G’day Guys and welcome to the new monthly wrap up/accountability post on Beer O’Clock Australia. The idea I have is that I’ll put this post up in roughly the first week of each month & it will hopefully encourage me to finish this project at some point! I’ve already given up on the idea of finishing it this year with the amount of stuff I still have to do this year; I think a more realistic target is mid-2024.
Year of the Local
The state of play. 0 new posts went up in February… Currently according to my list there are 246 breweries/brewing companies in Victoria. Admittedly I haven’t done a cull of the contract brands for quite some time – so that may reduce that number. Currently I have 86 posts to right, beers from 32 brands to try & 15 breweries to visit. No new brewing companies were added in February; however Hopocrisy Beer was added after the oversight was identified. Hopocrisy Beer launched with a Venom collaboration in April 2022.
February saw me visit 3 breweries, however only 1 of them were new for Year of the Local purposes, the new Love Shack brewery in Castlemaine. I also made it to Burnley & Two Rupees, but they are breweries I get to regularly. I did manage to try beers from 2 new Victorian producers; Lost Watering Hole & Hopocrisy.
Untappd
I’ve been slightly surprised how many comments/questions I’ve gotten since I stopped doing the Untappd posts. I mean there’s a very easy way you can find this data… In any case I got 18 badges in February, 2 of which were unique. The duplicates were:
- Super Style: IPA – American (3)
- Cheers to Independent U.S. Craft Breweries (2)
I imagine we will continue to see the Super Style: IPA – American and the Cheers to Independent U.S. Craft Breweries regularly until they are maxed out. When I made the artwork I assumed that it was my first God Save the King badge since it was renamed after the death of Queen Elizabeth – but I was wrong and can’t be bothered changing the artwork. I haven’t had a Highlander badge in years & we should all be celebrating Smoked Beer – a Liechtenhainer from Slow Lane unlocked Down in Smoke.
Beer of the Week
Week 5 – Sierra Nevada Celebration
This beer is criminally underrated in this country, due to the horrible condition it normally arrives in. This year was different, stock arrived pretty fresh and the beer was tasting fabulous. You can see why it’s so hugely popular in the US.
Week 6 -Deeds Yellow Light
I went away for the weekend with a few friends & naturally some beverages were consumed. My mate Parny lives around the corner from Deeds and brought along this banging West Coast IPA. An old school IPA with loads of pine, citrus & good bitterness.
Week 7 – Boatrocker X 8 Wired iJet
As soon as I read about this collab I knew I was going to love the beer. Ramjet & iStout are two of my favourite barrel aged Imperial Stouts. The beer has is big on every front; flavour, mouthfeel and ABV. It’s beautifully balanced with the Starward barrels really nicely integrated.
Week 8 – Boatrocker Roger Ramjet (2022)
Speaking of Boatrocker Imperial Stouts… Roger Ramjet is the Bourbon Barrel Aged version of their famous Ramjet. Generally I find their stouts drink best around the 3 year mark, however this Roger Ramjet was as well integrated as any Boatrocker stout I can recall. Drink them now if you have any 2022 Roger Ramjet’s kicking around.
Other Stuff
Sorry for the delay in getting this up and for the lack of posts more generally. I’m in the middle of moving out of our apartment to have floors redone & haven’t had a heap of time. Copper is going really well, he seems to be enjoying his new life as a couch potato. We haven’t made it to a brewery yet, but that is on me not him now! We’re off to herding dog school in a week or two, which should be interesting!
Hope you’ve enjoyed this little update, I hope to be back with a podcast and a YOTL post or two in the next week or so. Let me know if you’ve got any thoughts or anything you’d like to see added to this over the coming months at angus@beeroclockaustralia.com.
Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!
Nick
Is your list of Victorian breweries available anywhere? I’m also aiming to visit every Vic brewery that has a bar/taproom. I have 142 on my list (attached) and have visited 128 of them so far, just wondering whether I’m missing any. Cheers, Nick.
Angus
Hey Nick,
I don’t have an updated one online at the moment – one of the many things on the to do list!
I think your list is good overall – Morris was a new one for me so thanks for bringing that to my attention! Without having gone through it forensically I think you’re missing a few. Off the top of my head; Bankhouse, Buffalo, Fury & Sons (not sure if they re-opened post-COVID), Harcourt Valley, Hickinbotham/HIX, Hop Back, Lost Watering Hole, Meletos Brewhouse, The Old Factory, 4 Pines Welcome to Brunswick, Carlton United. Venom should probably also be on there if you’re counting things like Two Pot. When I get a chance I’ll go through it properly and see if I can add anymore for you! Good luck – it’s a fun journey!
Angus
I don’t know if you caught the news but Social Bandit was bought and is going to be Buller Road going forwards.
Nick
Thanks a lot, I will check all of those out. I ticked a few more off the list this weekend, I found Anvil Brewing in Mansfield whilst I was visiting On Point Brewing in Alexandra. Buller Road opens 1st April. Fury and Sons taproom is closed permanently, I checked with them recently. Morris is nothing special, they only brew a single Pale Ale and the venue itself is pretty ordinary, but if you’re on a mission then I guess you have to visit it. Two Pot (well, the Star Hotel technically) was actually really good — best Rauchbier I’ve had in Australia.
Nick
The Old Factory is permanently closed, according to Facebook. They ceased trading in February.