SLOWBEER'S NEWS, REVIEWS & ARRIVALS

FEATURE BEERS
Little Creatures (WA) Single Batch IPA 500ml $5.50
Great to see some of the big boys playing around with limited release, single batch brews & keeping the beer nerds happy! This is a single hop cascade IPA. Stocks are extremely limited, so much so that I haven't even tried it! Be quick or miss out.

3 Ravens (VIC) Uber Special Bitter 500ml $7.50
A very limited release from these guys that has been a long time in the making, usually opting to release their Uber range in keg only. This beer is essentially a ramped up version of their bronze ale, tending very much towards an ESB + a little extra for good measure! To my mind this has all the hallmarks of style, rich toffee malt with earthy/spicy hops & dark fruity esters. The slightly elevated abv almost brings it into belgian strong dark ale territory, with its rich malt & dark raisin notes. While it sounds odd, I think that is what I find so enticing & adds a touch more interest to a rather understated style.

Burleigh Brewing (QLD) My Wife’s Bitter 650ml $10.50
First off, this bottle looks amazing. Easily one of the best labeled/bottled beers I have seen from a local brewery & while the old adage is true, it certainly helps to have a pretty looking cover! More traditional than the above example, sitting at about 4.5%abv. Rich caramel & toffee malt dominate with those trademark earthy English hops notes. Overall, a sessionable English bitter in its truest form.

FEATURE BREWERY
Steam Exchange (SA)
I continue to be very pleased with the quality of new craft breweries coming out of SA. Brewboys, Lobethal & now Steam Exchange all produce great beers & are willing to experiment a little & push the boundaries.

Steam Ale 330ml $4.50 – Ale fermented at cooler lager temperatures
Pale Ale 330ml $4.50 – Robust English pale ale
Southerly Buster 330ml $4.50 – Winter warmer, essentially a cross between an ESB & porter.
Stout 330ml $4.50 – English stout with dark roasted coffee notes
Truffles 330ml $5.50 – Truly a dessert beer. Rich & dark, fortified with bourbon to bring out subtle vanilla & honey notes.

SLOWBEER TASTINGS
In addition to our regular Friday night free tastings, we are looking at running themed tastings. They will run every few months & focus on a style or theme. We will be looking at rare & limited release beers (expensive too!), thus attendance will require a small fee ($10-20) to try the full range on offer (about 10 beers). Given we will be trying & discussing quite a few beers (with high abv!), samples will be 100ml, which we feel is enough to enjoy the beer but not too much to get you drunk & forget the beer altogether!

To give you an idea of what to expect, we are thinking of locking in the following themes for our first few tasting nights:

• Single Hop IPAs – Looking at hop varieties from Australia, New Zealand, USA & UK
• Barrel Aged & Fortified beers – Whisky cask, Oak, Port & Bourbon
• Coffee & Chocolate – porters & stouts with additions

While we acknowledge that a paid tasting isn't always desirable we see it as a chance to try some unbelievable beers that are often hard to justify purchasing on your own given their hefty price tags!
If you are interested in attending, please let us know as we need to confirm numbers, dates & price.

SLOWBEER2GO IS A GO...WELL ALMOST
So we may have jumped the gun a bit in announcing our growler concept a couple of months ago, however after a slight delay we will soon be ready to go! Our slowbeer branded growlers have just been ordered from the states & will be on the water in a matter of days. Expect the beer to be flowing & growlers filling in about 1 months time!

POTENTIAL BREWSHARE
I suppose it is a given that many of our customers are budding homebrewers & while we are more than happy to have a yarn about all things beer it is sometimes hard to balance that with serving customers. Therefore we are thinking of starting up a Wednesday night brewshare club. The basic premise behind the idea is that homebrewers bring in their creations & share recipes, processes & constructive feedback with each other. We would aim to do it every 3 or so months, enabling brewers time to create something great! We will also have a style or theme in mind, so that we are comparing apples with apples.
If you would be interested please let us know.

AMONGST THE VINES – A BEER & FOOD JOURNEY OF BELGIUM 2010
Two of Slowbeer’s favorite friends, Ben Hayes (Amongst the vines travel) & Ben Kraus (Bridge Rd Brewers Beechworth) will be leading a beer odyssey of epic proportions that is not to be missed! For info: http://www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au/news.html

SLOWBEER NEWS & ARRIVALS

Plenty of exciting news this week but will try to keep it brief.

HOLGATE TASTING REMINDER!
Today, Friday 19th March we are hosting an in store tasting of the excellent range of Holgate beers. Much like all slowbeer tastings this will be a rather informal, so swing by between 5-7pm for a taste & a chat about the range.

SLOWBEER2GO IS A GO...WELL ALMOST
So we may have jumped the gun a bit in announcing our growler concept a couple of months ago, however after a slight delay we will soon be ready to go! Our slowbeer branded growlers have just been ordered from the states & will be on the water in a matter of days. Expect the beer to be flowing & growlers filling in about 1 months time!

POTENTIAL BREWSHARE
I suppose it is a given that many of our customers are budding homebrewers & while we are more than happy to have a yarn about all things beer it is sometimes hard to balance that with serving customers. Therefore we are thinking of starting up a Wednesday night brewshare club. The basic premise behind the idea is that homebrewers bring in their creations & share recipes, processes & constructive feedback with each other. We would aim to do it every 3 or so months, enabling brewers time to create something great! We will also have a style or theme in mind, so that we are comparing apples with apples.
If you would be interested please let us know.

AMONGST THE VINES – A BEER & FOOD JOURNEY OF BELGIUM 2010
Two of Slowbeer’s favorite friends, Ben Hayes (Amongst the vines travel) & Ben Kraus (Bridge Rd Brewers Beechworth) will be leading a beer odyssey of epic proportions that is not to be missed! For info: http://www.bridgeroadbrewers.com.au/news.html

NEW ARRIVALS
HITACHINO NEST (JAP)
White Ale 330ml $6.50
Red Rice Ale 330ml $8.00
Japanese Classic Ale 330ml $8.00
Celebration Ale 330ml $8.00
XH 330ml $8.00
Espresso Stout 330ml $8.00
BAIRD BREWING (JAP)
Rising Sun Pale Ale 355ml $8.50
Red Rose Amber Ale 355ml $8.50
Teikoku IPA 355ml $8.50
Suruga Bay Imperial IPA 355ml $9.00
Shimaguni Stout 355ml $8.50
HUNTER BREWING CO (NSW)
Smoked Oyster Stout 750ml $16.50
Chocolate Porter 750ml $16.50
BREWBOYS (SA)
Charger Lager 330ml $4.50

SLOWBEER IS TURNING JAPANESE!

Very much back into the swing of things this week with new releases aplenty! As previously mentioned there will be somewhat of a Japanese invasion this week with Baird & Hitachino gracing our shelves for the first time. There will also be news of next weeks Holgate tasting & as usual a number of brewery & beer reviews.

FEATURE BREWERIES
HITACHINO NEST (JAP)
An offshoot of the 180 year old Kiuchi sake brewery. The Hitachino nest range of beers have been in production since 1996 & still utilize some traditional methods of kiuchi sake brewing. Since entering the US market in 2000 & gaining wider exposure, Hitachino beers have won many awards worldwide.

White Ale 330ml $6.50 - A belgian style white ale (think Hoegaarden) brewed with wheat & barley malt as well as being spiced with orange peel, coriander & nutmeg.
Red Rice Ale 330ml $8.00 - Quite an interesting brew. The use of red rice (in conjunction with barley) gives it a distinctive pink colour. Being hopped with US chinook hops, means this brew is complimented by citrus fruit notes as well as some subtle sweet strawberry sake characters.
Japanese Classic Ale 330ml $8.00 – Not too sure what makes this a japanese classic ale...seems very much like an english ipa to me. Regardless, a great beer. The use of US chinook in conjunction with tradtional english hops makes for a very well rounded brew.
Celebration Ale 330ml $8.00 – Essentially a Belgian style strong dark ale. A selection of malts give a rounded & slightly sweet palate, while the use of coriander, orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon & vanilla beans add layers of spice & complexity.
XH 330ml $8.00 – A belgian style strong ale that has been aged in shochu (distilled sake) casks for 3 months.
Espresso Stout 330ml $8.00 – A russian imperial stout base with the addition of espresso beans to the boil.

BAIRD BREWING (JAP)
Baird Brewing is a joint partnership company founded in 2000 in Numazu, Japan by the husband & wife team of Bryan and Sayuri Baird. They are a family company born of a deep passion for beer and a great reverence for brewing history, tradition and culture. Their motto is Celebrating Beer & to them means the comprehensive enjoyment of beer in a way that enhances the overall experience of life.

Rising Sun Pale Ale – American West Coast style pale ale, robustly hopped with citrus & peppery hop notes.
Red Rose Amber Ale – Essentially a reverse California Common or Steam Beer. This is fermented with an ale yeast at cooler lager temperatures, resulting in fruity complexity but a crisper, cleaner finish.
Teikoku IPA – A cross between an English & US style IPAs. Big citrus & pine hop characters supported by substantial crystal malt base. Finish is long, bitter & quite peppery.
Suruga Bay Imperial IPA – Perhaps more a Japanese style IPA, in that it has much less crystal malt sweetness than many US examples but very aggressive citrus & pine hop bitterness with a long, long finish. Reminds me a lot of the Nogne O & Yoho Collab DIPA.
Shimaguni Stout – Perhaps more an Irish style dry stout than anything else, though that certainly doesn’t detract from its appeal. Low in abv but quite full of flavour with masses of dry, dark & bitter roasted malt.

*NOTE THAT BOTH OF THESE WILL MOST LIKELY BE ONE OFF SHIPMENTS, SO SNAP THEM UP WHILE YOU CAN!
*IF YOU WISH TO ORDER ANY HITACHINO (ARRIVED TODAY) OR PRE-ORDER ANY BAIRD BEERS (DUE NEXT WEEK) PLEASE EMAIL : sales@slowbeer.com.au

FEATURE BEER
MAD BREWERS ORCHARD ALE 660ML $7.00
Another release from this offshoot of the Malt Shovel Brewery (James Squire) & brainchild of legendary brewer Chuck Hahn. Over the years the Mad Brewer releases have varied greatly in style & while they have strived for left of centre, highly experimental brews some have been hits (Ten20 Commemorative Ale) & some have been big misses (think Raspberry Wheat). This falls somewhere in between & to me seems to be keeping the ever growing cider drinking market in mind.

Stylistically this is a belgian style saison made with the addition of apples. In what form I’m not too sure but seems to add quite a degree of sweetness, which leads me to think it is post fermentation. While this beer is extremely drinkable the sweetness does seem to drown out the delicate nature of a saison. Perhaps use of apples during fermentation would have complimented the beer a bit more & added some tartness as apposed to sweetness. Regardless, a nice beer & one that can be enjoyed by both beer & cider drinkers alike.

HOLGATE TASTING
Next Friday 19th March we will be hosting an in store tasting of the excellent range of Holgate beers. Much like all slowbeer tastings this will be a rather informal, so swing by between 5-7pm for a taste & a chat about the range.

SLOWBEER'S NEWS, REVIEWS & ARRIVALS

As you may have noticed its been a relatively quiet few weeks on the slowbeer front, reason being that I have been traveling the east coast of oz & visiting the odd brewery or two...or three! With this in mind I thought it fitting that our newsletter focus on a number of aspects of our local craft beer industry as a whole & not just the retail side of things.

I recently came across two excellent craft beer related articles & certainly recommend having a read of them. Wednesday’s Age Epicure had a really interesting article by resident beer writer & slowbeer friend James Smith explaining the rise in popularity of barrel ageing beers. The other was in the new edition of Beer & Brewer magazine discussing how organic & slow food concepts are now being utilized by local breweries. Funnily enough, the term “slow beer“ has now been applied to the production of beers that promote slow food principles. We even managed to get a nice mention in the article, for obvious reasons!

SLOW BEERS TO TRY
ROGUE (US) Wet Hop Ale 650ml $15.00
The first release in the chatoe rogue range, abiding by the true concept of slow beer. Using fresh, first growth hops from their own estate as well as barley & their trademark pacman yeast means this certainly ticks all the boxes. Here an emphasis was placed on balance & subtlety, letting the unique character of the hops shine. Unlike many other beers in their range, this is not drowned in malt sweetness & wont blow you away with hop bitterness. This is a true craft beer.

ROGUE (US) Dirtoir Black Lager 650ml $15.00
Second release in the range & I have to say was pretty surprised they went for a German inspired black lager. Again, here they have used their own estate made hops, malt & yeast. Perhaps a little more robust than the previous chatoe release & certainly more so for the style. Malt is very well rounded with nuts, caramel & chocolate, while the hops come across as quite robust.

+ BE SURE TO TRY THE 2M TALL RANGE: Cleansing Ale, Forester Pale Ale, Derwent Clear Ale & Huon Dark Ale. This Tassie brewery make all their beers using estate grown or local produce.

BARRELL AGED BEERS TO TRY
As previously mentioned, this practice is becoming very popular with local producers who are opting to use former oak wine barrels. In the US they tend to use bourbon barrels & in much of Europe whisky barrels are used. As you can probably guess, these beers aren't cheap. Good quality barrels can be hard to come by & rather expensive & add to this the sometimes lengthy maturation periods. However, such beers can be an excellent investment. Given their sheer depth of flavour & complexity, said beers can be cellared for extended periods & will certainly evolve over time.

FROM MIKKELLER (DEN)
Mikkel’s Monster 600ml $50.00
American style barley wine that has been aged in both port & bordeaux barrels. Both impart a fraction of grape sweetness & tannin. Seems to have a great synergy with the malt, resulting in a rich prune like character. A big beer in every way & probably my favorite from mikkeller!

Black Whisky Edition 375ml $32.00
Be warned, this beer is huge! At 17.5% abv the original version (black) was certainly a handful. Team the spirit-like whisky notes picked up from barrel ageing with the base beer & you are in for a treat! If ever there were a beer to cellar, this is it.

Black Peated Edition 375ml $42.00
Similar to above, except this one trumps it! Possessing masses of smoke & peat, this is one for the islay single malt lovers.

Beer Geek Breakfast Speyside Edition 500ml $32.00
It was always going to be hard making any form of improvement on the regular breakfast, as it is an excellent beer. I’m not sure whether this does the job, it certainly doesn’t improve but it changes it quite considerably (in a good way). Rich & quite low in carbonation, allowing the more delicate speyside whisky notes to come through.

Beer Geek Brunch Weasel Highland Edition 500ml $40.00
Similar to above, the base beer is unbelievable & hard to fathom any form of improvement. That said, I think this may pull it off. Again, not necessarily improving it but certainly adding a whole new layer of complexity. Good move using highland casks as they are more subtle & don’t overpower the already robust weasel coffee notes.

Beer Geek Brunch Weasel Islay Edition 500ml $40.00
Well, this is certainly an assault on the senses. We all know islay attributes some big old smoke & peat characters, while the weasel coffee is robust in its own right. But does it actually work? Surprisingly it does! The smoke characters seem to have a great synergy with the dry & bitter weasel coffee notes. Another perfect candidate for the cellar.

FROM NOGNE O (NOR)
Imperial Stout Highland Edition 500ml $22.00
I was starting to get a little jaded with all the whisky barrel ageing. Whether many examples had been transformed for the better was debatable but this restored my faith & quite fitting it was from one of my favorite breweries! The highland whisky notes compliment the base beer beautifully without overpowering. Excellent beer & very complex.

God Jul Islay Edition 500ml $22.00
Starting out as a US style robust porter & aged in islay whisky casks for 3 months results in beer that is not for the feint of heart. If you are a fan of islay single malts, then you will love this as it possesses those truly unique peat & smoke characters. The base beer offers some support but this is all about the islay!

+ SOME OTHERS
ORKNEY Dark Island Reserve (SCO) 750ml $45.00
In terms of style, this beer is almost a hybrid of a porter & barley wine but perhaps more fittingly named a strong ale. Aged in old Dalmore whisky casks for 3 months enables this ale to develop excellent depth & complexity. Rich & viscous in body displaying smoke & peated malt characters as well as rich coffee & chocolate notes from the roasted malt. Raisin & prune like fruity esters add to the already multifaceted palate.

INNIS & GUNN Original (SCO) 330ml $6.50
I suppose you could say this was somewhat of a frontier beer as it was one of the first available oak aged beers in Oz. This pretty much opened my eyes to the merits of ageing beers & bringing about a second layer of complexity beyond the malt, hops & yeast. Pretty tame in comparison to most others but serves as a great gateway to the wonderful world of oak ageing!

SOUTHERN TIER Cuvee 2 (US) 650ml $19.50
Starting out as a strong ale, this is then aged on american oak where it picks up subtle vanilla, coconut & toasty oak notes. A good one to cellar, as it is showing a bit of roughness at this early stage.

BRIDGE RD Imperial Oak Aged Porter (VIC) 750ml $30.00
Aged in former giaconda winery barrels adds some very subtle toasty oak notes as well as a bit of acidity & tannin. Works well with the base beer. Also dry hopped with kiwi hop nelson sauvin, imparting some more acidity by way of subtle citrus fruit hop notes.

MURRAYS Anniversary Ale 4 (NSW) 750ml
Only available direct at the brewery once a year, usually December. Every years release is slightly different from the last, though always styled as a barley wine. This one has been aged in former hunter valley shiraz barrels & as a result has picked up some peppery, spicy shiraz characters. Slowbeer purchased a doz with the intention to cellar & keep for ourselves but if interested, please let us know.