Beer Radar for TWTW 11th October 2013
By John Krüger
Two new beers have popped up on the radar and they’ll certainly get a hammering over the warmer weather.
The first is a new beer from Pikes in Clare. They already have a very drinkable stout and a cracker of a floral hoppy pilsener. Now they’ve added a Sparkling Ale to their line up. It’s a nice middle of the road beer, which could be sipped on a cool night or enjoyed by the pint on a warm day. It has a nice malty dry biscuit flavour and a lingering bitterness. It’s a medium bodied, nicely balanced ale with a clean yeast profile. It’s already available at multiple venues including the Kings Hotel in Adelaide as well as Leftbank Melbourne and Vic on the Park in Sydney.
The second new beer is from Mismatch Brewing Co. Aptly named Ewan Brewerton is heading up a small proactive group of “gypsy brewers” who have released their first beer, Archie’s Red Ale. It reminds me of a Little Creatures creation, it’s very well balanced. It leans slightly on the sweeter side but chock full of citrus hop flavour, complex malt character and mouth feel. It’s quite a big beer on the flavour delivery while still weighing in at only 5%abv. Giving credit where credit is due; Ewan insists on transparency to the point of even naming where the beer was brewed and ingredients used in press-releases. Archie’s Red Ale isn’t available outside of South Australia just yet, but inside SA they’ve done a great job getting it in all the cool bars like Udaberri and beer friendly bottle shops like The Highway hotel.
