Beer Radar for WBM Dec2013\/Jan2014<\/p>\n
(First published in Wine Business Magazine in 2014)<\/p>\n
By John Kr\u00fcger<\/p>\n
This summer\u2019s the perfect time to skip the usual beer you buy every time and branch out a little. Head into your favourite bottle shop and grab a few stubbies of each of the following beers and do some research. Find out what you like best before you lash out on a few cartons. This year I\u2019ve put together a list of summer guzzlers. Chill these beers down icy cold or even better, keep a separate esky full of beers on ice. You\u2019ll have more room in the fridge for ham and Pavlova, which makes everyone in the house happy. Whichever beers you ultimately choose, try to find fresh stock, chill them down well ahead of time, and rejoice in the finest hot weather beverage known to man (if you don\u2019t count Clare Riesling).<\/p>\n
Pikes \u2013 Pilsener<\/b><\/p>\n
A floral light bodied Pilsener that has a wonderful restrained floral hoppy character. It has a really nice malt\/bitterness balance and a light easy drinking body. The carbonation is spot on, so this kind of beer is perfect served icy cold and guzzled out of the bottle on a hot day. A great fresh Aussie made pilsner.<\/p>\n
Croucher \u2013 Pilsner<\/b><\/p>\n
The Kiwi\u2019s do craft beer really well and although this one can be hard to find in mainstream bottle shops, it\u2019s worth tracking down. This is a true Pilsner style beer with sharper more intense bitterness while still being refreshing and totally enjoyable. Nice big 500ml bottles to pour into a chilled glass. Once you find them, it\u2019ll be hard to go past. A favourite Kiwi.<\/p>\n
Cascade \u2013 Bright Ale<\/b><\/p>\n
You know if it\u2019s from Cascade, it\u2019s going to be clean and crisp. Their revamped line of beers includes a Bright Ale which is mouth-wateringly refreshing, crisp and clean. The Bright Ale utilises one of my favourite finishing combinations of Galaxy and Cascade hops, which give it a great waft of fresh tropical fruit aromas. Kudos for the redesigned, yet still value-for-money 375ml bottle, so it still feels like a big stubbie of beer in your hand. Thankfully lacking a screw-cap. Classy.<\/p>\n
Bud\u0115jovick\u00fd Budvar<\/b><\/p>\n
A perfect lager from the Czech Republic. Classic Czech flavours of clean straw malt characters with spicy noble Saaz hops. When this is fresh, it\u2019s the essence of what clean lagers are all about. It\u2019s like pouring chilled crisp liquid gold down your neck. This is where it all started and it still stands as a classic example of the beer style. Green bottles aren\u2019t a great defence against sunlight so try to buy a fresh sealed carton. Little green bottles of pure joy.<\/p>\n
McLaren Vale Beer Co \u2013 Vale Lager<\/b><\/p>\n
A \u201cnew world\u201d lager, it\u2019s got more guts than the typical Aussie lager. More floral and citrus hop characters and a hint of light Munich malt to give it some malt flavour and backbone. It\u2019s a gutsy, full-bodied lager with the flavour cranked up, but still only 4.5%. Gutsy and crafty.<\/p>\n
Stone and Wood \u2013 Pacific Ale<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u2019s light in body with only a subtle sweetness. As soon as you remove the cap it\u2019s got passionfruit and citrus hop aromas leaping out of the bottle. There\u2019s that beautiful Galaxy hop again. This beer is turning into an Aussie icon that some are starting to imitate. Such clean easy drinking with abundant hop joy, without feeling like you\u2019re chewing through the contents of the grass catcher from the lawn mower. Summer drinking so good, I wish I could ride a surfboard properly. Drink it wearing board shorts.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn Brewery – Summer Ale<\/b><\/p>\n
Made with 100% British malts, they\u2019ve toned the hops down and made a classic UK style summer ale ale, but it\u2019s still 5% alcohol. It\u2019s got a hint of caramel, a slight refreshing wheaty twang, and the classic UK generous real malt flavour. If you\u2019re not after US hop explosions or crisp lagers, Brooklyn Brewery\u2019s Summer Ale might be what you\u2019re looking for.\u00a0 An easy-going ale without any sediment.<\/p>\n
North Coast Brewing Co \u2013 Blue Star Wheat Beer<\/b><\/p>\n
This is a very non-offensive American Wheat beer. It\u2019s soft and nice. It\u2019s smooth sailing with a laid back slightly sweet wheat flavour and minimal bitterness. Try it with a slice of lemon, which is perfectly acceptable behaviour with wheat beers. It\u2019s very refreshing and the lemon accentuates the hint of wheat tartness. The soft yet tasty option, without having to resort to watered down low-carb or low-alc alternatives. Knock a few of these down with lemon while you battle the BBQ.<\/p>\n
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Beer Radar for WBM Dec2013\/Jan2014 (First published in Wine Business Magazine in 2014) By John Kr\u00fcger This summer\u2019s the perfect time to skip the usual beer you buy every time and branch out a little. Head into your favourite bottle shop and grab a few stubbies of each of the following beers and do some … Continue reading Christmas 2013<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beer","category-craft-beer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129,"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beerradar.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}