Beer & Brewer 53 Winter 2020 Teaser

WE MAKE A PASSIONATE DEFENCE OF BOTTLED BEER (see page 60) INCLUDING

ISSUE 53 WINTER 2020 PRICE $9.95 (NZ $11.95)

BEST BEER VENUES

ALL IN GOOD TIME THE BEAUTY OF BARREL-AGED BEERS

WHERE SHOULD YOU BE DRINKING POST COVID-19?

AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF

BARLEY & HOPS ISSN 1834-5115

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BEERS & CIDERS

REVIEWED 9

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PLUS! DIGITAL REVOLUTION | WHITE BAY BEER CO | HOP HARVEST

CONTENTS

inside...

Winter 2020

FEATURES 12 Barrel-aged Beers Go slow with barrel-aging as Charlie Whitting discovers all that goes into this ancient art.

18 Top 65 Beer Venues Many of them might have been closed to the public but that hasn’t stopped our expert judging panel from scouring Australia to bring you the list of the best beer venues for 2020.

28 Hop Harvest The barley and hop harvests are in and we take a look at what’s happening at the cutting edge of these two crucial ingredients.

36 Digital Brewing Technology has always played its part in brewing, but many of today’s major advances are digital innovations that are changing the way we brew.

52 Bottled Beer Beer & Brewer is here to make an impassioned defence of bottled beer!

4 www.beerandbrewer.com

HOMEBREWER 42 Welcome 43 Letter to the Editor 44 Q&A Homebrewing legend John Palmer examines the new-old yeast that is Kviek and considers its possibilities.

46 Jake’s Brew Log Jake Brandish dives deep into a vat of darkness as he pours over stouts and porters and includes a recipe for a Fuller’s London Porter.

48 Master of the Brewniverse Meet winner Chris Woods from Western Australia and even try out the recipe that got him over the line.

50 Recipes Andrew Childs shares a recipe for one of his favourite styles – the never in fashion brown ale.

51 Coopers Recipe This issue, Coopers dish up a Vanilla Choc Stout that will be a winning Winter warmer for sure as it features the likes of chocolate malt, vanilla beans and cacao nibs.

18 “Every time I have been here in the last three years I am greeted with a long list of beers I have never tried and rarely even seen.”

Find out who took out this year’s top beer venue award

36

8

REGULARS 6 Bits & Bobs Get behind your local brewers and buy their merch this Winter.

8 New Venues White Bay Beer Co opens in Sydney amid COVID-19 – but the all-star line-up behind the new brewery see it as a positive thing.

10 World News The weird, wacky and just plain interesting news from around the beer world.

34 A Day in the Life Meet the marketing and communication managers working in the brewing industry.

58 Entertaining Food Chef Aaron Turner goes to Nashville to learn hot chicken recipes from the original masters.

62 Tasting Notes Check out 78 beers and ciders that our expert panel have tasted recently – including a list of their absolute favourites. And in keeping with the Winter theme, our seasonal focus this issue is on the porters and the stouts.

72 Directory 74 A Pint With James Grugeon, founder of The Good Beer Co.

12

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Winter 2020 5

BARREL-AGED BEERS

Beers in the wood

C

IN THE FAST-PACED WORLD OF CRAFT BEER THERE’S PLENTY OF JOY TO BE FOUND IN TAKING YOUR TIME AND LOOKING TO THE PAST, AS CHARLIE WHITTING DISCOVERS.

weeks, but it can take more than a year for a beer

raft brewing moves fast. With each passing year, a new variant on the IPA has been concocted or a new ingredient has been introduced. New trends explode into life and no sooner has one

style or hop risen to prominence than people move on and find the next big thing, leaving that hop or recipe to sink back and become another thread in the rich tapestry of craft brewing.

However, some brewers prefer to take the pace out of life. You can make an IPA in a matter of to ferment or age in a barrel. Brewing with barrels is to play the long game, which is handy because people have been doing it for a long time!

Before the invention of stainless steel kegs, pretty much all beer was stored in wooden barrels.

Indeed, the precursor to the UK’s Campaign

12 www.beerandbrewer.com

BARREL-AGED BEERS

for Real Ale (CAMRA) was the Society for the

instances, especially with heavier, stronger, darker

Preservation of Beer from the Wood (SPBW), as

beers, the spirit of the previous spirit is encouraged

cask ale drinkers in the 1960s sought to protect

to imbue the beer with some of its tastes and

the old wooden casks from being replaced by new

textures, along with the char of the barrel itself. With

pressurised, stainless steel varieties. But storing beer

old wine barrels, those original yeasts can embed

in wooden barrels isn’t just a nostalgic dream, it’s

themselves within the staves, living on and adding to

also an age-old method for transforming the beer

the flavour of the barrel’s new inhabitant. La Sirene

inside in unexpected and magical ways.

has used barrels from the day it opened. Having

“Time in barrels with micro-oxygenation through the pores of the wood allows organisms to continue chewing on residual sugars and work on the

started with around six, they now have over 200 barrels in use.

“Barrels allow for a vibrant local expression if

degradation of yeast products left over from primary

you embrace it,” explains co-founder Costa Nikias.

ferment to produce the funky esters that we have

“Barrels are very reliable at harbouring airborne

come to love in barrel aged sours,” explains Matthew

native yeasts and bacteria from your brewery and the

Moore, co-founder of Bright Tank Brewing.

surrounds. The flavours given from those barrels are completely dependent upon the type of oak (French,

THE BARREL

American, Slovenian, Hungarian, etc.) in conjunction

The choice of barrel and beer are two variables

with the previous tenant inside the barrels (wine

over which the brewer has a degree of control and

or spirit) and the composition of wood that was

understanding. Beer is aged in barrels that have

used to create those barrels (cooper-type and forest

held all manner of different liquids – from wine to

origin), along with the toast profile of the wood,

bourbon, cognac, rum and even tequila. In some

again dictated by the cooper-style. The complex

Some overseas options “Fonteinen kriek would have to be my favourite barrel aged beer whilst Cantillon provides probably the most beautifully balanced flavour profile in the wild ferment realm,” Ed Nolle, Dollar Bill.

“I think Side Project in USA are doing great stuff with oak as are Jester King in Austin Texas,” Costa Nikias, La Sirene.

“One particularly interesting producer of barrel-aged beers is Pils Urquel in the Czech republic who are still pitching barrels and producing amazing barrel aged pilsner,” Nolle.

“American breweries like Black Project, Garden Path Fermentation, Hill Farmstead, Casey and Sante Adarius,” Ian Jones, Future Mountain. “These guys are producing balanced, elegant, delicate and refined farmhouse ales.”

Winter 2020 13

Hop Products Australia

THE HARVEST

Voyager Craft Malt

28  www.beerandbrewer.com

THE HARVEST

The

brewer’s

bounty

THE BARLEY AND HOP HARVESTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, SO CHARLIE WHITTING TOOK A LOOK AT WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF THESE TWO CRUCIAL INGREDIENTS.

F Gladfield Malt, NZ

ields of golden barley swaying gently

growing end of things, barley is in constant

in the summer breeze. Bright green

evolution. New varieties are developed and existing

hop bines stretching and twisting

ones are tweaked to offer different characteristics.

their way ever higher into the

These are tested and evaluated for entry into the

bright blue sky. Of the four main

market all the time. Most beer enthusiasts could

ingredients for brewing, these two

rattle off a list of different hop varieties from

are certainly the two most visually appealing. But

memory, but would they know that the most

their influence on the finished product affects plenty

popular barley varieties in Australia are Spartacus,

of other senses as well, contributing to the smell,

La Trobe and Planet? There is just as much diversity

taste and feel of a beer. And while brewers might not

when it comes to barley. But what are growers,

alter these raw ingredients too much in the brewery,

maltsters and brewers looking for in their barley?

at other stages, they are subject to some of the most

“From a farming point of view the best/most

advanced innovations in the industry, influencing

popular ones are the ones that perform well in

the kind of beers we are drinking.

their environment, yield well and are agronomicalhigh test weight, low screenings, high quality,”

BRILLIANT BARLEY

says Stu Whytcross, co-founder of Voyager Craft

When it comes to brewing beer, barley is the grain

Malt. “From a malting point of view, varieties

par excellence. While brewers may dabble with other

that process easily-take up water well, even

options to bring different nuances or textures to

germination, storage, consistent grain size. From a

their beers – whether that’s wheat, oats or rye – it

brewing point of view: flavour, yield, processabilty

is incredibly rare for a beer to not have barley as its

and consistent grain size.”

malting backbone. There are many reasons for this.

“Malted barley offers brewers all the nutrition

HOORAY FOR HOPS!

needed for a healthy and vigorous fermentation,

Let’s turn to hops – the posterchild of craft beer.

resulting in great beer flavour,” says Ralph Nischwitz,

The way that craft beer pioneers used them to add

executive manager of Barley Australia. “In addition,

aromas as well as bitterness to their beers was one of

the barley husk provides an ideal filter bed during the

their major points of difference. As such, the world

lautering process (separating the extract from the

of hop growers has changed rapidly over the years,

spent grist following mashing). Barley, unlike wheat,

introducing new varieties that bring something

retains its husk during harvesting.”

extra to a beer that’s wanted or – in some cases –

Malted barley is a mainstay for brewers regardless of their inventiveness, but at the

something that no one realised they wanted until they tried it. Just as beer drinkers are always on the

Winter 2020 29

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Digital revolution TECHNOLOGY HAS ALWAYS PLAYED ITS PART IN BREWING, BUT MANY OF TODAY’S MAJOR ADVANCES ARE DIGITAL INNOVATIONS THAT ARE CHANGING THE WAY WE BREW

W

e live in a digital age, where change and innovations occur ever faster. Brewing is no exception. Whereas recipes, equipment

and ingredients for brewing were improved incrementally over decades and centuries in the last millennium, now new ways of doing things are being trialled, tested and made available at almost the same rate that new breweries are opening.

These digital technologies come in various forms and have affected the way we brew in different ways: allowing us more detailed control of what we brew. All have been designed to make the process of brewing easier or to make the finished product better. While some might bemoan the feared loss of skillsets and know-how that new technology might portend, the ultimate result will be that we all get better beer, more often.

BRINGING COSTS DOWN Perhaps the most seismic changes in brewing technology has been its increased affordability and accessibility. In the early days of craft brewing there wasn’t much equipment to be found and what there was, was often prohibitively expensive – many brewers improvised with equipment from other industries like dairy. These days, however, the technology is more affordable so that it is even available at a homebrewing level.

“The cost of digital hardware has come down to the point that it is less expensive than the Australian trade labour cost of building and installing manual systems,” says Julian Sanders,

36 www.beerandbrewer.com

Brewing at Young Henrys

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

What technologies are exciting the industry?

Little Bang Brewing: I see the development and implementation of digital meters as having the largest impact on the craft beer industry. This has reduced the human error aspect that came with the old ‘analogue’ way of doing things. Personally, I’m currently excited by using PCR and DNA sequencing to check the makeup of the organisms in your beer.

CLE Systems: Sustainability in the brewing industry allowing for more solar and renewable energy sources to be used as a means of power, reduction in the amount of water required and the re-use of this water, particularly for cleaning.

Whistling Sisters, NZ

Newera: Smart uni tanks for the home market which can interface directly back to centralised brewing software. These will be able to track their own pressure, temperature and fermentation progress natively and then just let you know when they are ready for the next steps.

managing director of Spark Breweries and Distilleries.

“This means that any brewery should come with a well-designed digital control system – it minimises the cost and time needed for installation, before you even talk about the operational advantages.”

Another innovation within an innovation is the scalability of these models. Previously, advances in technology were not just off-limits to breweries with smaller budgets; they weren’t workable for breweries that brewed smaller volumes of beer. However, as small breweries have become a bigger industry, manufacturers of brewing equipment have diversified their offer. Equipment now exists that can work with the far smaller volumes of beer that craft breweries make. Centrifuges are a prime example of this.

“With the exploding microbrewing industry worldwide, large centrifuge manufacturers have made smaller beer clarifiers available to the market,” explains Mark Geldenhuys, technical support engineer at FDPI. “The result is that the brewer can now purchase a machine which is sized appropriately.

Whereas before there were a few choices of models ranging from around 30,000 l/h to 75,000 l/h, there are now machines available which are able to clarify volume from 2,500 l/h.”

SPEED OF THOUGHT Brewing is a process and needs constant monitoring and measuring to ensure that the same beer is produced time and again. Fluctuations in temperature and volumes need to be spotted, recognised and altered in good time.

In the old days, brewers could judge these things with physical scales and thermometers, standing close by at

Brewing at Sauce Brewing Co

Winter 2020 37

FEATURE

Master of the Brewniverse

Winner Chris Woods

THE COOPERS MASTER OF THE BREWNIVERSE COMPETITION HAS BEEN RUN AND WON WITH THE WINNING BEER AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME IN DAN MURPHY’S STORES. CHRIS THOMAS CATCHES UP WITH THE WINNER AND HAS A TASTE OF THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCT.

On the Judging Panel with Liam Yorke, Coopers Recipe Developer and Community Support

W

What was the most common style you came across?

There was a wide variety of beers, which I was really impressed with. There were lots of experimentation with fruits and spices. I would say the majority of entries followed the current beer trends and the IPA and APA categories were stacked.

inning a national

tasted it and really liked it and I thought ‘what

homebrew

the hell?’ I’ll enter and see what happens.”

competition comes

The beer in question started with a Coopers

with all-time

Pale Ale kit. Woods then added rolled oats,

bragging rights and

new-world hops, changed the yeast and then

a pretty awesome

incorporated some honey from one of his

high. But when the call came through to Chris Woods of Western Australia, he was on holiday in the UK.

friends who has a hive.

“I would say its appearance is properly murky and a bit darker than you might

“My wife woke me up when she read the

expect from your average NEIPA. Personally,

email at about 5am. I thought she was about

I think the addition of honey gave it a special

to tell me someone had died initially!”

quality,” he said.

No doubt that immediate shock turned to joy when he heard the news that his New-

BREW DAY AT COOPERS

England inspired IPA Fruit of the Woods had

When discussing the brew day at Coopers,

taken out the national competition.

where he helped brew a commercial quantity

Woods is the epitome of the every-brewer.

of his Fruits of the Woods IPA, Woods was

He’s dabbled on and off for the last 10

clearly chuffed. He was humbled as he

years, and by his own admission was only making average kit beers, before he began

described the opportunity as a “privilege”.

“It was such a great experience,” he

experimenting with mini-mashes and

said. “I met some wonderful people there,

different hops.

real experts in their individual fields who genuinely made me feel welcome

THE BEER

and invested so much of their time and

Woods’ beer wasn’t actually brewed with the

knowledge to make it a special occasion.”

competition in mind.

“To be honest, I’d already brewed this beer when the comp was announced. A mate had

48 Home Brewer

Woods returned to Adelaide for the canning of his Master of the Brewniverse IPA and the can clearly features his name of the side.

What two areas of improvement might you recommend for DIY brewers?

The standard of beers throughout the day was very good, but there were a couple of infected beers which may have had a bad bottle slip through. Fermentation control is an area which could be improved on as there were a few beers which were either under attenuated, or had excessive fusel/ ester production for the style.

What were a couple of the more exciting and ambitious beers you tasted?

It was great to see so much experimentation from the brewers, as this is what the competition is about.

There were a lot of weird and wonderful ingredients used. There was a beer which had 50 Chammomile tea bags in a 20 litre batch which was very well balanced for such a strong tea flavour. The weirdest would have to be a beer where the brewing process included playing the Canadian national anthem, kissing a photo of Ryan Reynolds, and placing a hockey puck on the fermenter!

The Recipe:

“On the packaging day, just before canning, I took a sniff of some and I must admit I wondered how it was going to compare to my original brew. But I must say now, on trying a few cans, it is definitely taking on the same characteristics as mine. It’s very impressive!”

FROM THE JUDGING PANEL Emma Craggs, Brand Marketing Manager Brewing Products at Coopers, was a member of the panel judging the Master of the Brewniverse.

Sitting alongside members of the Coopers team were invited guests including Kirrily Waldhorn (Beer Diva) and Craig Williams (GABS) as the top 10 beers were revisited to find the eventual winner.

“Chris’ beer performed really well in relation to the guidelines for the style. Ultimately that is what made him take

Master of the Brewniverse Chris Woods’ Fruit of the Woods IPA This American IPA sits comfortably with the other beers in the Coopers family. The familiar yeast character is evident, but setting this beer apart are the tropical and citrus fruit aromas and flavours courtesy of new world hops including Riwaka, El Dorado and Amarillo.

This recipe is provided courtesy of Coopers and is a featured Recipe of the Month (ROTM). New recipes are released each month at diybeer.com

Expected Brew Figures OG: 1.054 FG: 1.012 ABV: 5.5% IBU: 25 Volume: 21 litres

Ingredients

out the top prize,” said Craggs.

“The commentary panel all agreed that Chris’ beer was well balanced, the use of five hop varieties gave depth of hop character and that the use of oats contributed positively to appearance and balance.”

Aside from Woods’ winning beer, there were other

1.7kg Coopers Australian Pale Ale 1kg Coopers Light Dry Malt extract 250g Malted oats grains (can substitute with rolled oats) 100g Crystal malt grains 100g Carapils malted grains

highlights.

“Personally, I also loved a Peach Milkshake IPA which was made with real peaches and lactose and then there were some really well-made classic beer styles. Choosing a personal favourite from the finalists is like choosing your favourite child – hard to do, and frowned upon!”

The Master of the Universe is likely to become a bi-annual competition and Craggs notes that the Coopers Club will provide updates for homebrewers keen to take part.

Chris keeping an eye on the mash

25g Riwaka hop pellets 25g Amarillo hop pellets 25g Simcoe hop pellets 25g El Dorado hop pellets 250g honey Safale US-05 dry yeast

Method 1. Place the grains in a plastic zip-lock bag and use a rolling pin to crack.

2. In 5 litre pot bring 3 litres of water to approximately 65-70°C, add the crushed grain (Coopers recommend wrapping in a mesh cleaning cloth, pulled straight from the wrapper) and let steep for about 30 minutes.

3. Remove the grain by gathering up the corners of the mesh cloth and lift, allowing the liquid to drain from the grain back into the pot.

4. Bring the liquid to the boil for 5 minutes.

5. Remove the pot from the heat and dissolve the honey. Then add half of each of the Riwaka, Amarillo, Simcoe and El Dorado hops and steep for 30 minutes with the lid on the pot 6. Set the pot in a cold/ice water bath to cool (approx. 15 minutes) then strain into your fermenter.

7. Add the pale ale extract and light dry malt extract to the fermenter, stir to dissolve then top up with cool water to the 17 litre mark and stir thoroughly.

8. Check the brew temperature and top up to the 21 litre mark with warm or cold water (refrigerated if necessary) to get as close as possible to 19°C. 9. Sprinkle the US-05 dry yeast then fit the lid and ferment between 18-22°C. 10. On day 5, add the remaining hop pellets (Coopers recommend wrapping them in a mesh cleaning cloth, pulled straight from the wrapper) 11. On day 7 check the gravity - fermentation is complete when it is between 1.009-1.014 and is consistent over consecutive days 12. Bottle as normal, condition for at least 3 weeks, then compare yours to the commercially brewed version!

Winter 2020 49

The Brew Review WE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BRING THEM TOGETHER, BUT OUR PANELISTS WERE STILL ABLE TO TASTE A HOST OF GREAT BEERS IN ISOLATION!

The Panel Liam Pereira,

Keith Grice,

Neal Cameron,

Venue and Events Manager, Batch Brewing Co

Head Brewer, Hunter Beer Co

Technical Director, Brewtique

Rosemary

Justin Fox,

Jamie

Lilburne-Fini,

Head of Sales, Bintani

Webb-Smith,

Craft Beer & Cider Specialist, Camperdown Cellars

Brewer, Yulli’s Brews

Michael

Benji Bowman,

Josh Quantrill,

Capaldo,

NSW Sales Manager, Capital Brewing Co.

Sales Rep, Hops Products Australia

Sales Rep, Capital Brewing Co

Contributor, Crafty Pint

Former Editor, Beer & Brewer

Aaron Edwards, Owner, Bitter Phew

Guy Southern, Contributor, Crafty Pint

O AS N

FO

L

Whitting,

A

Judd Owen,

SE

Charlie

CUS

What’s our Seasonal Focus?

This issue, we’re taking a look at those darker beers, the porters and stouts

62 www.beerandbrewer.com

TASTING

Panel’s Top Picks

Yeastie Boys Spritely Berliner Weisse

Willie Smith Frequin Good Cider

Hawkers Late to the Party

Two Birds Warrior Woman

Style: Berliner weisse ABV: 3.8% This beer ticks a lot of boxes.

Acidic without being acrid; a palate cleanser or one to sit and savour; a complex beer that still retains a brightness and a freshness. Deep yellow and hazy, this beer brings lemon sherbet acidity and winter melon to the nose, along with greener notes – a herbal feijoa?

The palate is super lemon-driven, with pithy citrus and notes of thyme, but the whole thing is perfectly rounded out by a very subtle sweetness that almost accentuates the tartness and pulls the whole thing into balance.

The finish is good and dry with a great acid kick. Despite its low alcohol content, the body holds together well. This tastes seriously great and will make you wish for a summer beach to drink it on.

Yeastieboys.co.nz

Style: Cider ABV: 5.4% This genuinely impressive cider is simply very pleasant to drink.

Cloudy, with a deep golden colour, it brings a full array of aromatics to the table. Apples dominate the nose, as would be expected, but there are also occasional notes of hessian bag and a slight sweetness as well. There is minimal tannic astringency to this mediumbodied cider that won’t cause any puckering. The palate is greeted with immediate juicy tartness – apples and pears.

On the mid-palate, there’s a lovely perceived sweetness that graduates to a dry finish and makes for a very moreish and pleasant cider to drink, and then drink again.

Williesmiths.com.au

Style: Hazy IPA ABV: 7% This beer is so moreish you could spend a whole night on it – dangerous given its ABV. It’s fruity with a full body and a good lingering bitterness. A beautifully amber beer with pops of honey brightness and great head retention. A first sniff brings the fruit bomb – mango and guava – but then it starts to open to reveal red apple, balancing citrus and some baking spice. Take a sip and you get all those fruits coming onto the palate faultlessly, balanced by a good malt backbone. There’s good carbonation and a lingering coating of deliciousness. A smooth and silky body for a smashable beer that hides its ABV very well.

Hawkers.beer

Style: XPA ABV: 4% This is a really tasty beer, true to the XPA style that’s perfect for everyday drinking. An easy drinker, with massive green apple and nashi pear on the palate, it has good hop character and plenty of fruitiness. That fruitiness is rounded out by soft mineral notes, while the malt backbone holds the beer together perfectly, allowing it to be crushable but sturdy. It has a soft, well-rounded mouthfeel with fine beads of carbonation keeping it fresh. On the nose, rockmelon and mango come to the fore, with subtle vanilla and a handful of bright, acid-driven fruits delivering great intensity to this hazy, straw-coloured delight with a soft, off-white head.

Twobirdsbrewing.com.au

Winter 2020 63

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