The New Unique Australian Beer

[tcraig20]

I'm not sure wattle seed would be used as a fermentable, more like a spice. The flavour is pretty strong from what i remember.

Actually on that note, are there any unique Australian grains out there?

There are. None of them commercial, but there are a lot of wild grasses that were exploited by the Aborigines, along with starchy yams, nuts, cycads, etc. Cant recall specific names or species at the moment though...

Edit: if you want a true 'novelty beer' a Bunya nut trippel would be a nice touch - Bunya pines only fruit every three years.

 

[Mercs Own]

I was reading this thread tonight when my wife came in to the office and asked what I was reading about. I filled her in saying that it was a post about creating a uniquely Australian beer and her comment was - "dont we already have one?" I responded by asking her what she thought that was. She said.....Coopers.

nuff said

the amount of time people refer to using Coopers yeast in this thread as a uniquely Australian identity screams out that most likely Coopers is a truly unique Australian beer - doesnt it?

My point earlier about American wheat beer being an American bastardisation of a style is backed up by them now making their own styles of IPA, PA and all the rest - all they are doing is taking a style and adding a nuance and calling it theirs - is it????? No! Pumpkin Ale is a uniquely American beer - American wheat is not.

The question to me (and to you) is what do we make now that is or could be seen as uniquely Australian. I reckon if we answer that question we will have the first idea of what direction we should be going in. From there we can refine, tweak and develop the beer and elivate it to a truly unique Aussie brew.

Australian Sparkling Ale anyone?

 

[haysie]

Black Rock Mussel Stout,
Scrubworm Bitter
Olde Convict Carp Ale
Calicivirus Rabbit Lager


Anythings possible.

 

[Wardhog]

The question to me (and to you) is what do we make now that is or could be seen as uniquely Australian.

Does there have to be a gimmick? Can't we just create a good beer with regular ingredients, but Aussie ones?

 

[haysie]

Australian Sparkling Ale anyone?

Enjoying as we type. :chug:

 

[bum]

Does there have to be a gimmick? Can't we just create a good beer with regular ingredients, but Aussie ones?

Wouldn't that just be making an existing style with locally sourced ingredients?

Sure, there is absolutely no reason that couldn't be a tremendous beer but what makes it uniquely Australian?

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not all that keen on a quondong beer. Cider maybe.

 

[haysie]

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not all that keen on a quondong beer. Cider maybe.

If thats the stuff from China, I`ll have a cider as well.

 

[Wardhog]

Wouldn't that just be making an existing style with locally sourced ingredients?

Sure, there is absolutely no reason that couldn't be a tremendous beer but what makes it uniquely Australian?

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not all that keen on a quondong beer. Cider maybe.

Not an existing style necessarily. Design a beer based on features you want, in a combination that you can't already find.

For me, this would be :

-Medium copper in colour
-Nutty and caramel flavours abound
-Little to no hop aroma
-Clean and crisp, no yeast flavour
-Medium hop bitterness, low hop flavour

Doesn't sound too exotic a beer, does it? Sounds kinda like a few beers we already know. Well, with some imagination and the characteristics of the distinctly Aussie ingredients, do something that (to my knowledge) hasn't been done before.
-Galaxy as bittering
-POR as flavour hop.

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't be all that keen on Roasted Gumnut Lager.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Really the whole modern microbrewing movement came about from homebrewers for the most part, even sierra nevada was once just a homebrewer in a shed, the way these beer styles came about is more at the heart of my arguement of styles naturally evolving out of known styles being pushed to there limits and incorporating local hop varieties to even the extreme.
These styles come to be so wide spread they are now considered real world beer styles.

But there isn't anything doctored about it, such as this thread is, were a bunch of brewers debated it out to try and invent a totally new style ending up what ever group shouts the loudest gets what they think to be accepted and engraved in stone, it just won't ever happen that way.
Its the beer becoming popular and drunk everywhere which is going to make it a style.

It was a natural process of beer evolution such as the case with how the new zealand brewers guild have recently come out and said there is now a need to add some extra style catergories in competions to fit these pilsners and pales that brewers are brewing with non traditional local hop varieties that don't fit the traditional mold.

I can see now this thread is not at all with much reality and to be honest some delusional ideas for simply shits and giggles to hash it out and whoever shouts the loudest is gunna claim to invented a new style. :unsure:
I'll be interested to see were it goes for sure but I think my serious agrument to follow the steps of the new zealand brewers guild must be a different topic all together.

Fair go Jayse - people are just tossing an idea about the place - to be honest, you seem to be one of the few who have contributed to this thread, that seemed to have given more than passing consideration to how someone would actively "push" any beer that might get dreamed up towards official acceptance as a style -- sure, other people have thought about it happening, or about targeting a gap in the existing styles - but not many have really proposed any sort of a campaign to actively ram something through. Its a little rough to then disparage people who are actually just throwing around some speculations.

At an rate - I am probably being just as harsh on you as you are on other people, so I guess I also should tone it down. Doesn't mean I'm not going to counter your argument though (many of which I agree with btw)

Styles aren't something that evolved over lengthy periods of time, styles are new - how they come to be "official" isn't exactly a matter of long standing venerable tradition - it a matter of what Charlie Papazian and a few others reckoned when they were defining the styles not all that long ago - Before that, they were just beers from different places. Including a few styles that had either no, or only one or two commercial examples - but which were popular with homebrewers.

As for a unique style needing to in some way evolve..... waiting for stuff to distill out of teh ether is hardly a standard human trait. Identify a need - think of a way to address it - proceed with trying. Its called having ideas - and its not like good ones take all that long to be accepted as Business as Usual.

When I saw the OP of this thread - I thought that we were being asked to apply our brains to the mental exercise of emulating a beer style's "natural evolution" - take into consideration the things that cause beers to evolve - local climate, local ingredients, local tastes, available technology etc etc - and see where the model might take us.

Of course - its already been done - Coopers pale/sparkling, and whether people like it or not, Fosters and Tooheys mega lagers. VB, New etc are all products of exactly that series of local conditions resulting in beers that are (subtly) unique to Australia. Of course, two things that those beers share as a major influence - are that they also need to be commercial commodities and this has also affected their evolution - AND - that most homebrewers (this is who we are talking to remember) dont particularly like them.

So - what were are doing (or at least what I am doing) is engaging in a shared mental exercise to see if we can dream up a few sorts of beer that could have, but didn't follow a path of natural evolution in the local environment - and I think that that includes different beers for the different local environments in Australia (why would Queenslanders develop the same beers as Tasmanians?) and because we don't have them - without the commercial considerations.

I actually think it would be a great theme for a competition - Aussie Beers

Brew a beer - make it good - and justify why its Aussie. Your beer doesn't only need to be a decent drop, it needs to have a good back story as well. And that's what makes a style in my book - a decent drink, a tiny bit of uniqueness (doesn't need much) and a good story. Would saison be as interesting if it was just a style popped out by a few belgian commercial breweries that got popular - what about the Trappist Ales or German kloister beers? Scotch ales without the pressure of English taxes on hops??

15/20 for the beer - 5/20 for the story

The conversation certainly isn't going to hurt anyone by having happened and I'll bet a dollar that it inspires the brewing of a number of good and maybe unique beers.

 

[haysie]

Roasted gumnuts you can stix up ur ass, Are they really fermentable?
The caramel, nutty doesnt lend itself too Oi Oi,
2 malts 1 hop , yeast????????? theres the fun? Us aussies struggle for a yeast that indentifies our beer from the next.
You always know when you are sipping an English, always know sipping a belgian "the yeast tells us"

Does it really have to be coopers? Its a hunderecyears old, come on micro`s a new Australian yeast is called for.

 

[discoloop]

In my mind, a basic template already exists:
- Australian ale (i.e. Coopers)
- Australian lager (i.e. any Aussie lager from VB to Cascade to Hahn pemium to even Barons lager)

I would say that if any recognised Australian styles were going to emerge they'd form around creative takes on these styles.

 

[Tony]

I think your thinking on the same lines as me now, although I think this thread has two very different sides, those talking about basically inventing a style on the spot one of which has not been brewed before and as lovely as brewing in your thongs and filtering through some merino wool might be that style isn't gunna take off.

For this style I would say bitter, amber, pale and even IPA would all be in the same catergory with broad guidelines that covers beers that losely fit american pale and amber plus english bitter and pale but the hop character is more like new zealand and australian varieties such as bsaaz, dsaaz, NS and galaxy etc.
The style is fairly well balanced, commercial example could/would be to name a few of the top of my head, hargraeves hill ESB, Macs sazzy red, stone and wood draught, brewboys maiden ale, holegate Mt mac, white rabbit, gippsland gold, mildura storm, hop thief, bright ale, wicked elf pale, nirvana and the list is nearly endless and it is broad.

So the style is there it is being brewed yeah some may fit APA alright also and some may fit bitter OK but its a local style of the beers that are being brewed.
This is real its happening its not some crazy homebrew forum idea, its a new evolving style.

I did some thinking about this topic today at work.

I do agree with Jayse! Its already there..... yes its still evolving, growing and covers a broad range, but its there.

Gage roads IPA, LCBA, god... there are hundreds of them........ they are aussie adaptations made to suit local waters, ingredients and tastebuds.

I also came to the conclusion today that trying to invent a new style that we can name "X" style is a bit unrealistic. Jayse is correct........ its already there.

I had a look through My promash recipes and found recipes like Aussie IPA and Aussie amber ale, and many more. I had a luagh when i realised i have been brewing this "new style" for years. Taking a beer style and adapting it to Aussie water, malts, hops and most of all..... tastes!

When i brew a ridgy didge IPA or APA or Bitter ect, friends and family like them but i find when i make what i refer to as "knock up beer" its gone before i get some.

Ask Les what he thought of my Aussie pale, brewed with 100% ale malt and hopped all the way with Aussie Cluster. Now there is no BJCP guideline for Aussie ale, the closest being blond ale i guess. Mine was more bitter, hoppier but not too hoppy. It was made for Aussie taste buds and it was a hit.

Ive made stouts with nothing but POR.......... hell the Sheep Shagger that case sydney swappers from a year or so ago would remember well fits. Made with Nothing but NZ hops it fit IPA stars but was much more pale and the flavour was very different to anything english.

This emerging style is more freestyle brewing............ now thats aussie!

given numbers like:

1.048 - 1.065
25 - 60 IBU
8 - 24 EBC

......... you could brew just about anything and could fit most craftbrewed/ microbrewed beers into there somewhere.

 

[Bribie G]

Many beer styles developed not from a desire by the brewers to create beers that would be loved and enjoyed by their loyal drinkers, but instead by gross industrial and commercial pressures. For example UK bitters are not centuries old ales passed down lovingly from father to son but are a 20th century invention which arose out of the breweries acquiring huge estates of tied pubs that they bought or more commonly built as 'estate pubs' in the new housing estates that sprang up in the land fit for heroes at the time. Before then, beers such as pale ales would be conditioned at the brewery and sent out to the trade. With their tied houses, breweries sent the beer out young to be cask conditioned in pub cellars. Called 'running beers' they were the forerunners of 'real ale' and divested the breweries of the responsibility of holding huge stocks of maturing beer, and put the responsibility of the pub managers to condition the beer themselves. Shortly therafter the First, then Second World Wars made the use of sugars desirable because of grain shortages caused by the Wars. Most modern UK bitters are a legacy of the above forces.

In Australia the development of the railways, around the same era, signed the death warrant for many small regional breweries who were rapidly underpriced by big breweries such as Carlton who had economies of scale, and the development of refrigeration made possible the production of lager beers that didn't need cask conditioning and could be shipped out to the likes of Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong overnight. So our national 'style' became totally divorced from UK styles and ende dup as chilled lagers by the First World War .. as well as their suitability to hot summer beer drinking. Coopers, being in a bit of a geographical backwater, is a hold-out from the early parts of the 20th century and long may it continue, but it's really a last remaining example of a former style, much as Guinness is a hold-out of the porters that were the national drink in England in the 17th century, but nobody would suggest that stout should be the Unique English style.

I'd still go the Crown (don flame suit)

 

[PostModern]

freestyle brewing............ now thats aussie!

BAM!

 

[staggalee]

Fair go Jayse - people are just tossing an idea about the place - to be honest, you seem to be one of the few who have contributed to this thread, that seemed to have given more than passing consideration to how someone would actively "push" any beer that might get dreamed up towards official acceptance as a style -- sure, other people have thought about it happening, or about targeting a gap in the existing styles - but not many have really proposed any sort of a campaign to actively ram something through. Its a little rough to then disparage people who are actually just throwing around some speculations.

At an rate - I am probably being just as harsh on you as you are on other people, so I guess I also should tone it down. Doesn't mean I'm not going to counter your argument though (many of which I agree with btw)

Styles aren't something that evolved over lengthy periods of time, styles are new - how they come to be "official" isn't exactly a matter of long standing venerable tradition - it a matter of what Charlie Papazian and a few others reckoned when they were defining the styles not all that long ago - Before that, they were just beers from different places. Including a few styles that had either no, or only one or two commercial examples - but which were popular with homebrewers.

As for a unique style needing to in some way evolve..... waiting for stuff to distill out of teh ether is hardly a standard human trait. Identify a need - think of a way to address it - proceed with trying. Its called having ideas - and its not like good ones take all that long to be accepted as Business as Usual.

When I saw the OP of this thread - I thought that we were being asked to apply our brains to the mental exercise of emulating a beer style's "natural evolution" - take into consideration the things that cause beers to evolve - local climate, local ingredients, local tastes, available technology etc etc - and see where the model might take us.

Of course - its already been done - Coopers pale/sparkling, and whether people like it or not, Fosters and Tooheys mega lagers. VB, New etc are all products of exactly that series of local conditions resulting in beers that are (subtly) unique to Australia. Of course, two things that those beers share as a major influence - are that they also need to be commercial commodities and this has also affected their evolution - AND - that most homebrewers (this is who we are talking to remember) dont particularly like them.

So - what were are doing (or at least what I am doing) is engaging in a shared mental exercise to see if we can dream up a few sorts of beer that could have, but didn't follow a path of natural evolution in the local environment - and I think that that includes different beers for the different local environments in Australia (why would Queenslanders develop the same beers as Tasmanians?) and because we don't have them - without the commercial considerations.

I actually think it would be a great theme for a competition - Aussie Beers

Brew a beer - make it good - and justify why its Aussie. Your beer doesn't only need to be a decent drop, it needs to have a good back story as well. And that's what makes a style in my book - a decent drink, a tiny bit of uniqueness (doesn't need much) and a good story. Would saison be as interesting if it was just a style popped out by a few belgian commercial breweries that got popular - what about the Trappist Ales or German kloister beers? Scotch ales without the pressure of English taxes on hops??

15/20 for the beer - 5/20 for the story

The conversation certainly isn't going to hurt anyone by having happened and I'll bet a dollar that it inspires the brewing of a number of good and maybe unique beers.

A dollar?
A speech like that, and you want to back it for one dollar ?
You wouldn`t get a 2nd. hand soapbox for $1.

stagga.

 

[haysie]

Fosters! Japan ready, probably Abbotford ready? no
Maybe our knowitall contributor from AHB can steal the recipe.

 

[bum]

This emerging style is more freestyle brewing............ now thats aussie!

I actually like the sound of this. Completely in line of the "she'll be right, mate!" attitude for which we're famous and without being held down by proscriptive (and artificially imposed) guidelines. Maybe it isn't an ingredient that would make an Australian beer definitively Australian but more an attitude towards brewing. Greatly similar to the, much derided (in this thread, but adored on the rest of the board), American classifications of existing styles. Of course this can't really exist (or succeed at any rate) outside of a homebrew/very small scale craftbrew environment.

 

[jayse]

The conversation certainly isn't going to hurt anyone by having happened and I'll bet a dollar that it inspires the brewing of a number of good and maybe unique beers.

Yeap your right there and my agenda so to speak isn't the same as most people posting in this thread, I am enjoying the banter about this new invented style but like you said my position is a little bit different too most on the subject such as maybe I am looking at proposing a campaign to include such beer that is already here.

I put some guidelines/discriptors together I'll post in a sec.

I did some thinking about this topic today at work.

I do agree with Jayse! Its already there..... yes its still evolving, growing and covers a broad range, but its there.


1.048 - 1.065
25 - 60 IBU
8 - 24 EBC

......... you could brew just about anything and could fit most craftbrewed/ microbrewed beers into there somewhere.

I narrowed the style a little bit more then all that in this draft but agree its a broad style.
have a read of this is anyone could be bothered, its just some thoughts on what i think these beers are, feel free to add to it, take from it or just tell me if i am imagining things.

Aroma: Hop aroma moderate to high, and can use any variety of hops although Australain and New Zealand hops are most traditional. Medium-low to medium-high malt aroma, May have a low caramel component (this character will be more subtle to none in paler versions) with soft clean sweetish malt character. low to Medium fruity esters and clean fermentation. Generally diacetyl will be considered a fault.

Appearance: golden to light amber. Good to very good clarity is ussual but some haze acceptable. Good foam formation and retention. Carbonation is generally medium but may be medium high.

Flavor: Medium to medium-high bitterness with supporting malt flavors evident. May have and ussually does have a moderately low caramelly malt sweetness. Hop flavor moderately high to high (any variety, although floral, resiny, and/or spicey and fruity australian and new zealand hops are most traditional). Hop bitterness and should be noticeable, but should not totally dominate malt flavors. May have low levels of secondary malt flavors (e.g., wheat lightness in the mouth with soft grain character also may have light toasted malt character) adding complexity. low to medium fruity esters. Medium-dry finish. Generally no diacetyl. Generally a hop flavour driven beer with clean slightly sweetish malt backbone.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body. moderately high carbonation,

Overall Impression: An average-strength beer in the vain of english and american pale ales with hop influences from australia and new zealand and other new world type varieties, may be a hybrid, lager style examples being somewhat common. The balance may be fairly even between malt and hops. Drinkability is a critical component of the style; emphasis can be in the moderate to aggressive middle and late hopping seen in American ales. A rather broad style that allows for considerable interpretation by the brewer.

Comments: More evident malt and hop flavors than in a standard Australian pale ale also with more body. Some versions may overlap somewhat from english summer ales to american pale ales, although paler versions will be not quite as bold as others they should still entertain reasonble hop flavours with some soft clean sweetish pale malt. Generally these are the flagship hop driven ales of most craftbrewers both at home and commercially. Less malt and yeast character ussually then english style pale ales.

History: With begingings from english summer ales and american pale ales these beers become popular with the availiblity of new varieties of hops availble fresh and whole grown in new zealand and australia, also to a smaller degree developed through some international hop prices rising and availibilty declining with varieties such as amarillo.

Ingredients: Any pale malts but generally australian, lacks the deep complex character of english floor malted flavours in bitter so english malts should be kept to a minimum, small amounts of munich style malts are not uncommon, crystal malts are very common, may use a touch of choc malt for color adjustment. May use sugar adjuncts but not to the extreme in other australian light bodied industrial beers. New Zealand and Australian hops most typical, although American, European and the more floral english varieties are also being used. Yeast character is low with cool fermentations.

Vital Statistics: OG: 1.048 1.058
IBUs: 30 50 FG: 1.010 1.014
EBC: 10 25 ABV: 4.5 5.5%

Commercial Examples: Malt Shovel Hop Thief, Steam Exchange Steam Ale, Brewboys Maiden Ale, LC bright ale, Malt Shovel Golden Ale,

 

[bum]

Jayse, I really enjoyed reading that. It seems you've put into words ideas that I've been having about the beers I'd like to make without even knowing how to ask the right questions about how I can get there. That probably makes no sense. I went on a little expedition to Uncle Dan's and First choice earlier tonight hunting beers I've never had before. But I do have one or two criticisms, if you'll forgive me.

The first is I can imagine other people reading that and feeling the same as I did but thinking about completely different beers. It seems more a "vibe" than a guideline. I'm not sure this idea is something that can be tied down by a definition but if one is to attempt surely it must take a slightly harder line?

The second is much smaller - is JS Hop Thief a good reference since it only exists as 3 vastly different releases? Although I do agree it fits completely in spirit but the spirit of something is indefinable, right?

 

[haysie]

call a comp, no one will enter.
someone make a call?