Beer + Brewer Autumn Pack
Cidre Organique, 4.5% ABV, 750mL
This delightfully French organic cider pours with a hazy golden glow and a lively white head that disappears quickly. The apple aromas waft from the glass and grow in their intensity and are reminiscent of a warm apple pie, sweet apples and pastry. The flavour is sweet apple with some balancing tartness. An incredibly smooth cider with enough spritz to add a great refreshment value.
Monteith's Celtic Red Beer, 4.4% ABV, 330mL
Monteith's hail from the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Their Irish Red Ale style beer pours the expected red colour and is delicate and stunning on the nose, with hints of coffee and chocolate. The flavour is one of dry roasted malt and sweetness from this malt driven beer. The subtle bitterness from the hops used leads to a smooth finish.
Prickly Moses Red Ale, 5.0% ABV, 330mL
Irish Red Ales are a style that should display plenty of flavour without being over the top to allow for easy drinkability - something that this red/brown example does easily. Light toffee malt and soft ripe fruity esters greet the nose before the mouthfeel of soft sweet brown bread takes over. The moderate carbonation contributes greatly to its easy nature as does the fact that the sweet malt notes don't overstay their welcome. Very good beer and would make a wonderful pairing with traditional roast turkey.
Timothy Taylor's Landlord, 4.1% ABV, 500mL
This English Pale Ale is a classic. Pale Ale in the bottle and an English bitter/real ale when hand pulled draught from a cask. With hints of soft, sweet caramel and earthy notes in the malt flavour, its full of great English hop aromas. The bottle conditioning creates a mild carbonation that doesn't dominate the beers fine flavours and aromas. Well worth letting sit for a white when taken out of the fridge, to settle at 12-14C, with the warmer temperature enhancing its beautiful flavour.
3 Ravens English Ale, 4.6% ABV, 330mL
A classic and authentic naturally conditioned English Pale Ale from the 3 Ravens brewery in Victoria. It pours a deep copper in the glass and delivers a good balance of earthy, English countryside hop characters and caramel tones on the nose. The usage of crystal malt is apparent on the palate and with the bottle-fermentation, makes this a very smooth English ale. One to be sipped and appreciated.
Adnams East Green (carbon Neutral beer) 4.3% 500ml
Carbon offsetting and minimalisation has been making a mark on many products over the last few years and beer is no exception to that. This new offering from English brewery Adnams makes claim to being the first of its kind from the UK. In the glass it has a very small foam that sits over a beer with a colour akin to that of a Bohemian style Pilsner - pale gold. The nose is light and carries faint notes of sweet apple and citric hops with a touch of bread in the background. Very light in its body with some carbonic acidity playing along with light biscuity malt character. A beer from an ale specialist aimed perhaps at crossover lager drinkers. Enjoy from a tumbler glass.
Mac's Black Mac, 4.6% ABV, 330mL
New to the shores of Aus is the New Zealand born Mac's Black a dark ale that really lives up to its name. This beer is dark, it's stormy, completely opaque and black, black, black topped with a rocky, cappuccino foam. In keeping to style, liberal doses of milky chocolate and burnt toffee are complemented with whisps of a long black coffee. The aroma is such that you feel like you'd want to pour it into a mug, warm it up and drink it before you head off to la-la land. On the palate, it's smooth, it's dark, it's thick, it's subduely bittered and it's black!
Beard and Brau Red Tail, 5.1% ABV, 330mL
Relatively new to the scene are South Australian-based brewery Beard & Brau, who currently produce 3 different beers, with their Red Tail being the Amber Ale in their stable. The beer is a great colour, incredibly crimson with a fluffy and very solid beige head. The aroma displays some fascinating dark fruit characters particularly fresh, ripe plum which is complemented with a hint of chocolate peeping in. The flavour comes through in waves of caramel malty sweetness, a little zing of tartness and really fresh hop bitterness. This beer is incredibly smooth and creamy in the mouth and perfect for this time of year.