Eagle Bay + Summer

The crew at Eagle Bay Brewing are a very tempting bunch, take that as you will, but if you follow them on Twitter or are friends with them on Facebook you’ll know what I’m talking about. Eagle Bay Brewing send out a steady stream of gorgeous photos of sunshine, sunsets and pints that make you dream about being there …

Thankfully there isn’t much between my front door and Eagle Bay Brewery, distance wise it’s kinda the Perth equivalent of heading to Mandurah for the day. My partner and I picked a sun drenched Saturday afternoon to indulge in a late lunch and taste of their new Single Batch limited release beer – Summer Ale.

For those unfamiliar with the Eagle Bay Single Batch range it is a one off brew of about 1000 litres and when it runs out they bring out something new. Generally it’s a brewery exclusive but if they do let it out to play they’ll tell you on their website. Their latest Single Batch Summer Ale, and first for 2013, follows in the tasty footsteps of Romp Ferme Saison, Cacao Stout and American Brown Ale and doesn’t disappoint. The first whiff of Summer Ale was similar to that glorious moment when you stick your head in a bag full of hops and breathe in. As the beer warmed up the fresh hop aroma gave way to grapefruit, orange and honey. It’s a great example of an Australian pale ale with a good balance of citrus, tropical fruits and bitterness. Eagle Bay Summer Ale uses Galaxy hops, a variety from Australia that was developed by Hop Products Australia in the mid-90s, which is the source of that great summery, tropical fruit and citrus deliciousness. You may already be familiar with Galaxy hops if you’re a fan of Stone & Wood Pacific Ale, a sensational beer by Ross and Brad who started Stone & Wood in Byron Bay in 2008. If you’ve got a spare minute there’s a great short blog post from Ross about their trip to Tasmania for the 2011 harvest of Galaxy hops which you’ll find here.

Getting back to Eagle Bay, since we had moved on to round two of Summer Ale it was time for some grub. I did my usual thing of trying to consume my body weight in food because it was so darn good and consequently rolled rather than walked out the doors a couple of hours later.

Of course I just had to have cheese for no good reason other than I wanted it; living up wonderfully to my only child status. In my defense I needed something to accompany the third pint of Summer Ale – I think the correct term is “dangerously drinkable”.  Once we’d managed to heave ourselves from our chairs we made sure to take home a growler of Summer Ale to enjoy over the rest of the weekend. I have to say, based on each visit we’ve taken to Eagle Bay Brewing it’s always a brilliant way to spend a few hours.