Grapevine: Craft beer storm leaves pleasantly sour taste

Whether you’re a beer drinker or not, you would have noticed the unprecedented growth in craft breweries over the past five to 10 years.

In times gone by, a drive through regional areas would have seen a pub in every town serving icy cold VB, nowadays you are just as likely to come across a brewery every few towns serving their own beers fresh on tap. As we have moved through the iterations of craft beer styles, we are now seeing more and more seasonal and/or one-off beers to suit the time of year, as well as sourcing of ingredients as locally as possible. From the reinvigoration of historic beer styles to through to the innovative styles that are yet to find a firm definition, the breadth of options is amazing. Let’s look at a couple that have taken the beer world by storm recently.

NEIPA

One of the fastest growing beer styles despite most people, even within the beer world, not having a firm grasp on exactly how to define it. Nevertheless, the constant features are a hazy or cloudy appearance which can be due to the types of yeast, carbon dioxide levels and the type of grain used. They are usually heavily hopped with varieties that are fruity in style, although they rarely taste aggressively astringent as you might expect in a heavily hopped beer. They taste juicy, smooth and less carbonated than other beers. A smashable, fruity beer, best consumed within a couple of months of production as the beers can lose their haze and begin to go off quickly.

SOUR BEERS

Gose
This is not a new style of beer, more so the reincarnation of a style that has its roots in Germany. Only a few years ago you could hardly get most beer drinkers to even taste a beer that tastes slightly sour, let alone dive head first into a six-pack that may be priced at a significant premium to more conventional beers. A Gose will typically have a high proportion of malted wheat fermented with both yeast and lactobacillus to impart a sourness to the beer, the final touch being the use of salt water, creating a beer that has a salty-sour tension.

Saison
Sours can be made so by the addition of lactobacillus or by allowing the beer to ferment spontaneously, whereby yeast strains such as Brettanomyces can thrive and impart a slightly subtler sour note to the beer. Balanced by delicate fruit and earthy flavours, this is a thirst-quenching style for the warmer months.

Two-Metre Tall Derwent Spelt Ale $9.50
It’s hard to go past Two Metre Tall as a producer that is at the crossroad of many present trends.

They are a small craft brewery focused on producing from what they have around them, they farm their own hops, some of their grains, have developed their own souring organisms and have access to the Derwent river for water. They are, of course, in the Australian heartland of hop production, down in the south of Tasmania. They were early to the wild and sour beer style but as it becomes more and more popular they are recognised as a benchmark for Australian examples. Their Derwent Spelt Ale is naturally soured and produced from Tasmanian grown spelt and hops. It has a refreshing sourness rather than causing your mouth to pucker. Floral, citrusy, slightly spicy and nutty to finish.