September 2016 – Beer Radar

Winter Warmers 2016

Beer Radar for InDaily

Winter Warmers 2016

(First published by InDaily in 2016 http://indaily.com.au/eat-drink-explore/2016/08/22/dark-sa-beers-for-winter-cheer/ )

While winter is on its last legs and the mind wanders to sunny days and refreshing beers, there’s still time to embrace nourishing South Australian brewed winter warming beverages. There’s nothing better than a pint of stout next to an open fire and sometimes we forget how blessed we are to have fresh locally brewed stouts for our enjoyment. Forget Dublin, Adelaide has all you need for a hearty black brew that makes the soul sing. Some people object to the harsh acrid roast barley and roast malt that’s in some stouts but here’s some stellar examples of beers with a hint of sweetness to take the edge off the dry dusty ashtray character.

Southwark – Old Stout

Generally only available in South Australia and conjured like a miracle every winter in Thebarton. The beer nerds say it’s the best beer to come out of the West End brewery and it’s undoubtedly a beer we should be proud of. The experts also agree on its quality, awarding this rich hearty brew Champion Stout at the 2016 Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Awards. It’s thick, slightly sweet and full bodied. Quite a mouthful. One brewer described it as “stout meets smokey Barossa Mettwurst”. There’s a hint of coffee, bitter chocolate a layer upon layer of roast barley, roast lamb and chocolate mud cake. It’s not quite the beer to drink on a Friday night on the way home from work. At 7.4%abv have a few of these at home instead of a glass of port. Unfortunately these days it’s only available in 375ml stubbies.

Food match: Oysters Kilpatrick. The bacon matches with the hint of smoke.

Source: Thirsty Camel

Fox Hat – Phat Mongrel

From the Willunga team who brought you Vale Ale, check out their new range of cans and kegs including this wonderful stout. It’s an American style oatmeal stout with a dash of nitro. In a nutshell, that means it’s got a bit more of a hop kick than our standard domestic stouts, the oatmeal adds body and a smooth silky mouthfeel and the nitrogen softens the carbonation for an even smoother finish. It smells of lightly of tar, hops, cocoa and dark rich sweet malt. The sweetness gives it a bigger body and balances against the higher hop rate to make a really enjoyable stout that’s a great after work beer in the colder weather. Definitely one to look out for on draught if you can find the perfect pub with a fireplace. 6.5%abv 375ml cans and draught.

Food match: Drink this sweeter stout with a slice of dark chocolate mud cake. The perfect dessert pairing.

Source: Highway Hotel

Lobethal Bierhaus – Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

He’s almost old enough to be called the Grandfather of South Australian Craft Beer and Alistair Turnbull has won plenty of awards for his fine range of beers. His Red Truck Porter is legendary and the Choc Oatmeal Stout is also a lesson in balance and honing a recipe until it’s perfect. The stout almost starts off with flavours of bitter sweet Chinotto before swapping over to dusty cocoa and freshly ground coffee. There’s enough coffee to consider a bottle with a Sunday bacon and egg breakfast. The oatmeal takes the harsh edge off the roast barley and smooths out a stout that could easily be a session beer as well as a single treat. 5.8%abv 330ml stubbies and draught.

Food match: Quality Barossan bacon with eggs on rye. If breakfast beer is frowned upon in your house, drink this instead of a glass of red wine with a well seasoned roast leg of lamb.

Source: Highway Hotel

Little Bang Brewing Co – (Warning) May Contain Traces of Panther

Possibly the coolest beer name to ever grace a beer. While technically more aligned with a Porter, this is definitely a dark winter warmer worth including. Great balance of sweet and bitterness, this deceptively easy drinking beer is one of the first bottled products to come from the micro-brewers based in Stepney. It’s dark but still a little light through revealing a deep dark red hue. It has some wonderful complex caramel notes but also enough roast to make it into this list. Let it warm up a little to enjoy the dark bitter chocolate and espresso coffee flavours and aromas. For brewers who love their hops, this shows nice restraint and is a joy to drink. 6.5%abv 330ml stubbies and draught.

Food match: Scallop and Chorizo skewers. Salty seafood and spice are complimented by the dark malts.

Source: Highway Hotel

John Krüger is an Adelaide based photographer and home brewer with a passion for good beer. He’s on the Royal Adelaide Beer and Cider Awards committee as well as a beer judge with the awards.

It’s Not Quite Stout Weather Yet

Beer Radar – It’s not quite stout weather yet.

By John Krüger

(Previously published in Wine Business Magazine in 2010)

Summer is gone and with it went pilsner and hefeweizen weather. We’re not into stout and porter territory yet though. Here’s a few chewy beers that are suited to sunny days as well as cool nights.

Barons – Extra Special Bitter 4.7%abv

Chewy malt and toffee. Rich with an almost orange colour. Dry clean finish. Good hop presence but somewhat lacking in fresh Goldings hop character and aroma. Still a good gutsy beer with body, malt and hops. One of the maltiest from our selection.

James Squire – Original Amber Ale 5%abv

One of the most popular in the James Squire range. An intense dark orange colour yet clear and clean. Not as malty and chewy as the Barons ESB but complex with very subtle hints of nuts, chocolate and mocha. Light on the toffee and a good hop presence. Still slightly lacking in the fresh hop department.

Young’s – Special London Ale 6.4%abv

Hints of grass, lollies and marshmallow on the nose. Light amber colour with a slight haze. A pronounced and unusual hop flavour with a bitterness that lingers. Strong earthy and weedy hop flavours with marshmallow and light toffee. Orange zest bitterness. A gutsy flavourful English ale without the public toilet yeast aromas.

Erdinger – Dunkel 5.6%abv

Deep dark red, verging on black. Smelling malty but in no way sweet. Surprisingly refreshing and thankfully missing in the burned acrid flavours associated with roast barley. Brings well done wheat toast to mind. Restrained hops and very well balanced. Thank goodness they come in 500ml bottles, this is a beer destined for a big glass. German precision.

White Rabbit – Dark Ale 5.2%

A beautiful dark reddish brown and crystal clear. Amazing hop aromas with malt and toffee. Clean yet very hoppy and fresh while balanced and delicious. We’d almost risk getting in trouble again by mentioning pellets vs. whole hops, but we’ve seen mountains of whole hops fresh from the hop-back and the expense is definitely worth it. No snail pellets in sight. A slight cola flavour behind the hops with quite a complex aftertaste. Everything about this beer yells “fresh!” The only way to get a better version of this beer is trying it on tap in Healesville. A cracker!

Michael Weldon does food & beer matching

Food & Beer matching article.

By John Krüger

(First published in Beer & Brewer magazine in 2012)

Michael Weldon

Michael Weldon is instantly recognisable as a prominent contestant from the 2011 series of the hit TV cooking show Masterchef. Since his time in the limelight Michael has been honing his skills, including working with Coopers Brewery to work on matching some of his custom dishes to their range of beers. Michael gives Beer & Brewer exclusive access to some food matching combinations to a range of his favourite beers.

Coopers Celebration Ale – “I hadn’t tried this beer when I was working on developing the range of recipes for Coopers because they were still working on it. It’s got a freshness with the herbal and floral aspects of the hops. This beer would be great with a roast chook or fish. Something summery that’s been marinated with lemon and parsley. A salsa verde would add another dimension as well.”

Kronenbourg – “I drank a heap of this when I was in the UK. There’s a time and a place for a good lager. I can handle a session on these. These would be good with a first course of antipasto with loads of eggplant and artichoke. It’d go wicked with Rosemary.”

Budějovický Budvar – “Great stuff. This could go from a BBQ beer to a dinner beer. It’d be a good replacement for a glass of Chardonnay. It replaces the oily weight of Chardonnay with beer because there’s enough bitterness to do the job.”

Tongerlo Prior Tripel – “This Tripel would make a great after dinner beer. Imagine some goats cheese drizzled with honey and sprinkled with some fresh thyme. Slightly warmed up and served on some toasted sour-dough. The honey aspects of the beer would match really well. A young tangy goat’s cheese like Le Petit Prince from Barossa Valley Cheese Co would be ideal.”

Schöfferhofer Kristall Weizen – “The wheat flavours are almost earthy. I’d have this with a schnitzel with mushroom sauce. The weizen and mushrooms are a good match. I wouldn’t want to waste too much, but because of the lower bitterness, a bit of the beer in the sauce would be great. Earthiness and sweetness goes well with the crunchy crumb too.”

Charles Quint Blonde/Keizer Karel Blond – “This is another dessert beer. It’s got a honeycomb buttery quality. It’d be great with a caramel sauce. Anything with that buttery kind of sweet dessert flavours of caramel would match with that sweetness in the beer.”

Clausthaler Classic – “It’s only 0.5%abv so they’ve really pumped up the malt and bitterness to compensate. Don’t laugh, but the low alcohol would actually make it work as a beer sorbet. It’s got the flavor to work and the lack of alcohol would ensure that the sorbet would actually freeze properly.”