May 9, 2012

GABS Beers – HopDog BeerWorks

By Ale_of_a_time

Last post before GABS (click the pic below for their site). This one comes from a brewery I know little about. What I do know is that the beers have been getting a bit of hype around the community and that Tim, the owner/brewer, loves metal. Now if there are two things relevant to my interests, they are beer and metal. I’m definitely more a beer man than a metal man, but who isn’t partial to some crossover thrash, sludge, speed metal, and the straight up metal classics every now and then?

Anyway, you’re probably don’t need to hear me crap on about metal.

Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer?

For winning people over to craft beer I think it shows with an awesome and unique even like GABS just what craft beer in Australia and New Zealand is capable of when let off the chain. For us being so small and new in the game it’s also a chance to get people interested in HopDog. They could very well taste our Black IPA and be like “gross, what have they done with my mouth?” or “awesome! What else does this guy do?”, and there it is an on sale and the chance to give more exposure to our brewery. I do find at most beer fests it is a “I’ve had that before, what else have you got?” and punters won’t be asking that here.

With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill do you feel any pressure on you and your beer? or are you just like a punter and are happy to be involved?

Hell yeah! I’m humbled and so excited to be part of the GABS, and on the beer side, I think our entry will definitely stand out from the crowd. Am I worried? Nope.

Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying?

No, sadly I don’t have enough Dad Points to make it down for both GABS and the AIBA, so I’m heading down later in the week, but will be all over Twitter and Untappd during the event days seeing what people are saying about all the beers including ours. I’d really like to try the Gunnamatta from Yeastie Boys and Murray’s oak aged Farm ale.

You are still a relatively new brewery with not too much exposure nationally can you tell us a bit about your beers and your outlook on brewing as a whole?

Well, HopDog is only 8 months old, but I’ve been working in the brewing industry almost 12 years. Our beers are very hop forward and we have a “take no prisoners” approach to quality and substance. HopDog is not an entry-level brewery for beers. Our US styled Pale ale for example is 5% abv and 50 IBUs, hopped through out and dry hopped too all with NZ Cascades. Our rye IPA (Horns Up) is a 5.8% abv and 70 IBU hop monster. But on the other end of the scale we’ve also produced an oak aged Belgian styled peached wheat beer, a Pumpkinated Belgian strong ale and a smoked rye golden ale called Ham on Rye.
Australian craft brewing as a whole I think is really moving forwards with the likes of Feral and their new sour brewery, Moon Dog and the eclectic styles they’re producing, but I still think we’ve got a long way to go with local pubs and local drinkers taking craft beer to their hearts.

Why did you choose to brew a Barrel Aged Black IPA?

Well, funny story… When we got the call up to be part of the GABS Steve asked me to send down 3 ideas of beers we’d like to do, so we sent down 3, the first 2 were pretty awesome, and the 3rd I just thought “Barrel aged Black IPA, they’ll never choose that”, but he did. But when it came to brewing it, it seemed the best beer to showcase what we do, and what we brew at HopDog. Big, brash, bold, hoppy and a bit oaky.

Can you tell us about the name “Children of Darkness” and why you chose it?

As a lover and advocate of Heavy Metal music I thought a black IPA needed a suitably themed name, but giving it a name related to Black or Death metal seemed a bit too much, so looking at “dark” and “black” on google we found “Children of Darkness”, and the imagery and ideas it conveyed were perfect for it.

If this beer is a success, are we likely to see it turn up as a regular part of your range?

Maybe not the regular range, but it will be back later in the year. If it’s a roaring success, I’m ready to brew another batch tomorrow, just need to order some more hops…

Do you have any thing you would like to add about your beer, GABS, or craft beer in general?

No, I think I’ve chewed up enough bandwidth for one day.

Great stuff. As I said, this is the last one so thanks to Tim for turning this round at short notice. I’ll be a little quiet over Good Beer Week. Hopefully you can get out to some events if you are in Melbourne! Hope to see everyone out and about.

I’ll leave you with a song about beer… not metal, but it’s such a great song I feel like it’s a fitting end to these interviews. Check out the HopDog BeerWorks site while you listen: http://www.hopdog.com.au/

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May 7, 2012

GABS Beers – Bright Brewery

By Ale_of_a_time

Less than a week before GABS and based on the amount of hits I’m getting on the site for it, it’s going to be huge. By now you have probably looked at the beers and decided what you want to try and whether or not you want to commit to the full 60. It is truly an admirable goal but probably one I won’t be attempting myself. While I’m atteding two sessions, my strategy will be to use tasters to try the ones I’m most interested in, and ones from breweries I’m not familiar with, then get a couple of proper sized glasses and just enjoy the beer. Beer tastings can be overwhelming and I know there is no way I’m going to remember them all, so it’s my goal just to enjoy as much as I can. No matter how you approach it though, it’s going to be a lot of fun. Remember that moderation is the key as well. We don’t want people partying themselves out before Good Beer Week, and there is nothing worse than a messy drunk beer geek.

Anyway, this interview is with Jon from Bright Brewery in Victoria. I was fortunate enough to try their MIA IPA recently and it was a real winner. One of the best IPAs brewed in Australia. You can also read about the paragliding incident that inspired the name. While not a permanent addition to the range, it’s one that really got people around here talking. Their GABS beer is the “Resistance” IRA… that’s India Red Ale (for those unaware, it’s one of those kind of made up new world styles. Red in colour, but hopped like an IPA… Make of the name what you will).

Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer?

I think that GABS is a reflection of a pretty big shift in Australian beer drinking habits – people are looking for real choice, actively seeking out craft beers made by people who care deeply about the quality of the beer they’re producing.  The fact that GABS is set to be such a huge event, with a focus on big, very special beers kind of changes the game and shows that craft brewers are less inclined (and less expected) to produce compromise “gateway” beers for the uninitiated – instead we can focus on the important things – flavor, balance, quality, and not be scared to go big.  Punters are more and more likely to try bigger and weirder things, and to appreciate the effort that has gone into crafting them.  

With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill do you feel any pressure on you and your beer? or are you just like a punter and are happy to be involved? 

For sure – but I always feel pressure to make sure all our beers are great – I guess single batches magnify this.  The stress doesn’t come from the fact our beer will be served alongside offer sings from some of my favorite brewers in the world (I’m more excited about this), rather it comes from the challenge of coming up with something that I’d be truly proud of, and from the fact the bar staff at the brewery will beat me if I don’t make something really special that they can have after work! 

Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying? 

I’ll be there every day, and am looking forward to far too many beers to list.   

Why an India Red Ale? 

The seasonal beers I’ve been brewing over the past 12 months have been driven by the seasons here in Bright – I wanted something imp-IPA quantities of hop character, but with a bigger and more complex malt profile than the well attenuated US west cost IPAs I tend to love in spring and summer.  I’ve used a combination of malts not usually pared with tropical/citrussy hops – the darker caramel malts I’m hoping will play devil trombones to the silver trumpets of the hops. 
The nomenclature of these type of beers is so fuzzy and silly that we could have settled on calling it any number of things, I just liked the acronym.  Gerry Adams wasn’t available to officially endorse the beer, unfortunately.  

Was there a conscious decision to avoid out there ingredients and styles ala many of the beers?

I love “out there” beers, and am really impressed when brewers execute crazy things well.  I think however that there is still so much innovation possible with ‘traditional’ ingredients, and that sometimes people can get carried away with an idea without fully thinking through the impact of a particular ingredient of technique on the finished beer.  My very favorite beers in the world have grown out of long brewing traditions, and tend not to have too many crazy things in them. 

Your MIA IPA was one of the most talked about local beers recently, this being an India Red Ale, is it going to have a similar hopping schedule? 

Really similar.  Very big late additions and liberal amounts of dry hopping.  Completely different hops, but similar schedule.

Any paragliding before this one?

Always.  Went back and conquered the mountain I crashed on before the launch of the MIA. Top landed, stayed the night, and hiked back the next day. exorcised some flying demons. 

Anything else you want to add about your beer, GABS or craft brew itself?

I love festivals, and GABS looks set to be the best we’ve ever had in Australia.  This kind of event gives me an excuse to do what I love more than anything else – drink excellent, new beer and talk beer and brewing with other people who are just as obsessed as me – I get massive satisfaction from this kind of thing.  

Thanks Jon!

This may or may not be the last in this series. GABS is only days away now and I’m still waiting on a couple of responses. I hope it isn’t the last as these have been fantastic reading and something I can hopefully reprise next year. I would love to try get all the brewers on board, so let’s hope GABS happens again! In the meantime, check out the Bright Brewery website (not that I expect that it’ll take you a year, it’s just a turn of phrase): http://www.brightbrewery.com.au/

Cheers!

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May 6, 2012

GABS Beers – Garage Project

By Ale_of_a_time

The Garage Project is one brewery that I’ve been dying to try a beer from ever since learning about them. Their website/blog alone is enough to pique anybody’s interest. It’s essentially the same as any blog, but the words, photos, videos and other little tidbits give a sense of the passion the guys have for beer and brewing. They are also responsible for my favourite piece of beer writing this year, a post about sleeping and brewing in a hop field. You can check it out here. Currently they are putting together the finishing touches on a shiny new brewery and made a stylish video to show how it went down. Check it out here.

Jos and Pete have kindly taken the time between the install and brewing to give us a few words about their GABS Beer, ‘Double Day of the Dead’, a strong black lager. It’s basically a revved up version of the original Day of the Dead, and is their first beer to make it over to Australia. The original, as described in their own words is

“ Brewed with smoked chipotle chili, refermented with organic blue agave syrup (the basis of Tequila) and conditioned over raw cocoa nibs”

Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer?

Jos:

There is so much more that Craft Beer can offer a drinker, and I think GABS is a bold way of showcasing this. It’s easy to fall into routines and stick to the tried and true brands and familiar styles. The brilliant thing with events like this is that there is literally no place to hide! Some breweries will be familiar but all the beers on offer will be something new, something quite different and hopefully at least one that provides an epiphany creating a new craft beer fan! 

With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill do you feel any pressure on you and your beer? or are you just like a punter and are happy to be involved?

Pete:

Beer should be fun. I feel it pays not to lose sight of this. There will be some awesome beers at GABS, I think we’ll be one of them. 

Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying?

Jos:

Both Pete & Myself are making the trip over. We plan to attend at least one session per day, and are looking forward to trying as many of the beers as possible! Feral’s Berliner Weiss ‘Watermelon Warhead’ and Holgate’s Belgium Gruit-Style Blond have caught my eye. 

Being inspired by an Aztec Beer and named after the Day of the Dead festival, is there are connection to those for your brewery? If not, what’s behind the idea?

Pete:

Mezo America is perhaps better known for its pale yellow lagers, but there is also a tradition of brewing dark beer as well. I always thought that this was fascinating. Xocolātl, the Aztec drink that was inspiration for Double Day of the Dead wasn’t actually a beer but a ‘bitter frothy drink’ made with cocoa beans and chilli, and I believe was offered as a last drink to human sacrifices. If you’ve gotta go you might as well have a decent pint first. Double Day of the Dead combines the tradition of dark larger with the inspiration of xocolātl, to create something we hope is a little out of the ordinary. 

What’s different about Double Day of the Dead compared to the original version?

Pete:

Mostly it’s just bigger, but there is also a subtle addition of whole vanilla pods which I thought might give an extra depth and roundness to the beer. We’ll have to see if it works. 

Is this your first beer to make it across the Tasman and are we going to see more?

Pete:

Yes, it is the first, but we hope the first of many.

 

I’m sure Aussie beer fans will be very keen to get their hands on this, and any future beers that make it over. I know I’m certainly excited to see what the new brewery brings.

Anyway, Bright Brewery will be next, with their India Red Ale.

Cheers!

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May 5, 2012

GABS Beers – The Mash Collective

By Ale_of_a_time

GABS is only a week off so if you are reading this and haven’t got your tickets, it’s time to get off your duff and go get some. If you volunteer, you can also get a free session so why aren’t you volunteering?

Also, Good Beer Week 2012 is also only a week off and things are selling out fast. I know you don’t want to miss out like a stone cold sucker so if you haven’t booked everything already get clicking: http://goodbeerweek.com/ .

“But I’m in Adelaide, how can I get involved?” some of you might be saying… those of you in Adelaide. Well there is also “Good Beer Wheaty” going down as well. Check it out Adeladians:  http://wheatsheafhotel.com.au/

Anyway, today’s interview is with Scott from the Mash Collective. Basically the guys from Stone and Wood, brewers of the almighty “Pacific Ale”, have started a side project. Scott explains it in the interview so let’s just get this underway shall we?

First up, can you give us some background on the Mash Collective?

The Mash Collective is really based around the idea of getting people from different walks of life together and sharing , discussing what they love about beer and then melding those ideas into a beer that can hopefully reflect the passion and philosophies of those involved…much like when we cook a meal, the finished product is greater than the sum of the parts…personally, the technical challenge of turning a weird wonderful idea on paper into a great beer has a lot of appeal …This first Mash Collective beer is about the guys in the brewery but from here on it’s going to involve people who are talented and creative in their own fields and able to bring a fresh perspective to a unique beer…and to have a ripper time cleaning out the vessels on brew day…

 Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer?

The chance to showcase to the wider public the diversity, creativity, the artistry and passion and bloody hard work that goes into creating great beer is very important. Any event where people can have their ideas of what beer is and can be, challenged, can only help to educate folks whose whole perception of beer might be based on plastic cups at the footy.

Having said that we need to be aware that there will be a range of people attending and for some the extreme nature of some of the beers will be a treat, for some it could be a bit threatening. So we as brewers need to be conscious of quality and relevance, and there’s no point being different just for the sake of being different. It’s also very important to celebrate the inherent social nature of beer, to get out and meet and have a beer with all the wonderful folks who keep us in jobs…

With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill, does your collective feel pressure on yourselves and your beer? Or are you just like the rest of us, happy to see an event like this taking place?

Actually no. Making this beer was just so cool. There were a number of firsts in the brewhouse that added to the challenge but also made it so exciting. I was thinking night and day about this beer for weeks before we actually brewed it and to see it safely in the tank was a huge relief. We certainly don’t feel like we’re competing with anybody else, we are just really chuffed to have been asked to be involved.

As for pressure, for us, that’s trying to keep up to the demand for our day job beer-

Stone & Wood Pacific Ale…

Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying?

We will have people at GABS and if i get to be there I’ll be trying everything i can get my hands on…seriously

Based on what the Mash Collective plans to do, how do you see events like GABS fitting into your ethos?

If you make the analogy that the Mash Collective is like a rock band , then the GABS type events are like being asked to play on the bill at a great big music festival…lots of fun , lots of entertainment , lots of diversity and lots of beer…to me, that’s totally aligned with the Mash Collective ethos…

Can i just say that i live right across the road from the Splendour in the Grass Festival site and I’d like to use this opportunity to publicly partition for Motorhead or High on Fire to be on this year’s Splendour bill…amen

What makes a beer a Rum Weizen?

Take a truckload of German Wheat, Munich and Cara malts, German noble hops, authentic wheat yeast, some local  Northern Rivers molasses and rum, put it all together, mature gently then drink thoughtfully on a cool night with the warmth of  laughter and good friends…

What’s unique to the process of this beer?

Probably the addition of a big barrel of molasses and a generous dash of rum

Why did you choose this style?

Well, why not really…We thought a weizenbock was a great vehicle to convey the complex, layered flavours and mouthfeel that would support a cooler weather, higher alcohol beer…

 

Motorhead, High on Fire and rum? damn those answers had it all. Check out the Mash Collective Facebook here – and if you are reading this and have asked yourself “what is the Pacific Ale they keep mentioning”, you really need to get out and get some. It’s one of the great Aussie beers and regular winner of critic’s and people’s choice polls.

Next up we have Jos and Pete from the Garage Project in NZ, then Jon from Bright Brewery and finally  Tim from Hop Dog Beer Works. I think that’s it? We don’t have time for any more. I wish we did, but time is counting down and I broke my laptop (don’t drink and laptop).

Cheers!

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May 1, 2012

GABS Beers – Bridge Road Brewers

By Ale_of_a_time

Not too long to go before the Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular and Good Beer Week 2012 and if search traffic is anything to go by, then it’s going to be a huge week. If you haven’t been keeping up with these GABS beer interviews, they can all be found here. Also, I put together a little planner to help people organise their Good Beer Week events which you can find here. Some events are selling out fast so make plans now. In the meantime, I only have a handful more of these left. Reception has been great and I’m a little annoyed I didn’t have more time to get more interviews. Reading the brewers comments on their beers and beer as a whole is always fascinating.

Next up we have Bridge Road Brewers, who have brewed an Imperial Pilsner (Imperial basically meaning a bigger version of a Pilsner,) coming in at 7.5% called “God Save the Lager”(fascist beer Father?… ok terrible sorry.) They also played hosted to Australian Amateur Brewing Champion, Barry Cranston, who has made his brown ale called “Brown Dog”. 

Answers are from both Ben (Owner and Head Brewer) and Steve (in his words “the man slightly adjacent to the man at the centre of Bridge Road Brewers), as indicated.

Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer?

Ben: To answer the first part of question (not really a question) when we go to events, we always try to bring something new to the table, and avoid showcasing ‘basic styles’. The main benefit of GABS is the ability to present a range of interesting products to a broader audience and win over a large number of consumers to craft beer in one foul swoop.

With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill do you feel any pressure on you and your beer? or are you just like a punter and are happy to be involved?

Ben: I handed the direction of our Gabs brew over to Steve Matthews, it is his first crack at brewing something that he has entire control over, without me even getting to put in my 2 cents worth. I’m sure he was/is feeling the pressure, but he has done a cracking job and has nothing to worry about.

Steve: At first, the suggestion from Ben seemed like nothing but good fun and constructing the recipe was certainly all that, once it came to brew day and ferment I did start to feel the nerves. We don’t have the facilities or capacity to run trial brews so everything was put together through experience and calculations to try and achieve the target I was after. For my first beer to be launched at GABS is great, it will no doubt be sitting among a number of awesome beers, we’re confident in the finished product and hope the punters enjoy it too.

Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying?

Ben: I will be attending, and I look forward to trying Steve’s beer first, it’s always interesting to taste our own beers away from their home environment. And after that who knows?

Steve: I’ll be there, you’ll catch me close to our tap point doing my best to eavesdrop on the opinions of those tasting it. I’ll probably only make it to one session so I”ll just be trying to sample a decent cross-section of what’s on offer.

Why Imperial Pilsner?

Steve: An Imperial Pilsner was a style I’ve wanted to brew for quite a while. Like many of us, the first beer I drank would have been a lager but since discovering real ale and craft beer, the noble lager will only take up a small percentage of my fridge space. Given the fact that I would be making a beer for GABS I wanted to make a big beer and hopefully one that not only gives people something to talk about but something that they’ll be keen to sample again. 

I first got into beer whilst working as a cellar hand in a real ale pub in the UK, I first starting brewing in New Zealand and have of course since moved to Australia. I’ve taken the Imperial idea a little more literally by only using hops from these three countries (who still stick the Queen’s head on their money!). Overall its a bit of a tip of my hat to what I’ve (hopefully) learnt through working in beer in these 3 nations.

Being close to a hop farm, you seem to get your hands on some new varieties of hops, and I know there are some exciting ones yet to be released commercially, are we going to see any in your beer… or is that all top secret?

Ben: We do have special access to research hop varieties and have been making Wet hop beers from research varieties for the past four years. This year we have released 2, The Dark Harvest ( A Mikkeller collaboration) and our standard wet hop The Harvest. To do 3 wet hop beers would be one too many. So NO.

You also had a visit from Australian Homebrewer of the year Barry Cranston to brew an Australian Brown Ale, how was that and what can we expect from the beer?

Ben: Barry was a wealth of knowledge and a great guy. He provided us with his recipe for the Brown Dog, and we tweaked it a little for our system. The beer doesn’t hold back any punches, and is a rich and malty, yet extremely bitter Brown Ale. Dominated by Galaxy aroma, and loads of bitterness.

Is there anything else you want to add about your beer, GABS or craft beer in general?

Steve: The size and scale of GABS this year is fantastic and the event should be enough to single handily show how rapidly the craft beer sector is growing of course the huge range and diversity of styles and favours that can be achieved by brewers.

I thing that its fantastic of Steve (Jeffares) and his colleagues at The Local Taphouse to stick their neck out and put together an event like this, and of course it’s great to see how many breweries are ready and willing to get behind it too.

Thanks guys! Looking forward to the pilsner and the brown from Barry. Also, if I get time, I hope to put a few words up about the Bridge Road/Mikkeller collaboration mentioned earlier. I may have snared a few bottles and if you haven’t done so yet, you should really hurry up. They are selling out fairly quickly and if the tap version is anything to go by, it is fantastic. 

Anyway – next interview will be with Scott from the Stone and Wood side-project “Mash Collective”. It’s promising to be an interesting insight into an exciting new concept, so stay tuned.

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April 26, 2012

GABS Beers – Feral Brewing Company

By Ale_of_a_time

Sour beers. The last bastion of the beer geek. Funky, trashy, acidic, dry and refreshing. Some taste like vinegar, others like old rubbish (in a good way). For those unfamiliar, sour beers (or wild ales) are beers traditionally spontaneously fermented by wild yeast. Without going too much into it, wild yeast can be a sour brewer’s best friend, or a regular brewer’s worst enemy. While they aren’t exactly common in the Australian beer scene, we are about to start seeing more on the market when Feral Brewing moves to their new location and uses their old brewery for brewing wild and sour beers.

In addition to the one discussed below, there are two other sours at the Great Australian Beer Spectapular, one from Moon Dog and one from Wig and Pen, but when the brewer of Australia’s #1 beer is bringing a sour to the table you know there’ll lots of interest. Fortunately Brendan Varis, the man behind the beer, was more than willing to contribute to some words about his beer, a Berliner Weisse style sour called “Watermelon Warhead” (which apparently is some sort of sour lolly? I don’t think we ever had them in NZ).

Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer?

I actually see GABS as a reflection of how our regional craft brewing scene is maturing. Just  12 months ago the first GABs saw 20 brewers produce 20 new beers for the event. 2 or 3 years ago that concept would have been unimaginable. Now, one year on we’re looking forward to 40 Aussie and 20 kiwi beers. That kind of growth is probably a fair reflection on how craft beer has progressed in this country in the last year. That said a lot of the beers being brewed for GABs probably don’t reflect closely the type of craft beer being brewed and consumed year round.

With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill do you feel any pressure on you and your beer? or are you just like a punter and are happy to be involved?

Nah it’s not a competition its a celebration of all that’s good about craft brewing, but leaving that aside for a moment we always produce beers that we have personal respect for. The beer we present like any other beer we brew will reflect certain aspects of what it is we love about beer. If others enjoy it or not doesn’t really come into the equation when we work on new brews.

Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying?

I’ll be at GABs for sure and I’m looking forward to trying everything! Maybe not all in the one session though.

Why did you choose to make a Watermelon Berliner Weisse?

It’s not always easy for breweries to showcase their reginality or location in a beer but wanted to have a go with this one. The refreshing nature of most beer is one of the things really enjoy and  cold watermelon is seriously refreshing especially in the hot climate we live. The swan valley grows most of WA,’s watermelons which meant they were in abundant supply, we literally went and picked half a tone from the neighbors paddock. We also carried out primary ferment and maturation in used chardonnay barrels sourced from local Swan Valley wine makers. Hopefully when we are at GABs in Melbourne this beer will remind us a bit of home.

 How are you treating and adding the watermelon?

That was pretty simple really. Once the skin was off we purreed it and added directly into barrel near the end of primary ferment.

Not being a style that we are overly familiar with here (to my knowledge it hasn’t been brewed commercially in Australia before), how do you think it’ll go down with the drinkers?

Firstly for the people who are familiar with the style I think it’s important to point out that we didn’t set out brewing this beer with berlinner wiesse in mind. That tag was added because the festival needed to pigeon hole things a bit to help guide consumers. We actually rarely consider style when we develop new beers, for us it’s all about a sensory profile we have in our minds initially, which we then discuss and put down on paper in the form of a recipe and then finally it’s onto raw material and beer. With that out the way the beer is a low abv (2.9%) wheat beer with a reasonable amount of tartness and acidity. We used lactobacillus to achieve this as we find it gives a nice light breezy short pallet length type of acidity which is perfect for a lower abv thirst quenching and hopefully session able beer. The watermelon contributes very little to the beer flavor but is very up front aromatically. We actually named the beer Watermelon Warhead because it reminds us exactly of those sour lollies.

 Is this a style we expect to see more from you now that you have more capacity to brew sour beers?

With a new brewery in the final stages of installation we will have much more scope to generally do sour beer on a very regular basis and that’s something that excites us and was a major motivating factor in our decision to install a new brewery

Is there anything else you want to add about your beer, GABS or craft beer in general?

Just that GABs is going to be a great event and will shine the spotlight on what all the passionate craft brewers in our region are capable of. I hope that attendees go away and remember the great breweries whose beer they enjoyed at GABs and support fresh local craft beer all year round.

I have nothing more to add other than how excited I am for this beer… which is very. Check out the Feral website here: http://www.feralbrewing.com.au/ .

Next interview will be with Steve and Ben from Bridge Road Brewers. You can read my previous interviews all on this page: http://aleofatime.com/tag/gabs-2012/

Cheers!

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April 23, 2012

GABS Beers – Kooinda Boutique Brewery

By Ale_of_a_time

There are a handful of breweries whose beers I love seeing in bars. A bottle from Bridge Road, a Stone and Wood Pacific, or Feral Hop Hog, is always a relief. While I like to try something new,  if there are limited options and one of those is present, then I know I’m getting a great beer at some point in the night. For me, Kooinda have firmly established themselves as one of those breweries. I’m always glad to see one of theirs behind a bar.

They are also responsible for one of my favourite beers of last year; with their Black IPA. It was the beer that changed my mind about ‘black’ versions of  typical pale beers (and since I have been heard to say that black beer with Nelson Sauvin Hops is my favourite style… even when it isn’t technically style). It also made it into the top 8 of the Hottest 100 Autralian Craft Beers this year.

Anyway, enough crapping on from me, let’s hear from the team at Kooinda about their ‘Karaka Bier’ which is a Belgian witbier with Karaka berries.

Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer?

 I think that GABS is an awesome event that will open up many new mouths to craft beer. The hardest step is the first in trying something new and once people understand what real beer can be hopefully they will be more open to keep tasting new things.

With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill do you feel any pressure on you and your beer? or are you just like a punter and are happy to be involved? 

Definitely happy to be involved however we do want the beer to be well received and enjoyed by as many people as possible so there is a little pressure you put on yourself naturally.

Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying?

 We will try to get to all the days and hopefully drink them all :)

What’s the inspiration behind a Belgian raspberry and Karakaberry Ale??

 We did it last year and people loved it so this year we injected some steroids into the recipe to see how far we could take it.

What the hell is a karakaberry anyway?

 It is a blended berry which is a mix between a raspberry and a blackberry! Yummy. There are only 4 growers in Australia and we did the first beer with it in the world

What processes did you use to prep the berries and use them in the beer?

 Blend them up and throw them in!

Is there anything else you want to add about your beer, GABS or craft beer in general? 

Just looking forward to an awesome craft beer event. Events like this will help develop the industry and open people’s eyes and make them realise there is more to drinking than just mass produced yellow fizz.

Thanks guys!

Can’t you just hear the sanitation crazy homebrewers clenching with sanitation rage at the mention of blending fruit and chucking it in? And speaking potential infection causing bugs hiding in fruit, next interview will be with Brendan Varis, brewer of one of three sour beers in this year’s GABS. For those unfamiliar with sours, they are beers that generally encourage the aforementioned infection causing bugs… one man’s bug is another’s tasty sour treat.

While you wait for that, go out check Kooinda’s regular Witbier: http://www.kooinda.com.au/stockists/

Check out my other GABS interviews here: http://aleofatime.com/tag/gabs-2012/

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April 18, 2012

GABS Beers – 8 Wired

By Ale_of_a_time

Next up in this series is from Søren Eriksen of 8 Wired (follow this link to read the others: http://aleofatime.com/tag/gabs-2012/). Technically this is one of two beers he is involved in at this festival, as he is also an assistant brewer at Renaissance Brewery. He also happens to be one of 2012′s top 100 brewers according to website Ratebeer (the only NZ or Australian based brewer on the list), New Zealand’s current Brewer’s Guild Champion Brewery and a former NZ Poker champion. With accolades like that, if people aren’t excited for his “C4 Double Coffee Brown Ale” then they are stone cold suckers.

For those not from New Zealand, the name Double Brown has a fairly negative connotation to beer lovers. It happens to be the name of a macro-brewed and incredibly cheap beer, the choice of teenagers (at least when I was one) and Jake the Muss on Once Were Warriors; and while Søren is right up there on the RateBeer rankings, the other Double Brown has an overall score of 4 of out of 100.

Anyway, enough from me, lets hear from Søren about his beer and the festival itself.

 

 

Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer? 

 Time will tell I suppose. I am not entirely certain how the event will be run, but so far I think it will be an awesome event. The main drawpoint is the massive amount of breweries, all presenting a new beer. This will attract already converted beer people, to try something new from their favorite brewers, but also present craftbeer as something exclusive to newcomers. There will probably be more brand new beers at the event than CUB/Lion/DB have in their entire range combined. This must be an eye-opener to a lot of people. 

With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill do you feel any pressure on you and your beer? or are you just like a punter and are happy to be involved?

 No, I don’t feel anymore pressure on the beer for this event than any other beer I brew. If anything, I would probably be less nervous. At events like this people expect the beers to be a little crazy so it’s a good time to get creative. There has been a lot of thought process behind this beer though and I’m confident it is good. 

Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying? 

I’m not sure I will make it, most likely not. My wife is due with our second child the week before, so if I go it will be a very last minute decision. 

Assuming the name is a cheeky take on one of New Zealand’s most infamous beers; what came first, the beer or the name? 

Hehe, that is a good question: Before I started 8 Wired, and before the infamous Radler case, I had a vision of making a Double Brown Ale. Point being to show people that a “Double Brown” does not have to suck. We ended up releasing Rewired (single) brown as the first beer instead, with much the same agenda without the naming conflict. C4 Double Coffee Brown Ale is not really meant to be anything related to the “Double Brown” trademark . It’s just a good beer I have been developing for a while, and it IS a Double Brown Ale…

 I love brown ales, do you think they get a bit of a bad rap? 

Yes, in NZ at least. People associate it with Double Brown and Lion Brown which of course aren’t brown ales at all. It’s a shame, because it is a style that really can have it all. Big malt, big hops and yeast character. 

What process did you use to get the coffee flavours into the beer? 

4 separate coffee additions: One hot side, 2 in the fermenter and one in the filter. Many short bursts rather than one big. Apart from that the malt and hops create a good foundation for these flavours with a combination of roast and fruity hop flavours. 

Anything else you would like to add about your beer, GABS or craft beer in general? 

I think event like GABS are proof that craft beer is taking of like a rocket. You couldn’t dish up a massive event like this without having a solid foundation to take off from and you couldn’t do it based on something that wasn’t here to stay. I think there will be a lot of converts at the event and a lot of enthusiastic established good beer people.

Also, I admire the balls of Steve Jeffares and his colleagues for putting the stakes on the line to make this happen. They are doing the whole industry a big favour.

Thanks Søren. Next up will be Kooinda Brewery with their Belgian Raspberry and Karakaberry Ale… and yes, I do ask what a Karakaberry is.

In the meantime, check out 8 Wired’s website here: http://8wired.co.nz/. His beers are available at all good bottleshops around Aus and NZ.

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April 14, 2012

GABS Beers – Yeastie Boys

By Ale_of_a_time

I have a secret… I started doing these interviews partly so I could ask the Yeastie Boys how they used tea in their beer. I had asked Stu Yeastie in person over a couple of beers but couldn’t really remember. I thought “I should ask them again, and then put something on my blog for homebrewers”. When I tweeted that I was looking for brewers to do some interviews, I was happy that the Yeasties were the first to put their hand up to help out. I’ve been toying with the idea of using chamomile tea in a brown ale, or “Chilli Berry” rooibos tea in a pale ale so to know how theirs was done is great. Hopefully it’ll help a few of you other homebrewers out as well.

For those coming late, you can read the first two interviews in this series here and here.


A little background on the Yeastie Boys. Two Kiwi guys. One lives in Wellington and one in Auckland. Their beers are brewed at Invercargill Brewery. That’s right down the bottom of New Zealand… it’s cold down there. Unlike many brewers who contract, they are fiercely proud of it and I think they have helped remove some of the trepidation people have about contract brews. Hopefully as time goes on, more brewers who contract will be more honest with the public about where their beers are brewed. It’s a bit of a bugbear of mine to see beers that are clearly contracted, pretending they have history steeped mega brewery. It’s the lies that hurt the most and drinkers don’t care how or where, just what it tastes like. Marketing works for the big players, but honesty is better for the craft market.  Anyway, that’s an argument that’s been done to death so I feel like I’m treading old ground for some readers but it seems here in Australia, contract is still somewhat of a dirty word when it doesn’t need to be.

Ok I’m done.

Let’s hear from one half of the Yeastie Boys, Stu McKinley, about their Tea Leaf IPA, titled “Gunnamatta”

Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer?

I love the idea of everyone creating a unique beer for the festival. For some this may be a style they have never brewed before, while for others it might be using bizarre ingredients or processes. It creates loads of anticipation for the beer geeks (including ourselves), about what they are going to try at the festival, and helps push some of the boundaries about what we are doing.  One great advantage that we have as beer makers, over people who make other drinks, is our ability to do things so differently. I liken brewing more to cooking than wine making… and this, in a sense, is more like a wild foods festival. Brewers are going crazy. There is a sort of friendly rivalry amongst craft brewers that is really raising the level of everyone.
 
With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill do you feel any pressure on you and your beer? or are you just like a punter and are happy to be involved?
 
Yeh, we feel pressure with every beer we put out. This pressure we put on ourselves to keep up our high standards, to create a beer that we are excited by, and to make something that will sell well for the festival organisers who are taking the risk by buying so much of it! But, in the end, that pressure just excites us to work really hard on the beer.
 
Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying?
 
We are. Sam and I arrive on Sunday morning, so will be latecomers to the festival. We’re hoping you leave some beers for us!!  And have plenty of info on what we can’t miss. So many of the beers on the list excite me that I wish I could try them all. I’ll probably work hard on trying beers from a lot of the breweries I’ve heard a lot about but not yet tried anything from… breweries like Kooinda, Cowarump, The Monk, Lobethal, Seven Sheds. I’m a big fan of smoked beers and anythging Belgian, so will be hunting them out too.
 
Why Tea Leaf IPA?
 
I was playing around with coffee and pale ales early last year when all of a sudden everyone in the world seemed to be doing them – The Kernel, Mikkeller, Mountain Goat. It felt like it was about to become the next big thing, and I wasn’t all that excited about my trials, so I put it on the backburner. I love coffee but I come from a long line of tea drinkers and I’d often picked up some tea-like notes from some of my favourite bitters and amber ales. It got me thinking years ago but it was at this point, the dead end with the coffee idea, that I went off on the search for the right tea to use.  The tasting I did with the tea leaf company that we worked with got me so excited that I want to do an entire tea-leaf series… that idea became even stronger when I started playing around with “dry leafing” my trial beer.  I tried different sorts of teas and fruit/spice infusions.  I had a couple that I probably preferred over the final tea we used but I really thought the punch of the Earl Grey Blue Flower would work superbly in a festival setting. I’m not sure if that tea leaf series will happen yet but I’m certainly toying with the idea.
 
Can you explain the name for us?
 
Gunnamatta is the evocative opening track of Paul Kelly’s album “Ways and Means”… I wanted to pick an Australian name for this beer, seeing that it was created for an Australian festival, and toyed with a few ideas before coming up with this one. The album has always had a strong emotional connection for me and this track really delivered the beer idea rather than the other way around.  It happens like this a lot for me – I have hundreds of half-baked ideas floating around in my head and then a tune, or some other piece of pop culture, kicks that idea into overdrive and a beer comes out the other end.  Some may think the final beers are still a bit half-baked!! The Gunnamatta track itself is reminiscent of 70′s surf guitar and what’s better than camping out at a good surf beach, with plenty of cups of tea, good music, great friends and a few beers. It all seemed to hang together nicely and we’ll have everything at Good Beer Week except for the beach.
 
What process did you use for extracting the tea?
 
We dry leafed with 4 grams of Earl Grey Blue Flower per litre of beer. We used the same sort of technique we use with dry hopping, adding the leaf to the fermenter just near the end of fermentation.  The tea leaves are a bit different from hop pellets so we learnt a few things during the process that might help us in the future. Steve Nally, the owner and head brewer of Invercargill Brewery (who we contract brew through), absolutely loves the beer but doesn’t want to talk about tea leaves for a while!
 
Anything else you want to add about your beer, GABS or craft brew itself?
 
Craft beer is one the rise and I think GABS is really going to showcase the reasons why. The diversity of beers will only be matched by the diversity of people attending.  I’m really excited by what is happening in Melbourne with the entire Good Beer Week (and in the city for the other 51 weeks fo the year). Melbourne is well on the road to cementing its place as one of the beer capitals of the world.  While the old world capitals are based around the style of beer they brewed, the new world ones are based on the fantastic variety of people and venues serving the beers of the world.  You have some of the best of both… I can’t wait to get back there!!

Thanks again to Stu for the great answers. It’s one of the most talked about beers of the festival and it’s definitely up there on my list of beers to try first. Next interview will be with Søren from 8 Wired, another brewer based in NZ, about his Double Brown Ale with Coffee. I drank a lot of NZ’s original Double Brown in my youth (we used to call it ‘The Goodness’… it was about $10 a a dozen), so I can’t wait to try a grown up version!

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April 7, 2012

GABS beers – The Monk Brewery

By Ale_of_a_time

Second interview in the lead up to GABS 2012 comes from The Monk Brewery in Freemantle. You normally can’t get hold of their beers anywhere but the brewery restaurant, so it’s a real treat for beer fans on the East Coast.  If you missed my first interview with Darren from Doctor’s Orders, you can read it here

Their beer will be a Sweet Potato Porter and the guys give some great insight into how they’ve used sweet potato in the brew; so homebrewers take note.  The answers are from both Paul and Steve.

Let’s go!

Most events such as this are a showcase of a range of beers, usually basic styles with the brewery staff selling their wares behind a small table. What do you think the benefits of an event like GABS are in winning people over to craft beer?

I think an event like GABS is good for the industry to flex their creative side and show what is actually possible in beer. The usual events and festivals where you go and attend a stall, serve your styles and explain craft beer are good for getting people into craft beer, and events like GABS (with their left of centre beer styles and flavours) help to showcase the skill in being a brewer. The GABS style set-up (big long bars with all beers pouring from one point) does eliminate the brewer-to-consumer approach many smaller breweries like to have at events, so you are relying on your beer to really stand up in the crowd to get noticed. That said, as a whole, if GABS continues to grow at the rate that it is, many people not currently ‘craft beer’ savvy will start to sit up and take notice.

With so many other potentially amazing beers all on the bill do you feel any pressure on you and your beer? or are you just like a punter and are happy to be involved?

There does seem to be some serious talent coming along, but I’d say that most brewers are just happy to come along, and drink some interesting brews. Being able to sit down, draw up a brew you’d like to do, working on ways to make it work on the kit you’ve got – that’s fun to most Brewers. Deep down all brewers, whether they’re a shift brewer at one of the big boys or a tiny craft brewer, are beer nerds at heart. Doing something like this is play. Putting out our regular range at the same high standard we put on ourselves every week is probably more stressful.

Are you attending, and if so, what beers are you most looking forward to trying?

We’ll be attending, we’ll be there the last three sessions. We’re looking forward to trying everything! Highlights will be the Barrel Aged Scotch Ale (Renaissance), Tea leafed IPA (Yeastie Boys), Zesty Wit (Harringtons), Beetroot Belgian Ale (4 Pines), Dunkelweizen (Last Drop, Jan Bruckner’s Hefeweizen is the best in Australia, hands down) and the Sarspirilla Stout (Grand Ridge). I’m looking forward to interacting with patrons (both Paul and I are volunteering for a session), interacting with fellow brewers and watching the spectacle unfold. It’s looking like a big weekend!  

We don’t get to see your beers often, or at all, over here; is this a first for you guys?

As far as being invited over for the Great Australian Beer Spectapular, yes. We’re a relatively small brewery (6 Hectolitre DME, with what we like to call “3 and a half” 1200 L ferment tanks, and a bright/conditioning tank) moving about 100,000 L a year. It’s all kegs, no bottles, and about 99% of the stuff is sold onsite to keep up with our award winning restaurant. We’ve got a spot on the main restaurant street in Freo (South Terrace) and weekends see us very busy, so supplying anyone other than ourselves at the moment is not on the cards.

We as a brewery probably haven’t been very recognisable on the national scene until lately, with ex head brewer Justin Fox taking the brewery to new heights over the last four years, winning the Champion Trophy for Best Reduced Alcohol Beer in 2011, which has helped with a lot with recognition. Paul Wyman, a fellow ECU graduate and myself were hired to fill the void left by Justin’s departure to Swan. The invite to attend GABS was offered, and we love to put out beers that challenge preconceived ideas, so we jumped at the chance.

Why sweet potato?

Haha! Why not? It’s been an idea of Paul’s for quite a while now, semi inspired by the American craft brewing scene releasing specialty Pumpkin ales close to Thanksgiving.

What process are you using to get the flavours from the sweet potato?

 

We roasted the sweet potato in the oven until cooked through and soft, removed the skins and kept them for possible later additions, and then blitzed the potatoes until they were a soft mash. Here we added spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, and continued to blitz it until it had a fairly smooth consistency. The spices were intended to give a slight impression of a sweet potato pie. On brew day we rehydrated the mash to an easy to add  consistency by blending in the Porter wort from the kettle. The Porter itself is a little more roasty than we usually do here, to complement the sweet potato flavours.

Have you experimented with different kinds of sweet potato in the lead up?

Not different kinds, just different ways to add the sweet potato. In the only pilot batch we did, we threw a little of the sweet potato in on the mash to see what it did, as well as at the end of boil and  the end result was very little potato flavour, so we decided on the big batch to oven roast the potatoes rather than grill with spices, and move all of them further back into the process, almost adding them as a ‘aroma hop’. The later you add the ingredients the more aroma you get, we’ve got a nice amount of roast on the malt bill so I think we’ve got it right.

Depending on how the ferment goes, we may dry hop with sweet potato skins, a bit of cinnamon etc to magnify the characters we are looking for.

Thanks to the guys for taking the time to give us their thoughts. Check out their website here: http://www.themonk.com.au - next up will be Stu from Yeastie Boys. Seeing as both Doctor’s Orders and The Monk have the Yeastie Boys beer high on their list of beers to try, it should be a good one. 

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