Doctor’s Orders Brewing Iron Lung
It’s being released all over the place very soon now. However, the first Adelaide tapping, that I’m aware of, is this Wednesday the 22nd of March at The Wheaty from 1700. If the Doctor’s past efforts are anything to go by this is certain to be an absolute cracker. It is coming up at The Lion too and as soon as I know when it will be tapped there I will be sure to let you know.
The beer this time is what the good Doctor is calling a Black Imperial Pilsner. Labelled a lager interpretation of the Mind Warp Black IPA. I have had the Mind Warp and it was sensational. Doc did a black IPA long before everyone jumped on the bandwagon and it got really trendy. It is up there with the best black IPA I have tried too. You won’t want to miss it’s lager version. I’m certainly not going to.
What could you possibly have to do that would keep you away? Get There!
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.
Lots of Good Beer
Times are pretty good for us beer lovers in Adelaide. Over the last year or so we have seen a number of venues adding more craft beer to their lists and an increase in the rate of release of new beers from local breweries. Add to this some breweries in the start up phase and some new ones just launched and you have an exciting time for local beer people. While we would all like there to be more good beer available it is increasing.
I’m going to do some updates to the drink and breweries sections of the web site soon to reflect this. Thought in the time being I would do a really quick summary. Swell Brewery launched in the last year to plenty of good reviews. I have tried their first two beers but am yet to make it to the brewery or meet the brewer. There are a few other projects on their way to becoming breweries but we will wait until they launch before we say too much about them. The existing local breweries have also had a number of exciting new releases including the latest Devil’s Choice from Lobethal and the excellent Glactic Pale from Brewboys.
As far as places to drink go I still have my favourite. As anybody who has ever read this site know the Wheaty is my favourite and the Wheaty is still great but there are a number of other choices around too. As per an earlier article the Earl of Leicester is stocking some great beer, The Highway has started to really upgrade their list and The Lion has some great beer on their taps and in the fridge too. If you are looking for a restaurant then look no further than the excellent Shanker’s on Prospect Rd and Press in the city. While in the cbd the Crown & Sceptre and The Kings are certainly worth a look too.
All around things just keep getting better. I have even started to see some of the more accessible craft beers in mainstream bar. If I can walk into any pub and find a Pacific Ale or Punk IPA I would be pretty happy with that. Go to the pub and get some beer.
Adelaide Beer People
I’m back. The site has been very quiet over the last few months. I have been travelling extensively for my day job which just hasn’t left me the time for writing. While still busy my travel is being drastically reduced so I will have time to start cranking out some content again. Lots has been happening in beer in and around Adelaide and there should be plenty more happening in the coming months.
Onto the topic at hand though. I would love to catch up with other beer writers around Adelaide. Really I just like drinking and talking about beer and always like to meet more beer loving people. Maybe we can even help each other out. We could work together on campaigning for issues affecting craft beer in our town. We can lobby venues to get more good beer. We can also have some fun and enjoy a few beers together.
If you are interested in getting together for some beers and talking to other beer people let me know. I would like to set up a meeting at a beer venue but even if you just want to catch up one on one let me know or you could just hand around at the Wheaty for half an hour. Hit me up and lets get something organised. Comment on this post, send me an email aaron at imhereforthehops dot com, hit me on twitter or just come up and say hi if you see me at the pub. Let’s get the craft beer movement going in Adelaide. We have some great venues and there are some great beers around but I’m greedy and I want there to be more.
See you at the pub.
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!
Anderson Valley on tap at The Wheaty / Wheatsheaf Hotel
It’s time for another new and exciting range to hit the taps at The Wheaty in Adelaide. This time coming on to the taps is beer from California’s Anderson Valley. Some of their beers have been available in bottle and, surprisingly, in cans for a while now. However there is nothing like trying the beers fresh from the tap to get their real impact. While Anderson Valley may not be as in your face as some US breweries they produce fantastic well rounded and really well made quality beers.
The kick off event is this Friday, 25 November from 1700 at The Wheaty. First to go on tap is the very excellent Hop Ottin’ IPA. The IPA is probably my favourite of their range but that probably isn’t a surprise to anyone. Following will be the Boont Amber, their flagship, Poleeko Gold and the always reliable Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout.
So get down to The Wheaty from 1700. While you are thinking about it you should follow them on twitter here and sign up for their mailing list so you never miss out on what is happening. Hope to see you there on Friday. Get There!