Beer Radar
By John Krüger
Transitional Beers. (First published in Wine Business Magazine in 2010)
We’ve covered some of the darker beers a few months ago in Beer Radar, and we’re leaving the stouts until they’re really needed. This month we look at a selection we hope could be transitional beers. The ones you could feed to your your Dad in the hope that at last he’ll give up his nasty generic beer in a can.
Matilda Bay – Fat Yak: Reeking of hops. Truck full of citrus crashes into a cheap perfume stall. Might smell too scary for Dad. Background aromas of malty goodness. Resiny bitterness backed up with a light malt sweetness and thin body. Almost a little watery at the end, fading away.
Coopers – Sparkling Ale: classic Aussie Pride of Ringwood hop flavour so Dad will recognise something familiar, but also bready yeast complexity and toffee. We’d call it Mother’s Milk but milk has never been this good. Like a good radio station, the hits we love but also something a bit different.
Mildura Brewery – Mallee Bull Heavy: A malty amber style ale. Loads of dense malty goodness without being overly sweet. Subtle bitterness and all round well balanced beer. Good soft intro into decent drinking. Could have a few of these.
Barons Brewing – Black Wattle Original Ale: Sweet, nutty and rich but it’s not as heavy as it smells, so you can drink more than one. Creeping bitterness. A gutsy amber ale with roasted black wattle seeds giving a seedy nutty twist to the usual chocolate and coffee flavours associated with winter ales. Looks too good to drink from the bottle, should be in longnecks or growlers.
Cascade – First Harvest 2010: Malty for a Cascade, still bright and clear but with a hint of colour. The bitterness units might be up there but the Fat Yak slayed this beer in regards to hop presence. Dad friendly beer. The bitterness might start Dad up on the old Southwark Bitter “green death” rant again so better not risk it.
