beer, beer, beer

This is a special beer. It comes at a special price and I’ve never seen it in my local bottle shops. My ever-loving-buddy brought it back for me specially after a short sojourn to Hobart which included a visit to the picturesque Cascade Brewery. Aint I the lucky one?

They say:

Cascade First Harvest is the only brew of any kind in Australia brewed using fresh green hops. Once a year, at the first harvest of hops in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley, we hand select new hop varieties to brew a single batch of super fresh, super premium beer. Within hours of harvesting, the dew soaked, green hops are combined with new season pale malt, Cascade’s exclusive yeast and the purest Tasmanian water. The result is a limited edition handcrafted ale with a full malt character and a delightful fruity finish and prominent herbaceous aromas.

OK, the adjectives get a bit out of hand at the end, but they’re only brewers! You get the gist. I don’t disagree with the sentiments. It is a really nice beer - pours into the glass a beautiful deep amber; clear, with streams of fine bubbles and a creamy head that perhaps disappears a little too fast… got a bit of a kick at 5.5% too!

Anyway if you see it - don’t hesitate - you’re definitely worth it! In fact, push the boat out and get two!!

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

Another drop from the Malt Shovel Brewery, this time the ‘Original Amber Ale’.

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