Australian craft beer standards

[barls]

never had an over carbed beer from stone and wood.
murrays did have a small problem a few years ago but this has since been sorted. have you tried to contact shawn, the head brewer at murrays, about this. i know he takes it extremely seriously about the quality of his beer. you might be seriously surprised on how much they care.
i can tell you now the info he will be looking for is where you bought it and the batch code if it has one.

the other point to think on is poor handling can result in the same result. not saying the they have been badly handled by the bottlo but maybe on the trip over to perth ie in the back of a truck across the center of australia. fairly sure they arent insulated or temp stabilised in the trailers they use.

 

[Nick JD]

There are some breweries who are pretty pro-active in trying to keep customers happy.

Like making great beer in clean bottles you mean?

 

[bum]

Ahaha. That would be nice.

 

[adamh]

I cracked open a Fuller's bottle ($8 worth) and there was no gas at all, so tipped it out. Only bad beer I've ever had. I didn't then not ever try Fuller's again. I immediately cracked open the second bottle I'd bought :chug: They're beers are too good to not try them ever again.

Murray's make some awesome brews. Had one called Spartikus the other night at The Alehouse Project. Knock yer socks off at 10%. And their farmhouse ale at GABS last year was really good too. They make some pretty adventurous brews. It's a shame you're missing out just because of 1 bottle.

The only beer I've ever opened and then tipped out was Budweiser - it wasn't infected, it was normal :blink:

 

[biggo]

There are a lot of good beers in Australia, I too have had a carton Murry's Punch and Judy that was way over carbonated and beard and brau amber that was quite the same.

On the other hand I have had some great beers

• Red Duck - Braggot - any of them
• Cheeky monkey - Mild
• Boneyard brewing - Golden ale

I also wonder about not just the quality control but the openess to customers mentioning that the beer may have issues

 

[barls]

had one exactly the same from green flash in the states, rang the bottle shop and then went back and swapped it for a newer bottle. all good in the end.
have you mentioned the dud bottles to the bottlo at all?

 

[stux]

Also they were purchased from seperate Bottle shops around Perth, neither of which I will name because they both do an excellent job and they should only be mentioned in a positive light.

Maybe you need to try some local beers?

Seriously though, there is a desert between perth and the east coast, try some beers which don't have to travel through a desert to get to you and see what you think

 

[eamonnfoley]

I struggle with this also. Here in Perth its often poor Aussie beer, or stale/heat struck imports. And a huge price tag.

Smaller breweries in Australia generally dont have lab facilities, or even access to external services that provide these. UK, US, Belgium, and Germany all have these and they are affordable - even for the public and homebrewers. A lot of brewers in Australia have no formal brewing education either. And no access to reliable commercial bottling facilites.

 

[Frag_Dog]

I've had a few dud beers from Aussie micros. When I say dud, I mean either under or over carbed, infected, or obviously mishandled.

From listening to the Brewing Network shows and the brewers they interview, the brewerys in the states sound like they control the distribution of their product a little better. They generally won't let something like an IPA get trucked across the country unless they can guarentee the quality. I don't know if Aussie micros have this same level of control over their product.

If I could put my paranoid foil helmet on for a second, I wouldn't be supprised if the bigger boys have a hand in some of the craft beer being mistreated.

For this reason I tend to try and buy from local Craft Breweries

 

[Mirkin]

As others have said, handling. I've had lemons from Dan Murphy's and small locals, almost always in summer. I've seen Dan Murphy's at Maitland standing pallets of beer on their loading dock all day when temps were over 40. That's not a sin exclusive to big places either.

The only time a brewery can truly be 100% responsible for their product is if you buy it from their cellar door.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I struggle with this also. Here in Perth its often poor Aussie beer, or stale/heat struck imports. And a huge price tag.

Smaller breweries in Australia generally dont have lab facilities, or even access to external services that provide these. UK, US, Belgium, and Germany all have these and they are affordable - even for the public and homebrewers. A lot of brewers in Australia have no formal brewing education either. And no access to reliable commercial bottling facilites.

Dont really need much of a lab for quality control, I think most just dont think its nessessary = no education.
Nev

 

[jimmy01]

I try as many Aussie craft beers as I can, both in the bottle and off tap. (Getting a bit easier in Brisvegas now that we have some decent bars like Archive, Scratch and Tipplers Tap). I have to agree that whilst there are some great Aussie beers around, there are quite a few ordinary ones as well.

My greatest challenge is finding aussie craft brewery that can brew a decent pils or lager or even a good quality brown or amber ale. Pretty rare in these categories. Seems to be a lot of hopped upped Pale Ales and Black Ipa's around. Maybe this is what drinkers want but may also be that these styles are easier to hide behind.

I think that the mini boom in Micros in Aus that we are seeing might see the cream come to the top, with some of the inconsistent breweries falling by the wayside.

Anyway, I'll keep supporting the Aussies as much as possible. One or two bad beers won't put me off. Had plenty of ordinary beers in Europe and the US too.

Cheers

 

[Nick JD]

I had an infected Duval once. Sadface.

 

[mikec]

I had a crap Aussie beer out of a glass bottle once.
Ergo, all beer is crap. As are all glass bottles.
I'm sticking to wine in casks.

 

[drsmurto]

Had two Stone and Wood Draughts, one in Brisbane and one in Byron Bay.

Both times it tasted like someone had dumped the catcher from a lawnmover in my beer.

Never had another since although i assumed it is not a bad in the infected/gusher/overcarbed way but simply not my cup of tea. The possibility that is was somehow not as it should be never occurred to me.

It currently sits at #2 on my 'worst craft beer' list.

 

[Nick JD]

Both times it tasted like someone had dumped the catcher from a lawnmover in my beer.

I had a James Squiers Golden Ale the other day that tasted like Rexona Sport deoderant.

 

[billygoat]

Had two Stone and Wood Draughts, one in Brisbane and one in Byron Bay.

Both times it tasted like someone had dumped the catcher from a lawnmover in my beer.

Never had another since although i assumed it is not a bad in the infected/gusher/overcarbed way but simply not my cup of tea. The possibility that is was somehow not as it should be never occurred to me.

It currently sits at #2 on my 'worst craft beer' list.

Just had a Stone and Wood Draught off the tap at The Rails in Byron Bay about an hour ago, tasted fine. As you say, maybe not your cup of tea. Must admit I preferred the LCPA they had on tap.

 

[Fish13]

This is an awesome topic!!

I to have had a unpleasant hargraves hill pale ale that would not be my next beer ot buy. Same wth the lord nelsons pale ale.. just didn't stand up well compared to the other Mircobrewed pale ale beers in the box i made for a mate.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Never had an issue with Aussie micro beers on tap. The vast majority of bottles I've had have also been great. The only exceptions were a murrays 2ipa which was a gusher (Archive), a six pack of 4 pines pale (liquor land) which had had no hop aroma, and an oxidised holgate temptress (slow beer). Subsequent purchases of 4 pines an holgate beers have been great and fresh so I can assume it was transport/storage issues. I understand that murrays were having bottling issues at the time.

I never buy anything 'craft' from dan murphys if I can avoid it.

 

[joshuahardie]

I had an infected Cantillon before.
I demanded to the bottleshop that they replace it.

They saw straight through me.

Love Murrays and Moondog beer. Some of the most interesting stuff I have ever drank.