Sidewood Basket Pressed Apple Cider, Adelaide Hills $75 per carton (24 x 330ml bottles) or $25 per 6-pack The colour is very light, brilliantly clear amber; the aroma presents a hi-fi scent of clean, fresh apples. The taste is the same, and it’s very clean
Napoleone American Pale Ale, Yarra Valley $16-$17 per 4-pack (330ml) Brewed in the Yarra Valley and associated with the Punt Road winery. It has a light-medium amber colour; attractive fragrant Cascade hop aromas, and lots of hop bitterness on the finish and aftertaste. Pale ale
Trumer Pils, Salzburg, Austria $4.50/330ml or $22 per six-pack. A light-coloured, aromatic pilsener with floral hop aromas, a hint of vanilla and a light-bodied palate. There are spice and floral flavours and a more-ish finish with cleansing bitterness. It’s a very quaffable beer: I could
Lord Nelson Brewery Seasonal Ale, Victory Bitter, British Pale Ale $12-$14/500ml This presents with a medium-full amber colour and a creamy, persistent head. The aromas are clean and appealingly malty, the flavour is full-bodied and rich, smooth and creamy in texture, with balanced hop bitterness
Monteith’s Southern Pale Ale, New Zealand $3.60 / 330ml ($18 a six-pack) The colour is full amber, not really pale, and the bouquet is attractively hoppy, spicy and fragrant. The flavour is full and has plenty of character, showing good malt and hop flavours, well-balanced
Little Creatures Return of the Dread Domestic Extra Stout $5/330ml; $18-$19 4-pack This winter seasonal ale is very dark, almost black, with a creamy head. The malt aroma is strong, with some dark chocolate notes. It’s a very rich beer, dense and almost chewy, with
Pikes Pilsener Lager, Clare Valley $20-$22 per six-pack, 330ml The colour is light amber and clear, with a good frothy head; the bouquet is hoppy, floral and fragrant, clean and attractive. It’s a refreshing, clean-tasting beer that I really enjoy – light on its feet,
4 Pines Brewing Brookvale Union Ginger Beer $7/500ml Cloudy appearance and a light-medium straw colour; the bouquet explodes with fresh ginger root aroma. The taste is exhilaratingly gingery and quite high in sweetness, but the spiciness cleans the finish and helps dry the aftertaste, which
James Squire Hop Thief 7 American Pale Ale $4/345ml or $19-$20 a 6-pack Hoppy beers are very much in fashion, so much so that this brewery issues a new American pale ale each year made with different hops. This is the seventh. I like the
Stone & Wood Pacific Ale, Byron Bay $5-$7/330ml (six-pack $19-$23) A very fruity, character-filled ale brewed from all Australian ingredients at Byron Bay. It has a cloudy golden appearance and very aromatic, tropical, hop-driven bouquet, while the taste is satisfying and refreshing with pleasant hoppy