The 20 best Aussie beers of 2016
There’s never been a more exciting time to be a beer drinker. Make the most of it. Here are our 20 best brews.
Compiling my Top 20 this year, it became clear why the beer world is suffering a shortage of hops. The magical green bud – a cousin of cannabis – brings bitterness and flavour in the boil and heaps of aroma when added whole and fresh later in the process. And it’s in great demand among craft brewers, who literally can’t get enough of the stuff.
The craft industry has shown no sign of slowing down in 2016, with recently established startups going gangbusters. South Australia’s Pirate Life had barely opened its doors in 2014 when it had to double capacity. Willie the Boatman, which Nick Newey and Pat McInerney opened to the public in Sydney’s inner west in 2015, is a more modest affair but is shipping in bigger and brighter stainless steel vessels to keep up with demand.
It was almost half a century ago in the UK that a group of fusty old men formed the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in an attempt to preserve the dying tradition of local breweries providing local pubs with hand-crafted real ales. This year the organisation announced that hipsters, with their love of craft and flavour, had singlehandedly done what they could not. For this we must thank the tattooed types.
I have long campaigned for our craft beer industry to focus a little more on lagers or pilsners and wheat beers as a way of offering subtlety to their vast beer menus. There is little sign of that happening, but I recently heard the proprietors of Bucket Boys bottle shop in Sydney’s inner city Marrickville joke about starting a Campaign for Real Lager recently. We can call it CARL.
A surprising number of IPAs (India pale ales) and imperial-style beers muscled past my bias and into the Top 20 this year; when the hop, malt and alcohol regimens in these drops are finely tuned they are hard to beat. Note also how the craft industry has embraced cans, which are lighter, cool faster and protect beer better than glass.
There’s never been a more exciting time to be a beer drinker. Make the most of it.
Pirate Life Brewing IIPA
Doubling down on the standard IPA with “big malt, big hops, big fermentation”, the pirate team in Hindmarsh, South Australia, have produced a beer that manages better balance than a lot of standard IPAs. A Phil Spector “wall of beer” that’s cacophonous and foot-stompingly entertaining.
Imperial IPA
8.8% alc, $13 (500ml)
piratelife.com.au
Bridge Road Brewers B2 Bomber Mach 6.0
OK, Belgians never did an IPA but under the Craft Beer Free Trade Agreement styles are merging. Made in Beechworth, Victoria, the B2 is in its sixth and best incarnation. “Always different, always the same,” as John Peel said of The Fall. It has 12 malts and 11 hops (which isn’t as many members as the post-punk band).
Belgian IPA
10% alc, $35 (750ml)
bridgeroadbrewers.com.au
Fox Hat Brewing Phat Mongrel
An offshoot of the excellent Vale Brewing mob in McLaren Vale, South Australia, Fox Hat is apparently licensed to let its hair down a little more. An easy-drinking oatmeal stout with pungent aromas, smooth mouthfeel and dark chocolate notes that are more mannered than mongrel.
American stout
6.5% alc, $6.50 (375ml)
foxhatbrewing.com.au
Mornington Peninsula Brewery Mosaic IPA
The Mosaic hop is a relative of the famous Simcoe variety, and while only developed in 2012, its earthy, floral and fruity flavours have made it a must-have for IPA brewers. This Victorian beer is a single-hop variety and is delivered in a can that is almost a work of art.
IPA
5.5% alc, $6 (330ml)
mpbrew.com.au
Colonial Brewing Company Small Ale
AFL fans know little fellas can more than hold their own (as this is a West Coast drop, the Matera brothers come to mind). Despite the modest alcohol content, the taste is superb, thanks to brilliant brewing by this little outfit in Margaret River. The most responsible beer on the list.
Mid strength ale
3.5% alc, $4.50 (330ml)
colonialbrewingco.com.au
Green Beacon Brewing Co Windjammer
Liberated from the can, it announces itself with a deep golden colour in the glass and a crisp white collar. All the usual aromas – pine needles and lychees – are there, but the Green Beacon team in Teneriffe, Brisbane, have delivered an IPA that is as close to sessionable as you’ll encounter in this style.
IPA
6% alc, $6 (375ml)
greenbeacon.com.au
James Squire Hop Thief No.8
The latest iteration of this forever evolving beer, made at the Malt Shovel Brewery in Sydney, appears to have changed the malt bill. It’s a bit paler, perhaps slightly less sweet on the palate, but still an excellent beer from Chuck Hahn, the godfather of Australian brewing. It’s tropical and light on its feet.
America pale ale
5% alc, $4.40 (345ml)
jamessquire.com.au
Murray’s Brewing Wild Thing Imperial Stout
From a brewery in Port Stephens, NSW, that has established a reputation for excellence during its decade in the business. Hendrix heavy, dark and warming, this beer comes with a forbidding label that warns it is “not for everyone”. (There’s also Wild Thing Chocolate brew, with vanilla and cocoa).
Imperial stout
10% alc, $13 (330ml)
murraysbrewingco. com.au
Red Hill Brewery Scotch Ale
Craft beers have long taken their cues from the Americans, but this Mornington Peninsula brewery follows the English tradition. This ale is driven by its malt base and is not so New World with its hopping. It has the traditional, comforting caramelisation you expect from the style.
Scotch ale
5.8% alc, $6 (355ml)
redhillbrewery.com.au
Prancing Pony Brewery India Red Ale
Voted Supreme Champion at the International Beer Challenge in London. It’s a product of the fire-brewed technique used by this outfit in Mount Barker, South Australia, which gives a distinctive caramelisation. An outstanding beer.
American imperial double red ale
7.5% alc, $19.50 (500ml)
prancingponybrewery.com.au
La Sirène Brewing Fleur Folie
Literally a madness of flowers, this honey saison is one of the most drinkable and moreish beers from a little Melbourne outfit that has devoted itself to creating a range of sour beers in the farmhouse tradition. Golden coloured, with a complex, layered flavour profile, it is a simply marvellous beer.
Saison miel
6% alc, $10 (375ml)
lasirene.com.au
Coopers Brewery Sparkling Ale
Old Red was the beer the hipsters’ great-great grandfathers drank, and it’s still a legend among those who sip craft concoctions through beards a century later. Unfiltered, unfancy and unfashionable for much of its life, this Adelaide drop is a national treasure and should be on the heritage list.
Sparkling ale
5.8% alc, $4.40 (375ml)
coopers.com.au
Feral Brewing Company Feral White
The Belgian witbier (wheat beer) style originated in the village of Hoegaarden. By the late 1950s all the local breweries had closed, but a decade later the beer and the name Hoegaarden were revived by a local milkman. Today this Perth outfit pay a fitting homage. Cloudy, spicy, softly carbonated. Lovely.
Belgian witbier
4.6% alc, $5.50 (330ml)
feralbrewing.com.au
Holgate Brewhouse Temptress
A seven-malt army provides the back beat for this vanilla and cocoa-infused beer that envelops the mouth in chocolate and caramel flavours. Made in Woodend, Victoria, it’s a chilled dessert that passes as a main course. Acceptable any time but wonderful in the colder months.
Chocolate porter
6% alc, $8 (330ml)
holgatebrewhouse.com
Young Henrys Brewing Real Ale
An easy-drinking beer from the heart of hipsterdom, Sydney’s Newtown. It’s not a “real ale” in the English sense (that is, cask conditioned), but it was impressive enough to pick up a gold medal at the UK 2014 International Real Ale Festival. A deft blend of English and Australian malts with New World fizz and hops.
Best bitter
4% alc, $4.50 (375ml)
younghenrys.com
4 Pines Brewing Co Kolsch
German drinkers have traditionally favoured the bottom-fermented lagers, but in the city of Cologne a top-fermented golden ale known as kölsch has held its own. This homage from the 4 Pines mob in Sydney’s Manly is best enjoyed after the ferry ride across Sydney harbour.
Kölsch
4.6% alc, $4.50 (330ml)
4pinesbeer.com.au
Stone & Wood Brewing Co Pacific Ale
Why? Because of summer, because of sharks, because it would be foolhardy to do anything along Australia’s endless coast other than find a shady spot and enjoy this Byron Bay drop. Responsible drinking, Northern Rivers style. This fruit salad beer has sparked a number of imitators but none touches the original.
American pale ale
4.4% alc, $5 (330ml)
stoneandwood.com.au
Bridge Road Brewers Chevalier Saison
Come summertime in the fields of Belgium, workers quenched their thirst with this refreshing style of light, sour beer (they had an allowance of five litres a day). Ben Kraus, who runs this great brewery in Beechworth, Victoria, started out as a winemaker and he’s a dab hand.
Saison
6% alc, $15 (750ml)
bridgeroadbrewers.com.au
Sample Brew Pale Ale
Everyone is ramping up the American pale ales, plundering the hop farms and belting out enormous beers, but this Melbourne brewer’s offering is a more restrained version that is refreshing and drinkable. Unfiltered and aromatic, it displays an admirable balance.
American pale ale
4.7% alc, $5.50 (330ml)
samplebrew.com.au
Moo Brew Pilsner
A classic Czech lager from the brewery associated with Hobart’s daring Museum of Old and New Art. This old style is given a new twist by the use of Spalt rather than Saaz hops. A good pilsner requires a firm (but not too light or too heavy) malt base. They’ve got it right with this one.
Pilsner
5% alc, $6.50 (330ml)
moobrew.com.au
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