beer, beer, beer

Another one from Red Hill brewery, didn’t know what to expect from this.

They say: Pale and crisp light bodied ale, fruity with a restrained hoppy dryness…

Certainly, it looks great in the glass - a lovely colour, but you sort of expect something pretty bright and sharp on the tongue… somehow it doesn’t happen. I think this is my favourite Red Hill brew, but it still falls short for me. Not bad, just not remarkable, I think overall Red Hill need to be a bit braver with their flavours. Middle of the road drinks might be OK for the big commercial brewers, but a smaller operation needs to make it’s name somehow.

The bare facts:

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

This is a pretty complete beer. There’s a creamy, fine, fragrant head that lasts more than the usual and underneath there’s a slightly cloudy, rich amber coloured ale. A balance of sweet and bitter - hops and malt, it’s all there. There’s even a hint of a citrus in the aftertaste that keeps you coming back for more.
I find it a bit too much of an all rounder to get really excited, but this is a solid brew with no weak points. mmm - I’m off for another glass Oh! look at that head!

Attractive, golden, clear and with fine bubbles - this is a nice drop. Cascade is not a ’boutique’ brewery, but this particular beer (along with two others) is only available in Tasmania, so I reckon that qualifies as a boutique brew. Nice looking bottle too, very traditional label - doesn’t pretend to be a work of literature, just says “You deserve a Cascade Draught”.

The aroma is rich and heavy with yeast. The flavour is bitter and strong - a citrus aftertaste and no stickiness. A pretty butch brew… the sort of thing you could really enjoy after some hard, hot work. Surely those Taswegians really don’t need to keep this all to themselves!

http://www.cascadebrewery.com.au

I had great expectations after their Pale Ale, not exactly disappointed, this is still a darn good beer, but I couldn’t help hoping.

So, what do we have here? It’s clean and fresh - plenty of the same citrus flavours as the Pale Ale, just not much else. Might suit some people, but I found it ended up being a little too simple.

*slurp* - actually, it is pretty good!

The bare facts:

Little Creatures Brewing Pty. Ltd.
Mews Road, Fremantle, WA
www.littlecreatures.com.au/paleale

This came highly recommended by a friend who apparently knew the manager of the brewery. For me, it promised a lot, but didn’t quite deliver. Not that this is a bad beer - it’s all there: the smells, flavours and colours; just not in quantities enough to break clear of the humdrum. It comes across with a whimper, not a bang - just a bit too clean.

I wish I could tell you exactly what they said on the bottle, but it’s already in the recycling bin, it’s dark and I’m not going out to get it, so this is from their website. From memory, it’s much the same…

The Hightail Ale is a traditional English style “real ale”. It’s deep amber in colour with a rich malt body and floral hop aroma…

…We handcraft our ales with the utmost care and avoid all preservatives, additives and pasteurisation.

There was also a line on the bottle about ’seeing the yeast’ in the bottle, as though this was proof of something. I did see the yeast sediment and it made me wonder how so much yeast could lead to so little oomph.

If you ever have to wean a friend off the commercial beers, this might be a good start. It’s all there, but not in enough quantities to frighten them.

The bare facts:
Mountain Goat Beer Pty Ltd
Corner North & Clark Streets
Richmond Victoria 3121
http://www.goatbeer.com.au/

They say: “Fine Handcrafted Ale”, that sounds a bit too cute…

Cloudy in appearance, aromatic and is highly carbonated, lightly hopped with our own tettnanger fresh hop flowers

I say: drinkable. They go on a bit about their special homegrown hops, but they failed to thrill. Nothing wrong, just not quite enough of anything.

As a ‘wheat beer’, you expect to taste the grain coming through, and it is there, just not in abundance. The hops are there too, but it’s a light touch - failing to impart the fragrance you’d expect when they make such a feature of it.

Red Hill is such a beautiful location, this beer just doesn’t live up to it.

The bare facts:

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

They say: “Real Live Ale”, whatever that means…

Three Ravens Blond is a German style ale. Soft and generously bodied, it is a beer that showcases fruity notes and a smooth lingering maltiness. The addition of Saaz hops from Bohemia adds a balancing medium bitterness and spicy aroma

Traditional bottle conditioning naturally carbonates this beer and helps add to its complexity.

I say: not bad! I don’t know about complexity and maltiness - to me it was a pretty clean, fresh summer beer. Not a lot of hops, but they’re right about the medium bitterness - just enough to leave your mouth fresh and ready for more. To me, some of these drier beers can have a bit of a chemical smell, but nothing bad here.

The bare facts:

The Three Ravens Brewing Company
1 Theobold Street, Thornbury, Victoria 3071
www.3ravens.com.au