculation for excise is then based on the remaining 3.5% we assume the beer is going into bottle - different rate for kegs 1 litre of pure alcohol incurs a tax of $36.98 - new Feb. rate. .Say we have 100 litres of beer, we can work out the excise payable 100 lt @ 3.5% contains 3.5 litres of pure alcohol. 3.5 (litres of pure alcohol) x 36.98 (the excise rate) = $129.43. So on 100 litres of 4.65% beer, $129.43 is due in tax. Each case of beer is approximately 8 litres, so each case of beer is up for $10.35 tax. With wholesale at about $50, that's a huge component.”

But according to Cameron Hines from the Mountain Goat Brewery, things could be on the mend. “Australia has some fantastic microbreweries producing very high quality, all natural ales and lagers. While the industry has exploded around the world, gaining up to 9% of their respective domestic markets, microbrewing in Aus has remained tiny (microbrewed beer currently accounts for under 0.5 of a percent in the Australian market).

The things that makes microbreweries different from large breweries: Micro's use very expensive, traditional ingredients of the highest quality Micro's are very labour intensive, lacking large automated machinery Micro's don't have economies of scale when it comes to purchasing raw materials.

For these reasons microbreweries around the world are offered reduced excise rates - often reductions of between 30 - 90 % compared to what the big operators pay. This enables microbrewery movements to flourish, creating fantastic regional tourism, and skilled employment and export opportunities.

What we're proposing is similar deal as the wineries have received. We are asking that all Australian breweries receive a refund on the excise paid on their first million dollars of sales annually. This would mean a benefit of approx $100,000 to $200,000 P/A too many small breweries and this would make all the difference and promote strong growth in the sector. The UK, Canada, United States, New Zealand all has thriving microbrewery movements. With the right excise scheme in place the same will happen here.

I am the president of VAMI (Victorian Association of Microbrewers Inc.) and we went to Canberra in June last year. Catherine King Member for Ballarat and Fran Bailey (Minister for Small Business. and Tourism) kindly set up 11 meetings for us and then we held a microbrew tasting in Parliament House at the end of the day. We generally got a good response and have since been organising some economic modelling to take back to Treasury.”

This input and data was backed up by Chuck Hahn, Brewmaster for the Malt Shovel Brewery when he ‘put his small brewer hat on’, “The US craft market showed 7.9% growth last year, or a total of 4% of their entire beer market. They can make more unusual beers because they aren’t taxed on the alcohol, but by volume. This allows for the creation of big, bold, yummy 10 % A/V beers. For the average 5.0% A/V beers, the US pays one tenth the amount of tax as us. As the alcohol rises you really get hit, my Australian Strong Ale requires $4 more excise per case.”

Managing Director of Grand Ridge Brewery Eric Walters gets the last dig in the tax issue because they produce Australia’s highest alcohol beers Moonshine 8.5% A/V and Supershine 11.5%, therefore the most effected by the present taxation system. “There is no parity between small brewers and small wine makers which is unfortunate considering our international fame for the love of great beer. I’ve been operating for 16 years and have seen many small breweries come and go. It’s sad that all efforts to build an industry have received no support or recognition by the federal government. Small brewers are passionate and want to contribute but are unable to run a viable small business especially in regional areas. The present system is unworkable due to the fact that excise taxes are due within seven days but breweries must allow their customers 60-90 days credit, this means the debt grows all the time. I have to pay $30.00 in tax for my Supershine, that’s the same as a slab from the big boys. But if I got rid of Supershine I’d have a riot on my hands from the people who love and adore the big malty taste of a fine crafted scotch ale. If small breweries were provided a parity WET tax, I guarantee immediate increase and employment in the industry around the country.”

International Beers

2007-02-17T17:05:00.000-08:00

According to ACNielsen’s Scantrack, “Last Year’s trend of ‘premiumisation’ has continued. The Australian off premise packaged beer category commands the largest of off premise sales with a 39% percent share. The majority of packaged beer growth is being driven by premium beer (growth of 11.8%), in particular premium imported/international beer (growth of 19.1%).

From my own market research, discounting by major bottle shop chains has been effective but that doesn’t account for even the lower disposable income housing districts also showing significant growth, and specialised beer shops doing a whopping big business with no signs of slowing down. Plus, any respectable up-market club or neighbourhood bar needs a staple internationally recognised premium lager to meet their client’s needs. The new beer unisex elite are now driven by flavour and aroma to an ever discerning Aussie drinker, with the more delicate palates chasing less bitterness and a clean well-rounded taste.

According to the Beer Importers, traditional English brown ale Old Speckled Hen has demonstrated impressive sales figures on tap and in the shops. First brewed in Abington, Oxfordshire to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory, the name is derived from the term “owd speckled un” used to describe an old MG used at the factory as a run around covered with various flecks of paint. A rich golden amber ale with warming red tones, Old Speckled Hen is fruity on the nose with rich malty undertones, toffee like flavour with good back bitterness at the back of the gob. The finish is sweet without being cloying and a good dry finish.

Lion Nathan’s flagship brands of Beck’s and Heineken have savoured success with around 20% value growth outstripping the international premium segment in 2006 when compared with a year ago. The success of Beck’s is based on a few important factors, including an emphasis on being a German ‘spitzen Pilsner von Welt’ or ‘world class premium pilsners’, and the inclusion of Hallertau hops of Bavaria, considered by some to be the finest pils hops in the world. The use of these hops may cause a few raised eyebrows due to the lightness in colour and put to question its strength and character, but after a swallow or two you will experience a clean crisp taste with plenty of back bitterness and a full rich flavour.

Talk about beer from Holland and the word Heineken isn’t far behind. G.A. Heineken was so appalled at the depravity and drunkenness caused by gin drinking that he swore to his mother that he would brew for the people if she bought the Haystack Brewery for him. Now enjoyed in over 170 countries, Heineken's global success has been built on a passion for quality, a dedication to innovation and a respect for the world it lives in. Heineken lager contains no additives or preservatives, and only the purest natural ingredients are used in the six week brewing process. And thanks to three generations of the Heineken family, the Heineken lager enjoyed all over the world today is still brewed to the original recipe, perfected in Holland in 1873.

Another great Dutch beer Grolsch is the only fully imported beer here in Oz. Grolsch has been producing superb beers since the early 1600’s when Master brewer Peter Cuper established the brewery in his hometown Grolle (now Groenlo) in Gelderland. Considered a small independent brewery until recent times, Grolsch products have been synonymous with three major factors: extended lagering and fermentation, unpasturised beers, and that infamous swing-stoppered bottle. The swing top dates back to 1897, when other Dutch breweries started phasing them out claiming they were too expensive for mass production. A seemingly useless appendage for modern drinking habits, it provides a distinctive novelty factor and instant recognition for all Grolsch products. Grolsch Premium is a fresh hoppy pilsner style lager with plenty of Herschbruger and Hallbrtauer hops for aromatics and Yakima and Golden Nugget hops for bitterness. All natural and triple cold filtered, the lager is well balanced with rich malty yeasty sweetness and a subtle bitter finish. The extended lagering provides that distinctive European flavour and classic golden colour.

The image of drunken Vikings marauding the countryside is as much a part of Scandinavia as the land itself. They brewed a barley based beer they called aul and handed down the method of top fermenting ales to all of Europe. And similar to Holland, the beers are dominated by two breweries, Carlsberg and Tuborg. Carlsberg has been brewing in Copenhagen since 1847 and remains a popular favorite around the world. Its light hoppiness compliments a dry malty mouth feel, with a sweet malty finish. Carlgerg’s slogan on the side of a building in Copenhagen’s city hall says it all “Probably the best beer in town”.

InBev continues exceptional worldwide beer sales and their relationship with Fosters Australia remains prosperous for both. Their ever popular Stella Artois has again shown double digit growth in 2006 behind investment in marketing and off premise promotion. Pacific Regional Director for InBev Sean Prendergast has more to say on the subject. “We have 4 global brands, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde and Leffe Brun. We contribute much of the success in Stella Artois to the great partnership we have with Fosters Australia. Hoegaarden, the most successful specialty International beer in Australia, and our Leffe’s have also drawn success from the creative below the line support from places like the Belgian Beer Café’s. It has created a unique position and relevance in the beer market and we are very pleased with their progress.”

A new member of the InBev-Foster’s team is Star Opraman. Star Opraman, a Czech pilsner style would be described as a softer lager style than the famous Pilsner Urquell. The Czech Republic drinks 150 litres per capita compared to us Aussies who down a respectable 85 litres per person so they should know a thing or two about brewing great beer. According to Mr Prendergast “ Star Opramen is not overpowering, a mild bitter but still containing a high 20’s BU (bittering units) which should please a wide range of educated lager drinkers.”

Pilsner Urquell is the flagship of the Czech brewing industry, and has been since 1842.Urquell means “original source” in German, the official language of Bohemia, once part of the Austrian empire. And as it says on the bottle, Pilsner Urquell is the original pilsner from the Pilsen, the birthplace of the pilsner lager style. Adding to its mystique, the beer introduced the now famous conical pilsner style glass when the world was switching over from stoneware and pewter tankards. Pilsner Urquell is golden in colour with a rich, well-compacted creamy head. The flavour and aroma profile is driven by the use of Saaz hops, which provide a floral, spicy aroma and adequate back bitterness without going over the top. Equally important in its structure is the renowned Moravian barley malt, which provides a malty softness and overall balance to the beer.

Brewing transplanted from the Austrian Alps wasn’t introduced until the nineteenth century. It took the youth and fashionable Italians of the 1960’s to re-launch beer into modern times. Wine was their parents and the peasant to drink; they wanted English-styled pubs and Bavarian Beer halls. Market leader Peroni’s main brand Nastro Azzuro is the ‘Blue Ribbon Italian Pilsner’ which includes 20% corn maize to sweeten the brew and then hopped with Saaz to spice it up. At 5.3% A/V Nastro Azzurro is quite a refreshing well balanced lager for its sweetness.

French lager Kronenborg 1664, France’s No. 1 selling beer, No. 2 in the UK, and on fire here in Oz. Dating back more than 300 years, The use of locally grown Alsace hop strisselspalt known as ‘the caviar of hops’ creates a flavour profile of a beer that’s more bitter than sweet with a distinctive tangy citrus taste at mid-palate. Kronenbourg 1664 was launched in the UK in 1952 to mark the Queen’s accession to the throne. According to Gary Hastings, Fosters Australia’s Group Marketing Manager International Beers,”Kronenourg's volume has had excellent growth in both draught & pack formats. Kronenbourg 1664 has strong loyalty and commitment from the 25 - 35 year old males and females in the "Beer Appreciator" or "Beer as Badge" consumer segments, who appreciate the beer's credentials, taste profile and heritage. Many of these consumers have trialled the brand overseas and have positive memories and compared to other international beers. Kronenbourg's highest volume is from inner city "progressive" bars and hotels. To drive carton volume further this year, Kronenbourg will support customers this year through increased promotional frequency, on-premise promotions and a greater in store /merchandising presence.”
Well travelled, socially aware,well educated, unisex group in trendy spots or at home at dinner parties.

The Smaller the Brewery, The Bigger the Package

2007-02-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

According to Llewellyn Communications, there is a global shift to craft beers In the United States, for example, the craft beer industry has grown every year for the last 35 years, with 1368 craft breweries currently operating in the country [1]. In the first half of 2005 alone, the American craft beer industry grew 7.1% by volume. Nearly 7 million barrels of craft beer will be produced in the United States this year, with a total annual dollar volume of A$ 4.9billion. By comparison, the domestic large and traditional regional brewing industry in the United States actually declined by 2.6% during the first quarter of this year.

In Australia there is also a clear trend towards increased consumption of craft beers, although beer consumption overall has been declining. While there is only limited data available on the Australian craft beer industry, largely because there is no association which represents all craft brewers, there are 71 craft breweries [2] operating in the country, which are estimated to account for around 8% of the overall beer market in Australia[3]. The balance of Australia’s A$ 8.5 billion beer market[4] is owned by Australia’s two biggest liquor companies, Lion Nathan and Foster’s Group

For such a small percentage of the market, how do these small breweries draw the attention of the beer drinking public? The key word here is attraction and the success or failure of many small breweries rests on the ability to draw people who want more than just a beer. Here are a few examples of up market beer environments.
Oxford 152 is a classic example of a recipe for success. The ingredients are a run down pub (Balmoral Hotel) in a disadvantaged suburb of Brisbane, or any other major city for that matter, and add a renovation rescue of $ 3 million. What you become is part of a trendy ‘wharfie’ neighbourhood in the hip area on the south side of the river. The stylish restaurant does over a 1500 meals a week and their in house brewed beers have won over 30 major awards.

I asked Brew Master Brennan Fielding what his biggest challenges were in running a successful craft brewery. ”Each follow up brew has to be precise and true to style as the last and that policy is over all 12 beers we make. A well made lager doesn’t have to be bland. I brew twice a week to keep up with demand, as our tanks only hold 800 litres.” Here is their list;

Oxford Cloudy- A German hefe weizen with aromatic clove & citrus, balanced with a generous amount of wheat is unfiltered. ABV 5%

Oxford Premium- An aromatic European lager with pronounced malt aroma and balanced hop profile, light straw in colour leaving no bitter aftertaste. ABV 5.2%

Oxford 152 Full flavoured mid strength lager with a slight floral aroma & pleasant hop bitterness. refreshing and extremely thirst quenching.ABV3.5%

Oxford Pale Ale- a classic Northwest American Pale Ale boasting floral aromatics with hints of Lychee and Grapefruit. Unfiltered for maximum flavour. ABV 4.9%

Oxford Light- brewed with imported Czech hops and German yeast, oxford light is a full-bodied, double hopped lager thatis both light in alcohol and colour but not in flavour. ABV 2.9%

English Brown Porter Ale- the style originated during the 1800’s in London. Subtle chocolate notes and infused with ‘Toby’s Estate’ Colombian coffee blend to provide a mocha flavour. ABV 4.9

Oxford Black- a silky smooth stout with pleasant roasted malt flavours. English hops create the mild bitterness, and a blend of 10 malts makes for a complex but enjoyable blend. ABV 5.4%

The Mid-North Coast (NSW) now has its own local brewing company, following the launch of Murray’s Brewing Co. Its headquarters and onsite brewery have been established at the recently renamed “The Pub with No Beer Brewery”, located at Taylor’s Arm and established sine 1903. Owner Murray Howe, outlined his clear vision: “We’re going to create Australia’s leading craft brewing business, right here from Taylor’s Arm. We’ll be a market leader in terms of beer quality and flavour, as well as market leader as a tourism business via development of The Pub with No Beer hotel into a world-class Brewery. I’m proudly patriotic and want to promote pride in supporting Australian beverage and food producers and, I’m very passionate about my beer. The beer-loving public is increasingly demanding fresh, full flavoured, full aroma beer and are willing to pay for quality, and to try new experiences such as beer and food matching. And that’s what they’ll get when they try a Murray’s branded beer, and visit The Pub with No Beer Brewery. Murray’s strategy for growth is to first build a reputation for world class ales locally, and then take on the world. “We expect to launch a new beer approximately every quarter, and have bottled beer available from February. We will be working hard to get distribution for Murray’s-brand tap and bottled beers across the North Coast region. Key to the future success of Murray’s Brewing Co. is Head Brewer, Graeme Mahy, who relocated from New Zealand, and has more than 22 years’ home brewing experience including 15 years’ in commercial brewing

Sunrise Wheat Beer (4.5% abv)
A Belgian styled Wit beer, spiced with coriander and orange peel and a touch of nativeAustralian Yellow Bohoney. The citrus aroma is backed up in the mouth with coriander and orange peel tartness and a clean, smooth and refreshing finish.

Nirvana Pale Ale (4.5% abv)
Nirvana Pale Ale is a hybrid of an American Pale Ale and classic English Pale Ale style. brilliant golden colour, with a fresh citrusy/spicey aroma and flavour, balanced with biscuity/toffee flavours from the malt, with the bitterness supplied by generous quantities of New Zealand grown Cascade and Hallertau hops.

Swinging Arm Dark Ale (4.5% abv)
Made in the traditional Brown Porter style from selected roasted a deep ruby colour and creamy off-white coloured head, with an aroma of caramel and bittersweet chocolate

Two craft breweries have developed around popular wine growing areas and are making quite an impact in their districts. Potters Hotel & Brewery is a relaxing getaway, home to the HunterValley’s first microbrewery; the heritage listed ‘Brick Beehive Kilns of Nulkaba’; and Australia’s first Destination Spa. Located on 11 acres at the gateway to Hunter Valley Wine Country, Potters Hotel & Brewery was established in 2002. Valley Destination Spa offers the largest range of spa treatments in Australia. The elite Destination Spa is equipped with the latest technology, professional treatment beds, wet rooms and Spa. Every treatment room has its own climate control to ensure maximum guest comfort during spa therapy. The Spa is also proud to be launching an exclusive luxurious skincare range made from caviar. The boutique accommodation features variety of hotel, villa and spa suite options. While maintaining a sense of privacy, guests can enjoy the best of the outdoor and indoor extensive leisure facilities including; swimming pools, kids playground, lollie shop, day/night tennis, spa, massage room, billiards and historic kiln tours. Marketing Manager Daniela Fosci. “The Hunter Beer Company is our unique point of difference. Our boutique microbrewery is the Hunter’s first ever microbrewery. Our beers were Bronze Award Winners at the 2005 Australian International Beer Awards and our beers are brewed on site daily,” Potters Hotel & Brewery features an authentic German Bier Hall, a fine restaurant the Old Brickworks Brasserie – recently named the Lower Hunter’s Best Restaurant for 2005; and a lively beer rendezvous, the Potteries Lounge Bar.

After six long years in the development and planning stages, the first microbrewery ever on the Mornington Peninsula is now open. The Red Hill Brewery is unique, not only do they have their own brewery onsite, but they have also established their own hop yard where they grow all their own hops organically to use in their beers. Now in their fourth season, the Red Hill Brewery hops are a dramatic spectacle, growing over four metres high, and on full display to visitors to the brewery. It is the only brewery in Australia growing and using all their own hops and is also the only property on the Mornington Peninsula growing hops for brewing. Hops can only be grown within specific latitude, Red Hill is located right in the middle of this, and combined with the rich soil and higher rainfall, and they grow beautifully. Five different varieties are grown organically on site providing all the hops for the beers brewed at the brewery.

The Red Hill Brewery is producing three main ale styles, handcrafted to suit the palates of people who love the wine and food of the Peninsula. The flagship beer, the Golden Ale, is based on a German style Kolsch Ale. It is very pale and crisp light bodied ale, fruity with a refreshing tanginess. Scotch Ale is famously known as the “Burgundy of Scotland”, ripe, fruity ale which is a deep red colour and has a caramel sweetness. The caramel flavours often impart a smoky taste to the beer The Wheat Beer is in the famous South German (Barvarian) style. It is a highly aromatic beer with a banana like fruitiness in the palate and soft clove spiciness in the aroma.

From the moment you arrive, The Red Duck Brewery and Purrumbete Homestead instantly conveys the grace and grandeur of one of Australia's most impressive and historic private mansions. The size of the homestead means that you can always find somewhere welcoming or secluded. The Great Hall, the large dinning room, the Music Room, the sun room and the many wide verandahs are all for our guests exclusive use The sheltered waters of the lake offer opportunities for bird watching, or fishing for plump Purrumbete trout and salmon. Awarded Victoria's Best B&B/Guesthouse 2003* by Gourmet Traveller magazine.

According to owner and brewer Scott Morgan “Our micro-brewery is just a quack and waddle from Lake Purrumbete located in part of the old stables and coach house, which were originally constructed about 1870.

What about the beer?All natural ingredients, nothing artificial, nothing to get in the way of real flavours and aromas. We start with fresh rainwater; add malt, hops and yeast. Then we fret like a mother duck, until the beer turns out just right.

Red Duck Pale Ale is the beer for you. Highly aromatic and fruity, this beer is packed with hoppy, malty flavour, with just the right amount of bitterness on the finish. A clean, crisp beer that can be enjoyed any time
The Amber Ale is a more serious, complex beer, with caramel, tar, sarsaparilla, orange rind and toasty notes tantalising the taste buds. A very distinctive dark beer.

The Porter is the last in the line-up and without a doubt the best. The last time I tasted anything this good was in London. Dark and intense, the earthy/charcoal, molasses, orange marmalade and cola characters show both power and balance. The combination of creaminess and bitterness is perfect, as is the lingering finish.

> [1] Source: Brewers Association (United States), as of 1 December 2005.
> [2] Murray’s Brewing Co. research, October 2005.
> [3] Source: Business Review Weekly, 8 July 2004.
> [4] Source: Business Review Weekly, 19 February 2004.
> [5] Source: www.theinfoshop.com

The Mid Kid Grows Up

2007-01-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

We continue our expose of Australian craft breweries from last issue (Dec.’06 Honing the Craft) by looking at the middle level sized breweries. The pub breweries and micro’s, as a rule, brew less than half a million litres per year, so we’ll concentrate on breweries making more than that, but less then 80 million litres per year.

To provide a mental picture of this group of breweries, think of the ‘middle child syndrome’ in a family hierarchy. Any mum or dad knows what I’m talking about. The youngest (micro and pub breweries) complain that ‘mid kid’ get all the attention and advantages while they struggle for the scraps, whilst the oldest (big breweries) whinge that they don’t carry their weight and always have to help them with the chores around the place. In other words, the middle level breweries are in a ‘no win’ situation. The small guys are quick to mention the help the mids get from their relationships with the big breweries, while the bigs are less than impressed with their sales figures and incessant requests for increased advertising, marketing, and distribution. Like I said, they’re damned if they do and damn if they don’t.

The business plan for craft breweries worldwide is to create core brands plus limited release/seasonal beers to spice up their portfolio. The first task is to get your products ranged in the market and build the core brand to allow for expansion. It is paramount that once a craft brewery has established public interest in their product, that they are able to meet the demand. Many a small brewery has been doomed by this simple business practice, and the principle is the most significant factor for an alliance with a big brewery. With this in mind, let’s look at the leading lights in this category

Starting with the up and comers, Managing Director of Gage Roads Brewing Co. Peter Nolan began his passion for craft brewing from humble beginnings at the Sail & Anchor pub brewery in Fremantle, West Australia. “I was hired as a casual bartender with the opportunity to assist in the brewery. Within six months I was the technical brewer, taking over as head brewer eighteen months later. While running the brewery with colleague Bill Hoedemaker, we increased the capacity, doubled the range and took what was viewed purely as a marketing tool and turned it into a profitable division of the company. When I left the Sail to set up Gage Roads in 2002, my partner and I were the most highly awarded craft brewing team in the country.” Gage Roads Brewing Co opened in December of 2003, and over the next eighteen months, I coordinated the search for a location and suitable brewing equipment, developed our corporate logo and product branding, and hired key personnel for operations, marketing and sales. Our first brand launched on draught in June 2005.

Their current brewing capacity is 2 million litres per annum, scalable to 5 million with a brew length in their 40 hectolitre brewery at 4,000 litres per batch. GRB recently increased the capacity of the brewery by installing two more quadruple fermenters (160 hectolitres each) and a dual purpose fermenter/bright beer tank (160 hectolitres) and upgraded three lagering tanks from doubles to quadruples (80 hectolitres to 160 hectolitres). All three bottled products, their Pure Malt Lager , midstrength PILS and the IPA are distributed nationally by Hardy Wine Company and are available in most good bottle shops with a fast growing presence in on-premise outlets

According to Nolan “This is going to be a big year for Gage Roads. Last year we focused on commissioning the brewery, launching our flagship range and establishing our distribution in WA. The foundations have now been laid to support national distribution and we’re excited by the reception the brand has had in the east coast markets. In 2007 the focus will be on raising awareness nationally of the Gage Roads philosophy of producing all natural, world class Australian beer. One of the exciting things for us is to be out there competing on a national scale with the mega-brewers and international brands as a dynamic independent Australian craft brewery. When Bill and I set up Gage Roads our goal was to launch a range of all natural craft brewed beers brewed to a world class standard and make them available in restaurants and bottle shops nationwide. It is great to be part of that dream becoming a reality. The growth of pub brewing around the country will fuel the trend towards better beer by educating the public and Gage Roads will be waiting for these new customers in the bottle shop.

The Bluetongue Brewery in Newcastle, NSW began their journey at the popular local pub brewery (Queens Wharf Brewery) and created a local following for their unusual Ginger Beer. Moving off premise, their continued development is quite impressive. Their brewing capacity has increased to 6 million litres per year and currently churning out about 110,000 liters a week consisting of tap and pack, a breakdown of approx 500 kegs a week and 10000 cartons. Bluetongue are about to take back the distribution off Tyrrell Wines and take it into there own hands as of April 1. They will start off with a sales force on the Eastern Seaboard with reps based in NSW, QLD and VIC. Bluetongue is currently available on tap in 160 venues within Sydney and the Hunter region.

On Christmas Eve 2005, Bluetongue took on advertising guru John Singleton and merchant banker Mark Carnegie as a 50% shareholder, and as a result, a few major highlights have occurred. They signed a deal with the Outback Steakhouse chains in America, where we have been earmarked for 454 nationwide. Bluetongue Draught, alongside with Toomey’s New, have been selected as the two Australian beers to be served on tap. Bluetongue Traditional Pilsener in packaged form has also been included in the new range for Outback Steakhouses. It has been confirmed that they would like all 800+ stores to stock both Bluetongue products by January 01, 2007. Bluetongue also engineered two major publicity events in 2006. The first Singleton extravaganza was sponsoring The Sea Shepherd in an Anti Whaling Campaign, where a $1 from every carton goes towards the Sea Shepherd and Bond Blonde was launched by Paris Hilton on New Years day. Exposure was achieved in every media form nationally, and a TV commercial for Bondi Blonde will be released later this year. They are also expanding their sponsorship portfolio to include a 5 year sponsorship deal with the Newcastle Knights, Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, and Beer supplier for Wyong Racetrack, Kristie Newton female golfer, and the Jack Newton Celebrity Golf Classic.

New product lines to compliment the core brands of pilsener and ginger beer include the afore mentioned Bondi Blonde, a low carb preservative free lager at 5.4% ABV, Hunter Draught, a 375ml brown bottle, mainstream draught beer, and Hunter Old, a 375 ml bottled black beer.

Two of the major ‘movers and shakers’ in the middleweight division are Matilda Bay and Malt Shovel breweries. Both enjoy a close association with major breweries, but employ very different approaches towards ranging their unusual products.

Matilda Bay was established in Fremantle WA in 1984, and over two decades has continued to push the boundaries of craft brewing to create new beers that challenge the Australian drinker while continuing to produce to the highest quality core range beers, Redback Original, Beez Neez, Rooftop Red Lager, and Bohemian Pilsener. Their ‘beer lab’, called “the garage’ is located in Melbourne where Malt, Hops and Water Guy’ Brad Rogers conjures up their range of ‘out there beers.

Last year, Matilda Bay released two outstanding examples of craft brewing; Barking Duck and Crema. Barking Duck is based on the saison style beers from Belgium; otherwise know as farmhouse ales, while Crema was a world first, a coffee flavoured beer, brewed using organic Australian beans. The early success of Barking Duck, including being judged third in the world at the 2006 World Beer Cup in the US has meant it will be re-released for a limited time on tap at selected venues across Australia from the 1st of February, and for the first time the beer will also be available in pack from bottle shops in 750ml bottles.

The recently released Redback Cristal is designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of drinkers, including those that are just starting their craft beer journey. “Cristal is an excellent introduction to craft beer and wheat beer in particular. The fresh, easy drinking style will appeal to people who perhaps haven’t tasted wheat beers before, and it’s a seriously refreshing style for summer” said Brad. Redback Cristal is also the first Australian craft beer to appear in a clear glass bottle, a look that is designed to “let the wheat shine through.”

This isn’t the only ground-breaking packaging idea that Matilda Bay has introduced – late 2006 saw their Bohemian Pilsner enter the market as a longneck 640ml ‘dinner serve’ bottle created for people to share between friends or take out to dinner at a restaurant

The Malt Shovel Brewery was founded by pioneer Brewmaster Chuck Hahn in September 1998 at Camperdown, Sydney, in tribute to James Squire, Australia’s first brewer. Its flagship James Squire Original Amber Ale was followed by Pilsener, Porter and India Pale Ale. Following the successful launch of James Squire Limited Release Golden Ale in summer 2004, Malt Shovel has permanently added the beer to its core range of craft brews. James Squire Golden Ale’s distinctive golden/orange colour is achieved by adding a touch of Carapils, a good proportion (30%) of wheat malt ensures a well measured tart finish that is rounded out with amarillo hops (22BU’s). James Squire brewers targeted 4.5% ABV to take the edge off it and create something a little more approachable, especially for the warmer months

In addition to the core James Squire range, limited release beers are brewed each year in summer and winter. Their method of experimentation is to facilitate styles created at their James Squire Brewhouses in Sydney and Melbourne. Last years Rum Rebellion Porter proved a big success. Utilising the rum barrel aging process, the innovative Malt Shovel brewers created a very distinctive flavour profile of ‘earthy vanilla undertone of oak with residual rum flavour.

This year craft beer enthusiasts can look forward to the re-release of their distinctive Hop Thief, a secret selection of hops providing a passionfruit tang. Hop Thief provides a backdrop malty smoothness to ‘cushion’ the impact of two American hop varieties never tasted in Australia before.

Tasmanian rivals J.Boag & Son and Cascade complete our list at the upper level. J. Boag & Sons Brewery has been around for over 125 years, yet only seriously available outside of Tasmania for the last 12 years since the launch of James Boag’s Premium Lager. The Brewer has developed a reputation for brewing premium quality lagers and currently produces around 50,000,000 litres of beer, giving it 2.5% of the Australian beer market. Boag’s experienced some strong growth in ‘06, spear-headed by its newer national brands, Boag’s Draught which grew at 25% and Boag’s St George which grew at 42%.The state break-up of Boag’s Sales is Tasmania –34%, Victoria – 22%, NSW – 20%, QLD – 12%, WA – 8%, and SA – 4%

The Brewer has big plans to more than double their current brewery capacity with the addition of a new brewhouse in the next couple of years. Director of Sales & Marketing, Lyndon Adams said, “We believe there is no better place on Earth than Tasmania to produce premium quality beers. The purity of the ingredients produced in this State, particularly the water certainly gives us an advantage over Europe, Asia, and America and even we think the rest of Australia.”

“Our aim over the next few years is to consolidate our reputation in Australia, grow our volume through our increased portfolio range and extend our brand reputation into new export markets, in particular North America. We have recently sent a container of recyclable kegs full of Boag’s Draught across to the US. This is a trial for us, using this relatively new technology, but if it proves successful, it will certainly open up markets for us that we’ve previously not been able to economically provide our keg product to. James Boag’s Premium is also finding some strong success in the U.S., now being widely distributed across most states.”

Plans for 2007 include a new advertising campaign for James Boag’s Premium which will be launched in May. The new ad is a continuation of the “Who is James Boag?” series. A new viral, radio and outdoor campaigns for Boag’s St George will be progressively released throughout the year, all still featuring the theme of gallantry

Unfortunately, due to the expansion of the brewery, the seasonal Honey porter will not be released in ’07,but there are some surprises on the horizon. The rumour is that Boag’s will be putting a competitor into the growing low carbohydrate category. Whilst low in carbohydrates, Boag’s will put their signature on the flavour of this new brand, which should be in the market in the first half of this year. Boag’s also have a new ale planned to be launched mid year. This beer may be a limited release outside of Tasmania. It is a traditional English ale, brewed with East Kent Goldings hops and will be a strong showcase for the skills of the Boag’s brewing team

More than just a brewery, Cascade Brewery Co has been integral to Tasmania’s community since founded in 1824 by Mr Peter Degraves, and endures today as a rich part of Australia’s history. His Cascade Brewery was renowned in the 1800s throughout the Australian colonies, and continues to thrive as Australia’s oldest brewery.

“The history of the Cascade Brewery Co is something we are immensely proud of and we’re happy to be honouring Peter Degraves for his vision over 180 years ago,” said Dominic Baker, General Manager, Cascade Brewery Co. Degraves fostered a legacy, built from his commitment to consistency, purity and quality, and Cascade continues his passion today. Cascade Premium Lager and Cascade Premium Light showcase the perfection of fine Tasmanian ingredients when handled by expert brewers.

Cascade Pale Ale, Australia’s oldest continually brewed beer, and Cascade Special Stout have also been iconic beers since first brewed in the 1850’s. These beers, unchanged, now form part of a permanent range dedicated to Peter Degraves. The collection groups together Pale Ale, Stout and newcomers Amber Ale and Blonde Lager which pay tribute to Cascade’s highly successful seasonal beer favourites that are now permanently available. Each beer has its own unique story, inspired by the characters that have been a part of Cascade’s colourful and rich past.

Our brewers still love to experiment with the freshest local ingredients available and the successful seasonal format will continue. Cascade will continue crafting small batch brews at different times of the year, known as Cascade Limited Releases. Cascade First Harvest, which has delighted beer lovers since first brewed in 2002, will naturally be a part of this range. The 2007 Cascade First Harvest will include the following hops: Explorer (for bitterness at the start of boil), Leggett (for flavour 60 min into boil) and Galaxy (for aroma 5min before end of boil). Explorer and Leggett are new research hops and we will be using virtually the entire crop, and along with Galaxy they were developed by the late Grey Leggett. We will include a commemoration to brewer Mr Leggett who sadly passed away last year. The style of brew will be the same as previous.

Honing the Craft

2006-12-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

My New Year prophecy is that ‘2007 will be a defining year in the craft brewing industry.’ The war camps are mustering their troops for a Federal Election and it’s vital for small brewing companies get tax relief. Never in the history of Australian craft brewing has there been a greater need for solidarity or a better time to rally support. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to investigate the craft beer industry in America earlier this year. Comparisons between America and Australia are inevitable but well worth mentioning if we are to see any substantial growth. The American craft industry is streaking ahead with annual growth at 11%, and According to Paul Gatza, Director of the Brewers Association in the US “. "The rate of growth in the craft beer segment appears to be accelerating, This is the third straight year we've seen an increase in the craft beer growth rate." Here in Australia growth is less than 3%.

The Victorian Association of Microbrewers (VAMI) compiled a report with the assistance of Business Management Company Street Ryan & Associates which highlights the major areas of concern for the small brewery industry. The report is an extensive look at all aspects of the microbrewing industry, warts and all, and was compiled to assist in lobbying members of parliament to support tax change. For mind, here are the two most significant issues.

Graduated Tax Structure/ WET Tax equivalency.
Microbreweries are small brewing businesses producing 10,000 to 3 million litres of beer per annum and present one of the few opportunities for business development and employment growth within the beer and malt industry. New microbreweries have been establishing at the rate of 30% per annum in recent years. Total employment in the brewing industry decreased at 0.3% per annum whilst employment in microbreweries has increased at more than 10% per annum.

The majority of microbreweries in Australia are diversified businesses, often offering hotel/pub/bar, restaurant/café, or tourist attraction operations in complement to beer manufacturing. Many microbreweries (54%) are located in rural and regional Australia. There were 84 known microbreweries producing an estimated 12.73 million litres of beer with an estimated total economic contribution to the Australian economy of $295.48 million. If there is no change in excise arrangement, we’ll see10.5% per annum growth in 2006 and 2007 and 7% per annum growth during 2008 to 2010, from existing microbreweries, but a re-structured excise environment will see 12% per annum growth in 2006 and 2007 and 20% per annum growth during 2008 to 2010, from existing microbreweries

Estimated and projected taxes collected and paid by microbrewery organisations suggest that the impact of a re-structured excise duty arrangement in 2006 (to introduce an excise minimum threshold of $1.72 million in sales per microbrewery enterprise or enterprise group) would be a total reduction in all taxes, duties and statutory charges of an estimated $6.39 million. However, by 2010 the re-structured excise arrangements would lead to an estimated increase in taxes, duties and statutory charges of $13.22 million (i.e. $72.00 million compared with $58.78 million in 2010).

Provide ‘the complete package’-sound investors, proper business plan, qualified personnel, technical training, quality assurance procedures for operators of small breweries, and a well organised distribution system.

The report goes on to say that many microbreweries are undercapitalised and face ongoing cash flow strain. Benchmarking results show that most microbreweries have average to poor long term credit risk ratios and poor efficiency ratios. There is a need for business skills, technical training, information, and quality assurance procedures for operators of small breweries. Few microbrewers have a background in the industry; their involvement often stems from a passion for brewing (perhaps generated from home brewing) or through a desire to diversify from an existing hospitality based business Some microbreweries are operating as hobby or lifestyle businesses (similar to many vignerons and wineries), with the production volumes below the extremely low level of 30,000 litres which is the excise duty threshold. Microbrewers believe that excise duty re-structuring, in line with wine companies, would have an immediate impact on these breweries, encouraging them to scale up to full time businesses; expanding production volumes, sales and employment

Visiting microbreweries are becoming “sought after” experiences of international visitors, particularly European backpackers. Guided bus tours from some operators now include microbrewery visitation as a key selling point. Many regional microbreweries are included in tourism brochures and emerging food and wine trails. Domestic consumers and tourists are keen to taste the product at its source, “meet the brewers”, and experience unique product in restaurants and bars. Sales of beer to the “food service industry” (restaurants, licensed cafes and wine bars) is another significant market segment. Often this market is accessed by appointed distributors who also supply to the third main domestic market segment; liquor stores and licensed supermarkets

So here are a few microbreweries that are leading the way and offer a benchmark for other small operators to emulate.

The Redoak Brewery deserves the title of best small brewery in Australia. Redoak has had outstanding success in the past three years. They achieved 18 awards at their inaugural Australian International Beer Awards 2004. This was then followed by the attainment of 35 awards at the 2005 Australian International Beer Awards - nearly doubling their results from the previous year. In 2006 won the Grand Champion Trophy at AIBA 2006 for the highest scoring beer judged against 974 other beers. Redoak was the most awarded brewery for the second year running at AIBA 2006 against strong local and international competition. They won the prestigious Grand Champion trophy at the Australian International Beer Awards 2006 and also won 2 Gold medals at the World Beer Cup 2006 in Seattle, U.S.A. against over 2000 international beers. At the local level, Redoak won trophies for their India Pale Ale and Christmas Cheer at the Australian Beer Festival in Sydney this September.

The Redoak Brewery currently brews a staggering 40 premium beers, of which 20 are available at any one time at the Redoak Boutique Beer Café on Clarence Street in Sydney. In addition to premium quality beers, brother and sister team Janet and David offer a menu of exquisite gourmet cuisine, developed together with Head Chef Richard Park as the perfect accompaniment to the Redoak beer range. The stylish boutique beer café offers a unique difference in many ways to any other drinking or eating establishment in Sydney or across Australia. Every aspect has been put together with the upmost detail. For example, the bar tops are made from 700 year old jarrah timber sourced from West Australia’s famous Redoak has also created a beer appreciation course to take customers through the brewery history, process and special qualities and characteristics that define a premium beer. Customers can then enjoy the fine cuisine complimented by a Redoak beer, while being taken through the individual flavour and aroma profiles of different beer styles. The Café also offers unique Tasting Boards – the first of their kind in Australia. The Tasting Boards each hold four canapé style dishes that are matched with four different Redoak premium beers.

Potters Hotel & Brewery is located in the NSW wine region of the Hunter Valley. The heritage listed ‘Brick Beehive Kilns of Nulkaba’; and Australia’s first Destination Spa offers the largest range of spa treatments in Australia. The elite Destination Spa is equipped with the latest technology, professional treatment beds, wet rooms and Spa. Every treatment room has its own climate control to ensure maximum guest comfort during spa therapy. The boutique accommodation features variety of hotel, villa and spa suite options. While maintaining a sense of privacy, guests can enjoy the best of the outdoor and indoor extensive leisure facilities including; swimming pools, kids playground, lollie shop, day/night tennis, spa, massage room, billiards and historic kiln tours. According to Marketing Manager Daniela Fosci. “Our boutique microbrewery is the Hunter’s first ever microbrewery. Our beers were Bronze Award Winners at the 2005 Australian International Beer Awards and our beers are brewed on site daily,” Potters Hotel & Brewery features an authentic German Bier Hall, a fine restaurant the Old Brickworks Brasserie named the Lower Hunter’s Best Restaurant for 2005; and a lively beer rendezvous, the Potteries Lounge Bar.

Moorilla Estate is dedicated to the enjoyment of life. Moorilla has evolved into a cultural haven that draws visitors from around the world to sample award-winning wine, food, accommodation and the Moorilla Museum of Antiquities (now closed to the public for re-development). The latest addition to Moorilla Estate is the state of the art ‘Moo Brew’ Micro Brewery. The estate is located 12 kilometres from Hobart, and the trip takes less than 15 minutes by car. or of you choose you can cruise to Moorilla Estate on the high speed catamaran ‘Excella’ departing daily from the Brooke St Pier situated within the Hobart Dock area.

Moorilla Estate is the birthplace of Tasmania's modern wine industry. Although earlier pioneers had attempted to grow grapes and make wine, it was Italian business immigrant (textiles) Claudio Alcorso who managed to blend the first successful combination of viticulture and marketing and put Moorilla on the map in the 1962. In Claudio's Words:” One kilometre long and almost as wide, its shape is not round, the isthmus is broad and the land rises up gently and then drops towards the river in steep banks covered by native casuarinas, the beautiful green-grey she-oaks… This was the land which became the focus of my life and my anchor to my new country.”

The Moorilla logo is quite unusual and is derived from a Chinese symbol. The unbroken lines and icons depict the constant change and influence of the four seasons. Moo Brew is brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516, which proclaimed that beer must contain only the essential ingredients: malt, hops, yeast and water.

To ensure the best flavours the brewing involves no preservatives or additives and Moo Brew is unpasteurised. Moo Brew currently produces four styles. A German Hefeweizen (Wheat Beer), an American style Pale Ale, a Czech Pilsner, and an American style Dark Ale. Moo Brew Pale Ale and Wheat Beer are both currently available in Victoria and New South Wales and all four styles are available at selected outlets within Tasmania.

The Mildura Brewery is unlike anything you've seen before, and its beer is equally as memorable, producing four permanent naturally brewed beers, along with unique specialty brews, from inside the former Astor Theatre in Mildura's restaurant precinct, the Mildura Brewery creates beers that are inspired by and named after local produce, landmarks and themes. The unique Mildura Brewery has held on to its former glory as the Astor Theatre with a grandiose refurbishment of the magnificent art deco building, but also includes a new 30hl DME three vessel brew house and bottling line, that is on full display to punters drinking or enjoying a meal in the Brewery Pub.

The Mildura Brewery Pub began life as the Astor Theatre, which was once the most popular theatre in town. Opening in late 1924, the Astor Theatre was one of many in the district, but after a complete remodelling in 1937, the theatre boasted a seating capacity of 914. The Astor enjoyed its heyday during the 1930s and 1940s, however the advent of the drive-in theatre in the 1950s spelled the end for the popular indoor theatre and it closed in the late 1960s. The disused theatre came with the Mildura Grand Hotel when the hotel was acquired by Don Carrazza and his family in 1989. For a long time the former theatre was used as a laundry, car park, and a workshop, with some of the front shops leased, but Mr Carrazza always felt it would be a shame to destroy the building. To honour the glory of the former Astor Theatre, the brewery has retained certain design elements, and today uses the projector room as conference venue, while the theatre's screen is situated among the brewing vats and remains in use.

Since the first beer rolled out of production in late 2004, the Mildura Brewery has taken beer-drinkers by storm. At the 2005 Australian International Beer Awards, Mildura Brewery beers won 18 medals and Sun Light was voted Best in Category.
Mildura Brewery's Head Brewer Stephen Nelsen has beer in his veins. He was introduced to beer by his father, Lyndon Nelsen, who worked for the South Australian Brewing Co. for 34 years. At the South Australian Brewing Co., and would often take his son to work on weekends. It began with sampling beers in the tanks and flourished into a love affair with beer. Stephen completed a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Technology 1992 and then travelled to Europe to do a personal study tour of breweries, working in craft breweries in England to produce real ales (cask conditioned hand pumped living beers).

Stephen returned to Adelaide to brew at the Port Dock Brewery Hotel, Stephen took the challenge of re-commissioning the brewery and developing their beers. He produced 5 beers including the strong Old Preacher, and award winning Milk Stout. The Fosters Group then hired Stephen to set up and run the Gunn Island Brew Bar in Middle Park, Melbourne where he produced three multi-awards winning beers called Shot Fox, Duck's Nuts and Cut Snake, and he gained knowledge of beer design and brewing practices from the product development people in Abbotsford. Stephen heard about the new Mildura Brewery and became involved through brewing consultant Brian Watson and today; he is just as passionate about his beer as he has ever been.
"I am motivated by the fact it's a three-vessel brew-house (in Mildura), giving the flexibility to produce any type of beer, from the diverse range I have experienced in Asia and Europe," Stephen said. "I'm extremely passionate about beer quality, technically and artistically."I also love the location on the river, as I am a keen water skier and fisherman. And I love the city because of its sunny climate, fresh produce, relaxed lifestyle and convenience.

The Mildura Brewery is the newest addition to the Mildura Grand Hotel Group. The Group includes: Mildura Grand Hotel, Stefano's award winning restaurant, the new Spanish Bar and Grill, Avoca Seafood Restaurant, 27 Deakin Stefano's Good Food Store, and Mario's sports Bar.

A Lighter Shade fo Dark

2006-10-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

Using an old line, statistics don’t lie. Light beer sales to June 30 this year (effectively the 2005-06 financial year) was down 10%, compared to a fall of 12.3% during 2004-05. The industry-wide MAT for mid-strength beer was up 4.5%, compared to a rise of 4.8% at the same time last year, while full strength beer was up 1.1%. Queensland and WA remain the best performing interstate markets for midstrength beers in general

So what can we learn from this data. According to Coopers Marketing Director and Chairman, Glenn Cooper,” The continuing fall in light beer sales has a lot to do with younger drinkers in particular being more responsible in their drinking habits. He suggests that they are more likely to appoint a designated driver for a group, allowing the others to drink full strength beer.” He goes on to say “Older generation drinkers tended to be light drinkers as they are more likely to want to drive home after a few drinks and drink light to keep below the prescribed limit. And as far as mid strength superiority in Queensland and Western Australia, I’ll take a punt on the factor of excessive heat and humidity as the driving force for their products. So who are the shining lights, pardon the pun, in the light and midstrength range, let’s have a look.

Light Beers

Hahn Premium Light has continued to grow its share of the light beer market over the last 12 months. Since launching in 1998, this has been a consistent achievement for the brand with Hahn Premium Light still the dominant leader in this market and is nearly 50% bigger than its nearest competitor. Hahn Premium Light continued to engage light beer drinkers through its award winning television campaign both on free-to-air and pay networks.

James Boag’s Premium Light, at 2.9% alc/vol, is the lower alcohol version of J. Boag & Son’s flagship brand, James Boag’s Premium Lager. Launched nationally in February 2002, James Boag’s Premium Light quickly gained a reputation as a top quality light beer. Its first award came the same year at the 2002 Australian Liquor Industry Awards, winning ‘Best New Beer’. Sales in 2006 are reversing the trend of the light beer category in Australia, remaining steady, even with aggressive pricing strategies from its nearest rivals. James Boag’s Premium Light is a full flavoured light beer with a smooth, pleasant bitterness. The aroma is clean and fresh with a malty, fruit character.

Cascade Premium Light helped change Australian’s perception of light beers, that premium tasting, low alcohol beer was achievable. Cascade’s brewer’s source high quality two-row barley, along with Tasmanian and Victorian hops for Cascade Premium Light. Produced using the ultra high gravity brewing method, this creates a full-bodied, flavour-rich beer with a low alcohol content. Cascade’s own yeast strain is also used for the beer. Pride of Ringwood and Hallertau Hersbrucker hops are added to the brew, combining to produce a bitter palate and a delicate, spicy aroma. Cascade Premium Light is smooth, yet full in flavour with a dense head and a clean, refreshing finish with an alcohol content of 2.8%.

Carlton Sterling has a large number of loyal consumers and it has a truly distinctive taste through its unique hops. Fosters Australia is looking for this product to play a role in the mainstream light category, providing consumers with the same great taste at a price point and brand positioning in between Foster’s Light ice and Cascade Premium Light

Microbreweries tend not to produce low alcohol beers; they're very difficult to get right. The reasons are because alcohol contributes a lot to mouthfeel, so light beers are sometimes described as lacking body, or being watery. To compensate for this, the Mildura Brewery’s Sun Light has been generous with hop additions, resulting in a bitter, spicy style of light. The hop variety is Saaz, sourced from Bohemia, north Czech Republic, home of the Pilsener. At five kilograms per batch, that's three times the quantity of our other brews. It shows in the aftertaste and aroma, slightly citric and a bit peppery. This means we can achieve a full flavoured beer taste, without resorting to watering down the finished product.

Midstrength Beers

Carlton MID is a key growth brand for Fosters Australia with the average consumer getting older and making consumptions choices based on specific occasions. As market leader in WA and clear number two brand in QLD the support behind the brand in relation to sponsorship, communication and promotional activity is testament to the importance of the segment. Aided by improved packaging, more impactful signage, point-of-sale and a successful advertising campaign (television and outdoor), Carlton Mid has gained critical mass and continues to grow strongly throughout the Queensland market. Carlton Mid is now the third largest beer brand in Queensland (behind XXXX Gold and VB) with a 10.6% share of the total beer market It has been particularly successful on tap, where it exhibited the highest growth in the entire Midstrength category (Queensland’s biggest beer category), up 3.2% (against category growth of just 1.3%). Nationally Carlton Mid share for the last quarter was 29.4% of the Midstrength market, up 1.1 points on last year. The brand has also benefited from its ‘hearts and minds’ association with sporting sponsorships such as the NRL competition, the Brisbane Lions, the Royal Flying Doctor Service

XXXX GOLD has had an excellent year once again, growing volume in every state. It’s the number one beer in Queensland and three times its nearest rival, and is now the second largest beer brand by volume in the country. In 2006, XXXX GOLD continued to approach beer drinkers through multi layered programs of activity. For the first time, XXXX GOLD’S award winning advertising campaign featuring ‘Jacko and the boys’ and their little mate ‘Marlin’ the dog ran in virtually every market in the country, in both metropolitan and regional areas. XXXX Gold Beach Cricket will be the biggest program of activity XXXX GOLD has ever developed. In October, seven million ‘beach cricket’ themed cartons of XXXX GOLD will start to make their way across the country offering cricket lovers a free XXXX Gold Beach Cricket ‘swing’ ball and the chance to build their own beach cricket kit. XXXX GOLD will also be releasing limited edition cans featuring the seven Australian players, limited edition stubbies featuring a player from the Australian Team and one of the opposing teams as well as a XXXX Gold Beach Cricket television commercial starring the three captains.

Coopers Mild Ale is fully brewed using a selection of barley and wheat malt with no added sugar. It then undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle or can, the same process used in the production of Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale. Coopers Chairman and Marketing Director, Mr Glenn Cooper, said “It’s a smooth, easy-drinking ale that’s similar in flavour profile to Coopers Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale, but slightly softer. “ It’s an ideal beer for people who enjoy the taste of a full flavoured beer, but wish to limit alcohol consumption. Many people are telling us they are drinking Mild Ale simply because of the taste, not because it is lower in alcohol. ”Coopers Mild Ale’s alcohol content of 3.5%

Little Creatures Rogers Ale continues to impress ale lovers who want a low alcohol alternative .Rogers Ale is a full flavoured amber ale with an intriguing mix of malts combined with the distinctive LC hop character. Hand crafted in small batches, Rogers has a clean crisp flavour with plenty of mouthfeel.

Grand Ridge’s Moonlight is the only light or mid strength beer to win and "Open Ale" category at the National Festival of Beers and it has done it twice. Moonlight has also picked up the Worlds Best low alcohol beer and Australia's best on the way through. This hard to find little Aussie battler beer has a big rich nutty brown ale flavour, and is often picked as a 5.5% - 6.5% beer in blind tastings.

Beers & Stripes

2006-09-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

As an ex-pat Yank of some three decades, I’m very aware to the hard sell of American beers here in Oz. It seems that since getting off the boat Aussies have asked me “How do you like the beer?” which was inevitably followed with “better than that Yankee garbage, it’s weak as p….mate.” So please indulge me for a moment as I pursue this issue of weakness. For mind, weakness could be based on three elements in beer; lack of colour, flavour, or alcohol. We praise the light golden appearance and soft sweet taste of German lagers yet dismiss the American versions. Fact is that most USA brewing traditions have a German origin, and the sweetness comes from the infusion of rice as a flavouring agent like Asian beers. And as for alcohol on closer inspection, American beers are equal if not exceeding the alcohol per volume levels of our leading premium beers. So let’s have a look at the American beers on offer here in Australia.

America’s flagship brewing company is Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser. Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the world’s largest brewer with sales in more than 80 countries, leading the world market with an 11% share and on the US beer market with 48.8 %. Their quality comes from a dedication taken in every step and unwavering commitment to quality since its founding in 1852. Anheuser-Busch brews Budweiser by using only the very finest hops, barley malt, rice yeast and water. Since 1876, Budweiser’s natural ingredients have made the brand a superior quality beer with no artificial ingredients or preservatives.

Budweiser is brewed using only the choicest hops and two-row and six-row barley malts. Anheuser-Busch uses more malt per barrel than any other major brewer in the United States. They use only the choicest domestic and imported hops, including premium Saaz hops from the Zatec region of South Bohemia, and operate a 178-acre (71.2-hectare) hops farm near the prestigious German Hops Research Institute in Huell, Germany, in the fertile Hallertau region. Their domestic Elk Mountain Hop Farm opened in 1987 in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, is the largest aroma hop farm in the world. The farm yields more than 2 million pounds of hops each fall. Elk Mountain Farm is some 10 miles from the Canadian boarder, located at the same latitude as Europe’s prime hop-growing regions. Rice is used in many Anheuser-Busch brands, producing a pale beer with a clean, crisp taste that tends to enhance the hop flavour in the beer. The brewer’s yeast used in all Anheuser-Busch beers has been perfected over decades, and all the company’s breweries are supplied from one, carefully maintained, pure-culture system. The brewer’s yeast that gives Budweiser its distinctive aroma and taste is the same that was used when Budweiser was introduced back in 1876.

Anheuser-Busch brews its beers with the same methods used by the company's founder, Adolph’s Busch, more than a century ago. “It may appear old-fashioned to brew beer basically the same way we have for more than a century, but it's all part of the time-honoured tradition that we take great pride in maintaining,” says Lee Babb, Sales Manager – Pacific Region, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Anheuser-Busch is the only major brewer in the world still using the traditional beechwood-aging process, the process adds an extra measure of natural clarification and maturation to Anheuser-Busch beers. Many old-world brewers used beechwood chips instead of other types of wood because beechwood is low in phenolic and resins that otherwise would impart woody flavour to the beer. These chips are boiled in water and baking soda-and not soda ash-before use. Having a latticework of beechwood chips on the bottom of our lager tanks allows the lager yeast to settle over the wood instead of creating layers at the bottom of the vessel. This in turn allows a greater amount of yeast contact with aging beer, ensuring complete fermentation, natural carbonation and flavour maturation. They also use a centuries-old European technique called kraeusening, during which a portion of freshly yeasted wort is added to start a secondary fermentation. Most brewers do not use this secondary fermentation, which matures the beer’s flavour and provides natural carbonation. Because a single fermentation does not provide sufficient carbonation, other brewers instead add carbon dioxide to the beer before packaging.

Premium Beverages announced the launch of Michelob ULTRA in Australia, effective in November. Michelob ULTRA is a premium imported full strength beer which has the lowest carbohydrates and the lowest calories currently in the Australian market. Mark Gouley, General Manager-Marketing, claims that ‘Australian adult’s live active lifestyles and a growing number are looking for a low-carbohydrate, low-calorie beer. With this in mind, it seemed ideal to launch the world’s leading low carb/low cal beer into the Australian market.”

Michelob ULTRA is brewed using the finest pale two-row and Munich malts, select grains, European hops and pure cultured yeast strain. By extending the mashing time, long chains of carbohydrates in the beer can be broken down into smaller simple sugars thus creating a low carbohydrate beer. The result is a great-tasting premium lager with fewer carbohydrates and calories. Michelob ULTRA has only 2.6 grams of carbohydrates and 95 calories per 355 ml bottle.

Goulmy states “Michelob ULTRA has achieved enormous success in the US and the UK. The prominence of the low carb category globally has provided a great foundation for Michelob ULTRA to establish itself and build the category further in the Australian market.’

Miller Genuine Draft is the pride of Milwaukee, traditionally considered the capital city of brewing in America (remember Laverne & Shirley?). Its origins began when Frederick Miller migrated from Germany to establish a small family operated brewery producing 300 barrels a year. SAB Miller is now the second largest brewer which operates in all 5 continents, 60 countries and a whopping 117 breweries .SAB Miller entered into a 50:50 agreement this year with Coca-Cola Amatil, now known as Pacific Beverages Pty. Ltd., to import SAB Miller products Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell into Australia. It is envisioned that combining SAB Miller‘s world class marketing and CCA’s strength in customer relations and their vast distribution network, they will have a solid platform to expand their products in the Australian premium beer category.

Miller Genuine Draft is more in the keeping to the common American lager style, with emphasis on light body and refreshment value. MGD has a Sparkling bright golden appearance with excellent head retention, medium intensity, sweet aroma with a toasted/toffee hint, and average carbonation with a mild bitterness, but lacking the body and hoppy bitterness of Australian beers. Available in 335 ml long neck bottle at 4.7% AV.

Samuel Adams
Boston patriot and brewer Samuel Adams was architect of the historic Boston Tea Party and signed the Declaration of Independence. He was passionate about independence, freedom, and beer. Jim Koch a sixth generation brewer in Boston found his great-great grandfather’s beer recipe in the attic and decided to set up the Boston Beer Company in 1984 using the “olde word process” of brewing which includes dry-hopping and extended lagering. Today, Samuel Adams Boston Lager is served in the White House and been awarded more than 70 international awards in the last two years.

Any non-lager struggles for consumer demand and I’ve heard many times that Sam Adams Boston Lager is to big, to filling and can’t get through more than a couple. But that criticism should be tempered with the fact that this is truly a five star beer with a powerful nutty, faintly roasted essence in both the nose and palate and then a grassy, dry, hoppy undertones, almost bread-like tenor in the finish.The slightly sweet aroma and taste, malty caramel notes and spicy,. Full bodied with a good dose of hop bitterness that kicks in at the finish. The qualities of ingredients shine through to the last drop. Sam Adams Boston Lager is an American craft beer classic. with 4.8% A/V.

Primed for Premium

2006-08-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

An easy trot into the spring racing carnival season will turn to a full scale gallop for the ‘Premium Beer Cup’ in the next few weeks. The track report is good with a growth rate for the premium beers in value terms from 13.9% of the total beer market (MAT to June 2005) to 15.22% (MAT to June 2006), a growth of approximately 10%. The international contenders are also displaying good form of around 18% by value on an MAT basis to June 2006 when compared with a year ago, and the young colts of the craft beer sector have remained steady. Let’s have a look at The National Liquor News racing guide to see who’s in form and possible contenders for the 2006 season.

If Fosters Australia’s Crown Lager were a race horse the stewards would be screaming for a swab test after five decades in the winners circle. One in every four domestic premium sales is a ‘crownie’ but there not sitting back on their haunches. The National Liquor news is honoured to be given exclusive rights to announce Fosters Australia’s newest family member Crown Pilsener. According to Melanie Powell Premium Brand Communications Manager; “Over the last two years we have invested in the Crown Lager brand to remain competitive and grow in the Premium beer market. After exhaustive research with Crown Lager drinkers, new Crown Lager varieties received a favourable response. Described as a smmoth, crisp European lager with spicy bitterness and herbal aroma derived from Wenceslaus hops grown exclusively for this beer in the Derwent Valley of Tasmania. We will release only 10,000 cases in late October nationwide for the first three months until the new harvest in March 2007.”
According to Marketing Manager for J. Boag & Son Anthea Pritchard, preparation for the summer season is well under way.” We have also just completed our new Boag's St George advertising campaign. The campaign extends the "Gallantry is back" message by this time asking the question "What is Gallantry?" and offering some alternative answers. Some gallant acts may be small, whilst others are large and courageous and this updated campaign concentrates on the courageous gestures. A radio campaign will be launched on Nova nationally in October and fully wrapped trams and buses and interior panels will appear in the market by September. Boag's St George has captured 1.5% share of the premium beer market in its first year and is still showing strong signs of growth.
“We are also working on a new James Boag's Premium advertising campaign inspired by another of Helmut Newton's photographs and continues to be in the top three of premium and imported beers. Finally, we released 13,000 cases of Boag Honey Porter into the market in late August.” Back by popular demand, this limited edition seasonal beer features locally made leatherwood honey and has a big following amongst dark ale lovers.

Down in Hobart, three hop varieties have been used for the first time in Cascade Brewery’s First Harvest Ale 2006. A unique Cascade beer has been crafted each hop harvest since 2002, with each year’s beer showcasing different aromas and flavours due to the use of fresh, green hops. Hop varieties Ember, Nova and Galaxy are the product of years of development, and Cascade master brewer Max Burslem has been closely involved in their cultivation. “Each year Cascade First Harvest has an opportunity for the team at Cascade to experiment. In 2006, we have taken delivery of these new varieties and are pleased with the results of their first brew,” said Max.

The young colts out in Fremantle, West Australia are showing great form for the summer season. Little Creatures is the Champion Australasian Brewery for 2006 and their passion for hop driven beers continues, with their latest yearling, LC Bright. As the name suggests, Bright is a filtered beer with a striking golden clarity in the glass. Little Creatures uses 4 luscious malts including Pale, Carapils, Wheat and Vienna. The beer is full flavoured whilst soft and easy on the palate, bitterness is slightly lower than the highly charged pale ale and is accentuated enough to balance the smooth, malty character. The hope characteristics in Bright are derived from the use of highly aromatic New Zealand B Saaz Flowers as well as varieties from the North West of USA.

Matilda Bay has been the ‘Phar Lap’ of the wheat beer category in Australia since the launch of Redback Original in the late 80's. There are two big changes in the pipeline. The first is cosmetic, with the packaging changing on Redback Mild and Redback Original in late October, designed to better reflect the product’s light crisp and refreshing taste. There will also be a new beer on the market, Redback Cristal. Redback Cristal is slightly different from Redback Original in that although the recipe is the same 50/50 malted wheat and barley, it is brewed with lager yeast instead of the German ale yeast used in Redback Original. It is just as light and refreshing as Redback Original but will not have the spicy yeast characteristics so distinctive of Original. The aroma is fruity with a distinct citrus note and the palate is light and fresh with some refreshing tartness derived from the wheat malt.

Matilda Bay is also releasing a series of way "out-there" beers. Following the great response to Barking Duck, Matilda Bay will release its second "out-there" beer in the form of Crema, a beer with coffee. Matilda Bay Crema Coffee Beer is hand crafted with malted wheat and barley as well as Australian Arabica coffee beans to produce a soft, smooth, creamy beer. This special blend of grains and coffee beans gives Crema a real aromatic toasted, nutty, coffee character. Matilda Bay’s “Malt, Hops and Water Guy”, Brad Rogers has been roasting his own coffee and working on all kind of blends “just for fun. Coffee originally grew wild in the mountainous forests of the Kaffa region of Ethiopia and Archaeologists claim that people have been eating coffee cherries for the last 4,000 years or so. Alcoholic coffee and coffee beers have been made before but they’re usually very dark or black in colour. Our Crema is much paler - more like a latte rather than an espresso. Crema has a pale light straw colour, striking due to being unfiltered.

Things have been happening on the east coast as well in the Premium beer scene. The Malt Shovel Brewery is a unique craft experience by introducing the limited edition, ‘James Squire Rum Rebellion Porter’. By utilising the rum barrel aging process, the innovative team of Malt Shovel brewers have created a distinct flavour profile for their 2nd James Squire limited edition this year. The ‘James Squire Rum Rebellion Porter’ holds an earthy vanilla undertone of oak and is rich in flavour and dark in appearance, while the residual rum flavour from the barrels creates a smooth, satisfying finish. According to Master Brewer, Dr. Chuck Hahn, the ‘James Squire Rum Rebellion Porter’ gives Australians the opportunity to taste a beer which has adopted a historical brewing process and originated from a legendary story. Porter developed as a beer style in London in the late 1700's. Empty rum barrels were abundant and were often used for additional beer storage. “In 1808 Australia was overrun by a group of renegade soldiers in protest of the government rum taxation,” said Dr. Hahn. “Nearly two hundred years later a band of rebel brewers have created a small batch of the Rum Rebellion Porter to celebrate mischief and victory over tyranny.

Following the hugely successful launch of James Squire Limited Release Golden Ale in summer 2004, Malt Shovel Brewery has permanently added the beer to its unique range of craft brews; the ultimate thirst-quencher for the warmer months, James Squire Golden Ale is an English-style summer beer that has been created for enjoyment, taste and refreshment. James Squire Golden Ale uses fresh roasted grains of barley and wheat to give it a rich orange-amber colour, and new season Amarillo hops to provide a tropical stone fruit aroma and a restrained bitter finish.

Up in Newcastle, Bluetongue brewery has been hard at work creating a world class facility. Their new brewhouse will double their capacity but the big news is a recently signed a deal with the Outback Steakhouse chains in America, where Bluetongue have been earmarked for 454 stores across America by October 1. According to Ty Burford, Business Development Manager “We have sent our first container of Bluetongue Draught to America in our newly developed 30 litre ecokeg, a plastic non returnable keg recently developed for export markets. Bluetongue Draught, alongside with Tooheys New, have been selected as the two Australian beers to be served on tap. Bluetongue Traditional Pilsener in packaged form has also been included in the new range for Outback Steakhouses. It has been confirmed that they would like all 800+ stores to stock both Bluetongue products by January 01, 2007.We are also negotiating distribution with a number of major key accounts including a leading airline company. Bluetongues now have over 160 venues with our beer on tap within Sydney and the Hunter region.

The Pride of South Australia

2006-08-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

The history of the Cooper’s Brewery is as rich and colourful as Adelaide itself. The key to their success can be attributed to the 3 P’s – perseverance, purity, and popularity. The brewing dynasty of Yorkshireman Thomas Cooper dates back to 1862, but Thomas never meant to start a brewing business. A tradesman with gained expertise as a stonemason, shoemaker, and dairyman, Thomas was asked by his wife Ann, the daughter of an Innkeeper, to brew up a batch of stout from an old family recipe to help cure an unknown illness. Word quickly got around and Thomas soon found himself brewing the same Sparkling Ale and Extra Stout we still enjoy today for neighbours and friends. As the brewery flourished, Thomas delivered his beer by horse and cart direct to homes of his customers, a Cooper tradition which survived until the 1920’s.

There were many small breweries operating in the 1840’3 on and by 1868 there were 43 breweries in South Australia. All encountered problems including bacterial infections from the higher Aussie temperature than England and inferior malt. The use of sugar in brewing as an adjunct was a way to overcome the malt problem. In a letter to his bother, Thomas Cooper states “There are half a dozen breweries in and about Adelaide but they use a good deal of sugar for brewing, but we use only malt and hops consequently, ours being pure, the Doctors recommend it to all their patients.”

Through the 1880’s South Australia experienced a decline in the economy following the onset of drought and falls in major exports of wheat and copper. The decline was felt in the brewing industry as well with Cooper’s production down to 62 brews a year and remained at that level for the next ten years. In 1881, Thomas Cooper had moved from Norwood to set up a new brewery at suburban Leabrook, then very much an outer suburb of Adelaide. Coopers operated on the Leabrook site for the next 120 years until 2001 when it moved to a new $40 million brewery it built at Regency Park to overcome problems associated with a lack of room at Leabrook, now one of Adelaide’s more prestigious suburbs.

By 1900 there were only 25 breweries left in the colony when Thomas retired leaving all his property to his four sons with instructions to ‘Carry on my business as brewers under the form “Thos Cooper & Sons” as partners and trustees

During the first two decades of the 20th century, the demand for Coopers showed an increase of 300% despite another major drought (1914) and the onset of World War 1. Shortages of brewing materials, manpower and an aged 29 year old brewery hampered Coopers production during the war years., yet in 1923/24 Coopers had 56% of the stout market due to the fact that it contained higher levels of alcohol and considered ‘value for money’

Coopers survived the great depression, continued shortages of materials, and lack of manpower during the war years, so by the mid 1940’s the brewing equipment required desperate upgrades. By 1945 one section of the brewery was in urgent need, wooden fermenting vats needed replacement to avoid infection problems experienced by other local breweries. The continued escalation of costs made it difficult to generate good profits requiring reduced dividends to shareholders including no dividend in 1951.Coopers relied heavily on the stout market and their leading competitor, SA Brewing, reintroduced their product which started a stout war. In Cooper’s centenary year of 1962 the two rival companies met and consulted with shareholders to mutually exchange shares giving SA Brewing 25% interest in Cooper’s. Along with the family share structure, this deal virtually eliminated a buy out of the company. This trust and loyalty is an integral part of Coopers and was seen recently again when in late 2005, Coopers was the subject of a hostile takeover bid by rival NZ-Japanese owned brewer Lion Nathan. That takeover bid was resoundingly defeated just before Christmas when the 118 Coopers shareholders, mostly descendants of Thomas Cooper, voted 93.42% to 6.58% in favour of a motion that effectively ended the bid.

Today, Coopers Brewery is the third largest brewer in Australia and the only one that remains entirely family-owned. The company is now being run by the fifth generation of the same family. As they like to say at Coopers, you can still meet a Cooper, but there is no Mr Lion, Mr Nathan or even a Mr Carlton. Coopers currently has about 3% of the national beer market but is growing rapidly, particularly in the Eastern States where growth in recent years has been in the order of 30% plus each year. In its home state of South Australia, Coopers has about a 25% share of the market. It exports bottled beers to a number of countries, including the UK, USA and countries throughout Europe and Asia. It also recently sent its first shipment of beer to Brazil. Coopers is also the largest producer of home brew concentrates in the world and exports them to most corners of the globe. In Australia, concentrates are sold through supermarkets and specialty home brew stores.

The Other World Cup

2006-07-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

When he discovered that two of Australia’s premier craft brewers Brad Rogers of Matilda Bay Brewing and Chuck Hahn of Malt Shovel Brewery had been invited as guest judges to the Beer World Cup 20063 in Seattle, Washington USA, CHARLES COLL knew it was an experience he couldn’t miss.

Seattle is best known for three things, the birthplace of Starbucks coffee, Bill Gates Microsoft, and craft breweries. I also found many similarities with my hometown Melbourne - ever changing weather conditions, a vibrant city market, a passion for sports, and of course a love of beer. So it seemed a good fit that both cities are hosting major beer judging events. The Beer World Cup, often referred to as the Beer Olympics is the most diverse competition among brewers worldwide with 2275 beers from 539 breweries in 55 countries being judged by 111 brew masters from 85 categories.

The beer judging is only part of the festivities which also included a craft brewer’s conference with various seminar topics and a Brew Expo with 123 exhibitors of beer related industrial products that ranged from bottle fillers to fresh hops from around the world. These events were not open to the public, but provided vital interchange between fellow brewers and their suppliers. This camaraderie has certainly helped improve the craft beer market in the USA which is presently showing a nine per cent growth. The most startling statistic offered is that due to the popularity of microbreweries, one can be found within a ten mile radius of any home in the country.

So what did our brew masters have to say about their experiences? We asked them to give us an overview of the categories they judged, what styles of beer impressed them the most, and what would they bring back to Australia from the experience.
Chuck Hahn had the following to say: ÒI judged the honey lager beers, some aged in wood barrels that dominated the flavour, but most of the 47 samples we tried were too sweet for my liking. I was impressed with some of the seasonal beers like a rum barrel aged porter and a Dortmund/special bitter. There was also a very nice English styled brown ale at 4.5 per cent ABV that caught my attention. All the pilsners were very competitive, it was tough to pick from all the great European pils in the category. Without a doubt the most unusual category I judged was the fruit and vegetable section. There was watermelon, pumpkin, blackberry and cherry just to a mention a few. I really found the fruit complimented the hops and malt. I don’t think Australia is ready for these just yet, but I’ll be the first to introduce one down in Oz. I asked Chuck what were the differences between the Beer World Cup and the Australian International Beer Awards.

More categories and more beers to be judged for a start, plus they only award one gold, silver, and bronze from each category. The highlights for me has been the ability to catch up with fellow American brewers and find out what they are up to, different hops that are available, different brewing systems. I’ll take home some different concepts of brewing, a new beer cookbook and valuable information collected regarding beer education, beer and food matching plus some great literature.

I caught up with hops, malt, yeast and water guy, Brad Rogers right after the awards to get his impressions on judging and participating in the Beer World Cup. I was judging cellar and unfiltered beer, American-style wheat beer, German-style strong bock, specialty beers, but the categories that impressed me the most were the coffee flavoured beer, smoke-flavoured beer, and the Munich-style Hellas beers. It was a pleasure and an honour to be on the judging panel, but the highlight for me was the social interaction with such amazing people from all over the world. You just try to absorb as much as you can.

At the last World Cup I came back with the Rooftop Red Lager idea, and after the Great American Beer Festival in October, I wanted to make a Saison and here I am getting a bronze for one of our out there beers Barking Duck. For Matilda Bay, it’s a chance to push the envelope, to get things going on and out there for the Australian beer drinking community. We try to fill in the gaps and melt what we think the Aussie beer drinkers will want. I’m proud to be part of this international brewing community. Last night I was out with the Belgian guys from Orval. Duvel, Westmalle, and St Bernard drinking their beers and talking to them on a social level. There is so much diversity in the beer over here and we need to understand these styles. I’m confident we can because now we can get help from the greater beer community; then mould that style with things we enjoy, putting an Aussie slant on things.

During the course of the week I caught up with two terrific young brewers who had recently started up a micro-brewery in Biloxi, Mississippi called the Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company. Biloxi, Mississippi was in the eye of Hurricane (cyclone) Katrina which had devastated the town including their own homes and all their possessions. But under the heading of believe it or not the only building to be left standing was the tiny brewery which only lost its back door. With a brave face, the boys were determined to enter their beers and attend the conference. While in town they went down to the local op shop and each brought an $18 suit, but they insisted the suits at that price come with a shirt and tie.

Early on 5 in the awards ceremony, the boys were elated at wining a bronze medal in Category 6: Rye Beer with their Amberjaque Rye Ale. After going up on stage to receive their award they couldn’t wait to phone their sister with the news knowing that the whole town was at the brewery to show their support and loyalty. While talking to his sister the boys received a second bronze medal in Category 10: Specialty Beer Section with their Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale. The entire ballroom went quiet as the loudest YEEHAW I’ve ever heard was followed by a Holy shit sis, we won again! Who says their aren’t beer gods in heaven.

So how did the Aussies go in the award I hear you ask? Here are our results from 85 categories;

Category 4: American-Style Wheat Beer - Gold Medal Cascade Blonde Lager -Cascade Brewing Co.

Category 11: Specialty Honey Lager/Ale - Gold Medal Redoak Honey Ale - Redoak, Sydney

Category 16: Smoke-Flavoured Beer - Gold Medal Redoak Rauch - Redoak, Sydney

Category 17: European-Style Low Alcohol Lager - Silver Medal Hahn Premium Lager -Hahn Brewing Co-Bronze Medal Cascade Premium Light-Cascade Brewing Co.

Category 31: American-Style Low Carbohydrate Light Lager - Silver Medal Pure Blonde - Fosters Australia.

Category 39: Baltic Porter - Bronze Medal Redoak Baltic Porter - Redoak, Sydney

Category 41: French/Belgian-Sytle Saison - Bronze Medal Barking Duck - Matilda Bay Brewing Co.

Category 49: English-Style Summer Ale - Bronze Medal James Squire Golden Ale - Malt Shovel Brewing Co

International Beers

2006-06-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

There just seems to be no stopping the growth of premium international beers in Australia. This year’s statistics show around 18% by value on an MAT basis to June 2006 when compared with a year ago. Granted, discounting by major bottle shop chains has been effective but that doesn’t account for lower income housing developments also showing significant growth, and specialised beer shops also doing a whopping big business with no signs of slowing down. Add to that, any respectable up-market club or neighbourhood bar needs a staple internationally recognised premium to meet their client’s needs, simple as that. The new beer elite are now driven by flavour and aroma to an ever discerning Aussie palate, with the more delicate palates chasing less bitterness and a clean well-rounded taste.

Without doubt Lion Nathan’s flagship brands of Beck’s and Heineken have savoured success with around 20% value growth outstripping the international premium segment to June 2006 when compared with a year ago. Heineken, in a recent in-market activity introduced the Heineken Keg – a 5L portable draught system that stays fresh for up to 30 days after opening and enables people to enjoy a fresh draught beer when entertaining at home. Drink It Live activity in bars and clubs across the country educated bar staff in adding to the premium experience for punters through the correct pour technique for the Heineken brew.

In 2006 Beck’s continued its association with the Sydney and Perth Festivals (with Beck’s Bars at each event) and Adelaide’s Fringe Festival (for the launch of the Garden of Unearthly Delights, the Beck’s CITY BOTTLE was flown out from Belgium. It was a funky buffed silver aluminium bottle with the San Francisco nightscape in black – very in keeping with the brand’s advertising campaign which positions the brand as ‘worldly’ and for urban sophisticates).

The newest member of the Lion Nathan family, Dutch beer Amstel was launched in May of this year, specifically brewed to give Australians more of what they want and less of what they don’t want from a beer. Australia is only the second country in the world to introduce this beer following a launch in Russia earlier this year. Amstel has been successfully brewing worldwide since 1870, and is the third largest beer brand in Europe at 1.12 billion litres a year. Using an extra filtration process, Amstel is Pure Filtered to give a finer, purer full strength lager (4.7% alc/vol) with a refreshingly clean, crisp taste. Amstel’s Marketing Manager, Mai Ling Turner, is confident this new Amstel brew will appeal to Australian premium beer drinkers. “Over the last two years, there has been a huge increase in the consumption of mild-bitterness beers in Australia, with volume almost doubling from 37.5 million litres to 68.4 million litres since 2004 . From this, it’s clear that today’s beer drinkers want, something that tastes and feels less heavy, less bitter, and less bloating yet doesn’t compromise on taste and refreshment” said Ms Turner.

InBev continues to numero uno in worldwide beer sales and their relationship with Fosters Australia remains prosperous for both. Their ever popular Stella Artois has again shown double digit growth in 2006 behind investment in marketing and off premise promotion. According to Jamie Cook, General Manager Premium & Specialty Beer "Foster's Australia has been brewing Stella Artois draught at our Abbottsford brewery in Victoria for over 10 years, and we recently moved to local production of Stella Artois in pack. We moved to local production for two main reasons: First, brewing locally means we can deliver to consumers the best tasting, freshest Stella Artois available. Second, local production enables us to keep up with continued growth in consumer demand. The same brewing recipe is used locally as the imported product, and any noticeable difference in taste between previously imported and locally produced beer is because you are now being delivered fresher beer.”

Pacific Regional Director for InBev Sean Prendergast has more to say on the subject. “We have 4 global brands, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde and Leffe Brun. We contribute much of the success in Stella Artois to the great partnership we have with Fosters Australia. Hoegaarden, the most successful specialty International beer in Australia, and our Leffe’s have also drawn success from the creative below the line support from places like the Belgian Beer Café’s. It has created a unique position and relevance in the beer market and we are very pleased with their progress.” 359

A new beer on the market from the InBev-Foster’s team is Star Opraman and Brahma. Star Opraman, a Czech pilsner style was introduced in last month’s Bar & Clubs and would be described as a softer lager style than the famous Pilsner Urquell. The Czech Republic drinks 150 litres per capita compared to us Aussies who down a respectable 85 litres per person so they should know a thing or two about brewing great beer. According to Mr Prendergast “ Star Opramen is not overpowering, a mild bitter but still containing a high 20’s BU (bittering units) which should please a wide range of educated lager drinkers.”

Another Czech beer worth mentioning is Zatec (pronounced ‘Jkatets’). Brewed since 1004 in the Saaz hop region of northwest Czech Republic, Zatec contains no additives or artificial carbonation, with a lovely aroma and well balanced Moravian malt flavour and regional hop bitterness. Still brewed and bottled at the original brewery, the lagered maturation is given over 45 days to achieve perfection. Zatec was awarded ‘Best Beer’ by visitors at the Sydney International Beer Festival (June 2006) held at Bungalow 8. The Melbourne market has embraced Zatec, and in just six months Zatec is now available in over 60 bars and clubs in NSW and Victoria.

Carlsberg has been brewing in Copenhagen since 1847 and remains a popular favorite around the world. Its light hoppiness compliments a dry malty mouthfeel, with a sweet malty finish. Carlgerg’s slogan on the side of a building in Copenhagen’s city hall says it all “Probably the best beer in town”. If Carlsberg Lager is noted for its light refreshing nature, then their Elephant Malt Liquor would be infamous for its unexpected stampede on your brain. Carlsberg Elephant is named for the life-size carved granite elephant that flank the breweries arched entryway. Golden-hued it starts off with a crisp floral character followed by a malty, yeasty aroma. Strong wheat like presence takes over and remains in the background Carlsberg Elephant is technically described as a German styled bock, or strong beer based on the high alcohol level, golden colour, with a sweet malt barley flavour. The smoothness of this delicious drop implies extended lagering for maturation.

Brewing transplanted from the Austrian Alps wasn’t introduced until the nineteenth century. It took the youth and fashionable Italians of the 1960’s to re-launch beer into modern times. Wine was their parents and the peasant to drink; they wanted English-styled pubs and Bavarian Beer halls. Market leader Peroni’s main brand Nastro Azzuro is the ‘Blue Ribbon Italian Pilsner’ which includes 20% corn maize to sweeten the brew and then hopped with Saaz to spice it up. At 5.3% A/V Nastro Azzurro is quite a refreshing well balanced lager for its sweetness.

Before we close, a word on Kronenborg 1664, France’s No. 1 selling beer, No. 2 in the UK, and on fire here in Oz. Dating back more than 300 years, Kronenbourg 1664 is a unique blend of aromatic hops from Alsace with a beautiful bouquet and rich well bodied flavour that is hard to resist. Kronenbourg 1664 hit the TV screens with two acclaimed ads based on 1664 being a good year for beer but not much else. The ‘Composer’ and ‘Sculptor’ demonstrate that both professionals featured were driven to distraction through their desire for a pint of Kronenbourg 1664 and subsequently didn’t complete their work. Hopefully that won’t happen to our acclaimed artists.

Tiger beer has also experienced phenomenal value growth (66% off a relatively small base) to June 2006 when compared to a year ago. Sponsored Chinese New Year activity in 2006.

Brahma was first brewed in Brazil in 1888 and remains one of the most popular beers in Brazil to this day. It’s characterised by a slightly fruity character (including tropical fruit such as papaya), distinctive hop aroma with a low bitterness, good body and no aftertaste. The curved bottle design was inspired by the laid back Ginga attitude of the Brazilians and an exotic tropical landscape. The Brahman team are confident that the youthful Australians will embrace the excitement and colour of the Brazilian culture in their beer.

Small World

2005-12-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

In these enlightened times, to discuss beers from overseas shouldn’t be some sort of holiday reverie when stockists are being shirt fronted by customers about the changing taste of their favourite lager from Europe. In fact, I was recently corrected by a brewery head when referring to them as imported beers when the ‘correct tagging’ is international beers. Apart from the bloke who wants to re-live a vacation experience, customers in the bottle shops are a savvy bunch who knows what they like and how they like it. So when the major breweries of Europe start brewing their products here in Australasia, the question of taste is expectantly put under the microscope.

We thought the best way to tackle the issue was asking the brewers themselves about why the likes of Heineken, Becks, Kirin Ichiban, Stella Artois, Tuborg, Carlsberg and Kingfisher are either brewed here or in New Zealand.

All the brewery reps we interviewed showed a straight bat in declaring the freshness of the product angle as the prime reason for brewing in Australia, and followed up with the inevitable ‘globalisation process’ typecast comment. But from the numerous emails I’ve received from loyal punters, the simple fact is that their favourite beer tastes different and they want to know why.

Brewmaster for Lion Nathan Australia Bill Taylor was somewhat bemused stating “I thought we addressed these issues in May of last year when we announced joint ventures with both Heineken and Becks with Lion Australia to bring the companies together in sales and distribution deals, involving the option to brew company brands in existing Lion Nathan Australia breweries by 1 July 2004.

The Heineken brewed in Australia is identical to the Heineken brewed in 90 countries across the world, and is unchanged to what has been brewed since Gerard Heineken perfected it in 1873.

The consistency of brew is possible because Heineken uses a proprietary brewing process, using special Heineken brewing equipment imported and installed here in Australia, a unique recipe which requires that all ingredients are imported, and are the same as those used in Holland, and of course the patented (and secret) Heineken A-type yeast.

The yeast used in Australia has been grown from exactly the same culture that has been used since 1873. Interestingly, the yeast was discovered by a pupil of the famous Louis Paster. It is the yeast that gives Heineken its flavour, but the yeast itself does not end up in the final product. The only ingredients in Heineken are a blend of four summer variety European grown hops, malted barley and purified water.

To ensure the process is strictly adhered to, a Dutch Mater Brewer works beside the Australian team who themselves have been fully trained in the exacting art of producing perfect Heineken. And to make absolutely certain, every local brew is sent to Holland for testing by Dutch Master Brewers before being released to the market. To date, every brew has exceeded the Dutch Master Brewer’s expectation of the taste of Heineken.

Locally produced Beck’s is brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516 and using the same Beck’s approved malt, hops from the world famous Bavarian Hallertau region and, most importantly, the original, over 100-year-old cultivated Beck's yeast strain. Local water carbon filtered to the same purity standards that Beck’s use in Germany is also used and Lion Nathan have installed equipment to enable their brewers to faithfully reproduce the Beck’s process requirements.

Every brew of Beck’s made in Australia is dually verified and approved for sale by the Master Brewers in Germany and the Master Brewers here in Australia (who have worked beside their German counterparts to ensure consistency of product).To date, Lion Nathan’s systematic taste profiling systems have ensured all Beck’s brewed locally is absolutely consistent with the ideal Beck’s formulation and taste profile.

So why the beer would taste different? According to Bill Taylor, “Maybe the drinkers aren’t used to drinking fresh European beer. A beer that is a bit older can sometimes have a deeper flavour, less crisp, slightly oxidized taste profile the customer may have become accustomed to. In the end it’s an emotional response based on customer’s desire for authenticity. Beer drinkers have the right to choice and are entitled to buy what they want, but price doesn’t reflect how much it costs to produce.”

The Malt Shovel Brewery has been making Kirin Ichiban for a few years now after their James Squires Amber Ale began to be brewed at the Tooheys Plant in XXXXX, and a ‘gap appeared in the production/bottling run schedule allowing the Japanese dry lager to take up the slack. As Chuck Hahn explains it hasn’t been totally smooth sailing and adjustments have to be made, not a pleasant thought with the summer season upon us. “It takes up all my tanks for a month. The secondary fermentation needs to be held at 8 degrees for 10 days and cuts back our capacity leading to brew house inefficiency. Plus, it costs me a $1000 a month to send back samples!”

We asked Jamie Cook, General Manager Premium & Specialty Beer of Foster Australia about brewing InBev favourite Stella Artois here in the Abbotsford, Victoria brewhouse. "Foster's Australia has been brewing Stella Artois draught for over 10 years, and we recently moved to local production of Stella Artois in pack.” Foster’s Australia moved to local production for two main reasons: First, brewing locally means we can deliver to consumers the best tasting, freshest Stella Artois available. Second, local production enables us to keep up with continued growth in consumer demand." Producing Stella Artois locally delivers to consumers the best tasting, freshest Stella Artois available. Foster's Australia has been producing Stella Artois draught for over 10 years. The same brew that is used in draught beer is used in Stella Artois in pack, so there is guaranteed taste consistency. The same brewing recipe is used locally as the imported product. Any noticeable difference in taste between previously imported and locally produced beer is because you are now being delivered fresher beer. Local production means we can keep up with consumer demand.

To finish up, I think the days are numbered for big breweries around the world to import their beer, and the ones that do will remain expensive and hard to find. A major plus for beer vs. wine debates is the fact you can relocate a brewery with relative ease. Water can be chemically altered to replicate the taste of any city in the world, while malts, hops and yeast can either be shipped cost effectively or reproduced locally.

Michael Comerton, The Words, Pictures and Directions Guy for Matilda Bay Brewing Co., was also a former employee of Guinness in Ireland. He related an interesting situation that arose for imported Guinness to the USA town of Denver which became known as ‘The Denver Effect’. The basic problem was that the atmospheric pressure in Denver is low due to the high altitude causes the stout to come out of the tap differently frothing (foaming) up all over the place. Now the gas in the Guinness kegs is a mix of nitrogen and carbon dioxide to give it that creamy dense head on the beer but because of the frothing, the gas mixed had to be altered. An interesting titbit to help us understand that local conditions can dramatically change your beer

Cascade Brewery

2005-11-17T16:47:00.000-08:00

We’ve strummed our fingers and tapped our toes awaiting the big announcement from Cascade Brewery. A quick jaunt to Old Hobart town revealed all the information required for me to give our readers the latest scoop from Australia’s oldest brewery. An enormous amount of effort has gone into shaping the future direction of the brewery to enable its proud tradition to continue in an ultra competitive premium/boutique beer market. But you’ve been waiting long enough, so without further ado here goes.

Beer product development requires the use of traditional brewing methods with the freshest local ingredients that are readily available at a reasonable price. And if you’re fortunate enough to have a rich and colourful history as is the case with Cascade Brewery, then use that background to infuse some local pride and product loyalty into the mix. “The history of the Cascade Brewery Co is something we are immensely proud of and we’re happy to be honouring Peter Degraves for his vision over 180 years ago,” said Dominic Baker, General Manager, Cascade Brewery Co. Degraves fostered a legacy, built from his commitment to consistency, purity and quality, and Cascade continues his passion today. Cascade Premium Lager and Cascade Premium Light showcase the perfection of fine Tasmanian ingredients when handled by expert brewers.

The newly released beers have been re-named the Degraves Collection, which groups together Pale Ale, Stout and newcomers Amber Ale and Blonde wheat paying tribute to Cascade’s highly successful seasonal beer favourites that are now permanently available. Each beer has its own unique story, inspired by the characters that have been a part of Cascade’s colourful and rich past. Gone are the four packs, and replaced with traditional 6-packs at a very reasonable price, allowing punters to have a go at these new products without spending a fortune.

Cascade Blonde is a re-jigged version of Summer Blonde from the Four Seasons collection According to Head Brewer Max Bursom “We’ve instilled more wheat to the wheat/barley mix resulting in lighter, clean, crisp ale with passion fruit tartness and a delicate back palate bitterness which should please females and the younger beer enthusiasts.” Legend has it that this style was inspired by a local fair haired barmaid famous for being zesty and sassy whose picture adorns the label.

The exclusion of Cascade Pale Ale would have caused a revolution in Van Demens land as ‘Pale’, as the locals call it, has been a part of the brewery since the 1850’s. Tradition has it that the flavour must be big and bold with a clean hop finish on the back palate and just a hint of fruitiness from the ale yeast .In recognition of its historical importance, Cascade Pale Ale received the honour of having the famous brewery façade on the label.

Cascade Amber Ale is the newest recruit to the Degraves Collection and enters an already crowded small brewery favoured style category. A blend of three malts to drive the flavour profile, it’s a pleasant well balanced drop with hints of toffee and caramel. It’s smooth and refreshing, rather than going for a rich heavy amber style. The character on the label is Jim Stoner who invited locals for a free beer during the depression if they brought their own drinking vessels. Understandably, large jam tins were a favourite ‘glass’.

I’ve often mentioned to fellow beer enthusiasts that Cascade Stout is a real sleeper beer that often falls below the radar screen. A deep rich creamy brew with a slightly nutty roasted flavour, and pleasant bitter coffee laced finish. On the label is another local character, Fatty Appleton who was famous for his ability to carry two firkin kegs under his arms that came in handy when crowd control issues arose.

No self respecting report about Cascade Brewery would be complete without a mention of their newly renovated visitor centre including their spectacular botanical gardens. According to Baker, ““Visitors to Tasmania have long been seeking out the Cascade Brewery, and we’ve now improved the experience. A complete refurbishment of the popular Visitor Centre now boasts a spectacular extension with a view to Mt Wellington, and a new bar that has the complete suite of Cascade beers on tap, enabling visitors to sample the range. Cascade’s rich history can also be further explored with memorabilia on display. Our botanic style gardens, yielding some unique and rare flora species, have also been regenerated to ensure its historical significance is retained,” added Dominic. “It’s really is one of the most picturesque historical sites in the country.”

Top Notch

2005-11-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

As the Spring Racing Carnival has concluded and we wind the turn towards the holidays, it’s a good chance to see what the Australian premium beer market will offer us for the silly season. Odds are good that the competition will be fierce as the premium beer ‘yearling’ has shown good form on a slow track all year. Look for value this season both in the bar and the bottle shop, but be willing to take long shot for pure enjoyment; life’s to short to be entirely driven by the almighty dollar.

Down in the Apple Isle the ‘Beer Wars’ continues like a family feud. This real life North vs. South conflict has intensified with J. Boag & Son to the north expanding their brewery and announcing a new beer for the mainland – Boags Draught. While Cascade to the south continues to go from strength to strength with their Four Seasons specialty beers with Summer Blonde making its third seasonal appearance, and Cascade Premium Light continues to hold the title of premium light beer of choice on the market.

Strong sales growth of its premium beers has led J. Boag & Son to invest in a major expansion program which will double the capacity of the Launceston Brewery
The first stage of the expansion was to install a new $15million high speed packaging line, completed in October. The addition of this new bottling line has enabled J. Boag & Son to launch their oldest brand, Boag’s Draught nationally. Director Lyndon Adams, said, “In the last six years our sales have doubled with the phenomenal growth led by James Boag’s Premium, which is now Australia’s second largest premium beer brand.” “Our growth has led to the situation where we have outgrown our current facility. Following a review of all possible expansion options open to us, the company felt that maintaining the authentic Tasmanian origin of our brands was critical to our ongoing success, and thus we chose to upgrade our existing brewery in Launceston.”

Meanwhile to the south, Cascade continues to score goals with their Four Season range of beers. Created especially for the Australian Summer, Cascade Summer Blonde is a refreshing and zesty blonde wheat beer using the freshest wheat, hops and pure soft water from the slopes of Mount Wellington. The master brewers at Tasmania’s Cascade Brewery have used the highest-grade wheat and barley to ensure the beer is pure and clear. Cascade hops are used to give the beer its distinctive citric aroma and zesty palate.

Back on the mainland, Carlton & United Beverages has launched an advertising campaign with their premier premium beer Crown Lager. Crown Lager is one of Australia’s most iconic brands, launched in 1953, and continues to outsell any other premium beer on the market. The new Crown Lager campaign, created by George Patterson Partners Melbourne, taps into Australians’ positive outlook on life through a combination of still lifestyle images and temp-mort sequences. The photographic images featured in the campaign are in fact ‘real’ people (the majority provided direct from Foster’s employees’ personal photo albums) celebrating the memorable, the important, the exhilarating and the fun moments because as the ad says… “There’s a lot in life to celebrate”.

Matilda Bay Brewing Company has launched their latest specialty beer Roof Top Red Lager. The name "Rooftop Red Lager" gets its inspiration from Paul Kelly's song 'From a 727' where he sings about looking over the roofs of Sydney from a plane. As you approach Sydney’s Kingsford-Smith airport from the west, you fly over areas of Balmain and Leichhardt. Many of the traditional homes of these areas have red tiled or red corrugated iron roofs. Rooftop Red Lager’s distinctive red hue and full, refreshing flavour are created by small-batch brewing using specially selected and lightly-toasted carared and melanoidin malts. The aromatic Hersbrucker hop - added to the kettle late in the boil - softens and balances Rooftop’s malts to deliver a smooth, delicate palate rich with hints of toffee and caramel. Rooftop Red Lager is currently available in selected outlets in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and with that terrific red hue should put a rosy red glow on all beer loving Santas.

Speaking of Sydney, Tooheys Australia has put their efforts behind the Hahn Premium and Hahn Premium Light brands and the Hillross Australian Golf Tournament. Sign up over the net at www.hahn.golf.com.au to compete for the ultimate golf experience. The competition offers the opportunity for four mates to attend and compete in the Pro-Am tournament, attend the champion’s cocktail party, a free coaching clinic and a signed golf bag. The Hahn beers will also sponsor a National Pub Golf Championship which will involve 4,200 competitors on 42 golf courses around Australia. Entry is simple, requiring contestants to purchase 9 middies or stubbies of Hahn Premium or Hahn Premium Light over a four week period at participating pubs and clubs. Each venue will hold a draw to select their 4 golfers.

The Malt Shovel Brewery has enjoyed continued success with winter and summer limited release brews, and their latest drop is no exception. James Squire Golden Ale has been brewed as a real flavoursome quaffing beer for the forecast long hot summer months ahead. Golden Ale follows the release of James Squire Australian Strong Ale this winter and James Squire Colonial Wheat Beer last summer.” Golden Ale is a lighter bodied beer with an alcohol content of 4.5%. Fresh toasted grains of Barley and Wheat give it a rich orange-amber colour and the pleasing tropical stone fruit aroma comes from the new season Amarillo hops,” said Head Brewer, Doug Donelan. "Often thought of as an English-style summer beer, this brew demands cold fermentation. It has a restrained bitter finish, mild carbonation, a firm head and a dry cracking finish and is an ideal thirst quenching session beer,” added Donelan.

As a special bonus for beer lovers, Golden Ale will also be available on tap at the James Squire Brewhouse 115 Russell Street, Melbourne and at the James Squire Brewhouse King Street Wharf, Sydney. The Malt Shovel Brewers are passionate about their handcrafted beers and are committed to educate discerning drinkers to the delights of matching quality beer and fine food. "Golden Ale would make a great accompaniment for fresh cold prawns, chicken Caesar salad, white-bait fritters, laksa or marguerita pizza,” said Brewmaster, Chuck Hahn.

No review of Australian premium beers would be complete without a look at what’s happening at Adelaide’s Coopers Brewery. We were pleased to discover their annual launch of their Vintage Ale will continue in 2004, and the release of a new mid-strength ale.

The 2004 Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale, described by Coopers brewers as the best yet, has a hefty 7.5% alcohol by volume and is expected to develop a more complex and interesting flavour for up to two years. Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale was first released in 1998 and was sold out within five days .Other brews followed in 1999, 2000, 2002 and now 2004, with each brew becoming a collector’s item. Some 5000 cases of the 2004 Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale, about 25% of the total brew, are being sent to the US to meet orders from American wholesalers. Coopers Chairman and Marketing Director, Mr Glenn Cooper, said that 2004 Vintage Ale had been ordered by a number of exclusive restaurants in the US, including Rubicon in San Francisco, jointly owned by actors Robin Williams and Robert de Niro and film producer Francis Ford Coppola.

Coopers Brewery has launched a new mid-strength premium beer to its range of premium quality, naturally conditioned ales .Coopers Mild Ale is a full flavoured ale with an alcohol content of 3.5%, designed to meet the growing demand Australia-wide for mid-strength beers. Coopers Managing Director and Chief Brewer, Dr Tim Cooper, said “Mild Ale is a smooth, easy-drinking ale that was very similar in flavour profile to Coopers Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale, but slightly softer.” Dr Cooper added “The idea was first conceived about two years ago when a number of publicans at a trade day suggested that Coopers look at developing a lighter brew to cater for the demand for flavour, but with lower alcohol. We experimented with a number of different brews last year to try and find the right balance between malt and hop characters,” he said. “We then tested what is now known as Mild Ale in market conditions before looking for an appropriate name.”Dr Cooper went on to say “Mild Ale is a distinctive category of ale in England, created in the nineteenth century as a restorative for labourers and heavy manual workers. It remains popular in the Midlands and Northwest of England, as a beer full in flavour but with a slightly lower alcohol content and hop bitterness. Mild Ale is the product of brewing with a selection of barley and wheat malt and with no added sugar,” he said. “This traditional brewing approach provides the smooth malt character which is balanced by a triple hopping with Pride of Ringwood and Saaz hops. “It is fermented similarly to its stablemates, Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale, with the customary secondary fermentation in the bottle and can.”

Mercs Own Peach Ale

2005-11-17T16:43:00.000-08:00

Mention ‘Aussie Dancing Guy’ and everyone knows you’re referring to Paul Mercurio. Since tapping his way into our hearts in Strictly Ballroom, he has continued to dazzle us with his footwork in The Full Monty and now a judge on the hit TV show “Dancing with the Stars.’ But many would be surprised that this gifted choreographer is also a passionate brewer, now with his own range of beers called Merc’s Own, the first being a Peach Ale.

Paul began brewing 17 years ago after receiving a home brew kit as an anniversary gift from his wife and fellow dancer Andrea. “Back in ’87 Coopers beer was expensive and with poverty brought experience as I practiced the craft in my laundry room. I’ve always developed a bit of a beer club with the crew I’m working with, even back to the early days at the Green Room at the Sydney Opera House.”

So why brew a peach beer I hear you ask? “In the immortal words of Scott Hasling (Strictly Ballroom) I just want to dance to my own steps” I’m a risk taker, and I love a challenge. The idea for a peach ale came from an old home brew recipe that I tweaked a bit to pull the recipe into shape. The peach juice plus the German Tettnanger aromatic hop provide a pleasant spiciness on the palate. Besides, fruit-based ales are steeped in tradition and I couldn’t get my hands on any apricot juice at the time of brewing!” Seriously, it’s my beer; I do all the work including the cleaning up. I could have left it to someone else, but that’s not taking responsibility for my own work. I have personally handled every one of the 3780 bottles in the batch, and proud of it.”

So what inspired him to go down the path of a commercial beer range? “Stupidity (he laughed), since a young age I’ve tried to fulfil my dreams. I’m passionate about food (he cures his own brand of smoked beef brisket), flavour, and beer. I take my roles of artist, actor, dancer, father, and brewer very seriously. I’d also like to make some money out of this; idle actors need an income like everyone else so why not work hard at the things you enjoy.”

Merc’s Own Peach Ale is a refreshing drop, surprisingly subtle fruitiness without excessive sweetness. The ale has a champagne or white peach appearance with a white creamy head. Bottle conditioned and naturally carbonated with no additives or preservatives in the blend. The aroma is a delicate balance of malt and fruit characters without the expected overpowering tartness. The peach ale has a fruity, spicy flavour with mild back palate bitterness. The fruitiness is more dominant as the beer warms a little. Recommended serve at 4C.with a fresh fruit salad and cream or BBQ seafood.

Sister’s Are Brewing It for Themselves

2005-10-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

Women have been brewing since the start of time, but it’s pretty much been a macho thing for the past four hundred years. In ancient societies, mythologies stated that beer was a gift specifically to women from a goddess (not a god) and women remained bonded to complex religious relationships with female deities, who blessed their brewing vessels. In fact, many celebrations were based on female events such as the brides-ale for her wedding and groaning-ale for the midwife and labouring mother to drink during the ordeal. I love ancient medicine stories. So when it came to pass that not one but two lady brewers were operating pub breweries not 2 kilometres from each other in Melbourne, Victoria, we just had to see them in action.

I arrived at Bells Hotel in South Melbourne to find Samara Fuss and Josephine Horn frowning and scowling at a defective keg washer. The frustration was evident and their determination to fix it themselves equally apparent. When my editor Katrina Holden and I met with them a fortnight ago, they were averse to highlighting their feminine side in the beer industry, but agreed if the story wasn’t demeaning to the male brewers and highlighted the beer they are so proud of.

Samara ‘Sam’ Fuss is a determined, confident young lady with an athletic build who was brought up on the southern coast of New South Wales. By her own admission, she was sports mad as a kid gaining selection to the state soccer team and an invitation to the Academy of Sport in Canberra for her volleyball skills. Sam was influenced by her dad who encouraged her interests which included work as a blacksmith and welder. Her first taste of the brewing bug occurred when Sam had the opportunity at the Fremantle icon pub the Brass Monkey. She spent a year in Europe, but returned to Australia for the Olympics in Sydney. Her father informed her of a new brewery opening up in Fremantle called Little Creatures, so right after the games she headed west. Wasting little time and displaying a lot of persistence, Samara got a job behind the bar. She eagerly volunteered to be a participant in their ‘Adopt a Brew’ programme. In fact, she ended up doing twelve brews before getting the opportunity to work in the brewery full-time after one of the assistant brewers severely burnt his leg requiring extensive time off the job.

Under the direction and inspiration of female brewer/winemaker Janet McDonald, Samara worked at Little Creatures for three years. According to Sam “I really enjoyed the team environment, and from Janet I gained the knowledge and passion to brew.” Ready for a new challenge, Sam was offered the position as head brewer for the Melbourne ALH pub breweries Gunn Island and newly opened Three Degrees at the QV Square in January 2004. Like anyone taking over a new management position, Sam was keen to get involved with the change, in this case to re-badge the in-house beers at the Gunn Island Brewbar in Middle Park. The timing was stressful as at the same time, the hotel was gearing up for the Grand Prix at Albert Park across the street from the hotel.

Josephine Horn grew up on the south island of New Zealand in the town of Christchurch. She arrived in Australia in 1996 after completing her post graduate diploma in Winemaking to take up the position of cellar hand at Coonawarra in South Australia. After the harvest it was off to Europe to vintage in Spain. This to and fro from Australia to Europe became a lifestyle for Josephine involving herself in vintages in France in ’97,’98, ’03, and Italy in 1999. During the same time she was involved with the vintages at Rosemont in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales in 2001-2003. Her interest in beer making came from the positive beer culture in Europe where dining and drinking beer are part of life. She even went so far as to attend a ‘meet and greet’ at a remote monastery to ‘pick the brains’ of the resident brewing monks only to find they had taken the vow of silence!

In 2000 Josephine met her partner Michael who wanted a stint in his hometown of Melbourne after the eight years of shifting from Europe every harvest season. Josephine obliged the request and took on a seven month contract with the Master Winemakers in the Yarra Valley. It was while she was working with Peter Florence at Master Winemakers who is also a partner in Buckley’s Brewery in Healesville that the beer bug bit again when he offered her the opportunity to brew with them. As her contract was about up, Josephine started ‘doing the rounds’ of all Melbourne breweries large and small with no success. In June of 2004, she read an article about Bell’s Hotel in South Melbourne with a quote from Bill Bell about not being able to keep up with the demand for his in-house beers. Her first task was giving the mini brewery a good ‘scrub out’ to make some room cause “I know how to clean and get things organised”.

So what are the beers made by the girls like, I hear you say. Josephine’s beers have made a good start as her newly developed Hell’s Bells strong lager won the title of Best Lager at this year’s Festival of Beers in Brisbane. With 40% wheat in the recipe and 6.4% Al/Vol this beer makes an impact. New American Amarillo hop provides the aromatics while Australian Superpride gives the beer its bitterness without fumy alcohol traces from a beer, a common problem with high Alco levels in a lager.
Sam has the responsibility of brewing for two pubs and is making a good fist of it with her Gunn Island Pale Ale, Red Ale and Amber Ale on tap. Here are some brief tasting notes on her products.

Gunn Island Pale Ale-5.6% A/V
Brewed with Aust pale malt and light crystal malts, this hoppy North American style pale ale has a clean citrus flavour and distinct floral aroma imparted from the late hopping of imported Cascade hops.

Gunn Island Red Lager-5.0%A/V
This Bavarian style lager uses imported carared and melonoidin malts, with its unique red hue, peachy and redwood undertones, the honey malty bursts, is complemented with the soft spicy bitterness from the hallertauer, hersbrucker, and tettananger hops.

Gunn Island Amber Ale-4.5%A/V
With a blend of 5 distinct types of mal, this medium bodied Amber Ale presents a spectrum of malty flavours starting off sweet and toffee like, it gives way to mocha, toasty finish with a slightly roasty aroma.

3 Degrees Clear-4.8%A/V
Three is made with pale and Vienna malts, balanced by the generous late addition of Hersbrucker hops; the result is a rich brew with a waxy soft mouthfeel, complex floral and spicy aroma, with a burnt golden hue.

Review of Light & Mid Strength Beers 2005

2005-09-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

It’s not just coincidence that as the baby boomer Grey Army heads north and west to warm those aging bones, we see a rise in low alcohol and midstrength beers. In fact, they now rank second in overall beers sales after the premium ranged products. No doubt that random breath test and drink drive campaigns have also contributed to more conservative attitudes towards alcohol consumption, but from what the older boys tell me, it’s the social embarrassment of not being able to ‘hold their grog like they used to’ that is the driving force behind their choice of drink.

The midstrength market was born in the early 1990s through Swan Gold (followed by Emu Draft and Carlton Midstrength) in WA and XXXX GOLD in QLD. The hot humid conditions of Far-North Queensland led many beer drinkers to begin looking for a bigger flavoured beer than the lights but still lower in alcohol than ‘heavies’. With both markets (Qld. & W.A.) formerly dominated by full strength beers, midstrength offered drinkers in these states a beer that suited their needs and lifestyle. After only a few years, the midstrength segment became the largest segment in both states. Today, midstrength beer is the second largest beer category in Australia accounting for 17.09% of total beer sales and growing at 3.6% per year. In Queensland, midstrength beer represents a staggering 48.6% of total beer sales, larger than the regular beer sales of 37.7%. Without a doubt, the midstrength revolution is a rapidly growing area of the beer market across all states and can no longer be seen purely as a Queensland or West Australian phenomenon.

Launched in 1991, XXXX GOLD transformed the QLD beer landscape and is now the state’s most popular beer. XXXX GOLD continued the great tradition of XXXX brewing heritage by being brewed with only the finest Australian barley and unique golden cluster hops. For almost 15 years, XXXX GOLD has been an integral part of the QLD community, supporting and sponsoring local sporting teams and community events, as well as having an association with Surf Life Saving in both QLD and WA.

A long running television campaign has also captivated QLD drinkers with well known characters Jacko and Marlin seen on television screens for more than five years. With XXXX GOLD found in practically every pub and club in QLD, it was only a matter of time before XXXX GOLD found its way across the border and into the pubs, hotels and homes of other Australian drinkers.

Outside Queensland, activities include XXXX Gold’s support of racing and cricket in many regional areas across the country and has partnered Surf Life Saving in WA for a few years This summer also sees a national pack promotion giving beer drinkers the chance to enjoy the good life by winning a holiday for themselves and their mates every year for the next 20 years. Other activities includes a major sampling program, as well as sponsorship of QLD and South Australian grassroots cricket, and some of QLD’s great sporting teams as well as the broadcast sponsorship of the ICC cricket super series on Channel 9.

In Western Australia the Midstrength category is also well developed, representing 26% of total WA beer market. Carton Midstrength (“Carlton Mid” as the bar call is known) is the market-leading brand at 50.9% of the mid strength category. Consumer/community and trade support for the Midstrength category and the Carlton Midstrength brand include support for the Royal flying Doctors Service, sponsorship of all AFL in WA, i.e. the West Coast Eagles, Fremantle Dockers and WAFL.

Current Carlton Midstrength trade support leverages the success of the recent “Shed” advertising and promotions campaign, which includes TV advertising, on-pack and on-premise consumer promotions. The Foster’s Australia is committed to the Midstrength category and its investment in Carlton Midstrength, an ‘opportunity’ brand, will continue into 2006 and beyond.

Australia’s third largest brewer, Coopers Brewery, says sales of Coopers Mild Ale have exceeded expectations since its launch in October last year.
The new beer, which has an alcohol content of 3.5%, is already outselling some of Coopers more established brands, including Dark Ale. Coopers Chairman and Marketing Director, Mr Glenn Cooper, said Mild Ale had quickly established itself as a serious player in the mid-strength beer sector, particularly in the Queensland and Western Australia where mid-strength beers have well established markets. “Mild Ale’s growth in Queensland and WA has been exceptional, but the product is also showing good take-up in the southern states, which do not have such a tradition of mid strength beers,” he said.

“One of its major advantages is that it is a mid strength beer that doesn’t taste like a mid strength beer. “It’s smooth, easy-drinking ale that’s similar in flavour profile to Coopers Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale, but slightly softer. “It’s an ideal beer for people who enjoy the taste of a full flavoured beer, but wish to limit alcohol consumption. Many people are telling us they are drinking Mild Ale simply because of the taste, not because it is lower in alcohol.” Mild Ale is fully brewed using a selection of barley and wheat malt with no added sugar. It then undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle or can, the same process used in the production of Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale.
Many other reduced alcohol beers start out as normal strength beers, with alcohol being filtered out later, a process that also removes flavour.

This market was likely to grow as the population aged and people sought to limit their consumption of alcohol either for health or lifestyle reasons.
“Coopers Mild Ale is certainly contributing to the development of the mid-strength market, particularly on the southern States,” he said.
“If its growth continues, it will quickly become one of our major brands behind Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale. Mild Ale comprises one standard drink per 375ml bottle or can, compared to 1.3 standard drinks for Pale Ale and 1.7 for Sparkling Ale.

The Midstrength category is still largely undeveloped in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, traditionally regular beer markets. Their alternate preference is for Light, rather than Midstrength beer, due most likely to less exposure to the Midstrength category. However recent trends indicate consumer interest in the category and similarly strong growth would be predicted in these States – particularly the warm northern and western cities of NSW.

Beer 101

2005-07-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

Having a desire to learn more about beer and the brewing process gives a whole new slant on a ‘thirst for knowledge’. Some have a passing interest to find out more about the amber fluid, and others have a full blown obsession. Either way, there are plenty of ways to gather significant information to satisfy most hop heads.

Most Capital cities have major breweries that provide tours of their facilities. It’s a matter of giving them a call to find out the who, what, where, and when’s to getting on board. Small breweries and pub-breweries are also very accommodating with brewers often leading the tour and proud of their set-ups and products. Without sounding to schoolmarmish, it’s always a good idea to take pen and paper to jot down interesting comments and questions you’d like to ask, as after a few pints you might forget.

Our big breweries are often maligned but when it comes to educating the public about beer, their efforts have been first rate. An enormous amount of expertise, manpower, and financial support has been expended to better inform and educate the hospitality employees and beer enthusiasts in general

Carlton & United Beverages developed the Draught Beer Academy in 2001, and has trained over 2,500 workers in every state and territory. The star of the show is undoubtedly the massive “beer school on wheels” which has covered 65,000 miles including remote and rural areas around the country. In fact, its popularity has demanded that another beer bus be built in 200x. The academy was created with the assistance of more than 25 leading publicans and hoteliers to insure that Australians received the most perfectly poured and presented beers in the world. To learn more about the Draught Beer Academy, go to their website at www.draughtbeer.com.au. There you can find out about the course content, take a virtual tour, and even pinpoint where the ‘beer truck’ is located at the moment on the location tracker.

In May 2002 Lion Nathan Australia developed an education program called Beer Masters that is available on CD-ROM and as a link from their website that can actually be used by TAFE and hospitality students to gain accreditation/credit points in their courses. Beer Masters enables the students to sit exams online and obtain a certificate that, if successful, is recognised as meeting the academic requirements of Operate a Cellar System module which is part of a number of hospitality courses run by TAFE Meadowbank (NSW) campus. Novices like me can visit the website http://www.lion-nathan.com.au/all+about+beer+appreciation/beermaster.htm: There you can learn about the history of beer, a flowchart explaining the brewing process, beer appreciation, and a whole lot more including a virtual brewery tour.

Ian Watson is an independent ‘Beer consultant and Sommelier’. The job description includes helping restaurants, cafes and pubs with their beer and food menus providing independent tasting notes to venues and breweries, staff training-, plus speaking at beer tastings, dinners and festivals as well as being on the restaurant floor. His base of operation is “Oropa Bier Café” at the Spotted Cow hotel in Toowoomba, Qld. On Friday and Saturday evenings he can be found helping diners with their beer selection for both pairing with a meal and general consumption.

According to Ian “The key to this is education of both staff and consumer, helping them understand flavour profiles like sour, chocolate, champagne and banana. I often encourage the consumer to realize their own selection through a series of flavour analogy examples rather than straight deciding their accompaniment for them. But many want my choice to be theirs as well, understandable when Oropa has a menu of about 12 draught beers and 40 bottled beers as well as another 20 or so beers that I keep aside as my hidden treats.”

Beer education is also achievable in slightly more formal or direct settings of beer tastings, beer dinners and Beer 101 classes. At theses events it is possible to take things to a more specific area or a more involved level. An example of which is an upcoming event that I am doing called “la Femme de Bier”. This is a women’s only beer tasting that will explore the important role that women have played in the last 10 000 years of brewing history, as well as give some of the girls a chance to explore the concept of beer without the intimidation of guy The more we can get people talking about beer, the more they will learn about beer the more craft beer will grow in Australia

“Tales and Ales” are presented by the brewers of James Squires ales, lagers, and porters. These events are the equivalent of a beer cocktail (tale) function, where a variety of beers are tasted (and described), while being matched with a variety of interesting food dishes. It is an informal stand-up version of a beer dinner (similar to the wine dinner hosted by the winemaker). According to Doug Donelon “We have found that this format works very well in the hotel environment and also allows the hotel to showcase some its finer dishes to an interested and enthusiastic group of connoisseur’s. Ideally all the beers would be on tap (served in jugs), but bottles served on trays can be just as effective.

Format as follows:
1. Upon arrival, guests are given a beer glass that is used throughout the evening. This special glass is their “ticket” to further beers. In some instances the first beer may be a light beer. This beer is used as a palate cleanser and is the only beer served until most of the people arrive.

2. The 2nd Beer is served. A Malt Shovel Brewer describes how to taste and fully enjoy the beer “an organoleptic evaluation” and usually some history about the beer. As the Brewer is talking, the first finger food dish is served. Brewer will comment on why the choice of this beer & food has been matched together.

3. About 15 minutes later, the second beer is served (via jugs or bottles served around). The Brewer talks and the food is served.

4. This sequence is repeated, using the same glass throughout, until all beer & food combinations have been enjoyed.

5. At the conclusion of the beer and food matching a cleansing larger/ale is served to finish off the evening. The Brewer makes some concluding remarks about beer & food enjoyment and of course introduces the chef. Total time is about one & half to two hour’s maximum.

6. The Patrons can then go on to enjoy the beers they have sampled throughout the night.

SAMPLE BEER& FOOD MATCHINGS
Possibly Hahn Premium Light (on tap) upon arrival as a palate cleanser.
1. Australian White Beer oysters with a dill/vinaigrette sauce
2. Hahn Premium Lager Sashimi/sushi with wasabi
3. James Squire Amber Ale Lamb Cutlets with mint sauce
4. James Squire Pilsener Chicken satay kebabs with peanut sauce or another spicy dish
5. James Squire Porter Chocolate mud cake/fudge/brownies
6. Cleansing Lager/ale from the tap – Draught James Squire is the usual preference.

Getting involved with beer lovers and increasing their understanding of beer and brewing is central to Matilda Bay Berwery’s philosophy. The entire Matilda Bay team spends a substantial amount of their time with bartenders, consumers and the media discussing all facets of the humble blend of malt, hops and water.

“Our goal is to make everyone as obsessed about beer as we are! Beer appreciation is meant to be fun and we always keep it that way” said Michael Comerton, The Words, Pictures and Directions Guy from Matilda Bay.

Education sessions are regularly conducted for bar and hotel staff, and an array of events are held in venues across the country. Lavish beer and food matching dinners, informal finger food evenings, and Matilda Bay’s Beer 101 (beer, food and a “very unserious” test) are coordinated for groups of varying sizes throughout the year.

“Sometimes Brad Rogers could be discussing dark lagers with a group of six at Kingsleys Ale House in Woolloomooloo, while on the same night Phil Gallagher is fielding questions about wheat beer from a crowd of 100 at the Sail & Anchor in Fremantle” Comerton said.

Matilda Bay’s Bar Shouts are naturally very popular too and the teams in each of the states often undertake a wee crawl around a few pubs, shouting Matilda Bay beers for those present and chatting about various beer styles and flavours.

Providing a very different business experience, Matilda Bay also holds corporate events with an emphasis on education around beer flavours, styles and dishes. In addition, Matilda Bay’s website has a key focus on education. Online, the brewing process and ingredients are explained in detail, along with ‘Brewer’s Notes’ from Brad covering his thoughts on each beer’s recipe and process.

And if you like getting along to shows, you’ll find Matilda Bay at numerous festivals and events nationally. Matilda Bay is present at Australia’s leading food and wine events, and Brad can often be found in the demonstration kitchens or auditoriums discussing brewing with the crowd.

According to Comerton “many people are surprised when they meet us at pubs or at shows and get chatting. People find it refreshing not to get a sales pitch – we just love to chat about beer! We enjoy talking with fellow beer lovers about beer styles, brewing, and food among other things. And it’s so important to hear feedback from people who have tasted our beers and are already entrenched fans as well as from those who are tasting any of our beers for the first time.”

Without trying to bow my trumpet to loudly, I present a beer appreciation course at the Melbourne Belgian Beer Café Bluestone on one Saturday afternoon a month that is coordinated through the Centre of Adult Education (CAE). The course lasts for two hours in which participants taste test eight beers that are accompanied by specially selected entrée sized dishes that compliment the differing beer styles. During the class, the course content includes presentation, glassware, handling and storage, as well as palate identification, judging a beer, styles of beer,and a short history of beer through the ages. It’s a great day out but we do advise you take public transport home as many students continue their further education at the bar afterwards.

Seasonal & Limited Release Beers

2005-06-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

When I’ve queried brewers as to why we don’t see more new varieties of beer on the market, they inevitably blame the marketers who don’t want to waste their tight budgets on questionable products. This stiff upper lip mentality is softening with the success of specialty and limited edition premium beers. It provides an opportunity to test the waters without committing to a large advertising campaign. Without doubt seasonal and special edition beers are a favoured method of sales by small batch micro breweries, but the bigger boys are catching on to the benefits of short sharp beer launches.

A classic example of testing the market has been the summer seasonals by the Malt Shovel Brewery in Sydney. A Belgian styled white ale was launched in February 2000 called Summer Wheat. An orange and coriander flavoured wheat beer that had an amusing label and six-pack carton design which featured a duck flying overhead with an orange up it’s bum. Ten months later they changed the packaging under a Mad Brewers White Ale logo which featured an Australian white pointer shark. The Belgian whites achieved a fairly respectable sales levels, but not enough to halt another change, and two years later in November 2002 Malt Shovel announced their summer special James Squire Colonial Wheat, a German weizen styled wheat ale featuring banana and clover characters. As is the case of limited edition ales, another change occurred two years later, James Squire Summer Ale, this time an English styled ale. First brewed at the Portland Hotel in Melbourne, Golden Ale is 30% wheat with a good dollop of Amarillo hops late in the boil providing a stone fruit aroma and restrained bitter finish. Sales figures this year have been impressive but whether the Summer Ale will be around in 2005/2006 who knows. During the chilly season why not give their Australian Strong Ale a go. According to Chuck Hahn “ Last year we thought the brew was a bit to dark so we’ve gone back to the original recipe to include some carapils and dark crystal malts plus some fantastic Tasmanian Hallertau hops. The result is a smooth well balanced ale and at 6.8% A/V has no ethanol finish, almost to smooth.”

The Matilda Bay Brewing Company is another brew shop to catch the seasonal bug in a bottle. This winter look forward to a special Brewers Reserve six pack including three bottles of Alpha Pale Ale and Dogbolter Dark Lager. Alpha Pale Ale, along with Beez Neez honeyed wheat beer, has remained a part of the family since it’s origins at Sanctuary Cove, Queensland. This American styled pale ale is all about big cascade hopped flavour. Well balanced with a big citrus hop aroma, full malt character with a big bitter finish. “The Dog” has been an Aussie dark beer icon since it’s creation over in Freemantle in 1987 during the defence of the America's Cup when Matilda Bay was brewed at the Sail & Anchor Pub Brewery. Dogbolter is certainly a winter warmer with heaps of German Munich dark lager malt and Hersbrucker hops. Adding a subtle floral hop aroma. Look forward to their experimental ESB Sticklers English styled bitter in a bottle later in the year,
This year also marks 21 years in the business and a birthday bash will be something special according to Head Brewer Brad Rodgers.

Speaking of commemorative brews, Carlton & United Beverages has gotten into the swing of things by celebrating the introduction of Victoria Bitter 150 years ago when Thomas Aitken founded the Victoria Brewery in East Melbourne. VB Original Ale is reminiscent of the taste and look of beers from around the turn of the 19th Century. The brew itself was inspired by the Victoria Brewery’s 1894 award-winning Bitter Ale, while the old-style bottle shape and label design closely resembles the VBs of yesteryear. “No other beer can boast the heritage of VB and we wanted to celebrate our rich history,” said Matt Keen CUB’s GM of Regular Beer. “In doing so we’ve delved into our archives and studied early beer making methods and ingredients. The result is Victoria Bitter Original Ale – it’s as close as you’ll get to the beer your great-grandfather enjoyed, but it’s been produced to meet the expectations people have of a great beer today. “We used malt instead of sugar because brewing sugars were really hard to come by in the late 1800s,” said John Cozens, CUB Master Brewer. “We added a touch of roasted barley to give it a toasty flavour as well as its rich amber colour which, when poured, is topped with a compact creamy head. Its lingering bitterness, a result of traditional kettle hopping methods, is balanced with a subtle fruitiness. VB Original Ale will appeal to those with a hankering for heritage and who savour a good brew,” Cozens added.

The Tasmanian breweries have also found seasonal and special release beers beneficial in demonstrating their diversity and craftsmanship. I made reference before about changes to Cascade’s range of beers including the loss of this year Winter Warmer from their Four Seasons seasonal beer range. Well, they still aren’t prepared to tell all about the new beers, but at least they’ve provided another round of First Harvest Ale, now in its fourth edition. We asked Master Brewer Max Burslem what we could expect from this year’s brew. “The purity of taste has been improved with the 2005 release. This year’s First Harvest Ale shows greater balance due to the hops being sourced from a single location. The hops for the 2005 brew were harvested from Bushy Park, located in the Derwent Valley in Tasmania, and travelled only two hours to the brewery, making this year’s brew one of the most freshly-made beers in Cascade’s history. In 2004, hops were sourced from locations four hours from the Cascade Brewery in Hobart. A rich burnished orange/amber colour, the beer has lemon/citrus aromas with a well-balanced hop character and mouth feel. Cascade First Harvest Ale uses Willamette and Cascade hops, brewed in small kettles while still ‘wet’, green and rich in flavour. Pale malt, Cascade’s signature yeast cultures and the purest water in Australia complete the recipe.

J.Boag & Son produced a limited edition 1881 Pale Ale in May of 2002. Its success led to the release of a Honey Porter in June of 2003. The new bottling system installed last year prevented another go; but another Honey Porter has crossed the shores in June 2005. Boag’s Honey Porter is brewed with uniquely Tasmanian ingredients, most notably Leatherwood honey and Van Diemen hops. One and a half tonnes of Leatherwood honey is used in the brewing of Boag’s Honey Porter, all of which is sourced from the Stephens family apiary in north west Tasmania. With such an in demand product, the question arises, “Why isn’t it available all the time?” Master Brewer, Tim Penton, explains “We would love to make Boag’s Honey Porter on a permanent basis, but we are restricted by the supply of the crucial ingredient, Leatherwood honey. The honey supply varies each year depending on the weather conditions and this means that there are times when we just can’t get enough to make the beer”.

Australian Beer Awards 2005

2005-05-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

It was a sombre mood as the Barons of Australian beer shuffled out of the Hotel Sofitel Ballroom after the International Beer Awards in Melbourne on the 5th of May. There were few cheers of victory as once again the Australian beer industry was stumped by a little pub-brewery from Oregon in America –Pelican Pub Brewery who was awarded the Grand Champion Trophy for their Doryman’s Dark Ale. The big question at the after party was why Australian breweries can’t seem to crack the ‘Beer of the Year’ prize, and how the overseas beers seem to be stealing our thunder. Not since 1999’s Hahn Premium has an Australian lager taken out the coveted Grand Champion Award. Only 51 gold medals were awarded on the night from 40 different classes of beer, and of that only 22 gold were awarded to Australian breweries. Now if you take away the 7 gold medals awarded for packaging, the picture becomes even dimmer. We thought it only right to speak with the judging panel as to their opinions on the subject.

Chief Judge Peter Manders put it best. “There is no reason why an Australian beer can’t win the major prize, but they must be able to stand up to world best standards or our awards wouldn’t have the international recognition we have worked so hard to achieve. This year we sampled some 270 varieties of keg beer, an increase of a third over last year. It took a total of nine days to assess 793 entries from over 31 countries. The standard of beer quality is the best we’ve seen, in all areas, and increasingly difficult to judge the best. The final judgement was between 6 beers to award the grand champion, and then the judging panel got it down to 4 by popular consent. Based on merit, a secret ballot was used to select the best from the last three.

We asked novice associate judge Simon Walkenhorst from the Hargreaves Hill Brewery in rural Victoria his opinions on his first experience as an international beer judge. “It was great. They divided the room in half with one side judging lagers and the other side ales. Being one of the ale judges I was impressed by the heavy hoppiness and huge back palate bitterness in the American India Pale Ales. They actually left me with a heavy tongue feeling. The specialty ales were also a highlight. The chilli beer smelt like a jar of chillies and after the initial maltiness had run its course the burning chilli flavour had us running for the water jug on the double! I had never experienced the smoked Rauch styled beers before so they were also a highlight. The raspberry, blueberry and blackberry beer were so strong it was hard to find the beer in the flavour profile. Overall, a fantastic experience and I hope they ask me back again.”

But enough about the judges already, let’s talk about the winning beers you can buy and have a taste of. The Grand Ridge Brewing Company has again walked away with a top award. In a world first 2 products tied for the Premiers Trophy and both were from Grand Ridge Brewery. Supershine and Supershine Vintage shared the prestigious Premiers Trophy. Grand Ridge Brewery also won the award in 2002 and 2003. In fact, since 1994 Grand Ridge has won well over 100 international medals for their beers which include Lager, Ale, Wheat, Dark, Stout and Light class categories. The company situated in the tiny hamlet of Mirboo North, Gippsland, has proved beyond any doubt that it consistently produces some of the best beers in the world, picking up a total of 12 awards from it’s range of beers this year.

Matilda Bay Brewing Company has been awarded the Champion Lager Trophy for its popular Bohemian Pilzner. According to Matilda Bay’s ‘Malt, Hops and Water Guy’ Brad Rogers “Winning gold at the AIBA is an honour in itself, but for Bohemian Pilzner to be awarded a Champion Trophy – it’s just fantastic. At Matilda Bay, we’re all about creating Australia’s best craft and specialty beers and this award is an amazing acknowledgement from fellow brewers and the brewing community.” With Bohemian Pilzner, Brad has produced a beer celebrating the style that began around 160 years ago when the brewers of Bohemia made the first true lager style beer in the town of Pilzen. The beer is brewed with premium Australian pale malt and authentic Czech Saaz hops, to provide a beer that has a spicy, floral aroma and a clean, rounded palate with a bitter finish. Matilda Bay was also fortunate enough be awarded 23 medals for beers as diverse as Redback Wheat, Rooftop Red Lager, Dogbolter Dark Lager, Alpha Pale Ale and Stickler’s Best Bitter. Also awarded was a ‘Best in Class’ for the delicious Redback Mild.

Champion Stout has once again been taken out by Coopers Best Extra Stout. This stout has continually impressed judges since it won Beer of the Year in 1994. Coopers took home 18 medals against intense competition from leading breweries across the globe. Coopers Best Extra Stout was also awarded a gold medal in the International Packaged category. Best Extra Stout won the International Draught Stout section outright for the second consecutive year while it also took out the International Packaged Stout category outright. Coopers Managing Director, Dr Tim Cooper, said winning one gold medal, six silver and 11 bronze medals was testament to Cooper’s global reputation for producing high quality beverages. “While Best Extra Stout was a star performer, we were also delighted to win silver medals for Sparkling Ale and Special Old Stout,” he said. “This is a fantastic result and a major global vote of confidence in Coopers”.

Toohey’s Ltd. didn’t do home empty handed on the night, as their Hahn Premium Light took the trophy for Champion Reduced Alcohol Beer, and Hahn Premium winning best in two classes of Australasian lagers. Lion Nathan Chief Brewer, Bill Taylor, was delighted with the recognition received for the brands saying: “We have long been convinced that Hahn Premium and Hahn Premium Light are great brews and now we’ve had it reconfirmed with further success at these awards”. “It’s great to have our efforts commended by an independent group comprised of some of the best brewers in the world,” Taylor said of the judging panel. “Hahn drinkers can again be reassured that their favourite brews are in fact the beers of choice of some of the best brewers in the business.” Taylor attributes the brews’ success to Hahn’s commitment to quality brewing and the distinctive hoppy characteristics of its brews. “Hahn Premium Light is a superior tasting light beer that is brewed for full flavour and refreshment,” he said. “The outstanding taste is achieved through modern brewing techniques, using the combination of imported hops and the finest Australian malt.” “Hahn Premium is handcrafted with higher malt levels and a blend of three special hops. The unique pleasant bitterness and finish of the brew is produced by late hopping with European aroma hops,” Taylor said.

.Their ‘little sister brewery’ Malt Shovel didn’t miss out either with best in class victories for their James Squire Porter and in-house beer Speculator from the James Squire Brewhouse & Restaurant at Kings Wharf, Sydney. Brewmaster Chuck Hahn was quite pleased with the results. “It’s fantastic to do so well and tributes to our craft brewers who have created distinctive flavoursome ales that are a unique experience for the Australian beer drinkers.”

Before we close our review of the 2005 Beer Awards, I’d like to acknowledge a few other small Australian breweries that impressed the judging panel. Sydney’s Redoak Brewery continues to kick goals with Best in Class awards for their Oatmeal Stout, Special Strong Ale, Honey Ale and Rauch Ale. Queensland Brewer Brennan Fielding is starting to get some well overdue recognition for his Oxford Brewery’s Oxford Nights lager and low alcohol Oxford 152. West Australian Bootleg Brewery continues their outstanding success with their fantastic Raging Bull Porter. Canberra’s Wig & Pen pub brewery seems to win gold with their Russian Imperial Stout every year, while Woodend Victoria’s hometown champion brewer Paul Holgate impressed the judges with their potent Holgate Brewhouse Winter Ale. Look for some special beers coming from Mildura Brewery to be gaining some recognition in the near future.

Nationalistic favouritism aside, we acknowledge the efforts and achievements of the import beers that made their mark on the 2005 judges. A salute to our ANZAC partners who continue to offer excellent beers, in particular small breweries Emerson’s and Steam Brewing Company from the North Island of New Zealand... Richard Emerson won 2 best in Class Awards: Best Australasian Ale- Emerson’s Old ’95 and Best Small Brewery –Specialty Section- Herb & Spiced Beer -Emerson’s Taieri George. And Luke Nicholas from the Auckland Cock & Bull pub- brewery seems to be enjoying the larger brewery at Steam Brewing winning best in Class for the second year in a row with his Best India Pale Ale -Monks Habit.

And love ‘em or hate ‘em, you have to respect the American small breweries and the fantastic products they produce. Samuel Adams has been dazzling us with a splendid display of specialty beers since winning Grand Champion in 2002 with their outstanding Samuel Adams Double Bock dark ale. This year is no exception winning Best in Class Light Beer and a gold medal for their Honey Porter. Impressive results were noted for perennial winner Rogue Ales, with gold medals for their Imperial India Pale Ale and Belgian styled Saison. Without a doubt, the Pelican Pub-brewery from the tiny Oregon town of Pacific City, population of 800, has blown away all comers large and small at this event. Grand Champion with a perfectly balanced Doryman’s dark ale is accompanied by accolades of Champion International Brewery, plus Best Stout with their ill-timed titled Tsunami Sweet Stout. The fact that such a small brewery from overseas can win for the second year is a testament to our judging panel, not a condemnation of Australian brewers and should be applauded for their fairness in their efforts.

Don’t Blame The Brewers

2005-04-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hear ye, here ye, the final round bell has rung for full strength beer. The hulky Aussie icon lager of 4.9% A/V is weakened and buckling at the knees like a punch drunk heavyweight boxer. Draught beer has been forced to reduce its weight a ‘teardrop’ at a time, according to David Park, Manager of Marketing Communications for Carlton & United Breweries, against a bruising bully who fixes his fights, the ‘wowser tax’. Rather than setting the scales evenly, as was the case under the old sales tax of 37%, the GST driven excise tax is indexed twice a year adding up to a permanent inflation rate of 10% per year for a beer over the bar.

But as the Aussie brewer staggers back to his corner, he’s greeted by a hostile crowd sniping at him with ‘value for money’ taunts. If ever the brewing industry needed support from its grassroots audience its now, yet they shuffle out of the arena in search of drinks that offer more bang for their buck. When the budget conscious drinker looks at the statistics, they find that a standard glass of cask wine is taxed nine cents whilst beer gets walloped at forty-two cents per glass. As for value added incentive that glass of cask wine is over double the alcohol but only about twenty cents dearer than the trusty ten-ounce pot. Yet still the crowd remains silent as our cultural heritage is watered down.

So what went did wrong for the Champ? To answer that we need to go back to the late seventies to an Australian invention, the four-litre wine cask and a Labour Federal government hell bent on lifting the profile of wine. The fledgling wine industry desired and got preferential treatment to develop an export market, and increase the amount of vineyards that concentrated on low quality high volume grape varieties. The state governments chipped in to provide excise concessions to assist small wineries, while their counterparts producing beer received tax relief only if they produced less than 300,000 litres per year.

With the new millennium brought a new Liberal Federal Government and a new taw tax structure, the GST. The antiquated wholesale sales tax of 37% across the board was replaced by an excise and customs duty tax system and the new WET (Wine Equalisation Tax) for grape, fruit, and vegetable wines plus vermouth, marsala, cider, and sake. WET maintains a 29% rate on the wholesale price of wine and the state governments provide a 15% wholesale price rebate for cellar door sales. In addition, the commonwealth provides a further 14% rebate of up to $ 300,000 wholesale sales to assist small wineries. Small breweries, on the other hand, continue to only be offered tax subsidies of production levels less than 3,000.000 litres per year. According to local small brewery Mountain Goat Beer, they produce that amount in six weeks.

But it’s in the local pub and bottle shop where the changing drinking habits and ‘bang for your buck’ philosophy is most apparent. Once the centre of Australian tradition, quaffing a few quiet ales with your mates, is no more. Draught beer sales now only account for 20% of total beer sales. As for value, a four-litre cask of wine contains approximately the same amount of alcohol as a 9-litre carton of beer, yet many of these casks retail for less than a six pack of full strength beer. When you compare the alcohol levels in cask wine and bottled beer from the bottle shop, the tax imposed per standard drink on cask wine is 16% compared to full strength beer taxed at 37%. Quite simply, a slab of full strength beer (33.6 standard drinks at 4.9% ABV) compared to a cask of wine (34.7 standard drinks at 11% ABV) is taxed six times more In terms of your wallet, that glass of cask wine at the pub should be costing the consumer around $ 7.00, but then nobody would purchase it would they.

Alan Giles, Victorian President of the AHA, sums it up well when he states “The government has milked the beer cow for years making the price of beer out of reach for many drinkers. Every time we get slugged with an increased excise indexation, the pubs see a drop off of 10% in draught beer sales. Without draught beer sales the local pubs cannot survive and another working man’s environment is lost, particularly in rural communities.”

Last year in an effort to inform the public and raise concern to these issues, the Australian breweries pooled together close to seven million dollars with their “It’s Your Shout” campaign. Their efforts went unrewarded by the public, and even fewer worries for the tax driven coalition who expected the blasé attitude of the boozers. So don’t blame the brewer or the publican, and cry into your chardonnay as we lose our cultural heritage. The fault lies with the beer drinking public who need to voice their protests with federal representatives to create a fairer drink tax for all rather than being forced to live in a wowser driven society.

Draught vs. Bottled Beer

2005-02-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

The popularity of premium and imported beers continues unabated. Bars and clubs, as well as pubs, now serve enormously diverse and exotic styles of beers from around the world in draught form as well as in a bottle. So what is the difference between the two methods of presentation and which one is the better beer I hear you say? Let’s ask the opinions of the experts.

Without question, every brewer agrees that draught beer is the closest route from brewing vessels to your lips. If all conditions are correct you can’t serve a better beer. According to Sean Prendergast InBev Regional Director Australia and New Zealand, “It’s the theatre of the pouring ritual with branded glass and proper coaster that meets our client’s requirements. We were the pioneers of the pouring ritual through our Belgian Beer Cafes which provided a new way of presenting our Stella Artois to the Australian market.”

James Tait, Corporate Affairs Lion Nathan Australia states that tap sales currently account for approximately 1/4 of the total beer market in volume terms. “Beer drinkers love the entire experience of tap beer from watching their drink being poured, to its presentation with the perfect head, to watching the rings appear down the side of the glass as they drink it. Increasingly we're identifying ways of making our beers available to as many consumers as possible on tap. An example is the innovative Heineken David System which is a portable 20 litre draught solution being used increasingly by smaller venues such as restaurants and premium cocktail bars. We're identifying ways of ensuring the attributes associated with these beers, including strong branding, can be transferred from the pack to tap offering. For example, at the Beck's Icon Bars we've installed special dishwashers to ensure glassware is as clean as possible and supplied branded glassware and coasters. In addition, staffs have been trained in the theatre of the pour to ensure the beer is presented in the best possible light. All of this adds value for the consumer while also giving them the experience associated with a tap beer.

Beck’s is the most popular German beer in the world: brewed in Bremen since 1873, and in strict accordance with the German Beer Purity Law of 1516. The success of Beck’s is based on a few important factors, including an emphasis on being a German ‘spitzen Pilsner von Welt’ or ‘world class premium pilsners’, and the inclusion of Hallertau hops of Bavaria, considered by some to be the finest pils hops in the world. The use of these hops may cause a few raised eyebrows due to the lightness in colour and put to question its strength and character, but after a swallow or two you will experience a clean crisp taste with plenty of back bitterness and a full rich flavour. Beck’s has a clear crisp white blond appearance with a creamy well-compacted head, subtly sweet aroma, with emphasis on lightness in style.

We spoke with Carlton & United Beverage’s Beverage Ambassador Dermot O’Donnell on the subject. “Without doubt, tap beer is the freshest beverage to the consumer, and provides us with an immediate test market situation. We can take their comments back to the office and act upon them to enhance the drinking experience. It’s a win-win for all concerned. The beer consumer is willing to pay for the ritual pour experience, while draught beer offers a better margin for the bar or club. It’s also allows for more places to dispense the product without the added costs of boxes, labels, and bottles which are a more costly investment” According to Brad Rogers Head Brewer for Matilda Bay Brewing “ Its all about visibility and point of difference. Seeing the beer font will influence drinker’s choice, no doubt. Beer drinkers want the whole package and literally ‘drink with their eyes.”

Japanese Asahi and French Kronenbourg 1664 and two imported beers in the CUB stable that have made quite a splash in the glass of recent times. Asahi draught was developed in 1987 by the demands from Japanese consumers who wanted a beer with similar attributes to white wine. A beer that was lighter, more refreshing, and compliments more varied food accompaniments. The resulting Super Dry was so popular the brewery couldn’t keep up with demand. Carlton & United Beverages has a tight and controlled distribution strategy which they intend to maintain. To ensure long term customer viability and consumer appeal. For those customers who have made the required investment and effort in extensive staff training and glassware reticulation there has been a positive return.

Kronenbourg 1664 is another success story on tap. It’s France’s #1 selling beer and #2 in the UK. The use of locally grown Alsace hop strisselspalt known as ‘the caviar of hops’ creates a flavour profile of a beer that’s more bitter than sweet with a distinctive tangy citrus taste at mid-palate. Kronenbourg 1664 was launched in the UK in 1952 to mark the Queen’s accession to the throne. On tap features the Head Injection Tap (HIT) that provides a tight smooth white creamy head that lasts to the bottom of the glass.

So are there any downsides to beer on tap? Most brewing people agree that areas of possible concern lie in poorly maintained dispensing systems and the lack of properly managed cellaring procedures would be the biggest concern. After that it’s lack of stock turnover leading to stale beer. Plus, bottles are more expensive to produce and perhaps less consistency According to Mr Predergast “If you’re not selling at least a keg a week you should be selling by the bottle.”

So are there any good points to bottled beer? Back to InBev “It allows the consumer to badge themselves to show others the experience.” And from my opinion, you have the ability to replenish the head to reinvigorate the aroma. Besides, very few households have the luxury of keeping a keg in the fridge. Plus, on the run and thirsty, nothing beats a coldie.

Carlsberg Elephant Beer

2004-11-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

Beer drinkers around the world rely on lagers to quench their thirst. The similarity of taste aroma and appearance meet our needs, but sometimes we seek something else without having to venture to far out of our comfort zone. Carlsberg Elephant is just such animal, rich on the mouth but not overbearing, plus light on its feet for such a powerful beast at 7.2% Al./Vol. considering that the local brews are tiring at 4-5 A/V under the weight of the beer tax laws.

The Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen has been around for 150 years and along with Germany, developed the lagering style our palates rely on today. The founder J C Jacobsen build his famous brewery empire on new technology, research, and technique, and the Elephant is proudly displayed on the gates as their symbol of strength and character. After a stint working at the Spaten Brewery in Germany, Jacobsen assumed correctly that beer drinkers around the world would endear themselves to clean crisp Munich styled pilseners based on sweet pale malt with a hint of Hallertau hops. His vision and foresight helped Carlsberg become one of the largest international breweries worldwide.

Carlsberg Elephant is technically described as a German styled bock, or strong beer based on the high alcohol level, golden colour, with a sweet malt barley flavour. The smoothness of this delicious drop implies extended lagering for maturation. The elephant goes well with any game based dish or a spicy beef dish.

Carlsberg Elephant is available at most leading bottle shops and sell for $ X.XX per 330 ml. bottle.

On The Buses

2004-10-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

We continue our beer tour of Europe from the last edition of B & C by concentrating on the nations to the north. In contrast to Britain, the northern European beers are dominated by the lighter lagers and seasonal specialty ales that highlight the sensational produce of the area. As the ‘Beer Bus’ finished up in Italy, it’s only natural we begin the second part of our journey in Germany.

Germany is the world’s greatest beer nation, and beer is an integral part of their customs and culture. In the Catholic south of Bavaria there is always a reason to celebrate with a different beer style for in any given season. It seems almost every village and hamlet has a brewery, even if only to refresh visitor’s palates. From these little breweries come the ancient recipes and special blends to create beers for all seasons and celebrations.

Germany can lay claim to making beer a civilized drink for two main reasons, the Reinheitsgebot Law or the ‘Pure Beer Pledge’, and the introduction of bottom fermented lagers. The pure beer pledge or German Purity Laws were enacted in the sixteenth century stipulating that beer can only be brewed with malted barley and wheat, hops, yeast, and water. Not only did this enforce cleaner beers, but essentially restricted imported beers from entering Germany allowing for local breweries to flourish. German brewers launched a campaign against imported ‘chemi-beers’ suggesting these beers as inferior to their own. This tactic assisted the small ‘hometown’ breweries who displayed plaques announcing their beers adhere to the Purity Laws. In Bavaria, the only change since brewing began is the switch from warm to cold fermentation. Munich or ‘the monks place’ became the major town along the salt route from Austria to Northern Germany. Being so close to the Alps, brewers began to store their beer in deep caves to withstand hot summers. The lower temperatures encouraged yeast to settle to the bottom of the fermenting vessel resulting in turning malt sugars to alcohol more slowly. The result is a cleaner, less fruity and more stable beer.

But what about the beers I hear you say, well here goes with a fairly condensed list based on geographical location. As Germany has 1500 breweries, we can only scratch the surface and describe a few drops available here in Australia.

Any discussion about German beer has to include Becks and Lowenbrau. . Beck’s is the most popular German beer in the world: brewed in Bremen since 1873, and in strict accordance with the German Beer Purity Law of 1516. Beck’s is one of the fastest growing International premium beers that arrived in Australia in 1906 and became their largest buyer within 3 years. As a lead-in to Beck’s being brewed here in Australia in 2005, two advertisements will be aired titled “Life beckons, choose wisely”. These high profile ads are an investment in a brand that has seen a 40% growth rise in the past twelve months The success of Beck’s is based on a few important factors, including an emphasis on being a German ‘spitzen Pilsner von Welt’ or ‘world class premium pilsners’, and the inclusion of Hallertau hops of Bavaria, considered by some to be the finest pils hops in the world. The use of these hops may cause a few raised eyebrows due to the lightness in colour and put to question its strength and character, but after a swallow or two you will experience a clean crisp taste with plenty of back bitterness and a full rich flavour. Beck’s has a clear crisp white blond appearance with a creamy well-compacted head, subtly sweet aroma, with emphasis on lightness in style.

Literally translated, Löwenbräu means Lion's Brew. It can be traced back to the medieval days of 1383 when an innkeeper brewed his own beer at the "Zum Löwen" or Lion's Inn. The lion is also the traditional symbol of Bavaria so Lowenbrau represents a traditional Bavarian-style beer. Lowenbrau Pure Bier beer is made from the highest quality ingredients giving it a superb natural head, golden colour, distinctive, refreshing flavour and a pleasant, enjoyable aftertaste. Limited to only 4 natural ingredients which include a special strain of Löwenbräu lager yeast, two-row barley, that’s malted with special technology to get its unique blend, a light Pilsner type malt of special composition and the finest aromatic hops from the world’s largest hops growing area, Hallertau, just 50 kilometres northeast of Munich Add to that their soft, clear and clean Bavarian well water and you’ve got a very special beer..

A classic of the Munich wheat beer style, Schneider Weiss is a delightfully spicy version that leaves a clean clove presence on the tongue. Traditionally brewed for Oktoberfest, the flavour profile is a balance of fruity sharpness with a sweet, clove infused hop maltiness. The lemony clove aroma gains richness as the beer warms.

Brewed in the small German Rhineland Lake District town of Bitburg since 1817, Bitburger is a Bohemian style pilsener, which uses the finest of locally grown spring barleys (Alexis, Arena, and Steiner); plus four hop additions (Hersbrucker, Huller, Perle, and Tettnang). In the past, the ice from nearby lakes was used in the lagering process. Today, Bitburger still has a three month extended lagering policy and is not pasteurised which helps to maintain the delicate balance of malt and hop flavours, while the export variety is sterile filtered. Rhineland Pilseners tend to be hoppier than those produced in the Bavarian South, but less dry and bitter from those of the Prussian influenced north. Golden straw in colour, Bitburger has a hop driven aroma with subtle tones of vanilla, mild caramel malty sweetness, and slightly floral hoppiness. As is the case with most pilseners, it’s moderately bitter on the palate with hints of smoky hop flavour and citric fruitiness.

Austria not only lost an empire but a beer style as well. Best known for the Vienna style based on red malt which master brewer Anton Dreher perfected in the Vienna suburb of Schwechat. The brewery went bust in 1930 and the style of beer became a fading memory. Today Austrian beers imitate the Bavarian styled lagers. In Vienna, Zipfer has a fine perfumed hop with well balanced malty mouth feel. The other major beer region of Styria is most noted for their hops where Gosser Pale and Dark Ale are brewed in Graz. The pale ale combines the sweetness of caramalt, maize and rice with noble hops Hallertau, Spalt, Styrian and Golding. Gosser Dark provides a malty mouth feel, mild hop bitterness with a smooth sturdy presentation and finishes with a nutty malty flavour.

The Czech Republic formerly referred to as Bohemia gave us the first cold fermented Pilsener. Monasteries dominated beer production until the thirteenth century, when ‘citizen breweries’ began suppling beer to the Moravian aristocracy. Regional hops go back to 850 AD and still held in esteem today. Pilsner Urquell is the flagship of the Czech brewing industry, and has been since 1842.Urquell means “original source” in German, the official language of Bohemia, once part of the Austrian empire. And as it says on the bottle, Pilsner Urquell is the original pilsner from the Pilsen, the birthplace of the pilsner lager style. Adding to its mystique, the beer introduced the now famous conical pilsner style glass when the world was switching over from stoneware and pewter tankards. Pilsner Urquell is golden in colour with a rich, well-compacted creamy head. The flavour and aroma profile is driven by the use of Saaz hops, which provide a floral, spicy aroma and adequate back bitterness without going over the top. Equally important in its structure is the renowned Moravian barley malt, which provides a malty softness and overall balance to the beer.

Talk about beer from Holland and the word Heineken isn’t far behind. G.A. Heineken was so appalled at the depravity and drunkenness caused by gin drinking that he swore to his mother that he would brew for the people if she bought the Haystack Brewery for him. Now enjoyed in over 170 countries, Heineken's global success has been built on a passion for quality, a dedication to innovation and a respect for the world it lives in. Heineken lager contains no additives or preservatives, and only the purest natural ingredients are used in the six week brewing process. And thanks to three generations of the Heineken family, the Heineken lager enjoyed all over the world today is still brewed to the original recipe, perfected in Holland in 1873.Another popular Dutch beer treat is Grolsch premium lager. Grolsch has been producing superb beers since the early 1600’s when Master brewer Peter Cuper established the brewery in his hometown Grolle (now Groenlo) in Gelderland. Considered a small independent brewery until recent times, Grolsch products have been synonymous with three major factors: extended lagering and fermentation, unpasturised beers, and that infamous swing-stoppered bottle. The swing top dates back to 1897, when other Dutch breweries started phasing them out claiming they were too expensive for mass production. A seemingly useless appendage for modern drinking habits, it provides a distinctive novelty factor and instant recognition for all Grolsch products. Grolsch Premium is a fresh hoppy pilsner style lager with plenty of Herschbruger and Hallbrtauer hops for aromatics and Yakima and Golden Nugget hops for bitterness. All natural and triple cold filtered, the lager is well balanced with rich malty yeasty sweetness and a subtle bitter finish. The extended lagering provides that distinctive European flavour and classic golden colour.

The image of drunken Vikings marauding the countryside is as much a part of Scandinavia as the land itself. They brewed a barley based beer they called aul and handed down the method of top fermenting ales to all of Europe. And similar to Holland, the beers are dominated by two breweries, Carlsberg and Tuborg. Carlsberg has been brewing in Copenhagen since 1847 and remains a popular favorite around the world. Its light hoppiness compliments a dry malty mouth feel, with a sweet malty finish. Carlgerg’s slogan on the side of a building in Copenhagen’s city hall says it all “Probably the best beer in town”.

If Carlsberg Lager is noted for its light refreshing nature, then their Elephant Malt Liquor would be infamous for its unexpected stampede on your brain. Carlsberg Elephant is named for the life-size carved granite elephant that flank the breweries arched entryway. Golden-hued it starts off with a crisp floral character followed by a malty, yeasty aroma. Strong wheat like presence takes over and remains in the background Carlsberg Elephant is technically described as a German styled bock, or strong beer based on the high alcohol level, golden colour, with a sweet malt barley flavour. The smoothness of this delicious drop implies extended lagering for maturation.

Tuborg was first brewed in 1873 at Aktieselskabet Tuborgs Fabrikker in Copenhagen, and joined forces with the household named and well loved Carlsberg Breweries in 1970’s.Exquisitely presented and worthy of the Danish crown on the logo, this quality, full bodied, refreshing beer offers all the complexity of its Carlsberg brother, with the ice cold bite of a clean, smooth lager. A low astringency and yeast tone leaves a carbonated, smooth tasting mouthfeel, rich in body. Equal dry & warm characteristics with less bitterness than the well known Carlsberg Green label; leave an enjoyable after taste on the palate. Independent Distillers in Melbourne are now the proud wholesalers for Tuborg and Carlsberg.

Where Germany brought civility to beer, the Belgians brought the passion. It’s hard to take in that such a small country could produce so many fantastic styles of beer. This revival worldwide of Belgian ales is nothing short of phenomenal. They give us pale ales, golden ales, brown, red, and white ales plus the fruity iambics and abbey ales, not to mention their ‘specialty ales’. The list is seemingly endless, but for the everyday drinker the people in Belgium consume vast amounts of lager like the rest of the world. Brewing giant Interbrew’s Stella Artois was first brewed as a Christmas beer in 1926, and was so popular that it became an all year round beer. The name ‘Stella’ also comes from the Latin word for star, probably linked to the traditional star atop the Christmas tree. Stella Artois has a bright crystal clear pale gold appearance and a delicate hop aroma that requires pouring into a glass to truly appreciate. The pilsener lager has a pleasing hop flavour leaving the palate with a combination of grainy malt flavour, moderate hop bitterness and a slight citric sourness in the finish.

Hoegaarden White Ale has become a bit of a cult drink with the younger Belgian set, and with good reason. Its creamy light lemony taste is an ideal refresher beer, with hints of coriander and curacao. Its history goes back to 1445 employing a secret recipe, the purest of ingredients, and locally grown wheat.

When Trappist monks were hounded out of France during the Revolution, they took their brewing skills north. Chimay is by far the most famous Trappist brewery. The local water is soft and acidic, and the malts are considered a blend of caramalt with candy sugar. Add some Hallartau and American Yakima hops, then prime it with sugar and you have a beer with great depth of complex flavours with fruit and spice from the hops. Chimay has three beers, Red (Premiere), Blue (Grande Reserve), and White. Leffe is Belgium’s original abbey beer, with origins back to 1152. The Blond is made with clear malt of medium strength which provides a dry, fruity, lightly spiced beer that’s full, creamy and delicately sweet. The Leffe Brun is sweetened with brown sugar and balanced with a slight bitterness from roasted malts. And finally the lambic fruity beers whose most famous face in the beer world is Belle Vue Kriek. Kriek is the Flemish word for cherry, and along with its spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts, and a long fermentation in oak barrels, provide a sweet and sour explosion in your mouth.

Euro Beer Tour

2004-07-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

An interest in imported beers will always require a journey back to Europe, and I find it best to begin with England and Ireland, then over to the mainland. The British Isles including Ireland are the sacred site of top fermented ales that are bitterly hopped, malt driven brews providing a plethora of popular styles which include bitters, milds, porters, stouts, strong ales and seasonal beers. Walk into any English public house (pub) and chances are your draught will be brown, cask conditioned and drawn from hand pumps. Until the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the use of coke in kilning malt, all beer was brown as the malt was cured over wood fires. So let’s have a look at a couple of these beers that are available here in Australia.

The southern county of Suffolk, a rural flatland area once known as East Anglia is the largest growing region for malting in England. The dominant brewery, Greene King is based in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk. Anglia’s King Edmond was murdered by the Vikings and buried at the local abbey. When Henry VIII dissolved abbeys in the 1500’s the monks hid in the tunnels which more than likely became the brewery cellars. A brewer called Greene acquired the brewery in the 1700’s and along with a partner; Greene King has become one of the largest independent breweries in the UK. Among many products my favourite is their Strong Suffolk Ale. A remnant of a bygone era dating back to the eighteenth century, Suffolk Strong employs the ancient practice of blending old and young beers. The ‘old’ brew is aged in wooden tuns then blended to achieve sweetness and acidity. The two blends settle down to 6% A/V, tawny in colour, with hints of passion fruit and chocolate.

Manchester’s most famous beer, Boddingtons Draught is classified incorrectly, but befits the image of the working class centre of textiles in north-western England. Two hundred years ago the brewery was erected north of town by Thomas Carsten and Thomas Fry to provide parched palates after work with dry bitter ale, and to avoid the excessive tax on grain. Manchester is synonymous with the industrial revolution of the 18th century, and the logo employed on the Boddington cans, a barrel keg and two bees, represents the “hive of industry”. The Christmas bonus for brewery workers during the era was two days pay and a quart of strong ale.

Locals demanding an assertively dry, pale bitter style of beer provided Boddingtons popularity and international fame. Changes to the style occurred with the takeover of the brewery by Whitbread Brewing Group in 1989 and the introduction of the widget in the can in 1992. To reach a larger target audience, the bitterness was toned down to create a smoother thirst quencher. The typical Manchester pub draught is hand pulled for a thick creamy ‘Queen Anne’s lace” head. To recreate this appearance, the widget was introduced to the Boddingtons can which injects liquid nitrogen to assist in compacting of the carbonated beer bubbles.

In North-east England, brown ale has been as important as shipbuilding and mining and was developed as a rival to the pale ales of the eastern midlands. Newcastle Brown was created by Colonel Porter in the 1920’s as another blend, this time a dark brown beer and a 3% A/V Amber Ale. The recipe is made up of pale and crystal malts, brewing sugar and a touch of caramel. Hallertau, Northdown, Northern Brewer and Target hops provide mild back palate bitterness. ‘Newky Brown’ as we call it is the biggest selling bottled ale in Britain and exported to over 40 countries. Tradition has it that Newcastle Brown should be served in small glass that’s constantly ‘topped up’. Sounds good to me.

Just the mention of Ireland and the words stout or pubs usually follow. Other than the Czech Republic, Ireland is the smallest nation to impose a major beer style into the consciousness of drinkers around the world, and since 1759 that word is Guinness. Arthur Guinness was shrewd enough to know that his stout would be a winner and took out a 9000 year lease on his newly acquired St James brewery. Other than the city of Cork where Beamish and Murphy’s stouts are brewed, just an order from the bar for a glass of stout will bring you a Guinness. The ‘dryness’ of an Irish dry stout is achieved by deep roasted barley and generous hopping. The original recipe was actually a scam to avoid tax which in those days was assessed on the amount of malt, not alcohol. Arthur Guinness 11 experimented with using unmalted, therefore untaxed, barley in the grist. The heavily roasted blend provided colour and a slightly charred taste to the brew, making it darker, drier, and more bitter than the English styled porter of the day. When first exported to Australia, the recipe was tinkered with to add more alcohol. This brought on the continual criticism of our Guinness not tasting the same as it did in Ireland. This anomaly was amended two years ago when the company went back to the original 4.1% A/V levels.

Crossing the pond to the mainland we land in France and Italy, places not usually associated with the consumption of beer. Over here, the beers of choice are lagers and seasonal wheat beers with their noble hopped fruitiness and moderate to low bitterness making them popular. In France beer is drunk throughout the country in bars and cafes called Brasseries-breweries. Over half of the countries total beer production is achieved by Kronenbourg located in the northern region of Alsace-Lorraine, an area under German rule from 1871-1919. Kronenbourg 1664 began along the banks of the Rhine, and gained fame for the aromatic hoppy fruity citrus notes plus a sweet smooth malty full bodied lager. The title K1664 was introduced in the 1980’s and the label and bottle were jazzed up in 2003 to help it compete on the international beer stage.

It was the Romans who brought the concept of beer to Europe from the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. But as we all know, the vino was the go at toga parties and has dominated the preferred drink category since. Brewing transplanted from the Austrian Alps wasn’t introduced until the nineteenth century. It took the youth and fashionable Italians of the 1960’s to re-launch beer into modern times. Wine was their parents and the peasant to drink; they wanted English-styled pubs and Bavarian Beer halls. Market leader Peroni’s main brand Nastro Azzuro is the ‘Blue Ribbon Italian Pilsner’ which includes 20% corn maize to sweeten the brew and then hopped with Saaz to spice it up. At 5.3% A/V Nastro Azzurro is quite a refreshing well balanced lager for its sweetness.

We’ll continue the beer tour in the next issue when we look at Northern Europe and how this region has affected the beer consciousness of drinkers around the world.

Sacred Ales

2004-06-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

An interest in imported beers will always require a journey back to Europe, and I find it best to begin with England and Ireland, then over to the mainland. The British Isles including Ireland are the sacred site of top fermented ales that are bitterly hopped, malt driven brews providing a plethora of popular styles which include bitters, milds, porters, stouts, strong ales and seasonal beers. Walk into any English public house (pub) and chances are your draught will be brown, cask conditioned and drawn from hand pumps. Until the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the use of coke in kilning malt, all beer was brown as the malt was cured over wood fires. So let’s have a look at a couple of these beers that are available here in Australia.

The southern county of Suffolk, a rural flatland area once known as East Anglia is the largest growing region for malting in England. The dominant brewery, Greene King is based in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk. Anglia’s King Edmond was murdered by the Vikings and buried at the local abbey. When Henry VIII dissolved abbeys in the 1500’s the monks hid in the tunnels which more than likely became the brewery cellars. A brewer called Greene acquired the brewery in the 1700’s and along with a partner; Greene King has become one of the largest independent breweries in the UK. Among many products my favourite is their Strong Suffolk Ale. A remnant of a bygone era dating back to the eighteenth century, Suffolk Strong employs the ancient practice of blending old and young beers. The ‘old’ brew is aged in wooden tuns then blended to achieve sweetness and acidity. The two blends settle down to 6% A/V, tawny in colour, with hints of passion fruit and chocolate.

Manchester’s most famous beer, Boddingtons Draught is classified incorrectly, but befits the image of the working class centre of textiles in north-western England. Two hundred years ago the brewery was erected north of town by Thomas Carsten and Thomas Fry to provide parched palates after work with dry bitter ale, and to avoid the excessive tax on grain. Manchester is synonymous with the industrial revolution of the 18th century, and the logo employed on the Boddington cans, a barrel keg and two bees, represents the “hive of industry”. The Christmas bonus for brewery workers during the era was two days pay and a quart of strong ale.

Locals demanding an assertively dry, pale bitter style of beer provided Boddingtons popularity and international fame. Changes to the style occurred with the takeover of the brewery by Whitbread Brewing Group in 1989 and the introduction of the widget in the can in 1992. To reach a larger target audience, the bitterness was toned down to create a smoother thirst quencher. The typical Manchester pub draught is hand pulled for a thick creamy ‘Queen Anne’s lace” head. To recreate this appearance, the widget was introduced to the Boddingtons can which injects liquid nitrogen to assist in compacting of the carbonated beer bubbles.

In North-east England, brown ale has been as important as shipbuilding and mining and was developed as a rival to the pale ales of the eastern midlands. Newcastle Brown was created by Colonel Porter in the 1920’s as another blend, this time a dark brown beer and a 3% A/V Amber Ale. The recipe is made up of pale and crystal malts, brewing sugar and a touch of caramel. Hallertau, Northdown, Northern Brewer and Target hops provide mild back palate bitterness. ‘Newky Brown’ as we call it is the biggest selling bottled ale in Britain and exported to over 40 countries. Tradition has it that Newcastle Brown should be served in small glass that’s constantly ‘topped up’. Sounds good to me.

Just the mention of Ireland and the words stout or pubs usually follow. Other than the Czech Republic, Ireland is the smallest nation to impose a major beer style into the consciousness of drinkers around the world, and since 1759 that word is Guinness. Arthur Guinness was shrewd enough to know that his stout would be a winner and took out a 9000 year lease on his newly acquired St James brewery. Other than the city of Cork where Beamish and Murphy’s stouts are brewed, just an order from the bar for a glass of stout will bring you a Guinness. The ‘dryness’ of an Irish dry stout is achieved by deep roasted barley and generous hopping. The original recipe was actually a scam to avoid tax which in those days was assessed on the amount of malt, not alcohol. Arthur Guinness 11 experimented with using unmalted, therefore untaxed, barley in the grist. The heavily roasted blend provided colour and a slightly charred taste to the brew, making it darker, drier, and more bitter than the English styled porter of the day.When first exported to Australia, the recipe was tinkered with to add more alcohol. This brought on the continual criticism of our Guinness not tasting the same as it did in Ireland. This anomaly was amended two years ago when the company went back to the original 4.1% A/V levels.

Crossing the pond to the mainland we land in France and Italy, places not usually associated with the consumption of beer. Over here, the beers of choice are lagers and seasonal wheat beers with their noble hopped fruitiness and moderate to low bitterness making them popular. In France beer is drunk throughout the country in bars and cafes called Brasseries-breweries. Over half of the countries total beer production is achieved by Kronenbourg located in the northern region of Alsace-Lorraine, an area under German rule from 1871-1919. Kronenbourg 1664 began along the banks of the Rhine, and gained fame for the aromatic hoppy fruity citrus notes plus a sweet smooth malty full bodied lager. The title K1664 was introduced in the 1980’s and the label and bottle were jazzed up in 2003 to help it compete on the international beer stage.

It was the Romans who brought the concept of beer to Europe from the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. But as we all know, the vino was the go at toga parties and has dominated the preferred drink category since . Brewing transplanted from the Austrian Alps wasn’t introduced until the nineteenth century. It took the youth and fashionable Italians of the 1960’s to re-launch beer into modern times. Wine was their parents and the peasant to drink; they wanted English-styled pubs and Bavarian Beer halls. Market leader Peroni’s main brand Nastro Azzuro is the ‘Blue Ribbon Italian Pilsner’ which includes 20% corn maize to sweeten the brew and then hopped with Saaz to spice it up. At 5.3% A/V Nastro Azzurro is quite a refreshing well balanced lager for its sweetness.

We’ll continue the beer tour in the next issue when we look at Northern Europe and how this region has affected the beer consciousness of drinkers around the world.

Australian Beer Awards 2004

2004-05-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

Judging from the results at this year's International Beer Awards, specialty beers and small breweries are certainly making an impression. The Grand Champion for 2004 is Pelican Pale Ale from a tiny pub brewery in Oregon, USA with population of less than 800.Last years winner was another pale ale Nor'wester PA from the little brewery Dux de Lux in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the year before that (2002), a specialty ale Samuel Adams Double Bock from the Boston Beer Company, USA was the big winner. The fact is the public hasn't had a chance to taste an Australian lager as Beer of the Year since 1999's Hahn Premium which also took out this yearís Champion Lager. Beer judges are brewers who we all know, have a serious hop addiction, but is that what the public wants as representative of their Grand Champion. From my observations at this year's Beer Festival, a limited amount of the beer drinking public who had the opportunity to taste the Pelican Pale Ale, which also won the trophy for Champion Ale, would rather have seen it get lost somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. I'm not having a go at the judges who do their job admirably, but are the judges judging only on what brewers find appealing, and not taking into consideration what will work for the average punter. Or perhaps it's a cyclical thing, as the previous five years 1995-1999 was dominated by the cold filtered brew. Philosophy aside, it gets down to selling more beer over the counter rather than some oblique product that nobody has either seen or heard of for the mug punter and the major sponsors alike I'd also like an old fashioned finale where we stand and toast the beer of the year, rather than finishing with an uncharged glass and retire to the back bar.

The Premier's Trophy for Best Victorian Beer went to the Mountain Goat Beer boys with their winter delight Surefoot Stout. According to brewer Dave Bonighton I think our appeal is the fact that we offer a different style of stout, a sweet English styled stout with chocolate, liquorice, and coffee notes as opposed to other dark, bitter styled stouts.î This could well be the case as the Champion Stout was a rich and complex Russian Imperial Stout from the Wig & Pen Brewery & Tavern in downtown Canberra. While speaking about stout, it's good to see the continuing success of Coopers Best Extra which was Grand Champion in 1994, and their Special Old Stout which is a beauty. South Australian Southwark Old Stout and Tasmanian Cascade Special Stout continue to impress the judges year in and year out.

The Kiwi's would certainly be pleased with their trophy haul this year including Champion Specialty Beer White Rock Wheat Beer from the Martinborough Brewing Company and Champion Reduced Alcohol Beer Steinlager Premium Light from Lion Breweries. From the Best in Class Winners, Auckland Pub Brewery Cock & Bull's Monks Habit won twice, with Monteiths Black and Speights Porter also posting winning scores along with the South Island's Lighthouse Brewery Classic Stout.

On a night of surprises, Paddy's Brewery at the Flemington Markets in Sydney earned the title of Champion Small Brewery. Other winners included an Eumundi Porter from Noosa Brewing, a Raspberry Wheat from a Redoak, Sydney, and a Chilli Beer from the Outback Brewery in 'outback Sydney' all of whom before the award night I'd never heard of. My confidence in kwowledge about Australian small breweries was restored with honours going to West Australia's Champion Australasian Brewery Swan Brewing along with Little Creatures Pale Ale, Matilda Bay's Redback & Dogbolter, plus Bootleg Brewery's Raging Bull all winning their Best in Class. Sydney's Malt Shovel Brewery got in the mix with their James Squire Porter and Victorian country favourites Grand Ridge heavyweights Moonshine (8.5% A/V) and Supershine (11% A/V) pretty well finished up the prizes for this year.

The National Liquor News was pleased to participate in the two day Australian International Beer Awards Festival held at the Convention Centre in Melbourne. Five 3 hour public taste testing sessions combined thirty breweries and fifteen industry sites with over 400 beers available for tasting. Seminars to inform the public on aspects of judging a beer, history of beer, plus beer and food matching were enjoyed by an audience up 25% on previous years. Our major breweries were well represented with terrific stands from Matilda Bay, Malt Shovel Brewery, Tooheyís and of course Coopers Brewery. Good to see the Victorian State Government supporting the small breweries in their state that joined forces to provide a super-stand for micro breweries including beers from Fitzroy, Mountain Goat, Grand Ridge, Jamieson , 3 Ravens, Buckley's, Stockade, and Holgate Brewhouse, while pub-breweries Gunn Island and Bell's Hotel offered samples of their craft. Representation by small breweries in other states certainly helped to round out the various styles available for tasting which included a South Australian Super Site including samples from Grumpy's Brewhaus, Holdfast Bay Brewing, Lawrence Victor Estate, and Port Adelaide Pub-Brewery. Newly established Bluetongue Brewery from the Hunter Valley, NSW offered samples of their premium lager and ginger beer along with Braidwood Traditional Ales located near Bathhurst. But without a doubt, the most popular stand was from the Belgian Beer CafÈ Bluestone in cooperation with Interbrew and Carlton & United who offered samples of Belgian waffles to munch on while sipping Stella Artois, Hoegaarden White Ale and Leffe Brun all poured from an authentic Belgian bar. Besides the beer, other attractions at the festival included stands highlighting malts, home-brewing equipment & advice, sports memorabilia, free samples of beef jerky, beer merchandise, and even a hangover remedy station. From our observations, the crowds were well behaved and enthusiastic who seemed to enjoy the opportunity to try different beers from around the world, including beers from Germany, Belgium, Austria, China, Thailand, Japan, Malawi, USA, and Canada.

Asian Sensations

2004-04-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

There’s no surprise to me on the increased interest and sales of Asian beers. Walk down any ‘foodie street’ in Australia and you’ll experience a plethora of Asian take away shops, restaurants, and supermarkets dominating the horizon. The wafts of steam with exotic spices, tandoori ovens on the go, and flamed hot woks tossing fresh fragrant goodies in the air are a far cry from the traditional roast and three veg dinners of the past. We have always embraced ethnic diversification, and with beer it’s no different. The Asian influence in the past decade has created a distinctive palate change with lighter, dryer lagers that blend better with sashimi than salami. A fiery curry or chilli and coriander stir fry require extra hopped pale ales or well bittered pilseners. As a bonus, the lighter lagers also appeal to ladies looking for a pilsener with less of a bitterness punch. Now I’m sure there are a few blokes scratching their heads while they sip their middies and pots wondering where I’m coming from. But the reality is that in a very depressed beer market, imported beers have shown a slight increase of 6% in sales So let’s take a quick tour of the Asian beers on the market that are gaining an undercurrent support at fashionable bars and clubs.

Starting with our closest Asian neighbour, Bintang and Bali holidays at Kuta are as Aussie as a meat pie. Brewed in Jakarta, their umbrellas and roadside advertisements are as Bali as a massage on the beach and we’re starting to see those brollies on fashionable big city streets here in Australia. The Dutch influence on the region goes back to Colonial times and nowhere is it more apparent than in their brewing. Characterised by a hoppy bitterness with a grainy malty aroma, the Dutch pilsener lagers embrace the Asian light dry finish.

For decades Aussies have discovered the Singapore Tiger beer while visiting or waiting for a flight. In fact, it was the RAF pilots stationed at Butterworth AFB that first introduced me to this golden drop with a sweet caramel aroma and clean crisp flavour over twenty years ago. As of January brewery giant Heineken has become the sole importer and distributor in Australia. A comprehensive marketing program will invest over $5 million dollars over the next three years focusing on leading edge bars, fine dining, and traditional targeted areas within the off premise. Other promotions include sponsorship of the Shaolin Monks in March, hosting a design event/conference plus book launch of graphic artists hosted by Diesel of Italy in April, Tsubi at Mercedes Fashion Week in May, plus Tiger Nights in Sydney and Melbourne. According to Market Development Manager Craig Blesson, “With the Australian premium beer market thriving, particularly the imported segment, Australia offers an exciting opportunity for Tiger Beer to emulate its success across Asia.”

The Thai Singha Lager from the Boon Rawd Brewery has been around since 1933 and continues to be popular for its light golden flavour. Now anyone who’s been to Thailand knows that pure drinking water is rarer that 24 carat gold, and their 3 brewery locations are based on quality water sources that are thoroughly checked to make certain of its correct composition and meets brewing standards. The clear water used by Boon Rawd Brewery is pumped from wells deep underground. It is activated carbon filtered, sand filtered and treated to meet Singha standards of brewing water. Quality grains and hops sourced from Europe and Australia help create this delightful drop. Another beer from Southeast Asia proving very popular in Asian cafes around Australia is 333 Premium Export Beer from Vietnam. Its light smooth finish is Perfect for the Asian palate, and works well for younger and female Australians as well.

The history of modern brewing in Japan is as old as Australia. The government set up a brewery back in 1869 on the Northern island of Hokkaido and a decade later were brewing Sapporo Lager. At one time there were several dozen breweries around Japan including the ‘big 4’ Sapporo, Japan, Osaka (Asahi Brewery), and Kirin. The fierce battle for market supremacy in the early 1900’s led to the Japan Brewing Company merging with Sapporo. After the war, the DaiNippon Beer Company divided into two companies Nippon ( Sapporo) and Asahi. The three continue to battle worldwide to be ‘champion Japanese beer’.

If one aspect of brewing can be attributed to Japan it would have to be the ‘Dry’ lager style. To create this drying effect, the mash is brewed at a lower temperature to soak up every drop of residual sugars that become alcohol. The result desired requires an extraction process to get only the first liquid run- off from the sweet wort then a long slow fermentation.

Sapporo Imported Original Draught Beer has a distinctive 650 ml silver can exhibiting their high tech outlook to brewing. Using state of the art technology, including a ceramic filtration process, creates a smoother cleaner lager. The sculptured conical shaped steel can releases a golden maize coloured brew with very subtle grainy sweet aroma and taste with a well balanced malt flavour.

Asahi’s volume share of the Asian beer market isn’t huge; however it is growing at a rapid pace. Ranked in the top 20 Premium Imports, it appeals to urban leading edge consumers. Victoria and New South Wales continue to be the two key Asahi markets constituting over 80% of total volume. Due to significant signs of growth and demand over the last few years, CUB will be launching Asahi Draught in selected venues in Melbourne and Sydney from April. Asahi is a traditionally brewed Japanese dry beer, rich and full flavoured with a refreshing dry after taste. It is the perfect accompaniment to Asia and spicy foods.

The last but not least of Japanese beers is Kirin Ichiban, the only Asian beer to be brewed here in Australia at the Malt Shovel brewery in Sydney. Locally brewed in small batches under the supervision of an expert Japanese brewer assures freshness. The Kirin is an ancient mythical beast which foretells the coming of festive and joyful events. The word “ichiban” means “first” in Japan and Kirin uses a First Press Brewing Method where only the first liquid drawn from the mash is used followed by a long fermentation period. The use of noble saaz hops provide a floral aroma that’s complemented by a delicate fruity flavour. Full bodied with subtle sweetness and mild bittering notes, Kirin Ichiban is quickly gaining local support in trendy nightspots.

No report on Asia would be complete without a glance at the sub continent, and when visiting any Indian restaurant in Australia, I’ll bet my house on the fact you can order a Kingfisher lager to soothe than fiery vindaloo. Thankfully, it’s a great beer and worthy of your indulgence. A nice golden amber colour with white creamy head, Kingfisher is well balanced malt character and good solid back bitterness. As with any Asian beer, serve it icy cold, sit back, and enjoy.

Brew Masters

2004-02-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

With the Galaxy of beers available, the truly bright stars fall into the Premium and Boutique beer category. We’ve seen meteoric sales for our wine and RTO (Ready to Drink) markets, but with beer it’s only humdrum same old same old. Part of the problem is inherent in the drink. When we think about beer we think boring stuff like consistency and tradition. Beer doesn’t have a spectacular epicurean entry like the Sommelier offering a sniff of the cork and approval first taste, or the bartender with his swirling twirling dervish dancing performance when mixing a cocktail. No, this is an alcoholic beverage where the pizzazz is in the product, and an understanding attentive barperson, but breweries can still learn a lot about presentation and the leaders in this direction have come from the small breweries and premium product producers.

In part, the pleasure of grape grazing in the wine districts of Australia is the ‘winery experience’. The scenic ambience, guided tours of the grounds, plus top class snacks and meals is a heady experience that results in important ‘cellar door’ sales. Some small breweries have caught on to this and are reaping the rewards, while the big guys have learned that creative packaging of unusual styles of ale is quite profitable. Here are some of the stars to look for in your bottle shops and beer tour guide books.

Out west, two breweries showing the way are in Fremantle, Matilda Bay Brewing, at the old Ford Motor complex, and Little Creatures along the wharf. Little Creatures has spent more than $10 million to develop a first class brewery and bottling plant. Included in the plans is an ample tasting room and restaurant which spills to the upstairs balcony and out onto the deck overlooking the bay. Only two of their beers are available Australia-wide, being their Pale Ale and mid-strength Rogers Ale. Both are well crafted ales with the accent on hops and more hops. Matilda Bay Brewing has been around for two decades producing such Aussie classics as Redback Wheat and Dogbolter dark ale. With the popularity of mid-strength beers, CUB has had the pleasant problem of selling more beer than a brewery can produce, so along with the closing of the Masthead brewery at Sanctuary Cove, Queensland, Matilda Bay is combining the best products from both breweries. Available in bottle along with Redback is Beez Neez, an amber honeyed wheat beer, and Bohemian Pilzner, a Czech styled lager with plenty of saaz hops for a spicy floral aroma and flavour. Dogbolter and their Alpha Pale Ale are presented as part of their ‘Brewers Reserve” a series of specialty ales on tap at designated locales. If you’re down Margaret River way, why not stop in to the Bootleg Brewery to experience one of the very best country/winery style watering holes in Australia, and in Perth stop in to the backpacker style Wentworth Hotel on Murray Street to sample some Nail Ale.

What’s a discussion of South Australia without mentioning the perennial Aussie battler, Coopers Brewery? The re-branding and packaging of their draught lager now includes their new brewery location Regency Draught, and their Premium Ale has been replaced with Heritage Premium Ale, a ‘chill-filtered’ dry lager’ish styled pale ale with a pleasing hop aroma from late hopping and crisp finish with moderate back bitterness similar to European imported beers. Add to that a clever outdoor advertising campaign in Victoria and New South Wales “If it’s not at your local, sell your house” and you have a stylish modern approach that signifies the marriage of Coopers with Premium Beverages including Budweiser is operating on all cylinders. The sales figures around the country reflect this assessment on average; sales nationwide are between 40-50%, with a whopping 152% in the Northern Territory. In Adelaide?, why not stop into The Port Dock Hotel and Pub-Brewery to taste test their award winning ales including the country’s best milk stoat.

In Tasmania the best brewing bragging rights continues the North vs. South family feud. According to J. Boag & Son Director of Sales & Marketing Lyndon Adams, “James Boag’s Premium Lager is now the second largest selling domestic premium beer and we aim to consolidate this position with a new marketing and promotional activity including a new television commercial will be released mid-year. We will be looking to release another Limited Edition beer following the successful 1881 Traditional Ale in 2002 and Boag’s Honey Porter in 2003.” Mr Adams also said, “The popularity of the company’s latest tourist venture, the Boag’s Centre for Beer Lovers, has far exceeded expectations, welcoming over 10,000 tourists in its first year of operation.” “Feedback from our visitors has been very positive, meaning that we are not only spreading the “Boag’s word” nationally and internationally, we are contributing to growth in our beer business as well”. Mr Adams continued, “We are also excited that the Boag's Centre for Beer Lovers has gained accreditation in the National Tourism Accreditation Program that endorses best practices in the tourism industry. Accreditation provides the consumer and the industry with an assurance that our business is committed to quality practices and professionalism.” Meanwhile the southern Tasmanian tiger Cascade has undergone an upgrade of the new six-pack and carton design featuring imagery that reinforces purity and Tasmanian heritage. The bottles now have a foil neck label that finishes just below the bottle lip to stop any grating on the lips while slugging back a stubby. Cascade Premium took top honours at last years Australian Good Taste Beer Awards, plus their highly successful ’ Four Seasons’ Limited Edition beers will continue to challenge the epicurean palate.

Australia’s ‘King of Beers’ Crown Lager continues its amazing run as the number one premium beer for fifty years. Crown Lager was the best kept secret of diplomats and visiting dignitaries, until 1953 when CUB officially launched it to the public to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. ‘Crownies’ cone-shaped bottle and foil label haven’t changed much over the years, so the cosmetics are slight highlighting a bolder red and gold crown. The packaging artwork and point of sale changes should start to appear in the bottle shops in April.

Chuck Hahn’s gang from the Malt Shovel Brewery have made a quiet entrance into the hotel industry with the opening of their James Squire Brewhouses in Melbourne and Sydney. At the Portland Hotel in Melbourne, some quality in-house brews are on tap including the award winning 3 Weissmen dark wheat, the Craic stout, and Portland Pale Ale. Word has it that the Craic and Portland Pale will make an appearance at the new Sydney Brewhouse at King Street Wharf. Malt Shovel continues to offer seasonal beers such as the Colonial Wheat and the winter warmer Australian Strong Ale, and to add to drinkers education, they offer beer and food matching nights titled ‘Ales & Tales’. All this has helped them achieve in increase of 40% in total sales last year.

Other breweries to keep a look out for are Grand Ridge Brewery from country Victoria with their 9 award winning ales and newly opened Blue Tongue Brewery in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. Grand Ridge has made significant in roads in New South Wales and Queensland this summer with their Natural Blonde wheat beer proving very popular. Its flavour profile of orange and coriander is very refreshing on a hot day. Blue Tongue has hit the ground running with Bondi Blond & Red brewed under contract, a budget beer Brewery Bitter, an in-house pilsener and a Ginger Beer.