Beer Radar
By John Krüger
Work Christmas Party Edition (Originally published in Wine Business Magazine in 2010)
It happens every year. You end up at your work end-of-year shindig and you realise you’ll be drinking white wine and bubbly all night, thus getting hammered way quicker than expected. The problem is the beer options. In theory, the plan was to slowly sip on some malty yet cheekishly bitter beers. In reality the options are usually a light beer that tastes like it’s been shandied with soda water, or a full strength beer that has a taste like slightly bitter washing up water. So you abandon the beer idea and lose the plot, again. Have a word in your barman’s ear and see if he can grab you one of the following beers that have popped up on our radar this year instead.
Gage Roads Atomic Pale – Zap these down like spaceships in a 60’s sci-fi movie. Fruity hop brightness with a medium backbone. Fragrant delightful hoppy beer.
Gage Roads Sleeping Giant IPA – For the gentleman who has someone keeping a count on the beers consumed, a knockout beer for the sipper. Heavy toffee structure supports another delectable hop fruit salad.
Vale Ale – New and improved. Easy drinking floral beer made for warm nights and cool lawn between the toes. A gateway beer that introduces the world of hops without hurting anyone.
Stone & Wood Draught Ale – Hoppy, floral, fruity and clean. A beer made to be enjoyed, not waved around restaurants like a status symbol by men in suits. Great beer.
Löwenbräu – German sweet smelling dry straw meets soft malt that you can roll around your mouth. Soft, not sharp like a pilsner.
Pilsner Urquell – Pilsner perfection. Sharp refined bitterness and quenching bright satisfaction in a dinky bottle. Find one that hasn’t gone stale and cheesy sitting in a window all day.
Peroni – Well made Italian lager if you can find it. Buy a fresh imported carton while you still can. Word is, this great imported beer is getting an approximation made locally instead. Make sure you get imported beer if you’re asking for it. Remember crisp refined Becks? We rest our case.
Local beer – That’s right, micro-brewery beers. There’s heaps of them. Try a new beer conceived by the brewer, not the accountant. There’s a lot more great beers popping up every day and some are absolute favourites of ours: Lobethal Bierhaus Double Hopped IPA, Barossa Brewing Company Victorville Ale, Steam Exchange Truffles to name but a few in our area. We also wish we were living around the corner from Feral Brewing in WA or Mountain Goat in Victoria. Have a look, buy some beer made with heart and enjoy truly great beer during your festivities this year.
Cheers and beers,
John and the Beer Radar team.
