Beery Joy and Beery Sorrow

Beer Radar

By John Krüger

Beery Joy and Beery Sorrow. (Previously published in Wine Business Magazine in 2011)

“For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” The Bible – Ecclesiastes 1:18 (King James version)

Of course Trevor Eccesiates was talking about beer. Well, to be honest I didn’t really read through the whole thing but I’m taking a moderately educated guess. Beer takes us on an emotional rollercoaster if we let it. I’m not talking about getting drunk, I’m talking about falling in and out of love with different beer styles and facets of beer. That moment when you realise that there’s a lot more of something you’ve just discovered out there can be an uplifting if yet expensive experience.

Like all loves, you learn about the bad that inevitably goes with the good. In beer’s case we can look at three main reasons.

Bad beer stays bad – That’s right, it was pretty shit to begin with. The company that makes it has decided to pump out a beer with a few minor defects but it’s technically a pretty well made brew. There’s a heap of marketing dollars behind it, and the shareholders want a bigger dividend so they’d better make it as cheap as possible and knock the stuff out like diarrhoea in Bali. The problem is, it’s usually not very nice to drink. The majority of punters are happy with anything that’s not too offensive and gets them pissed, so it gets a huge market share anyway.

Good beer goes bad – Here comes the sorrow. There’s a new beer that’s blipped up on the radar, a simple pilsner from Europe, but it’s so bold that the everyday punter doesn’t go for it. Thanks to the fact that the perfect pilsner comes from overseas in green bottles, there’s now the chance that it’s light-struck resulting in a blunt hop character, a hint of unpleasantness on the nose and a disappointing finish. Welcome to the majority of beers you buy singularly from bottle-shops. If they’re exposed to light, including the dirty big fluoro right next to them, it’s only a matter of time before they go to shit. Unlike big beers designed to cellar, most beer is best fresh and there’s also the chance that any random beer has been sitting anywhere oppressive for an unknown amount of time.

The beer divorce – It was a good beer, then I drank a better beer. The cause of most beer divorces. I found a better beer. We met in a bar, the rest is history. Now we just see the ex-beer at dodgy barbeques, and random bars late at night. The new beer is just so more vibrant and exciting

19th August 2011 News

Beer Radar

By John Krüger

19th August 2011 News (Previously published online in The Week That Was Friday 19th August 2011)

The Coopers brewing family in Adelaide are looking towards the summer and the flurry of brewing activity that comes with the change of seasons by installing a second mash tun today. (that’s the bit they make malt porridge in, for the non-brewers) The tun is 10 metres tall with a working capacity of 35,000 litres and will be able to boost production by another 50%. This big bugger has to be lifted by crane and installed through the roof. It’s seems things are looking positive for the Aussie brewing icon while the rest of the industry worries about changing beer consumption statistics in Australia.

Little Creatures are embracing the cold weather with a new limited release brew. Called The Dreadnaught, it’s a single batch Foreign Extra Stout. Weighing in at 7.4%abv it’ll warm the cockles while supplying a nourishing amount of malty depth. It’s chock full of dark Munich and ale malts and hopped to 60ibu’s (International Bitterness Units) with English Fuggles. Don’t be scared off by the high amount of bitterness though, it’s balanced well by the malt so you’d guess it’s closer to 30. Get a bottle while you can, it’s limited.

Got some brewing industry news, release information or good old gossip?

Twitter: @beerradar

Beer Interviews #2

Beer Radar

By John Krüger

Beer Interviews #2 (First published in Wine Business Magazine in 2010)

This month we continue our insightful series of interviews with people we admire and respect about “The beer that changed my life.” We’ve chosen these two people because of their respected palates and award winning contributions to the wonderful world of food and beverages in the Barossa.

Mark McNamara is Executive Chef at Appellation restaurant.

I can guarantee that the beer that changed my life wasn’t the first beer – getting smashed with friends as a young teenager in the early 70’s on longnecks of Southwark “Green Death” as it was then known. In fact this (and my dad insisting I have a beer with him the next day –and I thought at the time he was unaware of the night before) pretty much put me off of beer for many years – a kind of aversion therapy.

In fact it wasn’t until I moved to the UK to work about 10 years later that I discovered what I think beer is all about, micro breweries, cask conditioned real ale, hand drawn beer engines, real beer stored in cool cellars and dispensed unrefrigerated at 8ºc, in pints on cold nights, in front of an open fire in small free houses,. The key to this door was a small brewery called Rayments in a village called Furneux Pelham on the Herts- Essex border near Bishops Stortford. Unfortunately the brand owner “Greene King” closed the brewery in 1987.

The beer I was introduced to was Rayments BBA (variously referred to as Best Bitter Ale or Best Burton Ale) and I spent a very cold winter trekking around the nearly 30 independent pubs, located in tiny local villages (as these were the only stockists – no bottles only draught) . It was a revelation that beer could be savoured and flavourfull not frozen and bland, that hops were fragrant and floral, that beer doesn’t have to be gassy yet this was certainly not ever flat.

And the beauty was that each pub was responsible for cask conditioning their own beer, it was always hand drawn, no gas or temprite or superchillers anywhere near it. Because of this there was a slight variance in pint from pub to pub with the best batches being enjoyed closest to the brewery, but the beer didn’t travel much wider than a 30 mile radius anyway. Over the years other British Beers have come close but nothing has ever equaled it.

Maybe it is simply a romantic memory or the fact I can never again compare this beer with any other but Rayments converted me and I have been seeking out great beers ever since.

 

Darryl Trinnie is owner and brewer of the Barossa Brewing Company.

The eyes were opened when German decorative iron worker/brewer Harry Hennig introduced me to full grain mashing, however the lights came on when visiting Sydney for an engineering conference in the mid nineties.

Gaye and I were aimlessly wandering around the Rocks precinct looking for a decent bar, when we stumbled upon The Australian Hotel. Gourmet pizzas, a fantastic old pub, pretty much unmolested, and only two beers on tap, Scharer’s Lager, and Scharer’s Bock. Absolutely fanfuckingtastic. Both beers clean, unfiltered, free of preservatives and flavoursome. We stayed for the duration and taxied back to our digs.

I ditched the engineering conference to return to the Australian.

We traced the beer back to its source, Geoff Scharer’s George IV Inn at Picton. The copper clad brew house was on display in the front bar, and only two beers on tap.

We made regular trips to Picton to meet with Geoff and enjoy the beer.

He wouldn’t ship as he was afraid of spoil. So we would fly to Sydney from Adelaide, hire a car, drive to Picton, fill the vehicle with Scharers’, and drive back to the Barossa. I believe this was the best Lager and Bock in the country at the time.

Beer

An American Hop Embrace

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.

Alternative Beers 2013

Beer Radar

By John Krüger

Alternative Beers (First published in Wine Business Magazine in 2013)

Looking for something a bit different? Check out some of these unique offerings that’ll wet your whistle and blow your mind at the same time. They’re also great beers for cooler weather.

Feral Brewing – Raging Flem

Don’t worry, the “Flem” in the title is in regards to the Flemish brewers who took the art of brewing beer and gave it a few amazing twists and turns with their northern Belgian ales. Their yeasts throw an amazing array or spice, funk, and sometimes acid. This Feral beer is an unusual combination of Belgian funk and classic ballsy American style India Pale Ale. I’ve never seen anything like it, and most beer fans take a step back when they hear about it; but wow, it works so well. There’s still a bucket load of American hop aroma but the spicy phenolic yeast merges with it amazingly well. Loads of full malty body and a good kick of spicy tropical fruit from the hops. This brewery in Western Australia really knows how to push the boundaries of “normal” beer, but still manages to make everything super tasty. Try some Raging Flem. It’s essentially a kick arse IPA full of hops and funk.

 

Gage Roads – Abstinence

Another Belgian style, and again, brewed in Western Australia. Belgian style beer are a little unusual because some people can find the funk and spice a little confronting, although this is also a beer with good balance and very approachable. This Gage Roads limited release is a Belgian Dubbel Chocolate Ale. Two different yeast strains have been matched perfectly to give a broad range of spicy flavours and aromas. It’s a deep mahogany coloured ale with a load of caramel, toffee and vanilla aromas and flavours. There’s also the unmistakable presence of real chocolate; Premium Ghanaian chocolate to be exact. This beer has seen the use of noble hops, which give a clean spicy finish without citrus and the tropical fruits derived from the popular American varieties. The whole lot works together amazingly well and I’m guessing that development and trial batches would have taken quite a bit of work, especially with all of the different components being quite diverse. The chocolate is pronounced but doesn’t dominate, and it’s not that cheap Easter egg chocolate flavour either. There’s an aftertaste of old fashioned creaming soda and a surprisingly dry finish. There’s a whiff of alcohol as it warms and as it’s a 7.4%abv beer, that’s no real surprise. The vanilla and alcohol aromas behind the chocolate remind me of quality rum. In fact, I think I spent more time swirling and enjoying the smells than I did drinking it. Abstinence is an unusual beer no doubt, but it’s still very enjoyable. Sip and swirl from a tulip beer glass or brandy balloon if you have one.

 

Young’s – Double Chocolate Stout

Staying with the chocolate theme but ditching the Belgian influence, here’s a beer from the UK designed for dedicated chocolate fans. It’s called “double chocolate”, but technically, could have been called “triple chocolate”. One of the ingredients in the grist is Chocolate Malt; a dark, kilned barley malt (or wheat malt) that’s been roasted specifically to produce a dry, powdered cocoa flavour in beer. It’s quite amazing. Another grist component is oats, which contribute a beautiful silky texture. Young’s also add real dark chocolate as well as chocolate essence to this beer. The base stout is fairly restrained in comparison to the ball buster, acrid style stouts most of us are used to, so the layers of chocolate are unmistakable, but it still has a dry, burned husk finish that is an essential character of a true stout. When it’s warmed and opens up, it’s almost chocolate overload for me but I’m certainly no chocoholic. Imagine a large glass of after-dinner chocolate stout on a cool evening with a whisky chaser and a Dominican cigar. Now that’s how to enjoy the cooler weather.

 

The Mash Collective – Aureus Chrysalis (Dubbel Scotch Ale)

I was in two minds about the idea of The Mash Collective. One part of me observes an individual: one person’s obsession and passion focused into a laser beam of biased creativity.

Then I remember the joke about a committee designing something. The punch line describes a watered down, useless or lowest-common-denominator result.

I’m not sure how and why the people involved in the Mash Collective are there. I’m mostly interested in the resulting beer, although Tattooist Trevor Bennett has to be mentioned for some classic psychedelic label art that’s “legendary beer t-shirt” worthy.

With the beer, once again there’s a style crossover. A classic European ale with a Belgian twist. I’ll preface by saying I’ve never really enjoyed the over the top toffee and caramel in a Scotch ale. They (sometimes) have a thick syrupy body and a load of cloying toffee sweetness with a counter bitterness offensive.

The Mash Collective have made me take a step back with a really nice Scotch ale. This still has caramel coming out of its wazoo but it’s not too sweet and the body is just right. Grippy charcoal and smoke, spicy yeast, over-ripe fruit and weedy herbal bitterness on the aftertaste leave it far from one-dimensional. It’s a really interesting beer with a lot going on. 500ml bottles that you’ll enjoy to the last drop. Tuck a few away for 12 months and compare.

Christmas 2011

Beer Radar

By John Krüger

Big Bumper Booze Guide 2011 (First published in Wine Business Magazine in 2011)

It’s time to head out to a decent bottle shop and fill the fridge with glorious cold beverages. Here’s a brief explanation why we’d buy any of the following beers & ciders. Buy yourself a rollercoaster of flavours instead of a 30 pack of fizzy dish water.

Beer

Feral 

Hop Hog – Punchy hoppy goodness from Western Australia. Resiny aromatic hops meet bitter marmalade, caramel and burned white toast. It’s a chewy mouthful of bitterness and it’s so enjoyable.

Hitachino Nest 

Japanese Classic Ale – Been waiting for a Japanese made India Pale Ale that’s been matured in cedar sake casks? Wait no more and embrace the cedar. Pencil shavings and wooden sauna with sappy pine needles. It’s an amazing left field beer and it’s surprisingly good.

Espresso Stout – Forget the idea of coffee at the end of a meal, enjoy an espresso and a stout at the same time. High alcohol and a good whack of dark roasted coffee beans. Based on the Russian Imperial stouts, there’s coffee and sweetness in a big delicious stout. It’s seamless. Candidate #1 for Breakfast Beer of the Year.

Cascade

Pure – It’s a beer surrounded by weird carbon neutral and low-carb marketing. Ignore all of that. The fact is it fared quite well in blind tastings and is a clean easy drinking summer quaffer with a hint of fresh hops.

Epic

Armageddon IPA – Not as scary as their Hop Zombie, it’s still a formidable beer. There’s a very liberal amount of hops, loads of bitterness, aroma and flavour but also a sweet honey character that provides balance. What a beer!

Coopers

Sapporo – Now made by Coopers in Regency Park, South Australia. Very easy to drink session beer with good malt character. Knock off a few washing down some seafood. We’ll be smashing these down. A good father-in-law beer.

Pale Ale – The fresher they are, the better. A fresh pale is a slightly malty sweet, hoppy and a vibrant beer with yeast complexity. Every fridge should have a few ready to go.

Matilda Bay

Alpha Pale Ale – Not too aggressive, but still very tasty. A session style of hoppy beer rather than a tongue buster. There’s plenty of hop aroma and flavour that’ll make you finish a six-pack before you know it.

Endeavour

2011 Reserve Pale Ale – Munich malt flavours with a background of fresh hops. Good pre-dinner beer. Malty and fresh.

Brooklyn Brewery

Brooklyn Lager – An American take on a Vienna lager. It’s malty, hoppy and very tasty. It’s nothing like a watery Aussie lager. Once punters realise a lager can also be packed full of flavour, this will be huge.

St. Ambroise

Framboise – A raspberry ale that’s reeking of fresh berries. Looks weird but tastes great. Not everyone loves fruit in beer, but this would be perfect with the Christmas turkey. Candidate #2 for Breakfast Beer of the Year.

Cider

Old Mout

Feijoa & Cider – A wonderful zingy pineapple tasting cider and a fantastic summer drink. Definitely one of our favourites. Everyone loved this.

Bulmers 

Original Cider – Red apple skin colour and chewy skin tannins. Fairly dry but still has some body. Good size 500ml bottles to share or fill a pint glass with some ice.

Strongbow

Clear – Lower sugar and body makes for a good session cider. As far as you get from a farmhouse style but very easy to knock off four or more.

Matilda Bay

Dirty Granny – A good middle of the road cider that’s thankfully missing the unnatural cider flavour some popular ciders have. Tastes like fresh dessert apples. Knock them down like bowling pins from the dinky 330ml bottles.

Lobo

Cloudy Cider – Hints of funky ferments can turn away the drinker used to clean one-dimensional ciders, but this has some beautiful complexity. A cider for those with a need for something different and old-world.

Royale – The fancy version of the Lobo cider is more challenging with stewed fruit, natural ferment and farmhouse qualities. The bigger, sweeter and richer flavours will pay off for those who appreciate the funk. Funk lovers only.

Perry

Bulmers

Pear Cider – Very flavoursome, a dense body and a building sweetness. One for the sugar fans but a very enjoyable pear flavour.

Lobo

Pear Cider – The least funky of the Lobo range. Still chock full of fruit in Lobo’s old-school style. It’d be an excellent cocktail base too. Sweet at the start but ends medium-sweet and bready. Perfectly cloudy. 500ml punt bottles.

Little Creatures

Pipsqueak Pear – A hint of tartness makes this pear cider refreshing and bright. Not too sweet in typical Pipsqueak fashion.

Work Christmas Party

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.

Orana Auction

Beer Radar

By John Krüger

(Originally published online in The Week That Was October 22nd 2010)

Brewers and winemakers have shown their willingness to support a worthy cause with significant donations being accepted by Orana for their silent auction, which will occur during their upcoming 60th birthday celebrations on Friday 3rd of December.

While Swanee and Amity Dry rock the South Australian Jockey Club, guests and supporters will be able to bid for a vast range of collectables such as a magnum of 2007 Vintage Ale from Coopers Brewery signed by Dr.Tim, Glenn and Melanie Cooper, or a Growler (2 litre bottle) of special edition Lobethal Bierhaus double hopped India Pale Ale.

The wine industry has also been extremely generous with the following items a small selection of what is being offered for silent auction:

Lot No.

Description of Items

1

Ballast Stone 2007 Shiraz in a Jeroboam signed by John Loxton—Winemaker

2

Shingleback 2004 ‘D’ Block Shiraz Magnum signed by John the Winemaker

3

Wirra Wirra 2007 Catapult Shiraz Voignier Magnum in a wooden display box

4

Maxwell 2008 Silver Hammer Shiraz Magnum signed by Mark Maxwell in a display case with notes

5

Mr Riggs ‘The Gaffer’ 2007 Shiraz Magnum signed by Ben Riggs—Winemaker

6

Fox Creek 2006 Reserve Shiraz signed by Scott Zrna—Winemaker

7

Parri Estate 2007 Cabernet Shiraz, 12 bottles signed by John Phillips, Limited Edition, numbered bottles

8

Charles Cimicky Mixed Shiraz Half Dozen includes 2 x 2007 ‘The Autograph’ Shiraz, 2 x 2007 Reserve Shiraz and 2 x 2008 ‘Trumps’ Shiraz

9

Skillogalee 2010 Riesling signed by the Winemaker

Orana provides people with disabilities with the opportunity to work in a happy, safe environment and become valued and productive community members. Orana has been a long-term provider of business services for beverage industries.

Booking details for the event are here: http://www.oranaonline.com.au/content/custom/card/orana-60th-anniversary.html

Mild Sales

Beer Radar

By John Krüger

Mild sales in mild weather. (First published in Wine Business Magazine in 2011)

Talking about the weather is about as boring as it gets but let’s apply weather to our favourite subject, beer. We all know that this year’s weather has been arse-about-face. We don’t know if we’re in drought, flood, or a bit of both. Cold spells in the middle of summer confuses the shit out of consumers and department stores are in disarray not knowing if they should be flogging sunscreen or umbrellas. Take pity on the poor bottle-shop attendants. They know as a rule of thumb that for every degree the weather heats up, beer sales increase by 2% but with weather all over the place, is it swilling style beers or strong dark sippers that the punters desire? Australia’s mild start to summer has had the beer drinkers in a quandary. Coopers Marketing Director Glenn Cooper says the states keenest on mid-strength beers, Queensland and Western Australia have been hitting the Coopers Mild Ale hard. “Sales of Mild Ale in cans have been particularly strong and are up 79% on the previous year. However, we have also recorded a 7.7% increase in sales of Coopers Best Extra Stout. Stout is normally a winter drink, but we think the cooler start to summer has extended its season and people have been enjoying it later in the year.” says Glenn.

While we’re talking Coopers, they’ve re-launched the old homebrew system with a slightly different fermenter and are pushing it as the perfect gift for a loved bloke on Valentine’s Day. We think they’re an excellent way to start exploring the hobby of home brewing, but it does have its pitfalls. Let’s face it, you’re not going to make anything like Coopers Pale Ale at home using a tin of goo and a kilo of sugar unless you have your taste buds situated nearer to the ground. As a rule of thumb, the darker the beer, the better the extract cans work. Coopers brown ale, and especially the stout are swillingly good beers for extract homebrew, especially if they’re given 3-6 months to mature in the bottle in a cool dark place. For lighter coloured beers like pale ale and lagers, there’s no way to get rid of that extract taste apart from getting rid of the extract to begin with and brewing with malted grains. The good news is the Coopers home brew fermenter and bottles will still work perfectly if you decide to take the step into all-grain brewing.

We requested a taste of the 2010 Vintage Ale from Coopers and were surprised when a few samples of the 2009 arrived. We were confused, but stoked to try the aged beer. We had been a bit iffy about a beer we’re not hugely into, but the similarities to vintage port and Christmas fruitcake are amazing. This harsh weedy alcohol flavour has turned into musty leather and raisins. B&S ball rum and cheap white bread toasted until it’s just that little bit too burned. The edges are black but you hide it with Vegemite; that kind of bitterness. This beer has changed dramatically and is still definitely worth checking out. We’re not sure where this beer is going, but we’ve stashed the last few in different wine storage, sock drawers and fridges so see how this vintage ale story pans out. We haven’t been this riveted by a storyline since Sawyer started doing Kate on the island with the freaky polar bear.

The Tap King

Beer Radar for WBM

My Kingdom for a Beer (Previously published in Wine Business Magazine in 2013)

By John Krüger

If you haven’t seen the humorous ads for the new Tap King beer dispensing system, have a Google. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I see Lionel Richie drinking a large glass of beer. I’m not really sure why.

Tap King is the latest offering for us sad 30+ year old men who don’t get out much any more. We still like beer but keep getting texts asking us when we’re coming home whenever we go to the pub, so we drink at home. I actually have a number of beers on tap at home anyway, but I’m probably 1 in 3000 who can be bothered renting beer gas bottles, cleaning kegs and rinsing out drip trays. A commercial beer system isn’t cheap but the allure of draught beer at home is somewhat of a luxury for most people. For a while, everyone got excited about the little 5L metal kegs that were popular for a while. The only problem was, the tiny little tap wasn’t really up to the job. It’d squirt out a high pressure jet of beer at the start of the keg and take a month to fill a glass at the end of the keg.

Tap King is very different. It’s high tech and if I were to sum it all up in one word, I’d say “fancy”. It’s very easy to put together, and only takes a minute to tap the 3.2L keg and get some beer pouring. There’s even a dinky little drip tray with looks so small it’d be useless, but it actually pushes out of the way by the glass and is spring loaded so it pops back out just to catch the last drip from the tap.

Although some beer fans will feel a little limited by the beers available for the Tap King, which is a Lion initiative so don’t expect Feral or Coopers beers for it anytime soon, the bottle system is very good. Instead of buying light struck beers by the bottle, the thick black plastic bottle delivers very fresh beer. My test model was supplied with James Boags Premium Lager and it’s probably the freshest Boags I’ve ever had. If you’re used to pouring from a normal beer tap, the Tap King is still a bit dinky. The stream of beer is still thin and easy to create a bit too much head but it only takes a bit more attention to the pour to remedy that.

Currently Tooheys New, XXXX Gold, Tooheys Extra Dry, Hahn SuperDry, James Boags Premium Lager and James Squire’s The Chancer Golden Ale are the only beers on offer. You’d hazard a guess that if it takes off, the range would be expanded. I’d love to see the range of beers available increase, especially if hopefully nitrogen dispensing is possible. Having 3.2L of (locally made, under license) Kilkenny Irish Red Ale ready to pour at any moment would make me a very happy drinker. At the least, a stout would make a good addition to the range.

Price wise, the dispenser sells for $32.99 and the 3.2L refills cost between $33 to $48, depending on the beer. That works out to around $2 a stubby, which isn’t too bad, especially considering the freshness of the beer delivered.

One of the first questions I get from beer nerds about the unit is “Can you refill them with homebrew?” Looking at the coupler for the bottle, I’m guessing it’d be pretty bloody tricky to do so. It’s quite a convoluted piece of equipment, even though tapping it is basically popping the dispenser correctly onto the refill bottle and pulling a lever to lock it into place.

So the verdict is; I still love a stainless steel swan neck beer tap with a steady even flow of beer, but if you don’t want the hassles of lugging 18-50L kegs around the place, renting gas bottles and cleaning beer lines, the Tap King is a compact, easy, fun way to pour a few cold ones at home without any dramas. It’s not quite royalty, but even the hoi polloi deserve fresh beer.

*Tap King and a refill of Boags Premium supplied by Lion’s PR company