Beer Radar for WBM – May 2012
By John Krüger
New beers to wet the whistle
Over the last month we’ve been trying out some absolutely cracking beers from some well renowned small brewers around the world. We wouldn’t recommend them if we weren’t buying them regularly and loving every last drop.
Our first selection are fine examples of why the Kiwi’s are ringing our hop loving bells. We haven’t chosen the more offensive IPA’s and brutally hoppy beers, but hop freaks will still enjoy these pilsners with a difference.
Tuatara – Pilsner
It’s a pilsner with the volume turned up to NZ craft beer levels. It’s clean, bitingly hoppy yet not too crazy. Saaz hops would make the Czech’s proud of this one. Traditional roots and techniques keep this beer in the right place. So easy to drink but nowhere near the typical commercial bland pilsners.
Croucher – Pilsner
Just when you thought that fizzy lagers had died a bland flavourless death in a dark hole somewhere, Croucher come out with this beauty. Sharp like a whip crack, fresh and bright. Fresh hops add a load of flavour but the biscuity malts balance out the NZ Motueka and Riwaka hops perfectly. It well and truly passes the session test, and we’re happy to keep testing it.
Vale – IPA
A new release with a bright red label. It’s not a brutal beer but it ticks all of the IPA boxes. It’s rich and malty with some darker malt complexity. There’s still a well thought out selection of hops; Citra, Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin, providing a nice range of flavours without being too harsh and resiny. It’s big, but it’s not too hard to down a few. The Vale IPA has been available on tap for a little while now, but the bottled version is now out there and becoming quite a popular beer.
Little Creatures – The Quiet American
An unusual hybrid from the superstars of beer in Western Australia. We’ve never seen one before, which might explain the name. Simply put, it’s a hoppy Belgian strong ale, but this isn’t a simple beer. The Belgian yeast gives this beer estery, spicy characters. Belgian candied sugar additions top the alcohol up to 7.2%abv which gives a hint of hot alcohol. New season US Cascade and Chinook hops bound out of the glass with citrus peel and pine resin flavours and aromas. It’s challenging, it’s weird, and it’s certainly worth trying.
Lobethal – Double Hopped IPA
Alistair Turnbull, owner and brewer at Lobethal Bierhaus has tweaked his IPA to new levels. He’s doubled the hops to double the fun. This is a big hoppy beer that’s still very drinkable. Crystal malts give it quite a dark rich colour and flavour but there’s plenty of hops to balance out the malt sweetness. An extra addition of hops to the bright tank give an extra layer of resiny hop character with a bucketload of hop aroma wafting from the beer. This is the kind of beer that you can taste the next morning if you have more than one pint. It’s becoming a very popular beer with the beer nerds, which might explain why we keep seeing the little Lobethal ute delivering kegs all the time.
