Yeah the price sucks.  When I was in Europe you can buy a bottle of Leffe for a euro or a euro twenty from the supermarket.  Here it's $7.00 at Dan Murphy's.

Easier to let your taste buds wander when you're not taking out a second mortgage to try a few different styles.
 

Mentioning Leffe I was recently in France. There was lot of  Belgian brewed wheat beer,  Leffe and Grimbergen, available  in  two wheat beer styles. The most popular is called Blonde, similar to most Aussie wheat beers.

The Cahors based craft brewery, Ratz, a fabulous brewery, also produced two styles of  wheat beer.  The locals must like wheat beer.

I discovered a variation of  wheat beer that I preferred to Blonde by some margin - a more citrusy type of wheat beer called Blanche. It was less popular.

Belgium is on my bucket list.  Will wait until the kids leave home and spend a month travelling around the country on a giant sampling tour.  There's a course you can do there that qualifies you as some sort of beer connoisseur which I'd love to do.  (If only to put that certificate 'straight into the pool room'.)

Speaking of craft beer Bentspoke Brewery AND grarage project supplying the beverages at the ccm vs wellington game in Canberra this week.
Bring that to Victoria!

I have grown to be sick of wheat styles but if you like Blanche, then you should look for Blanche de Chambly by Unibroue.  Quebecois craft brewers been around a long time, good if you like strong yeasty beers.

You can try letting the beer sit some minutes to see what flavors open, but I think the bigger problem is craft beer not being fresh because it is stored too warm or too long in a cellar  (warehouse).

I don't think that is as big of an issue as it used to be. If your getting your craft beer from a big chain bottle shop then yeah... but your not getting anything good anyway. 
Foreign beer maybe, but now with the growth of popularity were getting U.S stuff in as fresh as what they are getting out in the U.S. 
Plus with specialist craft beer stores you can get Australian stuff superfresh and then you have places like Trubru in south yarra that get their kegs in super fresh, so you've can take home growlers of fresh craft beer

If you get a growler your fine.  But still is a problem for local brewers who sell their keg to a pub or distributor (who deal with or owns many pubs) and then they have no control over what happens next. Can be stored for 3 weeks in a shed which for a popular IPA style can be murder in summer.  Heard this complaint from a Sydney brewer not long back.  Although I have only experienced it once where a beer on tap that was clearly old and cardboard tasting when I new what the brewery beer tasted like....so it probably is better than it was.

3 weeks in a keg shouldn't really be an issue though even for hop forward beers.

Brewers that I've spoken to don't seem to have an issue with keg turn around but most craft brewers do all their distributing themselves. Only your larger companies are running through 3rd parties ie:  feral, stone and wood, 4 pines. Alot also only deal with pubs that are more craft orientated so they know the turn over is quicker and most of all... most brewers would prefer you try at the brewery or at worst by can.
Personally beer from a can is far superior than any other form if your not at the brewery. 

We even get Stone brewings best before beers now. Just goes to show how quick were getting it from the u.s now

Growlers need to be drunk within a few hours. Even the next day they are flat.

The only Growlers available here are two litre bottles. 

No way, are you getting yours from somewhere that has a proper CO2 filling machine.  I got to about 4 places to get mine and they all have that system meaning the beer will not starting losing it frshness for 2 weeks. The idea is that it never leaves the environment that the beer is in, in the keg.
However there are places that fill from the tap, id only do that if i was drinking it within an hour or so. 

Someone here rated the  Moo Brew Single  Hop as mediocre. I'd have to disagree. I've just had it on tap in the last few days. It is a very fine beer, and original in style.

Even better, was Moo Brew's Mid Strength, the new title holder of best light beer in Australia!

I think it is best described as a pale ale style, but is even better than the Singe Hop. At 3.5 % one bar attendant at MONA said some punters  repudiate it because  of low alcohol content. I knocked 5 off in an hour and still drove under the limit. 

The Moo Brew Mid Strength ( on tap) blows Exit's Pale Ale at 3.5% ( on tap) out of the water!

The other top lights are Tassie's Double Head Pilsener at 3.4 %. I don't like Pilsner as much as ales, but the Double Head Pilsener is exceptional quality at 3.4% alcohol content. Outside Moo Brew Pilsener, a frequent Aussie  first prize winner, no other full strength  Pilsener  comes close in quality to Double Head Pilsener at only 3.4%.

Queensland  brewery, Fortitude, also do a fabulous light pale ale, Pacer, with a citrus flavour at 2.8%. I cannot believe that Fortitude can brew such excellent beer at only 2.8% alcohol content! It is so good, some quality beers at full strength that I sample regularly were shown up by this wonderful light beer.

That would be me, i found the single hop far too bland and its probably going to be the last form of packaged moo brew on the mainland as stock is struggling to move in Melbourne, their range was good about 6 years ago but has been surpassed by far better brewers.

As for midstrengths, though i can't go past brewdogs dead pony for an Australian one colonials small beer is very very good. 

The big beers of the summer will be Balter XPA (always good to have a famous name in your corner) Kaijus Fruit Punch and Moon Dogs Beer Can. All entirely smashable beers.

Lots of stuff happening in NSW/ACT with Bentspoke and Akasha going great guns and in Queensland Bacchus Brewing is always putting out something crazy!

Dan Murphys is already getting more Ballast Point in from the US which makes it easy for people to try the stuff coming out of their too... unless you can get to a good bottle-o. 

My bank account got destroy last week hitting up McCoppins and Purvis Cellars stocking up for xmas.

On tap  Single Hop is not bland at all. I have not tried it in the bottle/can though, but Moo Brew often go close to replicating the quality of their tap beer in the bottle. In the case of Belgian beers like Chimay, Grindbergen and Leffe, one cannot tell the difference  between the bottled beer and tap beer.

It is  an interesting question you pose. Is Moo Brew treading water and have other beers improved? Or is Moo Brew more mass produced and losing quality?

Recently I tasted bottle of Moo Brew Pale Ale in the bottle and it was underwhelming. Ditto Fat Yak from Matilda Bay. I've had much better pale ales recently.

On the other hand I like the new Wild Yak, a passionfruit style beer that is pretty decent from Matilda Bay.

The reference point we have is the two breweries you mention in your Aussie best list, Exit and Fortitude, have both brewed two very, very good beers I've drunk. I take  my hat off to Exit Pale ( mid strength ) at 3.5% and Fortitude's Pacer, 2.8% pale ale.

A few Tasmanian breweries that are mind blowingly good on tap are Double Head, Seven Sheds, Hobart Brewing Company, Captain Bligh ( probably only their fabulous  Huffcap Stout), Shambles, Ironhouse (often rubbish in the bottle, with a mediocre pilsener), Fox Friday, Morrison's and Last Rites. Some of these breweries don't produce bottled beer yet.

In the bottle, Last Rites, Fox Friday, Seven Sheds, Little Rivers, Bruny Island Brewing and Morrison's, produce excellent beer over the majority  of the range of what they brew. Although in Morrison's case, their Irish Stout is very ordinary compared to their  Red Ale, English Bitters and Pale Ale.


I know what I'm talking about because I've drunk beer in a lot  of countries.

These Tassie beers are up there with  well known European beers, Chimay, Betty Stoggs, William Worthington, Weistephaner, East Street, Hoegarden, Bellhaven, Grindbergen, Paalaner,  Ratz, Schoffenschoffer, Franziskaaner, a fabulous Portuguese one whose name I cannot remember beginning with L, the single best craft beers in both of Greece and Italy whose names I can not remember either,  Tribute, Praks, Leffe and Samuel Smith.


Tasmania now has the highest number of craft breweries per capita head of population in Australia.

I thought the high quality tapwater and spring water gave it a decided advantage. However, local brewers tell me that  they double treat and triple treat water so it doesn't matter as much. The tap water in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane is absolute chemical rubbish compared to the Hobart water supply.

The good news is that those craft breweries that have regular distribution centres for most days of the week are finding it a licence to print money! 

There are so many Aussie breweries now, it is impossible to print a best list, because there are so many new breweries opening daily. It is impossible to keep abreast of all breweries range of beers from around the country.

Id have a good mind not to talk to you about beer if you mention anything brewed by james squires or matilda bay (at least in the last 10 years) 

Seven sheds, id had seen a while ago but has completely disappeared.

Another point id like to make is that beer on tap really shouldn't be the measurement of how good a beer should be, as Alot of beers are brewed only for keg, or cask, or bottle, or can. To each their own. 

I still vow that moo brew was left behind quite a long time ago, and though there are breweries popping up everywhere now, there are still some major leaders.

As for the Tasmanian water being a big factor, i don't think it really is/was. As most brewers will tell you and those brewers who were winemakers (my sisters partner) brewing is much more down to science and how good your brewer is whereas is winemaking those premium areas will produce you a premium product even if your not the absolute best at your craft (not to say that any wino can make wine) but that is what I've been led to believe (from totally unbiased brewers haha)

Moving into these euro brewers... alot of them have fantastic history and alot stick to their regions style of beer and do it fantastically, chimay have been broadening their range for a while as too weihenstepher. Franziskaneer, paulaner etc all have their styles and the reinheitsgebot to stick to and do much loved stuff but it's not ground breaking anymore. 

Not alot of them are doing the fantastic things that garage project, dogfish head or russian river are doing. 
Im not one to praise Americans but they are the leaders in beer, with n.z punching well above their weight. 

On other beer news i just spent another pay check on stock piling more amazing stuff for Christmas and new years. Were doing a little road trip from Melbourne to dubbo as the wife has never been and i lived there when i was younger... i can tell you that is a beer wasteland and i am not looking forward to drinking tooheys... or vb.

But i will... and lots of it. 

There's a 'Beer Deulxe' and a brewery bar by the name of the 'Thirsty Crow' in Wagga Wagga if you're travelling through that way.

Both worth stopping at for a shifty pint.

I did contemplate going through wagga wagga but we opted for nerandera so we're actually staying the night there both ways. Dubbo seem to have one bar that might be decent if i have time. 

http://www.barellanbeer.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=barrellan%20beer

30 minutes from Narrandera.  If nothing else it's a not-for-profit concern.  

or give this mob a go at Yenda.  Just up the road from Barellan.

https://australianbeerco.com.au/whats-happening/
https://www.facebook.com/Yendabeer/

Beautiful countryside if it's green.

Definitely won't give my money to yenda... their beer is standard big business trying to flog off as if it is craft... yenda is a coca-cola company.

I had seen the barellan stuff whilst looking for good beer on the trip. Not sure if it is enticing enough though. 

We don't have a heap of time on the trip so i probably should be chasing beer the whole trip.

I've been using a beer app called nowtapped where i it shows you what on tap around, either officially by the venue or punters can post what the bar had on tap when they are there, really good for finding good beer on tap around you... sucks though geelong has a growing craft brewery scene but doesnt seem the be catching on in the city, the pubs want nothing to do with it.... taking a look at our trip up to dubbo... it is really pour (ha see what i did there) but in the cities its a great little app. Very often used along with untappd when i remember to use it

I share your low opinion of yenda, matilda bay and squires.   Never understood the appeal of moo brew. Either the bottle looks nice, or it was around before good beer was made in Australia?.

Moo brew rode the first wave of new craft beer, along with mountain goat, bridge road etc... they just didn't kick on like the others, i think the single hop cans was their last ditch attack on the mainland.
Matilda bay was apparently good in the 90s if you were able to get it and squires... i just remember them talking over taps at our local which was good cause the only choice was boags... just wish they had distributed the early hop theifs as i had 3 and 4 and they were great but the didn't bottle any til 5.

Currently going through the boozebud advent calandar and although I've had most beers it is a pretty solid mixed slab. 

Yesterday had a couple Great Northern Super Crisp and man they were easy to sink down. Haven't even bothered to research alcohol content etc but they must be mid-strength or close to it. Super light, summery style beer and not the worst ever. Would drink again. 

Well that went downhill quick. Haha just kidding.

Back on the 8.2%, good stuff

You might be bang on the money with this comment.

One stakeholder within the organisation, told me they needed to lift their game.

You might disagree with me, but in their Belgo, Single Hop and new Mid Strength, these are better beers. Belgo is unique and distinctive. People like it, or they don't.

One taste I'm not currently liking, is the initially sweetish pale ale and IPA taste, with a bitter finish.

The likes of WA's Sail and Anchor, Little Rivers and Moo Brew pales taste like this to my palate. Having said this, many others love this quality.

Most American pales I've tasted have been fabulous.

Sail and anchor is another supermarket beer. Steer clear... not sure on little rivers.
If you are into that belgian style without getting too far into it... brewcult do an excellent intro to it with their "cant fight the funk" its a farmhouse style pale with the yeast doing alot of the work.  Its a fantastic beer and even more... boatrocker is amazing... you can obviously go for the usual ones from Belgium too.

Lagunitas do some great stuff, copped alot of flack for selling out but always do good stuff.

They have many other beers I like - Kolsch, Golden Ale, Hoppy Lager, Dorset Lager, Brown Ale, Dam Busters (light). Little Rivers is a very small craft brewery in Scottsdale, NE Tas.

Summer beer recommendations?