Craft beer: What is it and how to get started

Bespoke brews are so hot right now, so buy a couple of local cans and see what the fuss is about.

Summer is just around the corner, and reaching for a cold beer at the end of a long day remains one of life’s great joys.

For many that beer will exactly be the same every time – whether it’s a VB, a Tooheys New, a XXXX or a West End Draught – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

But Australians are getting increasingly curious and adventurous in their beer tastes, with the rise of craft beers and the range of styles and flavours they bring.

From a low point of 19 breweries in 1984, there are now more than 600 independently owned breweries across Australia, according to the Independent Brewers Association.

Between them they are producing more beer than ever before as thirsty Aussies look beyond their traditional taste for lager and now embrace pale ales, India Pale Ale, Extra Pale Ale, stouts, sours and more.

The good thing about small breweries is you can chat to the owners and the brewers for advice.

Champion golfer Marc Leishman says that, like his father before him, he used to have very basic tastes in beer, but since becoming involved in brewing his own Leishman Lager he is much more adventurous and likes to be surprised.

“I kind of relate the craft beer industry as similar to wine,” he says.

“If you open a Carlton Draught, you know exactly what it’s going to be like every time. I feel like craft beer is more like the wine, which is fun because you don’t know exactly what it’s going to be and that can be exciting.”

Australian golf champion Marc Leishman with his own Leishman Lager.

WHAT IS CRAFT BEER?

It really depends who you ask. The short answer is that a craft brewery or microbrewery is one that produces small batches of beer.

Some insist that the business must also be independently owned, but brewing giants regularly buy out smaller players and continue to produce the same beers, as has happened with Balter, Little Creatures, Mountain Goat and, more recently, Byron Bay favourite Stone & Wood.

For Dave Padden, founder of the Akasha Brewery in Sydney’s inner west, the key ingredient is passion.

“Craft, for me, is small, independent, tasty and it’s quite agile as well,” he says.

“People’s tastes in beer move pretty quickly and what people want today is not necessarily what they want tomorrow. As small craft producers, we have to be pretty agile and change styles of beer that we produce.”

Gather your buddies and try an assortment.

HOW TO GET STARTED

For the uninitiated, the dazzling array of craft beer types on offer can be quite daunting – and not all of them will suit everyone.

Padden recommends starting with an XPA, which he says has “a very Australian style” or a pale ale.

Or visit your local brewery taproom and ask for advice – and support a local business.

“The good thing about small brewers is that you can go and chat to the owners and the brewers,” he says.

“Let them know that you are starting your craft beer journey and they will guide you down the right path.”

There are now more than 600 independently owned breweries across Australia.

MAKE IT SOCIAL

Leishman says he likes to gather buddies to try new varieties.

Splitting drinks means they can try more unusual varieties without worrying about wastage if they don’t like them, and it also takes into account the fact that some craft beers can be higher in alcohol content (double and triple IPAs can be about the 10 per cent mark).

Padden says craft drinkers and producers are more about quality than quantity.

Many brewers are foodies and are happy to match beers to meals.

While most craft beers cost more by the can or slab, he says customers are willing to pay for a total taste experience.

“We’re not about getting pissed, to be honest,” Padden says with a laugh.

“That comes with the territory sometimes but it’s certainly not why we do it.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

● Pale ale: Australia’s favourite craft beer style, which takes its name from its colour. Usually lightly hopped. Not bitter.

● Amber ale: Gets its name from the colour and combination of ingredients – it’s not a dark ale, nor a pale ale, so it must be amber ale. Produced by adding amber or crystal malts to the pale ale, resulting in a caramel toffee flavour.

● IPA (India Pale Ale): Originally an 18th century English export to India, the beer had extra hops and alcohol to help preserve it on the long journey, giving it a bitter flavour with floral undertones.

● XPA(Extra Pale Ale): Somewhere between a pale ale and an IPA, fruitier and hoppier than the former, lighter and less bitter than the latter.

● Porter/stout: Modern porters are dark, malt assertive and well-hopped beers offering complex, rich flavours of chocolate, nuts and caramel, sometimes a soft smokiness, while usually offering lower alcohol content.