Beer Radar
By John Krüger
Feral Beers (First published by Wine Business Magazine in 2012)
Even though the winter months slow down beer consumption, the industry certainly doesn’t go on holidays. There’s some amazing beers coming out, but sometimes the release dates don’t match up too well with the weather. A prime example is Feral’s Watermelon Warhead. It’s a naturally sour Berliner Weisse flavoured with watermelons. Now that’s worth a mention just for the style. I tried it on a particularly cold day and thought the release timing was a bit odd being such a great lower alcohol beer for stinking hot weather, but wow, what a beer. It’s absolutely sensational. It’d also be my first pick for beer of the year. It’s certainly a different style and there’s no other examples of locally produced sour beers that come to mind to compare it to. I was worried that the lactic acid sourness would be narrow and sharp like a Cantillon beer from Belgium but the sourness is broad, smooth and almost savoury. I also wasn’t sure if watermelon in a beer would be my kind of thing, but the subtle layer of flavour and aroma it adds is totally complimentary.
Feral is also blowing us away with their barrel aged Hop Hog and their Karma Citra, a black IPA with plenty of tropical fruit flavours from Citra hops. Brewer Brendan Varis must be doing everything right because they’ve just won Best Australian Brewery (again) at the recent International Beer Awards in Melbourne.
Another favourite brewer of Beer Radar is Owen Johnston. His work with Moo Brew in Tasmania is always rock solid and super tasty. Moo Brew have just released a new Belgian style pale ale called Belgo. It’s not super high in alcohol so I was lucky enough to drink a pint of it with Owen recently. Some Belgians can be quite strong in alcohol and that funky yeast phenolic department, but Belgo is very balanced and a pleasure to drink. It’s also thankfully missing the ‘hot water on Weetbix’ aroma and flavour. For a roasty stout, keep your eyes peeled for the Moo Brew seasonal stout, colloquially known as ‘the Velvet Sledgehammer’, or their oak aged imperial stout if you deserve a special yet expensive treat.
Little Creatures have got the timing right and have just released their spiced winter ale called Day of the Long Shadow. It’s a sipper, sitting at a whisker under 9%abv. It’s flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and the bottles are primed with Muscovado sugar. I usually avoid “Christmas” or “spiced” beers because the spices are always too dominant. While the spices in this beer are restrained, the flavours build with every sip so it’s definitely for spiced beer lovers only. The layers of specialty malts give it a very aromatic and gutsy malt backbone and it makes this seem like drinking an ingredient rather than a finished beverage. I’m tempted to try the dessert pairing options with this beer, or even using it as an ingredient. The ultimate Christmas beer pudding, or dare I suggest, spiced beer donuts. Oh yeah.
*Moo Brew Belgo and Little Creatures Day of the Long Shadow were supplied by the breweries.
