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.
AABC in Adelaide This weekend
I have been quiet for the last couple of weeks and I apologise for that. My day job has been getting in the way more than I would like. I have been running all over the riverland regions of SA and VIC. I have managed to find the odd good beer but not really a lot to report.
This weekend though AABC(Australian Amateur Brewing Championship) is being judged in Adelaide. While beer judging isn’t an exciting thing to watch there are some events around that may be worth checking out. First up on Thursday is a get to know you session at The Wheaty. This is just an informal get together. If you want to talk beer and brewing with a bunch of hatdcore geeks this will be the place to be. On Friday evening the party will be moving to Brewboys with more beers and a bbq too. Should be a fun night and it’s just within walking distance for me so I may have to treat myself to a couple.
On Saturday it’s time for the presentation and Club Night. You have to registered to get into Club Night but if you can get in it’s usually a great party. Home brewers from around the country will bring along their beer and serve it for everyone else. There are so many great beers and it’s such a great environment. If you can find a way in take it. All the details for the weekend can be found here.
Get There!
Curry Night at Brewboys
This Saturday, the 17th of September it’s time for Blue Mandarin Curry Night at Brewboys. It should be another great event at their cellar door on Regency Road. The live music kicks off at 1800 and curry is served from 1900. Brewboys regularly do food and live music events and curry night is one of the most popular. Cool music, good food and great beer, what more could you ask for? They shopw a real commitment to getting involved with the community and supporting great live music. You just don’t see enough of either of those now days and it’s nice to see brewers leading the way. So get down there this Saturday and support your local brewer that is supporting the community.
While you are there try the GTS Pale Ale that recently took out Champion Ale at the Royal Show Beer awards. Make sure you give my personal favourite the Ace of Spades stout a try too. It’s coming to the end of stout season so have a couple before the weather gets too warm. Hope to see you there. Get There!
Lobethal = Win
Lobethal Bierhaus has scooped the pool at the Royal Adelaide Beer Show. Lobethal Bierhaus has taken out ten trophies at the awards ceremony on Friday night. A number of other local breweries also did well including a Champion ale for the GTS from Brewboys. Nobody came close to the sweep from Alistair at Lobethal though. Check out the article on Adelaide Now for some good mainstream press for craft beer.
So if you ever needed an excuse to get up to Lobethal and try their beers or drop in again to remind yourself how good it is you now have a good excuse. Go and see some other local breweries too. Get There!
Drink a Local at The Wheaty / Wheatsheaf Hotel
I’m a little late to the party as the event was last night but better late than never I guess. Apologies for lack of updates lately too. The inspiration just hasn’t been hitting or maybe I have just been drinking too much. Bollocks to my whinging though. What the hell is going on?
Drink a local was last night, Wednesday 6 July, at The Wheaty. This was one of the biggest crowds I have seen at the event. There was a lot of new faces about and quite a few seemed to be getting enthused about the beers on offer and talking about how they would be back for more. Sounds like a good thing to me. Seems like The Wheaty has been getting busier lately. I hope this means even more venues start having more good beer around Adelaide or it’s going to get very cozy at our favourite beer venue.
So this month we had a chocolate milk stout from Steam Exchange and the Galactic Pale Ale from Brewboys. Both of these are relatively new releases from their respective breweries. The Galactic I have had at the Brewboys cellar door in the past but the stout from Steam Exchange I haven’t heard of on tap before now. Both were tasting pretty good too. My personal preference is for the Galactic but I’m a hop guy so that isn’t surprising. The stout is good and very well made but a little sweet for my pallet. The beers should be on all month but you never know when they may sell out if they are popular, they were selling a lot last night, so get down there and give them a try.
Have another post coming very shortly about the next Doctor’s Orders Brewing release. Check back soon.
Drink a Local at The Wheaty / Wheatsheaf Hotel
It’s that time of the month again. Time for two new locals to go on tap at The Wheaty. This month we have BrewBoys and Steam Exchange supplying us with their wares. Kick off is 1800 as usual at The Wheaty on Wednesday 4 May.
Brewboys bring us an old favourite this month in the Maiden Ale. A great drinkable beer that has a great balance and is just at home on a winter evening as it is at your bbq on summer after noon. They say:
Maiden Ale (4.9% ABV) is a stylish Amber Ale, with a well rounded full body and intensely inviting citrus and floral hop aromas, robust caramel malt back palate, well balanced with lingering bitterness. Blah blah blah… just drink it.”
Steam Exchange brings us their Southerly Buster. I’m not certain if this one has made it on tap at The Wheaty before. I have had it on a number of occasions at the brewery and it should fit right in on the increasingly cool Autumn evenings. Get yourself a pint and pull up infront of the fire. They say:
Southerly Buster Dark Ale (5.5% ABV) is a classic British style winter warmer for those cold blustery nights! This rich dark ale displays strong malt character, with caramel-roast nuances and Christmas pudding overtones. Complex and flavoursome, the Southerly Buster is an ale to be savoured…
There should be no excuse to miss this month as the Saison DuMoo release is the same night and starts an hour before hand. Just don’t book any early meetings or do something silly like me and fly out at 0600 the following morning. Get down , enjoy the night, talk to the brewers and support your local breweries. Get There!