Way back on the Easter long weekend, when the water was barely warm enough to take a dip, I dropped in at Red Hill Brewery on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula. Their Hop Harvest Ale was on handpump and couldn't resist having a pint. Anyone who's spent anytime in Ol' Blighty will be familiar with the old ale vs. lager arguement. There's plenty of good lagers in the UK, yet none of them have anything on a good ale, served at room temperature (which in many parts of the UK is around 8 degrees anyway). The Hop Harvest Ale is one such style bitter, using hops grown about 5 meters from the bar's front door. Can't get much more local than that!
Later in the Easter Long Weekend, I headed up to Merrijig ("where the frig is Merrijig" as the pub's bartenders t-shirts retorically and satirically asked). Picked up a Jamieson's Brewery sampler from Mansfield IGA of which an old favourite The Beast proved a hit around the fire, staving off temperatures that may be called sub-room temperature in the UK. Suitably named, the Beast is more of an English style IPA, but not shy on the hops. The biggest delight is the rich caramel backbone the malt provides.
Some time towards the back end of the holiday, I dropped into Cambridge Cellars in Caulfield North, who specialise is Eastern European and Russian spirits. They have a small, yet cheap beer selection that mirrors this geographical bent. Okochim porter is a Polish porter in the robust porter tradition. Bit of a power house and very rich. Black as night, smooth and with a satisfying warming alcohol kick.
Picked up a Fuller's 1845 India Pale Ale and a Samuel Smith's India Pale Ale. Good side by side comparison, difficult to split. So i've included them both here. Both fine examples of an English IPA.
Speaking of pairing styles, two beers that really blew me away in April were both black IPAs. A trendy style at the moment, the best examples are dark, almost stout like, but unlike stouts have big hop aromas, and then a mix of roasted and hop flavours. Very complex. Mountain Goat / Mikkeller Pepperberry IPA is a move in the right direction for Mountain Goat's Rare Breed / Cross Breed line of specialty brews. The pepperberry was admittedly barely noticeable, but still had all the hall marks of a great black IPA. Another Mikkeller collaboration is the Dark Harvest from Bridge Road Brewers/ Mikkeller. All the big pineapple and stone fruit flavours from the Beechworth breweries' Harvest, with a dark roasted twist. Bloody awesome beer.
Some other notable beers I had in April were the massive Ox, from Red Duck. A monster Imperial Stout. Brooklyn Brewery delivered a perfect use of the lemony hop Sorachi Ace and brewed a saison with it called...Sorachi Ace. Genius. Finally two Tasmanian Moo Brew beers really floated my boat, their excellent Pilsner (finally available on the mainland) and a seasonal saison, which takes the cake for the beer name of the month, Saison de Moo.
April was a good month for beer.
