Beer Radar
By John Krüger
An American hop embrace. (First published in Wine Business Magazine in 2011)
Ever since the Aussie dollar has gained parity with the greenback, things have changed for us in regards to imported beer here in Australia. Before parity, just about every imported beer you could get your hands on would turn out to be contract brewed under license in Sydney. All of a sudden, the Aussie dollar wasn’t standing in the shadow of the US dollar and cartons of Corona were being pushed harder than the idea of a carbon tax. Think about the margins on a cheap Mexican beer that’s still being sold in Australia as a “premium” imported beer. The good news is, it’s not just ordinary beer that’s on offer. We’ve recently spotted the groundbreaking Sierra Nevada Pale Ale for sale in Dan Murphy’s. Sierra Nevada Pale has a habit of turning beer likers into beer lovers. Dan’s also have the superb Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA. It’s like the pale ale but with the volume turned up to 11. These are American beers made with a passion for hops. Fresh resinous in-your-face, hops. A superb example of a hop embrace is the Sierra Nevada special release Harvest Ale. It’s a little harder to find than a trip to Dan’s, but worth the search. The Northern Hemisphere version utilising fresh American grown Centennial and Cascade hops. The Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale using fresh New Zealand grown Pacific Hallertau, Motueka and Southern Cross hops. These hops have been picked, lightly dried and flown straight to the brewery to be used within a week. Stale hops exhibit cheesy or cardboardy oxidised characters, neither of which show up in these confronting ales. The Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale is a hop lover’s beer. It’s got enough malt and alcohol (6.7%) to be a big beer, but it’s also bitter, slightly confronting, offensive and we wouldn’t want it to be anything else.
Another fantastic import from the USA, this time Portland, Oregon, is Rogue beers. Rogue are playful and ingenious. They’ll take an idea and run with it, explaining everything including all ingredients on their old school bottles. Rogue also have a dedication to hops so their beers are full flavoured and at times aggressive. Their 2011 beer schedule lists over 40 beers, a root beer and seven spirits. Their Dead Guy whiskey playfully boasts being aged in charred American white oak barrels for 1 month, yet it’s surprisingly good. We’ve only seen a fraction of what Rogue produces arrive here in Australia but what we have tried are unique yet solid beers. The Mocha Porter is superb and the Morimoto Imperial Pilsner is a world apart from anything else we’ve ever tasted. If we had a different Rogue beer posted to us every week, we’d have a very happy year.
