Yesterday, I went to the Microbreweries Showcase, held at Federation Square. With 17 breweries showing their product, there were plenty to try from. Here are my notes from the variety I tasted:
| Brewery | Brew | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arctic Fox Brewery | Ice Cap Lager | Light flavour, with a slightly fruity aftertaste. Drinkable, but not particularly exciting. |
| Bridge Road Brewers | Dark Ale | A solid porter. Nice smoky flavour. |
| Buckley’s Beers | Pilz Lager | Very sweet. Easy to drink. |
| Original Ale | Sweet, light flavour. | |
| Coldstream Brewery | Cider | Boring. Really unimpressive. Tasted like watered down apple juice. |
| Grand Ridge Brewery | Natural Blonde | A sweet wheat beer, with a hinte of orange. An excellent summer beer. |
| Holgate Brewhouse | White Ale | A clove flavour, reminded me of spiced wine. |
| Big Red Pilsner | Brilliant, rich red colour. Boring flavour. | |
| Temptress Dark Ale | A rich porter, made with vanilla beans and Dutch cocoa. Could work even as a dessert beer. | |
| Matilda Bay Brewing Co | Sebastian Reserve Dunkelweizen | Sweet and dark, with a hint of apple. Tasty. |
| Mildura Brewery | Mallee Bull | Brilliant colour, uninspiring flavour. |
| Mountain Goat Brewery | Fancy Pants Amber Ale | Similar to their Hightail Ale, but not quite as strong a flavour. Slighty sweet, slightly spiced. Smelled of celery, for some unknown reason. |
| Prickly Moses – Otway Estate | Summer Ale | Bleh. Reminds me of Carlton Draught. |
| Red Duck Brewery | Pale Ale | Light flavour. Nice summer beer. |
| Honey Porter | Light porter flavour, strong honey flavour. Nice, but similar to Beez Neez, I couldn’t drink much of it. | |
| Southern Bay Brewing Co | Effen Premier Lager | A fairly standard lager. Good to drink, but nothing exciting. |
| Sweetwater Brewing Company | Golden Bitter | Tastes like it should have flavour, but has been watered down instead. |
| Temple Brewing Company | Saison | Good flavour, reminded me of Hoegaarden. A hint of cloves. |
| The 3 Ravens Brewing Co | Dark Smoke Beer | An excellent stout. Traditional, tasty. |
| 2 Brothers Brewery | Growler | An American brown ale. Nice, but nothing special. Kind of a light porter. |
| Three Troupers | Pilsner | Light colour and flavour, like a Pilsner should be. Small bite in the aftertaste to keep things interesting. |
All up, a good variety from some of Australia’s microbreweries. Particularly worth mentioning is Holgate’s Temptress Dark Ale, which is probably the best chocolate beer I’ve had. Buckley’s Beers also gets a second mention, for making my two favourite beers for the night, though the Original Ale just beats the Pilz Lager.