Hottest 100 Beers 2014 - My Votes
It's been another stellar year for craft beer (not so much for macro beer) in Australia, and it's again that time of the year when the Local Taphouse puts the call out to vote for your top 5 Aussie beers of the year. As usual my votes were determined entirely* (Asterisk will be explained at the end) by my reviewing scores, which use roughly the BeerAdvocate weighting system and are given only to beers I tried for the first time in 2014. And although my votes have already been submitted, I thought I'd indulge myself with a more comprehensive write-up of my top 5,* and of course I'll do it in countdown order:
5)* Little Brewing Co - Fastidious Bastard IPA (Port Macquarie, NSW)
This was a late addition to my longlist, as I sampled it from a bottle only on Boxing Day, but a very worthy one, and frankly what kind of beer geek would I be if I didn't include at least one IPA among my votes?
This one makes the cut not just because it's fragrant, complex, tasty and interesting (it would be a pretty shit IPA if it wasn't any of those things), but because it's so remarkably smooth. The bittering hops are very soft, which may make it appear more subdued but to me it's just a welcome relief from the palate-wrecking intensity of so many IPAs and IIPAs out there.
One note, this one missed out on the number 4 spot by a score of only 0.015.
4)* Doctors Orders Brewing - Vaccine Wheat Wasabi Porter (Sydney, NSW)
Wasabi Porter, anyone? How about a Wasabi Porter made with 100% wheat malt? It's strange to me that the first time Darren 'Doc' Robinson - who brews virtually nothing 'normal' - has made my top 5 is with his most dauntingly bizarre-sounding brew. When I first tried this at Cammeray Craft earlier in the year, I went in fully expecting to hate the absolute bollocks off this.
However, this beer is like triple fried-egg sandwich with chilli sauce and chutney - put a bunch of completely wrong ingredients together, and somehow it works. The wasabi (an ingredient I hate in all its forms) is used to ground this otherwise fairly sweet concoction with a deep earthiness, while the stickiness of the wheat softens out any residual spicy, potentially horseradishy notes.
I was absolutely blown away by how tasty and fascinating a beer this was, and I kept returning to it any place I found it on tap. I never thought I'd say this, but I've ordered a wheat wasabi porter more often than any other individual beer this year.
3)* BrewCult - Beer Geek Rage Quit India Pale Lager (Melbourne, VIC)
This was actually a big surprise inclusion when I tallied my scores to find my five highest reviews of the year, but there was a fair bit of light between it and the Vaccine. Another first time inclusion for another one-man operation, Steve 'Hendo' Henderson of BrewCult.
This beer is basically everything that a hophead loves in an IPA, dialled back to be drinkable as fuck. Fragrant, tangy, fruity and delicious with bags of flavour, but the light body of a lager so it can be smashed all night. And when I first tried and reviewed this at Cammeray - possibly the same night I first tried the Vaccine - that's pretty much what I tried to do.
I've heard recently that there's more of this floating around, so although it seems to be less ubiquitous than some of Hendo's other work, it comes highly recommended by me if you can find it.
2) Riverside Brewing Co - Yeasts of Bourbon Oak-Aged Imperial Stout (Sydney, NSW)
It seems it wouldn't be a Hottest 100 vote from me without including something from the brew wizards of Parramatta. In fact, the last three years (since they opened) have each seen a Riverside beer crack my top 2.
With this one I had the perils of expectation hanging heavily over me as I bounced jauntily into Spooning Goats for their first tapping. I won't bore you by describing the flavours I got off this wonderful brew - it's oaky, it's bourbony, it's stouty, it's imperialy - but what really put this over the edge for me was how wonderfully subdued and balanced it was in spite of all the loud noises vying for my attention.
I don't quite know how you make something that's so big and yet so approachable, but that's part of the wizardry that Riverside bring to every one of their beers. I hope that next year in the absence of founder/head brewer Dave Padden they won't find themselves dropping unnecessarily out of my top 2 spots.
1) La Sirène Brewery - Belgian Praline (Melbourne, VIC)
Keeping company with Riverside in my top 2 of the past three years has invariably been my number one discovery of the world's greatest beer festival, the Local Taphouse-run Great Australasian Beer Spectapular in Melbourne.
This offering from La Sirène Brewery not only won my number one spot of the festival out of the 105 (?? Can't even remember now) new beers on offer but took home the people's choice award as well, so I highly suspect it will fare very well in this year's hottest 100 poll.
Approaching this beer I had virtually no expectations because the description didn't really give too much away. Drinking it, though, was a uniquely satisfying and impressive experience. Imagine your favourite chocolate praline bomb - wherever that comes from - and now imagine it in smooth, liquid, beery form.
Yes, that does kind of sound excessive and repulsive, doesn't it? So it's even more astounding that this beer is not only eminently delicious but also palatable. We suspected that it might work better in tasting form and wouldn't translate to full glasses, but it remains as delicious and enjoyable all the way down the glass, and trust me, I put it to the test again and again and again during the festival.
It doesn't exactly taste like beer, but something this amazing just further serves to emphasise what a wonderfully diverse drink beer can be. This was a clear, standout winner of the year for me.
* OK, so you're pissed off at all my asterisks throughout. The reason for them is this: the above five beers were those that got my votes, HOWEVER, my actual equal number 3 beer of the year (equal with the BrewCult) was the BBQ Monster II - Wilbur's Revenge, by Murray's Brewing in collaboration with Frankie's Pizza. I tried this during Sydney Craft Beer Week and found it wizardry in a glass. However, when I went to submit my votes it wasn't on the list, so I found the idea of adding it about three days before voting closes in order to give it a grand total of 3 points seemed like a fruitless venture. This is the first time I've ever given a more tactical vote (allowing room for the Fastidious Bastard, which I believe will do well), but I want Murray's/Frankie's to know that you had a big fan of that beer in me.
Honourable Mentions (beers that scored 4 or more out of 5 throughout the year but didn't make the cut), alphabetically by brewery:
Bacchus Brewing - Lamington Dark Ale
Bacchus Brewing - Sex, Drugs and Rocky Road
Doctor's Orders Brewing - Vaccine Elixir
Little Brewing Co - Breaking the Cardinal Rule
Modus Operandi Brewing - The Former Tenant
Modus Operandi Brewing- Zoo Feeder
White Rabbit - Jetcow
Young Henry's - Cherry Saison
5)* Little Brewing Co - Fastidious Bastard IPA (Port Macquarie, NSW)
This was a late addition to my longlist, as I sampled it from a bottle only on Boxing Day, but a very worthy one, and frankly what kind of beer geek would I be if I didn't include at least one IPA among my votes?
This one makes the cut not just because it's fragrant, complex, tasty and interesting (it would be a pretty shit IPA if it wasn't any of those things), but because it's so remarkably smooth. The bittering hops are very soft, which may make it appear more subdued but to me it's just a welcome relief from the palate-wrecking intensity of so many IPAs and IIPAs out there.
One note, this one missed out on the number 4 spot by a score of only 0.015.
4)* Doctors Orders Brewing - Vaccine Wheat Wasabi Porter (Sydney, NSW)
Wasabi Porter, anyone? How about a Wasabi Porter made with 100% wheat malt? It's strange to me that the first time Darren 'Doc' Robinson - who brews virtually nothing 'normal' - has made my top 5 is with his most dauntingly bizarre-sounding brew. When I first tried this at Cammeray Craft earlier in the year, I went in fully expecting to hate the absolute bollocks off this.
However, this beer is like triple fried-egg sandwich with chilli sauce and chutney - put a bunch of completely wrong ingredients together, and somehow it works. The wasabi (an ingredient I hate in all its forms) is used to ground this otherwise fairly sweet concoction with a deep earthiness, while the stickiness of the wheat softens out any residual spicy, potentially horseradishy notes.
I was absolutely blown away by how tasty and fascinating a beer this was, and I kept returning to it any place I found it on tap. I never thought I'd say this, but I've ordered a wheat wasabi porter more often than any other individual beer this year.
3)* BrewCult - Beer Geek Rage Quit India Pale Lager (Melbourne, VIC)
This was actually a big surprise inclusion when I tallied my scores to find my five highest reviews of the year, but there was a fair bit of light between it and the Vaccine. Another first time inclusion for another one-man operation, Steve 'Hendo' Henderson of BrewCult.
This beer is basically everything that a hophead loves in an IPA, dialled back to be drinkable as fuck. Fragrant, tangy, fruity and delicious with bags of flavour, but the light body of a lager so it can be smashed all night. And when I first tried and reviewed this at Cammeray - possibly the same night I first tried the Vaccine - that's pretty much what I tried to do.
I've heard recently that there's more of this floating around, so although it seems to be less ubiquitous than some of Hendo's other work, it comes highly recommended by me if you can find it.
2) Riverside Brewing Co - Yeasts of Bourbon Oak-Aged Imperial Stout (Sydney, NSW)
It seems it wouldn't be a Hottest 100 vote from me without including something from the brew wizards of Parramatta. In fact, the last three years (since they opened) have each seen a Riverside beer crack my top 2.
With this one I had the perils of expectation hanging heavily over me as I bounced jauntily into Spooning Goats for their first tapping. I won't bore you by describing the flavours I got off this wonderful brew - it's oaky, it's bourbony, it's stouty, it's imperialy - but what really put this over the edge for me was how wonderfully subdued and balanced it was in spite of all the loud noises vying for my attention.
I don't quite know how you make something that's so big and yet so approachable, but that's part of the wizardry that Riverside bring to every one of their beers. I hope that next year in the absence of founder/head brewer Dave Padden they won't find themselves dropping unnecessarily out of my top 2 spots.
1) La Sirène Brewery - Belgian Praline (Melbourne, VIC)
Keeping company with Riverside in my top 2 of the past three years has invariably been my number one discovery of the world's greatest beer festival, the Local Taphouse-run Great Australasian Beer Spectapular in Melbourne.
This offering from La Sirène Brewery not only won my number one spot of the festival out of the 105 (?? Can't even remember now) new beers on offer but took home the people's choice award as well, so I highly suspect it will fare very well in this year's hottest 100 poll.
Approaching this beer I had virtually no expectations because the description didn't really give too much away. Drinking it, though, was a uniquely satisfying and impressive experience. Imagine your favourite chocolate praline bomb - wherever that comes from - and now imagine it in smooth, liquid, beery form.
Yes, that does kind of sound excessive and repulsive, doesn't it? So it's even more astounding that this beer is not only eminently delicious but also palatable. We suspected that it might work better in tasting form and wouldn't translate to full glasses, but it remains as delicious and enjoyable all the way down the glass, and trust me, I put it to the test again and again and again during the festival.
It doesn't exactly taste like beer, but something this amazing just further serves to emphasise what a wonderfully diverse drink beer can be. This was a clear, standout winner of the year for me.
* OK, so you're pissed off at all my asterisks throughout. The reason for them is this: the above five beers were those that got my votes, HOWEVER, my actual equal number 3 beer of the year (equal with the BrewCult) was the BBQ Monster II - Wilbur's Revenge, by Murray's Brewing in collaboration with Frankie's Pizza. I tried this during Sydney Craft Beer Week and found it wizardry in a glass. However, when I went to submit my votes it wasn't on the list, so I found the idea of adding it about three days before voting closes in order to give it a grand total of 3 points seemed like a fruitless venture. This is the first time I've ever given a more tactical vote (allowing room for the Fastidious Bastard, which I believe will do well), but I want Murray's/Frankie's to know that you had a big fan of that beer in me.
Honourable Mentions (beers that scored 4 or more out of 5 throughout the year but didn't make the cut), alphabetically by brewery:
Bacchus Brewing - Lamington Dark Ale
Bacchus Brewing - Sex, Drugs and Rocky Road
Doctor's Orders Brewing - Vaccine Elixir
Little Brewing Co - Breaking the Cardinal Rule
Modus Operandi Brewing - The Former Tenant
Modus Operandi Brewing- Zoo Feeder
White Rabbit - Jetcow
Young Henry's - Cherry Saison
posted by Sean's Beard at 9:23 PM
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