WA Beer News #10

May 7, 2017

There is a lot of stuff happening in WA’s craft beer scene that it’s genuinely hard to keep up with all the new beer releases, beer dinners, free bottle shop tastings, expansion plans, constantly rotating beer taps, beer festival … WA really is kicking ass when it comes to craft beer and so I thought I’d try and make a regular feature out of all the beery news that our state has to offer.

The girl+beer Facebook page has a  that you might find worth subscribing to!

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New Releases

Rocky Ridge Brewing : Gold Leader

• 6.2 percent ABV
• Limited Release
• Available only on tap

Our newest brewery, from Busselton, have teamed up with , Fremantle, and the to create what head brewer Hamish Coates calls a white/gold stout.

“It’s been designed as a sensory challenge to show just how heavily we rely on our vision to assess and categorise the beer we drink,”

Hamish Coates, Rocky Ridge Brewing

Hamish says the beer has aromas of strong coffee, a little dark chocolate and raisins with flavours like toffee, white chocolate, honey, black coffee and a dark chocolate bitterness. Many of these characteristics are what we’d associate with stouts but in this case, the colour is copper / golden appearance, challenging the normal associations we make with golden beers.

Rocky Ridge have used two varieties of Brazilian coffee beans – Brazilina Meloso and Blue Diamond – that were specially roasted for this beer. The beans were added whole at about a ratio of 2:1 Meloso to Blue Diamond which allowed for “the rich dark chocolate and raisin of the Meloso to shine with the more subtle white chocolate of the Blue Diamond added to the body,” says Hamish.

The whole coffee beans were added much like you’d dry hop a beer, and they circulated in the brew for eight hours to get the most aromatics from the beans without the colour.

Find this beer at* –

• , Fremantle
• , Victoria Park
• , Carlisle

: Pilot Batch – Pale Ale

• 5.0 percent ABV
• Limited Release

This one isn’t just an ordinary limited release, it’s a trial run for a pale ale to replace the current pale ale in their core range, the Old Reliable.

They’ve used classic American hops and modern Australian hops to create what brand ambassador Brendan Day describes as a “modern pale ale”, perhaps a hybrid of an American and an Australian style pale ale.

The team at the brewery are seeking as much feedback as possible on this one so give it a go and get in touch via social media or send them an email.

Find this beer at* –

Oh and expect to see an Australian Lager from these guys soon too!

Little Creatures Brewing : Fire Falcon

• 5.8 percent ABV
• Winter seasonal beer
• Available on tap and packaged

Described as a hoppy red ale, the Fire Falcon is named after the beers main hop variety Falconer’s Flight which is from the United States. The variety was developed in 2010 to “honor and support the legacy of Northwest brewing legend, Glen Hay Falconer.”

The brewers notes on this say the Falconer’s Flight hops give the beer citrus and pine notes whilst the six speciality malts add caramel, raisin and subtle nuttiness.

: Big Biggie

• 6.0 percent ABV
• Collaboration with , Richmond (VIC)
• Available on tap only

According to the Feral website, “the Royston crew joined us over in the West to brew a beer teaming with punchy tropical hip hop aromas full of apricot, peaches and passionfruit. Day dreamin’ in a cloud of haze, this IPA is intentionally cloudy contributing to a creamy mouth feel.”

The beer is on tap at the brewpub and will, of course, be available at The Royston and other Melbourne venues over Good Beer Week.

*The beer isn’t always able to be tapped straight away so please contact the bar beforehand if you’re heading there specially for these beers