Pretty feeble head, white and insubstantial – you’d have to pour it carelessly to get anything to really sit for more than a moment. A bit of a shame, because it would have contrasted beautifully with the rich clear amber colour in the glass. Lovely smell at first – a release of sweet herbs hits your nose as you raise the glass. Then there’s the taste…

…ahh – where is the taste? Ok, it’s not that bad, but it’s not what I expect from a pale ale. There’s a hint of citrus, but it’s pretty well lost in a haze of other minor flavours. What you end up with is a good consumer beer. Not that this is a bad thing, it’s just not what I was expecting. A little puzzled, I went to the Matilda Bay website to see what they said about their beer.

They characterise Fat Yak as “easy drinking craft beer in the traditional North American pale ale style”. Well, that explains a lot, I find American brews tend to lack flavour – or at least lack the conviction to let a flavour really blow out. Trouble is, they end up being safe rather than memorable.

The bare facts:
MATILDA BAY GARAGE
Unit 2/132-142 Bangholme Rd
Dandenong South, Victoria 3175
www.matildabay.com.au

By the way guys – flash based websites are soooo 2005!

They say:

Barons Lemon Myrtle Witbier is the real Australian version of Belgian-style white beer. Flavoured by native Australian Lemon Myrtle, this beer is a perfect balance of zesty lemon rind and ripe citrus fruit flavours. Being bottle-conditioned, this cloudy ale is lively on the palate yet surprisingly smooth.

I will agree that there were traces of the ‘ripe citrus flavour’ they are talking about, but nowhere near enough. White beer conjures up visions of a bland drink, I’m afraid this is a pretty accurate in this case. Certainly, the Belgian style as we know it from the commercial imports is not big on flavour and character, so maybe this is well in character… there were no vices in the flavour. What I wasn’t so impressed with was the gas – this was a fizzy drink! So much so, that it got in the way of the taste – you just couldn’t take a mouthful and savour it without it threatening to explode in your mouth.

OK, so he tried to warn me, so I can’t be too harsh. It’s not bad – just for me, it isn’t that good either. The one thing he got wrong was telling me that they were from Western Australia – this puzzled me a little, because I thought the sandgropers would turn out a ballsier brew. Only when I was writing this post, did I realise they are from Sydney… explains a lot.

Barons Brewing
Level One, 1 Moncur Street, Woollahra, NSW, 2025
http://www.baronsbrewing.com/

They say: The colour of burnished copper, strong with a caramely sweetness. A malt driven beer [...] blend of English Malts, some of which are dark roasted to impart the toffee and sweet flavours of this ale.

…And for once, I agree totally with their spiel. It’s a rich handsome colour in the glass and the immediate sensations of caramel and toffee are right there up front. Way too sweet for me, but there may be people who want this in a beer. The sort of drink that works well with cold weather, open fires and hearty food… I guess that’s what they want up in Scotland!

The bare facts:

Red Hill Brewery
88 Shoreham Road, Red Hill South, Victoria 3071
www.redhillbrewery.com.au

They say: Jet Black and one to be savoured. The mouth feel is silky smooth, the nose has roasted malt and a touch of caramel.

The website goes on to say a lot of things – some make sense, others ring less true. It’s rich, dark and tasty. Possibly a bit sweeter and easier to drink than that well known Irish brand of stout. Pungent molasses flavours and a smooth finish make it a quite drinkable drop. The website goes on about a lasting and beautiful white head’, but poured from the bottle, I found it less than aesthetically pleasing. Perhaps sensing my disappointment, the head vanished quite quickly.

The website also says: “This fine ale is only available from the brewery”, but I got mine in a stubby from Vic Market, so there’s obviously going to be some discrepancy between the beverage poured from the bottle and that from the brewery tap.

As, I said, Stout is not my usual choice, so I’m probably never going to rave about one. I suspect this one wouldn’t please many regulars though – somehow it seemed clumsy and unfinished.

The bare facts:

Red Hill Brewery
88 Shoreham Road, Red Hill South, Victoria 3071
www.redhillbrewery.com.au

The neck label says:

This premium handcrafted ale is a unique blend of three Tasmanian hops added late to the kettle plus an original 125 yearl old, top fermenting ale yeast, creating an easy-drinking, deep copper -coloured ale with distinct richness, creamy head and a long, slightly nutty finish.

OK, they got the colour right – it is a beautiful colour. The head adds to the aesthetic effect, foamy and oat coloured, but it doesn’t hang around for long – clean, cold glass and all! For all the hops and yeast, however, I expected a more distinct flavour. That’s not to say it’s bad, it just tastes a bit… ‘commercial’… oops!

Overall, there’s nothing wrong with this beer. There are no vices – it smells fine and goes down easy, but there’s nothing to really distinguish it from other more common (and cheaper!) beer.

The bare facts:

Malt Shovel Brewery,
99 Pyrmont Bridge Road,
Camperdown, NSW 2050
www.maltshovel.com.au