Beer Stuff Around Town
Lots of good beer stuff going on at the moment. New stuff from local breweries and interesting beers arriving at local pubs.
At the Wheaty there is plenty of good stuff coming up. This week has many exciting new beers coming up. Already announced in the regular Wheaty mail is lots of tasty treats. This Friday, the 10th of February, is the start of a run of what promises to be excellent single hop IPAs from Mikkeller. First up on tap this Friday is Citra. I love this hop so can’t wait to see what Mikkeller has done with it. Also coming up, hopefully this week, are some excellent new arrivals from Green Flash and Bear Republic. I had the very good luck of having some of the Bear Republic beers fresh from the taps when I was in the USA and Racer 5 is one of the best IPAs I have had. I personally can’t wait to get a chance to try it again. Also in stock right now are a bunch of new wheat beers from German brewer Schneider. Things are looking good over the next few weeks. Get There!
Shanker’s on Prospect Rd is updating it’s list again. They keep turning it over and adding more good beer. Recently some beers from Bridge Road Brewers have found their way into the fridge and I hear there may be some India Saison on the way soon. I also managed to get to Shanker’s for my Birthday which happened to coincide with the Prospect Road Street Party for the Tour Downunder. On the night they had a special beer brewed by Beard and Brau on tap. It was a very tasty pale ale which went down a treat in the hot weather and with the great food. To top all this off there is a rumour some very tasty locally made beers may be turning up on tap on a permanent basis at Shanker’s in the near future.
Across town at the Earl of Leicester there are some great beers hitting the taps and in the fridge. I’m not sure if I mentioned it previously but they are, as far as I’m aware, the only venue pouring the Double Red from Beard and Brau. It’s a great beer and my favourite from Beard and Brau so far. They currently have the Poleeko Gold from Anderson Valley on tap too. I’m yet to see it anywhere else in the country on tap and haven’t seen a mention of it in bottles either. There is a bunch of other great beers in bottle too and the food is always great. Get down and check them out.
The Highway have been putting some god beers on tap too. On my last visit they had both The Runt and Barrel Fermented Hop Hog from Feral. They have had great stuff in bottles for some time now and it’s great to see some great Australian craft beer hitting the taps. In bottle there is a great selection from across the ditch in NZ and from the USA. I enjoyed some tasty drops from Epic, 8Wired and Yeastie Boys on my last visit. The beer list is improving with every visit and the food coming out of the kitchen is excellent too.
At The Lion in North Adelaide they have been turning up the craft beers in recent times too. Recently there have even been beers from American favourite Rogue. However they seem to always have at least a couple of Australian crafts on tap. On my most recent visit there were beers from Lobethal and Moutain Goat on tap. In the fridge was the Pike’s Stout which I hadn’t had before. They are brewing their beers at Hargreaves Hill now and this is a pretty good drop. There is normally beer from the likes of Yeastie Boys, Brooklyn Brewery, Sierra Nevada and Hitachino. There really is a good range of beers now and you should get down there and check it out.
On the brewery scene Brewboys have updated the Charger lager now called Charger E55. It’s a great drop and I don’t know how long it will be available for so get down there and try some. In addition there are always new single batch and or single keg beers going on tap. If you don’t get down regularly you won’t get the chance to try them ever. The regular lineup is great too so just go and talk to the brewers and have a few beers.
Over at Beard and Brau there is the aforementioned Double Red that they have out at The Earl. You really should get there to try it. I don’t think it’s available any more but if you can find it the Tourrific Pale Ale was a great drop. It’s a great and really drinkable American Style Pale Ale. To try the range get to the Earl of Leicester as they usually have a large number of Beard and Brau beers. Shanker’s generally have a couple available too. You can drop into Shanker’s just for a beer too.
Lobethal have been releasing some new beers too. The latest verion of the Devil’c Choice is out and a tasty drop it is. If you like high ABV Belgian style ales then this should be right up your alley. They have recently started brewing a new beer just for the Good Life Pizza shops. I haven’t even had a chance to try it myself yet. I’m told it’s quite a tasty drop. This is unconfirmed but I believe it’s an American Pale Ale with a good hit of Citra hops. The Pilsener has recently undergone a change in recipe too. I’m not sure if this is just for The Wheaty or it’s a availble generally. Either way they have dried it out and made it a little more bitter. It has worked a treat and made what was a good beer even better. It’s currently on tap at the Wheaty and tasting great.
Down at Steam Exchange they also have a new release. It’s a Belgian Trappist style called Flurieu Family Reserve. I have to admit it is a little sweet for my tastes but it does have some really interesting flavours and should be given a try. My tastes are more on the bitter side anyway. I haven’t been down to Goolwa for a while to visit the brewery so plan to do that in the next few weeks. Always good to hang out at the brewery and have super fresh beers.
Well that is the wrap up for now. This has turned out much longer than I expected. Apologies if I have missed anything it’s just that there is so much going on. Just get out there and drink some great beer. Support your local breweries and your local venues. See you at the bar.
The Earl of Leicester
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The Earl has long been known for their amazingly good and huge schnitzels. I always go for the small size and am teased for it but I don’t know how any human can eat a large one. The Earl has also been doing some good beer for quite a while too. However, after going back for the first time in a a year or two recently I found they really had upped the ante in the good beer stakes. The Earl is now one of the best beer venues in Adelaide. There has been some new entrants to the market recently but the Earl just keeps doing good things well.
On my most recent visit, lunch yesterday, I was happy to find a new drop from Beard and Brau on tap. They are calling it the Double Red Tail and it is a very tasty Imperial Red Ale. I don’t think it is available anywhere else at the moment so if for no other reason go in for a pint. I teamed it up with a schnitzel that was really a good steak covered in crumbs. No messing about with thin crappy meat here, just good real beef. I don’t know if it would make the list of the gastronomer set but a good schnitzel and a great beer was a hit in my books.
In addition to the treats mentioned above the Earl has a huge range of beers from all over. A wide range of German, Belgian an other European favourites including some not so common British ales. Then there is the new guys from Europe like Nogne-0 and American treats like Rogue. If new world is more to your liking you can pick up some 8wired beers from NZ and of course the locals like the aforementioned Beard and Brau. In fact The Leicester seems to be becoming the “home pub” for Beard and Brau with a couple of their beers on tap a lot of the time.
All up it’s one of Adelaide’s best pubs with great beer and food. I would like to explore the menu more but can never go past the schnitzels when I go there. Check it out for yourself and head down for lunch or just a beer. Get There!
Beer Review – Beard and Brau Black Snout Milk Stout
Sadly this is the last of my deliver from BIER SHOP.com.au. It certainly is a good beer though. I had been saving it for a special occasion and finally having a Government sounded like a good one to me. Not normally a style I chase but it is a very tasty drinkable beer from a local, Adelaide, brewery that is making a range of really good beer. This time we have Beard and Brau Black Snout Milk Stout.
The beer is a very dark brown, almost black and completely opaque. It pours with a good size tan head. Doesn’t appear like it will pour with a good head at first as it isn’t very carbonated. However, it very well conditioned, produced a nice size head that really lasts and laces well down the glass.
The aroma upfront is dominated by sweet chocolate and mild coffee. I also pick up some bitter chocolate like aromas but I perceive more of the sweetness. The perception of sweetness also comes across from a maple syrup like aroma. There are some more savory aroma of a light smokiness. To me this smokiness almost gives it a cherry tobacco character. This is a good thing.
The beer has a very light body and low carbonation as is appropriate for the style. It still does good job of covering the pallet. It is predominantly a sweet beer with very little bitterness. There is a light smoke flavour in the beer which helps combat the sweetness. The flavour like the aroma is dominated by sweet chocolate and mild coffee flavours. It does have a low level of roasty flavours from the dark malts used in it’s production. The flavours are extremely well balanced making it an extremely drinkable beer. You could quite easily have a session on this beer and , due to it’s relatively low 5.5%ABV, you could still feel ok in the morning.
This is not a beer that jumps out and smashes you around like a big Imperial stout. This is a well made fantastically balanced sweet stout that hits all the marks. If you want to try a great example of the style and tasty and drinkable beer you would be looking hard to find something much better.
If you want to pair it with food I think it would go down a treat with a toasted cheese and onion sandwich. Use some really good cloth bound English cheddar. I would be careful matching it with something sweet as it could get cloying. I would recommend something like a chocolate tart made with really good quality bitter chocolate. Try it with whatever you like just go and get Get some.
Beard and Brau in the News
Another local paper in Adelaide doing an article on a local microbrewery. This time it’s Beard and Brau. Run by a couple from Prospect in a Brewery in Para Hills.
I haven’t met these guys yet but they sound like a couple of really passionate beer people. The beers of theirs I have had have all been excellent. Once again the article is nothing hard hitting but it is good to see the mainstream press covering small breweries. If you can head on over to the article and leave a comment there. If they know people care about this sort of thing they may promote it more.
Make sure you hunt out their beers too. It’s great to support a small local business and it’s even better when the product is awesome.